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Prudentius' Contra Symmachum, Book II Introduction, Translation and Commentary

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Prudentius' Contra Symmachum, Book II Introduction, Translation and Commentary Michael Brown NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ------------------------- 201 29877 3 ---------------------------- A thesis submitted to the University of Newcastle upon Tyne for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts June 2003 Declaration I hereby certify that the work in this thesis is my own except where otherwise acknowledged, and has not been submitted previously at this or any other university. Michael Brown Abstract Prudentius' Contra Symmachum contains a refutation of Symmachus' plea for the retaining of the altar of Victory in the Senate house at Rome which had been removed in 357 and then, after its restoration, probably under Julian, was removed again in 382. Symmachus made a plea for its return in 384 in his Relatio 3. Ambrose wrote two letters (Ep. 17 and 18) urging the emperor to reject Symmachus plea. It is not certain whether the altar was ever returned to the Senate house. It was this debate with Symmachus which Prudentius sought to portray in verse. This he does in the second book of the poem which is the book to be considered here. The first book while mentioning Symmachus, is a routine attack on the pagan gods of Rome and an account of how paganism was overthrown by the emperor Theodosius resulting in Rome adopting Christianity. There has been much debate over whether the two books were conceived as a single composition. This issue is examined again and the conclusion is reached, by a study of the text, that, while Prudentius had it in mind to produce a work of anti-pagan polemic as part of his compendium covering various aspects of Christian life, the work was produced as a whole in 402. It is argued, following ideas expressed by Dopp, that part of Prudentius aim was to celebrate a Christian concept of victory which would replace the cult that Symmachus had defended. I also examine the relationship between Prudentius and the works of Claudian to show how if not in opposition to him Prudentius was at least attempting an aemulatio which put current events in a Christian perspective. Acknowledgement This project was carried out under the supervision of Professor Philip Van Der Eijk and I would like to thank him for his patience and encouragement. List of Contents Introduction 1 Prudentius: his life and work 2 Dating of the Contra Symmachum 3 The issue 4 The purpose for Prudentius writing the Contra Symmachum 8 The relationship between the two books of the Contra Symmachum 8 The audience of the Contra Symmachum 18 Genre 20 Sources 21 Structure 23 Text 25 Abbreviations 28 A note on the translation 29 Translation 30 Commentary 84 Bibliography 326 Introduction The purpose of this thesis has been to examine the second book of Prudentius' Contra Symmachum and by a close consideration of the text to resolve some of the issues raised by recent research on the poem. When I started this project I was not aware of another major commentary on this poem but as I began I became aware of the commentary by Giovanni Garuti on both books, published in 1996. I have taken account of his observations in writing this commentary. As Garutis work covers both books I hope that my commentary on only the second book is able to go into matters somewhat more deeply. My method was to look at the poem and reach my own conclusions about its purpose and significance. I then investigated the secondary literature and have included insights I found there. In using German articles, I was helped by my tutor, Professor Philip Van Der Eijk who has provided me with a synopsis of the main points. By close study of the text I have tried to provide an understanding of the relationship of this poem to the rest of his output, and to other late antique Christian and pagan literature, especially with regard to Claudian, the most eminent Latin poet of the age. Many times in the commentary I draw attention to passages which appear to echo Claudian either through verbal or structural similarities. Although most of these parallel passages have been noted by others and especially Bergman in his 1926 edition, I have not found a systematic analysis of their significance and this I have sought to do. It is well-known 2 that Prudentius often alluded to earlier authors and the significance of these passages is also examined. I hope thus to provide an appreciation of the poem which was not available until now. I believe that the key to understanding its purpose is to keep in mind Prudentius' intended audience. In so doing I seek to show that questions about the unity and date of the poem as a whole, which have been much discussed in recent decades, can be resolved. 1) Prudentius: his life and work Aurelius Prudentius Clemens offers us an outline of his life and career in the Praefatio (1-3, 24) to his collected works. He says that he is writing in his fifty-seventh year and that he was born in the consulship of Salia1. As this was in 348, we can say that the preface was written in 404 or 405 depending on when his birthday was and how far into his fifty-seventh year he was when he composed it. He speaks of an education in rhetoric (8-9) and then a career in the law (13-15) before he was twice a city governor (16-18) and he was finally given an unspecified imperial honour which he calls stare in ordine proximo (21). This can be taken to mean that he was made a comes primi ordinis': the emperor Theodosius was fond of relying on his fellow Spaniards in positions of influence". Now in his retirement he has taken to writing poetry as a form of penance for his misspent years (36). That he is Spanish is assumed from references in the 1 Flavius Salia Mag. Equ.344-348 cos 348 Cf. Prosopographv ofthe Later Roman Empire Vo!.l (ed. A.H.M. Jones) Cambridge 1971 p. 796 2 cf. Thomson (1949) viii 3 Peristephanon: Bergman summarises the evidence". Cunningham' draws attention to Prudentius account of how certain personal difficulties were overcome by prayer at the shrine of the martyr Cassian on his way to Rome (Per. 9.1-8, 101-05). This is all the biographical information we find in his works. The poems of Prudentius are arranged under seven titles with an additional preface and epilogue to the whole collection. The Contra Symmachum is the only one of the titles written in hexameters to contain two books. 2) Dating of the Contra Symmachum In book two, Prudentius speaks about Stilichos battle against Alaric at Pollentia but he makes no mention of the later battle of Verona between the same opponents. Thus it is reasonable to assume that the poem was completed between the two battles. Garuti6 suggests that it may have been completed after the battle of Verona as there would not be much time otherwise between the two battles to write the poem. Pollentia is generally held to have taken place on Easter day 402 and Verona in the summer of 402 or possibly 3 Matthews (1975) 132-36 4 cf. Prolegomena ix,x. At Per.2.537-540 speaking of the Roman martyr, Lawrence, Prudentius writes nos Vasco Hiberus dividit/binis remotos Alpibus/trans Cottianorum iuga/trans et Pyrenas ninguidos, from which it can be deduced he is Spanish. His precise town of origin is more difficult to decide as he calls three towns nostra: Tarraco (Per.6.143), Calagurris (Per.4.31) and Caesaraugusta (Per.4.142). Bergman weighs the evidence and thinks Caesaraugusta (modem Saragossa) is the most likely to be his native town. Whichever of these three towns it was they are all in the Pyrenees region of Spain. 5 Cunningham (1976) 56. 6 op. cit p. 25 4 7 403 . Prudentius invites Honorius to hold a triumph in Rome (C.S. 2.731ff), something which he did in the autumn of 403, staying there until July 404 8. If Prudentius wrote the Contra Symmachum for a Roman audience, it is unlikely to have been read in Honorius presence for the reasons noted by Harries below. It also seems rather odd, despite Garuti, that Prudentius would have resisted the opportunity to mention the victory of Verona, if only very briefly. For these reasons, I would suggest that it was written and published before Honorius' visit to Rome". Symmachus' death in 402 10 could also have been a spur to his writing the poem: maybe Prudentius words about fearing to face Syrnmachus' oratory were more than just literary convention and that he chose to write only when Symmachus was dead or at least gravely ill. 3) The issue The Contra Symmachum is concerned with the dispute over the altar of Victory in the senate-house in Rome. There was also a statue of Victory, which was not involved in the controversy. After the battle of Actium, Augustus had this statue, which had been captured by the Romans at Tarentum11, placed in the entrance to the Curia of the Senate. Before it was placed an altar at which every senator was expected to burn a few grains of incense before taking his place in the hall 12. Every year on the 3rd of January the senate made their vow of loyalty to the emperor and prayed for his health and for the well-being 7 Barnes (1976) 375-76 argues for the summer of 403.
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