sh dignity a poet whose works at the Revival
of learning provoked the admiration of Erasmus[1] and the researches of
numerous scholars and editors. But it is undoubtedly to the student of
ecclesiastical history and dogma and to the lovers of Christian art and
antiquities that Prudentius most truly appeals. He claims our interest,
not merely because he reflects the Christian environment of his days, but
because his poetry represents an attempt to preach Christ to a world still
fascinated by Paganism, while conscious that the old order was changing
and yielding place to new.

[1] _Prudentium, unum inter Christianos vere facundum poetam._

NOTES

HYMNS

THE TITLE

The word _Cathemerinon_ is taken from the Greek and is the genitive of
_chathemerina_ "daily things": the whole title _Liber Cathemerinon_
is equivalent to "Book of daily hymns," and may be rendered "Hymns for
the Christian's day."

THE PREFACE

In one or two of the MSS. this introductory poem is stated to be a preface
of the _Cathemerinon_ only: but the great majority of the codices support
the view which is undoubtedly suggested by internal evidence, that the poem
is a general introduction to the whole of Prudentius' works. It is inserted
together with the _Epilogus_ in this volume, because of the intrinsic
interest of both poems.

Line

8 The reference is to the _toga virilis_, the ordinary
white-coloured garb of a Roman citizen who at his sixteenth year
laid aside the purple-edged _toga praetexta_, which was worn
during the days of boyhood.

16 ff. The cities referred to are unknown: but it is probable that
they were two _municipia_ in Northern Spain, and that the office
held by Prudentius was that of duumvir or prefect. Provision was made
by the twenty-fourth clause of the law of Salpensa (a town in the
_provincia Baetica_ of Spain) by which the emperor could be elected
first magistrate of a _municipium_, and could thereupon appoint a
prefect to take his place. This would explain the language of the
text as to the semi-imperial nature of the post. The phrase
_militiae gradus_ need only be taken to indicate advancement in the
_civil_ service. But the words have been interpreted in accordance
with the more familiar and definite meaning