Saint Orientius was a Christian
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
poet of the fifth century.
Biography and work
He wrote the
elegiac The adjective ''elegiac'' has two possible meanings. First, it can refer to something of, relating to, or involving, an elegy or something that expresses similar mournfulness or sorrow. Second, it can refer more specifically to poetry composed in ...
poem ''
Commonitorium
The ' or ''Commonitory'' is a 5th-century Christian treatise written after the council of Ephesus under the pseudonym "" and attributed to Vincent of Lérins. Has good notes. It is known for Vincent's famous maxim: "Moreover, in the Catholic Churc ...
'' of 1036 verses (divided into two books) describing the way to heaven, with warnings against its hindrances. He was a
Gaul
Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
(II, 184), who had been converted after a life of sin (I, 405 sq.), was evidently an experienced pastor, and wrote at a time when his country was being devastated by the
invasion of barbarians.
All this points to his identification with Orientius,
Bishop of Augusta Ausciorum (
Auch
Auch (; oc, label= Gascon, Aush ) is a commune in southwestern France. Located in the region of Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers department. Auch is the historical capital of Gascony.
Geography
Localization
Hydrography
The Riv ...
), who as a very old man was sent by
Theodoric I
Theodoric I ( got, Þiudarīks; la, Theodericus; 390 or 393 – 20 or 24 June 451) was the King of the Visigoths from 418 to 451. Theodoric is famous for his part in stopping Attila (the Hun) at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in 451, wher ...
, King of the
Goths
The Goths ( got, 𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌸𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰, translit=''Gutþiuda''; la, Gothi, grc-gre, Γότθοι, Gótthoi) were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe ...
, as ambassador to the Roman generals
Flavius Aëtius
Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...
and
Litorius Litorius (died 439) was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire serving as Magister militum per Gallias mainly in Gaul under magister militum Flavius Aetius (from 435 until his death). Litorius is noted for being the last R ...
in 439 ("Vita S. Orientii" in "Acta SS.", I May, 61).
Catholic Encyclopedia: Auch
/ref>
The Commonitorium quotes classical Roman poets —Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...
, Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
, Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His s ...
— and is perhaps influenced by Prudentius
Aurelius Prudentius Clemens () was a Roman citizen, Roman Christianity, Christian poet, born in the Roman Empire, Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Classical Literature'' (1967) p. 508 He prob ...
. It exists in only one manuscript (Cod. Ashburnham. sæc. X), and is followed by some shorter anonymous poems not by Orientius, and by two prayers in verse attributed to him.
The first complete edition was published by Martène, ''Veterum Scriptorum Monumenta'', I (Rouen, 1700); then by Andrea Gallandi
Andrea Gallandi (born at Venice, 7 December 1709; died there 12 January 1779, or 1780) was an Italian Oratorian and patristic scholar.
Life
He pursued his theological and historical studies under two Dominicans, Daniello Concina, a moralist, a ...
, ''Bibliotheca veterum Patrum'', X (Venice, 1774), 185–96, reprinted by J.P. Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a u ...
in ''Patrologia Latina
The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...
'' 61.977-1006. The best modern edition is by Ellis in the '' Corpus Scriptorum Eccl. Latinorum'' XVI (Vienna, 1888): "Poetæ Christiani minores", I, 191–261.
Sources
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References
{{Authority control
5th-century Latin writers
Bishops of Auch
Gallo-Roman saints
5th-century bishops in Gaul
5th-century Roman poets