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

144 AULINU S. PAULINUS.
tioned by Isidorus (De Viris Illslir. c. 4), but was charged the duties of the office in peace until his
not known to exist in an entire form until it was death, which took place in A. D. 431.
discovered by Mingarelli in a very ancient MS. be- The above sketch contains a narrative of all the
longing to the library of St. Salvator at Bologna, facts which can be ascertained with regard to this
and inserted by him in the Anecdola published at father, but to what extent these may be eked out
Bologna, 4to. 1751, vol. ii. pt. 1, p. 199. A cor- by laborious conjecture will be seen upon referring
rupt fragment of this tract will be found in the to biography compiled by Le Brun. The story
fifth volume of the Benedictine edition of St. Jerome, told in the dialogues of St. Gregory, that Paulinus
where it is ascribed to Rufinus. having given away all his possessions, made a
The three productions enumerated above are journey into Africa, and sold himself into slavery,
placed togetherin the Bibliotlheca Patruns of Galland, in order to ransom the son of a poor widow, has,
fol. Venet. 1773, vol. ix. p. 23. (Cassianus, de upon chronological and other considerations, been
Incarn. c. 7; Isidorus, de Viris Illstr. 4; Galland, generally rejected as a fable, as well as numerous
Bibl. Patr. vol. ix. Proleg. c. ii.; Schinemann, Bibl. legends contained in the histories of the Saints.
Patrum Lat. vol. ii. ~ 21.) The following works of PaulinuLs, all composed
2. MEROPIUS PONTIUS ANICIUS PAULINUS, after he had quitted public life, are still extant,
bishop of Nola in the early part of the fifth century, consisting of Epistolae, Ccnarmina, and a very short
and hence generally designated Paulinuzs Arolanus, tract entitled Passio S. Genesii Arelatensis.
was born at Bourdeaux, or at a neighbouring town, 1. Epistolae. Fifty, or, as divided in some ediwhich he calls EmbS romaguin, about the year A. D. tions, fifty-one letters, addressed to Sulpicius Se353. Descended from illustrious parents, the in- verus, to Delphinus bishop of Bordeaux, to Augusheritor of ample possessions, gifted by nature with tine, to Rufinus, to Eucherius, and to many other
good abilities, which were' cultivated with affec- friends upon different topics, some being complitionate assiduity by his preceptor, the poet Ausonius mentary, others relating entirely to domestic affairs,
[AusoNius], he entered life under the fairest while the greater number are of a serious cast, being
auspices, was raised to the rank of consul suffectus, designed to explain some doctrine, to inculcate some
before he had attained to the age of twenty-six, precept, or to convey information upon some point
and married a wealthy lady named Therasia, whose connected with religion. Neither in style nor in
disposition and tastes seem to have been in perfect substance can they be regarded as of much importharmony with his own. After many years spent ance or interest, except in so far as they afford a
in the enjoyment of worldly honours, Paulinus be- fair specimen of the familiar correspondence of
came convinced of the truth of Christianity, was churchmen at that epoch, and convey a very pleasbaptized by Delphinus, bishop of Bourdeaux, in ing impression of the writer. The most elaborate
A. D. 389, distributed large sums to the poor, and are the twelfth (to Amandus), which treats of the
passed over with his wife to Spain. The death of Fall and the Atonement, the thirtieth (to Sulpicins
an only child, which survived its birth eight days, Severus) on the Inward and Outward Man, and
with perhaps other domestic afflictions concerning the forty-second (to Florentius, bishop of Cahors)
which we are imperfectly informed, seem to have on the Dignity and Merits of Christ; the most
confirmed the dislike with which he now regarded curious is the thirty-first (to Severus) on the Inthe business of the world. After four years passed vention of the True Cross; the most lively is the
in retirement he resolved to withdraw himself en- forty-ninth (to Macarius) on a famous miracle pertirely from the society of his friends, to apply his formed by St. Felix. A summary of each epistle
wealth to religious purposes, and to dedicate the is to be found in Funccius, and longer abstracts in
remainder of his life to works of piety. This de- Dupin.
termination, while it called forth the earnest re- 2. Carminza. Thirty-two in number, composed
monstrances of his kindred, excited the most lively in a great variety of metres. Of these, the most
admiration among all classes of the devout, and the worthy of notice are the birthday addresses to St.
dignity of Presbyter was almost forced upon his Felix in heroic hexameters, composed regularly on
acceptance by the enthusiasm of the populace at the festival of the saint, and forming a series which
Barcelona (A. D. 393). He did not, however, re- embraces so complete an account of the career and
main to exercise his clerical functions in this pro- achievements of that holy personage, that Bede was
vince, but crossed the Alps into Italy. Passing enabled from these documents alone to compile a
through Florence, where he was greeted with much prose narrative of his life. We have besides paracordiality by Ambrose, he proceeded to Rome, and, phrases of three psalms, the 1st, 2d, and 136th;
after meeting with a cold reception from Pope Epistles to Ausonius and to Gestidius, two Preca
Siricius, wvho probably looked with suspicion on the tiones AlJatutinae, De S. Joanne Bapjtista C/1risti
hasty irregularity of his ordination, reached Nola, Praecone et Legato, in 330 hexameters; an elegy on
in Campania, where he possessed some property, the death of a boy named CELsUS; an epithalasoon after Easter A. D. 394. In the immediate mium on the nuptials of Julianus and Ia [JULIANUS
vicinity of this city were the tomb and miracle- ECLANENSIS], Ad Nicetam -edleuntem in Daciam,
working relics of Felix, a confessor and martyr, Ad Joviems de Nolana Ecclesia, Ad Antoniumz
over which a church had been erected with a few contra Paganos, while the list has been recently
cells for the accommodation of pilgrims. In these swelled by Mai from the MSS. of the Vatican, by
Paulinus, with a small number of followers, took up the addition of two poems, which may however be
his abode, conforming in all points to the observances regarded with some suspicion; the one inscribed
of monastic establishments, except that his wife Ad Deuan post Conversionoem et Baptisaman
appears to have been his companion. After nearly susn, the other De suis Domesticis Calamilatildos.
fifteen years passed in holy meditations and acts of As in the case of the Epistolae, the above alre
charity, he was chosen bishop of Nola in A. D. 409 differently arranged in different editions. Thus
(or according to Pagi, A. D. 403), and when the the Natalitia are sometimes condensed into thirstormy inroad of the Goths had passed away, dis- teen, sometimes expanded into fifteen; and in like