CLAUDIAN, CLAUDIUS CLAUDIANUS, a Latin poet of considerable eminence, flourished in the fourth centu ry, under the reigns of the Emperor Theodosius, and his sons A rcadius and Honorius. The place of his birth is not fully ascertained. He has been represented by various authors, as a native of Florence, of Gaul, of Spain ; but the most probable accounts, concurring appa rently with his own testimony, assign to Alexandria, in Egypt, the disputed honour of his nativity. He was patronized by the celebrated general Stilicho, through whose influence he rose to considerable dignity aud im portance. He was made a tribune and notary ; and so highly did he stand in the public esteem, that the senate ordered a statue to be erected in honour of him in the forum of Trajan, with an inscription expressive of their respect for his accomplishments and worth. After the disgrace and execution of his patron, he hastily glutted court, and little is known of his subsequent history. Some spurious pieces, inserted among his poems, have given rise to an opinion that he was converted to Chris tianity; but his own works sufficiently confirm the as sertion of Orosius, that he continued an obstinate Pagan to the last. Lardner, however, quotes him as bearing a remarkable testimony to the victory of the Christian em peror Theodosius in Gaul; a victory which was decided in his favour by a storm, so extraordinary in its effects upon the army of his adversaries, as to have been regard ed by the poet himself as a visible mark of divine in terposition.
Claudia'', with all his inequalities, is entitled to a dis tinguished place among the Latin poets. The classical purity and elegance of his style remind us of the composi tions of the Augustan age; and no poet has approached nearer to Virgil, in the dignity and harmony of his versification. His beauties, however, are at least equal led by his faults. His flights, though occasionally bold and lofty, are seldom sustained; and the reader, after his imagination has been fired by the glowing anima tion of the poet's language, is often cooled, all at once, by his dulness and insipidity. Of his numerous writings, the principal, are his satire against Ruflinus and Eutro pius, the rivals of his patron Stilicho ; his poems in ho nour of Honorius and Stilicho ; his Rape of Proserpina ; the commencement of an Epic Poem, which he never concluded ; his Idyllia and Epigrams. The best editions of his works are, those of Barthius and Heinsius ; Ges ncr, 1759 ; and Burman, 1760. For further information concerning Claudian, the reader may consult Suidas, Fa bricius, and Tillemont. (k)