Prudentius Peristephanon and the Scriptures
Prudentius Peristephanon and the Scriptures

Summary/Abstract: The vast, multilingual criticism of Prudentius’ Peristephanon makes ample acknowledgement of the manner in which this work draws on both the Old and the New Testament. Indeed, it is only to be expected that a poetic cycle dedicated to Christian martyrs would contain a great deal of scriptural references. Prudentius makes frequent use of the Scriptures: more than seventy specific revocations (74 to be precise) have been counted. It should be noted however that the work of this Hispano-Roman poet is saturated with references to the Bible: according to one detailed count their number, including allusions to Old Testament Apocrypha, amounts to over 600. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that in addition to the Bible Prudentius found inspiration in Roman authors – first of all Virgil, Horace, Juvenal, Lucretius and Claudian, but also Cicero, Pliny the Elder, Sallust, Lucius Annaeus Seneca and Symmachus – as well as Christian treatises by Ambrose, Augustine,Cyprian, and Jerome3.

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