Arator
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (November 2017) |
Arator | |
---|---|
Born | c. 490 |
Died | after 544 |
Occupation(s) | poet, statesman |
Notable work | De Actibus Apostolorum |
Arator was a sixth-century
Biography
Arator was probably of Ligurian origin. An orphan, he studied at Milan under the patronage of the Bishop Laurentius and of Magnus Felix Ennodius, then went to Ravenna by the advice of Parthenius, nephew of Ennodius. He took up the career of a lawyer.[1]
Treated with distinction by Theodoric on account of his oration in behalf of the Dalmatians, and protected by Cassiodorus, he spent much of his career in Ravenna, doing the Gothic state some service with the fruits of a classical education second to none in what until recently had been the Western Roman Empire. It may have been the death of King Theoderic, and the destabilizing of the Gothic regime, that caused Arator to leave Ravenna (in this the career of Cassiodorus is parallel) and make for Rome. Pope Vigilius made him Subdeacon of the Roman Church. It was there that he wrote in hexameters two books De Actibus Apostolorum, about 544.[1] His gratitude to Vigilius, as expressed in a short poetic letter that dedicates the poem to him, shows notable warmth, and admiration of the see of Peter, and especially the apostle himself, together with strong animosity against the Goths—or at least their Arianism—is very clear in the poem.
Arator follows the story of the
Arator's style and versification are fairly correct,[1] and he cleverly evades the entanglements of symbolism. The poem was very successful. Vigilius had the author read it in public at the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. The reading lasted four days, as the poet had to repeat many passages by request of his audience. The euphoria of the occasion, and the poem, was soon to be succeeded by more stressful times, and it may be that the author died within a few years, perhaps when the Goths sacked Rome in 546.
Arator's works remained popular during the Middle Ages, when they became classics, being eclipsed as curriculum texts only in the 12th century. He also wrote two addresses in distichs written by Arator to the Abbot Florianus and to Vigilius, as well as a letter to Parthenius. The latter two pieces contain biographical details.
Citations
- ^ a b c Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 320. This cites:
General and cited source
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lejay, Paul (1907). "Arator". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- Licht, Tino (2008). "Aratoris fortuna". Quaerite Faciem Eius Semper. Hamburg: 163–179. .
- See also Roger P. H. Green, Latin Epics of the New Testament: Juvencus, Sedulius, Arator, Oxford UP, 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-928457-3(reviewed by Teresa Morgan in the article "Poets for Jesus", Times Literary Supplement, 4 April 2008, p. 31).
External links
- Leonardi, Claudio (1961). "ARATORE". ISBN 978-8-81200032-6.
- Arator, his "Historia Apostolica" and its "tituli" and "capitula", with bibliography of editions and translations.