Author Description

The concise critical commentary on Dracontius' 'Carmina christiana' presented here serves to prepare the new Teubner edition announced by R. Jakobi. Following the example of the previous volume that accompanied the Teubner edition of the 'Carmina profana' (UaLG 127, 2017), it aims to clarify controversial passages, heal corrupt ones and explain misunderstood ones. Blossius Aemilius Dracontius, an advocate of senatorial descent in Carthage, was imprisoned by the Vandal king Gunthamund (484-496) for a loyalty offence. During this time, he wrote an elegiac 'penitential poem' (Satisfactio) in 316 verses and three hexametric books De laudibus Dei, which are indebted to late antique biblical poetry (approx. 2,430 verses). The Satisfactio is a poetic plea for mercy that is addressed to both God and the king. The hexametric work praises the benefits that God has shown mankind from the beginning of creation, his fatherly love and his constant willingness to turn anger at human iniquity into gracious mercy. It ends with the poet's confession of guilt and a plea for God's mercy, which should also be understood as an invitation to the king to do the same as the heavenly Lord. The headings inserted in the commentary are intended as a guide: in the sense of an organisation of the structure of the work, they provide information about the respective context in which the text passages dealt with stand. As a rule, these are made accessible for understanding through translations.