The didactic poem on fish and fishing by Oppian of Anazarbus, a 2nd-century Greco-Roman poet, survived the Middle Ages essentially in its entirety, consisting of 3500 lines in Greek. The poem was dedicated to the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus, allowing it be dated within their rules. Oppianus is considered relatively accurate from the scientific standpoint in his descriptions of fish; he made the effort to refute common errors. First English translation by Diaper and Jones as Oppian's Halieuticks of the nature of fishes and fishing of the ancients In V books. Translated from the Greek with an account of Oppian's life and writings and a catalogue of his fishes (Oxford, 1722). ISTC No. io00065000. Digital facsimile of the 1478 edition from the Bayerische StaatsBibliothek at this link. Digital facsimile of the 1722 English translation from the Internet Archive at this link.