Born in Spain in the 4th century, Aurelius Prudentius Clemens held a position of considerable authority in the Roman imperial administration. He was 13 when Julian, the last pagan emperor, came to the throne and attempted to suppress Christianity and restore Paganism. He watched, two years later, when Julian was succeeded by the co-emperors, Valentinian and Valens, both Christians whose courts included such men as Jerome, Ausonius and Martin of Tours. His lasting influence comes, however, from his work as a poet: a leader in the creation of a Christian literature. Prudentius is generally regarded as one of the greatest of the Christian Latin poets, and his legacy informed the work of future poets, among them George Herbert and John Donne. Prudentius wrote two collections of hymns: the "Cathemerinon Liber" and the "Peristephanon". The former, a collection of 12 songs - in English "The Daily Round" - is translated here by David Slavitt. Essentially literary in nature, the hymns replaced mythology from the Scriptures and enjoyed popularity and success for centuries in the liturgy of the church.
- ISBN10 0801854121
- ISBN13 9780801854125
- Publish Date 6 August 1996
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Out of Print 31 March 2000
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Johns Hopkins University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 88
- Language English