Claudius Aelianus, commonly Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "honey-tongued" ; Roman-born, he preferred Greek authors, and wrote in a slightly archaizing Greek himself.
Imaginary likeness of Aelian from a 1610 edition of the Varia Historia
Title page of Varia Historia, from the 1668 edition by Tanaquil Faber
Palestrina is a modern Italian city and comune (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about 35 kilometres east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon the ruins of the ancient city of Praeneste.
Staircase accessing the former Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia
Ficoroni Cista
Terrace of Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia
Barberini Palace