PRUDENTIUS, proo-den'shi-Es, Aurelius Publius Clemens, Christian hymn writer: b. Spain, probably at Saragossa, 348; d. about 410. He practised the profession of an advocate and afterward became a functionary of the gov ernment. From a life of pleasure and worldli ness he was reclaimed by his conversion to Christianity, retired to a cloister in his 57th year and there spent the remainder of his life. It was during these latter years that he wrote the religious poems which have made his repu tation as the greatest Christian poet of the 4th and 5th centuries in the Latin Church. This was the golden age of Latin patristic letters and his contemporaries included Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine. It is quite evident that he was a profound student of classic latinity, for he shows a complete mastery of the epic and lyric metres of Roman literature, and at the same time these poetical works are purely Christian, full of devotional feeling and theological lore. His (Liber Cathemerinon) consists of 12 reli gious poems for daily use; while 'Psychoma chia' is an allegorical description of the strug gle between good and evil in the human soul. 'Peri Stephanon) is a metrical martyrology. Other works by him are 'Apotheosis); 'Ha martigenia) • 'Contra Symmachum' ; and 'Dit tochmon,' the first three being polemic, the last chiefly of archaologic interest. There are many manuscripts of Prudentius' works; the best of these is considered to be that in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Latin Department, 8084), dating from the early 6th century. There are also a great number of editions of his writings. Amongst these should be mentioned Giselin (Antwerp 1564) ; Arevalo (Rome 1788), the lat ter reprinted in Migne, J. P., ed., 'Patrologia Latina> (Vols. LIX-LX, Paris 1847) ; Oh barins (Tubingen 1845); Dressel (Leipzig 1886). A still more recent critical edition has been undertaken by J. Bergman and is still un completed. There are a number of English translations of some of his works amongst which should be mentioned Anon., (Psychoma chia; the War of the Soul: or the Battle of the Virtues and Vices' (London 1743) ; Anon., 'The Cathemerinon and other Poems in Eng lish Verse' (London 1845) • Pinder, N., ed., 'Selections from the Less Known Latin Poets' (Cambridge 1866) ; Morrison, G., translator,
'Hymns, etc.' (London and Cambridge 1887 91) •, Thackeray, F. St. J.