The Poems of Optatian: Puzzling out the Past in the Time of Constantine the Great

Cover\nHalftitle page\nAlso available from Bloomsbury\nTitle page\nCopyright page\nDedication\nContents\nFigures\nPreface\nAcknowledgments\nNote on Text, Translation, and Abbreviations\nPart One Introduction\n	1. Life of Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius\n	2. Chronology: Dating the poems\n	3. Themes of the poems\n	4. Formats and techniques of the poems\n	5. The library of Optatian\n	6. Evaluation of the importance of Optatian\nPart Two Letters between Constantine and Optatian [Porfyrius]\n	EPISTULA PORFYRII: DOMINO CONSTANTINO MAXIMO PIO INVICTO ET VENERABILI SEMPER AVGVSTO\n	EPISTULA CONSTANTINI: INVICTVS CONSTANTINVS MAXIMVS AVGVSTVS\nPart Three The Poems of Optatian to Constantine\n	Poem 1: Dedicatory poem\n	Poem 2: Plea for mercy and reference to false accusation\n	Poem 3: Inspiration by the Muses to devise the elaborate designs\n	Poem 4: Poem to mark the twentieth anniversary of Constantine’s reign\n	Poem 5: Foreign victories of Constantine and Crispus; hope for a thirty-year reign\n	Poem 6: Military movements of Constantine’s army in Sarmatia\n	Poem 7: Military victories and peaceful arrangements in Sarmatia\n	Poem 8: Constantine’s descent from Claudius Gothicus and blessing of the Lord\n	Poem 9: Victory palm bestowed by Muses and Apollo on Constantine and his sons\n	Poem 10: Praise for victories of Crispus; descent from Claudius Gothicus\n	Poem 11: Honor for the victories of Constantine, the gentlest and best ruler\n	Poem 12: Constantine as glory of the world and victor in the East\n	Poems 13A and 13B: Praise of pious Constantine; two reversible poems\n	Poem 14: Constantine as sole pacifier of the whole world, from Italy to the Nile\n	Poem 15: Eulogy for Constantius, the father of Constantine; mostly Roman references\n	Poem 16: Praises for Constantine in Latin; some Greek; references to Africa\n	Poem 17: Winding verse patterns inspired by Vergil; considered inauthentic\n	Poem 18: World-wide victories of Constantine, as a grandfather\n	Poem 19: Wishes for forty years of rule for Constantine; naval victory led by Crispus\n	Poems 20A and 20B: Paired shape poems; A, the Senate; B, workings of a water organ\nPart Four The Poems of Optatian to Other Recipients\n	Poem 21: Dedication to Bassus; playing with verses\n	Poem 22: Dedication to Bassus; the winding parts of the poem\n	Poem 23: Warning to Marcus that his spouse is unfaithful\n	Poem 24: A poem addressed to the Holy Trinity; considered inauthentic\n	Poem 25: A proteus poem to be read in multiple combinations\n	Poem 26: A poem of praise, altar shape\n	Poem 27: Poem emulating the shape of panpipes\n	Poem 28: Deaths of young male lovers; Iacchus, Endymion, and Adonis\n	Poem 29: One line, bemoaning being shipwrecked by love\n	Poem 30: Derogatory poem addressed to Quintus\n	Poem of praise to Constantina, daughter of Constantine; inauthentic\nNotes\nBibliography\nGeneral Index\nIndex Locorum