Both this and the rest of Prudentius’s account reminds us of Augustine’s Confessions. Like Augustine, Prudentius pursued a legal career, ruled by an exuberant spirit and an obstinate desire to win. Like Augustine, he rose to prestigious positions (he was governor of two provinces) and served in the imperial court in Milan. But what good did this do to his life, and what good will it do at his death?

Around 392 AD, 57-year old Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, native of Spain, decided to examine his life. The years had flown by, and he found himself suddenly old. He was, in reality, old according the standards of his time, and his white hair (“the snow on my head”[1]) stood as witness of the many winters that had passed and the many roses that had bloomed. “Have I done anything useful?” he wondered.

His childhood memories were scarce. That time seemed like an endless succession of beatings and tears. The donning of his toga virilis, the white toga of manhood assumed by teenage Roman boys, ushered in a time of vices, lies, and arrogance.

Both this and the rest of Prudentius’s account reminds us of Augustine’s Confessions. Like Augustine, Prudentius pursued a legal career, ruled by an exuberant spirit and an obstinate desire to win. Like Augustine, he rose to prestigious positions (he was governor of two provinces) and served in the imperial court in Milan.

But what good did this do to his life, and what good will it do at his death? Once again, Prudentius reminds us of Augustine, who cried, “Too late have I loved thee, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new!”[2]

Prudentius’s Writings

It was then that Prudentius decided to use his poetic talent to the glory of God. As a result, he published a book of poems for particular times (Cathemerinon, or “Daily Rounds”), a collection of fourteen eulogies of martyrs (Peristephanon, or “Crown of Martyrdom”). and some works on apologetics: Apotheosis (on Christ’s triumph), Hamartigenia (on the origins of evil), and Contra Symmachum (a defense of the Christian faith to pagans).

He also penned the first epic Christian poem, the Psychomachia (“Warfare of the Soul”), which continued to be a best-seller in the Middle Ages and might have inspired later authors like John Bunyan. In the Psychomachia, the battle of the soul against sin and temptation takes place in the context of the overarching biblical story of redemption, from Adam to Christ, who triumphs where human beings are defenseless. For example, in her battle against Luxury, Chastity cries out, “A Virgin brought forth a Child. Now where is your power?”

Far from being monotonous, the battle of virtues and vices takes unexpected turns, particularly when vices resort to deceit. Avarice is particularly crafty when she poses as Frugality, hiding “theft and rapine and close-hoarded spoil” under the pretense of “care for our children.”[3] C.S. Lewis points out the novelty of this scene, considering “how rarely we find in classical literature any adequate recognition of the great fact of self-deception.”[4]

Prudentius’s eulogies are generally considered his masterpiece, both for the beauty of his style and the passion of his sentiments. For centuries, Christians had seen martyrdom as the greatest expression of devotion to Christ. For Prudentius, who had been lamenting the vanity of his life, these tributes to martyrs were particularly heart-felt. They also served to create, in a Christian world, a new set of heroes to replace those of classical times.

If Prudentius’s apologetic books are not ranking high among this literary works, they open an interesting window on his life because they show a deep-seated knowledge both of Scriptures and of the heated debates of his day. He had obviously been a Christian for some time (probably from youth, since he never mentioned a conversion), and an informed Christian at that.

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