A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

CLAUDIANUS.
Apollinaris (Epist. ix. 13), and certain expressions
in his own works (e. g. Epist. v. 3, i. 39, 56). It
has been maintained by some that he was a Gaul,
and by others that he was a Spaniard; but neither
of these positions is supported by even a shadow
of evidence, while the opinion advanced by Petrarch and Politian, that he was of Florentine extraction, arose from their confounding the Florentinus addressed in the introduction to the second
book of the Raptus Proserpinae, and who was
praefectus urbi in A. D. 396, with the name of
their native city. We are entirely ignorant of the
parentage, education, and early career of Claudian,
and of the circumstances under which he quitted
his country. We find him at Rome in 395, when
he composed his panegyric on the consulate of Probinus and Olybrius. He appears to have cultivated poetry previously, but this was his first
essay in Latin verse, and the success by which it
was attended induced him to abandon the Grecian
for the Roman muse. (Epist. iv. 13.) During
the five years which immediately followed the
death of Theodosius, he was absent from Rome,
attached, it would appear, to the retinue of Stilicho
(de Cons. Stilich. praef. 23), under whose special
protection he seems to have been received almost
immediately after the publication of the poem
noticed above. We say after, because he makes
no mention of the name of the all-powerful Vandal
in that composition, where it might have been
most naturally and appropriately introduced in
conjunction with the exploits of Theodosius, while
on all subsequent occasions he eagerly avails himself of every pretext for sounding the praises of his
patron, and expressing his own fervent devotion.
Nor was he less indebted to the good offices of
Serena than to the influence of her husband. He
owed, it is true, his court favour and preferment to
the latter, but by the interposition of the former
he gained his African bride, whose parents, although they might have turned a deaf ear to the
suit of a poor poet, were unable to resist the solicitations of the niece of Theodosius, the wife of the
general who ruled the ruler of the empire. The
following inscription, discovered at Rome in the
fifteenth century, informs us that a statue of
Claudian was erected in the Forum of Trajan by
Arcadius and Honorius at the request of the
senate, and that he enjoyed the titles of Notarius
and Tribunus, but the nature of the office, whether
civil or military, denoted by the latter appellation
we are unable to determine:CL. CLAUDIANI V. C. CL. CLAUDIANO V. C.
TRIBUNO ET NOTARIO INTER CETERAS VIGENTES
ARTES PRAEGLORIOSISSIMO POETARUM LICET AD
MEMORIAM SEMPITERNAM CARMINA AB EODEMx
SCRIPTA SUFFICIANT ADTAMEN TESTIMONJI GRATIA OB JUDICII SUI FIDEM DD. N N. ARCADIUS
ET HONORIUS FILICISSIMI AC DOCTISSIMI IMPERATORES SENATU PETENTE STATUAM IN FORO
DIvi TRAJANI ERIGI COLLOCARIQUE JUSSERUNT.
The close of Claudian's career is enveloped in
the same obscurity as its commencement. The
last historical allusion in his writings is to the 6th
consulship of Honorius, which belongs to the year
404.. That he may have been involved in the
misfortunes of Stilicho, who was put to death in
408, and may have retired to end his days in his
native country, is a probable conjecture, but nothing more. The idea that he at this time became
exposed to thle enmity of the powerful and viundic

CLAUDIANUS.

763

tive Hadrian, whom he had provoked by the
insolence of wit, and who with cruel vigilance had
watched and seized the opportunity of revenge,
has been adopted by Gibbon with less than his
usual caution. It rests upon two assumptions
alike incapable of proof-first, that by Pharius,
whose indefatigable rapacity is contrasted in an epigram (xxx.) with the lethargic indolence of Mallius, the poet meant to indicate the praetorian
prefect, who was a native of Egypt; and secondly,
that the palinode which forms the subject of one
of his epistles refers to that effusion, and is addressed to the same person.
The religion of Claudian, as well as that of
Appuleius, Ausonius, and many of the later Latin
writers, has been a theme of frequent controversy.
There is, however, little cause for doubt. It is
impossible to resist the explicit testimony of St.
Augustin (de Civ. Dei, v. 26), who declares that
he was " a Christi nomine alienus," and of Orosius,
who designates him as " Poeta quidem eximius
sed paganus pervicacissimus." The argument for
his Christianity derived from an ambiguous expression, interpreted as an admission of the unity of
God (in. Cons. Honor. 96), is manifestly frivolous,
and the Greek and Latin hymns appended to most
editions of his works are confessedly spurious.
That his conscience may have had all the pliancy
of indifference on religious topics is probable
enough, but we have certainly nothing to adduce
against the positive assertions of his Christian contemporaries.
The works of Claudian now extant are the fol
lowing: 1. Three panegyrics on the third, fourth
and sixth consulships of Honorius respectively.
2. A poem on the nuptials of Honorius and Maria,
3. Four short Fescennine lays on the same subject.
4. A panegyric on the consulship of Probinus and
Olybrius, with which is interwoven a description
of the exploits of the emperor Theodosius. 5. The
praises of Stilicho, in two books, and a panegyric
on his consulship, in one book. 6. The praises of
Serena, the wife of Stilicho: this piece,is mutilated
or was left unfinished. 7. A panegyric on the
consulship of Flavius Mallius Theodorus. 8. The
Epithalamium of Palladius and Celerina. 9. An
invective against Rufinus, in two books. 10. An
invective against Eutropius, in two books. 11. De
Bello Gildonico, the first book of an historical poem
on the war in Africa against Gildo. 12. De Bello
Getico, an historical poem on the successful campaign of Stilicho against Alaric and the Goths,
concluding with the battle of Pollentia. 13. Raptus Prosespinae, three books of an unfinished epic
on the rape of Proserpine. 14. Gigantonmachia, a
fragment extending to a hundred and twenty-eight
lines only. 15. Ten lines of a Greek poem on the
same subject, perhaps a translation by some other
hand from the former. 16. Five short epistles;
the first of these is a sort of prayer, imploring forgiveness for some petulant attack. It is usually
inscribed "Deprecatio ad Hadrianum Praefectum
Praetorio," but from the variations in the manuscripts this title appears to be merely the guess of
some transcriber. The remaining four, which are
very brief, are addressed-to Serena, to Olybrius,
to Probinus, to Gennadius. 17. Eidyhiza, a collection of seven poems chiefly on subjects connected
with natural history, as may be seen by their titles,
Phoenix, Hystrix, Torpedo, Niluzs, Magynes, Aponus,
Dc Piis Frairibus. 18. A collection of short occa