Gaius Julius Hyginus

Born around 64 BC, Hyginus studied under the polymath Alexander Polyhistor before catching the eye of Rome's first emperor. Augustus freed him from slavery and installed him as keeper of the Palatine Library, one of the ancient world's great collections. From that perch he produced reference works that flattened mythology into neat entries — genealogies of gods, synopses of tragedies, celestial legends tied to constellations. The Fabulae and De astronomia carried his name through the centuries, though their plain style and later manuscript dates have made some doubt his authorship. He died in…