Commodianus was a Christian Latin poet, who flourished about A.D. 250. The only ancient writers who mention him are Gennadius, presbyter of Massilia (end of 5th century), in his Dec criploribus ecciesiasticis, and Pope Gelasius in De libris recipiendis et non recipiendis, in which his works are classed as Apocryphi, probably on account of certain heterodox statements contained in them. Commodianus is supposed to have been an African. As he himself tells us, he was originally a heathen, but was converted to Christianity when advanced in years, and felt called upon to instruct the ignorant in the truth. He was the author of two extant Latin poems, Instructiones and Carmen apologeticum (first published in 1852 by J. B. Pitra in the Spicilegium Solesmense, from a MS. in the Middlehill collection, now at Cheltenham, supposed to have been brought from the monastery of Bobbio). The Instructiones consist of 80 poems, each of which is an acrostic (with the exception of poem 60, where the initial letters are in alphabetical order). The initials of poem 80, read backwards, give Commodianus Mendicus Christi. The Carmen Apologeticum, undoubtedly by Commodianus,- although the name of the author (as well as the title) is absent from the MS., is free from the acrostic restriction. The first part of the Instrucliones is addressed to the heathens and Jews, and ridicules the divinities of classical mythology; the second contains reflections on Antichrist, the end of the world, the Resurrection, and advice to Christians, penitents and the clergy. In the Apologeticum all mankind are exhorted to repent, in view of the approaching end of the world. The appearance of Antichrist, identified with Nero and the lian from the East, is expected at an early date. Although they display fiery dogmatic zeal, the poems cannot be considered quite orthodox. To the classical scholar the metre alone is of interest. Although they are professedly written in hexameters, the rules of quantity are sacrificed to accent. The first four lines of the Instructiones may be quoted by way of illustration: Gennadius refers to: Gennadius I: 5th century Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius II: 15th century Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius of Massilia: 5th century historian This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Marseilles redirects here. ... // Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... // Etymology World map showing Africa (geographically) The name Africa came into Western use through the Romans, who used the name Africa terra — land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) — for the northern part of the continent, as the province of Africa with its capital Carthage, corresponding to modern-day... Jump to: navigation, search Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in the New Testament writings of his early followers. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Jump to: navigation, search The centre of Cheltenham. ... Stone arch bridge over the Trebbia river Bobbio is a city in the Piacenza province of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. ... Jump to: navigation, search An acrostic (from the late Greek akróstichon, composed by ákros, extreme, and stíchos, verse) is a poem or some other text written in an alphabetic script, in which the first letter, syllable or word of each verse, paragraph, or some other recurring feature in... Jump to: navigation, search Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (December 15, 37–June 9, 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called (50–54) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ... Jump to: navigation, search The metre or (in American English) meter (symbol: m) is the SI base unit of length. ... Hexameter is a literary and poetic form, consisting of six metrical feet per line as in the Iliad. ...

Praefatio nostra viam erranti demonstrat

Respectumque bonum, cum venerit saeculi meta

Aeternum fieri, quod discredunt inscia corda:

Ego similiter erravi tempore multo.

These versus politici (as they are called) show that the change was already passing over Latin which resulted in the formation of the Romance languages. The use of cases and genders, the construction of verb, and prepositions, and the verbal forms exhibit striking irregularities. The author, however, shows an acquaintance with Latin poets Horace, Virgil, and Lucretius. Jump to: navigation, search The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages or New Latin languages, are a subset of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Latin dialects spoken by the common people in what is known as Latin Europe (Italian/Portuguese/Spanish Europa latina, Catalan Europa llatina, French... Jump to: navigation, search Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading lyric poet in Latin, the son of a freedman, but himself born free. ... Jump to: navigation, search A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem... Jump to: navigation, search Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus (ca. ...

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