AIISO'NITJS, DECIUS the most conspicuous Roman poet in the 4th c. after Christ, was b. at Burdegala (Bordeaux), about 309 A.D. Sealiger asserts that his father, Julius A.. was.the favorite physician of the emperor Valentinian, but the assertion has no historic basis, so far as we know. He was, however, a man of considerable import ance, having been at one time honorary prefect of Illyrieum, and Ile appears to have taken care that the young A. should receive an excellent education. Many amiable female relatives fostered. and probably flattered the talents of the boy. After finishing his curriculum at Toulouse. he returned to Bordeaux, where, after practicing for a short time at the bar, he turned his attention to literature, and soon distinguished himself as a professor of oratory. Some years later, he was appointed by Valentinian tutor to his son Gratin!); afterwards quinstor, and, by Gratian, prefect of Latium, and subsequently consul of Gaul (379 A.n.). On the death of Gratian, A. retired from public life to his estate at Bordeaux. where he occupied himself with literature and rural pursuits until
the time of his death (392 A.u.). The question whether or not A. was a " Christian," has occasioned much controversy, and remains yet unsettled. His works include translations of Greek eclogues, a collection of 150 epigrams, epistles iu verse, and prose, 20 so-called idyls and other descriptive pieces, which, though admired in their day, are generally worthless, and bear all 11w marks of the corrupted taste prevalent in literature during his time. But though destitute of every true poetic quality, A. occasionally displays a cer tain neatness and grace of expression, which show that, in a better era, be might have proved a greater poet. Besides these, he also wrote a panegyric on the emperor Gratian. full of bombastic phrases and fulsome adulation. Editions of his writings have been given by Scaliger (Leyden, 1575), Tollius (Amsterdam, 1669-1671), and 1730).