Prudentius
Also: Aurelius Prudentius Clemens
Born in 348, perhaps in Calagurris (now Calahorra, Spain). Died perhaps between 405 and 413; the place is not known.
A Spanish lawyer and governor who left public life and became the greatest Latin Christian poet of late antiquity.
Wrote in Latin.
Places lived
- 401 to 403Roma (now Rome, Italy)visityears not sure, place probable
Works
2 works, in the order they were written. 1 work can be read here.
- Cathemerinon (Hymns for the Day)Twelve long hymns for the hours of the day and the feasts of the year.not yet on the site
- Psychomachia (The Battle for the Soul)An epic in which the virtues fight the vices for the human soul; the first full allegory in western writing.10,747 words
How we know the dates and places
- Born sure
- Prudentius, Praefatio 24 (born in the consulship of Salia, 348); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudentius
- Place of birth not sure
- Peristephanon 1 and 4; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudentius
He was born in Hispania Tarraconensis. The town is disputed: Calagurris, Caesaraugusta (Zaragoza) or Tarraco (Tarragona). - Died not sure
- His Praefatio is dated 405 and nothing later is known; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudentius
- Place of death not known
- No ancient source; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prudentius says probably in Spain
- Roma, years not sure
- Peristephanon 9, 11 and 12 tell of a journey to Rome; the years are a modern estimate (A.-M. Palmer, Prudentius on the Martyrs, 1989)
- Roma, place probable
- Peristephanon 9, 11, 12; Pleiades https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/423025 (name and coordinates, checked 2026-10-12)