Commodian

Commodian was a Latin Christian poet, probably of North African origin, who wrote in a rough popular verse (often not classical quantitative meter) aimed at ordinary readers rather than the educated elite. His two surviving works, the Instructions and the Song of Apologetics, are acrostic and didactic poems attacking paganism and Judaism and instructing believers.

Dates

3rd–5th century (disputed) (disputed)

See or city

Gaza (traditional; not confirmed)

Region

North Africa (probable)

Also known as

Commodianus Gazaeus

Notes

Almost nothing certain is known of his life; the epithet "Gazaeus" in the manuscripts may mean "of Gaza" or may be a corruption. His date is one of the most disputed in early Latin Christian literature; Dombart's CSEL edition (1887) and most 19th-century scholarship place him in the 3rd century, which this site follows as "probable" pending the editor's review.

Works

• InstructionsInstructiones · 3rd century (disputed) · CPL 1470 (not yet checked)
• Song of Apologetics against the Jews and GreeksCarmen apologeticum adversus Iudaeos et Gentes · 3rd century (disputed) · CPL 1471 (not yet checked)