De geometrica

work by Capella

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June 25, 2026

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De geometrica is a section within the larger work De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii (The Marriage of Philology and Mercury) by Martianus Minneus Felix Capella, a 5th-century North African writer. This work served as an introduction to the liberal arts and was highly influential through the Middle Ages.1

De geometrica specifically covers the art of geometry, one of the seven liberal arts, which is represented by one of the seven maidens gifted to Mercury's bride, Philology. The broader work, written around 400 AD, is in prose and poetry, with a style that can be both dry and influenced by the mannered prose of Apuleius. The title De geometrica itself is derived from the Greek words geo (Earth) and metron (measure), reflecting geometry's historical roots in measuring the Earth.1234

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Martianus Minneus Felix Capella
…arte dialectica, De arte rhetorica, De geometrica, De arithmetica, De astrologia, and De harmonia. Mercury gives his bride, who is made divine, seven maidens, and each declaims on that one of the seven liberal arts that she represents. The prose style is often dry, but in parts it is influenced…
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…arte dialectica, De arte rhetorica, De geometrica, De arithmetica, De astrologia, and De harmonia. Mercury gives his bride, who is made divine, seven maidens, and each declaims on that one of the seven liberal arts that she represents. The prose style is often dry, but in parts it is influenced…
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