Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/509

 APPENDIX 487 castrorumque eadem comes Indefessa tuorum nunc tandem fruitiir votis atque omne futunun te Romae seseque tibi promittit in aevum. (Edition of Prudentius : H. Dressel, 1860. "Translations from Prudentius," Rev. F. St. J. Thackeray, 1890.) The most distinguished poet ^ in the reign of Valentinian iii., before the rise of Sidonius, was the Spaniard, Flaviiis Mebobaudes. Sidonius mentions, with- out naming him, in Carm. ix. 296 sqq., as one who was honoiured (like Claudian) by a statue in the Forum of Trajan. sed nee tertius ille nimc legetur Baetin qui patrium semel relinquens undosae petiit sitim Ravennae, plosores cui fulgidam Quirites et carus popularitate princeps Traiaiio statuam foro locarunt. Sirmondus brilliantly guessed the identity of the poet referred to in these lines, and his guess was confirmed by the discovery^ of the basis of the statue, with the full inscription, b egin ning ; Fl. Merobaudi vs com. sc, and ending : dedicata iv. kal. Aug. Conss. DD NN Theodosio xv. et Valentiniano iv. About the same time fragments of a poet of that age were discovered in a Ms. of St. Gall, and the text of the Inscription enabled Niebuhr (by means of verbal similarities) to establish that these relics belonged to Merobaudes. First edited by Niobuhr, they were printed by Bekker in the Bonn Corpus Byz. (in the same volume as Corippus). The following are some of the points of historical interest in these fragments : Carmina I. and II. reflect the establishment of Galla Placidia and her son Valentinian in the West after the overthrow of the usurper John by the help of Theodosius ii. The verse on the child Valentinian (I., 11) : hie ubi sacra parens placidi petit oscula nati, has a curious interest owing to the epithet. The child who is here placidus (with a play on his mother's name) is destined to be more familiar as the mature, effeminate placidus, branded for ever with infamy by another poet : Aetium Placidus mactavit semivir amens. The victory over John and the betrothal of Valentinian with Eudoxia are chus referred to (1. 9) : cui natura dedit, victoria reddidit orbem claraque longinquos praebuit aiila toros. For the intimate relation between the courts of Ravenna and Constantinople, such a full and candid expression of gratitude to the Eastern sovereign, as the following, on the part of a poet of Ravenna, is of much significance, C. ii., 13, 14 : sic dominos secura sui de stemmate regni continuat proprios dum creat aula novos. C. iv. is a hendecasyUabic poem on the birthday of Gaudentius the son of Aetius. The sojourn of Aetius as a hostage with the Goths is mentioned : vix puberibus pater sub annis objectus Geticifl puer catenis, beUorum mora, foederis sequester. The most important fragment is that of the Panegyric on the third consul- ship of Aetius (a.d. 446) with a Preface in prose. He refers to his exploits against the Armorici (1. 8) : lustrat Aremoricos iam mitior incola saltus ; 5 There was another contemporary poet, Quintianus a Ligurian, who also sang the praises of Aetius, Sidonius, c. ix. 289 sqq.