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BORDEAUX (Town) GIRONDE
Exsuperius, descended from a family of Bordeaux, was professor of rhetoric first at Toulouse, and subsequently at Narbonne, where he became the preceptor of Flavius Julius Delmatius. and of his brother Hannibalianus, who, after their elevation, procured for their instructor the dignity of Praeses Hispaniae. Having acquired great wealth, lie retired to pass the remainder of his life in tranquillity at Cahors (Cadurca). He is known to us only from a complimentary address by Ausonius, who calls upon him to return and shed a lustre upon the city of his ancestors. (Auson. Prof. xvii.)
Ausonius, who in the oldest MSS. is entitled Decimus Magnus Ausonius, although the first
two names are found neither in his own poems, nor in the epistle addressed to
him by Symmachus, nor in the works of any ancient author, was born at Bourdeaux
in the early part of the fourth century. His father, Julius Ausonius, who followed
the profession of medicine, appears to have been a person of high consideration,
since he was at one period invested with the honorary title of praefect of Illyricum;
but there is no ground for the assertion of Scaliger, frequently repeated even
in the most recent works, that he acted as physician in ordinary to the emperor
Valentinian. If we can trust the picture of the parent drawn by the hand of the
son, he must have been a very wonder of genius, wisdom, and virtue (Idyll. ii.
passim ; Parental. i. 9, &c.). The maternal grandfather of our poet, Caecilius
Argicius Arborius, being skilled in judicial astrology, erected a scheme of the
nativity of young Ausonius, and the horoscope was found to promise high fame and
advancement (Parental. iv. 17, &c.). The prediction was, in all probability, in
some degree the cause of its own accomplishment. The whole of his kindred took
a deep interest in the boy whose career was to prove so brilliant. His infant
years were sedulously watched by his grandmother, Aemilia Corinthia Maura, wife
to Caecilius Arborius, and by his maternal aunts, Aemilia Hilaria and Aemilia
Dryadia, the former of whom was a holy woman, devoted to God and chastity (Parental.
vi. and xxv.). He received the first rudiments of the Greek and Latin languages
from the most distinguished masters of his native town, and his education was
completed under the superintendence of Aemilius Magnus Arborius, his mother's
brother, who taught rhetoric publicly at Toulouse, and who is named as the author
of an elegy still extant, Ad Nympham nimis cultam (Profess. viii. 12, &c., x.
16, iii. 1, i. 11; Parental. iii. 12, &c.). Upon his return to Bourdeaux he practised
for a while at the bar ; but at the age of thirty began to give instructions as
a grammarian, and not long after was promoted to be professor of rhetoric. The
duties of this office were discharged by him for many years, and with such high
reputation that he was summoned to court in order that he might act as the tutor
of Gratian, son of the emperor Valentinian (Praef. ad Syayr. 15, &c.) Judging
from the honours which were now rapidly showered down upon him, he must have acquitted
himself in his important charge to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. He
received the title of count (comes) and the post of quaestor from Valentinian,
after whose death he was appointed by his pupil praefectus of Latium, of Libya,
and of Gaul, and at length, in the year 379, was elevated to the consulship, thus
verifying to the letter, as Bayle has observed, the apophthegm of Juvenal:
"Si fortuna volet fies de rhetore consul"
The letter of Gratian, conferring the dignity, and the grateful reply of Ausonius,
are both extant. After the death of Gratian he retired from public life, and ended
his days in a country retreat at no great distance from his native city (Epist.
xxiv.), without losing, however, his court favour, for we have direct evidence
that he was patronised by Theodosius. (Praefatiuncula, i.)
The precise dates of the birth and of the death of Ausonius are alike
unknown. That he was born about the beginning of the fourth century, as stated
above, is evident from the fact, that he speaks of himself as far advanced in
years when invested with the consulship (Grat. Act.), and he was certainly alive
in 388, since he refers to the victory of Theodosius over Maximus, and the death
of the "Rutupian robber" (Clar. Urb. vii.).
Judging from the fond terms in which Ausonius speaks of his relations,
the kindly feeling which appears to have been maintained between himself and several
of his pupils, and the warm gratitude expressed by him towards his benefactors,
we should be led to conclude that he was gentle, warm-hearted, and affectionate;
but it is so very easy to be amiable upon paper, that we have perhaps no right
to form any decided opinion upon his character. His religious faith has been the
subject of keen controversy, but there seems to be little difficulty in determining
the question. From his cradle he was surrounded by Christian relatives, he was
selected by a Christian emperor to guide the studies of his Christian son, and
he openly professes Christianity in several of his poems. It is objected: 1. That
his friend and quondam disciple, Pontius Paullinus, the famous bishop of Nola,
frequently upbraids him on account of his aversion to the pure faith. 2. That
several of his pieces are grossly impure. 3. That his works contain frequent allusions
to Pagan mythology, without any distinct declaration of disbelief. 4. That he
was the intimate friend of Symmachus, who was notorious for his hostility to Christianity.
5. That the compositions in which he professes Christianity are spurious. To which
arguments we may briefly reply, that the first falls to the ground, because the
assertion, on which it rests, is entirely false; that if we admit the validity
of the second and third, we might demonstrate half the poets who have lived since
the revival of letters to be infidels; that the fourth proves nothing, and that
the fifth, the rest being set aside, amounts to a petitio principal, since it
is supported by no independent evidence external or internal. His poetical powers
have been variously estimated. While some refuse to allow him any merit whatever,
others contend that had he lived in the age of Augustus, he would have successfully
disputed the palm with the brightest luminaries of that epoch. Without stopping
to consider what he might have become under a totally different combination of
circumstances, a sort of discussion which can never lead to any satisfactory result,
we may pronounce with some confidence, that of all the higher attributes of a
poet Ausonius possesses not one. Considerable neatness of expression may be discerned
in several of his epigrams, many of which are evidently translations from the
Greek; we have a very favourable specimen of his descriptive powers in the Mosella,
perhaps the mest pleasing of all his pieces; and some of his epistles, especially
that to Paullinus (xxiv.) are by no means deficient in grace and dignity. But
even in his happiest efforts we discover a total want of taste both in matter
and manner, a disposition to introduce on all occasions, without judgment, the
thoughts and language of preceding writers, while no praise except that of misapplied
ingenuity can be conceded to the great bulk of his minor effusions, which are
for the most part sad trash. His style is frequently harsh, and in latinity and
versification he is far inferior to Claudian.
His extant works are:
1. Epigrammatum Liber, a collection of 150 epigrams.
2. Ephemeris, containing an account of the business and proceedings of a day.
3. Parentalia, a series of short poems addressed to friends and relations on their
decease. From these Vinet has extracted a very complete catalogue of the kindred
of Ausonius, and constructed a genealogical tree.
4. Professores, notices of the Professors of Bourdeaux, or of those who being
natives of Bourdeaux gave instructions elsewhere.
5. Epitaphia Heroum, epitaphs on the heroes who fell in the Trojan war and a few
others.
6. A metrical catalogue of the first twelve Caesars, the period during which each
reigned, and the manner of his death. 7. Tetrasticha, on the Caesars from Julius
to Elagabalus.
8. Clarae Urbes, the praises of fourteen illustrious cities.
9. Ludus Septem Sapientum, the doctrines of the seven sages expounded by each
in his own person.
10. Idyllia, a collection of twenty poems on different subjects, to several of
which dedications in prose are prefixed. The most remarkable are, Epicedion in
patrem Julium Antonium; Ausonii Villula; Cupido cruci affixus; Mosella ; and the
too celebrated Cento Nuptialis.
11. Eclogarium, short poems connected with the Calendar and with some matters
of domestic computation.
12. Epistolae, twenty-five letters, some in verse, some in prose, some partly
in verse and partly in prose, addressed to various friends.
13. Gratiarum Actio pro Consulatu, in prose, addressed to the emperor Gratian.
14. Periochae, short arguments to each book of the Iliad and Odyssey.
15. Tres Praefatiunculae, one of them addressed to the emperor Theodosius.
The Editio Princeps of Ausonius appeared at Venice in folio, without
a printer's name, in a volume bearing the date 1472, and containing Probae Centones,
the eclogues of Calpurnius, in addition to which some copies have the Epistle
on the death of Drusus and some opuscula of Publius Gregorius Tifernus. It is
extremely scarce. The first edition, in which Ausonius is found separately, is
that edited by J. A. Ferrarius, fol. Mediolan. 1490, printed by Ulderic Scinzenzeller.
The first edition, in which the whole of the extant works are collected in a complete
form, is that of Tadaeus Ugoletus, printed by his brother Angelus, at Parma, 1499.
The first edition, which exhibits a tolerable text, is that of Phil. Junta, Florent.
1517; and the best edition is the Variorum of Tollius, Amstel. 1671.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Hesperius, son of the poet Ausonius by his wife Attusia Lucana Sabina. We have no data for
fixing the year of his birth. He lost his mother while he was young; but his education
was carefully superintended by his father, who wrote "Fasti," for the use of his
son, and inscribed to him his metrical catalogue of the Caesars. Hesperius received,
probably from the emperor Gratian, who was his father's pupil, the proconsulship
of Africa, which he held A. D. 376, and perhaps later. He was one of the persons
appointed to inquire into the malpractices of Count Romanus and his accomplices,
and executed the task with equity, in conjunction with Flavianus, vicarius of
the province. He afterwards held the praetorian praefecture in conjunction (as
we judge from some expressions of Ausonius) with his father. Valesius thinks they
were joint praefecti praetorio Galliarum; Gothofred, that they were joint P. P.
of the whole western empire (comprehending the praefectures of Gaul, Italy, and
Illyrium), but that Ausonius usually resided in Gaul, and Hesperius in Italy.
There are extant several letters of Symmachus addressed to Hesperius; and from
one of these (lib. i. ep. 80) he appears to have been at Mediolanum (Milan), the
usual seat of the P. P. of Italy, but it is not clear that the letter was addressed
to him while he was praefect. Tillemont, who discusses the question in a careful,
but unsatisfactory note, thinks that Ausonius first held the praefecture of Italy
alone, and afterwards that of Gaul, in conjunction with Hesperius. In A. D. 384,
a Count Hesperius (apparently the son of Ausonius), was sent by the emperor Valentinian
H. on a mission to Rome, which he was enabled to see, and bear witness to the
innocence of his friend Symmachus, who, through some unjust accusations, had incurred
discredit at court. Nothing is known of him after this.
Hesperius had at least three sons. One of them, Paulinus, distinguished
as "the Penitent," author of a poem called Eucharisticon or Carmen Eucharisticum
de Vita sua (sometimes ascribed, but incorrectly, to the better known Paulinus
of Nola), was born in Macedonia about A. D. 375 or 376, before his father's proconsulship
of Africa, which renders it not unlikely that Hesperius then held some office
under the Eastern emperor Valens. Another son, Pastor, died young, and is commemorated
in the Parentalia of Ausonius.
(Amm. Marc. xxviii. 6; Symmach. Epist. i. 69-82; Cod. Theod. 6. tit. 30.4; 7.
tit. 18.2; 8 tit. 5.34; tit. 18.6; 10. tit. 20.10; 13. tit. 1.11; tit. 5.15; 15.
tit. 7.3; 16. tit. 5.4, 5; Gothofred, Prosop. Cod. Theodos ; Tillemont, Hist.
des Emp. vol. v.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Dynamius, a legal pleader of Bordeaux known to us through a short poetical memoir in elegiac verse, composed after his decease by his friend Ausonius. From this little piece we learn that Dynamius was compelled to quit his native city in consequence of being charged, not unjustly it would seem, with adultery, that he took refuge under the assumed name of Flavinius at Lerida, where he practised as a rhetorician, and that he there wedded a wealthy Spanish bride. Late in life he paid a short visit to the place of his birth, but soon returned to his adopted country, where he died. (Auson. Prof. xxiii.)
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