Decimus Magnus Ausonius was an eminent Roman poet and imperial official. He was born in present-day Bordeaux, France, and lived from about 310 to 395 GC. As a young man, Ausonius spent time in Constantinople with his maternal uncle Aemilius Magnus Arborius. His uncle was a tutor to one of Emperor Constantine’s sons. Ausonius knew Greek, but wasn’t an expert in it. He became highly learned in grammar, rhetoric, and Latin literature. He became a grammaticus (instructor) and rhetor (professor) of the school of rhetoric in Bordeaux. In the early 360s Roman Emperor Valentinian I appointed Ausonius to be tutor to his son Gratian. Pleased with Ausonius’s service, Emperor Valentinian appointed Ausonius to the political status questor sacri palatii. When Gratian succeeded his father as Emperor in 375, Gratian appointed Ausonius governor of Gaul and then consul, the highest political office in the Roman Emperor.
Ausonius wrote a vast, varied, and highly sophisticated body of Latin literature. He also had a wide network of learned friends among the elite of the Roman Empire. Roger Green, the editor of the leading edition of Ausonius’s works, stated: “He was not only the most brilliant and prolific writer of his age, but one of the most versatile and skillful writers in the history of Latin literature.” Nonetheless, Ausonius’s literary brilliance isn’t widely known. Among his works, Bissula, Cento nuptialis, and his epigrams haven’t been generally appreciated as the outstanding works that they are.
The Judgment of Paris shows that when women get naked, competition among them for men’s favor resolves more quickly. More clothes means broader competition. … Read the post Judgment of Paris teaches economics of female sexual competition
To escape oppressive traditional gender roles, men should consider non-traditional marital partnerships attested in ancient & medieval literature. … Read the post non-traditional marital partnerships: ancient & medieval examples
The captive maiden of Deuteronomy 21:10-14 is no mere metaphor. Ausonius’s Bissula & Jerome in his letters followed Rabbi Akiba in understanding. … Read the post Ausonius’s Bissula & Jerome’s captive maiden: Rabbi Akiba understood
Poet of commonly censored Cento nuptialis, Ausonius humanely viewed men’s sexual desire in epigrams & Bissulla. He honored marriage & loved his wife Sabina. … Read the post celebrating marriage: Ausonius loved his wife Sabina
Slavitt’s Ausonius is an epiphany into prosody with meter of hypertext-hypertext syllable distance. Centos of Virgil & Shakespeare demand prosaic studies. … Read the post on first looking into Slavitt’s Ausonius: prolegomenon to prosaic studies
Men can’t have it all. Old men can’t effectively identify as young men. Old men should consider engaging in scholarly study instead of trying to bed women. … Read the post why can’t men have it all? an alternate life-stages approach
Ausonius’ Cento nuptialis & Proba’s Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi, 4th-century Virgilian centos, challenge brutalizing men’s sexuality. Love isn’t war. … Read the post Ausonius and Proba on “love is war” and brutalizing men’s sexuality
Common-sense understanding of penis, penetration, and pleasure has a relatively weak literary-figurative position. Thus the fallacious reign of Phallus. … Read the post truthful, ancient rule of the Phallus: penetration provides pleasure
Spartan mothers have been celebrated for urging their sons to either kill other men, or be killed. Deep social structure drives violence against men. … Read the post mothers must help stop violence against men
An ancient Latin epigram of Ausonius documents that the gods’ loving care for a man saved him from his adulterous wife’s double poison. … Read the post gods save husband from his adulterous wife’s double poison