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Crowns of Martyrdom

Prudentius, tr. Thackeray, 1890; selections

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Some general remarks have already been made on this branch of Prudentius’ works, which comprises some of his best poetry. The sources from which he drew in composing them were principally these: (1) the Inscriptions and Epitaphs of Pope Damasus; (2) the works of St. Ambrose, prose and verse; (3) the “Acta Martyrum,” and similar narratives, derived mostly from Eusebius of Caesarea, which were publicly read in the churches in Prudentius’ time; (4) sources peculiarly his own, specially in the case of the Spanish martyrs, from the last of whom, in the terrible persecutions under Diocletian, he was removed by a comparatively short interval of time, and also in what he had witnessed himself on his pilgrimage to Rome, and during his visits to the holy places there. In these poems there is an epic tinge which colours the lyrical nature of these hymns very deeply, that is recognized more plainly when they are read in their entirety, than in a selection like the present. Specimens are here given from eight out of the fourteen odes in the “Martyrs’ Garland.” Some of them are the complete poems: often, necessarily from their great length, only portions could be presented. Four of these are on the Spanish and less known martyrs, St. Eulalia, St. Vincentius, St. Fructuosus, and on the less known St. Quirinus, the three last on the Apostles St. Paul and St. Peter, on St Cyprian, and St. Agnes. The lines on St. Romanus are from a poem that stands by itself, on which something will be said in its place.