Piero Tamira

(Tamiras, Tamyras, or Thamyras Romanus; Piero/Pietro, or Tranquillo Tomarozzi?, etc.)

(c. 1465 - after 1519)

Pupil of Pomponio and Latin poet connected with Pomponio's circle in Rome and the Accademia Pontaniana in Naples.

Relations with Pomponio – Testimonia

Vatican Library, Vat. lat. 2836, ff. 326r-328r. Oration and poem on the occasion of the laurea poetica awarded to Lorenzo Buonincontri di San Miniato and Elio Lampridio Cerva di Ragusa (1484): "Oratio Tamyre Romani nobilis in Laurea Domini Laurentii et Elii in Die Natali urbis Pyerio praeside."

Oration: "[Inc.:] Novi ego, viri ornatissimi caeterique iuvenes eruditissimi, meum hoc institutum audaciae fere potius asscribendum, quam alio quocumque duxeritis titulo adnotandum…/… [Expl.:] Quare mihi ipsi videor consuluisse praeceptorique meo Pomponio morem gessisse totique consortio satisfecisse, si de huius lucis decore verba fecerim et sacratissimi domini Laurentii, poetae grandisoni, non omnino serta laudesque conticuerim nostrique Aelii iuvenis ornatissimi et Musarum alumni lauream decantarim, alio quamvis carmine caput utrumque muniatur. Quod si tantarum utriusque laudum culmen non ascendere, enitar qua possim fistola et calamo carmen colludere. " Poem in 110 hexameters: "[Inc., v. 1:] Nunc mihi, Pyerides, facili concinnite cantu… /… [Expl., vv. 106-110:] Nunc igitur viridi praecingite tempora lauro, // Sedula quoque vehat candentia lilia flores, // Et sonet omne nemus pariter: sic pellite cordas, // Taleque sub gracili resonet testudine carmen, // Roma, potes solito plus nunc renitescere vultu" (Tournoy-Thoen 1972, oration, 228-229; poem, 229-232; cf. de Rossi 1890, 90ff.; Dionisotti 1941, 58; on the occasion of the oratio, see Bianca 2008).

Iovianus Pontanus (Giovanni Pontano), Aegidius, (Pontano [ed.] 1943), 261, 13-15: "Quocirca ad te quidem me convertam, o Thamyra, si quid a Iulio Pomponio, cuius auditor fuisti et cultor, ad te...."

Life

Little is known at present about Tamira, nobilis romanus and poet, who may have belonged to the Tomarozzi family. He is first heard of in 1484, at which time, he says, he was very young ("nondum firmus pullus," Weiss 1959, 362). He is numbered among Marcantonio Altieri's friends and other members of Pomponio's circle, and was later associated with Pontano's Academy in Naples. He appears as interlocutor in Pontano's dialogue Aegidius (see below) and is cited in various poems and other humanist works. His verses appear in a number of late fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century collections of poems.

Tamira (or its variants) was evidently a pseudonym, perhaps recalling the legendary blind Thracian bard Thamyris, mentioned in the Iliad 2.594-600 and in the essay On music (once attributed to Plutarch) in which Thamyris was said to be the author of the lost epic Titanomachy. According to Orelli (cited by de Rossi 1890, 91, and n. 2,. Iscr. Lat. select. I, p. 64; cf. Inscr. christ. II, p. 406): "Thamyras, seu Thamyris, Italus ψευδώνυμος saec. XV, Pomponii Laeti academiae adscriptus, vel ex Homero simplicter, vel quia a posteribus v. c. Plutarcho Titanomachia prisco illi poetae tribuitur, tamquam Christianae superstitionis (ut dicebant Romae) adversarius, hoc nomine insignitus." See also Propertius, II.18.19: "Me licet et Thamyrae cantoris fata sequantur"; Ovid, Am. III.7.62: "Quid miserum Thamyran picta tabella iuvet?"; and Id., Ars am. III 399: "Tu licet Thamyram superes et Amoebea cantu," where Thamyras is used simply with the meaning "famous poet." On the humanistic use of this academic name by Pontano, Poliziano, and others, see Dionisotti 1941, 59-60, and note. Thamyras has an entry in Tortelli's De orthographia, and Bartolomeo Fonzio also mentions him in his poetics (Trinkaus 1966, 116): "Amphionis autem aevo Linus et ipse insignis poeta musicus lyra est usus. Huius praecipui discipuli extitere Thamyras atque Orpheus. Sed Thamyras natura ad percipiendum aptissima cum musicen didicisset seque propterea Musis praeferret, irritatae deae et eum ablata cithara musice privaverunt et oculorum ei usum ademerunt."

Mention of him occurs in the following writings:

Vat. lat. 5356, ff.112r, 114r, 119r, 121r. Cited as Tomarotius and/or Thamira, together with Capella, in commentary on Giulio Simone, Epulum populi Romani eucharisticon (Bracke 1992, 135).

Marco Antonio Altieri, Li nuptiali (Rome, 1873 [1995]), 25. Mentioned together with the 'academicians' Casparo, Capella, and Giuliano Ceci: "De che renderamene beno conto Casparo, Tamira et Capella, et anche lo arguto mio Iuliano Cecio: quali interlassando le lor facunde et assai placide Muse, frequentavano spesso meco rivi, selve, fiumi, ella campagna...." (cf. Bianca, 1992, 153, n. 36; Bracke 1992, 121).

Giovanni Pontano, Aegidius (Pontano [ed.] 1943) , 255-261. Appears as interlocutor in Pontano's dialogue where he is called Thamyras.

_______, De magnanimitate, in Opera omnia (Venice, 1519), I, fol. 226v. Cited in the dedicatory letter of Pietro Summonte to Angelo Colocci: "Quod per Suardinum, et Thamyram mecum egisti, ut libros 'De magnanimitate' tua causa quam primum ederem […] feci id libenter hortatu, vel potius iussu tuo, ut et tibi Ioviani nosti, ut audio utque in scriptis eius legitur amicissimi, et Suardino pariter ac Thamyrae in re praesertim honestissima, morem gererem."

_______, De sermone, 6. 2,10-11 (ed. A. Mantovani [Rome, 2002], 428). Mentioned in book 6 ("Qualia facetorum dictaque responsaque esse debeant"): "Audio Romanum Thamyram – Romanum dico et patriam linguam et disciplinas artisque Romanas referentem…."

Francesco Arsilli, De poetis urbanis [Rome, 1503?], printed at the end of the Coryciana (Rome, 1524). Mentioned among the poets at the court of Leo X, vv. 107-108: "At modo quis Thamyrae citharam non noscit, amatque // Aurea cui nitido pectore vena fluit?" (IJsewijn 1997, 19-20, for the edition, 348, for the verses).

Ioannes Baptista Pio, Elegidia (Bologna, 1509), IV, 24, fol. 52r-v: Invitat Thamyram accingatur ad scriptionem amatoriam ex tribunatu nuper omissam: "[Inc.:] Ergo tuos rapient aetherna oblivia amores // Pierii Thamyras gloria prima chori,…/… [Expl.:] Instar erunt Thamyrae magni iustique triumphi // Si quatet arguta tinnula plectra manu; // Primus et Aonios vates canet inter olores:// Haec bona divitiis divitiora putat" (Dionisotti 1941, 60-61, note 3).

Battista Casali, In Desiderium Erasmum Roterodamum Invectiva (1518):

Tibi nimirum maius multo negotium futurum erat cum Portio, Sadoleto, Bembo, Gravina, Fabiano, Colotio, Motta, Cornelio, Iovio, Capella, Petrasancta, Pimpinello, Casanova, Elmo, Thamyra, Blosio, Laelio, Pierio, Curtio, Sanazario, Summontio, Haltrensio, Vopisco, Sessa, Naugerio, Bombasio, Amiterino, Camertibus, Parrhasio, Marcello, Diacetio, Modesto, Siculo, Arcade, Socio, Molosso, Anselmo, Cataneo, Pio, cuncta Academia, cum Latio, cum omnibus quicunque ubique sunt Romanis litteris initiati, cum pueris quoque qui tantum illi quidem nasi habent quantum tu impudentiae...." (Monfasani 1997, 34, par. 19).

Works

Manuscripts

Great Britain

London, British Library, Add. 22805, fol. 4r. Verses in memory of Orsino Lanfredini (d. Nov. 1488), son of Giovanni Lanfredini, Florentine ambassador at the papal court, in an anthology of elegies compiled by Vasino Gamberia: Thamyras: "[Inc.:] Forma, anni, ingenium, patria et domus omnia non te . . . ." (Weiss, 1959, 356; on the manuscript, see also Kristeller, Iter 4,111; on Gamberia, see Osmond 2008).

Oxford, Bodleian Library, Lat. misc. c. 62, fols. 160v-173r. Two books of Latin poetry, in which Tamira's first name appears as Tranquillo rather than Pietro (Perosa 2000, 262 and n. 43 and ad indicem). The collection was dedicated by Tamira to Fernandus Dacugna (Fernando de Acuña), viceroy of Sicily (1489-95).

Notes: The text appears in Mazzocchi's edition, fols. vr-xiv, together with other Roman calendars, including the Menologium rusticum Vallense (Romae in domo de la Valle), fols. ir-iiiv, and Apud Illu.Ducem Calabriae est haec pars Calendarii quae reperta fuit in agro Venusino, fol. iiiir-v, seen at the Biblioteca Angelica in Rome (Rari I.5.9 [2]).

Italy

Milan, Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense (Brera), A D XI 44, fol. 62r-v. Thamire Romani in Tulliolam nuper repertam, verses. (Kristeller, Iter 1, 356): "[Inc.:] Me licet assumptum spectetis corpus et umbram…/… [Expl.:] Quae condam visa est lumine non video" (Dionisotti 1941, 59).

Perugia, Biblioteca Comunale Augusta, Fondo Vecchio, C 61. Thamyras Romanus, poems, fols. 8, 65; epitaph of Baldus Bartholimaus, fols. 96, 97, 98 (Kristeller, Iter 2, 54; Perosa 2000, 246 ff. and ad indicem).

Ibid., F 5, fol. 49v. Tamiras, verses (Kristeller, Iter 2, 55; Perosa 2000, 256, 259, 263).

Ibid., J 25, fol. 21v. Tamiras, epigrams (Kristeller, Iter 2, 58).

Rome, Biblioteca Corsiniana, Nic. Rossi 207 (45 D 4), fol. 20v. Thamiras, Epigrammata in statuas Coritianas (Kristeller, Iter 2, 114; IJsewijn 1997,18):

Treis facies, totidem statuas, tria signa recepit
    Marmor, et inclusus spiritus unus inest.
Ut geminae arrident, puer ut blanditur utrisque!
    Ora etiam, accedas si prope, semper hiant.
Audiri haud dubitet quisquis prece castus adibit;
    A coelo elicuit numina Corycius

(IJsewijn 1997, 75, n°55)

Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 2754. Coryciana, includes Thamiras, verses (Kristeller, Iter 2, 352; IJsewijn 1997, 19).

Ibid., Vat. lat. 2836, fols. 326r-328r. Tamyras Romanus, oration and verses on the occasion of the laurea poetica of 1484, "Oratio Tamyre Romani nobilis in Laurea Domini Laurentii et Elii in Die Natali urbis Pyerio praeside." The collection also contains poems by Bernardino Capella (Kristeller, Iter 2, 353; and above, Testimonia).

For these and other references, see Kristeller, Iter 7 (Cumulative Index to Volumes I-VI): Thamira (Tamyra) Romanus; Thamiras; Thamyras (Tamyras) Romanus; Thamyras, Tranquillus (cf. Oxford, Bodleian Lib., Lat. Misc C 62, fols. 160v-173r; Perosa 2000, 262, note 43).

Printed Editions

"Thamyras ad lectorem," poem printed at the end of Propertius, Elegiae, ed. and comm. Antonio Volsco, with dedicatory letter to Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (Venice, Andreas de Paltascichis, 1 II 1488), ISTC no.: ip01018000. "[Inc.:] Quisquis ab insano nimium cruciatur amore // Aut perdit stabili tempora longa fide // Hos legat ardentes animo trepidante calores // Fundere quos captis dura puella solet . . . / . . . [Expl.:] Et q(uam)vis foveant scripta haec vincula petri // Ista alias nectunt vincula docta manus."

Note: This edition is often bound with the Tibullus and Catullus of 15 Dec.1487 (Goff T371). On the dedicatory letter of Antonio Partenio, editor and commentator of the Catullus, to Pomponio, see Ramminger, "Antonio Partenio, Letter to Leto," forthcoming on this site. On Antonio Volsco, see Coppini 1976, 219-21 and Lanza 2001.

Thamyra, Ad Diuum Iulium II Pont. Max. Thamyrae Aegloga [Rome: Marcello Silber, 1510]. "Divo Iulio Pont. Max." [Introductory verses]. "Ad Divum Iulium II Pont. Max. sospitem sub persona duorum fratrum Alconis et Euridomi Thamyrae Aegloga [Inc.:] Nuper in Appidani carmen memorabile ripa // Audieram, laeni qua se Paeneus in unda // Abluit, & fragili demulcet pectora musco // Quercus ibi extiterat procera, & glandibus aureis. . . / . . . [Expl.:] Tu Vatis ne sperne chelim, Sanctissime Iuli, // Ocia quem si laeta habeant, si iusta domi res // Riferit, ingentes inter qui dicere de te // Constituant, forsan mea fistula proderit actis // Aurea, dum altiloquum permittit Daelia Carmen."

Thamyras, epigram, in L. D. Brusoni, Facetiarum exemplorumque libri VII (Rome: I. Mazochius, 1518), f. A1. [Inc.:] "Et sapida et salsa est omnis tua pagina, Luci, // Seria dum misces ingeniose iocis . . . / . . . [Expl.:] At tibi pro meritis, Domiti, debere fatentur // Priscus avus, nostri temporis, atque nepos" (Quoted in Altamura 1940, 177).

Thamiras, epigram in honor of Johann Goritz (Corycius), in Coryciana, ed. Blosio Palladio (Rome: Ludovicus Vicentinus and Lautitius Perusinus, 1524), f. 24r (cf. Rome, Biblioteca Corsiniana, Nic. Rossi ms. 207 (45 D 4), fol. 20v, cited above).

Tamira's name is also linked to the discovery and publication of the Calendarium Iulii Caesaris, with the Fasti of the first six months, found on the Capitoline: Fasti sex priorum mensium ex antiquo marmore inuento per Thamyram sub Capitolinis ruinis, cuius marmoris altera pars reliquos etiam sex menses sine fastis continebat, published by Giacomo Mazzocchi in an edition dated 1509 (Ascarelli 1961, n. 5, pp. 29-30) or not after 1515 (ICCU 1993, n. 393, vol. 3, p. 31).

Notes: The text appears in Mazzocchi's edition, fols. vr-xiv, together with other Roman calendars, including the Menologium rusticum Vallense (Romae in domo de la Valle), fols. ir-iiiv, and Apud Illu.Ducem Calabriae est haec pars Calendarii quae reperta fuit in agro Venusino, fol. Iiiir-v, seen at the Biblioteca Angelica in Rome (Rari I.5.9 [2]). According to Altamura 1940, 175, the fragment was discovered by Tamira together with Pomponio Gaurico, but published by Tamira under his name alone.

Ed. also in Calendarium ecclesiasticum novum…iussu summorum pontificum Iulii II, Leonis X, Clementis VII, Pauli III, in urbium principe Roma supputatum. Adsunt denique Fasti Iulii Caesaris… (Venice, 1552); the Calendarium Iulii Caesaris begins at f. 130v: "Fasti primorum sex mensium per Pomponium Gauricum et Tamiram sub capitolinis ruinis in antiquo marmore reperti, cuius marmoris altera pars reliquos sex menses sine fastis continebat" (Bianca 1992, 153, note 37).

Lucia Gualdo Rosa and Patricia Osmond
February 2009

This entry can be cited as follows:

Lucia Gualdo Rosa, Patricia Osmond, "Piero Tamira," Repertorium Pomponianum (URL:
www.repertoriumpomponianum.it/pomponiani/tamira_piero.htm,

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