The Last Poets of Imperial Rome

by Harold Isbell (Translator), Various

Book by Various

Genres: Poetry, Roman, Classics

302 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 1983

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a time of provinces, barbarians, Christians. Best: Ausonius, Moselle. Most interesting: Paulinas.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A selection of late imperial poetry which goes beyond the strictly imperial Roman period to include a couple by Columba and Alcuin. Favourites were Decimus Ausonius, The Moselle; Rutilius Namatianus, Concerning his Return (giving quite a feel for a ravaged western late antique world) and Paulinus of Pella (a rather hard life at that time and place). This has not been re-published by Penguin since the 1970’s for some reason.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

My star rating is based on the readability of the translation and selection here given, not on accuracy; I have not compared the texts with the Latin, so I cannot say how well Isbell translated on that count. However, the translations are very readable, verse renderings of some of the most important Latin poems of Late Antiquity, so straightaway I want to recommend this book; anything that can promote the final years of Roman rule as more than mere 'decline' or the beginning of a 'Dark Age' is welcome.

After a general introduction to the period and the poetry, Isbell gives us a series of poems from the 200s all the way, oddly, to Alcuin. Each poet/poem is given his/its own introduction as well. Some of the material is, unsurprisingly, outdated, since the study of the Later Roman Empire has not stood still since the volume was first published in 1971. However, this anthology is recent enough that Isbell doesn't scorn the poets and poetry of the age, which is refreshing.

The works contained herein are:

Nemesianus (c. 283-4): 'The Hunt' (Cynegetica)
Anon., 3rd/4th c: 'The Night Watch of Venus' (Pervigilium Veneris)
Ausonius (310-395): 'Bissula', 'Mosella', and 'The Crucifixion of Cupid' (Cupido Cruciator)
Anon., 4th c.: 'On the Freshly Blooming Roses' (De rosis nascentibus)
Claudian (370-405): 'The Rape of Proserpine' (De raptu Proserpinae) and 'Epithalamium for Honorius Augustus and Maria, Daughter of Stilicho' (Epithalamium de nuptiis Honorii Augusti)
Prudentius (348-405): 'Praefatio', 'Psychomachia', 'Cathemerinon', and 'Epilogus' (Isbell notes that this last is not likely by Prudentius)
Rutilius Claudius Namatianus: 'Concerning His Return' (De reditu suo) from 416
Paulinus of Pella (376-459): 'Thanksgiving' (Eucharisticos)
Boethius (480-524): a selection from The Consolation of Philosophy, Book 3, about Orpheus and Eurydice
Columba (521-597): 'In Praise of the Father' (Altus Prosator)
Alcuin (735-804): 'The Dispute Between Winter and Spring' (Conflictus Veris et Hiemis)

The volume closes with a 'Glossary and Index of Names'.

As I say, this covers most of the major Latin poets and poems of the era. It thus serves as a good introduction to the work of the period, and I would encourage the reader who enjoys any of these poets to seek out their wider works if they exist; most of them can be found in the Loeb Classical Library.

One final thought: if this were to be reissued, I would like to see the final three poets cut (as much as I like them all, and as much as I could see a case made for Boethius) and have Sidonius added as well as one hymn from St Ambrose -- maybe also something from Paulinus of Nola. That would give us a better selection and restrict all of our poets to Imperial Rome as the title claims.

[Caomhghain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in simultaneously with Jack Lindsays Songs from a Falling World. Both involve the 'late' Latin poets, those who wrote from the late imperial to early Medieval. The cutoff (Columba) is arbitrary since fine Latin poetry continued to be written for many centuries.
Unlike Vaughan nearly all of the translations are complete which is wonderful for many of the poems where Vaughan's excerpts cannot give a strong feel for the work. The translations are adequate and the apparatus (basically biographies) suffices without providing any real background.