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Dracontius

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North African Christian lawyer and poet (c. 455 - c. 505)

WritersLived 455 to 505 · aged 50
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Fame45.9
MomentumNot measured
Languages17
Peak1840s
In century#310

Blossius Aemilius Dracontius of Carthage was a Christian poet who flourished in Roman Africa during the latter part of the 5th century. He belonged to a family of landowners, and practiced as a lawyer in his native place.

Also inDeutsch

Writers born in the 450s 6

About this person

Blossius Aemilius Dracontius of Carthage was a Christian poet who flourished in Roman Africa during the latter part of the 5th century. He belonged to a family of landowners, and practiced as a lawyer in his native place. After the conquest of the country by the Vandals, Dracontius was at first allowed to retain possession of his estates, but was subsequently despoiled of his property and thrown into prison by the Vandal king Gaiseric, whose triumphs he had omitted to celebrate, while he had written a panegyric on a foreign and hostile ruler. He subsequently addressed an elegiac poem to the king, asking pardon, and pleading for release. The result is not known, but it is supposed that Dracontius obtained his liberty and migrated to northern Roman Italy in search of peace and quiet. This is consistent with the discovery at Bobbio of a 15th-century MS., now in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Naples, containing a number of poems by Dracontius.

Category
Writers
Type
Writer / Author
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 455 to 505 · aged 50
Written about in
17 languages

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