Roman scientist. Dates of birth and death not recorded, but Hyginus was active in the early 1st century.
A manumitted slave of the Emperor Augustus, Hyginus was leader of the library on the Palatine hill in Rome.
Most of Hyginus' scientific works have been lost, but De Astronomia, a handbook in astronomy, may be by him, and a handbook in mythology, variously called Genealogiae or Fabulae, also bears his name. In both cases, the attribution is doubtful (especially in the latter case, as the Genealogiae/Fabulae quotes from sources definitely later than Hyginus' lifetime - this may simply be an artifact of later redaction, though). Both books are excellent sources to classical mythology.