The Complete Works of Claudian: Translated with an Introduction and Notes

444 Pages·2022·13.734 MB·English

by  Neil Bernstein

THE COMPLETE WORKS OF
CLAUDIAN
T his volume offers a modern, accurate, and accessible translation of Claudian’s
work, published in English for the first time since 1922, and accompanied by
detailed notes and a comprehensive glossary.
C laudian (active 395–404 CE) was the last of the great classical Latin
poets. His best-known work, The Rape of Proserpina , continues to inspire
numerous retellings and adaptations. Claudian also wrote poems in praise
of rulers, including the emperor Honorius and the regent Flavius Stilicho,
which are essential sources for reconstructing politics and society in the late
Roman empire. These poems and others are translated here, alongside an
introduction offering an overview of Claudian’s career, the wider historical
and political context of the period, and the poetic traditions in which
Claudian wrote: mythological epic, panegyric, invective, and epithalamium.
The translations, with explanatory notes, include: The Rape of Proserpina,
Panegyric on Olybrius and Probinus’s Consulship, Panegyrics on Honorius’s
Third, Fourth , and Sixth Consulships, I nvective Against Rufinus, F escennines
and Epithalamium for Honorius and Maria, T he War With Gildo, P anegyric
on Manlius Theodorus’s Consulship, I nvective Against Eutropius, S tilicho’s
Consulship, T he Gothic War , and shorter poems.
T he Complete Works of Claudian is a vital resource for students and
scholars working on late antique literature, particularly Claudian’s work, as
well as those studying the history and culture of the western Roman Empire
in this period. This accessible volume is also suitable for the general reader
interested in the works of Claudian and this period more broadly.
N eil W. Bernstein (Professor, Classics and Religious Studies, Ohio
University) is the author of several books on imperial Latin poetry, including
S ilius Italicus: Punica 9 (2022), Silius Italicus: Rome’s War With Hannibal
(with Antony Augoustakis, 2021), and S eneca: Hercules Furens (2017).
ROUTLEDGE LATER LATIN POETRY
Edited by Joseph Pucci
Brown University, USA
The R outledge Later Latin Poetry series provides English translations of the
works of those poets writing in Latin between the fourth and the eighth cen-
turies inclusive. It responds to the increasing interest in later Latin authors
and especially the growth in courses devoted to late antiquity. Books in the
series are designed to provide comprehensive coverage to support students
studying later Latin poetry and to introduce the material to those wishing to
read these important and often under translated works in English.
The RLLP is devoted to publishing creative, accessible translations. Each
volume is self-contained: introductory material contextualizes the life and
output of the poet in question, and includes manuscript and editorial details;
some discussion of metrics and Latinity; and a sense of how the work being
translated might be interpreted (including where possible the scholarly
history of the same). This section concludes, as need be, with maps and a
list of any editorial changes made by the translator to the established Latin
text. At the conclusion of each volume, in addition to endnotes and a works
cited list, there is a general index that, beyond allowing readers to negoti-
ate content, also serves as a glossary of names, dates, figures, places and
events. Volumes hew, as much as possible, to line-for-line versions of the
Latin original, so that those who come to the translations with a knowledge
of Latin can orient their reading with the original.
By offering English translations of later Latin poetry with comprehensive
supporting material the series enables a greater understanding of late antiquity
through one of its most important literary outputs. The poems are significant
sources for the culture, religion and daily life of the period and clear and imag-
inative translations also offer readers the chance to appreciate their quality.
THE COMPLETE WORKS OF CLAUDIAN
Translated with an Introduction and Notes
Neil W. Bernstein
For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Later-Latin-Poetry/book-series/LLP
THE COMPLETE
WORKS OF CLAUDIAN
Translated with an Introduction and Notes
Neil W. Bernstein
Cover image: L ’enlèvement de Proserpine, Peter Paul Rubens (c. 1636).
Historic Images/Alamy Stock Photo
F irst published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
a nd by Routledge
6 05 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
R outledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Neil W. Bernstein
T he right of Neil W. Bernstein to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
T rademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-367-37364-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-41678-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-35334-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429353345
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
I N MEMORIAM OPTIMI PATRIS
LEONARD S. BERNSTEIN (1941–2016) ל״ז
CARISSIMIS AMATISSIMISQUE FEMINIS
Y I-TING WANG, DANIELLE, HANNAH,
ET ISABELLE BERNSTEIN

CONTENTS

Preface and Acknowledgements x
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Claudian’s Career 1
1.2 Mythology and Religion 5
1.3 Roman History and Legend 8
1.4 Roman Panegyric and Invective 11
1.5 About This Translation 14
1.6 Chronology 17
1.7 Concordance 20
2 The Rape of Proserpina 22
Introduction 22
The Rape of Proserpina 26
The Rape of Proserpina, Book 1 26
The Rape of Proserpina, Book 2 37
The Rape of Proserpina, Book 3 48
3 Panegyric on Olybrius and Probinus’s Consulship
and Letters to Olybrius and Probinus 63
Introduction 63
Olybrius and Probinus’s Consulship 64
Letter to Olybrius (Shorter Poems 40) 73
Letter to Probinus (S horter Poems 41) 74
vii
CONTENTS
4 Panegyric on Honorius’s Third Consulship 75
Introduction 75
Honorius’s Third Consulship 77
5 Invective Against Rufinus 85
Introduction 85
Invective Against Rufinus, Book 1 91
Invective Against Rufinus, Book 2 104
6 Panegyric on Honorius’s Fourth Consulship 122
Introduction 122
Honorius’s Fourth Consulship 125
7 Wedding Poems. Fescennines and Epithalamium 147
Fescennines Introduction 147
Fescennine 1 148
Fescennine 2 149
Fescennine 3 150
Fescennine 4 151
Epithalamium for Honorius and Maria Introduction 152
E pithalamium for Honorius and Maria 154
8 The War With Gildo 166
Introduction 166
The War With Gildo 171
9 Panegyric on Manlius Theodorus’s Consulship 189
Introduction 189
Manlius Theodorus’s Consulship 192
10 Invective Against Eutropius 204
Introduction 204
Invective Against Eutropius, Book 1 209
Invective Against Eutropius, Book 2 228
viii
CONTENTS
11 Panegyric on Stilicho’s Consulship 249
Introduction 249
Stilicho’s Consulship, Book 1 254
Stilicho’s Consulship, Book 2 266
Stilicho’s Consulship, Book 3 282
12 The Gothic War 294
Introduction 294
The Gothic War 297
13 Panegyric on Honorius’s Sixth Consulship 318
Introduction 318
Honorius’s Sixth Consulship 322
14 In Praise of Serena and Letter to Serena 344
In Praise of Serena ( Shorter Poems 30) 345
Letter to Serena ( Shorter Poems 31) 352
15 Shorter Poems 355
Glossary 397
Bibliography 412
Index 418
ix