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 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, 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 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. 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, ''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