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Notes on Orientius' Commonitorium. I

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

A. Hudson-Williams
Affiliation:
University College of Wales, Aberystwyth

Extract

Orientius, Bishop of Auch (Augusta Ausciorum) in the early fifth century, possessed a talent for elegiac verse of no despicable order, and this he exercised in a didactic poem of 518 distichs, (known without indeed any good authority) as the Commonitorium. This poem, consisting of two books, describes and exhorts the reader to follow the Christian mode of life, and is characterized by its unassuming simplicity, some effective description, a number of well-turned lines (one of which has attained a modest renown, viz. 2. 184 ‘uno fumauit Gallia tota rogo’), and a sincere belief in the truths he was preaching. The language is in general clear and direct, though tinged here and there with turns of a decidedly late flavour.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1949

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