AVIANUS, a Latin writer of fables, placed by some critics in the age of the Antonines, by others as late as the 6th century A.D. He appears to have lived in Rome and to have been a heathen. The 42 fables which bear his name are dedicated to a certain Theodosius. Nearly all the fables are to be found in Babrius, but Avianus appears to have used a Latin paraphrase as his source, and not the original Greek. His language and metre are correct and the fables became popular as a school book. Imitations were frequent, such as the Novus Avianus of Alexander Neckam (12th century).