# Crowns of the Martyrs

- Author: [Prudentius](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/prudentius/)
- Latin title: *Peristephanon*
- Date: ca. 400-405 (approximate)
- Source: Aurelii Prudentii Clementis Opera, ed. Lanfranchi, 2 vols. (Turin: Officina Salesiana, 1898); text of the Arevalo tradition, line numbers as printed (Latin text: Lanfranchi, Turin 1898 (public domain), via the Internet Archive OCR)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/
- Passages: 118

## Hymn 1, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-1-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The two martyrs of Calahorra, whose names are written in heaven, are honored by pilgrims who find their prayers heard through the martyrs’ intercession; death by the persecutor’s sword is a glorious door to heaven.

### Latin text

Scripta sunt caelo duorum martyrum vocabula,
Aureis quae Christus illic adnotavit litteris :
Sanguinis notis eadem scripta terris tradidit.
Pollet hoc felix per orbem terra Hibera stemmate.
Hic locus dignus tenendis ossibus visus Deo,
Qui beatorum pudicus esset hospes corporum.
Hic calentes hausit undas caede tinctus duplici ;
Inlitas cruore sancto nunc arenas incolae
Confrequentant obsecrantes voce, votis, munere.
Exteri nec non et orbis huc colonus advenit;
Fama nam terras in omnes percucurrit proditrix,
Hic patronos esse mundi, quos precantes ambiant.
Nemo puras hic rogando frustra congessit preces ;
Laetus hinc tersis revertit supplicator fletibus,
Omne, quod iustum poposcit, impetratum sentiens.
Tanta pro nostris periclis cura suffragantium est !
Non sinunt, inane ut ullus voce murmur fuderit:
Audiunt, statimque ad aurem Regis aeterni ferunt.
Inde larga fonte ab ipso dona terris influunt,
Supplicum caussas petitis quae medelis inrigant.
Nil suis bonus negavit Christus unquam testibus :
Testibus, quos nec catenae, dura nec mors terruit
Unicum Deum fateri sanguinis dispendio :
Sanguinis; sed tale damnum lux rependit longior.
Hoc genus mortis decorum est, hoc probis dignum viris,
Membra morbis exedenda, texta venis languidis,
Hostico donare ferro, morte et hostem vincere.
Pulchra res ictum sub ense persecutoris pati !
Nobilis per vulnus amplum porta iustis panditur ;
Lota mens in fonte rubro sede cordis exsilit.
Nec rudem crudi laboris ante vitam duxerant
Milites, quos ad perenne cingulum Christus vocat;

### English translation (Claude)

The names of two martyrs are written in heaven,
which Christ has noted there in golden letters;
the same names he has handed down to earth, written in marks of blood.
The happy land of Spain is powerful throughout the world with this lineage.
This place seemed to God worthy to hold the bones,
to be the chaste host of the blessed bodies.
It drank in warm streams, dyed with a double slaughter;
now the inhabitants throng the sands smeared with holy blood,
beseeching with voice, vows and gifts.
Even the dweller of the outside world comes here;
for report, the betrayer, has run through all lands
that here are patrons of the world whom they may approach with prayers.
No one here has heaped up pure prayers in asking in vain;
the suppliant returns from here glad, his tears wiped away,
feeling that everything he justly asked has been obtained.
So great is the care of these intercessors for our dangers!
They do not let anyone pour out an empty murmur with his voice:
they hear, and at once carry it to the ear of the eternal King.
From there generous gifts flow to earth from the very fountain,
watering the cases of suppliants with the remedies they seek.
Good Christ has never denied anything to his witnesses:
witnesses whom neither chains nor hard death frightened
from confessing the one God at the cost of their blood;
of their blood, but a longer light repays such a loss.
This kind of death is fitting, this is worthy of upright men:
to give the limbs, which disease would eat away, woven with languid veins,
to the enemy’s sword, and to conquer the enemy by death.
It is a beautiful thing to suffer the blow beneath the persecutor’s sword!
A noble door is opened to the righteous through a broad wound;
the mind, washed in a red font, leaps out of the seat of the heart.
Nor had these soldiers, whom Christ calls to the everlasting belt,
formerly led a life untrained in hard toil;

### Scripture references

- Luke 10:20: echo, medium confidence
- Rev 6:9: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 1: the martyrs Emeterius and Chelidonius of Calagurris (Calahorra) in Spain. The martyrs as intercessors who carry prayers to Christ: as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 1.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1).

## Hymn 1, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-1-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The two soldiers leave the army for the Cross; in a persecution that forced Christians to sacrifice, they stand ready for any torture, declaring that they have paid Caesar his due and now owe themselves to God.

### Latin text

Sueta virtus bello et armis, militat sacrariis :
Caesaris vexilla linquunt, eligunt signum Crucis,
Proque ventosis draconum, quos gerebant, palliis
Praeferunt insigne lignum, quod draconem subdidit.
Vile censent expeditis ferre dextris spicula,
Machinis murum ferire, castra fossis cingere,
Impias manus cruentis inquinare stragibus.
Forte tunc atrox secundos Israelis posteros
Ductor aulae mundialis ire ad aram iusserat,
Idolis litare nigris, esse Christi defugas.
Liberam succincta ferro pestis urgebat fidem:
Illa virgas et secures, et bisulcas ungulas
Ultro fortis expetebat, Christi amore interrita.
Carcer inligata duris colla baccis impedit.
Barbaras forum per omne tortor exercet manus ;
Veritas crimen putatur, vox fidelis plectitur.
Tunc et ense caesa virtus triste percussit solum .
Et, rogis ingesta moestis, ore flammas sorbuit:
Dulce tunc iustis cremari, dulce ferrum perpeti.
Hic duorum cara fratrum concalescunt pectora,
Fida quos per omne tempus iunxerat sodalitas :
Stant parati ferre quidquid sors tulisset ultima ,
Seu foret praebenda cervix ad bipennem publicam,
Verberum post vim crepantum, post catastas igneas .
Sive pardis offerendum pectus, aut leonibus.
Nosne Christo procreati mammonae dicabimur?
Et Dei formam gerentes serviemus saeculo?
Absit ut caelestis ignis se tenebris misceat.
Sit satis, quod capta primo vita sub chirographo
Debitum persolvit omne, functa rebus Caesaris :
Tempus est Deo rependi quidquid est proprium Dei.
Ite, signorum magistri, et vos tribuni absistite ;
Aureos auferte torques, sauciorum praemia :

### English translation (Claude)

their courage, used to war and arms, now serves the sanctuary:
they leave Caesar’s standards, they choose the sign of the Cross,
and instead of the windy cloths of dragons that they carried
they bear before them the glorious wood that subdued the dragon.
They think it worthless to carry javelins in ready right hands,
to strike a wall with engines, to surround a camp with ditches,
to stain impious hands with bloody slaughter.
At that time, as it happened, the cruel leader of the worldly court
had ordered the later descendants of Israel to go to the altar,
to sacrifice to black idols, to be deserters of Christ.
The plague, girt with the sword, pressed hard on free faith;
faith, brave, of its own accord sought rods and axes
and the two-pronged claws, undaunted through love of Christ.
Prison hampered necks bound with hard chains;
the torturer plies his barbarous hands through every forum;
truth is thought a crime, a faithful voice is punished.
Then courage, cut down by the sword, struck the sad ground,
and, thrown onto the grim pyres, swallowed flames with its mouth:
then it was sweet for the righteous to be burned, sweet to endure the sword.
Here the dear hearts of two brothers grow warm,
whom faithful comradeship had joined through all time:
they stand ready to bear whatever the final lot brought,
whether the neck must be offered to the public axe,
after the force of cracking scourges, after fiery gridirons,
or the breast offered to leopards or to lions.
“Shall we, begotten for Christ, be dedicated to mammon?
And, bearing God’s image, shall we serve the world?
Far be it that heavenly fire should mix itself with darkness.
Let it be enough that our life, taken at first under a written bond,
has paid every debt, having performed the things of Caesar:
it is time to pay back to God whatever is God’s own.
Go, masters of the standards; and you tribunes, stand aside;
take away the golden collars, rewards of the wounded:

### Scripture references

- Matt 6:24: allusion, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 6:14: echo, medium confidence
- Col 2:14: echo, low confidence
- Matt 22:21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘The later descendants of Israel’ are the Christians. Matt 22:21; 6:24; 2 Cor 6:14; Col 2:14.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 1.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/1-33).

## Hymn 1, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-1-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The records of the martyrs’ passion were destroyed by a persecutor, but it is remembered that at their execution a ring and a handkerchief were carried up to heaven; the poet calls on the once-pagan Basques to see the martyrs’ power over demons.

### Latin text

Clara nos hinc Angelorum iam vocant stipendia.
Christus illic candidatis praesidet cohortibus,
Et throno regnans ab alto, damnat infames deos,
Vosque, qui ridenda vobis monstra divos fingitis.
Haec loquentes obruuntur mille poenis martyres :
Nexibus manus utrasque flexus involvit rigor,
Et chalybs attrita colla gravibus ambit circulis
O vetustatis silentis obsoleta oblivio !
Invidentur ista nobis, fama et ipsa extinguitur ;
Chartulas blasphemus olim nam satelles abstulit,
Ne tenacibus libellis erudita saecula
Ordinem, tempus, modumque passionis proditum
Dulcibus linguis per aures posterorum spargerent.
Hoc tamen solum vetusta subtrahunt silentia,
Iugibus longum catenis an capillum paverint :
Quo viros dolore tortor, quave pompa ornaverit.
Illa laus occulta non est, nec senescit tempore,
Missa quod sursum per auras evolarunt munera,
Quae viam patere caeli praemicando ostenderent.
Illius fidem figurans nube fertur annulus,
Hic sui dat pignus oris, ut ferunt, orarium:
Quae superno rapta flatu lucis intrant intimum.
Per poli liquentis axem fulgor auri absconditur,
Ac diu visum sequacem textilis candor fugit :
Subvehuntur usque in astra, nec videntur amplius.
Vidit hoc conventus adstans, ipse vidit carnifex,
Et manum repressit haerens, ac stupore obpalluit;
Sed tamen peregit ictum, ne periret gloria.
Iamne credis, bruta quondam Vasconum gentilitas,
Quam sacrum crudelis error immolarit sanguinem ?
Credis in Deum relatos hostiarum spiritus?
Cerne, quam palam feroces hic domantur daemones,
Qui lupino capta ritu devorant praecordia,
Strangulant mentes et ipsas, seque miscent sensibus.

### English translation (Claude)

the glorious pay of the angels now calls us from here.
Christ presides there over the white-robed cohorts,
and, reigning from his high throne, condemns the infamous gods,
and you who fashion for yourselves laughable monsters as gods.”
As they say this, the martyrs are overwhelmed with a thousand punishments:
a stiff bond binds both their hands in twisted knots,
and steel circles their chafed necks with heavy rings.
O worn-out forgetfulness of silent antiquity!
These things are begrudged us, and even the report itself is extinguished;
for long ago a blasphemous guard took away the records,
lest the ages, instructed by tenacious little books,
should spread with sweet tongues through the ears of posterity
the order, time and manner of the passion they had handed down.
This alone, however, the silence of antiquity withholds:
whether in perpetual chains they let their hair grow long,
with what pain the torturer tormented the men, or with what pomp he adorned them.
That glory is not hidden, nor does it grow old with time,
that gifts sent up flew upward through the air,
to show by flashing ahead that the way to heaven lay open.
The one’s ring, figuring his faith, is borne up in a cloud;
the other gives his handkerchief, as they say, as a pledge of his mouth:
these, snatched up by a breath from above, enter the inmost light.
The gleam of the gold is hidden in the axis of the clear sky,
and the whiteness of the cloth long escapes the eye that follows it:
they are carried up to the stars and are seen no more.
The assembly standing by saw this, the executioner himself saw it,
and held back his hand, hesitating, and grew pale with astonishment;
but yet he completed the blow, lest the glory perish.
Do you now believe, once brutish heathenism of the Basques,
what sacred blood cruel error sacrificed?
Do you believe the spirits of the victims were carried back to God?
See how openly the fierce demons are tamed here,
who in wolfish fashion devour the hearts they have seized,
strangle the very minds, and mingle themselves with the senses.

### Scripture references

- Rev 7:9: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Several lines run together in the OCR were separated; the first words of two lines (‘Missa’, ‘Iamne’) are lost in the scan and read by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 1.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/1-65).

## Hymn 1, lines 97–117

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-1-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–117
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: At the martyrs’ shrine the possessed are delivered as the demons are tormented and flee, and the sick are healed; the people of the Ebro valley are called to celebrate the feast.

### Latin text

Tunc, suo iam plenus hoste, sistitur forens homo,
Spumeas efflans salivas, cruda torquens lumina,
Expiandus quaestione non suorum criminum.
Audias, nec tortor instat, eiulatus flebiles :
Scinditur per flagra corpus, nec flagellum cernitur ;
Crescit et suspensus ipse vinculis latentibus.
His modis spurcum latronem martyrum virtus quatit :
Haec coercet, torquet, urit, haec catenas incutit;
Praedo vexatus relictis se medullis exuit :
Linquit inlaesam rapinam, faucibus siccis fugit,
Ungue ab imo usque ad capillum salva reddit omnia ,
Confitens ardere sese ; nam gehennae est incola.
Quid loquar purgata longis alba morbis corpora?
Algidus quum decoloros horror artus concutit,
Hic tumor vultum relinquit, hic color verus redit.
Hoc bonum Salvator ipse , quo fruamur , praestitit ,
Martyrum quum membra nostro consecravit oppido,
Sospitant quae nunc colonos, quos Hiberus adluit.
State nunc, hymnite, matres, pro receptis parvulis ;
Coniugum salute laeta vox maritarum strepat:
Sit dies haec festa nobis, sit sacratum gaudium.

### English translation (Claude)

Then the raving man, already full of his enemy, is set before them,
blowing out foaming spittle, rolling bloodshot eyes,
to be purged by a trial for crimes not his own.
You may hear tearful wailings, though no torturer presses;
the body is torn by lashes, though no whip is seen;
and he is hoisted up himself, hung by hidden chains.
In these ways the power of the martyrs shakes the filthy robber:
it restrains, it tortures, it burns, it puts on chains;
the plunderer, harassed, strips himself out of the marrow he leaves;
he leaves his prey unharmed, he flees with dry jaws,
he gives everything back safe, from the bottom of the nail to the hair,
confessing that he burns; for he is a dweller of Gehenna.
Why should I speak of bodies cleansed and made white after long illnesses?
When cold shivering shakes the discolored limbs,
here the swelling leaves the face, here the true color returns.
This good the Savior himself provided for us to enjoy,
when he consecrated the limbs of the martyrs in our town,
which now keep safe the settlers whom the Ebro washes.
Stand now, mothers, and sing hymns for little ones restored;
let the glad voice of wives resound for the safety of husbands:
let this day be a feast for us, let it be a sacred joy.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 1.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–117; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/1-97).

## Hymn 2, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Rome, once mother of temples, has conquered its idols through the martyr Lawrence; Bishop Sixtus, on the cross, foretold that his deacon would follow him in three days.

### Latin text

Antiqua fanorum parens,
Iam Roma Christo dedita,
Laurentio victrix duce
Ritum triumphas barbarum.
Reges superbos viceras,
Populosque frenis presseras;
Nunc monstruosis idolis
Imponis imperi iugum.
Haec sola deerat gloria
Urbis togatae insignibus,
Feritate capta gentium
Domaret ut spurcum Iovem,
Non turbulentis viribus,
Cossi, Camilli, aut Caesaris,
Sed martyris Laurentii
Non incruento proelio.
Armata pugnavit fides,
Proprii cruoris prodiga ;
Nam morte mortem diruit,
Ac semet impendit sibi.
Fore hoc sacerdos dixerat
Iam Xystus, adfixus cruci,
Laurentium flentem videns
Crucis sub ipso stipite :
Desiste discessu meo
Fletum dolenter fundere :
Praecedo, frater; tu quoque
Post hoc sequeris triduum.
Extrema vox episcopi
Praenuntiatrix gloriae
Nihil fefellit; nam dies
Praedicta palmam praestitit.

### English translation (Claude)

Ancient mother of temples,
Rome, now given over to Christ,
victorious under Lawrence’s leadership,
you triumph over barbarous rites.
You had conquered proud kings
and pressed peoples under your reins;
now you put the yoke of your rule
upon monstrous idols.
This glory alone was lacking
to the honors of the toga-clad city,
that, having captured the savagery of the nations,
it should tame filthy Jupiter,
not by the turbulent forces
of Cossus, Camillus or Caesar,
but by the not-bloodless battle
of the martyr Lawrence.
Faith fought armed,
lavish of its own blood;
for by death it destroyed death
and spent itself for itself.
This the bishop Sixtus had foretold,
already fixed to the cross,
seeing Lawrence weeping
beneath the very trunk of the cross:
“Stop pouring out tears in grief
at my departure:
I go before, brother; you too
will follow after these three days.”
The bishop’s last words,
foretelling glory,
were not at all false; for the day
foretold gave him the palm.

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 2: the deacon Lawrence of Rome (d. 258). The poet places Sixtus II on a cross; as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-1).

## Hymn 2, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Lawrence, chief of Rome’s seven deacons, kept the church’s treasury; the greedy prefect, believing gold was hidden in the churches, summoned him and demanded it.

### Latin text

Qua voce, quantis laudibus
Celebrabo mortis ordinem?
Quo passionem carmine
Digne retexens concinam?
Hic primus e septem viris,
Qui stant ad aram proximi,
Levita sublimis gradu,
Et ceteris praestantior,
Claustris sacrorum praeerat,
Caelestis arcanum domus
Fidis gubernans clavibus,
Votasque dispensans opes.
Versat famem pecuniae,
Qua vi latentes eruat
Nummos, operta existimans
Talenta sub sacrariis,
Cumulosque congestos tegi.
Laurentium sisti iubet,
Exquirit arcam ditibus
Massis refertam, et fulgidae
Montes monetae conditos .
« Soletis, inquit, conqueri,
Saevire nos iusto amplius,
Quum christiana corpora
Plusquam cruente scindimus.
Abest atrocioribus
Censura fervens motibus :
Blande et quiete efflagito
Quod sponte obire debeas.
Hunc esse vestris orgiis
Moremque et artem proditum est,
Hanc disciplinam foederis,

### English translation (Claude)

With what voice, with what praises
shall I celebrate the order of his death?
With what song shall I worthily unfold
and sing his passion?
He was first of the seven men
who stand nearest the altar,
a Levite lofty in rank
and more excellent than the rest;
he was in charge of the doors of the sacred things,
governing with faithful keys
the secret of the heavenly house
and dispensing the offered wealth.
[The prefect] turns over a hunger for money,
by what force he may dig out the hidden
coins, thinking that talents lay
covered beneath the sanctuaries,
and that heaped-up piles were concealed.
He orders Lawrence to be brought before him;
he demands the chest stuffed with rich
lumps, and the hidden mountains
of gleaming coin.
“You are accustomed,” he says, “to complain
that we rage more than is just,
when we tear Christian bodies
more than cruelly.
Severity, fervent with harsher emotions,
is absent here:
I demand mildly and quietly
what you ought to carry out of your own accord.
That this is the custom and the art
in your rites has been reported,
this the discipline of your covenant,

### Translation notes

- ‘Levite’ is the poet’s term for a deacon. A few lines appear lost in the scan before ‘Versat famem pecuniae’ (the subject, the prefect, is supplied in brackets).

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-33).

## Hymn 2, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The prefect alleges that Christian bishops use gold and silver vessels and that the faithful sell their estates to enrich the churches, and demands the treasure for the state, quoting Christ’s saying about rendering to Caesar.

### Latin text

Libent ut auro antistites.
Argenteis scyphis ferunt
Fumare sacrum sanguinem,
Auroque nocturnis sacris
Adstare fixos cereos.
Tum summa cura est fratribus,
Ut sermo testatur loquax,
Offerre, fundis venditis,
Sestertiorum millia.
Addicta avorum praedia
Foedis sub auctionibus
Successor exheres gemit,
Sanctis egens parentibus.
Haec occuluntur abditis
Ecclesiarum in angulis,
Et summa pietas creditur
Nudare dulces liberos.
Deprome thesauros, malis
Suadendo quos praestigiis
Exaggeratos obtines,
Nigrante quos claudis specu.
Hoc poscit usus publicus,
Hoc fiscus, hoc aerarium,
Ut dedita stipendiis
Ducem iuvet pecunia.
Sic dogma vestrum est, audio:
Suum quibusque reddito ;
En, Caesar agnoscit suum
Numisma nummis inditum.
Quod Caesaris scis, Caesari
Da : nempe iustum postulo:
Ni fallor, haud ullam tuus

### English translation (Claude)

that the bishops pour libations from gold.
They say that the sacred blood smokes
in silver cups,
and that at the nocturnal rites wax tapers
stand fixed in gold.
Then the brothers’ greatest care is,
as talkative report bears witness,
to offer, when their estates are sold,
thousands of sesterces.
The heir, disinherited, groans that
his ancestors’ estates have been knocked down
in shameful auctions,
made needy by saintly parents.
These things are hidden in the secret
corners of the churches,
and it is believed the height of piety
to strip one’s sweet children bare.
Bring out the treasures, which,
by persuading with wicked tricks,
you hold heaped up,
which you shut in a dark cave.
Public need demands this,
the imperial purse, the treasury demands this,
so that the money, given over to pay,
may help the commander.
This is your doctrine, I hear:
Render to each his own;
see, Caesar recognizes his own
image stamped on the coins.
What you know is Caesar’s, give to Caesar:
I ask only what is just, surely;
unless I am mistaken, your God

### Scripture references

- Matt 22:21: allusion, high confidence
- Rom 13:7: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The prefect’s accusation, as the poet gives it. Matt 22:21.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-65).

## Hymn 2, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The prefect taunts that Christ brought no money and taught in words alone; Lawrence calmly agrees that the Church is richer than the emperor and promises to bring out Christ’s treasures if given a little time.

### Latin text

Signat Deus pecuniam ;
Nec, quum veniret, aureos
Secum Philippos detulit,
Praecepta sed verbis dedit,
Inanis a marsupio.
Implete dictorum fidem,
Quam vos per orbem venditis ;
Nummos libenter reddite :
Estote verbis divites ».
Nil asperum Laurentius
Refert ad ista, aut turbidum ;
Sed, ut paratus obsequi,
Obtemperanter adnuit.
« Est dives, inquit, non nego,
Habetque nostra Ecclesia
Opumque et auri plurimum ;
Nec quisquam in orbe est ditior.
Is ipse tantum non habet
Argenteorum aenigmatum
Augustus, arcem possidens,
Cui nummus omnis scribitur.
Sed nec recuso prodere
Locupletis arcam numinis ;
Vulgabo cuncta, et proferam
Pretiosa, quae Christus tenet.
Unum sed orans flagito,
Induciarum paullulum,
Quo fungar efficacius
Promissionis munere,
Dum tota digestim mihi
Christi supellex scribitur;

### English translation (Claude)

stamps no money;
nor, when he came, did he bring
golden Philips with him,
but gave commands in words,
empty of purse.
Fulfil the faith of his sayings,
which you sell throughout the world;
give back the coins willingly:
be rich in words.”
Lawrence replies nothing harsh
or turbulent to this,
but, as one ready to comply,
he nods obediently.
“She is rich,” he says, “I do not deny it;
our Church has
very much wealth and gold;
nor is anyone in the world richer.
He himself has not so much
of silver tokens,
Augustus, who holds the citadel,
for whom every coin is inscribed.
But I do not refuse to bring out
the chest of the wealthy Godhead;
I will make all public and bring forth
the precious things that Christ holds.
One thing only I beg and ask:
a little respite,
so that I may discharge more effectively
the duty of my promise,
while the whole furniture of Christ
is written down for me item by item;

### Scripture references

- Matt 10:9: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Philips’: gold coins (of Philip of Macedon). Matt 10:9. A leftover footnote (‘arcem: scil. imperii’) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-97).

## Hymn 2, lines 129–160

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Given three days, Lawrence gathers from all the streets the blind, the lame, the sick and maimed whom the Church fed, and records their names.

### Latin text

Nam calculanda primitus,
Tum subnotanda est summula. »
Laetus tumescit gaudio
Praefectus, ac spe devorat
Aurum, velut iam conditum
Domi maneret, gestiens.
Pepigere tempus tridui ;
Laudatus inde absolvitur
Laurentius, sponsor sui,
Et sponsor ingentis Iucri.
Tribus per urbem cursitat
Diebus, infirma agmina,
Omnesque, qui poscunt stipem,
Cogens in unum et congregans.
Illic utrisque obtutibus
Orbes cavatos praeferens,
Baculo regebat praevio
Errore mutantem gradum ;
Et claudus infracto genu,
Vel crure trunco semipes,
Breviorve planta ex altera,
Gressum trahebat imparem.
Est ulcerosis artubus
Qui tabe corrupta fluat ;
Est, cuius arens dextera
Nervos in ulnam contrahat.
Tales plateis omnibus
Exquirit, adsuetos ali
Ecclesiae matris penu,
Quos ipse promus noverat.
Recenset exin singulos,
Scribens viritim nomina ;

### English translation (Claude)

for it must first be reckoned up,
then the sum must be noted down.”
The prefect swells with joyful gladness,
and in hope devours
the gold, exulting, as if it were already
stored up at his home.
They agreed on a period of three days;
then Lawrence is praised and released,
his own surety,
and surety for an immense profit.
For three days he runs about
through the city, gathering and collecting together
the feeble bands
and all who ask for alms.
There one, holding out hollow orbs
in place of both his eyes,
guided with a staff going before him
his step that strayed in error;
and one lame with broken knee,
or half-footed with a cut-off leg,
or with one sole shorter than the other,
dragged an unequal step.
There is one with ulcerous limbs,
who flows with corrupt decay;
there is one whose withered right hand
draws its sinews into the elbow.
Such people he seeks out in all the streets,
used to being fed from the store
of mother Church,
whom he as steward himself had known.
Then he reviews them one by one,
writing down their names man by man,

### Scripture references

- Luke 14:21: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The first word of line 31 is damaged in the scan (‘oset’); read ‘Recenset’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-129).

## Hymn 2, lines 161–192

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-161
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: When the day came, Lawrence led the prefect to the church door, where the crowds of the poor stood as the Church’s treasure; the prefect was enraged, and Lawrence began to contrast them with gold dug from mines.

### Latin text

Longo et locatos ordine
Adstare pro templo iubet.
Praescriptus et iam fluxerat
Dies: furebat fervido
Iudex avarus spiritu,
Promissa solvi efflagitans.
Tum martyr: « Adsistas velim,
Coramque dispostas opes
Mirere, quas noster Deus
Praedives in sanctis habet.
Videbis ingens atrium
Fulgere vasis aureis,
Et per patentes porticus
Structos talentis ordines. »
It ille, nec pudet sequi.
Ventum ad sacratam ianuam:
Stabant catervae pauperum,
Inculta visu examina.
Fragor rogantum tollitur:
Praefectus horrescit stupens,
Conversus in Laurentium,
Oculisque turbatis minax.
Contra ille : « Quid frendens, ait,
Minitaris? aut quid displicet?
Num sordida haec, aut vilia?
Num despuenda existimas?
Aurum, quod ardenter sitis,
Effossa gignunt rudera,
Et de metallis squalidis
Poenalis excudit labor;

### English translation (Claude)

and he bids them stand before the church,
arranged in a long line.
And now the prescribed day had passed;
the greedy judge was raging
with fervid spirit,
demanding that the promises be paid.
Then the martyr: “I would like you to be present
and, in their presence, to marvel at the wealth set out,
which our very rich God
has in his saints.
You will see a huge hall
gleaming with golden vessels,
and through the open porticoes
rows built of talents.”
He goes, nor is he ashamed to follow.
They came to the sacred door:
there stood crowds of poor people,
swarms unkempt to look at.
A din of beggars rises;
the prefect shudders, astonished,
turning on Lawrence,
threatening with troubled eyes.
But he: “Why do you threaten,” he says,
“gnashing your teeth? Or what displeases you?
Are these things squalid or cheap?
Do you think them fit to be spat on?
The gold for which you burningly thirst
is produced by dug-up rubble,
and penal labor
beats it out of squalid mines;

### Translation notes

- Two leftover footnotes (on ‘structos talentis’ and ‘rogantum’) were removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-161).

## Hymn 2, lines 193–224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-193
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Lawrence argues that gold corrupts chastity, peace and law, while the true gold is light and humankind; bodily weakness humbles and strengthens the soul, and disease of the mind is worse than disease of the flesh.

### Latin text

Torrens vel amnis turbidis
Volvens arenis implicat ,
Quod terrulentum ac sordidum,
Flammis necesse est decoqui.
Pudor per aurum solvitur,
Violatur auro integritas,
Pax occidit, fides perit,
Leges et ipsae intercidunt.
Quid tu venenum gloriae
Extollis, et magni putas?
Si quaeris aurum verius ,
Lux est, et humanum genus.
Hi sunt alumni luminis,
Quos corpus arctat debile,
Ne per salutem viscerum
Mens insolescat turgida.
Quum membra morbua disiicit,
Animus viget robustior:
Membris vicissim fortibus
Vis sauciatur sensuum.
Nam sanguis in culpam calens
Minus ministrat virium,
Si fervor effetus malis
Elumbe virus contrahat.
Si forte detur optio,
Malim dolore asperrimo
Fragmenta membrorum pati,
Et pulcher intus vivere.
Committe formas pestium,
Et confer alternas lues :
Carnisne morbus foedior,
An mentis, et morum ulcera?

### English translation (Claude)

or a torrent river, rolling it
with muddy sands, entangles it,
and, earthy and squalid as it is,
it must be refined in flames.
Chastity is undone through gold,
integrity is violated by gold,
peace perishes, faith dies,
and the laws themselves fall away.
Why do you exalt the poison of glory
and think it great?
If you seek truer gold,
it is light, and the human race.
These are the nurslings of light,
whom a weak body confines,
lest through the health of the flesh
the mind grow insolent and swollen.
When disease breaks up the limbs,
the soul thrives the more robust;
in turn, when the limbs are strong,
the power of the senses is wounded.
For blood that grows hot toward guilt
supplies less strength
if its fervor, exhausted by ills,
draws in an enfeebling poison.
If perhaps a choice were given,
I would rather suffer with sharpest pain
the breaking of my limbs,
and live beautiful within.
Compare the forms of plagues,
and set the two diseases side by side:
is the disease of the flesh fouler,
or the ulcers of the mind and morals?

### Scripture references

- 1 Tim 6:10: echo, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 12:10: echo, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.193 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-193).

## Hymn 2, lines 225–256

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-225
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poor, though weak in body, are sound within; the rich are diseased inwardly: the proud man with dropsy, the miser with crippled hands, the lustful man with filth, the ambitious man with fever, the gossip with an itching heart.

### Latin text

Nostri per artus debiles,
Intus decoris integri,
Sensum venusti innoxium
Languoris expertes gerunt ;
Vestros valentes corpore
Interna corrumpit lepra,
Errorque mancum claudicat,
Et coeca fraus nihil videt.
Quemvis tuorum divitum,
Qui veste et ore praenitent,
Magis probabo debilem,
Quam quis meorum est pauperum.
Hunc, qui superbit serico,
Quem currus inflatum vehit ,
Hydrops aquosus lucido
Tendit veneno intrinsecus ;
Ast hic avarus contrahit
Manus recurvas, et volam
Plicans aduncis unguibus,
Laxare nervos non valet.
Istum libido foetida
Per scorta tractum publica
Luto et cloacis inquinat,
Dum spurca mendicat stupra.
Quid ille fervens ambitum,
Sitimque honoris aestuans.
Mersisne anhelat febribus,
Atque igne venarum furit?
Quisquis tacendi intemperans
Silenda prurit prodere ,
Vexatur, et scalpit iecur,
Scabiemque cordis sustinet.

### English translation (Claude)

Our poor, through their weak limbs,
whole in their inward beauty,
carry a lovely, harmless sense,
free of languor;
your people, strong in body,
are corrupted by an inner leprosy,
and error limps maimed,
and blind fraud sees nothing.
Any one of your rich men,
who shine in dress and face,
I will prove more feeble
than any one of my poor.
This man, who is proud in silk,
whom a chariot carries puffed up,
watery dropsy stretches within
with a glistening poison;
but this miser draws in
his hands curved back, and, folding
his palm with hooked nails,
cannot loosen his sinews.
That one foul lust,
dragged through public harlots,
pollutes with mud and sewers,
while he begs for filthy acts of sexual immorality.
What of that one, burning with ambition
and seething with thirst for honor?
Does he not pant with hidden fevers
and rage with the fire of his veins?
Whoever, intemperate in keeping silent,
itches to betray what should be kept silent
is harassed and scratches his liver,
and suffers an itch of the heart.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.225 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-225).

## Hymn 2, lines 257–288

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-257
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The prefect, a worshiper of demons, is himself diseased; the poor he despises will rise whole and crowned in heaven, while the powerful will appear in the soul’s true state, ragged and foul, for nothing is more hideous than a sinner.

### Latin text

Quid invidorum pectorum
Strumas retexam turgidas?
Quid purulenta et livida
Malignitatum vulnera?
Tute ipse, qui Romam regis,
Contemptor aeterni Dei,
Dum daemonum sordes colis,
Morbo laboras regio.
Hi, quos superbus despicis,
Quos exsecrandos iudicas,
Brevi ulcerosos exuent
Artus, et incolumes erunt ,
Quum, carne corruptissima
Tandem soluti ac liberi,
Pulcherrimo vitae statu
In arce lucebunt Patris:
Non sordidati aut debiles,
Sicut videntur interim,
Sed purpurantibus stolis
Clari, et coronis aureis.
Tum, si facultas suppetat,
Coram tuis obtutibus
Istos potentes saeculi
Velim recensendos dari.
Pannis videres obsitos,
Et muculentis naribus,
Mento salivis uvidum,
Lipposque palpebra putri.
Peccante nil est taetrius,
Nil tam leprosum aut putidum:
Cruda est cicatrix criminum,
Oletque, ut antrum Tartari.
Animabus inversa vice

### English translation (Claude)

Why should I unravel the swollen tumors
of envious hearts?
Why the festering and livid
wounds of malice?
You yourself, who rule Rome,
despiser of the eternal God,
while you worship the filth of demons,
suffer from the ‘royal disease’.
These, whom you proudly despise,
whom you judge accursed,
will shortly put off their ulcerous
limbs, and will be whole,
when, released at last and free
from most corrupt flesh,
in the most beautiful state of life
they will shine in the Father’s citadel:
not filthy or feeble,
as they now seem,
but bright in purple robes
and golden crowns.
Then, if the opportunity were at hand,
I would like those powerful men of the world
to be brought for review
before your eyes.
You would see them covered in rags,
with snotty noses,
chin wet with spittle,
and bleary with rotting eyelids.
Nothing is more hideous than a sinner,
nothing so leprous or putrid:
the scar of crimes is raw,
and it stinks like the cave of Tartarus.
By a reversed exchange, on souls

### Scripture references

- Rev 7:9: echo, medium confidence
- Rev 4:4: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Royal disease’ (morbus regius) is jaundice. Rev 7:9–14.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.257 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-257).

## Hymn 2, lines 289–320

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-289
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Lawrence presents the poor as the Church’s gold and the consecrated virgins and widows who refused second marriage as her jewels; the prefect, furious at being mocked, turns on him.

### Latin text

Corrupta forma infligitur,
Quas puleher adspectus prius
In corpore oblectaverat.
En ergo nummos aureos,
Quos proxime spoponderam,
Quos nec favillis obruat
Ruina, nec fur subtrahat.
Nunc addo gemmas nobiles,
Ne pauperem Christum putes :
Gemmas corusci luminis,
Ornatur hoc templum quibus.
Cernis sacratas virgines,
Mireris intactas anus,
Primique post damnum tori
Ignis secundi nescias.
Hoc est monile Ecclesiae,
His illa gemmis comitur ;
Dotata sic Christo placet,
Sic ornat altum verticem.
Eccum talenta ; suscipe .
Ornabis urbem Romulam,
Ditabis et rem principis,
Fies et ipse ditior. »
Ridemur, exclamat fremens
Praefectus, ac miris modis
Per tot figuras ludimur :
Et vivit insanum caput?
Impune tantas, furcifer,
Strophas cavillo mimico
Te nexuisse existimas,
Dum, scurra, saltas fabulam?
Concinna risu urbanitas

### English translation (Claude)

a corrupted form is inflicted,
which a beautiful appearance in the body
had formerly delighted.
See then the golden coins
which I promised lately,
which neither ruin may bury in ashes
nor a thief steal away.
Now I add noble gems,
lest you think Christ poor:
gems of flashing light,
with which this temple is adorned.
You see consecrated virgins;
you may marvel at untouched old women,
and those who, after the loss of their first marriage,
know nothing of a second flame.
This is the necklace of the Church,
with these gems she is adorned;
so dowered she pleases Christ,
so she adorns her lofty head.
Here are the talents: take them.
You will adorn the city of Romulus,
you will enrich the emperor’s estate,
and you yourself will become richer.”
“We are being laughed at,” cries the prefect,
roaring, “and in wondrous ways
we are mocked through so many figures!
And is the mad fellow still alive?
Do you think, you rogue, that you have woven
such tricks with a mime’s jesting
with impunity, while, buffoon,
you dance your play?
That elegant wit with laughter

### Scripture references

- Matt 6:20: allusion, medium confidence
- Isa 61:10: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The widows ‘who, after the loss of their first marriage, know nothing of a second flame’ are women who did not remarry after their husband’s death. Matt 6:20.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.289 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-289).

## Hymn 2, lines 321–352

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-321
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The enraged prefect refuses Lawrence a quick death and orders him roasted slowly on gentle coals as an example to all Christians.

### Latin text

Tractare nosmet ludicro?
Ergon' cachinnis venditus
Acroma festivum fui?
Adeone nulla austeritas,
Censura nulla est fascibus?
Adeon' securem publicam
Mollis retundit lenitas?
Dicis : libenter oppetam ;
Votiva mora est martyri.
Est ista vobis, novimus,
Persuasionis vanitas.
Sed non volenti impertiam,
Praestetur ut mortis citae
Compendiosus exitus :
Perire raptim non dabo.
Vitam tenebo, et differam
Poenis morarum iugibus,
Et mors inextricabilis
Longos dolores protrahet.
Prunas tepentes sternite,
Ne fervor ignitus nimis
Os contumacis occupet,
Et cordis intret abdita.
Vapor senescens langueat,
Qui fusus adflatu levi
Tormenta sensim temperet,
Semiustulati corporis.
Bene est, quod ipse ex omnibus
Mysteriarches incidit :
Hic solus exemplum dabit,
Quid mox timere debeant.
Conscende constratum rogum ;

### English translation (Claude)

to treat us as a plaything?
Have I then been sold to guffaws
as a festive entertainment?
Is there then no sternness,
no severity left in the fasces?
Does soft mildness so blunt
the public axe?
You say: ‘I will gladly meet death;
to a martyr, delay is what he prays to be spared.’
This is your empty persuasion,
we know it.
But I will not grant you your wish
that the short way out of a swift death
should be provided:
I will not let you perish quickly.
I will keep you alive, and put it off
with continual punishments of delay,
and an inextricable death
will draw out long pains.
Spread out warm coals,
lest the fiery heat too quickly
seize the stubborn man’s mouth
and enter the hidden parts of his heart.
Let the vapor grow old and languish,
so that, spread with a light breath,
it may temper little by little the torments
of the half-burned body.
It is good that of them all
the master of the mysteries himself has fallen in:
he alone will give an example
of what they ought soon to fear.
Climb onto the spread pyre;

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.321 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-321).

## Hymn 2, lines 353–384

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-353
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: As Lawrence is stripped and bound, his face shines like Moses’ coming down from Sinai and Stephen’s at his stoning; the newly baptized see the light, but the blind impious do not, as in the plague of darkness on Egypt.

### Latin text

Decumbe digno lectulo :
Tunc, si libebit, disputa
Nil esse Vulcanum meum. » —
Haec fante Praefecto, truces
Hinc inde tortores parant
Nudare amictu martyrem,
Vincire membra, et tendere.
Illi os decore splenduit,
Fulgorque circumfusus est.
Talem revertens Legifer
De monte vultum detulit;
Iudaea quem plebs aureo
Bove inquinata et decolor
Expavit, et faciem retro
Detorsit impatiens Dei.
Talemque et ille praetulit
Oris corusci gloriam
Stephanus, per imbrem saxeum
Caelos apertos intuens.
Inluminatum hoc eminus
Recens piatis fratribus,
Baptisma quos nuper datum
Christi capaces fecerat.
Ast impiorum caecitas,
Os oblitum noctis situ,
Nigrante sub velamine
Obducta, clarum non videt.
Aegyptiae plagae in modum,
Quae quum tenebris barbaros
Damnaret, Hebraeis diem
Sudo exhibebat lumine.
Quin ipsa odoris qualitas,

### English translation (Claude)

lie down on the bed you deserve:
then, if you please, argue
that my Vulcan is nothing.”
As the prefect spoke so, the cruel
torturers on this side and that prepare
to strip the martyr of his clothing,
to bind his limbs and stretch them.
His face shone with beauty,
and a brightness was poured around him.
Such a face the Lawgiver, returning,
brought down from the mountain,
which the Jewish people, defiled
and discolored by the golden calf,
dreaded, and turned their faces back,
unable to bear God.
And such glory of a shining face
that Stephen too displayed,
looking upon the opened heavens
through the rain of stones.
This light was seen from afar
by the brothers lately cleansed,
whom the baptism recently given
had made able to receive Christ.
But the blindness of the impious,
their face smeared with the mould of night,
covered under a dark veil,
does not see the brightness:
like the Egyptian plague,
which, when it condemned the barbarians to darkness,
showed day to the Hebrews
with a clear light.
Moreover, the very quality of the smell,

### Scripture references

- Exod 34:29: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 34:30: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 32:4: allusion, medium confidence
- Acts 7:55: allusion, high confidence
- Acts 7:58: allusion, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 3:15: echo, medium confidence
- Exod 10:23: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Exod 34:29–35; 32:1–6; 2 Cor 3:13–16; Acts 6:15; 7:55–56; Exod 10:22–23.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.353 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-353).

## Hymn 2, lines 385–416

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-385
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The smell of the roasting martyr is a stench to persecutors and nectar to believers, for Christ is a fire that lights the righteous and burns the guilty; Lawrence jests from the gridiron and then prays to Christ for Rome.

### Latin text

Adusta quam reddit cutis,
Diversa utrosque permovet :
His nidor, illis nectar est.
Idemque sensus, dispari
Variatus aura, aut adficit
Horrore nares vindice,
Aut mulcet oblectamine.
Sic, ignis aeternus, Deus :
Nam Christus ignis verus est;
Is ipse complet lumine
Iustos, et urit noxios.
Postquam vapor diutinus
Decoxit exustum latus,
Ultro e catasta iudicem
Compellat adfatu brevi :
— « Converte partem corporis
Satis crematam iugiter,
Et fac periclum, quid tuus
Vulcanus ardens egerit. » —
Praefectus inverti iubet.
Tunc ille : — « Coctum est, devora;
Et experimentum cape,
Sit crudum, an assum suavius. » —
Haec ludibundus dixerat;
Caelum deinde suspicit,
Et congemiscens obsecrat,
Miseratus urbem Romulam:
— « O Christe, numen unicum,
O splendor, o virtus Patris,
O factor orbis et poli,
Atque auctor horum moenium,
Qui sceptra Romae in vertice

### English translation (Claude)

which the burnt skin gives off,
affects the two groups differently:
to these it is a stench, to those nectar.
And the same sense, varied
by a different air, either affects
the nostrils with avenging horror
or soothes them with delight.
So God is an eternal fire:
for Christ is the true fire;
he himself fills the righteous
with light, and burns the guilty.
After the long-lasting heat
had cooked his burnt side,
of his own accord, from the gridiron,
he addresses the judge with a brief speech:
“Turn over the part of my body
that has been burned long enough,
and make trial of what your
burning Vulcan has done.”
The prefect orders him turned.
Then he: “It is cooked; devour it,
and make the experiment
whether it is sweeter raw or roasted.”
These things he had said in jest;
then he looks up to heaven,
and, groaning, prays,
pitying the city of Romulus:
“O Christ, one Godhead,
O splendor, O power of the Father,
O maker of earth and sky,
and author of these walls,
who placed the sceptres of Rome on the summit

### Scripture references

- Heb 12:29: allusion, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 2:16: echo, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Heb 12:29; Deut 4:24; 1 Cor 1:24.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.385 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-385).

## Hymn 2, lines 417–448

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-417
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Lawrence prays that Rome, which Christ made ruler of a united world so that the gospel might bind all nations in one, may itself become Christian, for its senate still worships the old gods.

### Latin text

Rerum locasti, sanciens
Mundum Quirinali togae
Servire, et armis cedere,
Ut discrepantum gentium
Mores et observantiam,
Linguasque, et ingenia, et sacra
Unis domares legibus,
En omne sub regnum Remi
Mortale concessit genus:
Idem loquuntur dissoni
Ritus, id ipsum sentiunt.
Hoc destinatum, quo magis
Ius Christiani nominis,
Quodcumque terrarum iacet,
Uno inligaret vinculo.
Da, Christe, Romanis tuis,
Sit Christiana ut civitas ,
Per quam dedisti, ut ceteris
Mens una sacrorum foret.
Confoederantur omnia
Hinc inde membra in symbolum ;
Mansuescit orbis subditus:
Mansuescat et summum caput.
Advertat, abiunctas plagas
Coire in unam gratiam ;
Fiat fidelis Romulus,
Et ipse iam credat Numa.
Confundit error Troicus
Adhuc Catonum curiam,
Veneratus occultis focis
Phrygum penates exules.
Ianum bifrontem, et Sterculum

### English translation (Claude)

of things, ordaining
that the world should serve the Quirinal toga
and yield to its arms,
so that the customs and observances,
tongues, characters and rites
of discordant nations
you might tame under one law:
see, the whole mortal race
has passed under the rule of Remus;
those dissonant in rites speak the same,
they think the same thing.
This was destined so that the more
the law of the Christian name
might bind with one bond
whatever lands lie anywhere.
Grant, Christ, to your Romans
that the city may be Christian,
through which you granted that the rest
might have one mind in sacred things.
All the members on every side
are bound together into the creed;
the subject world grows gentle:
let the supreme head grow gentle too.
Let it note that the separated regions
come together into one grace;
let Romulus become faithful,
and Numa himself now believe.
The error of Troy still confounds
the senate-house of the Catos,
which worships at hidden hearths
the exiled household gods of the Phrygians.
Two-faced Janus and Sterculus

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.417 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-417).

## Hymn 2, lines 449–480

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-449
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Lawrence prays that Christ will end pagan worship in Rome, where Peter and Paul, slain by Nero, already reign, and foresees a Christian emperor who will close the temples.

### Latin text

Colit Senatus (horreo
Tot monstra patrum dicere),
Et festa Saturni senis.
Absterge, Christe, hoc dedecus,
Emitte Gabriel tuum,
Agnoscat ut verum Deum
Errans Iuli caecitas.
Et iam tenemus obsides
Fidissimos huius spei ;
Hic nempe iam regnant duo
Apostolorum principes.
Alter vocator gentium,
Alter, Cathedram possidens
Primam, recludit creditas
Aeternitatis ianuas.
Discede, adulter Iuppiter,
Stupro sororis oblite;
Relinque Romam liberam,
Plebemque iam Christi fuge.
Te Paulus hinc exterminat,
Te sanguis exturbat Petri ;
Tibi id, quod ipse armaveras,
Factum Neronis officit.
Video futurum Principem
Quandoque, qui, servus Dei,
Tetris sacrorum sordibus
Servire Romam non sinat ;
Qui templa claudat vectibus,
Valvas eburneas obstruat,
Nefasta damnet limina,
Obdens ahenos pessuios.
Tunc pura ab omni sanguine

### English translation (Claude)

the Senate worships (I shudder
to tell of so many monsters of the fathers),
and the festivals of old Saturn.
Wipe away, Christ, this disgrace;
send forth your Gabriel,
that the wandering blindness of Iulus
may acknowledge the true God.
And already we hold most faithful
hostages of this hope;
for here already two princes
of the apostles reign.
The one is the caller of the nations;
the other, holding the first chair,
opens the entrusted gates
of eternity.
Depart, adulterous Jupiter,
defiled by sexual immorality with your sister;
leave Rome free,
and flee the people now Christ’s.
Paul drives you out from here,
the blood of Peter expels you;
the deed of Nero, which you yourself
had armed, works against you.
I see that there will be a Prince
some day who, a servant of God,
will not allow Rome to serve
the foul filth of rites;
who will close the temples with bars,
block the ivory doors,
condemn the unholy thresholds,
putting brazen bolts against them.
Then, pure from all blood,

### Scripture references

- Gal 2:8: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 16:19: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Paul is the apostle of the nations; Peter holds ‘the first chair’ and the keys (Matt 16:19), as written. The last word of line 19 is lost in the scan (‘Christi I’); read ‘fuge’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.449 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-449).

## Hymn 2, lines 481–512

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-481
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Lawrence dies at the end of his prayer; senators carry his body, converted by his freedom, and from that day pagan worship in Rome declined, for the martyr’s death was the death of the temples.

### Latin text

Tandem nitebunt marmora;
Stabunt et aera innoxia,
Quae nunc habentur idola. » —
Hic finis orandi fuit,
Et finis idem vinculi
Carnalis : erupit volens
Vocem secutus spiritus.
Vexere corpus, subditis
Cervicibus, quidam patres,
Quos mira libertas viri
Ambire Christum suaserat.
Repens medullas indoles
Adflarat, et coegerat
Amore sublimis Dei
Odisse nugas pristinas.
Refrixit ex illo die
Cultus deorum turpium;
Plebs in sacellis rarior:
Christi ad tribunal curritur.
Sic dimicans Laurentius
Non ense praecinxit latus ;
Hostile sed ferrum retro
Torquens in auctorem tulit.
Dum daemon invictum Dei
Testem lacessit praelio,
Perfossus ipse concidit,
Et stratus aeternum iacet.
Mors illa sancti martyris
Mors vera templorum fuit;
Tunc Vesta Palladios Lares
Impune sensit deseri.
Quidquid Quiritum sueverat
Orare simpuvium Numae,

### English translation (Claude)

the marbles will shine at last;
and the bronzes will stand harmless
which are now held as idols.”
This was the end of his prayer,
and the same was the end of his fleshly
bond: the spirit burst forth willingly,
following his voice.
Certain fathers carried the body
on their shoulders placed beneath it,
whom the wondrous freedom of the man
had persuaded to seek Christ.
A sudden disposition had breathed
into their marrow and had compelled them,
through love of the high God,
to hate their former trifles.
From that day the worship
of the foul gods grew cold;
the people were fewer in the shrines;
they ran to the tribunal of Christ.
So Lawrence, fighting,
did not gird his side with a sword,
but, turning the enemy’s iron back,
bore it against its author.
While the demon challenges God’s
unconquered witness to battle,
he himself falls, pierced through,
and lies laid low forever.
That death of the holy martyr
was the true death of the temples;
then Vesta felt that her Palladian Lares
were deserted with impunity.
Whoever of the Quirites had been used
to pray at the ladle of Numa,

### Translation notes

- ‘Fathers’ are senators. Several lines run together in the OCR separated.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.481 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-481).

## Hymn 2, lines 513–544

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-513
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romans of every rank, even former pagan priests and a Vestal, now honor the apostles and martyrs; the poet, far away in Spain, envies those who can pray at Lawrence’s tomb in a Rome full of saints.

### Latin text

Christi frequentans atria,
Hymnis resultat martyrem.
Ipsa et Senatus lumina,
Quondam Luperci aut Flamines,
Apostolornm et martyrum
Exosculantur limina.
Videmus inlustres domos,
Sexu ex utroque nobiles,
Offerre votis pignora
Clarissimorum liberum.
Vittatus olim pontifex
Adscitur in signum Crucis;
Aedemque, Laurenti, tuam
Vestalis intrat Claudia.
O ter quaterque et septies
Beatus Urbis incola,
Qui te, ac tuorum cominus
Sedem celebrat ossuum ;
Cui propter advolvi licet:
Qui fletibus spargit locum,
Qui pectus in terram premit,
Qui vota fundit murmura!
Nos Vasco Hiberus dividit,
Nos binis remotos Alpibus,
Trans Cottianorum iuga,
Trans et Pyrenas ninguidos.
Vix fama nota est, abditis
Quam plena Sanctis Roma sit,
Quam dives urbanum solum
Sacris sepulcris floreat.
Sed qui caremus his bonis,

### English translation (Claude)

now thronging the halls of Christ,
resounds the martyr in hymns.
The very lights of the Senate,
once Luperci or Flamens,
kiss the thresholds
of the apostles and martyrs.
We see illustrious houses,
nobles of both sexes,
offering in vows the pledges
of their most distinguished children.
The pontiff once wearing the fillet
is admitted to the sign of the Cross;
and a Vestal, Claudia,
enters your shrine, Lawrence.
O thrice and four times and seven times
blessed the dweller in the City,
who honors at close hand you
and the seat of your bones;
who may kneel down nearby,
who sprinkles the place with tears,
who presses his breast to the ground,
who pours out murmured vows!
Us the Basque Ebro divides from you,
us, removed beyond two Alps,
beyond the ridges of the Cottians,
and beyond the snowy Pyrenees.
Scarcely is it known by report
how full Rome is of hidden saints,
how richly the City’s soil
flowers with sacred tombs.
But we who lack these goods,

### Translation notes

- A leftover note line (‘… urbem confidebant reddituram’) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.513 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-513).

## Hymn 2, lines 545–583

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-2-545
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–583
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet honors Lawrence in heaven, a citizen and perpetual consul of the heavenly Rome who grants the prayers of the Romans, and asks him, as patron, to intercede for the sinful poet Prudentius.

### Latin text

Nec sanguinis vestigia
Videre coram possumus,
Caelum intuemur eminus.
Sic, sancte Laurenti, tuam
Nos passionem quaerimus;
Est aula nam duplex tibi,
Hic corporis, mentis polo.
Illic inenarrabili
Adlectus urbi municeps,
Aeternae in arce curiae
Gestas coronam civicam.
Videor videre inlustribus
Gemmis coruscantem virum,
Quem Roma caelestis sibi
Legit perennem consulem.
Quae sit potestas credita,
Et muneris quantum datum,
Probant Quiritum gaudia,
Quibus rogatus adnuis.
Quod quisque supplex postulat,
Fert impetratum prospere :
Poscunt, licenter indicant,
Et tristis haud ullus redit.
Ceu praesto semper adsies,
Tuosque alumnos urbicos
Lactante complexus sinu
Paterno amore nutrias.
Hos inter, o Christi decus,
Audi et poetam rusticum,
Cordis fatentem crimina,
Et facta prodentem sua.
Indignus, agnosco et scio,
Quem Christus ipse exaudiat;
Sed per patronos martyres
Potest medelam consequi.
Audi benignus supplicem
Christi reum Prudentium,
Et servientem corpori
Absolve vinclis saeculi.

### English translation (Claude)

nor can see the traces of the blood
before our eyes,
look upon heaven from afar.
So, holy Lawrence, we seek
your passion there;
for you have a double hall,
here of the body, of the mind in heaven.
There, enrolled as a citizen
in the unspeakable city,
in the citadel of the eternal senate
you wear the civic crown.
I seem to see the man
flashing with illustrious gems,
whom heavenly Rome has chosen
for herself as perpetual consul.
What power has been entrusted to you,
and how great an office given,
the joys of the Quirites prove,
to whom, when asked, you nod assent.
What each suppliant asks for
he carries away, successfully obtained:
they ask, they freely declare their needs,
and no one returns sad.
As if you were always present at hand,
embracing your city nurslings
in your nursing bosom,
you nourish them with a father’s love.
Among these, O glory of Christ,
hear also a country poet,
confessing the sins of his heart
and revealing his deeds.
I am unworthy, I acknowledge and know it,
for Christ himself to hear;
but through the martyrs as patrons
I can obtain healing.
Hear kindly the suppliant,
Prudentius, guilty before Christ,
and, enslaved as he is to the body,
release him from the chains of the world.

### Scripture references

- Phil 3:20: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The first words of the passage are damaged in the scan (‘unis TBstigia’); read ‘Nec sanguinis vestigia’ by sense: uncertain. The martyr as patron and intercessor: as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 2.545 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–583; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/2-545).

## Hymn 3, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Eulalia of Merida, a girl of twelve who as a child already scorned ornaments and play, rose up when the persecution forced Christians to sacrifice, determined to confront the persecutors.

### Latin text

Germine nobilis Eulalia,
Mortis et indole nobilior,
Emeritam sacra virgo suam,
Cuius ab ubere progenita est,
Ossibus ornat, amore colit.
Qui tulit hoc decus egregium,
Urbe potens, populis locuples,
Sed mage sanguine martyrii,
Virgineoque potens titulo.
Curriculis tribus atque novem
Tres hiemes quater attigerat,
Quum crepitante pyra trepidos
Terruit aspera carnifices,
Supplicium sibi dulce rata.
Iam dederat prius indicium,
Tendere se Patris ad solium,
Ludere nescia pusiola.
Spernere succina, flere rosas,
Fulva monilia respuere ;
Ore severa, modesta gradu,
Moribus et nimium teneris
Ast ubi se furiata lues
Excitat in famulos Domini,
Christicolasque cruenta iubet
Tura cremare, iecur pecudis
Mortiferis adolere deis,
Infremuit sacer Eulaliae
Spiritus, ingeniique ferox
Turbida frangere bella parat;
Et, rude pectus anhela Deo,
Femina provocat arma virum.

### English translation (Claude)

Noble by birth, Eulalia,
nobler still in the character of her death,
the holy virgin adorns with her bones
her own Merida, from whose breast she was born,
and cherishes it with love.
[The place] that bore this outstanding glory,
powerful in its city, rich in peoples,
but more powerful through the blood of martyrdom
and the title of the virgin.
She had reached three winters four times,
after three and nine courses of the year,
when, with the crackling pyre, she in her harshness
terrified the trembling executioners,
thinking the punishment sweet for herself.
She had already given an earlier sign
that she was making for the Father’s throne,
a little girl who knew not how to play,
spurning amber, weeping over roses,
rejecting golden necklaces;
severe in face, modest in step,
and in years very tender [grave as the aged].
But when the maddened plague
rose against the servants of the Lord,
and bloodily ordered the worshipers of Christ
to burn incense, to offer the liver of a beast
to the death-bringing gods,
the holy spirit of Eulalia roared,
and, fierce of character,
she prepares to break up the turbulent wars;
and, an untaught heart panting for God,
a woman challenges the arms of men.

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 3: the virgin martyr Eulalia of Merida (Emerita) in Spain. The scan appears to lack a line in the second stanza and the last line of the fourth stanza (in the common text ‘canitiem meditata senum’, whose sense is supplied in brackets). A leftover footnote on Merida and the Guadiana was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-1).

## Hymn 3, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Her parents hid Eulalia in the country, but she slipped out at night and, guided by heavenly light as Israel was by the pillar of fire, walked to the city and at dawn confronted the governor at his tribunal.

### Latin text

Sed pia cura parentis agit,
Virgo animosa domi ut lateat,
Abdita rure et ab urbe procul,
Ne fera sanguinis in pretium
Mortis amore puella ruat.
Illa perosa quietis opem
Nocte fores sine teste movet,
Inde per invia carpit iter.
Ingreditur pedibus laceris
Per loca senta situ et vepribus,
Angelico comitata choro :
Et licet horrida nox sileat,
Lucis habet tamen illa ducem.
Sic habuit generosa patrum
Turba columniferum radium,
Scindere qui tenebrosa potens,
Nocte viam face perspicua
Praestitit, intereunte chao.
Non aliter pia Virgo, viam
Nocte secuta, diem meruit;
Nec tenebris adoperta fuit,
Regna Canopica quum fugeret,
Illa gradu cita pervigili,
Millia multa prius peragit,
Quam plaga pandat Eoa polum :
Mane superba tribunal adit,
Fascibus adstat et in mediis,
Vociferans : — « Rogo, quis furor est
Perdere praecipites animas,
Et male prodiga corda sui
Sternere rasilibus scopulis,
Omnipatremque negare Deum ?

### English translation (Claude)

But a parent’s loving care contrives
that the spirited virgin should lie hidden at home,
concealed in the country and far from the city,
lest the fierce girl, for love of death,
rush to the price of her blood.
She, hating the help of quiet,
moves the doors at night without a witness,
and from there takes her way through trackless places.
She goes on with torn feet
through places rough with neglect and brambles,
accompanied by an angelic choir;
and though the bristling night is silent,
yet she has a guide of light.
So the noble crowd of the fathers
had the column-bearing ray,
which, able to cleave the darkness,
provided at night a way with a clear torch,
as the chaos perished.
Not otherwise the holy virgin, following
the way by night, deserved the day,
nor was she covered by darkness,
[as they were not] when fleeing the realm of Canopus.
She, with quick and wakeful step,
covers many miles
before the eastern region opens the sky;
in the morning, proud, she goes to the tribunal,
and stands in the midst of the fasces,
crying out: “I ask, what madness is it
to destroy souls headlong,
and to throw down hearts wickedly lavish of themselves
before polished rocks,
and to deny God the Father of all?

### Scripture references

- Exod 13:21: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 14:20: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The pillar of fire: Exod 13:21. ‘The realm of Canopus’ is Egypt.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-33).

## Hymn 3, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Eulalia declares herself a Christian, calls the gods and the emperor Maximian nothing, and dares the torturer to do his worst; the enraged governor orders her punished.

### Latin text

Quaeritis, o miseranda manus,
Christicolarum genus? en ego sum
Daemonicis inimica sacris :
Idola protero sub pedibus,
Pectore et ore Deum fateor.
Isis, Apollo, Venus nihil est,
Maximianus et ipse nihil :
Illa nihil , quia facta manu ;
Hic manuum quia facta colit :
Frivola utraque, et utraque nihil.
Maximianus opum dominus,
Prostituat, voveatque suis
Numinibus capnt ipse suum.
Pectora cur generosa quatit?
Dux bonus, arbiter egregius
Sanguine pascitur innocuo ;
Corporibusque piis inhians,
Gaudet et excruciare fidem,
Ergo age, tortor, adure, seca,
Divide membra coacta luto.
Solvere rem fragilem facile est;
Non penetrabitur interior
Exagitante dolore animus. » —
Talibus excitus in furias
Praetor, ait: — « Rape praecipitem
Lictor, et obrue suppliciis:
Sentiat esse deos patrios,
Nec leve principis imperium.

### English translation (Claude)

Do you seek, O pitiable band,
the race of Christ’s worshipers? See, I am one,
an enemy of demonic rites:
I trample idols under my feet,
I confess God with heart and mouth.
Isis, Apollo, Venus are nothing,
and Maximian himself is nothing:
they are nothing because they are made by hand;
he, because he worships what hands have made:
both are frivolous, and both are nothing.
Let Maximian, lord of wealth,
prostitute and vow his own head
to his deities.
Why does he shake noble hearts?
The good leader, the excellent judge,
feeds on innocent blood;
and, gaping for pious bodies,
he rejoices to torture faith.
Come then, torturer, burn, cut,
divide limbs compacted of clay.
It is easy to dissolve a fragile thing;
the inner soul will not be pierced
by the pain that harasses it.”
Roused to fury by such words,
the praetor says: “Seize her headlong,
lictor, and overwhelm her with punishments:
let her feel that there are ancestral gods,
and that the emperor’s command is not light.

### Scripture references

- Rom 10:10: echo, medium confidence
- Ps 115:4 (113:12 Vulg.): allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 10:28: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Ps 115:4; Rom 10:10; Matt 10:28. An inscription of Diocletian and Maximian printed by the editor in the notes leaked into the text and was removed; several damaged words restored.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-65).

## Hymn 3, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The governor urges Eulalia to think of marriage and her family and to escape torture by touching a little salt and incense; she spits in his face and overturns the idols, and the torturers tear her with claws.

### Latin text

Quam cuperem tamen, ante necem,
Si potis es, revocare tuam,
Torva puellula, nequitiam :
Respice gaudia quanta metas,
Quae tibi fert genialis honor.
Te lacrimis labefacta domus
Prosequitur, generisque tui
Ingemit anxia nobilitas,
Flore quod occidis in tenero,
Proxima dotibus et thalamo.
Non movet aurea pompa tori?
Non pietas veneranda senum,
Quos, temeraria, debilitas?
Ecce parata ministeria
Excruciabilis exitii.
Aut gladio feriere caput,
Aut laniabere membra feris :
Aut facibus data fumificis,
Flebiliterque ululanda tuis
In cineres resoluta flues.
Haec, rogo, quis labor est fugere?
Si modicum salis eminulis
Turis et exiguum digitis
Tangere, virgo, benigna velis,
Poena gravis procul afuerit. » —
Martyr ad ista nihil ; sed enim
Infremit, inque tyranni oculos
Sputa iacit : simulacra dehinc
Dissipat, impositamque molam
Turibulis pede prosubigit.
Nec mora : carnifices gemini
Iuncea pectora dilacerant,
Et latus ungula virgineum
Pulsat utrimque, et ad ossa secat,

### English translation (Claude)

Yet how I would wish, before your death,
if you are able, to call back
your wickedness, grim little girl:
consider what great joys you are cutting off,
which the honor of marriage brings you.
Your house, shaken with tears,
follows you, and the anxious nobility
of your family groans
that you perish in the tender flower of youth,
close to a dowry and a bridal chamber.
Does the golden pomp of the marriage bed not move you?
Not the venerable devotion of the old,
whom, reckless one, you are weakening?
See, the instruments are ready
of an agonizing end.
Either you will be struck on the head with the sword,
or your limbs will be torn by wild beasts,
or, given to smoking torches
and lamented with wailing and weeping by your people,
you will flow away, dissolved into ashes.
What toil is it, I ask, to escape these things?
If a little salt with your fingertips,
and a tiny bit of incense,
you would kindly be willing, virgin, to touch,
the heavy punishment will be far away.”
The martyr says nothing to this; but she
roars, and spits into the tyrant’s eyes;
then she scatters the images,
and with her foot tramples down
the meal placed on the censers.
Without delay two executioners
tear her slender breast,
and the claw strikes the virgin’s side
on both sides and cuts to the bone,

### Translation notes

- Several lines run together in the OCR were separated and stray line numbers removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-97).

## Hymn 3, lines 129–160

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Eulalia reads her wounds as Christ’s name written on her body and sings without tears; when the torches set her hair aflame she drinks in the fire, and a white dove is seen leaving her mouth for heaven.

### Latin text

Eulalia numerante notas.
Scriberis ecce mihi, Domine :
Quam iuvat hos apices legere,
Qui tua, Christe, tropaea notant!
Nomen et ipsa sacrum loquitur
Purpura sanguinis eliciti.
Haec sine fletibus et gemitu
Laeta canebat et intrepida :
Dirus abest dolor ex animo,
Membraque picta cruore novo
Fonte cutem recalente lavant.
Ultima carnificina dehinc,
Non laceratio vulnifica,
Crate tenus nec arata cutis,
Flamma sed undique lampadibus
In latera stomachumque furit.
Crinis odorus ut in iugulos
Fluxerat, involitans humeris,
Quo pudibunda pudicitia
Virgineusque lateret honos ,
Tegmine verticis opposito :
Flamma crepans volat in faciem,
Perque comas vegetata caput
Occupat, exsuperatque apicem :
Virgo, citum cupiens obitum,
Appetit et bibit ore rogum.
Emicat inde columba repens,
Martyris os nive candidior
Visa relinquere, et astra sequi.
Spiritus hic erat Eulaliae
Lacteolus, celer, innocuus.
Colla fluunt, abeunte anima,

### English translation (Claude)

while Eulalia counts the marks.
“See, you are being written on me, Lord:
how pleasant it is to read these letters,
which record your trophies, Christ!
The very purple of the blood drawn out
speaks your sacred name.”
These things she sang, glad and fearless,
without tears or groaning:
dire pain is absent from her mind,
and her limbs, painted with new blood,
wash the skin with a warm spring.
Then the last butchery:
not wounding laceration,
nor skin ploughed to the hurdle,
but flame from torches on every side
rages against her sides and breast.
Her fragrant hair had flowed down
to her neck, flying about her shoulders,
so that her bashful modesty
and virgin honor might be hidden,
with the covering of her head set against them:
the crackling flame flies into her face,
and, quickened through her hair, seizes
her head and rises above its top;
the virgin, desiring a swift death,
seeks the pyre and drinks it with her mouth.
Then suddenly a dove flashes out,
seen to leave the martyr’s mouth,
whiter than snow, and to follow the stars.
This was the spirit of Eulalia,
milk-white, swift, innocent.
Her neck droops as the soul departs,

### Scripture references

- Gal 6:17: echo, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-129).

## Hymn 3, lines 161–192

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-161
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The executioners flee at the sight of the dove; snow falls and covers Eulalia’s body as a shroud; her relics now rest in a splendid marble shrine at Merida beside the river Anas.

### Latin text

Et rogus igneus emoritur :
Pax datur artubus exanimis,
Flatus in aethere plaudit ovans,
Templaque celsa petit volucer.
Vidit ut ipse satelles avem
Foeminae ab ore meare palam,
Obstupefactus et attonitus
Prosilit, et sua gesta fugit :
Lictor et ipse fugit pavidus.
Ecce, nivem glacialis hiems
Ingerit, et tegit omne forum :
Membra tegit simul Eulaliae,
Axe iacentia sub gelido,
Pallioli vice linteoli.
Cedat amor lacrimantum hominum,
Qui celebrare suprema solent,
Flebile cedat et officium :
Ipsa elementa, iubente Deo,
Exsequias tibi, Virgo, ferunt.
Nunc locus Emerita est tumulo
Clara colonia Vettoniae,
Quam memorabilis amnis Anas
Praeterit, et viridante rapax
Gurgite moenia pulchra lavit.
Hic, ubi marmore perspicuo
Atria luminat alma nitor
Et peregrinus, et indigena,
Relliquias cineresque sacros
Servat humus veneranda sinu.
Tecta corusca super rutilant

### English translation (Claude)

and the fiery pyre dies down:
peace is given to the lifeless limbs;
the breath, triumphant, claps in the upper air,
and flies swiftly to the lofty temples.
When the guard himself saw the bird
go openly from the woman’s mouth,
amazed and thunderstruck
he leaps up and flees from his own deeds:
the lictor himself flees in fear.
See, icy winter heaps up snow
and covers the whole forum;
it covers likewise the limbs of Eulalia,
lying under the cold sky,
in place of a little linen shroud.
Let the love of weeping men give way,
who are accustomed to celebrate the last rites;
let the tearful office give way:
the very elements, at God’s command,
carry out your funeral, Virgin.
Now Merida is the place of her tomb,
the famous colony of Vettonia,
which the memorable river Anas
passes by, and, rushing in its green
flood, washes the beautiful walls.
Here, where with transparent marble
a kindly brightness lights the halls
for both stranger and native,
the venerable earth keeps in its bosom
the relics and sacred ashes.
Glittering roofs gleam above

### Translation notes

- A leftover note (on Mabillon’s Gothic liturgy and Cardinal Tommasi) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-161).

## Hymn 3, lines 193–215

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/1-1/#p-3-193
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–215
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet calls the young to strew flowers at Eulalia’s shrine and offers his own garland of verse, venerating her bones and the altar over them; she, at God’s feet, favors her people.

### Latin text

De laquearibus aureolis,
Saxaque caesa solum variant,
Floribus ut rosulenta putes
Prata rubescere multimodis.
Carpite purpureas violas,
Sanguineosque crocos metite :
Non caret his genialis hiems,
Laxat et arva tepens glacies,
Floribus ut cumulet calathos.
Ista comantibus e foliis
Munera, virgo, puerque, date :
Ast ego serta choro in medio
Texta feram pede dactylico,
Vilia, marcida, festa tamen.
Sic venerarier ossa libet,
Ossibus altar et impositum :
Illa Dei sita sub pedibus
Prospicit haec, populosque suos
Carmine propitiata fovet.

### English translation (Claude)

from gilded panelled ceilings,
and cut stones vary the floor,
so that you would think rosy meadows
were reddening with many kinds of flowers.
Pluck purple violets,
gather blood-red crocuses:
genial winter does not lack these,
and the warming ice loosens the fields
so as to heap baskets with flowers.
Give these gifts from leafy foliage,
girl and boy;
but I in the middle of the choir
will bring garlands woven in dactylic measure,
cheap and withered, but festive.
So it is pleasing to venerate the bones,
and the altar placed over the bones:
she, set beneath the feet of God,
looks upon these things and, made favorable by the song,
cherishes her peoples.

### Scripture references

- Rev 6:9: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor’s prose argument of Peristephanon 4 leaked into the end of this passage and was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 3.193 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/3-193).

## Hymn 4, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-4-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Saragossa keeps the eighteen martyrs in one tomb; at the judgment each city will bring its martyrs to Christ: Carthage Cyprian, Cordoba Acisclus and Zoellus, Tarragona Fructuosus and his two deacons, Gerona Felix, Calahorra its two.

### Latin text

Bis novem noster populus sub uno
Martyrum servat cineres sepulcro:
Caesaraugustam vocitamus urbem,
Res cui tanta est.
Plena magnorum domus Angelorum
Non timet mundi fragilis ruinam,
Tot sinu gestans simul offerenda
Munera Christo.
Quum Deus dextram quatiens coruscam
Nube subnixus veniet rubente,
Gentibus iustam positurus aequo
Pondere libram;
Orbe de magno caput excitata
Obviam Christo properanter ibit
Civitas quaeque, pretiosa portans
Dona canistris.
Afra Carthago tua promet ossa,
Ore facundo, Cypriane doctor:
Corduba Acisclum dabit, et Zoellum;
Tresque coronas.
Tu tribus gemmis diadema pulchrum
Offeres Christo genitrix piorum,
Tarraco, intexit cui Fructuosus
Sutile vinclum.
Nomen hoc gemmae strophio illigatae est :
Emicant iuxta lapides gemelli,
Ardet splendor parilis duorum
Igne corusco.
Parva Felicis decus exhibebit
Artubus sanctis locuples Gerunda:
Nostra gestabit Calagurris ambos,
Quos veneramur.

### English translation (Claude)

Our people keep in a single tomb
the ashes of twice nine martyrs:
we call the city Caesaraugusta,
whose treasure is so great.
The house full of great angels
does not fear the ruin of the fragile world,
carrying in its bosom so many gifts
to be offered together to Christ.
When God, shaking his flashing right hand,
comes seated on a red cloud,
to set up for the nations a just balance
with equal weight,
then each city, raising its head
from the great world, will go in haste
to meet Christ, carrying precious
gifts in baskets.
African Carthage will bring forth your bones,
Cyprian, teacher of eloquent mouth;
Cordoba will give Acisclus and Zoellus,
and three crowns.
You, Tarragona, mother of the pious,
will offer Christ a beautiful diadem of three gems,
for which Fructuosus wove
the sewn band.
This is the name of the gem bound into the fillet;
twin stones flash beside it;
the equal splendor of the two
burns with flashing fire.
Little Gerona, rich in holy limbs,
will display the glory of Felix;
our Calahorra will carry both
whom we venerate.

### Scripture references

- Matt 25:31: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Thess 4:17: echo, medium confidence
- Rev 14:14: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 4: the eighteen martyrs of Caesaraugusta (Saragossa). Matt 25:31–32; 1 Thess 4:17.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 4.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1).

## Hymn 4, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-4-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The list of cities and their martyrs continues: Barcelona, Narbonne, Arles, Merida, Alcalá, Tangier; Saragossa will bring eighteen, a gift scarcely surpassed by Carthage or Rome.

### Latin text

Barcinon claro Cucuphate freta
Surget, et Paulo speciosa Narbo :
Teque praepollens Arelas habebit,
Sancte Genesi.
Lusitanorum caput oppidorum
Urbs, adoratae cineres puellae
Obviam Christo rapiens, ad aram
Porriget ipsam.
Sanguinem Iusti, cui Pastor haeret,
Ferculum duplex, geminumque donum
Ferre Complutum gremio iuvabit,
Membra duorum.
Ingeret Tingis sua Cassianum,
Festa Massylum monumenta regum ;
Qui cinis gentes domitas coegit
Ad iuga Christi.
Singulis paucae, tribus aut duobus
Forsan, et quinis aliquae placebunt
Testibus Christi, prius hostiarum
Pignore functae.
Tu decem Sanctos revehes et octo,
Cesaraugusta studiosa Christi,
Verticem flavis oleis revincta
Pacis honorae.
Sola in occursum numerosiores
Martyrum turbas Domino parasti,
Sola, praedives pietate, multa
Luce frueris.
Vix parens orbis populosa Poeni,
Ipsa vix Roma in solio locata,
Te, decus nostrum, superare in isto
Munere digna

### English translation (Claude)

Barcelona will rise, relying on famous Cucufas,
and Narbonne, beautiful with Paul;
and you, mighty Arles, will have you,
holy Genesius.
The city that is the head of the towns of Lusitania,
snatching up the ashes of the adored girl
to meet Christ, will hold her out
herself to the altar.
Alcalá will be glad to bring in its bosom
the blood of Justus, to whom Pastor clings,
a double burden and a twin gift,
the limbs of two.
Tangier will bring its Cassian,
festive monument of the Massylian kings,
whose ashes have forced conquered nations
to the yoke of Christ.
A few cities will be content with single witnesses,
some perhaps with three or two, and some with five
witnesses of Christ, having first discharged
the pledge of victims.
You, Caesaraugusta, devoted to Christ,
will bring back ten saints and eight,
your head bound with the yellow olive
of honored peace.
You alone have prepared more numerous
crowds of martyrs to meet the Lord;
you alone, very rich in devotion,
enjoy much light.
Scarcely the populous mother of the Punic world,
scarcely Rome herself, set upon her throne,
is worthy to surpass you, our glory,
in this gift.

### Translation notes

- The head of the towns of Lusitania is Merida, with Eulalia. A leftover footnote on Merida was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 4.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/4-33).

## Hymn 4, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-4-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The martyrs’ blood guards Saragossa from demons; the city is a homeland of martyrs, the home of the deacon Vincent and the episcopal family of the Valerii, and has given martyrs in every persecution.

### Latin text

Omnibus portis sacer immolatus
Sanguis exclusit genus invidorum
Daemonum, et nigras pepulit tenebras
Urbe piata.
Nullus umbrarum latet intus horror ;
Pulsa nam pestis populum refugit ;
Christus in totis habitat plateis,
Christus ubique est.
Martyrum credas patriam coronis
Debitam sacris: chorus unde surgens
Tendit in caelum niveus togatae
Nobilitatis.
Inde, Vincenti, tua palma nata est ;
Clerus hic tantum peperit triumphum :
Hic sacerdotum domus infulata
Valeriorum.
Saevus antiquis quoties procellis
Turbo vexatum tremefecit orbem,
Tristior templum rabies in istud
Intulit iras.
Nec furor quisquam sine laude nostrum
Praeterit, aut clari vacuus cruoris:
Martyrum semper numerus sub omni
Grandine crevit.
Nonne, Vincenti, peregre necandus
Martyr, his terris tenui notasti
Sanguinis rore speciem futuri
Morte propinqua?
Hoc colunt cives, velut ipsa membra
Caespos includat suus, et paterno
Servet amplectens tumulo beati
Martyris ossa.

### English translation (Claude)

At all the gates the sacred blood that was sacrificed
has shut out the race of envious
demons, and driven away black darkness,
the city being purified.
No horror of shadows lurks within;
for the plague, driven out, flees from the people;
Christ dwells in all the streets,
Christ is everywhere.
You would think it the homeland owed to the martyrs
for their sacred crowns: from here rises
and goes to heaven a snow-white choir
of toga-clad nobility.
From here, Vincent, your palm was born;
this clergy brought forth so great a triumph;
here is the bishops’ house, wearing the fillet,
of the Valerii.
As often as the savage whirlwind with ancient storms
has made the harassed world tremble,
a grimmer rage has brought its wrath
against this temple.
No fury has passed by us
without praise, or empty of glorious blood:
the number of martyrs has always grown
under every hailstorm.
Did you not, Vincent, martyr who was to be slain
away from home, mark these lands with a slight
dew of blood, a likeness of what was to come,
as your death drew near?
The citizens honor this place as if their own turf
enclosed his very limbs, and, embracing them
in a father’s tomb, kept
the bones of the blessed martyr.

### Translation notes

- The first word of line 22 is lost in the scan; read ‘Praeterit’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 4.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/4-65).

## Hymn 4, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-4-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent, though martyred elsewhere, belongs to Saragossa, where he was trained; Engratia also lies here, the only martyr who survived her tortures, which were more cruel than a swift death.

### Latin text

Noster est, quamvis procul hinc in urbe
Passus ignota dederit sepulcri
Gloriam victor, prope litus altae
Forte Sagunti.
Noster et nostra puer in palaestra,
Arte virtutis fideique olivo
Unctus, horrendum didicit domare
Viribus hostem.
Noverat templo celebres in isto
Octies partas deciesque palmas,
Laureis doctus patriis eadem
Laude cucurrit.
Hic et, Encrati, recubant tuarum
Ossa virtutum : quibus efferati
Spiritum mundi violenta Virgo
Dedecorasti.
Martyrum nulli remanente vita
Contigit terris habitare nostris :
Sola tu morti propriae superstes
Vivis in orbe.
Vivis, ac poenae seriem retexis,
Carnis et spolium retentans,
Quam sulcos habeant amaros
Vulnera, narras.
Barbarus tortor latus omne carpsit,
Sanguis impensus, lacerata membra,
Pectus abscissa patuit papilla
Corde sub ipso.
Iam minus mortis pretium peractae est,
Quae, venenatos abolens dolores,
Concitam membris tribuit quietem
Fine soporo.

### English translation (Claude)

He is ours, although far from here, in an unknown city,
he suffered and gave the glory of his tomb
as victor, near the shore, it may be,
of lofty Saguntum.
He is ours, and as a boy in our wrestling school,
anointed with the art of virtue and the oil of faith,
he learned to tame with his strength
the dreadful enemy.
He knew the palms won eight and ten times
famous in this temple,
and, trained by his fathers’ laurels,
he ran the race with the same praise.
Here too, Engratia, lie the bones
of your virtues: by them, violent virgin,
you put to shame the spirit
of the maddened world.
To none of the martyrs has it befallen
to dwell in our lands with life remaining:
you alone, surviving your own death,
live on the earth.
You live, and unfold the series of your punishment,
keeping the spoil of your flesh,
[and tell] how bitter the furrows
your wounds have.
The barbarous torturer tore every side;
blood was spent, limbs torn;
the breast lay open, the nipple cut off,
right under the heart.
Less is the price of a death that is completed,
which, abolishing poisonous pains,
gives swift rest to the limbs
with a sleepy end.

### Translation notes

- Vincent suffered at Valencia, near Saguntum. A few letters of line 22 appear lost in the scan; the sense of ‘you tell’ is from ‘narras’ in line 24.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 4.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/4-97).

## Hymn 4, lines 129–160

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-4-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Engratia, crowned as a martyr though she survived, makes Saragossa the house of a living martyr; the poet names the eighteen: Optatus, Lupercus, Successus, Martial, Urbanus, Julia, Publius, Fronto, Felix, Caecilianus, Evotius, Primitivus, Apodemius and others.

### Latin text

Cruda te longum tenuit cicatrix,
Et diu venis dolor haesit ardens
Dum putrescentes tenuat medullas
Tabidus humor.
Invidus quamvis obitum supremum
Persecutoris gladius negarit,
Plena te, martyr, tamen, ut peremtam,
Poena coronat.
Vidimus partem iecoris revulsam
Ungulis longe iacuisse pressis :
Mors habet pallens aliquid tuorum,
Te quoque viva.
Hunc novum nostrae titulum fruendum
Caesaraugustae dedit ipse Christus,
Iuge viventis domus ut dicata
Martyris esset.
Ergo ter senis sacra candidatis,
Dives Optato, simul et Luperco
Perge conscriptum tibimet senatum
Pangere psalmis.
Ede Successum ; cane Martialem,
Mors et Urbani tibi concinatur:
Iuliam cantus resonet, simulque
Publium pandat chorus, et revolvat
Quale Frontonis fuerit tropaeum ;
Quid bonus Felix tulerit, quid acer
Caecilianvs.
Quantus, Evoti, tua bella sanguis
Tinxerit, quantus tuus, Primitive:
Tum tuos vivax recolat triumphos
Laus, Apodemi.
Quattuor posl hinc superest virorum

### English translation (Claude)

A raw scar held you long,
and burning pain clung long in your veins,
while wasting moisture thinned
the rotting marrow.
Although the persecutor’s envious sword
denied you the final death,
yet, martyr, a full punishment crowns you
as though slain.
We have seen part of the liver torn out
and lying far off, squeezed by the claws:
pale death has something of yours,
even while you live.
This new title Christ himself gave
to our Caesaraugusta to enjoy,
that it should be the dedicated house
of an ever-living martyr.
So, holy city, rich with the thrice six
white-robed ones, with Optatus and Lupercus as well,
go on celebrating in psalms
the senate enrolled for you.
Proclaim Successus; sing Martial;
let the death of Urbanus be sung for you;
let song resound with Julia, and together
let the choir set forth Publius, and recount
what the trophy of Fronto was;
what good Felix bore, what keen
Caecilianus.
How much blood stained your battles, Evotius,
how much yours, Primitivus;
then let lively praise recall your triumphs,
Apodemius.
After these there remains of four men

### Translation notes

- The common text has a further short line (‘Quintilianum’) after ‘simulque’; not in the scan, and not supplied.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 4.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/4-129).

## Hymn 4, lines 161–203

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-4-161
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–203
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Four martyrs named Saturninus complete the eighteen, whose names are written in the book of heaven; Engratia, Vincent, and the confessors Caius and Crementius are added; the martyrs beneath the altar pray for the city’s sins, and the poet calls the city to prayer at their tombs.

### Latin text

Nomen extolli, renuente metro,
Quos Saturninos memorat vocatos
Prisca vetustas.
Carminis Ieges amor aureorum
Nominum parvi facit, et loquendi
Cura de sanctis vitiosa non est,
Nec rudis unquam.
Plenus est artis modus, adnotatas
Nominum formas recitare Christo,
Quas tenet Caeli liber, explicandus
Tempore iusto.
Octo tunc Sanctos recolet decemque
Angelus, coram Patre Filioque,
Urbis unius regimen tenentes
Iure sepulcri.
Quin ad antiquum numerum trahentur
Viva post poenae specimen puella,
Morsque Vincenti, cui sanguis hinc est,
Fons et honoris.
Additis Caio (nec enim silendi),
Teque, Crementi ; quibus incruentum
Ferre provenit decus ex secundo
Laudis agone.
Ambo confessi Dominum, steterunt
Acriter contra fremitum latronum :
Ambo gustarunt leviter saporem
Martyriorum .
Haec, sub altari sita sempiterno,
Lapsibus nostris veniam precatur
Turba, quam servat procerum creatrix
Purpureorum.
Nos pio fletu, date, perluamus
Marmorum sulcos, quibus est operta
Spes, ut absolvam retinaculorum
Vincla meorum.
Sterne te totam, generosa, sanctis
Civitas mecum tumulis ; deinde
Mox resurgentes animas et artus
Tota sequeris.

### English translation (Claude)

the name to be extolled, though the metre refuses,
whom ancient antiquity records
as called Saturninus.
Love of the golden names thinks little
of the laws of song, and care in speaking
of the saints is not faulty,
nor ever rude.
The measure is full of art, to recite to Christ
the noted forms of the names,
which the book of heaven holds,
to be unrolled in due time.
Then the angel will recall the eight and ten saints
before the Father and the Son,
who hold the government of one city
by right of their tomb.
Moreover, to the ancient number will be added
the girl who lived after the sample of punishment,
and the death of Vincent, whose blood is from here,
the source of his honor.
Add Caius (for they must not be passed over in silence),
and you, Crementius, to whom it befell
to bear a bloodless glory from a second
contest of praise.
Both, confessing the Lord, stood
fiercely against the roaring of the robbers;
both tasted lightly the savor
of martyrdom.
This band, placed beneath the eternal altar,
prays for pardon for our falls,
the band that the mother of purple nobles
keeps.
Grant that we may wash with loving tears
the grooves of the marble under which our hope
is covered, that I may loosen the chains
of my bonds.
Prostrate yourself wholly, noble city,
with me at the holy tombs; then
soon you will follow, whole,
the rising souls and limbs.

### Scripture references

- Rev 20:12: echo, medium confidence
- Rev 6:9: allusion, medium confidence
- Phil 4:3: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Rev 6:9; 20:12. The martyrs’ intercession is as written. The editor’s prose argument of Peristephanon 5 leaked into the end of this passage and was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 4.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/4-161).

## Hymn 5, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet hails the feast of the deacon Vincent, now among the angels in a robe washed in blood; the governor first tried gentle persuasion, ordering the Christians to sacrifice by imperial decree.

### Latin text

Beate martyr, prospera
Diem triumphalem tuum,
Quo sanguinis merces tibi
Corona, Vincenti, datur.
Hic te ex tenebris saeculi,
Tortore victo et iudice,
Evexit ad caelum dies,
Christoque ovantem reddidit.
Nunc angelorum particeps,
Conlucia insigni stola,
Quam testis indomabilis
Rivis cruoris laveras.
Quum te satelles idoli,
Praecinctus atris legibus,
Litare divis gentium
Ferro et catenis cogeret,
Ac verba primum mollia
Suadendo blande effuderat ;
Captator ut vitulum lupus
Rapturus adludit prius.
— « Rex, inquit, orbis maximus,
Qui sceptra gestat Romula,
Servire sanxit omnia
Priscis deorum cultibus.
Vos, Nazareni, adsistite,
Rudemque ritum spernite :
Haec saxa, quae princeps colit,
Placate fumo et victima. » —
Exclamat hic Vincentius,
Levita de tribu sacra,

### English translation (Claude)

Blessed martyr, prosper
your day of triumph,
on which the crown, the reward of your blood,
is given to you, Vincent.
This day, the torturer and judge conquered,
raised you from the darkness of the world
to heaven, and gave you back
triumphant to Christ.
Now, sharer with the angels,
you shine in the glorious robe
which, an unconquerable witness,
you had washed in streams of blood,
when the attendant of the idol,
girt with black laws,
tried to force you with iron and chains
to sacrifice to the gods of the nations.
And at first he had poured out soft words,
persuading you gently,
as the wolf, a decoy, first plays
with the calf it means to seize.
“The king,” he said, “the greatest of the world,
who bears the sceptre of Romulus,
has decreed that all should serve
the ancient worship of the gods.
You Nazarenes, stand by,
and spurn your crude rite:
appease these stones, which the emperor worships,
with smoke and victim.”
Here Vincent cries out,
a Levite of the sacred tribe,

### Scripture references

- Rev 7:14: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 5: the deacon Vincent of Saragossa, martyred at Valencia (304). Rev 7:14. A leftover note on the reading ‘conlucis’ was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-1).

## Hymn 5, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent, one of the seven deacons, refuses to worship stones and wood and confesses the Father and Christ his Son as the one true God; the governor Datian threatens death, and Vincent defies him.

### Latin text

Minister altaris Dei,
Septem ex columnis lacteis :
— « Tibi ista praesint numina,
Tu saxa, tu lignum colas;
Tu mortuorum mortuus
Fias deorum pontifex.
Nos lucis auctorem Patrem,
Eiusque Christum Filium,
Qui solus ac verus Deus,
Datiane, confitebimur. » —
Hic ille iam commotior,
— « Audesne, non felix, ait,
Ius hoc deorum et principum
Violare verbis asperis?
Ius et sacratum et publicum,
Cui cedit humanum genus?
Nec te iuventae fervidae
Instans periclum permovet ?
Hoc namque decretum cape :
Aut ara ture et caespite
Praecanda iam nunc est tibi,
Aut mors luenda est sanguine. » —
Respondit ille altrinsecus :
— « Age ergo, quidquid virium,
Quidquid potestatis tibi est,
Palam reluctor, exsere.
Vox nostra quae sit, accipe :
Est Christus et Pater Deus ;
Servi huius et testes sumus :
Extorque, si potes, fidem.
Tormenta, carcer, ungulae,
Stridensque flammis lamina,

### English translation (Claude)

minister of God’s altar,
one of the seven milk-white columns:
“Let these deities preside over you;
you worship stones, you worship wood;
you, dead, be the priest
of dead gods.
We, Datian, will confess
the Father, author of light,
and Christ his Son,
who are the one true God.”
At this he, now more stirred,
“Do you dare, unhappy man,” he says,
“to violate with harsh words
this law of the gods and of the emperors,
a law both sacred and public,
to which the human race yields?
Does not the danger that threatens
your fervent youth move you?
For take this decree:
either the altar must now be entreated
by you with incense and turf,
or death must be paid with blood.”
He answered in turn:
“Come then, whatever strength,
whatever power you have,
put it forth: I resist you openly.
Hear what our voice is:
Christ and the Father are God;
we are his servants and witnesses:
wrench away our faith, if you can.
Tortures, prison, claws,
and the iron plate hissing with flames,

### Scripture references

- Acts 6:3: echo, medium confidence
- John 17:3: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Levite’ and ‘one of the seven columns’: a deacon (Acts 6:3). ‘Who are the one true God’ (singular in the Latin), as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-33).

## Hymn 5, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent mocks the idols made by craftsmen and declares that the spirits behind them are demons who incite persecution yet tremble at Christ and confess themselves demons when exorcized; the judge orders him silenced.

### Latin text

Atque ipsa poenarum ultima
Mors Christianis ludus est.
O vestra inanis vanitas,
Scitumque brutum Caesaris !
Condigna vestris sensibus
Coli iubetis numina.
Excisa fabrili manu,
Cavis recocta et follibus,
Quae voce, quae gressu carent,
Immota, caeca, elinguia.
His sumptuosa splendido
Dulubra crescunt marmore :
His colla mugientium
Percussa taurorum cadunt.
At sunt et illic spiritus.
Sunt; sed magistri criminum,
Vestrae et salutis aucupes,
Vagi, impotentes, sordidi ;
Qui vos latenter incitos
In omne compellunt nefas,
Vastare iustos caedibus,
Plebem piorum carpere.
Norunt et ipsi ac sentiunt
Pollere Christum et vivere,
Eiusque iamiamque adfore
Regnum tremendum perfidis.
Clamant fatentes denique
Pulsi e latebris viscerum,
Virtute Christi et nomine :
Divique et idem daemones. » —
His intonantem martyrem
Iudex profanus non tulit.
Conclamat: — « Os obtundite,

### English translation (Claude)

and death itself, the last of punishments,
are a game to Christians.
O your empty vanity,
and the brutish decree of Caesar!
You order deities to be worshiped
that are worthy of your senses:
cut out by the craftsman’s hand,
recast with hollow bellows,
which lack voice and step,
unmoving, blind, tongueless.
For these sumptuous shrines
rise in splendid marble;
for these the necks of lowing bulls
fall struck.
But there are spirits there too.
There are; but they are masters of crimes,
fowlers lying in wait for your salvation,
roaming, powerless, filthy;
who secretly drive you, roused,
to every wickedness,
to lay waste the righteous with slaughter,
to pluck at the people of the pious.
They themselves know and feel
that Christ is strong and living,
and that his kingdom will be at hand any moment,
dreadful to the faithless.
In the end they cry out, confessing,
driven from the hiding places of the inner parts
by the power and name of Christ,
that they are both gods and demons.”
The profane judge could not bear
the martyr thundering these things.
He shouts: “Beat his mouth,

### Scripture references

- Ps 115:5 (113:13 Vulg.): allusion, medium confidence
- Jas 2:19: echo, medium confidence
- Mark 1:24: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Ps 115:4–7; Jas 2:19.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-65).

## Hymn 5, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Datian orders Vincent stretched on the rack and torn with claws; Vincent laughs at the torturers, who tire before he does.

### Latin text

Ne plura iactet improbus.
Vocem loquentis claudite,
Raptimque lictores date.
Illos reornm carnibus
Pastos, manuque exercitos.
Iam faxo, ius praetorium
Conviciator sentiat,
Ne impune, ne nostris sibi
Dis destruendis luserit.
Tibi ergo soli, contumax,
Tarpeia calcentur sacra?
Tu porro solus obteras
Romam, Senatum, Caesarem?
Vinctum, retortis brachiis,
Sursum ac deorsum extendite,
Compago donec ossuum
Divulsa membratim crepet.
Posthinc hiulcis ictibus
Nudate costarum abdita,
Ut per lacunas vulnerum
Iecur retectum palpitet. » —
Ridebat haec miles Dei,
Manus cruentas increpans,
Quod fixa non profundius
Intraret artus ungula.
Ac iam omne robur fortium
Eviscerando cesserat,
Nisusque anhelus solverat
Fessos lacertorum toros.
Ast ille tanto laetior,
Omni vacantem nubilo
Frontem serenam luminat,

### English translation (Claude)

lest the wicked man boast any more.
Shut the voice of the speaker,
and bring the lictors at once,
those who are fed on the flesh of the accused
and trained in handiwork.
I will soon see to it that the reviler
feels the praetor’s law,
lest he mock us with impunity,
or the destruction of our gods.
Are the Tarpeian rites, then,
to be trampled by you alone, stubborn man?
Are you alone, besides, to crush
Rome, the Senate, Caesar?
Stretch him out, bound, with his arms twisted back,
up and down,
until the framework of his bones
cracks, torn apart limb by limb.
After that, with gaping blows,
lay bare the hidden parts of his ribs,
so that through the hollows of the wounds
his liver may throb, uncovered.”
God’s soldier laughed at this,
rebuking the bloody hands
because the claw, fixed in,
did not enter his limbs more deeply.
And now all the strength of the strong men
had given out in disemboweling him,
and the panting effort had loosened
the weary muscles of their arms.
But he, all the more glad,
lights up his calm brow,
free from every cloud,

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-97).

## Hymn 5, lines 129–160

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Datian is enraged that Vincent smiles under torture and orders a pause so the wounds can be reopened; Vincent challenges him to torture him himself, for the inner man cannot be harmed.

### Latin text

Te, Christe, praesentem videns.
« — Quis vultus iste, pro pudor!
Datianus aiebat furens:
Gaudet, renidet, provocat,
Tortore tortus acrior.
Nil illa vis exercita
Tot noxiorum mortibus
Agone in isto proficit,
Ars et dolorum vincitur.
Sed vos, alumni carceris,
Par semper invictum mihi,
Cohibete paullum dexteras,
Respiret ut lassus vigor.
Praesicca rursus ulcera,
Dum se cicatrix colligit
Refrigerati sanguinis,
Manus resulcans diruet. » —
His contra Levites refert : —
« Si iam tuorum perspicis
Languere virtutem canum,
Age ipse, maior carnifex.
Ostende, quo pacto queant
Imos recessus scindere,
Manus et ipse intersere,
Rivosque ferventes bibe.
Erras, cruente, si meam
Te rere poenam sumere,
Quum membra morti obnoxia
Dilancinata interficis.
Est alter, est intrinsecus,
Violare quem nullus potest :
Liber, quietus, integer,

### English translation (Claude)

seeing you, Christ, present.
“What is that face, for shame!”
Datian said, raging:
“he rejoices, he smiles, he challenges,
fiercer when tortured than the torturer.
That force, practised
in the deaths of so many guilty men,
achieves nothing in this contest,
and the art of pains is defeated.
But you, nurslings of the prison,
pair ever unconquered for me,
hold back your right hands a little,
so that tired strength may breathe again.
Then, when the ulcers are quite dry,
while the scar of the cooled blood
draws itself together,
your hand, furrowing again, will tear them apart.”
To this the Levite replies:
“If you now perceive
that the strength of your dogs is flagging,
come yourself, greater executioner.
Show how they can
tear the deepest recesses;
put in your own hands too,
and drink the boiling streams.
You are wrong, bloody man, if you
think you are taking your penalty from me
when you kill limbs liable to death
by tearing them to pieces.
There is another, there is one within,
whom no one can violate,
free, quiet, whole,

### Scripture references

- 2 Cor 4:16: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 10:28: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- 2 Cor 4:16; Matt 10:28.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-129).

## Hymn 5, lines 161–192

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-161
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The body is only a clay vessel; the inner man is subject to God alone. Datian demands that Vincent at least hand over the Christian books to be burned; Vincent answers that God’s sword will avenge the sacred volumes on him.

### Latin text

Exsors dolorum tristium.
Hoc, quod laboras perdere
Tantis furoris viribus,
Vas est solutum ac fictile,
Quocumque frangendum modo.
Quin immo nunc enitere
Illum secare ac plectere,
Qui perstat intus, qui tuam
Calcat, tyranne, insaniam.
Hunc, hunc lacesse; hunc discute
Invictum, inexsuperabilem,
Nullis procellis subditum,
Solique subiectum Deo. » —
Haec fatur, et stridentibus
Laniatur uncis denuo.
Cui praetor ore subdolo
Anguina verba exsibilat: —
« Si tanta callum pectoris
Praedurat obstinatio,
Pulvinar ut nostrum manu
Abomineris tangere,
Saltem latentes paginas,
Librosque opertos detege,
Quo secta pravum seminans
Iustis cremetur ignibus. » —
His martyr auditis, ait : —
« Quem tu, maligne, mysticis
Minitaris ignem litteris ,
Flagrabis ipse hoc iustius.
Romphaea nam caelestium
Vindex erit voluminum,
Tanti veneni interpretem

### English translation (Claude)

exempt from sad pains.
This which you labor to destroy
with such great forces of fury
is a vessel, loosened and of clay,
to be broken in any way whatever.
Rather strive now
to cut and punish that one,
who stands firm within, who tramples,
tyrant, on your madness.
Him, him provoke, him shatter,
unconquered, insuperable,
subject to no storms,
subject to God alone.”
So he speaks, and with hissing hooks
he is torn again.
To him the praetor with crafty mouth
hisses out snakelike words:
“If such obstinacy so hardens
the callus of your heart
that you abhor touching
our sacred couch with your hand,
at least uncover the hidden pages
and the concealed books,
so that the sect that sows depravity
may be burned in just fires.”
Having heard this, the martyr says:
“The fire with which you, malicious one,
threaten the mystic writings,
you yourself will burn in more justly.
For the sword will be the avenger
of the heavenly volumes,
burning with its lightning the tongue

### Scripture references

- 2 Cor 4:7: allusion, medium confidence
- Rev 19:15: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The demand to surrender the Scriptures reflects the persecution edict of 303. 2 Cor 4:7.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-161).

## Hymn 5, lines 193–224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-193
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent warns Datian of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah; the furious governor orders the gridiron, and Vincent climbs onto it willingly.

### Latin text

Linguam perurens fulmine.
Vides favillas indices
Gomorrheorum criminum :
Sodomita nec latet cinis,
Testis perennis funeris.
Exemplar hoc, serpens, tuum est :
Fuligo quem mox sulphuris,
Bitumen et mixtum pice,
Imo implicabunt tartaro. » —
His persecutor saucius
Pallet, rubescit, aestuat,
Insana torquens lumina,
Spumasque frendens egerit.
Tum deinde cunctatus diu,
Decernit extrema omnium :
Igni, grabato, et laminis
Exerceatur quaestio.
Haec ille se se ad munera
Gradu citato proripit,
Ipsosque pernox gaudio,
Poenae ministros praevenit.
Ventum ad palaestram gloriae :
Spes certat et crudelitas;
Luctamen anceps conserunt
Hinc martyr, illinc carnifex.
Serrata lectum regula
Dente frequenti exasperat,
Cui multa carbonum strues
Vivum vaporat halitum.
Hunc sponte conscendit rogum
Vir sanctus ore interrito,
Ceu iam coronae conscius

### English translation (Claude)

of the interpreter of such poison.
You see the ashes that are evidence
of the crimes of Gomorrah;
nor is the ash of Sodom hidden,
witness of an everlasting funeral.
This is your pattern, serpent:
soon the soot of sulphur,
and bitumen mixed with pitch,
will entangle you in deepest Tartarus.”
Wounded by this, the persecutor
turns pale, reddens, seethes,
rolling his maddened eyes,
and, gnashing his teeth, pours out foam.
Then, after long hesitation,
he decrees the last of all:
let the inquiry be carried out
with fire, the bed and the plates.
He hurries himself to these offices
with quick step,
and, sleepless all night with joy,
outruns the very ministers of punishment.
They came to the wrestling-ground of glory:
hope and cruelty contend;
they join a doubtful struggle,
the martyr on this side, the executioner on that.
A serrated bar roughens the bed
with close-set teeth,
which a great heap of coals
heats with living breath.
This pyre the holy man mounts of his own accord,
with fearless face,
as though, already aware of his crown,

### Scripture references

- Gen 19:24: allusion, high confidence
- Jude 1:7: allusion, medium confidence
- Rev 21:8: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Gen 19:24–25; Jude 7.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.193 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-193).

## Hymn 5, lines 225–256

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-225
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: On the gridiron Vincent is burned with salt and dripping fat but remains unmoved, eyes raised to heaven; then he is thrown into the darkest dungeon with his feet in the stocks.

### Latin text

Celsum tribunal scanderet.
Subter crepante adspergine
Scintillat excussus salis,
Punctisque fervens stridulis
Sparsim per artus figitur.
Arvina posthinc igneum
Impressa cauterem lavit :
Vis unde roris fumidi
In membra sensim liquitur.
Haec inter immotus manet,
Tamquam dolorum nescius,
Tenditque in altum lumina;
Nam vincla palmas presserant.
Sublatus inde fortior
Lugubre in antrum truditur,
Ne liber usus luminis
Animaret altum spiritum.
Est intus imo ergastulo
Locus tenebris nigrior,
Quem saxa mersi fornicis
Angusta clausum strangulant.
Aeterna nox illic latet
Expers diurni sideris :
Hic carcer horrendus suos
Habere fertur inferos.
In hoc barathrum coniicit
Truculentus hostis martyrem :
Lignoque plantas inserit
Divaricatis cruribus.
Quin addit et poenam novam
Crucis peritus artifex,
Nulli tyranno cognitam,

### English translation (Claude)

he were climbing to a high tribunal.
Beneath, with crackling spray,
the salt shaken out sparkles,
and, boiling in hissing points,
is fixed here and there through his limbs.
After that, fat pressed on
bathes the fiery brand,
whence the force of the smoking dew
melts little by little into his limbs.
Amid these things he remains unmoved,
as if knowing nothing of pain,
and stretches his eyes on high;
for chains had pressed his palms.
Lifted from there, stronger,
he is thrust into a mournful cave,
lest the free use of light
should animate his lofty spirit.
There is within, at the bottom of the prison,
a place blacker than darkness,
which the stones of a sunken vault
strangle, narrow and closed.
Eternal night lurks there,
without the star of day:
this horrid prison is said
to have its own underworld.
Into this pit the savage enemy
throws the martyr,
and puts his feet into the stocks
with legs spread wide apart.
Moreover he adds a new punishment,
a craftsman skilled in torture,
known to no tyrant,

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.225 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-225).

## Hymn 5, lines 257–288

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-257
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent is laid on sharp potsherds in the dungeon, but Christ fills the prison with light, breaks the stocks, turns the shards to flowers, and angels come to speak with him.

### Latin text

Nec fando compertam retro.
Fragmenta testarum iubet
Hirta, impolitis angulis,
Acuminata, informia,
Tergo iacentis sternerent.
Totum cubile spiculis
Armant dolores anxii,
Insomne qui subter latus
Mucrone pulsent obvio.
Haec ille versutus vafra
Meditatus arte struxerat:
Sed Belzebulis callida
Commenta Christus destruit.
Nam carceralis caecitas
Splendore lucis fulgurat,
Duplexque morsus stipitis
Ruptis cavernis dissilit.
Agnoscit hic Vincentius
Adesse, quod speraverat,
Tanti laboris praemium,
Christum datorem luminis.
Cernit deinde fragmina
Iam testularum mollibus
Vestire semet floribus,
Redolente nectar carcere.
Quin et frequentes angeli
Stant, ac loquuntur comminus,
Quorum unus ore augustior
Compellat his dictis virum : —
« Exsurge, martyr inclite,
Exsurge securus tui :
Exsurge, et almis caetibus

### English translation (Claude)

nor learned before by report.
He orders fragments of potsherds,
rough, with unpolished corners,
sharpened, shapeless,
to be strewn under the back of the man lying there.
Anxious pains arm the whole bed
with spikes,
to strike his sleepless side from beneath
with point set against it.
These things the crafty man had built,
having planned them with cunning art;
but Christ destroys
the clever devices of Beelzebul.
For the blindness of the prison
flashes with the splendor of light,
and the double bite of the stocks
leaps apart, its holes broken.
Here Vincent recognizes
that what he had hoped for is present,
the reward of so great a labor,
Christ, the giver of light.
Then he sees the fragments
of the potsherds now
clothing themselves with soft flowers,
as the prison breathes nectar.
Moreover, many angels
stand and speak face to face,
of whom one, more majestic of countenance,
addresses the man with these words:
“Arise, famous martyr,
arise, secure for yourself;
arise, and as a companion join

### Scripture references

- Acts 12:7: echo, medium confidence
- Acts 16:26: echo, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.257 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-257).

## Hymn 5, lines 289–320

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-289
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The angel tells Vincent his passion is complete and Christ will crown him; light bursts from the dungeon, and the guard hears the martyr singing psalms.

### Latin text

Noster sodalis addere.
Decursa iam satis tibi
Poenae minacis munia,
Pulchroque mortis exitu
Omnis peracta est passio.
O miles invictissime,
Fortissimorum fortior,
Iam te ipsa saeva et aspera
Tormenta victorem tremunt.
Spectator haec Christus Deus
Compensat aevo intermino,
Propriaeque collegam Crucis
Larga coronat dextera.
Pone hoc caducum vasculum
Compage textum terrea,
Quod dissipatum solvitur;
Et liber in caelum veni. » —
Haec ille. Sed clausas fores
Interna rumpunt lumina,
Tenuisque per rimas nitor
Lucis latentis proditur.
Hoc quum stuperet territus
Obsessor atri liminis,
Quem cura pernox manserat
Servare feralem domum ,
Psallentis audit insuper
Praedulce carmen martyris,
Cui vocis instar aemulae
Conclave reddit concavum.
Pavens deinde introspicit,
Admota quantum postibus
Acies per artas cardinum

### English translation (Claude)

our fellowship.
The duties of the threatening punishment
have now been run through enough by you,
and by a beautiful end of death
your whole passion is complete.
O most unconquered soldier,
braver than the bravest,
now the very tortures, savage and harsh,
tremble at you, their victor.
Christ God, a spectator of these things,
repays them with endless age,
and crowns with his generous right hand
the companion of his own Cross.
Lay down this perishable little vessel,
woven with an earthy framework,
which is loosened and dissolved,
and come free to heaven.”
So he spoke. And the light within
bursts the closed doors,
and through the cracks a thin gleam
of the hidden light is betrayed.
When the guard of the black threshold,
whom an all-night duty had kept
to watch the deadly house,
was astonished and terrified at this,
he hears besides the very sweet song
of the martyr singing psalms,
to which the hollow chamber gives back
the likeness of an answering voice.
Then, trembling, he looks in,
as far as his eye, moved up to the doorposts,
can enter through the narrow

### Scripture references

- 2 Tim 4:7: echo, medium confidence
- 2 Tim 4:8: echo, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 5:1: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- 2 Tim 4:7–8; 2 Cor 5:1.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.289 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-289).

## Hymn 5, lines 321–352

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-321
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The guard sees Vincent free and singing among flowers; Datian, defeated, orders him nursed so he can be tortured again; the faithful tend his wounds and keep cloths dipped in his blood, and the jailer believes in Christ.

### Latin text

Intrare iuncturas potest.
Vernare multis floribus
Stramenta testarum videt,
Ipsumque vulsis nexibus
Obambulantem pangere.
Implentur aures turbidi
Praetoris hoc miraculo :
Flet victus, et volvit gemens
Iram, dolorem, dedecus.
— « Exemptus, inquit, carceri,
Paullum benignis fotibus
Recreetur, ut pastum novum
Poenis refectus praebeat. » —
Co'ire toto ex oppido
Turbam fidelem cerneres,
Mollire praefultum torum,
Siccare cruda vulnera.
Illo ungularum duplices
Sulcos pererrat osculis ;
Hic purpurantem corporis
Gaudet cruorem lambere.
Plerique vestem linteam
Stillante tinguunt sanguine,
Tutamen ut sacrum suis
Domi reservent posteris.
Tunc ipse manceps carceris,
Et vinculorum ianitor,
Ut fert vetustas conscia,
Repente Christum credidit.
Hic obseratis vectibus
Densae specum caliginis
Splendore lucis advenae

### English translation (Claude)

joints of the hinges.
He sees the strewing of potsherds
blooming with many flowers,
and the man himself, his bonds torn off,
walking about and singing.
The ears of the troubled praetor
are filled with this miracle:
beaten, he weeps, and groaning turns over
anger, pain and disgrace.
“Let him be taken out of the prison,”
he says, “and refreshed a little
with kindly comforts, so that, restored,
he may provide new food for punishments.”
You might see the faithful crowd
come together from the whole town,
softening the propped couch,
drying the raw wounds.
This one goes over the double furrows
of the claws with kisses;
that one is glad to lick
the crimsoning blood of the body.
Many dip linen garments
in the dripping blood,
so as to keep at home a sacred protection
for their descendants.
Then the keeper of the prison himself,
and doorkeeper of the chains,
as conscious antiquity reports,
suddenly believed in Christ.
He had seen the cave of thick darkness,
its bars barred,
shining, closed as it was,

### Scripture references

- Acts 16:29: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The keeping of cloths dipped in the martyr’s blood is described as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.321 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-321).

## Hymn 5, lines 353–384

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-353
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Laid on a soft bed, Vincent, longing for death, dies, and his spirit rises to the Father by the way of Abel, welcomed by the saints and John the Baptist; Datian rages that he has escaped.

### Latin text

Micuisse clausum viderat.
At vero postquam lectuli
Martyr quietem contigit ;
Aeger morarum taedio,
Et mortis incensus siti:
Si mors habenda eiusmodi est,
Quae corporali ergastulo
Mentem resolvit liberam,
Et reddit auctori Deo :
Mentem piatam sanguine,
Mortis lavacris ablutam,
Quae semel ac vitam suam
Christo immolandam praebuit.
Ergo, ut recline mollibus
Reiecit aulaeis caput,
Victor, relictis artubus,
Caelum capessit spiritus :
Cui recta celso tramite,
Reseratur ad Patrem via,
Quam fratre caesus impio
Abel beatus scanderat.
Stipant euntem candidi
Hinc inde sanctorum chori ,
Parique missum carcere
Baptista Ioannes vocat.
At Christiani nominis
Hostem coquebant irrita
Fellis venena, et lividum
Cor efferata exusserant.
Saevire inermem crederes
Fractis draconem dentibus :
— « Evasit, exsultans, ait,

### English translation (Claude)

with the splendor of a strange light.
But after the martyr reached
the rest of the little bed,
sick with the weariness of delay
and burning with thirst for death —
if death of such a kind is to be held death,
which releases the mind free
from the prison of the body
and gives it back to God its author:
the mind atoned for with blood,
washed in the bath of death,
which once and for all offered its life
to be sacrificed to Christ —
so, as he laid back his head
on the soft coverings,
the spirit, victorious, leaving the limbs,
takes possession of heaven;
for it, by a lofty path,
the straight way to the Father is opened,
which blessed Abel, slain by his impious brother,
had climbed.
White choirs of saints
throng him on this side and that as he goes,
and John the Baptist, sent forth from a like prison,
calls to him.
But the useless poisons of gall
were cooking the enemy of the Christian name,
and had burned up
his livid, savage heart.
You would think a disarmed dragon raged
with broken teeth:
“He has escaped,” he says, exulting,

### Scripture references

- Gen 4:8: allusion, medium confidence
- Heb 11:4: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 14:10: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Gen 4:8; Heb 11:4; Matt 14:10.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.353 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-353).

## Hymn 5, lines 385–416

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-385
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Datian throws Vincent’s body to the beasts so that no tomb may be honored, but no beast or bird touches it; a raven, like Elijah’s, guards it and drives off a wolf.

### Latin text

Rebellis, et palmam tulit?
Sed restat illud ultimum
Inferre poenam mortuo,
Feris cadaver tradere;
Canibusve carpendum dare.
Iam nunc et ossa exstinxero,
Ne sit sepulcrum funeris,
Quod plebs gregalis excolat,
Titulumque fingat martyris. » —
Sic frendit, et corpus sacrum
Profanus ( ah dirum nefas ! )
Nudum, negato tegmine,
Exponit inter carices.
Sed nulla dirarum fames
Aut bestiarum aut alitum
Audet tropaeum gloriae
Foedare tactu squalido.
Quin, si qua clangens improbe
Circumvolarat eminus,
Trucis volucris impetu
Depulsa vertebat fugam.
Nam corvus, Heliae datus
Olim ciborum portitor,
Hoc munus implet sedulo,
Et inremotus excubat.
Hic ex frutetis proximis
Infestus alarum sono,
Oculosque pennis verberans
Exegit immanem lupum.
Quis perfidorum credere
Ausit, rapacem belluam,

### English translation (Claude)

“the rebel, and carried off the palm?
But there remains this last thing:
to inflict punishment on the dead man,
to hand over the corpse to wild beasts,
or give it to dogs to tear.
I will now destroy even the bones,
so that there may be no tomb of his corpse
for the common herd to honor
and to fashion a martyr’s title.”
So he gnashes, and, profane man
(ah, dread wickedness!),
exposes the sacred body naked,
covering denied, among the sedges.
But no dire hunger
of beasts or birds
dares to defile the trophy of glory
with a filthy touch.
Rather, if any bird, screeching wickedly,
had flown around from afar,
driven off by the attack of a fierce bird
it turned in flight.
For the raven, once given to Elijah
as carrier of food,
fulfils this duty diligently,
and keeps watch close by.
This raven, from the nearest thickets,
hostile with the sound of its wings,
beating his eyes with its feathers,
drove off a monstrous wolf.
Who of the faithless would dare
to believe that a ravenous beast,

### Scripture references

- 1 Kgs 17:6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- 1 Kgs 17:4–6. A leftover note on ‘exsultans’ was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.385 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-385).

## Hymn 5, lines 417–448

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-417
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The wolf flees before the raven; Datian, defeated even by the dead body, resolves to sink it in the sea.

### Latin text

Tauris paratam congredi,
Cessisse plumis mollibus?
Abit malignum murmurans,
Levi volatu exterritus ;
Praedamque visam fugerat
Custodis imbellis minis.
Quis, audienti talia,
Datiane, tunc sensus tibi?
Quantis gementem spiculis
Pulsabat occultus dolor?
Quum te perempti corporis
Virtute victum cerneres,
Ipsis et impar ossibus,
Vacuisque iam membris minor?
Sed quis, tyranne pertinax,
Hunc impotentem spiritum
Determinabit exitus ?
Nullusne te franget modus? » —
« — Nullus; nec umquam desinam;
Nam, si ferina immanitas
Mansuescit, et clementia
Corvos voraces mitigat,
Mergam cadaver fluctibus :
Insana numquam naufragis
Ignoscit unda, et spumeum
Nescit profundum parcere.
Aut semper illic mobilis
Incerta per ludibria
Vagis feretur flatibus,
Squamosa pascens agmina ;

### English translation (Claude)

ready to fight with bulls,
had yielded to soft feathers?
It goes off, growling malignantly,
terrified by a light flight;
and it had fled from the prey it had seen
at the threats of an unwarlike guardian.
What feeling, then, hearing such things,
Datian, did you have?
With how many darts did hidden pain
strike you as you groaned,
when you saw yourself conquered
by the power of the slain body,
unequal even to the bones,
and smaller than limbs now empty?
But what end, stubborn tyrant,
will set a limit
to this uncontrolled spirit?
Will no measure break you?
“None; nor will I ever stop:
for if beastly savagery
grows gentle, and mercy
softens voracious ravens,
I will sink the corpse in the waves:
the mad wave never pardons
the shipwrecked, and the foaming
deep knows not how to spare.
Or else it will be carried there forever,
moving through uncertain mockeries,
by wandering winds,
feeding the scaly shoals;

### Translation notes

- This passage is badly damaged in the scan: footnotes on variant readings and a running head were interleaved with the verse and removed, and several lines were restored by sense (‘Abit malignum murmurans’, ‘Quis, audienti talia’, ‘Pulsabat occultus dolor’, ‘Quum te perempti corporis’, ‘Mergam cadaver fluctibus’, ‘Insana numquam naufragis / Ignoscit unda’); the translation follows these readings.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.417 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-417).

## Hymn 5, lines 449–480

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-449
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Datian orders the body sewn into a sack, weighted with a stone and dropped far out at sea; the soldier Eumorphius carries out the order.

### Latin text

Aut sub fragosis rupibus
Scabri petrarum muriccs
Inter recessus scrupeos
Discissa rumpent viscera.
Ecquis virorum, strenue
Cumbam peritus pellere,
Remo, rudente, et carbaso,
Secare qui pontum queas,
Rapias palustri e cespite
Corpus, quod intactum iacet;
Levique vectum lembulo
Amplum per aequor auferas.
Sed complicatum sparteus
Claudat cadaver culleus,
Quem fune connexus lapis
Praeceps in altum deprimat.
At tu per undas emices,
Rorante praepes palmula,
Donec relictum longior
Abscondat adspectus solum. » —
Haec iussa quidam militum,
(Eumorphio nomen fuit)
Violentus, audax, barbarus,
Furore fervens arripit.
Panale textum conserit,
Suto quod implet corpore,
Emensus et multum freti,
Inter procellas excutit.
O praepotens virtns Dei !
Virtus creatrix omnium !
Quae turgidum quondam mare
Gradiente Christo straverat,

### English translation (Claude)

or beneath crashing cliffs
the rough spikes of the rocks,
among the rugged recesses,
will burst the torn entrails.
Is there any man, skilled to drive
a boat vigorously,
who can cut the sea
with oar, rope and sail,
to snatch from the marshy turf
the body that lies untouched,
and, carrying it in a light skiff,
take it out across the wide sea?
But let a sack of broom
enclose the folded corpse,
and a stone, tied with a rope,
drag it headlong into the deep.
And you, flash through the waves,
swift with your dripping oar-blade,
until a longer view
hides the land left behind.”
One of the soldiers seizes on these orders
(Eumorphius was his name),
violent, bold, barbarous,
boiling with fury.
He weaves together a rush basket,
which he fills with the body sewn in,
and, having traversed much of the strait,
throws it out amid the storms.
O mighty power of God!
Power, creator of all things!
which once had laid flat the swollen sea
when Christ walked on it,

### Scripture references

- Matt 14:25: allusion, medium confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.449 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-449).

## Hymn 5, lines 481–512

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-481
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The power that let Christ walk on the sea and parted the Red Sea makes the weighted body float; it outruns the sailors back to shore and is received by the land as a tomb.

### Latin text

Ut terga calcans aequoris
Siccis mearet passibus,
Plantas nec undis tingueret
Vasti viator gurgitis.
Haec ipsa virtus iusserat
Rubrum salum dehiscere,
Patente dum fundo aridum
Secura plebs iter legit.
Nec non et ipsa nunc iubet
Servire sancto corpori
Pontum, quietis lapsibus
Ad curva pronum litora.
Saxum molaris ponderis,
Ut spuma candens, innatat;
Tantique custos pignoris
Piscella fertur fluctibus.
Cernunt stupentes navitae
Vectam remenso marmore,
Labi retrorsum leniter,
Aestu secundo et flamine.
Certant et ipsi concito
Pontum phaselo scindere :
Longe sed artus praevolant
Telluris ad mollem sinum.
Prius relatos denique
Humus quieta suscipit,
Quam pulsa summis nisibus
Carina portum tangeret.
Felix amoeni litoris
Secessus ille, qui sacra
Fovens arenis viscera
Vicem sepulcri praebuit?

### English translation (Claude)

so that, treading the backs of the sea,
he passed with dry steps,
and did not wet his feet in the waves,
a traveller over the vast deep.
This same power had ordered
the Red Sea to gape,
while the people, safe, chose a dry way
over the open bottom.
And this same power now bids
the sea serve the holy body,
sloping with quiet glidings
to the curved shores.
The stone of millstone weight
floats like gleaming foam;
and the little basket, guardian of so great a pledge,
is carried by the waves.
The astonished sailors see it
borne back over the marble sea they had measured,
gliding gently backward
with tide and wind in its favor.
They themselves strive with their hurried skiff
to cut the sea;
but far ahead the limbs fly
to the soft bosom of the land.
In short, the quiet earth receives them, brought back,
before the keel, driven
with the utmost efforts,
could touch the harbor.
Happy that retreat of the pleasant shore,
which, cherishing the sacred flesh
in its sands,
provided the place of a tomb!

### Scripture references

- Matt 14:25: allusion, high confidence
- Exod 14:21: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Matt 14:25; Exod 14:21–22.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.481 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-481).

## Hymn 5, lines 513–544

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-513
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent’s body, first buried by the faithful, now rests beneath an altar; his soul is in heaven with the Maccabean martyrs and Isaiah, but he alone won a double crown, conquering both in death and after it.

### Latin text

Dum cura sanctorum pia
Deflens adornat aggerem ;
Tumuloque corpus creditum
Vitae reservat posterae.
Sed mox, subactis hostibus,
Iam pace iustis reddita,
Altar quietem debitam
Praestat beatis ossibus.
Subiecta nam sacrario,
Imamque ad aram condita,
Caelestis auram muneris
Perfusa subtus hauriunt.
Sic corpus ; ast ipsum Dei
Sedes receptum continet,
Cum Macchabaeis fratribus,
Sectoque Esaiae proximum.
Simplex sed illis contigit
Corona poenarum, quibus
Finem malorum praestitit
Mortis supremus exitus.
Quid tale sector ausus est?
Truncata numquid corporis
Segmenta post serram feris
Obiecit, aut undis dedit?
Nunc Macchabaei martyris
Linguam tyrannus erutam,
Raptamve pellem verticis
Avibus cruentis obtulit?
Tu solus, o bis inclite,
Solus brabei duplicis
Palmam tulisti : tu duas
Simul parasti laureas.

### English translation (Claude)

while the loving care of the saints,
weeping, adorns the mound,
and keeps the body entrusted to the tomb
for the life to come.
But soon, the enemies subdued,
and peace now restored to the righteous,
an altar gives the due rest
to the blessed bones.
For, placed beneath the sanctuary
and laid at the foot of the altar,
they drink in from below, bathed,
the breath of the heavenly gift.
So the body; but he himself
is received and held in the seat of God,
with the Maccabean brothers,
and next to Isaiah who was sawn.
But to them fell a single crown
of punishments, for whom
the final exit of death
brought an end of evils.
What such thing did the sawyer dare?
Did he throw the cut-off pieces
of the body after the saw to beasts,
or give them to the waves?
Did the tyrant offer
the torn-out tongue of the Maccabean martyr,
or the skin snatched from his scalp,
to bloody birds?
You alone, O twice-glorious,
alone carried off the palm
of a double prize: you prepared
two laurels at once.

### Scripture references

- Heb 11:37: echo, medium confidence
- Rev 6:9: echo, low confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- 2 Macc 7:4-10 (2 Maccabees): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- 2 Macc 7; Isaiah sawn asunder: a tradition reflected in Heb 11:37. The first word of line 14 is damaged in the scan; read ‘Sedes’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.513 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-513).

## Hymn 5, lines 545–578

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-5-545
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–578
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Vincent, victor in death and after it, is asked to present the people’s prayers before the Father’s throne so that Christ may forgive them, and the poet prays that the flesh, which shared the martyr’s labors, may share his glory in the resurrection.

### Latin text

In morte victor aspera,
Tum deinde post mortem pari
Victor triumpho proteris
Solo latronem corpore.
Adesto nunc, et percipe,
Voces precantum supplices,
Nostri reatus efficax
Orator ad thronum Patris.
Per te, per illum carcerem,
Honoris augmentum tui ;
Per vincla, flammas, ungulas,
Per carceralem stipitem;
Per fragmen illud testeum,
Quo parta crevit gloria,
Per, quem trementes posteri
Exosculamur, lectulum,
Miserere nostrarum precum,
Placatus ut Christus suis
Inclinet aurem prosperam,
Noxas nec omnes imputet.
Si rite solemnem diem
Veneramur ore et pectore ;
Si sub tuorum gaudio
Vestigiorum sternimur,
Paullisper huc illabere,
Christi favorem deferens ;
Carnem resumat spiritus,
Virtute perfunctam pari,
Ut, quae laborum particeps
Commune discrimen tulit,
Sit et cohaeres gloriae
Cunctis in aevum saeculis.

### English translation (Claude)

In death a victor over harsh things,
then after death, with equal triumph,
a victor, you trample down
the robber with your body alone.
Be present now, and receive
the suppliant voices of those who pray,
effective pleader for our guilt
before the Father’s throne.
By yourself, by that prison,
the increase of your honor;
by the chains, the flames, the claws,
by the prison stocks;
by that fragment of earthenware
by which your won glory grew;
by the little bed which we,
your trembling posterity, kiss:
have pity on our prayers,
so that Christ, appeased,
may incline a favorable ear to his own,
and not reckon all our sins.
If we rightly venerate this solemn day
with mouth and heart;
if we lie prostrate in joy
beneath your footprints,
glide down here for a little while,
bringing the favor of Christ;
let the spirit take back the flesh,
which has performed with equal virtue,
so that the flesh, which, sharing in the labors,
bore the common danger,
may also be co-heir of the glory
through all ages forever.

### Scripture references

- Rom 8:17: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The martyr is invoked as intercessor, as written. A leftover note (on ‘brabei’/‘bravii’) was removed; the scan may lack a line or two before ‘Carnem resumat spiritus’.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 5.545 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–578; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/5-545).

## Hymn 6, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-6-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Bishop Fructuosus of Tarragona and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius are arrested; he encourages them on the way to prison, where they baptize, and after six days they are brought before the governor.

### Latin text

Felix Tarraco, Fructuose, vestris
Attollit caput ignibus coruscum,
Levitis geminis procul relucens.
Hispanos Deus adspicit benignus,
Arcem quandoquidem potens Hiberam
Trino martyre Trinitas coronat.
Ardens Augurius capessit aethram,
Nec non Eulogius simul superbum
Christi lucidus ad sedile tendit.
Dux et praevius et magister illis
Ad tantum decus, ex episcopali
Clarus nomine Fructuosus ibat.
Accitus quia praesidis repente
Iussu venerat ad forum sacerdos
Levitis comitantibus duobus.
Inde ad carceream viros catenam
Fastus sanguine carnifex trahebat:
Gaudet currere Fructuosus ultro,
Ac, ne quis socios timor feriret,
Praeceptor vehemens eundo firmat,
Incenditque fidem calore Christi.
— « Mecum state, viri : vocat cruentus
Ad poenam coluber Dei ministros ;
Ne mors terreat, est parata palma.
Carcer Christicolis gradus coronae est :
Carcer provehit ad superna caeli:
Carcer conciliat Deum beatis. » —
His dictis, adeunt specum reorum,
Exercent ibi mysticum lavacrum,
Et purgamen aquae stupent tenebrae.
Sex hic continuis latent diebus,
Tandem stant trucis ad tribunal hostis :

### English translation (Claude)

Happy Tarragona, Fructuosus, lifts up
its head, flashing with your fires,
shining far with its twin Levites.
God looks kindly on the Spaniards,
since the mighty Trinity crowns
the Spanish citadel with a threefold martyr.
Burning Augurius takes possession of the sky,
and Eulogius too, shining,
makes for the proud seat of Christ.
As leader, forerunner and master to them
to so great a glory, Fructuosus went,
famous by his episcopal name.
For, summoned suddenly at the order
of the governor, the bishop had come to the forum
with two Levites accompanying him.
From there the executioner, fed on blood,
was dragging the men to the prison’s chain:
Fructuosus is glad to run of his own accord,
and, lest any fear should strike his companions,
the vehement teacher strengthens them as he goes,
and kindles their faith with the warmth of Christ.
“Stand with me, men: the bloody serpent
calls God’s ministers to punishment;
let not death frighten you: the palm is ready.
Prison is for Christians a step to the crown;
prison carries them up to the heights of heaven;
prison wins God for the blessed.”
With these words they enter the cave of the accused,
and there they perform the mystic washing,
and the darkness is astonished at the cleansing of water.
Here they lie hidden for six continuous days;
at last they stand at the tribunal of the cruel enemy:

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 6: Fructuosus, bishop of Tarragona, and his deacons (d. 259). ‘Levites’ is the poet’s word for deacons. The ‘mystic washing’ in prison is baptism.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 6.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/6-1).

## Hymn 6, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-6-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The judge Aemilian orders Fructuosus to worship the emperor’s gods; the bishop confesses the eternal God and Christ, and is sentenced to the fire; on the way he refuses a drink because he is keeping the fast until the ninth hour, as Christ refused the cup on the cross.

### Latin text

Fratres tergeminos tremunt catastae.
Iudex Aemilianus imminebat
Turbidus, insolens, profanus :
Aras daemonicas coli iubebat.
— « Tu, qui doctor, ait, seris novellum
Commenti genns, ut leves puellae
Lucos destituant, Iovem relinquant,
Damnes, si sapias, anile dogma.
Iussum est Caesaris ore Gallieni,
Quod princeps colit, ut colamus omnes. »
Haec fanti placidus refert sacerdos : —
« Aeternum colo principem, dierum
Factorem, dominumque Gallieni,
Et Christum Patre prosatum perenni,
Cuius sum famulus, gregisque pastor. » —
Subridens ait ille : « — iam fuisti. » —
Nec differt furor aut refrenat iram ;
Saevis destinat ignibus cremandos.
Exsultant, prohibentque flere vulgum.
Quosdam de populo videt sacerdos
Libandum sibi poculum offerentes : —
« Ieiunamus, ait; recuso potum.
Nondum nona diem resignat hora :
Numquam conviolabo ius dicatum,
Nec mors ipsa meum sacrum resolvet.
Sic Christus sitiens crucis sub hora
Oblatum sibi poculum recusans,
Nec libare volens, sitim peregit. » —
Intrant interea locum rotunda
Conclusum cavea, madens ferarum
Multo sanguine, quem furor frequentat,
Quum spectacula perstrepunt cruenta,
Ac vilis gladiator ense duro

### English translation (Claude)

the racks tremble at the three brothers.
The judge Aemilian loomed over them,
turbulent, insolent, profane;
he ordered the demonic altars to be worshiped.
“You who are a teacher,” he says, “and sow a new
kind of invention, so that fickle girls
abandon the groves and leave Jupiter,
condemn, if you are wise, the old wives’ doctrine.
It has been commanded by the mouth of Caesar Gallienus
that we all worship what the emperor worships.”
To him as he spoke the bishop calmly replies:
“I worship the eternal Prince, the maker
of days, and the master of Gallienus,
and Christ begotten of the everlasting Father,
whose servant I am, and shepherd of his flock.”
Smiling, the other says: “You have been.”
His fury neither delays nor reins in its anger;
he destines them to be burned by savage fires.
They exult, and forbid the crowd to weep.
The bishop sees some of the people
offering him a cup to drink:
“We are fasting,” he says; “I refuse the drink.
The ninth hour has not yet unsealed the day;
never will I violate a dedicated law,
nor will death itself undo my sacred observance.
So Christ, thirsting at the hour of the cross,
refusing the cup offered to him,
and not willing to taste it, endured his thirst.”
Meanwhile they enter a place enclosed
by a round arena, wet with much blood
of beasts, which fury throngs
when bloody spectacles resound,
and the cheap gladiator, struck by the hard sword,

### Scripture references

- Matt 27:34: allusion, high confidence
- Mark 15:23: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Tim 4:7: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23. Several lines run together in the OCR separated.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 6.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/6-33).

## Hymn 6, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-6-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: At the pyre in the amphitheatre Fructuosus refuses his friends’ homage, takes off his own shoes as Moses did at the bush, and promises to pray for all; a voice from heaven declares that this fire is not punishment but the reshaping of life.

### Latin text

Percussus cadit, et fremit voluptas.
Hic flammante pyra, niger minister,
Ardens supplicium parare iussus,
Construxit facibus rogum supremis.
Qui, dum corpora concremata solvit,
Ferventes animas amore lucis
Fracto carceris expediret antro.
Certant officiis pii sodales :
Plantis calceamenta dissolutis
Pronus detrahere studebat unus.
Sed sanctus vetat ora Fructuosus
Inclinata premi : — « Facessite, inquit,
Ne nostram gravet obsequela mortem.
Quin ipse meos pedes resolvam,
Ne vestigia praepedita vinclis
Tardis gressibus irruant in ignem.
Cur lamenta rigant genas madentes?
Cur vestri memor ut fiam rogatis?
Cunctis pro populis rogabo Christum. » —
Vix haec ediderat, relaxat ipse
Indumenta pedum: velut Moyses
Quondam fecerat ad rubum propinquans.
Non calcare sacram cremationem,
Aut adstare Deo prius licebat,
Quam vestigia pura figerentur.
Stabat calce mera : resultat ecce
Caelo spiritus, et serit loquelam,
Quae cnnctos tremefecit andientes.
— « Non est, credite, poena, quam videtis,
Quae puncto tenui citata transit ;
Nec vitam rapit illa, sed reformat.
Felices animae, quibus per ignem

### English translation (Claude)

falls, and pleasure roars.
Here, with a flaming pyre, the black minister,
ordered to prepare the burning punishment,
built the pyre with final torches,
which, while it dissolved the burned bodies,
might set free the souls, burning with love of light,
from the broken cave of their prison.
The loving companions vie in services:
one, bending down, was eager to take off
the shoes, their laces loosed, from his feet.
But holy Fructuosus forbids them
to bow down and press their faces: “Stop,” he says,
“lest your homage weigh on our death.
Rather I will loose my feet myself,
lest my footsteps, hampered by bonds,
rush into the fire with slow steps.
Why do laments water your wet cheeks?
Why do you ask me to remember you?
I will pray to Christ for all the peoples.”
Scarcely had he spoken this, when he himself loosens
the coverings of his feet, as Moses
had once done when approaching the bush.
It was not allowed to tread on the sacred burning,
or to stand before God,
before pure footsteps were set down.
He stood barefoot: see, a spirit resounds
from heaven, and sows a speech
that made all who heard it tremble:
“It is not punishment, believe me, that you see,
which passes, hurried in a slight moment;
nor does it snatch away life, but reshapes it.
Happy the souls to whom through fire

### Scripture references

- Exod 3:5: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Exod 3:5. A leftover reference (to Cardinal Bona on the psalmody) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 6.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/6-65).

## Hymn 6, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-6-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The martyrs enter the fire; their bonds burn away and they raise their arms in the form of the cross, like the three young men in the furnace; at their prayer God takes them; a servant of the governor and the governor’s daughter see them borne into heaven.

### Latin text

Celsa scandere contigit Tonantis;
Quas olim fugiet perennis ignis. » —
Haec inter, rapidis focos crepantes
Intrant passibus, et minantur ipsis
Flammarum trepidantibus caminis.
Nexus denique, qui manus retrorsnm
In tergum revocaverant revinctas,
Intacta cute decidunt adusti.
Non ausa est cohibere poena palmas,
In morem Crucis ad Patrem levandas:
Solvit brachia, quae Deum precentur.
Priscorum specimen trium putares,
Quos olim Babylonicum per ignem
Cantantes stupuit tremens tyrannus.
Illis sed pia flamma tum pepercit,
Nondum tempore passionis apto,
Nec mortis decus inchoante Christo.
Hos quum defugeret vaporus ardor,
Orant, ut celer ignis advolaret,
Et finem daret anxiis periclis.
Exorata suos obire tandem
Maiestas famulos iubet, caducis
Missos corporibus, sibique reddi.
Vidit praesidis ex domo satelles
Caelum martyribus patere apertum,
Insignesque viros per astra ferri.
Quin et filiolae monens herili
Ostendit sceleris notam paterni,
Caelo vivere, quos forum peremit.
Illum virginitas palam videre
Per sudum meruit, parente caeco,
Ut crimen domini domus timeret.

### English translation (Claude)

it has befallen to climb the heights of the Thunderer;
the everlasting fire will one day flee from them.”
Amid this they enter the crackling hearths
with rapid steps, and threaten
the very furnaces trembling with flames.
At last the bonds which had drawn back
their hands, tied behind their backs,
fall off, burnt, with their skin untouched.
The punishment did not dare to hold back the palms,
which were to be raised to the Father in the form of the Cross:
it loosens the arms, so that they may pray to God.
You would think it a likeness of the three of old,
whom once, singing through the Babylonian fire,
the trembling tyrant wondered at.
But then the loving flame spared them,
the time of the passion not yet being fit,
nor Christ yet beginning the glory of death.
When the burning heat shunned these,
they pray that the fire may fly swiftly to them
and put an end to their anxious dangers.
Prevailed upon, the Majesty at last bids
his servants die, sent forth
from their perishable bodies, and be restored to himself.
A guard from the governor’s house saw
heaven lying open to the martyrs,
and the illustrious men carried through the stars.
Moreover he showed it to his master’s little daughter,
warning her, as the mark of her father’s crime:
those whom the forum slew live in heaven.
The maidenhood deserved to see it openly
through the clear sky, while her parent was blind,
so that the house might fear its master’s crime.

### Scripture references

- Dan 3:25: allusion, high confidence
- Acts 7:56: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Dan 3:23–25. The last line is damaged in the scan (‘i i crimea domini domns timerut’); read ‘Ut crimen domini domus timeret’ by sense: uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 6.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/6-97).

## Hymn 6, lines 129–162

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-6-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–162
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The faithful collect the martyrs’ ashes, but the martyrs appear in white and command that the relics be laid together in one tomb; Tarragona rejoices in its three patrons, and the poet hopes Fructuosus will protect the city and himself at the judgment.

### Latin text

Tum de corporibus sacris favillae,
Et perfusa mero leguntur ossa,
Quae raptim sibi quisque vindicabat.
Fratrum tantus amor, domum referre
Sanctorum cinerum dicata dona,
Aut gestare sinu fidele pignus.
Sed ne relliquias resuscitandas,
Et post cum Domino simul futuras,
Discretis loca dividant sepulcris,
Cernuntur niveis stolis amicti,
Mandant restitui, cavoque claudi
Mixtim marmore pulverem sacrandum.
O triplex honor, o triforme culmen,
Quo nostrae caput excitatur urbis,
Cunctis urbibus eminens Hiberis,
Exsultare tribus libet patronis,
Quorum praesidio fovemur omnes
Terrarum populi Pyrenearum.
Circumstet chorus ex utroque sexu,
Heros, virgo, puer, senex, anulla:
Vestrum psallite rite Fructuosum.
Mixtis Eulogium modis coaequans,
Reddamus paribus pares camoenas.
Hinc aurata sonent in arce tecta,
Blandum litoris extet inde murmur,
Et carmen freta feriata pangant.
Olim tempus erit, ruente mundo,
Quum te, Tarraco, Fructuosus acri
Solvet supplicio, tegens ab igni.
Fors dignabitur et meis medelam
Tormentis dare, prosperante Christo,
Dulces hendecasyllabos revolvens.

### English translation (Claude)

Then the ashes from the sacred bodies,
and the bones sprinkled with wine, are gathered,
which each one hastily claimed for himself.
So great was the brothers’ love, to carry home
the dedicated gifts of the holy ashes,
or to bear in their bosom a faithful pledge.
But lest they should divide into separate tombs
the relics that are to be raised again,
and afterwards to be with the Lord together,
they are seen clothed in snow-white robes,
and command that the sacred dust be restored
and shut, mixed together, in a hollow marble.
O threefold honor, O three-formed summit,
by which the head of our city is raised,
eminent among all the cities of Spain,
it is pleasing to exult in three patrons,
by whose protection we are all cherished,
peoples of the lands of the Pyrenees.
Let a choir of both sexes stand around,
hero, virgin, boy, old man, old woman:
sing duly the psalm of your Fructuosus.
[…] matching Eulogius with mingled measures,
let us render equal songs to equals.
On this side let the gilded roofs on the citadel resound,
on that let the gentle murmur of the shore stand out,
and let the waves on holiday make song.
A time will come, when the world is falling,
when Fructuosus will release you, Tarragona,
from sharp punishment, protecting you from the fire.
Perhaps he will deign to give healing to my torments too,
by the favor of Christ,
as he turns over these sweet hendecasyllables.

### Scripture references

- 1 Thess 4:17: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A line praising Augurius appears to be missing before ‘Mixtis Eulogium’; not supplied. A leftover note on ‘anulla’ was removed. Line 8 is damaged in the scan; read ‘Et post cum Domino simul futuras’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 6.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/6-129).

## Hymn 7, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-7-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Quirinus, bishop of Siscia, martyred under Galerius, was thrown from a bridge with a millstone tied to his neck, but the river held him up while his people watched from the banks.

### Latin text

Insignem meriti virum
Quirinum, placitum Deo,
Urbis moenia Sisciae
Concessum sibi martyrem
Complexu patrio fovent.
Hic sub Galerio duce,
Qui tunc Illyricos sinus
Urgebat ditionibus,
Fertur catholicam fidem
Inlustrasse per exitum.
Non illum gladii rigor,
Non incendia, non ferae
Crudeli interitu necant,
Sed lymphis fluvialibus
Gurges, dum rapit, abluit.
Nil refert, vitreo aequore,
An de flumine sanguinis
Tinguat passio martyrem :
Aeque gloria provenit
Fluctu quolibet uvida.
Summo pontis ab ardui
Sanctae plebis episcopus
In praeceps fluvio datur,
Suspensum laqueo gerens
Ingentis lapidem molae.
Deiectum placidissimo
Amnis vertice suscipit,
Nec mergi patitur sibi,
Miris vasta natatibus
Saxi pondera sustinens.
Suspectant eminus e solo
Doctorem pavidi greges ;
Nam Christi populus frequens

### English translation (Claude)

Quirinus, a man of outstanding merit,
pleasing to God,
the walls of the city of Siscia
cherish in a fatherly embrace,
the martyr granted to them.
Under Galerius’ rule,
who then pressed the Illyrian
regions with his sway,
he is said to have made the catholic faith
illustrious by his death.
Not the hardness of the sword,
not fire, not wild beasts
kill him with a cruel death,
but a whirlpool washes him
in river waters while it carries him off.
It makes no difference whether with glassy water
or with a river of blood
the passion dyes the martyr:
glory comes equally,
wet with any wave.
From the top of a high bridge
the bishop of the holy people
is thrown headlong into the river,
carrying, hung from a noose,
the stone of a huge millstone.
The river receives him, cast down,
on its most gentle eddy,
and does not let him sink,
holding up the vast weight of the stone
with wondrous swimming.
From afar, from the ground, the frightened flocks
look up at their teacher;
for the numerous people of Christ

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 7: Quirinus, bishop of Siscia (Sisak) in Pannonia (d. 309). The end of line 32 is damaged in the scan; read ‘greges’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 7.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/7-1).

## Hymn 7, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-7-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Quirinus encourages his frightened people from the water; fearing to lose his martyrdom, he prays to Jesus, recalling that Christ made the sea firm under Peter’s feet.

### Latin text

Riparum sinuamina
Stipato agmine saepserat.
Sed Quirinus, ut eminens
Os circumtulit, heu ! suo
Exemplo trepidos videt,
Nil ipse proprii memor
Inter stagna periculi.
Confirmat pia pectora,
Verbis mitificis rogans,
Ne quem talia terreant,
Neu constans titubet fides,
Aut poenam putet emori.
Dicentem fluitantibus
Amnis terga vehunt vadis,
Nec substrata profunditas
Saxoque et laqueo et viro
Audet sponte dehiscere.
Sensit martyr episcopus,
Iam partam sibi praeripi
Palmam mortis et exitus,
Adscensumque negarier
Aeterni ad solium Patris.
— « Iesu cunctipotens, ait,
Haudquaquam tibi gloria
Haec est insolita, aut nova,
Calcare fremitum maris,
Prona et flumina sistere.
Scimus discipulum Petrum,
Quum vestigia tingueret
Iam mergenti trepidus pede,
Dextrae subsidio tuae
Subiecisse salum solo.

### English translation (Claude)

had surrounded the windings of the banks
with a packed throng.
But Quirinus, as he looked around,
raising his face, sees them, alas,
frightened by his example,
himself not at all mindful of his own
danger amid the waters.
He strengthens their loving hearts,
asking with gentle words
that such things should frighten no one,
nor constant faith waver,
nor anyone think it a punishment to die.
As he speaks, the back of the river carries him
on its floating shallows,
nor does the depth beneath
dare of its own accord to open
for the stone and the noose and the man.
The martyr bishop felt
that the palm of death and departure,
already won, was being snatched from him,
and the ascent to the throne
of the eternal Father denied.
“Jesus, almighty,” he says,
“this glory is by no means
unusual or new for you,
to tread on the roaring of the sea,
and to stop the down-flowing rivers.
We know that the disciple Peter,
when he was wetting his footsteps,
already sinking with trembling foot,
with the help of your right hand
found the sea set beneath him as ground.

### Scripture references

- Matt 14:29: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 14:31: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Matt 14:28–31. Several damaged lines were restored by sense (‘Calcare fremitum maris’, ‘Iam mergenti trepidus pede’, ‘Dextrae subsidio tuae’).

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 7.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/7-33).

## Hymn 7, lines 65–89

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/4-1/#p-7-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–89
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Quirinus recalls the Jordan turning back and asks Christ, whose power is now shown, to let him die for him; as he prays he dies, the stone sinks, and the waters take his body.

### Latin text

Iordanem quoque novimus
Tortis vorticibus vagum,
Dum fertur rapido impetu,
Ad fontem refluis retro
Confugisse meatibus.
Haec miracula sunt tuae
Virtutis, Domine; ut modo
Suspendor, leve praenatans
Summo gurgite fluminis,
Quum collo scopulum traham.
Iam plenus titulus tui est,
Et vis prodita nominis,
Quam gentilis habet stupor:
Absolvas, precor, optime,
Huius nunc animae moras.
Quid possis, probat amnicus,
Qui vectat silicem, liquor;
Hoc iam quod superest, cedo,
Quo nil est pretiosius
Pro te, Christe Deus, mori. » —
Orantem simul halitus
Et vox deserit et calor;
Scandit spiritus ardua :
It pondus grave saxeum,
Corpus suscipiunt aquae.

### English translation (Claude)

We know too that the Jordan,
wandering with twisted eddies,
while it was carried on in rapid rush,
fled back to its source
with backward-flowing courses.
These are miracles of your power,
Lord; as now
I am held up, floating lightly
on the top of the river’s flood,
though I drag a rock on my neck.
Now the title of your name is full,
and its power revealed,
which the pagans gaze at in astonishment:
release now, I pray, best Lord,
the delays of this soul.
What you can do the river water proves,
which carries the flint;
grant now what remains,
than which nothing is more precious:
to die for you, Christ God.”
As he prays, breath
and voice and warmth leave him at once;
the spirit climbs the heights;
the heavy stone goes down,
the waters receive the body.

### Scripture references

- Josh 3:16: allusion, high confidence
- Ps 114:3 (113:3 Vulg.): allusion, medium confidence
- Phil 1:21: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Josh 3:16; Ps 114:3. The first word of the second-to-last line is damaged in the scan (‘Pit’); read ‘It’.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 7.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–89; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/7-65).

## Hymn 8, lines 1–18

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-8-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–18
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Inscription for a baptistery built on the site of a double martyrdom: where martyrs once went to heaven by blood, the baptized now go by water, both through the wounds of Christ from which blood and water flowed.

### Latin text

Electus Christo locus est, ubi corda probata
Provehat ad caelum sanguine, purget aqua.
Hic duo purpureum, Domini pro nomine caesi,
Martyrium pulchra morte tulere viri.
Hic etiam Iiquido fluit indulgentia fonte,
Ac reteres maculas diluit amne novo.
Qui cupit aeternum Caeli conscendere regnum,
Huc veniat sitiens: ecce parata via est.
Ante coronati scandebant ardua testes
Atria, nunc lotae celsa petunt animae.
Spiritus aetherio solitus descendere lapsu,
Ut dederat palmam, sic tribuit veniam.
Haurit terra sacros aut fonte aut sanguine rores,
Exundatque suo iugiter uda Deo.
Ipse loci est dominus, laterum cui vulnere utroque
Hinc cruor effusus fluxit, et inde latex.
Ibitis hinc, ut quisque potest, per vulnera Christi,
Evectus gladiis alter, et alter aquis.

### English translation (Claude)

This place is chosen for Christ, where he carries approved hearts
to heaven by blood, and cleanses them by water.
Here two men, slain for the Lord’s name,
bore a purple martyrdom by a beautiful death.
Here too pardon flows from a clear fountain
and washes away old stains in a new stream.
Whoever desires to climb to the eternal kingdom of heaven,
let him come here thirsting: see, the way is ready.
Before, crowned witnesses climbed to the lofty halls;
now washed souls seek the heights.
The Spirit, accustomed to descend in heavenly glide,
as he had given the palm, so grants pardon.
The earth drinks sacred dews either from the font or from blood,
and, ever wet, overflows for its God.
He himself is lord of the place, from both sides of whose wound
blood poured out flowed on this side, and water on that.
You will go from here, as each can, through the wounds of Christ,
one carried up by swords, the other by waters.

### Scripture references

- John 19:34: allusion, high confidence
- Isa 55:1: echo, medium confidence
- John 7:37: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 8: verses for a baptistery at the place of martyrdom (traditionally Calahorra, of Emeterius and Chelidonius). John 19:34; Isa 55:1.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 8.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1).

## Hymn 9, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-9-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: On his way to Rome the poet prayed at the tomb of Cassian at Forum Cornelii (Imola) and saw a painting of the martyr pierced by schoolboys’ styluses; the sacristan explains that Cassian was a teacher of shorthand, arrested for refusing to sacrifice.

### Latin text

Sulla Forum statuit Cornelius: hoc Itali urbem
Vocitant ab ipso conditoris nomine.
Hic mihi quum peterem te, rerum maxima Roma,
Spes est oborta prosperum Christum fore.
Stratus humi tumulo advolvebar, quem sacer ornat
Martyr, dicato Cassianus corpore.
Dum lacrimans mecum reputo mea vulnera, et omnes
Vitae labores, ac dolorum acumina,
Erexi ad caelum faciem, stetit obvia contra
Fucis colorum picta imago martyris,
Plagas mille gerens, totos lacerata per artus,
Ruptam minutis praeferens punctis cutem.
Innumeri circum pueri, miserabile visu!
Confossa parvis membra figebant stilis ;
Unde, pugillares soliti percurrere ceras,
Scholare murmur adnotantes scripserant.
Aedituus consultus ait: — « quod prospicis, hospes,
Non est inanis aut anilis fabula.
Historiam pictura refert, quae tradita libris,
Veram vetusti temporis monstrat fidem.
Praefuerat stadiis puerilibus, et grege multo
Saeptus, magister litterarum sederat :
Verba notis brevibus comprendere cuncta peritus,
Raptimque punctis dicta praepetibus sequi.
Aspera nonnumquam praecepta et tristia visa
Impube vulgus moverant ira et metu.
Plebem dicatam Christianae gloriae.
Extrahitur coetu e medio moderator alumni
Gregis, quod aris supplicare spreverat.
Poenarum artifici quaerenti, quod genus artis
Vir nosset alto tam rebellis spiritu,
Respondent : agmen tenerum ac puerile gubernat,

### English translation (Claude)

Cornelius Sulla founded a Forum: the Italians call
the town by this, from the very name of its founder.
Here, when I was making for you, Rome, greatest of things,
hope arose in me that Christ would be favorable.
Prostrate on the ground I lay at the tomb which the sacred
martyr Cassian adorns with his dedicated body.
While, weeping, I reflect on my wounds and all
the labors of my life and the stings of my pains,
I lifted my face to heaven; there stood facing me
the image of the martyr, painted in colors,
bearing a thousand wounds, torn through all his limbs,
showing his skin broken with tiny pricks.
Countless boys around him (pitiful to see!)
were piercing his limbs with little styluses,
with which, used to running over the wax tablets,
they had written down the murmur of the school, taking notes.
The sacristan, when consulted, said: “What you see, stranger,
is not an empty or old wives’ tale.
The picture tells a history which, handed down in books,
shows the true faith of an ancient time.
He had been in charge of boys’ studies, and, surrounded
by a large flock, had sat as a teacher of letters,
skilled at capturing all words with brief signs,
and following swiftly with quick dots what was said.
His harsh and seemingly grim precepts sometimes
had moved the young crowd to anger and fear.
[…]
the people dedicated to the Christian glory.
The guide of the young flock is dragged out from the midst
of the gathering, because he had scorned to pray at the altars.
When the craftsman of punishments asked what kind of art
the man knew who was so rebellious in his lofty spirit,
they answer: he governs a tender band of boys,

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 9: Cassian of Imola (Forum Cornelii). Lines are missing in the scan between ‘ira et metu’ and ‘Plebem dicatam’ (the outbreak of the persecution); not supplied.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 9.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-1).

## Hymn 9, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-9-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The judge hands Cassian over to his pupils, who take revenge for his strictness by breaking their tablets on his face and stabbing him with their styluses; the shallow wounds prolong his torment.

### Latin text

Fictis notare verba signis imbuens.
Ducite, conclamat, captivum ; ducite, et ultro
Donetur ipsis verberator parvulis.
Ut libet, inludant, lacerent impune, manusque
Tinguant magistri feriatas sanguine.
Ludum discipulis, volupe est, ut praebeat ipse
Doctor severus quos nimis coercuit. »
Vincitur post terga manus, spoliatus amictu,
Adest acutis agmen armatum stilis.
Quantum quisque odii tacita conceperat ira,
Effundit ardens felle tandem libero.
Coniiciunt alii fragiles inque ora tabellas
Frangunt: relisa fronte lignum dissilit.
Buxa crepant cerata, genis impacta cruentis,
Rubetque ab ictu curta et umens pagina.
Inde alii stimulos et acumina ferrea vibrant,
Qua parte aratis cera sulcis scribitur ;
Et qua secti apices abolentur, et aequoris hirti
Rursus nitescens innovatur area.
Hinc foditur Christi confessor, et inde secatur;
Pars viscus intrat molle, pars scindit cutem.
Omnia membra manus pariter fixere ducentae,
Totidemque guttae vulnerum stillant simul.
Maior tortor erat, qui summa pupugerat, infans,
Quam qui profunda perforarat viscera.
Ille levis, quoniam percussor, morte negata,
Producere scit dolorem spiculis :
Hic quanto interius vitalia condita pulsat,
Plus dat medelae, dum necem prope adplicat.
Este, precor, fortes, et vincite viribus annos :
Quod defit aevo, suppleat crudelitas.
Sed male conatus tener, infirmusque laborat:
Tormenta crescunt dum fatiscit carnifex.

### English translation (Claude)

teaching them to note words by invented signs.
“Lead the prisoner,” he shouts, “lead him, and let the flogger
be handed over freely to the little ones themselves.
Let them mock him as they please, tear him with impunity,
and dye in his blood their hands, given holiday from their master.
It is a pleasure that the stern teacher himself
should provide sport for the pupils whom he restrained too much.”
His hands are bound behind his back, he is stripped of his clothing;
the band, armed with sharp styluses, is there.
As much hatred as each had conceived in silent anger,
he pours out, burning, his gall at last set free.
Some throw their fragile tablets and break them
on his face: the wood leaps apart against his battered brow.
The waxed boxwood crackles, struck against his bloody cheeks,
and the broken, wet page reddens from the blow.
Then others brandish the points and iron tips,
with the part by which the wax is written in ploughed furrows,
and with the part by which the cut letters are erased,
and the surface of the rough plain, shining again, is renewed.
From here the confessor of Christ is dug, from there he is cut;
part enters the soft flesh, part splits the skin.
Two hundred hands at once pierced all his limbs,
and as many drops of wounds drip at once.
The child who had pricked the surface was a greater torturer
than he who had pierced the deep inner parts.
That one, since his blow is light and death is denied,
knows how to prolong the pain with his points;
this one, the deeper he strikes the hidden vital parts,
the more relief he gives, as he brings death near.
“Be strong, I pray, and conquer your years with strength:
what is lacking in age, let cruelty supply.”
But the tender band strives poorly and labors weakly:
the torments grow while the executioner tires.

### Translation notes

- Line 27 is badly damaged in the scan (‘scit dolorom spiculis’); read ‘Producere scit dolorem spiculis’ by sense: uncertain.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 9.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-33).

## Hymn 9, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-9-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The boys mock Cassian as they wound him, until Christ releases his soul; the sacristan invites the poet to pray to the martyr, who hears worthy prayers, and the poet embraces the tomb in tears.

### Latin text

— « Quid gemis? exclamat quidam : tute ipse magister
Istud dedisti ferrum, et armasti manus.
Reddimus ecce tibi tam millia multa notarum,
Quam stando, fiendo, te docente, excepimus.
Non potes irasci quod scribimus: ipse iubebas
Numquam quietum dextera ut ferret stilum.
Non petimus toties, te praeceptore, negatas,
Avare doctor, iam scholarum ferias.
Pangere puncta libet, sulcisque intexere sulcos,
Flexas catenis impedire virgulas.
Emendes licet inspectos longo ordine versus,
Mendosa forte si quid erravit manus.
Exerce imperium: ius est tibi plectere culpam,
si quis tuorum te notavit segnius. » —
Talia ludebant pueri per membra magistri,
Nec longa fessum poena solvebat virum.
Tandem luctantis miseratus ab aethere Christus,
Iubet resolvi pectoris ligamina ;
Difficilesque moras animae, ac retinacula vitae
Relaxat, artas et latebras expedit.
Sanguis ab interno venarum fonte patentes
Vias secutus, deserit praecordia ;
Totque foraminibus penetrati corporis exit
Fibrarum anhelans ille vitalis calor.
Haec sunt, quae liquidis expressa coloribus, hospes,
Miraris : ista est Cassiani gloria.
Suggere, si quod habes iustum vel amabile votum,
Spes si qua tibi est, si quid intus aestuas.
Audit, crede, preces Martyr prosperrimus omnes,
Ratasque reddit, quas videt probabiles. » —
Pareo, complector tumulum, lacrimas quoque fundo,
Altar tepescit ore, saxum pectore.

### English translation (Claude)

“Why do you groan?” cries one; “you yourself, master,
gave us this iron and armed our hands.
See, we give back to you as many thousands of marks
as we took down, standing and weeping, while you taught.
You cannot be angry that we write: you yourself
bade us never to carry a stylus quiet in our right hand.
We are not asking, stingy teacher, for the school holidays
so often denied while you were our teacher.
We like to make dots, and to weave furrows into furrows,
to entangle curved little strokes in chains.
You may correct the lines, inspected in long order,
if perhaps our faulty hand has made a mistake.
Use your authority: you have the right to punish a fault,
if any of your pupils has marked you too slowly.”
Such games the boys played on the limbs of their master,
nor did the long punishment release the weary man.
At last Christ, pitying him from heaven as he struggled,
orders the bonds of his breast to be loosened;
and he relaxes the difficult delays of the soul and the moorings of life,
and frees its narrow hiding places.
The blood, following the open ways from the inner
fountain of the veins, deserts the heart;
and through so many holes of the pierced body
that vital warmth of the fibers goes out, panting.
These are the things, stranger, expressed in clear colors,
at which you marvel: this is the glory of Cassian.
Put forward, if you have any just or lovable prayer,
if you have any hope, if anything seethes within you.
The most favorable martyr, believe me, hears all prayers,
and ratifies those he sees to be worthy.”
I obey; I embrace the tomb, I pour out tears too;
the altar grows warm with my mouth, the stone with my breast.

### Translation notes

- The martyr as hearer of prayers: as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 9.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-65).

## Hymn 9, lines 97–122

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-9-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–122
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet prays at Cassian’s tomb about his troubles and his journey; his prayer is heard, his business in Rome succeeds, and on his return he proclaims Cassian.

### Latin text

Tunc arcana mei percenseo cuncta laboris :
Tunc quod petebam, quod timebam murmuro ;
Et post terga domum dubia sub sorte relictam,
Et spem futuri sorte nutantem boni.
Audior, urbem adeo; dextris successibus utor :
Domum revertor, Cassianum praedico.

### English translation (Claude)

Then I review all the secrets of my labor;
then I murmur what I was seeking, what I feared,
and the home left behind me under a doubtful lot,
and the hope of future good wavering with its lot.
I am heard; I go to the City; I enjoy favorable success;
I return home; I proclaim Cassian.

### Translation notes

- The editor’s prose argument of Peristephanon 10, a footnote, and the first five lines of Peristephanon 10 (‘Romane, Christi fortis adsertor Dei’ … ‘posse mutos eloqui’) had been attached to this passage by the importer; the argument and footnote were removed, and the five verse lines were moved to the beginning of 10.1, where they belong.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 9.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–122; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/9-97).

## Hymn 10, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet invokes the martyr Romanus, whose tongue was torn out yet who still confessed God, to give eloquence to his stammering verse, trusting Christ’s promise to give words to his witnesses; the devil rages most when he is being defeated.

### Latin text

Romane, Christi fortis adsertor Dei,
Elinguis oris organum fautor move ;
Largire comptum carmen infantissimo :
Fac ut tuarum mira laudum concinam :
Nam scis et ipse, posse mutos eloqui.
Plectrum palati et faucium saevus tibi
Tortor revulsit : nec tamen silentium
Indixit ori, quo fatebaris Deum.
Vox veritatis exstingui nequit,
Nec si recisis palpitet meatibus.
Hic noster haerens sermo lingua debili
Balbutit, et modis laborat absonis;
Sed si superno rore respergas iecur,
Et spiritali lacte pectus inriges,
Vox impeditos rauca laxabit sonos.
Evangelista scripsit, ipsum talia
Praecepta Messian dedisse Apostolis :
Nolite verba, quum Sacramentum meum
Erit canendum, providenter quaerere:
Ego imparatis, quae loquantur, suggeram.
Sum mutus ipse ; sed potens facundiae
Mea lingua, Christus, luculente disseret :
Ipse explicabit quos supremo spiritu
Daemon tumultus, dum domatur, moverit,
Furore pestis peior in novissimo.
Sic vulneratus anguis ictu spiculi
Ferrum remordet, et dolore saevior,
Quassando pressis immolatur dentibus:
Hastile fixum sed manet profundius;
Nec cassa sentit morsuum pericula.

### English translation (Claude)

Romanus, brave champion of Christ God,
favoring one, move the organ of my tongueless mouth;
grant a polished song to one most inarticulate;
make me sing the wonders of your praises:
for you know yourself that the mute can speak.
The cruel torturer tore out from you the plectrum
of palate and throat; yet he did not impose
silence on the mouth with which you confessed God.
The voice of truth cannot be extinguished,
not even if it throbs with its passages cut off.
Here my speech, sticking with a weak tongue,
stammers and labors in harsh measures;
but if you sprinkle my liver with dew from above,
and water my breast with spiritual milk,
my hoarse voice will release its hampered sounds.
The evangelist wrote that the Messiah himself
gave such precepts to the apostles:
“Do not, when my Sacrament
must be sung, seek out words in advance:
to the unprepared I will suggest what they should say.”
I am mute myself; but my tongue, mighty in eloquence,
Christ, will speak brilliantly:
he himself will unfold what tumults the demon
stirred with his last breath, while he was being tamed,
worse in the frenzy of his plague at the very end.
So a serpent wounded by the blow of a dart
bites back the iron, and, more savage with pain,
is destroyed by shaking it with its pressed teeth;
but the fixed shaft remains deeper,
nor does it feel the vain dangers of the bites.

### Scripture references

- Matt 10:19: allusion, high confidence
- Luke 12:12: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 10: the martyr Romanus of Antioch (d. 303), the longest of the poems. The first five lines, misplaced by the importer at the end of 9.97, were restored here in place of the editor’s prose argument. Matt 10:19–20; Luke 12:11–12. A leftover footnote (‘plectrum palati: linguam’) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-1).

## Hymn 10, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Like the demon of the tombs who cried out against Christ, the persecutor rages: the prefect orders Christians dragged from the churches and plans to destroy the church; Romanus warns the faithful, who stand firm, and he is arrested as their leader.

### Latin text

Qle scrpens ore dieta n
Qui mortuorum de sepulcris exiens
Clamat: quid ante tempus adventu cito
Mea regna solvis? parce, Fili Altissimi,
Vel possidere corda porcorum iube.
Praefectus istis imminens negotiis
re mandat milil
Ecclesiasten usque de sacrariis
Raptare plebem, mancipandam vinculis
Ni disciplinam Nazarenam respuat.
Mox ipse templum cogitans inrumpere,
Et dissipare sancta sanctorum studens,
Armis profanus praeparabat impiis
Altaris aram funditns pessum dare,
sqne et ipsas in ruinam solvere.
Praecurrit index his repente cognitis
Romanus, acris heros excellentiae,
Venire in armis perduelles nuntiat,
Aiiimos paventum praestruens hortatibus,
Stent ut parati, neve cedant turbini.
Conspirat uno foederatus spiritu
Grex Christianus, agmen imperterritum
Matrum, virorum, parvulorum, virginum ;
Fixa et statuta est omnibus sententia
Fidem tueri, vel libenter emori.
Refert repulsus miles ad subsellia,
Plebis rebellis esse Romanum ducem,
Flagrare cunctos pervicaci audacia,
Iugulos retectos obstinate opponere,
Quo gloriosa morte fortes oppetant.
Praeceps iubetur inde Romanus rapi,
Solusque ut incitator et fax omnium,
Pro contumaci plebe caussam dicere.

### English translation (Claude)

[as] that serpent [spoke] with his mouth,
who, coming out of the tombs of the dead,
cries: “Why before the time, with swift coming,
do you dissolve my kingdom? Spare me, Son of the Most High,
or bid me possess the hearts of pigs.”
The prefect, pressing on with these affairs,
[…] commands the soldiers
to drag the people of the Church
from the very sanctuaries, to be bound in chains,
unless they reject the Nazarene discipline.
Soon he himself, planning to burst into the temple,
and eager to scatter the holy of holies,
was preparing, profane man, with impious arms
to bring the altar down utterly,
and to dissolve [the doors] themselves in ruin.
When these things were known, Romanus suddenly runs ahead
as informer, a hero of keen excellence,
and announces that the enemies are coming in arms,
preparing the minds of the frightened with exhortations
to stand ready and not yield to the whirlwind.
The Christian flock conspires, bound together
in one spirit, an undaunted band
of mothers, men, little ones, virgins;
the resolve is fixed and settled for all
to defend the faith, or gladly die.
The soldier, driven back, reports to the bench
that Romanus is the leader of the rebel people,
that all are burning with stubborn daring,
obstinately setting their bared throats against them,
so that they may meet death bravely in glory.
Then Romanus is ordered to be seized headlong,
and, as sole instigator and torch of all,
to plead the case for the stubborn people.

### Scripture references

- Matt 8:29: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 8:31: allusion, high confidence
- Mark 5:7: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Mark 5:2–13; Matt 8:29–31. The first line and the beginnings of lines 7 and 15 are damaged in the scan; their sense is given in brackets.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-33).

## Hymn 10, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus offers himself to be bound and tortured; the prefect accuses him of stirring the people to rebellion and martyrdom and condemns him to suffer first; Romanus accepts gladly, to die for the faithful.

### Latin text

It non resistens, seque vinciri petit,
Flexas et ultro torquet in tergum manus.
Amor coronae paene praevenit trucem
Lictoris artem, sponte nudas offerens
Costas, bisulcis exsecandas ungulis.
Inrumpit altum limen, et praeconibus
Stupore mutis, ipse tortorem trahit.
Adstanti ob ora sic tyrannus incipit :
« Tu ventilator urbis, et vulgi levis
Procella, mentes inquietas movens,
Ne se imperita turba dedat legibus.
Populare quiddam sub colore gloriae
Inlitterata credidit frequentia,
Ut se per aevum consecrandos autument,
Si bella divis, ceu gigantes, inferant,
Victique flammis obruantur montium.
Hoc tu parasti, perdite, spectaculum
Gladii cruenti de secandis civibus,
Quos ut profanos, impios, sacrilegos
Reos, necesse est te magistro interfici:
Tu caussa mortis, tu malorum signifer.
Ni fallor, aequum est, ut quod auctor improbus
Tolerare multos compulisti, carnifex
In te recurrat; proque tantis caedibus,
Quae mox futurae, primus exitium luas;
Feras et ipse quod ferendum suaseras. » —
Hic ille contra reddit ore libero:
— « Amplector, o Praefecte, nec me subtraho,
Ut pro fideli plebe solus immoler,
Dignus subire cuncta, si me consulis,
Quaecumque vestra iusserit crudelitas.

### English translation (Claude)

He goes, not resisting, and asks to be bound,
and of his own accord twists his bent hands behind his back.
Love of the crown almost outstrips the cruel
art of the lictor, offering of its own will
the bare ribs, to be cut by two-pronged claws.
He bursts through the high threshold, and, while the heralds
are dumb with astonishment, he himself drags the torturer.
As he stands before his face, the tyrant begins thus:
“You who fan the city, storm of the fickle crowd,
stirring restless minds,
so that the ignorant mob will not give itself up to the laws!
Something popular, under the color of glory,
the unlettered multitude has believed,
so that they think they will be consecrated forever
if, like the giants, they make war on the gods
and, conquered, are buried in the flames of mountains.
This spectacle you have prepared, lost man,
of the bloody sword cutting down citizens,
who, as profane, impious, sacrilegious
offenders, must be killed under your teaching:
you are the cause of their death, you the standard-bearer of evils.
Unless I am mistaken, it is just that what you,
their wicked author, compelled many to endure, executioner,
should return upon you; and that for such great slaughters
as will soon come, you should be the first to pay with destruction,
and bear yourself what you had persuaded them to bear.”
To this he answers with free mouth:
“I embrace it, Prefect, nor do I withdraw myself,
so that I alone may be sacrificed for the faithful people,
worthy to undergo all things, if you consult me,
whatever your cruelty has ordered.

### Translation notes

- The passage was badly garbled in the scan and was restored by a single logged correction; ‘movens’ (line 10) and ‘impios, sacrilegos / Reos’ (lines 19–20) are readings restored by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-65).

## Hymn 10, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus refuses the prefect Asclepiades entry to the church unless he becomes a Christian; because Romanus is a nobleman he is beaten with lead instead of racked, and he declares that true nobility comes from God and from serving Christ.

### Latin text

Intrare servis idolorum ac daemonum
Sanctam salutis non licet nostrae domum,
Ne polluatur purus orandi locus :
Confido Sancto in Spiritu, numquam tibi
Dandum, ut beatum limen attingas pede.
Ni forte noster factus, in nostrum gregem
Merere sumi : quod Pater faxit Deus. » —
Incensus his Asclepiades, iusserat
Eviscerandum corpus eculeo eminus
Pendere, et uncis vinculisque crescere.
Apparitores sed furenti suggerunt,
Illum vetusta nobilem prosapia,
Meritisque multis esse primum civium.
Iubet amoveri noxialem stipitem,
Plebeia clarum poena ne damnet virum.
— « Tundatur, inquit, terga crebris ictibus,
Plumboque cervix verberata extuberet :
Persona quaeque competenter plectitur,
Magnique refert, vilis an sit nobilis :
Gradu reorum forma tormentis datur. » —
Pulsatus ergo martyr illa grandine,
Postquam inter ictus dixit hymnos plurimos,
Erectus infit : — « Absit, ut me nobilem
Sanguis parentum praestet, aut lex curiae:
Generosa Christi secta nobilitat viros.
Si prima nostri quae sit in cunabulis
Origo texti stemmatis recenseas,
Dei parentis esse ab ore coepimus:
Cui quisque servit, ille vere est nobilis;
Patri rebellis, invenitur degener.
Honos deinde stemmati accedit novus,
Et splendor ingens, ut magistratus venit ;

### English translation (Claude)

It is not lawful for servants of idols and demons
to enter the holy house of our salvation,
lest the pure place of prayer be polluted:
I trust in the Holy Spirit that it will never
be granted you to touch the blessed threshold with your foot —
unless perhaps, made one of us, you deserve
to be taken into our flock: may God the Father bring it about.”
Inflamed by this, Asclepiades had ordered
the body to be hung high on the rack
to be disemboweled, and stretched by hooks and chains.
But the attendants suggest to the raging man
that he is noble by ancient lineage,
and first among the citizens for his many merits.
He orders the guilty stake to be removed,
lest a plebeian punishment condemn a famous man.
“Let his back be beaten,” he says, “with frequent blows,
and let his neck, flogged with lead, swell:
each person is punished appropriately,
and it matters much whether one is low or noble:
the form of the tortures is given by the rank of the accused.”
So the martyr, beaten by that hail,
after he had sung many hymns between the blows,
stood up and began: “Far be it that the blood of my parents
or the law of the senate-house should make me noble:
the noble sect of Christ ennobles men.
If you review what the first origin is
of our woven lineage in its cradle,
we began from the mouth of God our parent:
whoever serves him, he is truly noble;
rebellious to the Father, he is found degenerate.
Then a new honor is added to the lineage,
and immense splendor, when a magistracy comes:

### Scripture references

- Gen 1:27: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction; ‘Merere’ (line 7) is a reading by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-97).

## Hymn 10, lines 129–160

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus says the wounds of martyrdom are his true nobility and mocks the honors of Roman magistrates, who feed sacred chickens, bow to idols, walk barefoot before the stone of Cybele and run naked as Luperci.

### Latin text

Si confitendi nominis testem probant
Signentque iniusta ferri et ignis vulnera,
Et vim dolorum mors sequatur inclita.
Cave benignus esse perverse velis,
Nec, iam remissus, leniter peperceris:
Incumbe membris, tortor, ut sim nobilis;
His ampliatus si fruar successibus,
Genus patris matrisque flocci fecero.
Haec ipsa vestra dignitatum culmina
Quid esse censes? nonne cursim transeunt
Fasces, secures, sella, praetexta et toga,
Lictor, tribunal, et trecenta insignia,
Quibus tumetis, moxque detumescitis ?
Quum consulatum initis, ut vernae solent,
(Pudet fateri!) farre pullos pascitis;
Aquila ex eburna sumit arrogantiam
Gestator eius, ac superbit belluae
Inflatus osse, cui figura est alitis.
Iam si sub aris ad sigillorum pedes
Iaceatis, infra sectilem quercum siti,
Quid esse vobis aestimem proiectius?
Nudare plantas ante carpentum scio
Proceres togatos, matris Idaeae sacris.
Lapis nigellus evehendus essedo,
Muliebris oris clausus argento sedet :
Quem, dum ad lavacrum praeeundo ducitis,
Pedes remotis atterentes calceis,
Almonis usque pervenitis rivulum.
Quid illa turpis pompa? nempe ignobiles
Vos esse monstrat, quum Luperci curritis.
Quem servulorum non rear vilissimum,
Nudus plateas si per omnes cursitans

### English translation (Claude)

if the wounds of iron and fire, though unjust,
prove and mark me a witness confessing the name,
and a glorious death follows the force of the pains.
Beware of wishing to be perversely kind,
nor, now relaxed, spare me gently:
press on my limbs, torturer, that I may be noble;
if, enlarged by these successes, I enjoy them,
I shall think nothing of my father’s and mother’s family.
These very summits of your dignities,
what do you think they are? Do they not pass by swiftly:
fasces, axes, chair, bordered toga and robe,
lictor, tribunal, and three hundred badges,
with which you swell, and soon go down again?
When you enter on the consulship, as household slaves do,
(I am ashamed to say it!) you feed chickens with meal;
the bearer of an ivory eagle takes on arrogance
from it, and is proud, puffed up by the bone of a beast
that has the shape of a bird.
Now if you lie under the altars at the feet of little images,
placed below a carved oak,
what can I think more abject than you?
I know that toga-clad nobles bare their feet
before the carriage, for the rites of the Idaean mother.
A little black stone, to be carried in a chariot,
sits shut in silver with a woman’s face;
leading it to its bath, going before it,
wearing down your feet with shoes removed,
you come right to the stream of the Almo.
What is that shameful procession? Surely
it shows that you are base, when you run as Luperci.
Whom would I not think the lowest of slaves,
if, running naked through all the streets,

### Translation notes

- The first two lines are damaged in the scan and read by sense (‘Si confitendi nominis testem probant / Signentque iniusta ferri et ignis vulnera’). Polemic against Roman cults, as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-129).

## Hymn 10, lines 161–192

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-161
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus asks the prefect to reason rather than rage, and lists the immoralities told of the pagan gods: their marriages, adulteries and incests, Apollo’s love for Hyacinthus and his service as a cowherd.

### Latin text

Pulset puellas verbere ictas ludicro?
Miseret tuorum me sacrorum et principum,
Morumque, Roma, saeculi summum caput.
Age, explicemus, si placet, mysteria,
Praefecte, vestra: iam necesse est audias,
Nolis velisve, quid colatis sordium.
Nec terret ista, qua tumes, vesania,
Quod vultuosus, quod supinus, quod rigens,
Tormenta leti comminaris asperi ;
Si me movere rebus ullis niteris,
Ratione mecum, non furore dimica.
Iubes, relictis Patris et Christi sacris,
Ut tecum adorem feminas mille ac mares,
Deos deasque, deque sexu duplici
Natos, nepotes, abnepotes editos,
Ut tot stuprorum sordidam prosapiam.
Nubunt puellae; saepe luduntur dolis,
Amasionum comprimuntur fraudibus :
Incesta fervent, furta moechorum calent.
Fallit maritus, odit uxor pellicem:
Deos catenae conligant adulteros.
Ostende, quaeso, quas ad aras praecipis
Vervece caeso fumet ut caespes meus?
Delphosne pergam? Sed vetat palaestrici
Corrupta ephebi fama, quem vester deus
Effeminavit gymnadis licentia.
Mox flevit impuratus occisum gravi
Disco, et dicavit florulentum subcubam.
Conductus idem pavit alienum pecus;
Furtum deinde perditi passus gregis,
Ignavus bubulcus tela et ipsa perdidit.
An ad Cybeles ibo lucum pineum?

### English translation (Claude)

should strike girls with a playful lash?
I pity your rites and your leaders,
and your morals, Rome, highest head of the world.
Come, let us unfold, if you please, your mysteries,
Prefect: now you must hear,
whether you will or not, what filth you worship.
Nor does that madness with which you swell frighten me,
in that, grim-faced, haughty, rigid,
you threaten the tortures of a harsh death;
if you are trying to move me by any means,
fight me with reason, not fury.
You bid me, abandoning the rites of the Father and of Christ,
to adore with you a thousand females and males,
gods and goddesses, and, from the double sex,
sons, grandsons, great-great-grandsons born,
like a filthy lineage of so many acts of sexual immorality.
Girls marry; often they are deceived by tricks,
overpowered by the frauds of lovers:
incests seethe, the thefts of adulterers burn hot.
The husband deceives, the wife hates the concubine:
chains bind together adulterous gods.
Show me, I pray, at which altars you command
that my turf should smoke with a slain wether?
Am I to go to Delphi? But the corrupt reputation
of the athletic youth forbids it, whom your god
made effeminate by the licence of the gymnasium.
Soon, defiled, he wept for him killed by a heavy
discus, and consecrated his concubine as a flower.
The same god, hired, pastured another’s flock;
then, suffering the theft of the lost herd,
the lazy cowherd lost even his arrows.
Or shall I go to the pine grove of Cybele?

### Translation notes

- Polemic against pagan myths, as written: Apollo and Hyacinthus; Apollo’s service with Admetus and the theft of his cattle and quiver by Mercury.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-161).

## Hymn 10, lines 193–224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-193
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus continues: Attis, Jupiter (who would be condemned under Roman laws on adultery and sexual vice), Saturn the fugitive, and quarrelling gods are no objects of worship; the myths are not mere poetry, since the pontiffs themselves applaud them on the stage.

### Latin text

Puer sed obstat Gallus ob libidinem,
Per triste vulnus, perque sectum dedecus
Ab impudicae tutus amplexu deae :
Per multa Matri sacra plorandus spado.
Sed, credo, magni limen amplectar Iovis:
Qui si citetur legibus vestris reus,
Laqueis minacis implicatus Iuliae,
Luat severam vinctus et Scantiniam,
Te cognitore, dignus ire in carcerem.
Quid aureorum conditorem temporum
Censes colendum? quem fugacem non negas
Latuisse furtim, dum reformidat malum :
Quem si beate vivere audit Iuppiter,
Plectat necesse est occulendi conscios.
Quid inter aras dissidentum numinum
Putas agendum? Martis indignabitur
Offensa virtus, si colatur Lemnius.
Iunonis iram sentiet, quisquis deum
Signo aut sacello consecrarit Herculem.
Dicis, licenter haec poetas fingere.
Sed sunt et ipsi talibus mysteriis
Tecum dicati : quodque describunt, colunt.
Tu cur piaclum tam libenter lectitas?
Cur in theatris, te vidente, id plauditur?
Cycnus stuprator peccat inter pulpita,
Saltat Tonantem tauricornem ludius;
Spectator horum pontifex summus sedes,
Ridesque et ipse, nec negando diluis,
Quum fama tanti polluatur numinis.
Cur tu, sacrate, per cachinnos solveris
Quum se maritum fingit Alcmenae deus?
Meretrix Adonin vulneratum scenica

### English translation (Claude)

But the boy, the Gallus, stands in the way, for lust,
through a sad wound and a cut-away disgrace
safe from the embrace of the unchaste goddess,
a eunuch to be lamented in many rites of the Mother.
But, I suppose, I shall embrace the threshold of great Jupiter:
who, if he were summoned as a defendant under your laws,
entangled in the snares of the threatening Julian law,
would, in chains, pay the penalty of the severe Scantinian law too,
and, with you as judge, deserve to go to prison.
Why do you think the founder of the golden ages
should be worshiped? You do not deny that he, a fugitive,
hid secretly while he dreaded harm;
if Jupiter hears that he is living happily,
he must punish those privy to his hiding.
What do you think should be done among the altars
of quarrelling gods? The offended might of Mars
will be indignant if the Lemnian is worshiped.
Whoever consecrates Hercules as a god
with statue or shrine will feel Juno’s anger.
You say that the poets invent these things licentiously.
But they themselves too are dedicated with you
to such mysteries, and what they describe they worship.
Why do you read a sacrilege so gladly?
Why is it applauded in the theaters while you watch?
The swan, the seducer, sins on the stage;
the actor dances the bull-horned Thunderer;
you, the supreme pontiff, sit as spectator of these things,
and laugh yourself, nor do you wash it away by denying,
though the reputation of so great a deity is polluted.
Why, consecrated one, do you dissolve in guffaws
when the god pretends to be Alcmena’s husband?
The stage harlot laments wounded Adonis

### Translation notes

- The Julian law punished adultery; the Scantinian law punished sexual offences between males. The first line is damaged in the scan and read by sense. Polemic, as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.193 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-193).

## Hymn 10, lines 225–256

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-225
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The statues themselves betray the gods’ crimes: Jupiter’s eagle and Ganymede, Ceres seeking her stolen daughter, Hercules spinning; the rustic gods are absurd, and if Romans worship gods, they might as well worship the Egyptians’ animals and vegetables.

### Latin text

Libidinoso plangit adfectu palam.
Nec te lupanar Cypridis sanctae movet?
Quid? quod sub ipsis veritas signis patet,
Formata in aere criminum vestigiis.
Quid vult sigillum semper adfixum Iovi
Avis ministra? nempe velox armiger
Leno, exoletum qui tyranno pertulit.
Rem recincta veste praetendit Ceres.
Cur, si deorum nemo rapuit virginem,
Quam nocte quaerens mater errat pervigil?
Fusos rotantem cernimus Tirynthium:
Cur, si Neaerae non fuit ludibrio?
Quid rusticorum monstra detester deum,
Faunos, Priapos, fistularum praesides,
Nymphas natantes, incolasque aquatiles,
Sitas sub alto, more ranarum, lacu :
Divinitatis ius in algis vilibus?
Ad haec colenda me vocas, censor bone?
Potesne quidquam tale, si sanum sapis,
Sanctum putare? nonne pulmonem movet
Derisus, istas intuens ineptias,
Quas vinolentae somniis fingunt anus?
At, si quid usquam vanitatis mysticae
Nobis colendum est, ipse primus incipe;
Pronusque adora quidquid in terris sacri est,
Deos Latinos, et deos Aegyptios,
Quis Roma libat, quis Canopus supplicat.
Venerem precaris? comprecare et simiam.
Placet sacratus aspis Aesculapii?
Crocodilus, ibis, et canis, cur displicent?
Adpone porris religiosas arulas,
Venerare acerbum caepe, mordax allium.

### English translation (Claude)

openly, with lustful feeling.
Does not the brothel of holy Cypris move you?
What of this: the truth lies open in the very statues,
shaped in bronze with the traces of crimes?
What does the image of the bird always fixed beside Jupiter mean,
his servant? Surely the swift armor-bearer
is a pimp, who carried the catamite to the tyrant.
Ceres shows the thing with her ungirt robe.
Why, if none of the gods carried off the maiden,
does her mother wander sleepless, seeking her by night?
We see the Tirynthian twirling spindles:
why, if he was not the plaything of Neaera?
Why should I loathe the monsters of the rustic gods,
Fauns, Priapi, presidents of the pipes,
nymphs swimming, and water-dwellers
placed under the deep lake, like frogs:
a right of divinity among cheap seaweeds?
Do you call me to worship these, good censor?
Can you think anything of the kind holy,
if you have sound sense? Does not laughter shake your lungs
as you look at those follies
which drunken old women invent in their dreams?
But if any mystic vanity anywhere
must be worshiped by us, you begin first;
and, bowed down, adore whatever is sacred on earth,
the Latin gods and the Egyptian gods,
to whom Rome pours libations, to whom Canopus prays.
Do you pray to Venus? Pray to the ape too.
Does the sacred asp of Aesculapius please you?
Why do the crocodile, the ibis and the dog displease you?
Set little altars of religion by the leeks,
venerate the bitter onion, the biting garlic.

### Translation notes

- Polemic, as written. ‘Neaera’: the scan’s reading; the common story has Omphale.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.225 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-225).

## Hymn 10, lines 257–288

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-257
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The gods are the work of Greek sculptors like Myron and Polyclitus, whose art makes people fear bronze thunderbolts, a drunken Bacchus, Diana’s bow and Hercules’ club; the sculptors should rather be worshiped as the parents of the gods.

### Latin text

Fuliginosi ture placantur Lares,
Et respuuntur consecrata oluscula?
Aut unde maior esse maiestas focis,
Quam nata in hortis sarculatis creditur,
Si numen ollis, numen et porris inest?
Sed pulchra res est forma in aere sculptilis.
Quid imprecabor officinis Graeciae,
Quae condiderunt gentibus stultis deos?
Forceps Myronis, malleus Polycliti,
Natura vestrum est atque origo caelitum.
Ars seminandis efficax erroribus,
Barbam rigentem dum Iovis circumplicat,
Dum defluentem leniter flectens comam,
Limat capillos et corymbos Liberi,
Et dum Minervae pectus hydris asperat,
Iniecit atram territis formidinem,
Ut fulmen aeris, ceu Tonantis, horreant,
Tremant venenum sibilantis Gorgonae,
Putent Ephebum post triumphos Indicos
Ferire thyrso posse, quum sit ebrius.
Tum, quod Dianam molle succinctam vident,
Venantis arcum pertimescunt virginis:
Si forte vultum tristioris Herculis
Liquore crispo massa tinxit fusilis,
Clavam minari, ni colatur, creditur.
Iam quis paventum corda terror occupat,
Iunonis iram si polite expresserit?
Velut retortis intuens obtutibus,
Avertat ora de litantis hostia,
Lapis severa fronte mentitur minas.
Miror, quod ipsum non sacrastis Mentorem,
Nec templum et aras ipse Phidias habet,
Fabri deorum, vel parentes numinum :

### English translation (Claude)

Smoky Lares are appeased with incense,
and are the consecrated vegetables rejected?
Or whence is greater majesty believed to be in hearths
than in what is born in hoed gardens,
if there is divinity in pots, divinity too in leeks?
But a form sculpted in bronze is a beautiful thing.
What shall I wish upon the workshops of Greece,
which founded gods for foolish nations?
The tongs of Myron, the hammer of Polyclitus,
are the nature and origin of your heavenly ones.
Art, effective in sowing errors,
while it curls round Jupiter’s stiff beard,
while, gently bending the flowing hair,
it files the locks and ivy clusters of Liber,
and while it roughens Minerva’s breast with serpents,
has struck black dread into the terrified,
so that they shudder at the bronze thunderbolt as if it were the Thunderer’s,
tremble at the venom of the hissing Gorgon,
think that the Youth after his Indian triumphs
can strike with the thyrsus when he is drunk.
Then, because they see Diana softly girt,
they greatly fear the bow of the hunting virgin;
if perhaps the molten mass has tinged with curling liquid
the face of a grimmer Hercules,
the club is believed to threaten unless he is worshiped.
Now what terror seizes the hearts of the fearful,
if Juno’s anger has been neatly expressed?
As if, looking with eyes turned back,
she turned her face from the victim of the sacrificer,
the stone feigns threats with its stern brow.
I wonder that you have not consecrated Mentor himself,
and that Phidias himself has no temple and altars,
makers of gods, or parents of deities:

### Scripture references

- Isa 44:13: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A leftover footnote line was removed. Polemic, as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.257 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 257–288; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-257).

## Hymn 10, lines 289–320

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-289
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The idols are made from melted pots; the ignorant may be forgiven, but not the learned; Romanus then confesses the eternal, incomprehensible God, the true light, from whom the Son was born as radiance from light, one power and one nature, creator of all.

### Latin text

Qui, si caminis institissent segnius,
Non esset ullus Iuppiter conflatilis.
Non erubescis, stulte, pago dedite,
Te tanta semper perdidisse obsonia;
Quae dis ineptus obtulisti talibus,
Quos trulla, pelvis, cantharus, sartagines,
Fracta et liquata contulerunt vascula?
Ignosco fatuis haec tamen vulgaribus,
Quos lana terret discolora in stipite,
Quos saepe salsus circulator decipit:
Quibus omne sanctum est, quod pavendum rancidae
Edentularum cantilenae suaserint.
Nescire vel divina, vel mortalia
Quo iure constent: quanta maiestas regat,
Quidquid creatum est, quae creavit omnia.
Deus perennis, res inaestimabilis,
Non cogitando, non videndo clauditur:
Excedit omnem mentis humanae modum ;
Nec comprehendi visibus nostris valet,
Extraque et intus implet ac superfluit.
Intemporalis ante, quam primus dies:
Esse et fuisse semper unus obtinet:
Lux ipse vera, veri et auctor luminis:
Quum lumen esset, lumen effudit suum:
Ex luce fulgor natus hic est Filius.
Vis una Patris, vis et una est Filii,
Unusque ab uno lumine splendor satus,
Pleno refulsit claritatis lumine.
Natura simplex pollet unius Dei;
Et, quidquid usquam est, una virtus condidit.
Caelum solumque, vim marini gurgitis,
Globos dierum noctiumque praesides,
Ventos, procellas, fulgura, imbres, nubila,
Septemtriones, Hesperos, aestus, nives,

### English translation (Claude)

who, if they had stood at the furnaces more lazily,
there would be no cast Jupiter at all.
Do you not blush, fool, devoted to your village rites,
that you have always wasted so many viands,
which you foolishly offered to such gods,
whom a ladle, a basin, a tankard, frying pans,
little vessels broken and melted, have put together?
I forgive these things, however, in the foolish common people,
whom wool of mixed colors on a post frightens,
whom a salty mountebank often deceives,
to whom everything is sacred that the songs
of rancid toothless old women have persuaded them to fear.
[But that learned men should] not know by what law
things divine or mortal stand; how great a majesty rules
whatever is created, which created all things!
God everlasting, a reality beyond estimation,
is not enclosed by thinking, nor by seeing:
he exceeds every measure of the human mind,
nor can he be grasped by our sight;
outside and within he fills and overflows.
Timeless before the first day,
he alone always holds being and having been;
he is himself the true light, and author of true light:
since he was light, he poured forth his light:
from the light this radiance was born, the Son.
One is the power of the Father, and one the power of the Son;
and the one splendor, begotten from the one light,
shone out with the full light of brightness.
The single nature of the one God is mighty;
and whatever exists anywhere, one power founded:
sky and ground, the force of the sea’s flood,
the globes that preside over days and nights,
winds, storms, lightnings, rains, clouds,
the northern stars, evening stars, heats, snows,

### Scripture references

- Heb 1:3: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Tim 6:16: echo, medium confidence
- John 1:9: allusion, medium confidence
- Jer 23:24: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- A few lines appear lost before ‘Nescire’ (in the common text an address to learned men), whose sense is given in brackets. Heb 1:3; 1 Tim 6:16; John 1:9. Trinitarian language as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.289 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 289–320; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-289).

## Hymn 10, lines 321–352

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-321
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: God created all things by his command through the Word; his temple is the human mind, where Faith guards the door and the sacrifices offered to Christ and the Father are modesty, innocence, peace, chastity, the fear of God, fasting, hope and generosity.

### Latin text

Fontes, pruinas, et metalla, et flumina :
Praerupta, plana, montium convallia,
Feras, volucres, reptiles, natatiles,
Iumenta, pecua, subiugales belluas,
Flores, fruteta, germina, herbas, arbores,
Quae sunt odori, quaeque vernant esui.
Haec non labore et arte molitus Deus,
Sed iussione, quam potestas protulit,
Mandavit esse: facta sunt quae non erant.
Verbo creavit omniformem machinam :
Virtus Paterna semper in Verbo fuit.
Cognostis ipsum. Nunc colendi agnoscite
Ritum modumque, quale sit templi genus,
Quae dedicari sanxerit donaria,
Quae vota poscat, quos sacerdotes velit,
Quod mandet illic nectar immolarier.
Aedem sibi ipse mente in hominis condidit
Vivam, serenam, sensualem, flabilem,
Solvi incapacem posse, nec destructilem,
Pulchram, venustam, praeminentem culmine,
Discriminatis inlitam coloribus.
Illic sacerdos stat sacrato in limine,
Foresque primas virgo custodit Fides,
Innexa crines vinculis regalibus,
Poscit litari victimas Christo et Patri,
Quas scit placere, candidatas, simplices.
Frontis pudorem, cordis innocentiam,
Pacis quietem, castitatem corporis,
Dei timorem, regulam scientiae,
Ieiuniorum parcitatem sobriam,
Spem non iacentem, semper et largam manum.
Ex his amoenus hostiis surgit vapor,

### English translation (Claude)

springs, frosts, and metals, and rivers;
steep places, plains, valleys of mountains,
beasts, birds, creeping things, swimming things,
draught animals, cattle, beasts of burden,
flowers, shrubs, shoots, herbs, trees,
those that are for fragrance, and those that bloom for food.
These things God did not build with toil and art,
but by a command, which his power brought forth,
he ordered to be: things were made which were not.
By the Word he created the fabric of all forms:
the Father’s power was always in the Word.
You have come to know him. Now learn
the rite and manner of worship, what kind of temple it is,
what offerings he has ordained to be dedicated,
what vows he demands, what priests he wants,
what nectar he commands to be sacrificed there.
He himself founded a temple for himself in the mind of man,
living, serene, sentient, breathing,
incapable of being dissolved, not destructible,
beautiful, lovely, preeminent in its summit,
painted with varied colors.
There a priest stands on the consecrated threshold,
and the virgin Faith guards the first doors,
her hair bound with royal fillets;
she asks that victims be offered to Christ and the Father,
which she knows to please, white and simple:
modesty of brow, innocence of heart,
the quiet of peace, chastity of body,
the fear of God, the rule of knowledge,
the sober sparingness of fasts,
a hope that does not lie low, and an ever generous hand.
From these victims a pleasant vapor rises,

### Scripture references

- Ps 33:9 (32:9 Vulg.): allusion, medium confidence
- John 1:3: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 3:16: allusion, medium confidence
- Rom 12:1: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction. Gen 1; Ps 33:9; John 1:3; 1 Cor 3:16; Rom 12:1.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.321 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 321–352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-321).

## Hymn 10, lines 353–384

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-353
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus denounces the blindness of pagans who worship gods born of marriages, the elements, wood and stone, and men, and tells the judge that those who confess God fear nothing; Asclepiades at last explodes in anger.

### Latin text

Vincens odorem balsami, turis, croci,
Auras madentes Persicorum aromatum;
Sublatus inde caelum adusque tollitur,
Et prosperatum dulce delectat Deum.
Hanc disciplinam quisquis infensus vetat,
O mersa limo caecitas gentilium!
O lutulenta nationum pectora!
O crassus error! o tenebrosum genus!
Terris amicum, deditum cadaveri,
Subiecta semper intuens, numquam supra!
Furorne summus, ultima et dementia est,
Deos putare, qui creantur nuptiis?
Rem spiritalem terrulente quaerere,
Elementa mundi consecrare altaribus;
Et, quod creatum est, conditorem credere?
Dolato supplicare stipiti,
Verris cruore scripta saxa spargere,
Aras ofellis obsecrare bubulis;
Homines fuisse quum scias, quos consecras?
Desiste, iudex saeculi, tantum nefas
Viris iubere fortibusque et liberis :
Nil est amore veritatis celsius.
Dei perennis numen adserentibus
Nihil est pavori, mors et ipsa subiacet. » —
Dudum coquebat, disserente martyre,
Asclepiades intus iram subdolam,
Stomachatus alto felle, dum longum silet,
Bilemque tectis concipit praecordiis;
Tandem latentis vim furoris evomit :
— « Pro Iuppiter ! quid est, quod ex hoc audio ?
Stat inter aras et deorum imagines

### English translation (Claude)

surpassing the scent of balsam, incense, saffron,
breezes moist with Persian spices;
lifted from there, it is raised right up to heaven,
and sweetly delights God, made favorable.
Whoever, hostile, forbids this discipline —
O blindness of the pagans, sunk in mud!
O muddy hearts of the nations!
O gross error! O dark race,
friendly to the earth, given over to the corpse,
always looking at what lies below, never above!
Is it not the height of madness and the last insanity
to think those gods who are created by marriages,
to seek a spiritual thing in an earthy way,
to consecrate the elements of the world on altars,
and to believe that what is created is the creator?
to pray to a hewn stake,
to sprinkle inscribed stones with the blood of boars,
to entreat altars with morsels of beef,
when you know that those you consecrate were men?
Stop, judge of the world, commanding so great a wickedness
to brave and free men:
nothing is loftier than the love of truth.
To those who assert the divine power of the everlasting God
nothing is a cause of fear: death itself lies beneath them.”
For a long time, while the martyr was speaking,
Asclepiades had been cooking a crafty anger within,
irritated in his deep gall, while he was long silent,
and conceiving bile in his hidden breast;
at last he vomits out the force of his hidden fury:
“By Jupiter! What is it that I hear from this man?
He stands among the altars and the images of the gods

### Scripture references

- Rom 1:25: allusion, medium confidence
- Gal 4:9: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Rom 1:23–25. A leftover footnote line was removed; line 16 is read ‘Dolato supplicare stipiti’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.353 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 353–384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-353).

## Hymn 10, lines 385–416

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-385
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Asclepiades defends the ancient religion of Rome against the new Christian doctrine and demands that Romanus pray to the gods for the emperor or die; Romanus will pray only that the emperor’s soldiers be baptized and receive the Spirit.

### Latin text

Et, quod fateri cogor, in medio foro,
Tacente memet, ac perorat perditus,
Quidquid sacrorum est ore foedans impio.
O fas priorum ! moris o prisci status !
Inventa regum pro salute publica
Pompiliorum nostra carpunt saecula.
Quis hos sophistas error invexit novus,
Qui non colendos esse divos disputent ?
Nunc dogma nobis Christianum nascitur,
Post evolutos mille demum consules
Ab urbe Roma, ne retexam Nestoras.
Quidquid novellum surgit, olim non fuit.
Vis summa rerum nosse? Pyrrham consule.
Ubi iste vester tunc erat summus Deus,
Divum favore quum puer Mavortius
Fundaret arcem septicollem Romulus?
Quod Roma pollet auspicato condita,
Iovi Statori debet et dis ceteris.
Hoc sanctum ab aevo est, hoc ab atavis traditum:
Placanda nobis pro triumphis principis
Delubra, faustus ut secundet gloria
Procinctus, utque subiugatis hostibus
Ductor quietum frenet orbem legibus.
Accingere ergo, quisquis es, nequissime,
Pro principali rite nobiscum deos
Orare vita : vel, quod hostem publicum
Pati necesse est, solve poenam sanguine:
Sprevisse templa, respuisse est principem. » —
Tunc ille : — « Numquam pro salute, et maximis
Fortissimisque principis cohortibus
Aliter precabor, quam fideles ut militent,
Christique lymphis ut renascantur Patri,
Capiant et ipsum caelitus Paraclitum.

### English translation (Claude)

and — I am forced to confess it — in the middle of the forum,
while I am silent, the lost wretch makes his speech,
befouling with impious mouth whatever is sacred.
O law of our forefathers! O state of ancient custom!
The institutions of the Pompilian kings, devised
for the public safety, our ages pick to pieces.
What new error has brought in these sophists,
who argue that the gods are not to be worshiped?
Now a Christian doctrine is born for us,
after a thousand consuls have at last rolled by
since the founding of Rome, not to recount the Nestors.
Whatever rises as a novelty did not exist of old.
Do you wish to know the sum of things? Consult Pyrrha.
Where was that supreme God of yours then,
when by the favor of the gods the boy son of Mars,
Romulus, was founding the seven-hilled citadel?
That Rome is powerful, founded under good auspices,
it owes to Jupiter Stator and the other gods.
This is sacred from the beginning of time, this handed down from our ancestors:
the shrines must be appeased by us for the emperor’s triumphs,
so that his campaign may favor him with glory,
and so that, with enemies subdued,
the leader may curb a quiet world with laws.
Make ready, then, whoever you are, most wicked man,
to pray duly to the gods with us for the emperor’s
life; or, since a public enemy
must suffer, pay the penalty with your blood:
to have spurned the temples is to have rejected the emperor.”
Then he: “Never for the safety of the emperor and his greatest
and bravest cohorts
will I pray otherwise than that they may serve as faithful men,
and be reborn to the Father in the waters of Christ,
and receive from heaven the Paraclete himself.

### Scripture references

- John 3:5: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.385 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 385–416; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-385).

## Hymn 10, lines 417–448

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-417
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus prays that the emperor may see the light of God, which only the pure mind perceives, but will not obey him if he commands a crime; the judge has Romanus’ sides torn to the bone.

### Latin text

Ut idolorum respuant caliginem,
Cernant ut illud lumen aeternae spei,
Non succulentis influens obtutibus,
Nec corporales per fenestras emicans,
Puris sed intus quod relucet mentibus.
Pupilla carnis crassa crassum perspicit,
Et res caduca, quod resolvendum est, videt:
Liquidis videndis aptus est animae liquor:
Natura fervens sola, ferventissimae
Divinitatis vim coruscantem capit.
Hoc opto, lumen Imperator noverit
Tuus meusque, si velit fieri meus;
Nam si resistit Christiano nomini,
Meus ille talis imperator non erit:
Scelus iubenti, crede, numquam serviam. » —
— « Statis, ministri, clamitans iudex ait,
Statis? manusque continetis vindices?
Non rupta sulcis dissecatis viscera?
Animam nec intus abditam rimamini,
Erumpit unde vox profana in principem ? » —
Scindunt utrumque milites teterrimi
Mucrone hiulco pensilis latus viri,
Sulcant per artus longa tractim vulnera,
Obliqua rectis, recta transversis secant,
Et iam retectis pectus albet ossibus.
Nitendo anhelant, diffluunt sudoribus,
Quum sit quietus heros, in quem saeviunt.

### English translation (Claude)

that they may reject the darkness of idols,
that they may see that light of eternal hope,
not flowing into the juicy eyes,
nor flashing through bodily windows,
but shining within in pure minds.
The thick pupil of the flesh sees the thick,
and, a perishable thing, sees what is to be dissolved;
the clear substance of the soul is fit for seeing clear things:
the fervent nature alone grasps the flashing force
of the most fervent Divinity.
This I wish: that your emperor and mine
may know the light, if he wishes to become mine;
for if he resists the Christian name,
such an emperor will not be mine:
believe me, I will never serve one who commands a crime.”
“Do you stand still, attendants,” cries the judge,
“do you stand still, and hold back avenging hands?
Do you not cut up the entrails, broken with furrows?
Do you not search out the soul hidden within,
from which the profane voice bursts out against the emperor?”
The foulest soldiers tear both sides
of the hanging man with gaping point,
they plough long wounds in a line through his limbs,
they cut slanting lines across straight ones, straight across transverse,
and now his breast is white with the bones laid bare.
They pant with effort, they stream with sweat,
while the hero on whom they rage is quiet.

### Scripture references

- Acts 5:29: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 5:8: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Two leftover footnotes at the beginning (on ‘augurato’ and ‘pro principali vita’) were removed. Acts 5:29.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.417 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 417–448; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-417).

## Hymn 10, lines 449–480

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-449
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: From the rack Romanus proclaims Christ, God and sharer of our nature, who gives everlasting salvation to the soul, which either shines in glory or is cast into darkness; the body must fall anyway, and torture is no worse than disease.

### Latin text

Haec inter addit sponte Romanus loqui:
— « Si quaeris, o Praefecte, verum noscere,
Dolet, quod error pectori insedit tuo,
Populos quod istos perditum tecum trahis :
Currunt frequentes undique ad spectaculum
Versatile vulgus, heu! gemenda corpora;
Crudumque nostrae sortis exemplum tremunt.
Audite cuncti: clamo longe ac praedico:
Emitto vocem de catasta celsior:
Christus, paternae gloriae splendor, Deus
Rerum creator, noster idem particeps
Spondet salutem perpetem credentibus.
Animae salutem, sola quae non occidit,
Sed iuge durans, dispares casus subit,
Aut luce fulget, aut tenebris mergitur.
Christum secuta Patris intrat gloriam;
Disiuncta Christo, mancipatur Tartaro.
Curanda mercis qualitas, quaenam mihi
Contingat olim perpetis substantiae;
Nam membra parvi pendo quo pacto cadant,
Casura certe lege naturae suae.
Instat ruina : quod resolvendum est, ruat.
Nec distat, ignis et fidiculae saeviant,
An corpus aegrum languor asper torqueat,
Quum saepe morbos maior armet saevitas.
Non ungularum tanta vis latus fodit
Mucrone, quanto dira pulsat pleurisis.
Nec sic inusta laminis ardet cutis,
Ut febris atro felle venas exedit ;

### English translation (Claude)

Amid these things Romanus of his own accord goes on to speak:
“If you seek, Prefect, to know the truth,
it grieves me that error has settled in your breast,
that you drag these peoples with you to perdition;
the fickle crowd runs in numbers from every side to the spectacle,
alas, bodies to be groaned over,
and they tremble at the raw example of our lot.
Hear, all: I cry far and wide and proclaim,
I send forth my voice higher from the rack:
Christ, the splendor of the Father’s glory, God,
creator of things, and likewise sharer of our nature,
promises everlasting salvation to those who believe:
salvation of the soul, which alone does not die,
but, enduring forever, undergoes unequal fates:
either it shines in light, or it is plunged in darkness.
Following Christ, it enters the Father’s glory;
separated from Christ, it is handed over to Tartarus.
I must care for the quality of the wares, which
of everlasting substance may one day fall to me;
for I care little how my limbs fall,
which will certainly fall by the law of their nature.
Ruin is at hand: let what is to be dissolved fall.
Nor does it make a difference whether fire and cords rage,
or a harsh sickness tortures the ailing body,
since a greater savagery often arms diseases.
The force of the claws does not dig the side
with its point so much as dire pleurisy strikes it.
Nor does the skin burnt by the plates burn so much
as fever eats away the veins with black bile;

### Scripture references

- Heb 1:3: allusion, high confidence
- John 3:16: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 10:28: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Heb 1:3. Footnotes (on ‘mucrone hiulco’ and ‘pro mercede’) were removed; line 6 begins with a damaged word read ‘Versatile’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.449 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 449–480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-449).

## Hymn 10, lines 481–512

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-481
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus compares torture to surgery, which cuts in order to heal, describes the corruption, lusts and luxuries of the flesh, and urges the executioner to cut away the tinder of sin so the mind may be free.

### Latin text

Vel summa pellis ignis obductus coquit,
Papulasque fervor aestuosus excitat :
Credas cremari stridulis cauteribus.
Miserum putatis, quod retortis pendeo
Extentus ulnis, quod revelluntur pedes,
Compago nervis quod sonat crepantibus :
Sic eiulantes ossa clamant dividi,
Nodosa torquet quos podagra, et arthrisis.
Horretis omnes hasce carnificum manus.
Num mitiores sunt manus medentium,
Laniena quando saevit Hippocratica?
Vivum secatur viscus, et recens cruor
Scalpella tinguit, dum putredo abraditur.
Putate ferrum triste chirurgos meis
Inferre costis, quod secat salubriter.
Non est amarum, quo reformatur salus:
Videntur isti carpere artus tabidos,
Sed dant medelam rebus intus vividis.
Quis nescit autem quanta sit corruptela
Contaminatae carnis ac solubilis?
Sordet, tumescit, liquitur, foetet, dolet,
Inflatur ira, solvitur libidine :
Plerumque felle tincta livores trahit.
Aurum regestum nonne carni adquiritur?
Inlusa vestis, gemma, bombyx, purpura,
In carnis usum mille quaeruntur dolis,
Luxus vorandi carnis arvinam fovet:
Carnis voluptas omne per nefas ruit.
Medere, quaeso, carnifex tantis malis,
Concide, carpe fomitem peccaminum;
Fac, ut resecto debilis carnis situ,
Dolore ab omni mens supersit libera,
Ne gestet ultra quod tyrannus amputet.
Nec terrearis turba circumstantium :
Hoc perdo solum, quod peribit omnibus,

### English translation (Claude)

or fire drawn over the top of the skin cooks it,
and seething heat raises pustules:
you would think it burned by hissing cauteries.
You think it wretched that I hang stretched
with my arms twisted back, that my feet are wrenched,
that my frame sounds with cracking sinews:
so those whom knotty gout and arthritis torture
cry out, wailing, that their bones are being divided.
You all shudder at these hands of the executioners.
Are the hands of physicians gentler,
when Hippocratic butchery rages?
Living flesh is cut, and fresh blood
dyes the scalpels while the rot is scraped away.
Think that surgeons are bringing grim iron
to my ribs, which cuts for health.
That by which health is restored is not bitter:
these men seem to pluck at wasted limbs,
but they give healing to the things that live within.
Who does not know how great is the corruption
of the defiled and dissoluble flesh?
It is filthy, it swells, it melts, it stinks, it aches,
it is puffed up with anger, it is dissolved by lust;
often, tinged with gall, it takes on livid marks.
Is not heaped-up gold acquired for the flesh?
Embroidered clothing, gem, silk, purple
are sought with a thousand tricks for the use of the flesh;
the luxury of gluttony feeds the fat of the flesh;
the pleasure of the flesh rushes through every wickedness.
Heal, I pray, executioner, such great evils,
cut down, pluck out the tinder of sins;
make it so that, the decay of the weak flesh cut away,
the mind may survive free from all pain,
and no longer carry what a tyrant may cut off.
Nor be frightened by the crowd of those standing around:
I lose only this, which will perish for all,

### Scripture references

- Gal 5:19: echo, low confidence

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.481 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 481–512; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-481).

## Hymn 10, lines 513–544

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-513
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: All flesh perishes, so its loss should be made glorious; the martyr’s spirit will enjoy God’s light, and when the heavens are rolled up God and the righteous will remain; Asclepiades orders Romanus’ face and mouth to be torn.

### Latin text

Regi, clienti, pauperique, et diviti;
Sic vernularum, sic senatorum caro
Tabescit, imo quum sepulcro condita est.
Iactura vilis mordet et damnum leve,
Si, quo carendum est, perdere extimescimus :
Cur, quod necesse est, non voluntas occupat?
Natura cur non vertit in rem gloriae?
Legale damnum deputemus praemiis.
Sed, praemiorum forma quae sit fortibus,
Videamus : illa nempe quae numquam perit.
Caelo refusus subvolabit spiritus,
Dei parentis perfruetur lumine,
Regnante Christo stans in arce regia.
Quandoque caelum, ceu liber, plicabitur,
Cadet rotati solis in terram globus,
Sphaeram ruina menstrualem destruet :
Deus superstes solus, et iusti simul
Cum sempiternis permanebunt angelis.
Contemne praesens utile, o prudens homo,
Quod terminandum, quod relinquendum est tibi:
Omitte corpus, rem sepulcri et funeris;
Tende ad futuram gloriam, perge ad Deum :
Agnosce qui sis ; vince mundum et saeculum. » —
Vix dum elocutus martyr hanc peregerat
Orationem, quum furens interserit
Asclepiades : « — Vertat ictum carnifex
In os loquentis, inque maxillas manum,
Sulcosque acutos et fidiculas transferat.
Verbositatis ipse rumpatur locus,
Lacerata nec iam ventilet loquacitas
Sermonis auras, perforatis follibus,
Quibus sonandi nulla lex ponit modum ;
Ipsa et loquentis verba torqueri volo. »
Implet iubentis dicta lictor impius,

### English translation (Claude)

for king, client, poor and rich;
so the flesh of little slaves, so that of senators,
wastes away when it has been buried in the depth of a tomb.
A cheap loss and a light damage bites us
if we are afraid to lose what we must do without:
why does the will not seize upon what is necessary?
Why does it not turn nature into a matter of glory?
Let us count a loss imposed by law among rewards.
But let us see what the form of the rewards is
for the brave: that, surely, which never perishes.
The spirit, poured back to heaven, will fly up,
will enjoy the light of God the Father,
standing in the royal citadel where Christ reigns.
One day the sky will be rolled up like a book,
the globe of the revolving sun will fall to the earth,
ruin will destroy the monthly sphere:
God alone will survive, and the righteous with him
will remain with the everlasting angels.
Despise present advantage, O prudent man,
which must end, which you must leave behind:
let go the body, a matter of the tomb and funeral;
strive toward future glory, go on to God:
know who you are; conquer the world and the age.”
Hardly had the martyr finished speaking
this speech, when, raging, Asclepiades
interjects: “Let the executioner turn the blow
to the speaker’s mouth, and his hand to the jaws,
and transfer there the sharp furrows and the cords.
Let the very seat of verbosity be burst,
and let loquacity, torn, no longer fan
the breezes of speech, its bellows pierced,
to whose sounding no law sets a limit;
I want the very words of the speaker to be tortured.”
The impious lictor fulfils the orders of the one who commands,

### Scripture references

- Isa 34:4: allusion, high confidence
- Rev 6:14: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 John 5:4: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Isa 34:4; Rev 6:14; 1 John 5:4. A running head was removed; line 30 is damaged in the scan and read by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.513 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 513–544; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-513).

## Hymn 10, lines 545–576

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/8-1/#p-10-545
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–576
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: With his face torn, Romanus thanks the prefect for giving him many mouths to praise Christ; the prefect orders a pyre and mocks Christ as a recent, crucified man, and Romanus answers that the Cross is the salvation of all.

### Latin text

Charaxat ambas ungulis scribentibus
Genas, cruentis et secat faciem notis:
Hirsuta barbis solvitur carptim cutis,
Et mentum adusque vultus omnis scinditur.
Martyr fluentem fatur inter sanguinem:
— « Grates tibi, o Praefecte, magnas debeo,
Quod multa pandens ora iam Christum loquor.
Artabat ampli nominis praeconium
Meatus unus, impar ad laudes Dei.
Rimas patentes invenit vox edita,
Multisque fusa rictibus reddit sonos
Hinc inde plures, et profatur undique
Christi Patrisque sempiternam gloriam.
Tot ecce laudant ora, quot sunt vulnera. » —
Tali repressus cognitor constantia,
Cessare poenam praecipit; tunc sic ait:
— « Per solis ignem iuro, qui nostros dies
Reciprocatis administrat circulis,
Cuius recursu lux et annus ducitur,
Ignes parandos iam tibi tristis rogi,
Qui fine digno corpus istud devorent,
Quod perseverans tam resistit nequiter
Sacris vetustis; nec dolorum spiculis
Victum fatiscit, fitque poenis fortius.
Quis hunc rigorem pectori iniecit stupor?
Mens obstinata est, corpus omne occalluit.
Tantus novelli dogmatis regnat furor:
Hic nempe vester Christus haud olim fuit;
Quem tu fateris ipse, suffixum cruci. » —
— « Haec illa Crux est omnium nostrum salus,
Romanus inquit: hominis haec redemptio est :
Scio incapacem te sacramenti, impie,

### English translation (Claude)

he carves both cheeks with writing claws,
and cuts the face with bloody marks:
the skin, shaggy with beard, comes off piece by piece,
and the whole face is cut right down to the chin.
The martyr speaks amid the flowing blood:
“I owe you great thanks, Prefect,
that, opening many mouths, I now speak Christ.
A single passage was cramping the proclamation
of the great name, unequal to the praises of God.
The voice sent forth has found open cracks,
and, poured out through many mouths, gives back more sounds
on this side and that, and proclaims everywhere
the everlasting glory of Christ and the Father.
See, as many mouths praise as there are wounds.”
Checked by such constancy, the judge
orders the punishment to cease; then he says:
“I swear by the fire of the sun, which governs our days
with its returning circles,
by whose return light and year are drawn out,
that the fires of a grim pyre are now to be prepared for you,
to devour that body with a fitting end,
which persists in resisting so wickedly
the ancient rites; nor does it give way, conquered
by the darts of pains, but becomes stronger with punishments.
What stupor has put this hardness into his breast?
The mind is obstinate, the whole body has grown callous.
So great is the madness of the new doctrine that reigns:
this Christ of yours did not exist long ago,
whom you yourself confess was fixed to a cross.”
“This is that Cross, the salvation of us all,”
says Romanus; “this is the redemption of man:
I know you are incapable of the sacrament, impious man,

### Scripture references

- 1 Cor 1:18: echo, medium confidence
- Gal 6:14: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 16 is damaged in the scan and read ‘Cessare poenam praecipit’ by sense: uncertain. ‘Sacrament’ here is the mystery of the Cross. A note mark was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.545 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 545–576; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-545).

## Hymn 10, lines 577–608

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-577
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 577–608
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus confesses that the eternal King begot an eternal King, the Son equal to the Father and outside time, who as man met death and overcame it; he answers the charge of novelty by pointing to Rome’s own recent founding, and says the Cross was foreshown from the beginning.

### Latin text

Non posse caecis sensibus mysterium
Haurire nostrum : nil diurnum nox capit.
Tamen in tenebris proferam claram facem.
Sanus videbit: lippus oculos obteget.
Removete lumen, dicet insanabilis:
Iniuriosa est nil videnti claritas.
Audi, profane, quod gravatus oderis.
Regem perennem Rex perennis protulit,
In se manentem, nec minorem tempore,
Quia tempus illum non tenet : nam fons retro
Exordiorum est, et dierum, et temporum,
Ex Patre Christus: hoc Pater, quod Filius.
Congressa mors est membra gestanti hominis,
Dum nostra temptat, cessit immortalibus.
Stultum putatis hoc, sophistae saeculi;
Sed stulta mundi summus elegit Pater,
Ut stultus esset saeculi, prudens Dei.
Antiquitatem Romuli, et Mavortiam
Lupam renarras, primum et omen vulturum.
Si res novellas respuis, nil tam recens:
Vix mille fastis implet hanc aetatulam
Cursus dierum conditore ab augure.
Quam multa possum regna pridem condita
Proferre toto in orbe, si sit otium,
Multo ante clara, quam capellam Gnossiam
Suxisse fertur Iuppiter, Martis pater;
Sed illa non sunt, haec et olim non erunt.
Crux ista Christi, quam novellam dicitis,
Nascente mundo, factus ut primum est homo,

### English translation (Claude)

that with blind senses you cannot drink in
our mystery: night takes in nothing of the day.
Yet in the darkness I will bring forth a bright torch.
The healthy will see; the bleary-eyed will cover his eyes.
“Take away the light,” the incurable will say;
“brightness is an injury to one who sees nothing.”
Hear, profane man, what you will hate, weighed down by it.
The everlasting King brought forth an everlasting King,
abiding in himself, and not less in time,
for time does not hold him: for he is the source, going back,
of beginnings, of days and of times:
Christ is from the Father: the Son is what the Father is.
Death met with the one who bore the limbs of a man;
while it attacked what is ours, it yielded to what is immortal.
You think this foolish, sophists of the world;
but the supreme Father chose the foolish things of the world,
so that one might be foolish to the world and wise to God.
You recount the antiquity of Romulus, and the wolf
of Mars, and the first omen of the vultures.
If you reject new things, nothing is so recent:
the course of days since the founding augur
scarcely fills this little age with a thousand years of records.
How many kingdoms founded long ago I could
bring forward in the whole world, if there were leisure,
famous long before Jupiter, father of Mars,
is said to have sucked the Cretan goat;
but they no longer exist, and these too will one day not be.
This Cross of Christ, which you call new,
at the birth of the world, as soon as man was made,

### Scripture references

- John 10:30: echo, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 1:27: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Cor 3:18: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- 1 Cor 1:27; 3:18–19. Line 13 is damaged in the scan (‘gestanti l’) and its end read ‘hominis’ by sense; a footnote quoting Augustine (City of God 21.15) was removed. Trinitarian language as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.577 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 577–608; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577).

## Hymn 10, lines 609–640

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-609
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 609–640
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The Cross was foreshadowed by kings, prophets and judges and fulfilled before witnesses; because Christ raised his dead body and took it to the Father, believers trust in their own resurrection; Christ, of twofold nature, died and conquered death; Romanus proposes that a child be asked to judge.

### Latin text

Expressa signis, expedita est litteris:
Adventus eius mille per miracula
Praenuntiatus ore vatum consono.
Reges, prophetae, iudices, et principes
Virtute, bellis, cultibus, sacris, stilo,
Non destiterunt formam pingere crucis:
Crux praenotata, crux adumbrata est prius,
Crucem vetusta combiberunt saecula.
Tandem retectis vocibus propheticis,
Aetate nostra comprobata antiquitas,
Coram refulsit ore conspicabili,
Ne fluctuaret veritas dubia fide,
Si non pateret teste visu comminus.
Hinc nos et ipsum non perire credimus
Corpus, sepulcro quod vorandum traditur :
Quia Christus in se mortuum corpus Cruci
Secum excitatum vexit ad solium Patris,
Viamque cunctis ad resurgendum dedit.
Crux illa nostra est, nos patibulum adscendimus;
Nobis peremptus Christus, et nobis Deus,
Christus reversus, ipse qui moriens homo est:
Natura duplex, moritur et mortem domat,
Reditque in illud quod perire nesciat.
Dixisse pauca sit satis de mysticis
Nostrae salutis, quaeque processit spei.
Iam iam silebo: margarita spargere
Christi vetamur inter immundos sues,
Lutulenta sanctum ne terant animalia.
Sed quia profunda non licet luctarier
Ratione tecum, consulamus proxima.
Interrogetur ipsa naturalium
Simplex sine arte sensuum sententia :
Puer imperitus fac ut adsit arbiter,

### English translation (Claude)

was expressed in signs and set out in writings:
his coming was foretold through a thousand miracles
by the harmonious mouth of the prophets.
Kings, prophets, judges and princes,
by valor, wars, worship, rites, pen,
did not cease to paint the form of the cross:
the cross was noted beforehand, the cross was foreshadowed,
the ancient ages drank in the cross.
At last, the prophetic voices unveiled,
antiquity proved true in our age,
it shone out before us with a face that could be seen,
lest the truth waver with doubtful faith,
if it did not lie open with the witness of sight close at hand.
From this we believe that even the body,
which is handed over to the tomb to be devoured, does not perish:
because Christ, raising with himself the body dead on the Cross,
carried it in himself to the Father’s throne,
and gave all a way to rise again.
That cross is ours; we have climbed the gibbet;
for us Christ was slain, and for us he is God,
Christ returned, he who in dying is man:
a twofold nature, he dies and tames death,
and returns into that which knows not how to perish.
Let it be enough to have said a little of the mysteries
of our salvation and of the hope that has come forth.
Now, now I shall be silent: we are forbidden to scatter
Christ’s pearls among unclean swine,
lest muddy animals trample the holy thing.
But since it is not permitted to wrestle with you
by reason on deep matters, let us consult what is near at hand.
Let the simple, artless judgment of the natural
senses itself be questioned:
let an untaught boy be present as judge,

### Scripture references

- 1 Pet 1:10: echo, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 15:20: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 7:6: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- 1 Pet 1:10–11; 1 Cor 15:20; Matt 7:6. Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.609 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 609–640; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-609).

## Hymn 10, lines 641–672

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-641
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 641–672
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A small child is brought and asked whether to worship one Christ, and the Father in Christ, or many gods; the child answers that God must be one and that Christ is true God, taught by his mother; the prefect sends for the mother.

### Latin text

Septennem circiter puerum, aut minus,
Qui sit favoris liber, et non oderit
Quemquam, nec ullum mentis in vitium cadat.
Periclitemur, quid recens infantia
Dicat sequendum, quid novus sapiat vigor. » —
Hanc ille sancti martyris vocem libens
Amplexus, unum de caterva infantium
Parvum, nec olim lacte depulsum, eligit,
Captumque adesse praecipit. — « Quidvis roga,
Inquit, sequamur quod probarit pusio. » —
Romanus ardens experiri innoxiam
Tenerae aetatis indolem: — « Filiole, ait,
Dic quid videtur esse verum et congruens,
Unumne Christum colere, et in Christo Patrem,
An comprecari mille formarum deos? » —
Adrisit infans, nec moratus retulit: —
« Est quidquid illud, quod ferunt homines Deum,
Unum esse oportet, et quod uni, est unicum.
Quum Christus hoc sit, Christus est verus Deus.
Genera deorum multa nec pueri putant. » —
Stupuit tyrannus, sub pudore fluctuans,
Nec vim decebat innocenti aetatulae
Inferre leges, nec loquenti talia
Furor sinebat efferatus parcere.
— « Quis auctor, inquit, vocis est huius tibi? » —
Respondit ille : — « Mater, et matri Deus.
Illa ex parente Spiritu docta imbibit,
Quo me inter ipsa pasceret cunabula :
Ego, ut gemellis uberum de fontibus
Lac parvus hausi, Christum et hausi credere. » —
« Ergo ipsa mater adsit, exclamat, cedo,
Asclepiades ; disciplinae et exitum
Tristem suae magistra spectet impia,

### English translation (Claude)

a boy of about seven, or less,
who is free of partiality, and hates
no one, and falls into no vice of mind.
Let us test what fresh infancy
says should be followed, what new vigor thinks.”
Gladly embracing this word of the holy martyr,
he picks one little one from the crowd of children,
not long weaned from milk,
and orders him seized and brought. “Ask what you like,”
he says; “let us follow what the boy approves.”
Romanus, burning to test the innocent
disposition of tender age, says: “Little son,
tell me what seems true and fitting:
to worship one Christ, and in Christ the Father,
or to pray to gods of a thousand shapes?”
The infant smiled, and without delay replied:
“Whatever that is which men call God
must be one, and what belongs to one is unique.
Since Christ is this, Christ is the true God.
Not even boys think there are many kinds of gods.”
The tyrant was stunned, wavering in shame;
it was not seemly to use force against innocent childhood,
and yet his savage fury did not allow him
to spare one who said such things.
“Who taught you these words?” he says.
He answered: “My mother, and God taught my mother.
She drank them in, taught by the parent Spirit,
to nourish me with them even in the cradle:
I, as a little one, drank milk from the twin fountains
of the breasts, and drank in belief in Christ.”
“Then let the mother herself be present, I say,”
cries Asclepiades, “and let the impious teacher
see the sad end of her teaching;

### Scripture references

- Matt 21:16: echo, medium confidence
- Ps 8:2 (8:3 Vulg.): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Matt 21:16; Ps 8:2. Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction; ‘Tenerae aetatis’ (line 12) read by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.641 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 641–672; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-641).

## Hymn 10, lines 673–704

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-673
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 673–704
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: To punish the mother, the prefect has the child flogged until even the executioners weep; only the mother remains calm and joyful; when the child cries out for water, she rebukes him.

### Latin text

Male eruditi torqueatur funere
Infantis orba ; quemque corrupit, fleat.
Absit ministros vilis ut muliercula
Nostros fatiget: quantulus autem dolor
Vexabit artus, mortis auxilio brevis?
Oculi parentis punientur acrius,
Quam si cruentae membra carpant ungulae. » —
Vix haec profatus, pusionem praecipit
Sublime tollant, et manu pulsent nates :
Mox et remota veste virgis verberent,
Tenerumque duris ictibus tergum secent,
Plus unde lactis quam cruoris defluat.
Quae cautis illud perpeti spectaculum,
Quis ferre possit aeris aut ferri rigor?
Impacta quoties corpus attigerat salix,
Tenui rubebant sanguine uda vimina,
Quem plaga fuderat roscidis livoribus.
Ferunt minaces verberantium genas
Inlacrimasse, sponte demanantibus
Guttis per ora barbarum frementia ;
Scribas et ipsos, et coronam plebium,
Proceresque siccis non stetisse visibus.
At sola mater hisce lamentis caret,
Soli sereno frons renidet gaudio,
Stat impiorum corde pietas fortior,
Amore Christi contumax doloribus:
Firmatque sensum mollis indulgentiae.
Sitire sese parvus exclamaverat :
Animae aestuantis ardor in cruciatibus
Hoc exigebat, lymphae ut haustum posceret:
Quem torva mater eminus triste intuens,
Vultu et severis vocibus sic increpat :

### English translation (Claude)

bereaved, let her be tortured by the death
of the badly taught infant, and let her weep for the one she corrupted.
Far be it that a cheap little woman
should weary our attendants: and how little pain
will vex her limbs, short with the help of death?
The mother’s eyes will be punished more sharply
than if bloody claws were plucking her limbs.”
Hardly had he said this when he orders the little boy
to be lifted up and his buttocks beaten with the hand;
soon, his clothes removed, to be beaten with rods,
and his tender back cut with hard blows,
from which more milk than blood might flow.
What rock could endure that spectacle,
what hardness of bronze or iron could bear it?
As often as the willow struck the body,
the wet rods grew red with thin blood,
which the blow had poured out with dewy bruises.
They say the threatening cheeks of the floggers
shed tears, drops running down of their own accord
over the roaring barbarian faces;
and that the clerks themselves, and the ring of common people,
and the nobles, did not stand with dry eyes.
But the mother alone is without these laments;
her brow alone smiles with serene joy;
in her heart piety stands stronger than the impious,
defiant of pains through the love of Christ,
and strengthens her feeling of soft tenderness.
The little one had cried out that he was thirsty:
the fever of his soul, burning in the torments,
demanded this, that he should ask for a drink of water;
the grim mother, looking at him sadly from afar,
rebukes him thus with stern face and words:

### Translation notes

- A duplicated footnote repeating the last two lines was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.673 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 673–704; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-673).

## Hymn 10, lines 705–736

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-705
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 705–736
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The mother tells her son not to fear but to thirst for the living fountain of Christ and to drink the cup of the Holy Innocents, recalling Isaac and the seven Maccabean brothers.

### Latin text

— « Puto imbecillo, nate, turbaris metu,
Et te doloris horror adflictum domat ;
Non hanc meorum viscerum stirpem fore
Deo spopondi : non in hanc spem gloriae
Te procreavi, cedere ut leto scias.
Aquam bibendam postulas, quum sit tibi
Fons ille vivus praesto, qui semper fluit,
Et cuncta solus inrigat viventia,
Intus forisque spiritum et corpus simul,
Aeternitatem largiens potantibus.
Venies ad illud mox fluentum, si modo
Animo ac medullis solus ardor aestuet
Videre Christum : quod semel potum adfatim
Sic sedat omnem pectoris flagrantiam,
Vita ut beata iam sitire nesciat.
Hic, hic bibendus, nate, nunc tibi est calix,
Mille in Bethlehem quem biberunt parvuli :
Oblita lactis, et papillarum immemor
Aetas, amaris, mox deinde dulcibus
Refecta poclis, mella sumsit sanguinis.
Exemplum ad istud nitere, o fortis puer,
Generosa proles, matris et potentia:
Omnes capaces esse virtutum Pater
Mandavit annos: neminem excepit diem,
Ipsis triumphos adnuens vagitibus.
Fuisse parvulum patri unicum,
Qui, quum immolandus aram et ensem cerneret,
Ultro sacranti colla praebuerit seni?
Narravi et illud nobile ac memorabile
Certamen, una matre quod septem editi

### English translation (Claude)

“I think, my son, you are troubled by a weak fear,
and the horror of pain is overcoming you, afflicted;
I did not promise God that this offspring of my womb
would be such; not for this hope of glory
did I beget you, that you should know how to yield to death.
You ask for water to drink, when you have at hand
that living fountain which always flows,
and alone waters all living things,
within and without, spirit and body together,
granting eternity to those who drink.
You will come to that stream soon, if only
this one desire burns in your mind and marrow,
to see Christ: once drunk abundantly,
it so calms all the burning of the heart
that the blessed life no longer knows thirst.
Here, here is the cup you must now drink, my son,
which a thousand little ones drank in Bethlehem:
an age that had forgotten milk and was unmindful of the breast,
refreshed with bitter and then with sweet
cups, took the honey of blood.
Strive toward this example, brave boy,
noble offspring, and your mother’s power:
the Father has commanded that all ages
are capable of virtues: he excepted no day,
granting triumphs even to wailing infants.
[You know that Isaac,] a little boy, was his father’s only son,
who, when he saw the altar and the sword for his sacrifice,
of his own accord offered his neck to the old man who was sacrificing.
I have also told you of that noble and memorable
contest which seven sons born of one mother

### Scripture references

- John 4:14: allusion, high confidence
- Rev 21:6: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 20:22: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 2:16: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 22:9: allusion, high confidence

### Extrabiblical texts

- 2 Macc 7 (2 Maccabees): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- John 4:14; Rev 21:6; Matt 20:22; 2:16; Gen 22. A note on ‘mella sanguinis’ was removed; a line is lost in the scan before ‘Fuisse parvulum patri unicum’ (sense given in brackets).

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.705 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 705–736; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-705).

## Hymn 10, lines 737–768

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-737
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 737–768
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The mother recalls how the mother of the Maccabean martyrs encouraged her seven sons through frying, scalping and the cutting out of a tongue; she begs her own son, by her womb and her nursing, to persevere.

### Latin text

Gessere pueri, sed tamen factis viri:
Hortante eadem matre in ancipiti exitu
Poenae et coronae sanguini ut ne parcerent.
Videbat ipsos apparatus funerum
Praesens suorum, nec movebatur parens,
Laetata quoties aut olivo stridula
Sartago frixum torruisset puberem,
Dira aut crepasset laminarum impressio.
Comam cutemque verticis revulserat
A fronte tortor, nuda testa ut tegmine
Cervicem adusque dehonestaret caput.
Clamabat illa: Patere! gemmis vestiet
Apicem hunc corona regio ex diademate.
Linguam tyrannus amputari iusserat
Uni ex ephebis. Mater aiebat: Satis
Iam parta nobis gloria est: pars optima
Deo immolatur ecce nostri corporis;
Digna est fidelis lingua quae sit hostia.
Interpres animi, enuntiatrix sensuum,
Cordis ministra, praeco operti pectoris,
Prima offeratur in sacramentum necis,
Et sit redemptrix prima membrorum omnium;
Ducem dicatam mox sequentur cetera. —
His Macchabaeos incitans stimulis parens,
Hostem subegit subiugatum septies,
Quot feta natis, tot triumphis inclita :
Me partus unus ut feracem gloriae,
Mea vita, praestet, in tua est situm manu.
Per huius alvi fida conceptacula,
Per hospitalem mense bisquino larem;
Si dulce nostri pectoris nectar tibi,
Si molle gremium, grata si crepundia,
Persiste, et horum munerum auctorem adsere.

### English translation (Claude)

boys, yet men in deeds, waged:
the same mother urging them, in the doubtful outcome
of punishment and crown, not to spare their blood.
The parent, present, saw the very preparations
for the deaths of her own, and was not moved,
rejoicing whenever the frying pan, sizzling with oil,
had roasted a fried youth,
or the dire pressure of the plates had crackled.
The torturer had torn off the hair and the skin of the scalp
from the forehead, so that the skull, bare of covering,
might disfigure the head right down to the neck.
She cried out: ‘Endure! A crown from a royal diadem
will clothe this summit with gems.’
The tyrant had ordered the tongue to be cut out
of one of the youths. The mother said: ‘Enough
glory has now been won by us: see, the best part
of our body is sacrificed to God;
the faithful tongue is worthy to be the victim.
Interpreter of the soul, announcer of the senses,
servant of the heart, herald of the hidden breast,
let it be offered first in the sacrament of death,
and let it be the first redeemer of all the limbs;
the rest will soon follow their dedicated leader.’
With these goads the parent spurring on the Maccabees
subdued the enemy, subjugated seven times,
as glorious in triumphs as she was fruitful in sons:
that my one child may show me fruitful in glory,
my life, lies in your hand.
By the faithful receptacle of this womb,
by the hospitable home of twice five months;
if the nectar of my breast was sweet to you,
if my lap was soft, if your rattles pleased you,
persist, and claim the author of these gifts.

### Extrabiblical texts

- 2 Macc 7:3-10 (2 Maccabees): allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- 2 Macc 7. Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.737 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 737–768; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-737).

## Hymn 10, lines 769–800

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-769
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 769–800
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The mother tells her son to give back his life to God who gave it; the boy laughs at the rods; the boy is imprisoned and Romanus tortured again, mocking his torturers’ weakness, until the judge condemns him to the fire.

### Latin text

Quanam arte nobis vivere intus coeperis,
Nihilumque et illud, unde corpus, nescio :
Novit animator solus et factor tui:
Impendere ipsi, cuius ortus munere es :
Bene in datorem, quod dedit, refuderis. » —
Talia canente matre, iam laetus puer
Virgas strepentes et dolorem verberum
Ridebat. Hic tum cognitor pronuntiat:
— « Claudatur infans carcere, et tanti mali
Romanus auctor torqueatur acrius. » —
Illum recentes per cicatricum vias
Denuo exarabant, quaque acutum traxerant
Paullo ante ferrum, mox recrudescentibus
Plagis apertas persequebantur notas.
Quos iam superbus victor ignavos vocat.
— « O non virile robur, o molles manus!
Unam labantis dissipare tamdiu
Vos non potesse fabricam corpusculi?
Vix iam cohaeret: nec tamen penitus cadit,
Vincens lacertos dexterarum inertium.
Citius cadaver dentibus carpunt canes,
Longeque morsus vulturum efficacior
Ad devorandas carnis offas mortuae.
Languetis imbelli fame, ac fatiscitis:
Gula est ferina, sed socors edacitas. » —
Exarsit istis turbida ira iudicis,
Seque in supremam concitat sententiam:
— « Si te morarum poenitet, finem citum
Subeas licebit : ignibus vorabere
Damnatus, et favilla iam tenuis fies. » —
Abiens at ille, quum foro abriperent virum
Truces ministri, pone respectans ait :

### English translation (Claude)

By what art you began to live within me,
and what that nothing is from which your body came, I do not know:
only he who gave you life and made you knows:
spend yourself for him, by whose gift you were born:
you will do well to pour back to the giver what he gave.”
As the mother sang such things, the boy, now glad,
at the whistling rods and the pain of the blows
laughed. Then the judge pronounces:
“Let the infant be shut in prison, and Romanus,
author of so great an evil, be tortured more sharply.”
They ploughed him again through the fresh paths
of the scars, and where they had drawn the sharp iron
a little before, as the wounds broke open again,
they followed the open marks.
Now, proud victor, he calls them cowards:
“O strength unmanly, O soft hands!
That for so long you cannot scatter
the one frame of a tottering little body!
It scarcely holds together now, yet it does not fall entirely,
conquering the arms of idle right hands.
Dogs would pluck a corpse with their teeth sooner,
and the bite of vultures is far more effective
at devouring morsels of dead flesh.
You languish with an unwarlike hunger, and you tire:
your gluttony is bestial, but your voracity sluggish.”
The judge’s turbulent anger flared at this,
and he rouses himself to the final sentence:
“If you are sorry for the delays, you may undergo
a swift end: you will be devoured by fire,
condemned, and you will soon become thin ash.”
But as he went off, when the cruel attendants were dragging the man
from the forum, looking back he said:

### Extrabiblical texts

- 2 Macc 7:22-23 (2 Maccabees): echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- 2 Macc 7:22–23 is echoed in the opening lines.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.769 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 769–800; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-769).

## Hymn 10, lines 801–832

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-801
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 801–832
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus appeals to Christ; the judge orders the child beheaded and Romanus burned; the mother hands over her son with one kiss, asking him to remember her in Christ’s kingdom, sings Psalm 116 as he is beheaded, and catches his head in her cloak.

### Latin text

— « Appello ab ista, perfide, ad Christum meum
Crudelitate, non metu mortis tremens,
Sed ut probetur esse nil, quod iudicas. » —
— « Quid differo, inquit ille, utrosque perdere,
Puerum ac magistrum, complices sectae impiae?
Gladius recidat vile vix hominis caput
Infantis; istum flamma vindex concremet;
Sit his sub uno fine dispar exitus. » —
Perventum ad ipsum caedis implendae locum.
Natum gerebat mater amplexu et sinu,
Ut primitivum crederes fetum geri
Deo offerendum, sancti Abelis ferculo,
Lectum ex ovili puriorem ceteris.
Puerum poposcit carnifex; mater dedit,
Nec immorata est fletibus, tantum osculum
Impressit unum. — « Vale! ait, dulcissime :
Et quum beatus regna Christi intraveris,
Memento matris, iam patrone ex filio. » —
Percussor ense; docta mulier psallere,
Hymnum canebat carminis Davidici:
Pretiosa sancti mors sub adspectu Dei :
Tuus ille servus, proles ancillae tuae.
Talia retexens explicabat pallium,
Manusque tendebat sub ictu et sanguine,
Venarum ut undam profluam manantium,
Et palpitantis oris exciperet globum :
Excepit, et caro adplicavit pectori.
At parte campi ex altera, immanem pyram
Texebat ustor fumidus pinu arida,
Sarmenta mixtim subdita et foeni struem

### English translation (Claude)

“I appeal, treacherous man, from this cruelty of yours
to my Christ, not trembling with fear of death,
but so that what you judge may be proved nothing.”
“Why do I delay,” he says, “to destroy both,
the boy and the master, accomplices of the impious sect?
Let the sword cut off the cheap head of the infant,
scarcely yet a man; let the avenging flame burn that one;
let them have under one end a different exit.”
They came to the very place where the slaughter was to be done.
The mother carried her son in her embrace and on her bosom,
so that you would think a firstborn offspring was being carried
to be offered to God on the dish of holy Abel,
chosen from the fold as purer than the rest.
The executioner demanded the boy; the mother gave him,
nor did she linger in tears; she pressed on him
only one kiss. “Farewell,” she says, “sweetest one:
and when, blessed, you have entered the kingdom of Christ,
remember your mother, now a patron instead of a son.”
As the executioner struck with the sword, the woman, skilled in psalm-singing,
sang a hymn from David’s song:
“Precious is the death of a saint in the sight of God:
this is your servant, the offspring of your handmaid.”
Repeating such words she spread out her cloak,
and held out her hands under the blow and the blood,
to catch the flowing wave of the streaming veins
and the ball of the quivering face:
she caught it, and pressed it to her dear breast.
But on the other side of the field the smoky burner
was weaving an immense pyre of dry pine,
twigs set beneath mixed with a heap of hay,

### Scripture references

- Ps 116:15 (115:15 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 116:16 (115:16 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Gen 4:4: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Ps 116:15–16 (LXX/Vulgate 115:6–7); Gen 4:4. A footnote on the reading ‘metu’ was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.801 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 801–832; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-801).

## Hymn 10, lines 833–864

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-833
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 833–864
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus is brought to the pyre and foretells that he will not be burned; a sudden storm puts out the fire; the prefect, calling him a magician, decides to mutilate him first.

### Latin text

Spargens liquato rore ferventis picis,
Quo flamma pastu cresceret ferocius.
Et iam retortis brachiis furca eminus
Romanus actus inferebatur rogo:
— « Scio, inquit ille, non futurum ut concremer,
Nec passionis hoc genus datum est mihi ;
Et restat ingens, quod fiat, miraculum. » —
Haec eius orsa sequitur immensus fragor
Nubis ruentis, nimbus undatim nigro
Praeceps aquarum flumine ignes obruit.
Alunt olivo semicombustas faces;
Sed vincit imber iam madentem fomitem.
Trepidare teter carnifex rebus novis
Turbatus, et qua posset arte insistere,
Versare torres cum favillis humidis,
Prunas maniplis confovere stuppeis,
Et semen ignis inter undas quaerere.
Quod quum, tumenti nuntiatum iudici,
Movisset iram fellis implacabilis :
— « Quousque tandem summus hic nobis magus
Inludet, inquit, Thessalorum carmine,
Poenam peritus vertere in ludibrium?
Fortasse cervix, si secandam iussero
Flecti sub ensem, non patebit vulneri :
Vel amputatum plaga collum dividens
Rursus coibit ac reglutinabitur,
Humerisque vertex eminebit additus.
Tentemus igitur ante partem quampiam
Truncare ferro corporis superstitis,
Ne morte simpla criminosus multiplex

### English translation (Claude)

sprinkling them with the melted dew of boiling pitch,
so that the flame might grow more fiercely with this food.
And now, his arms twisted back, Romanus, driven
from afar with a fork, was being brought to the pyre.
“I know,” he says, “that I shall not be burned,
nor has this kind of passion been given to me;
and there remains a huge miracle that will happen.”
These words of his are followed by an immense crash
of a falling cloud; a storm in waves,
headlong with a black flood of waters, overwhelms the fires.
They feed the half-burnt torches with oil,
but the rain conquers the now soaking kindling.
The foul executioner trembled, troubled
by the strange events, and with whatever art he could pressed on,
turning the brands among the wet ashes,
cherishing the coals with handfuls of tow,
and seeking a seed of fire among the waters.
When this, reported to the swelling judge,
had moved the anger of his implacable gall:
“How long,” he says, “will this supreme magician
mock us with the spell of the Thessalians,
skilled at turning punishment into a joke?
Perhaps his neck, if I order it to be bent
beneath the sword to be cut, will not open to the wound;
or the neck, cut off by the blow that divides it,
will come together again and be glued back,
and the head will stand out, added again to the shoulders.
Let us try, then, first to cut off with iron
some part of the surviving body,
lest, guilty of many crimes, he should fall by a single death,

### Translation notes

- A running head was removed. Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.833 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 833–864; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-833).

## Hymn 10, lines 865–896

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-865
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 865–896
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The prefect orders the physician Aristo to cut out Romanus’ tongue; Romanus submits without flinching, his chin and breast covered with blood like royal purple.

### Latin text

Cadat, vel una perfidus caede oppetat :
Quot membra gestat, tot modis pereat volo.
Libet experiri, Lerna sicut traditur,
Utrum renatis pullulescat artubus,
Et de minuti corporis damnis novum
Instauret hostem; ipse praesto erit tunc Hercules,
Hydrina suetus ustulare vulnera.
Iam nunc secandi doctus adsit artifex,
Qui cuncta norit viscerum confinia,
Et nexa nervis disparare vincula.
Date hunc revulsis qui medetur ossibus,
Aut fracta nodis sarciens compaginat.
Linguam priorem detrahat radicitus,
Quae corpore omni sola vivit nequior:
Illa et procaci pessima in nostros deos
Invecta motu, fas profanavit vetus,
Audax et ipsi non pepercit principi. » —
Aristo quidam medicus accitus venit,
Proferre linguam praecipit: profert statim
Martyr retectam, pandit ima faucium.
Ille et palatum tractat, et digito, exitum
Vocis pererrans, vulneri explorat locum.
Linguam deinde longe ab ore protrahens,
Scalpellum in usque guttur insertans agit.
Illo secante fila sensim singula,
Numquam momordit martyr, aut os dentibus
Compressit artis, nec cruorem sorbuit.
Immotus et patente rictu constitit,
Dum sanguis extra defluit scaturiens:
Perfusa pulcher menta russo stemmate
Fert, et cruenti pectoris spectat decus,
Fruiturque et ostro vestis ut iam regiae.
Ergo ratus praefectus elinguem virum
Cogi ad sacrandum posse, quum verbis carens

### English translation (Claude)

or the faithless man meet his end by one slaughter:
I want him to perish in as many ways as he carries limbs.
I would like to try, as is told of Lerna,
whether he sprouts with reborn limbs
and from the losses of his diminished body
restores a new enemy; then Hercules himself will be at hand,
accustomed to cauterize the hydra’s wounds.
Now let a craftsman skilled in cutting be present,
who knows all the boundaries of the inner parts
and how to separate the bonds knit by sinews.
Give me one who heals torn-out bones,
or mends and joins what is broken at the joints.
Let him first tear out the tongue by the roots,
which alone in the whole body lives more wicked:
it, worst of all, inveighing against our gods
with insolent motion, has profaned the ancient law,
and in its daring has not spared even the emperor.”
A certain physician, Aristo, comes when summoned;
he orders him to put out his tongue: at once the martyr
puts it out uncovered, opens the depths of his throat.
He handles the palate, and with his finger, going over
the exit of the voice, explores the place for the wound.
Then, drawing the tongue far out of the mouth,
he drives the scalpel in, inserting it right to the throat.
As he cut each fibre little by little,
the martyr never bit, nor pressed his mouth
tightly with his teeth, nor sucked in the blood.
He stood unmoved with jaws open,
while the blood flowed outside, gushing:
handsome, he bears his chin drenched with a red ornament,
and beholds the beauty of his bloody breast,
and enjoys a garment of purple, as if already royal.
So the prefect, thinking that the tongueless man
could be compelled to sacrifice, since, lacking words,

### Translation notes

- A footnote (on ‘peritus vertere’) was removed; two damaged lines were restored by sense (‘Et de minuti corporis damnis novum / Instauret hostem’).

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.865 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 865–896; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-865).

## Hymn 10, lines 897–928

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-897
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 897–928
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Brought back before the altars, the tongueless Romanus speaks: the God who made speech can make a man speak without a tongue and change the laws of nature he gave.

### Latin text

Nil in deorum blateraret dedecus,
Iubet reduci iam tacentem et debilem,
Multo loquentis turbine olim territus.
Reponit aras ad tribunal denuo,
Et tus, et ignem vividum in carbonibus,
Taurina et exta, vel suilla abdomina.
Ingressus ille, ut haec paratus perspicit,
Insufflat, ipsos ceu videret daemonas.
Inridet hoc Asclepiades laetior.
Addit deinde : — « Numquid inclementius,
Sicut solebas, es paratus dicere?
Effare quidvis, ac perora et dissere;
Permitto, vocem libere ut exerceas. » —
Romanus alto corde suspirans diu,
Gemitu querelam traxit, et sic orsus est :
— « Christum loquenti lingua numquam defuit ;
Nec verba quaeras quo regantur organo,
Quum praedicatur ipse verborum dator.
Qui fecit, ut vis vocis expressa intimo
Pulmone, et oris torta sub testudine,
Nunc ex palato det repercussos sonos ;
Nunc temperetur dentium de pectine,
Sitque his agendis lingua plectrum mobile,
Si mandet idem, faucium sic fistula
Spirare flatu concinentes consono,
Ut verba in ipsis explicent meatibus,
Vel exitu oris cymbalis profarier,
Nunc pressa parce labra, nunc hiantia.
Dubitasne verti posse naturae statum,
Cui facta forma est, qualis esset primitus?
Hanc nempe factor vertere, ut libet, potest,
Datasque leges texere ac retexere,

### English translation (Claude)

he could babble nothing to the disgrace of the gods,
orders him, now silent and weak, to be brought back,
he who was once terrified by the whirlwind of the speaker.
He sets up the altars again at the tribunal,
and incense, and fire alive in the coals,
and bull’s entrails, or pig’s paunches.
He, entering, as he sees these things prepared,
breathes on them, as if he saw the demons themselves.
Asclepiades, more cheerful, laughs at this.
Then he adds: “Are you ready to speak
more harshly, as you used to?
Say anything, make your speech and argue;
I permit you to exercise your voice freely.”
Romanus, sighing long from the depth of his heart,
drew out a complaint with a groan, and began thus:
“A tongue has never been lacking to one who speaks Christ;
nor need you ask by what organ the words are governed,
when the very giver of words is proclaimed.
He who made it so that the force of the voice, pressed out
from the inmost lungs and twisted under the vault of the mouth,
now gives sounds echoed back from the palate,
now is tempered by the comb of the teeth,
and that the tongue is the moving plectrum for this work,
if he so commands, the pipes of the throat
breathe in harmony with consonant breath,
so as to unfold words in the very passages,
or to speak out at the exit of the mouth as with cymbals,
the lips now pressed together sparingly, now open.
Do you doubt that the state of nature can be changed,
to which its form was given, such as it was at first?
Surely its maker can change it as he pleases,
and weave and unweave the laws he has given,

### Scripture references

- Exod 4:11: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- A note mark was removed. Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.897 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 897–928; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-897).

## Hymn 10, lines 929–960

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-929
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 929–960
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus points to Christ’s walking on the sea and his healing miracles, of which his own speech is a proof; the bewildered prefect accuses the physician of having been bribed to cut badly.

### Latin text

Linguam loquela ne ministram postulet.
Vis scire nostri numinis potentiam?
Fluctus liquentis aequoris pressit pede:
Natura fluxa ac tenuis in solidum coit,
Quam dispar illis legibus, quis condita est,
Solet natatus ferre, fert vestigia.
Habet usitatum munus hoc divinitas,
Quae vera nobis colitur in Christo et Patre,
Mutis loquelam, percitum claudis gradum,
Surdis fruendam reddere audientiam,
Donare caecis lucis insuetae diem.
Vel ipse tute, si parum fidelia
Rebare pridem, vera cognoscas licet;
Habes loquentem, cuius amputaveras
Linguam : probatis cede iam miraculis. » —
Horror stupentem persecutorem subit,
Timorque et ira pectus in caliginem
Vertere : nescit, vigilet anne somniet :
Miratur haerens, quod sit ostenti genus.
Formido frangit; armat indignatio.
Nec vim domare mentis effrenae potest,
Nec quo furoris tela vertat invenit.
Postremo medicum saevus insontem iubet
Reum citari : nundinatum hunc arguit,
Mercede certa pactus ut conluderet:
Aut ferrum in ore nil agens et irritum
Versasse frustra, seu retunsis actibus,
Aut arte quadam vulnus illatum breve,
Quod sauciata parte linguam laederet,
Nervos nec omnes usquequaque abscideret;
Manere salvam vocis harmoniam probat,

### English translation (Claude)

so that speech should not demand the tongue as its servant.
Do you want to know the power of our Godhead?
He pressed the waves of the liquid sea with his foot:
nature, flowing and thin, comes together into a solid,
and, quite unlike the laws by which it was founded,
it bears footsteps, though it is used to bearing swimming.
Divinity has this as a customary gift,
which is truly worshiped by us in Christ and the Father:
to give speech back to the mute, a quick step to the lame,
hearing to be enjoyed to the deaf,
to grant the day of unaccustomed light to the blind.
Or you yourself, if you thought these things
too little to be believed, may now recognize them as true:
you have speaking before you the man whose tongue
you had cut off: yield now to proven miracles.”
Horror comes upon the astonished persecutor,
and fear and anger turned his breast
to darkness: he does not know whether he is awake or dreaming;
he wonders, at a loss, what kind of portent it is.
Dread breaks him; indignation arms him.
Nor can he tame the force of his unbridled mind,
nor find where to turn the weapons of his fury.
At last the cruel man orders the innocent physician
to be summoned as defendant: he accuses him of having been bought,
of having agreed for a fixed fee to collude:
either he had turned the iron in the mouth in vain,
doing nothing and useless, with blunted strokes,
or by some art had inflicted a brief wound,
which would harm the tongue in a wounded part
and not cut all the sinews entirely;
he argues that the harmony of voice remains safe,

### Scripture references

- Matt 14:25: allusion, medium confidence
- Isa 35:5: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 11:5: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Matt 14:25; Isa 35:5–6; Matt 11:5. A footnote was removed; the last line is read ‘probat’ by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.929 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 929–960; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-929).

## Hymn 10, lines 961–992

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-961
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 961–992
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The physician Aristo proves he cut out the whole tongue and cannot explain how the mute man speaks; the prefect suspects the blood is not Romanus’ own, and Romanus answers that it is his true blood, not bull’s blood like that of the pagan rites.

### Latin text

Non posse inani concavo verba exprimi,
Quae concrepare ligula moderatrix facit.
Esto, ut resultet spiritus vacuo specu,
Echo sed exstat inde, non oratio.
Veris refutat medicus hanc calumniam:
— « Scrutare vel tu nunc latebras faucium,
Intraque dentes curiosum pollicem
Circumfer, haustus vel patentes inspice,
Lateat ne quidquam, quod regat spiramina.
Quamquam forassem forte si puncto levi,
Tenuive linguam contigissem vulnere,
Titubante plectro fatus esset debilis.
Nam, quum magistra vocis in vitium cadit,
Omnis necesse est vis loquendi intercidat.
Fiat periclum, si placet, cuiusmodi
Edat querelam quadrupes, lingua eruta,
Elinguis et quem porca grunnitum strepat,
Cui vox fragosa, clamor est inconditus :
Probabo mutam nil sonare stridulum.
Testor salutem principis, me simplici
Functum secantis arte, iudex optime,
Servisse iussis absque fraude publicis.
Sciat hic quis illi verba suggerat Deus;
Ego, unde mutus sit disertus, nescio. » —
His sese Aristo purgat; at contra impium
Nil haec latronem Christianorum movent.
Magis magisque fertur in vesaniam:
Quaerit alienus sanguis ille adsperserit
Virum, suo ne fluxerit de vulnere.
Respondit his Romanus: — « Eccum, praesto sum :
Meus iste sanguis verus est, non bubulus ;
Agnoscis illum, quem loquor, miserrime

### English translation (Claude)

because words cannot be produced in an empty hollow,
which the tongue, as governor, makes to sound.
Granted that the breath may echo in an empty cave,
an echo comes from there, not speech.
The physician refutes this slander with the truth:
“Search even now yourself the hiding places of the throat,
and carry your curious thumb around inside the teeth,
or inspect the open gulps,
lest anything lie hidden that governs the breathings.
Though if perhaps I had pierced it with a light point,
or touched the tongue with a slight wound,
he would have spoken weakly with a tottering plectrum.
For when the mistress of the voice falls into a fault,
all the power of speaking must fall away.
Let a test be made, if you please, what kind of
complaint a four-footed beast utters when its tongue is torn out,
and what grunt a tongueless sow makes,
whose voice is rough, whose cry is shapeless:
I will prove that a mute thing sounds nothing but shrill.
I call to witness the emperor’s safety that I,
performing the simple art of one who cuts, best judge,
served the public orders without fraud.
Let him know here what God suggests words to him;
I do not know how the mute man is eloquent.”
With these words Aristo clears himself; but these things
do not move the impious robber of Christians at all.
More and more he is carried into madness:
he asks whether some other blood had sprinkled
the man, lest it had flowed from his own wound.
Romanus answered him: “Here I am, at hand:
this blood of mine is true, not a bull’s;
do you recognize, most wretched pagan, that of which I speak,

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.961 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 961–992; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-961).

## Hymn 10, lines 993–1024

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-993
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 993–1024
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus describes the taurobolium, in which the pagan high priest stands in a pit beneath a perforated platform and is drenched with the blood of a slaughtered bull.

### Latin text

Pagane, vestri sanguinem sacrum bovis,
Cuius litata caede permadescitis ?
Summus sacerdos nempe, sub terram scrobe
Acta, in profundum consecrandus mergitur,
Mire infulatus, festa vittis tempora
Nectens, corona tum repexus aurea,
Cinctu Gabino sericam fultus togam.
Tabulis superne strata texunt pulpita,
Rimosa rari pegmatis compagibus,
Scindunt subinde vel terebrant aream,
Crebroque lignum perforant acumine,
Pateat minutis ut frequens hiatibus.
Huc taurus ingens, fronte torva et hispida,
Sertis revinctus aut per armos floreis,
Aut impeditis cornibus, deducitur :
Nec non et auro frons coruscat hostiae,
Saetasque fulgor bractealis inficit.
Hic, ut statuta est immolanda bellua,
Pectus sacrato dividunt venabulo:
Eructat amplum vulnus undam sanguinis
Ferventis, inque texta pontis subditi
Fundit vaporum flumen, et late aestuat.
Tum per frequentes mille rimarum vias
Inlapsus imber, tabidum rorem pluit,
Defossus intus quem sacerdos excipit.
Guttas ad omnes turpe subiectans caput,
Et veste et omni putrefactus corpore.
Quin os supinat, obvias offert genas,
Supponit aures, labra, nares obiicit,
Oculos et ipsos perluit liquoribus;
Nec iam palato parcit, et linguam rigat,
Donec cruorem totus atrum combibat.

### English translation (Claude)

the sacred blood of your bull,
with whose sacrificial slaughter you are soaked?
The high priest, of course, to be consecrated, is sunk deep
under the earth in a pit dug out,
wondrously adorned with fillets, binding his festive temples
with ribbons, then, his hair combed back, with a golden crown,
wearing his silk toga in the Gabine girding.
Above, they weave a platform laid with planks,
full of cracks with the joints of the open framework;
then they cut or bore the flooring,
and pierce the wood with frequent points,
so that it may lie open with many small gaps.
Here a huge bull, grim and shaggy of brow,
bound with garlands of flowers about its shoulders
or on its entangled horns, is led down;
the victim’s brow too flashes with gold,
and the gleam of gold leaf tinges its bristles.
Here, when the beast appointed for sacrifice is set,
they divide its breast with a consecrated hunting spear:
the gaping wound belches a wave of hot blood,
and pours a steaming stream onto the woven bridge beneath,
and seethes far and wide.
Then through the many ways of the thousand cracks
the shower, falling through, rains a putrid dew,
which the priest, buried within, receives,
foully putting his head under every drop,
rotten in his clothing and his whole body.
He even turns up his face, offers his cheeks to meet it,
puts under it his ears, lips, presents his nostrils,
bathes his very eyes in the liquid;
nor does he spare his palate, but wets his tongue,
until he drinks in all the black blood.

### Translation notes

- The rite described is the taurobolium of the cult of Cybele. Restored from a garbled scan by one logged correction.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.993 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 993–1024; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-993).

## Hymn 10, lines 1025–1056

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-1025
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1025–1056
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus continues: the blood-soaked priest is adored by all; the pagans also offer hecatombs, and the devotees of Cybele slash their arms and castrate themselves.

### Latin text

Postquam cadaver sanguine egesto rigens
Compage ab illa flamines retraxerint,
Procedit inde pontifex, visu horridus,
Ostentat udum verticem, barbam gravem,
Vittas madentes, atque amictus ebrios.
Hunc inquinatum talibus contagiis,
Tabo recentis sordidum piaculi,
Omnes salutant atque adorant eminus,
Vilis quod illum sanguis et bos mortuus
Foedis latentem sub cavernis laverint.
Addamus illam, vis, hecatomben tuam?
Centena ferro quum cadunt animalia,
Variaque abundans caede restagnat cruor,
Vix ut cruentis augures natatibus
Possint meare per profundum sanguinis.
Sed quid macellum pingue pulvinarium,
Quid maximorum lancinatores gregum,
Eviscerata carne crudos criminor?
Sunt sacra, quando vosmet ipsi exciditis,
Votivus et quum membra detruncat dolor.
Cultrum in lacertos exserit fanaticus,
Sectisque Matrem brachiis placat deam,
Furere ac rotari ius putatur mysticum :
Parca ad secandum dextra fertur impia,
Caelum meretur vulnerum crudelitas.
Ast hic metenda dedicat genitalia,
Numen reciso mitigans ab inguine;
Offert pudendum semivir donum deae:
Illam, revulsa masculini germinis
Vena, effluenti pascit auctam sanguine.
Uterque sexus sanctitati displicet,
Medium retentat inter alternum genus:

### English translation (Claude)

After the flamens have drawn back the corpse, stiff
with the blood drained out, from that framework,
the pontiff comes forth from there, horrid to see,
and shows off his wet head, his heavy beard,
his dripping fillets and drunken garments.
Him, defiled with such contagions,
filthy with the gore of the fresh expiation,
all greet and adore from afar,
because cheap blood and a dead ox
have washed him as he lay hidden under foul caverns.
Shall we add, if you like, that hecatomb of yours?
When a hundred animals fall by the iron,
and the blood, abounding from the varied slaughter, stagnates,
so that the augurs can scarcely pass
with bloody swimming through the depth of blood.
But why do I accuse the fat butchery of the sacred couches,
why the butchers of the greatest flocks,
raw with disemboweled flesh?
There are rites when you cut yourselves,
and when votive pain lops off limbs.
The fanatic draws his knife against his arms,
and appeases the Mother goddess with cut arms;
to rage and whirl is thought a mystic right;
a right hand sparing in cutting is held impious;
the cruelty of wounds earns heaven.
But this one dedicates his genitals to be reaped,
appeasing the goddess with a cut groin;
the half-man offers a shameful gift to the goddess:
he feeds her, enlarged, with the flowing blood,
the vein of the male seed torn out.
Each sex displeases this holiness;
he keeps a middle between the two kinds,

### Translation notes

- The self-wounding and castration of the Galli of Cybele, as the poet describes them.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.1025 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1025–1056; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-1025).

## Hymn 10, lines 1057–1088

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-1057
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1057–1088
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus ends his account of pagan self-mutilation and branding, contrasting them with the Christians’ blood shed only by persecutors, and foretells his end; the judge orders him strangled.

### Latin text

Idem ut nec vir sit ille, nec sit femina.
Felix deorum Mater imberbes sibi
Parat ministros laevibus novaculis.
Quid, quum sacrandus accipit sphragitidas?
Acus minutas ingerunt fornacibus:
His membra pergunt urere, ut igniverint:
Quamcumque partem corporis fervens nota
Stigmarit, hanc sic consecratam praedicant.
Functum deinde quum reliquit spiritus,
Et ad sepulcrum pompa fertur funeris,
Partes per ipsas imprimuntur bracteae;
Insignis auri lamina obducit cutem,
Tegitur metallo, quod perustum est ignibus.
Has ferre poenas cogitur gentilitas :
Hac dii coercent lege cultores suos:
Sic daemon ipse ludit hos, quos ceperit,
Docet exsecrandas ferre contumelias,
Tormenta inuri mandat infelicibus.
At noster iste sanguis ex vestra fluit
Crudelitate : vos tyrannide impia
Exulceratis innocentum corpora.
Si vos sinatis, incruente vivimus;
At si cruente puniamur, vincimus.
Sed iam silebo : finis instat debitus,
Finis malorum, passionis gloria :
Iam non licebit, improbe, ut licuit modo,
Torquere nostra vel secare viscera ;
Cedas necesse est victus et iam desinas.
Cessabit equidem tortor et sector dehinc. » —
Iudex minatur : — « Sed peremptoris manus
Succedet illis strangulatrix faucium ;
Aliter silere nescit oris garruli

### English translation (Claude)

so that the same is neither a man nor a woman.
The happy Mother of the gods prepares for herself
beardless ministers with smooth razors.
What of when the one to be consecrated receives the seals?
They put little needles into furnaces:
with these they go on to burn his limbs, when they have grown fiery:
whatever part of the body the hot mark
has branded, this they proclaim thus consecrated.
Then, when the spirit has left the dead man,
and the funeral procession carries him to the tomb,
gold leaf is pressed on those very parts;
a glorious plate of gold covers the skin,
what was burned by fire is covered with metal.
Heathenism is compelled to bear these punishments;
by this law the gods constrain their worshipers:
so the demon himself mocks those he has caught,
teaches them to bear accursed outrages,
orders torments to be burned into the unhappy.
But this blood of ours flows from your
cruelty: you, with impious tyranny,
ulcerate the bodies of the innocent.
If you let us, we live bloodlessly;
but if we are punished bloodily, we conquer.
But now I shall be silent: the due end is at hand,
the end of evils, the glory of the passion:
now it will not be allowed, wicked man, as it was just now,
to torture or cut our inner parts;
you must yield, conquered, and now stop.
The torturer and cutter will indeed cease from now on.”
The judge threatens: “But the hand of the slayer
will succeed them, strangling the throat;
otherwise the restless voice of the garrulous mouth

### Translation notes

- The first line is damaged in the scan and read by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.1057 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1057–1088; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-1057).

## Hymn 10, lines 1089–1125

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/10-577/#p-10-1089
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1089–1125
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Romanus is strangled in prison; the prefect’s records perish with time, but an angel recorded every word and wound in the heavenly book to be read at the judgment, and the poet hopes that Romanus will intercede to move him from the goats to the lambs.

### Latin text

Vox inquieta, quam tubam si fregero. » —
Dixit, foroque protrahi iussit virum,
Trudi in tenebras noxialis carceris :
Elidit illic fune collum martyris
Lictor nefandus. Sic peracta est passio;
Anima absoluta vinculis caelum petit.
Gesta intimasse cuncta fertur Principi
Praefectus, addens ordinem voluminum,
Seriemque tantae digerens tragoediae.
Notansque omne crimen in fasces refert
Suum tyrannus chartulis vivacibus.
Has sed vetustas conficit diutina;
Fuligo fuscat, pulvis obducit situ,
Carpit senectus, aut ruinis obruit :
Inscripta Christo pagina immortalis est,
Nec obsolescit ullus in caelis apex.
Excepit adstans Angelus coram Deo
Et quae locutus martyr, et quae pertulit;
Nec verba solum disserentis condidit,
Sed ipsa pingens vulnera expressit stilo,
Laterum, genarum, pectoris, et faucium :
Omnis notata est sanguinis dimensio,
Ut quamque plagam sulcus exaraverit,
Altam, patentem, proximam, longam, brevem:
Quae vis doloris, quive segmenti modus,
Guttam cruoris ille nullam perdidit.
Hic in regestis est liber caelestibus,
Monumenta servans laudis indelebilis,
Relegendus olim sempiterno iudici:
Libramine aequo qui malorum pondera,
Et praemiorum comparabit copias.
Vellem, sinister inter haedorum greges,
Ut sum futurus, eminus dinoscerer;
Atque, hoc precante, diceret Rex optimus :
Romanus orat; transfer huc haedum mihi:
Sit dexter agnus, induatur vellere.

### English translation (Claude)

does not know how to be silent, unless I break its trumpet.”
He spoke, and ordered the man to be dragged from the forum
and thrust into the darkness of the criminal prison:
there the wicked lictor crushes the martyr’s neck
with a rope. So the passion was completed;
the soul, released from its chains, seeks heaven.
The prefect is said to have reported all the deeds
to the emperor, adding the order of the records
and setting out the sequence of so great a tragedy.
Noting every charge, the tyrant enters it into his bundles
of records with durable papers.
But long age wears these away;
soot darkens them, dust covers them with mould,
old age plucks them, or buries them in ruins:
the page written for Christ is immortal,
nor does any letter grow obsolete in heaven.
An angel standing before God took down
both what the martyr said and what he suffered;
nor did he record only the words of the speaker,
but, painting the very wounds, he expressed them with his pen,
of the sides, cheeks, breast and throat:
every measure of the blood was noted,
as each furrow had ploughed each blow,
deep, open, near, long, short:
what force of pain, or what measure of cutting:
he lost not a single drop of blood.
This book is in the heavenly registers,
keeping the monuments of indelible praise,
to be read again one day to the eternal Judge,
who with even balance will compare the weights of evils
and the abundance of rewards.
I would wish, when I am on the left among the flocks of goats,
as I will be, to be distinguished from afar,
and, at his prayer, that the best King might say:
“Romanus prays; bring that goat over here to me:
let him be a lamb on the right, let him be clothed in fleece.”

### Scripture references

- Matt 25:33: allusion, high confidence
- Mal 3:16: echo, medium confidence
- Rev 20:12: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Matt 25:31–33; Mal 3:16; Rev 20:12. The editor’s prose argument of Peristephanon 11 leaked after the last line and was removed; line 10 is damaged in the scan and read by sense.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 10.1089 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1089–1125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/10-1089).

## Hymn 11, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Writing to Bishop Valerian, the poet describes the countless martyrs’ tombs of Rome, many nameless, and the tomb of Hippolytus, once a follower of Novatian’s schism, who as a martyr urged his followers to return to the catholic Church of Peter and Paul.

### Latin text

Innumeros cineres Sanctorum Romula in urbe
Vidimus, o Christi Valeriane sacer.
Incisos tumulis titulos, et singula quaeris
Nomina? difficile est ut replicare queam.
Tantos iustorum populos furor impius hausit,
Quum coleret patrios Troia Roma deos.
Plurima litterulis signata sepulcra loquuntur
Martyris aut nomen, aut epigramma aliquod.
Sunt et muta tamen tacitas claudentia tumbas
Marmora, quae solum significant numerum.
Quanta virum iaceant congestis corpora acervis
Nosse licet, quorum nomina nulla legas.
Sexaginta illic, defossas mole sub una,
Reliquias memini me didicisse hominum,
Quorum solus habet comperta vocabula Christus,
Utpote quos propriae iunxit amicitiae.
Haec dum lustro oculis, et sicubi forte latentes
Rerum apices, veterum per monumenta sequor,
Invenio Hippolytum, qui quondam schisma Novati
Usque ad Martyrii provectum insigne, tulisse
Lucida sanguinei praemia supplicii.
Nec mirere senem, perversi dogmatis olim,
Munere ditatum catholicae fidei.
Quum iam vesano victor raperetur ab hoste,
Exsultante anima carnis ad exitium,
Consultus quaenam secta foret melior,
Fugite, o miseri, exsecranda Novati
Schismata, catholicis reddite vos populis.
Una fides vigeat, prisco quae condita templo est :
Quam Paulus retinet, quamque cathedra Petri.
His dictis torsit laevo de tramite plebem,
Monstravitque sequi, qua via dextra vocat,
Seque ducem recti, spretis anfractibus, idem

### English translation (Claude)

Countless ashes of saints in the city of Romulus
we have seen, O Valerian, consecrated to Christ.
Do you ask for the titles cut on the tombs, and the individual
names? It is hard for me to be able to unfold them.
Impious fury drained such great peoples of the righteous,
when Trojan Rome worshiped its ancestral gods.
Many tombs, marked with little letters, tell
either the name of a martyr or some epigram.
But there are also mute marbles shutting in silent tombs,
which indicate only the number.
You may know how many bodies of men lie in heaped-up piles,
of whom you can read no names.
I remember learning that there the remains
of sixty men lie buried under one mass,
whose names Christ alone knows,
as those whom he has joined in his own friendship.
While I survey these things with my eyes, and follow through
the monuments of the ancients any hidden traces of the facts,
I find that Hippolytus, who had once [joined] the schism of Novatus,
advanced to the glorious mark of martyrdom, bore
the bright rewards of a bloody punishment.
Do not wonder that the old man, once of a perverse doctrine,
was enriched with the gift of the catholic faith.
When, already victor, he was being snatched away by the raging enemy,
his soul exulting at the death of the flesh,
asked which sect was better, [he answered:]
“Flee, wretched ones, the accursed schism
of Novatus; return to the catholic peoples.
Let the one faith flourish which was founded in the ancient temple,
which Paul holds, and the chair of Peter.”
With these words he turned the people from the left-hand path,
and showed them to follow where the right way calls,
and, spurning winding ways, he himself, as leader of the right,

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 11, addressed to Valerian (probably bishop of Calahorra). The poet identifies the martyr Hippolytus with a Novatianist presbyter, as written. The scan lacks a pentameter after ‘schisma Novati’ and a hexameter before ‘Consultus’; senses given in brackets. An editor’s footnote leaked into the verse and was removed. ‘Cathedra Petri’: the chair of Peter, as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1).

## Hymn 11, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The governor, having filled Rome with martyrs’ blood, had come to Ostia; he tortures Christians without making any recant, and orders them beheaded, crucified, burned or drowned.

### Latin text

Praebuit, erroris qui prius auctor erat.
Sistitur insano rectori, Christicolas tunc
Illo namque die Roma secesserat, ipsos
Peste suburbanos ut quateret populos.
Non contentus humum celsa intra moenia Romae
Tinguere iustorum caedibus assiduis :
Ianiculum quum iam madidum, fora, Rostra, Suburram
Cerneret eluvie sanguinis adfluere,
Protulerat rabiem Tyrrheni ad litoris oram,
Quaeque loca aequoreus proxima portus habet.
Inter carnifices, et constipata sedebat
Officia, exstructo celsior in solio.
Discipulos fidei, detestandique rebelles
Idolii, ardebat dedere perfidiae.
Carcereo crinita situ stare agmina contra
Iusserat, horrendis excrucianda modis.
Inde catenarum tractus, hinc lorea flagra
Stridere, virgarum concrepitare fragor.
Ungula fixa cavis costarum cratibus altos
Pandere secessus, et lacerare iecur.
Ac iam lassatis iudex tortoribus ibat
In furias, cassa cognitione fremens.
Nullus enim Christi ex famulis per tanta repertus
Supplicia, auderet qui vitiare animam.
Inde furens quaesitor ait: — « Iam, tortor, ab unco
Desine ; si vana est quaestio, morte agito.
Huic abscide caput, crux istum tollat in auras,
Viventesque oculos offerat alitibus.
Hos rape praecipites, et vinctos coniice in ignem;
Sit pyra quae multos devoret una reos.
En tibi quos properes rimosae imponere cumbae

### English translation (Claude)

offered himself, who had earlier been the author of error.
He is set before the mad governor, [who was then harassing] Christians.
For on that day he had withdrawn from Rome, to shake
with his plague the suburban peoples themselves.
Not content to dye the ground within the high walls of Rome
with constant slaughters of the righteous,
when he saw the Janiculum already wet, the forums, the Rostra, the Subura,
flowing with a flood of blood,
he had carried his rage to the edge of the Tyrrhenian shore,
and to the places nearest the sea harbor.
He sat among the executioners and the crowded
attendants, higher on a raised throne.
He burned to hand over to perfidy the disciples of the faith,
rebels against the detestable idol.
He had ordered long-haired columns, from the squalor of the prison,
to stand before him, to be tortured in horrid ways.
On one side the dragging of chains, on the other leather scourges
hissed, the crash of rods resounded.
The claw, fixed in the hollow lattice of the ribs,
opened the deep recesses and tore the liver.
And now, with the torturers tired, the judge was going
into fury, roaring at his vain inquiry.
For no one among Christ’s servants was found,
through such great tortures, who would dare to corrupt his soul.
Then the raging inquisitor said: “Now, torturer, stop
with the hook; if the inquiry is vain, proceed with death.
Cut off this one’s head; let the cross lift that one into the air
and offer his living eyes to the birds.
Seize these headlong, and throw them bound into the fire;
let one pyre devour many accused.
See, these you must hurry to put in a leaky boat

### Translation notes

- A pentameter is lost in the scan after line 2 (in the common text ‘Ostia vexanti per Tiberina viros’); its sense is given in brackets. A running head was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-33).

## Hymn 11, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The aged Hippolytus is brought before the governor as leader of the Christians; hearing his name, the governor orders that, like Hippolytus of legend, he be torn apart by wild horses, and the unbroken horses are yoked with the martyr tied behind.

### Latin text

Pellere et in medii stagna profunda freti:
Quos ubi susceptos rapidum male suta per aequor
Vexerit, et tumidis caesa laborarit aquis ;
Dissociata putrem laxent tabulata carinam,
Conceptura bibant undique naufragium.
… tabit ventre sepulcrum
… cruda cadaveribus. » —
Haec persultanti, celsum subito ante tribunal
Offertur senior nexibus implicitus.
Stipati circum iuvenes clamore ferebant,
Ipsum Christicolis esse caput populis.
Si foret exstinctum propere caput, omnia vulgi
Pectora Romanis sponte sacranda deis.
Insolitum leti poscunt genus, et nova poenae
Inventa, exemplo quo trepident alii.
Ille supinata residens cervice: — « Quis, inquit,
Dicitur? » — adfirmant, dicier Hippolytum.
— « Ergo sit Hippolytus: quatiat, turbetque iugales,
Intereatque feris dilaceratus equis. » —
Vix haec ille: duo cogunt animalia, freni
Ignara, insueto subdere colla iugo:
Non stabulis, blandive manu palpata magistri,
Imperiumque equitis ante subacta pati;
Quod pavor indomito corde ferinus agit.
Iamque reluctantes sociarant vincula bigas,
Oraque discordi foedere nexuerant.
Temonis vice funis inest, qui terga duorum
Dividit, et medius tangit utrumque latus.
Deque iugo in longum se post vestigia retro
Protendens trahitur, transit et ima pedum.
Huius ad extremum, sequitur qua pulvere summo
Cornipedum refugas orbita trita vias,
Crura viri innectit laqueus, nodoque tenaci
Adstringit plantas, cumque rudente ligat.

### English translation (Claude)

and drive them into the deep pools of the open sea:
when the badly sewn boat has carried them, taken on board,
over the rushing sea, and, broken, has labored in the swelling waters,
let the planks, separated, loosen the rotten keel
and drink in shipwreck from every side.
[…] a tomb in its belly,
[…] raw with corpses.”
As he was raging thus, suddenly before the high tribunal
an old man is brought, entangled in bonds.
Young men crowding around reported with a shout
that he was the head of the Christian peoples:
if the head were quickly destroyed, all the hearts
of the people would willingly be consecrated to the Roman gods.
They demand an unusual kind of death and new
inventions of punishment, by whose example others would tremble.
He, sitting with head thrown back, says: “What is he called?”
They affirm that he is called Hippolytus.
“Then let him be Hippolytus: let him shake and trouble the yoked team,
and perish torn apart by wild horses.”
Hardly had he said this: they force two animals, ignorant
of the bridle, to submit their necks to an unaccustomed yoke:
not stroked in the stalls or by the coaxing hand of a trainer,
nor tamed before to bear the command of a rider;
[…] which fear drives in their untamed, wild hearts.
And now the chains had joined the resisting pair,
and had bound their mouths in a discordant union.
In place of a pole there is a rope, which divides the backs
of the two, and touches each side in the middle.
And from the yoke, stretching out long behind
the footsteps, it is dragged and passes beyond the feet.
At its far end, where the track worn in the top of the dust
follows the fleeing ways of the horn-footed,
a noose binds the man’s legs, and with a tight knot
fastens his feet and ties them to the rope.

### Translation notes

- The judge alludes to the Hippolytus of Greek legend, son of Theseus, dragged to death by his horses. Two lines at the end of the governor’s speech and a line before ‘Quod pavor’ are damaged or lost in the scan; left as fragments (‘…’). The first word of line 4 (‘Dissociata’) and line 13 (‘Pectora Romanis’) are read by sense. A footnote was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-65).

## Hymn 11, lines 97–128

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: With the prayer “Let these snatch my limbs; you, Christ, snatch my soul,” Hippolytus is dragged to pieces by the horses; a painting over his tomb shows the scene, his friends gathering the scattered remains.

### Latin text

Postquam composito satis instruxere paratu
Martyris ad poenam verbera, vincla, feros,
Instigant subitis clamoribus atque flagellis,
Iliaque infestis perfodiunt stimulis.
Ultima vox audita senis venerabilis haec est :
— « Hi rapiant artus, tu rape, Christe, animam. » —
Prorumpunt alacres, caeco et terrore feruntur,
Qua sonus atque tremor, qua furor exagitant.
Incendit feritas, rapit impetus, et fragor urguet,
Nec cursus volucer mobile sentit onus.
Per silvas, per saxa ruunt, non ripa retardat
Fluminis, aut torrens oppositus cohibet.
Prosternunt saepes, et cuncta obstacula rumpunt,
Prona, fragosa petunt, ardua transiliunt.
Scissa minutatim labefacto corpore frusta
Carpit spinigeris stirpibus hirtus ager.
Pars summis pendet scopulis, pars sentibus haeret,
Parte rubent frondes, parte madescit humus.
Exemplar sceleris paries habet inlitus, in quo
Multicolor fucus digerit omne nefas.
Picta super tumulum species liquidis viget umbris,
Effigians tracti membra cruenta viri.
Rorantes saxorum apices vidi, optime papa,
Purpureasque notas vepribus impositas.
Docta manus virides imitando effingere dumos
Luserat et minio russeolam saniem.
Cernere erat, ruptis compagibus ordine nullo
Membra per incertos sparsa iacere situs.
Addiderat caros, gressu lacrimisque sequentes,
Devia qua fractum semita monstrat iter,
Moerore attoniti, atque oculis rimantibus ibant;
Implebantque sinus visceribus laceris.
Ille caput niveum complectitur, ac reverendam

### English translation (Claude)

After they had sufficiently furnished, with ordered preparation,
the scourges, chains, beasts for the martyr’s punishment,
they spur them on with sudden shouts and whips,
and pierce their flanks with hostile goads.
The last voice heard from the venerable old man was this:
“Let these snatch my limbs; you, Christ, snatch my soul.”
They burst forth eagerly and are carried away by blind terror,
wherever noise and trembling, wherever frenzy drives them.
Wildness inflames them, impetus sweeps them along, the crash urges them,
nor does their winged course feel the moving burden.
Through woods, through rocks they rush; no river bank
slows them, nor does an opposing torrent check them.
They throw down hedges and burst all obstacles,
make for steep and rugged places, leap over heights.
The rough field with its thorny stumps plucks
the pieces torn bit by bit from the shattered body.
Part hangs from the tops of cliffs, part clings to brambles;
with part the leaves grow red, with part the ground grows wet.
A painted wall has a likeness of the crime, on which
many-colored paint sets out the whole wickedness.
Above the tomb a picture lives in clear shades,
portraying the bloody limbs of the man who was dragged.
I saw the dripping tops of rocks, best father,
and purple marks set on the brambles.
A hand skilled in imitating had played at shaping the green thickets,
and the reddish gore with vermilion.
One could see the limbs, their joints broken, lying
in no order, scattered through uncertain places.
The painter had added his dear ones, following with step and tears
where the out-of-the-way path shows the broken route;
they went, stunned with grief, with searching eyes,
and filled their bosoms with the torn flesh.
One embraces the snowy head, and the venerable

### Scripture references

- Acts 7:59: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- ‘Best father’ (papa) addresses Bishop Valerian. A wall-painting at the tomb is described.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–128; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-97).

## Hymn 11, lines 129–160

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-129
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Hippolytus’ friends gather every part of his body and every drop of blood and bury him at Rome in a catacomb, which the poet describes with its winding steps and light-shafts.

### Latin text

Canitiem molli confovet in gremio ;
Hic humeros truncasque manus, et brachia et ulnas,
Et genua, et crurum fragmina nuda legit.
Palliolis etiam bibulae siccantur arenae,
Ne quis in infecto pulvere ros maneat.
Si quis et in sudibus recalenti adspergine sanguis
Insidet, hunc omnem spongia pressa rapit.
Nec iam densa sacro quidquam de corpore silva
Obtinet, aut plenis fraudat ab exsequiis.
Quumque recensitis constaret partibus ille,
Corporis integri qui fuerat numerus:
Nec purgata aliquid deberent avia toto
Ex homine, extersis frondibus et scopulis.
Metando eligitur tumulo locus : Ostia linquunt:
Roma placet, sanctos quae teneat cineres.
Haud procul extremo culta ad pomeria vallo
Mersa latebrosis crypta patet foveis :
Huius in occultum gradibus via prona reflexis
Ire per anfractus luce latente docet.
Primas namque fores summo tenus intrat hiatu
Illustratque dies limina vestibuli.
Inde, ubi progressu facili nigrescere visa est
Nox obscura, loci per specus ambiguum,
Occurrunt caesis immissa foramina tectis,
Quae iaciant claros antra super radios.
Quamlibet ancipites texant hinc inde recessus,
Arta sub umbrosis atria porticibus ;
Attamen excisi subter cava viscera montis
Crebra terebrato fornice lux penetrat.
Sic datur absentis per subterranea solis
Cernere fulgorem, luminibusque frui.
Talibus Hippolyti corpus mandatur opertis,

### English translation (Claude)

white hair he cherishes in his soft lap;
this one gathers the shoulders and the cut-off hands, the arms and elbows,
the knees, and the bare fragments of the legs.
With little cloaks the thirsty sands are also dried,
lest any dew remain in the stained dust.
If any blood also sits on the stakes with still-warm sprinkling,
a pressed sponge snatches it all.
Now the dense wood no longer holds anything of the sacred body,
nor cheats it of a complete funeral.
And when, the parts having been reviewed, it was found
to have the number that the whole body had had,
and the cleansed pathless places owed nothing of the whole man,
the leaves and rocks having been wiped clean,
a place is chosen for the tomb by measuring: they leave Ostia:
Rome pleases, to hold the holy ashes.
Not far from the outermost rampart, by the tilled ground beside the walls,
a crypt lies open, sunk in hidden pits:
a way sloping down by winding steps
teaches one to go into its hidden depth through turnings without light.
For daylight enters the first doors as far as the top of the opening,
and lights up the threshold of the entrance hall.
Then, when, as one goes easily forward, the dark night is seen
to grow black through the ambiguous caves of the place,
openings let into the cut roofs meet you,
which cast bright rays into the caves.
However much the uncertain recesses weave on this side and that
narrow halls under shady porticoes,
yet beneath the hollow inside of the excavated hill
the light penetrates frequently through the bored vault.
So it is granted to see underground the brightness
of the absent sun, and to enjoy its light.
To such hidden places the body of Hippolytus is entrusted,

### Translation notes

- A cross-reference note (‘Petri et Pauli, v. 48’) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.129 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 129–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-129).

## Hymn 11, lines 161–192

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-161
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Beside Hippolytus’ tomb stands the altar of the Eucharist; the poet himself was helped there in prayer and credits Hippolytus with his safe return; crowds kiss the silver shrine daily, and on his feast all Rome flocks there.

### Latin text

Propter ubi adposita est ara dicata Deo.
Illa Sacramenti donatrix mensa, eademque
Custos fida sui Martyris adposita,
Servat ad aeterni spem iudicis ossa sepulcro,
Pascit item sanctis Tibricolas dapibus.
Mira loci pietas, et prompta precantibus ara
Spes hominum placida prosperitate iuvat.
Hic corruptelis animique et corporis aeger
Oravi quoties stratus, opem merui.
Quod laetor reditu, quod te, venerande sacerdos,
Complecti licitum est, scribo quod haec eadem,
Hippolyto scio me debere, Deus cui Christus
Posse dedit, quod quis postulet, adnuere.
Ipsa, illas animae exuvias quae continet intus,
Aedicula argento fulgurat ex solido.
Praefixit tabulas dives manus aequore levi,
Candentes, recavum quale nitet speculum.
Nec Pariis contenta aditus obducere saxis,
Addidit ornando clara talenta operi.
Mane salutatum concurritur : omnis adorat
Pubes; eunt, redeunt, solis ad usque obitum.
Conglobat in cuneum Latios simul ac peregrinos
Permixtim populos religionis amor.
Oscula perspicuo figunt impressa metallo,
Balsama defundunt, fletibus ora rigant.
Iam quum se renovat decursis mensibus annus,
Natalemque diem passio festa refert;
Quanta putas studiis certantibus agmina cogi,
Quaeve celebrando vota coire Deo?
Urbs augusta suos vomit effunditque Quirites,
Una et patricios ambitione pari.
Confundit plebeia phalanx umbonibus aequis

### English translation (Claude)

near where an altar dedicated to God is placed.
That table, giver of the Sacrament, and likewise
placed as the faithful guardian of its martyr,
keeps the bones in the tomb for the hope of the eternal Judge,
and also feeds the dwellers by the Tiber with holy food.
Wonderful is the holiness of the place, and the altar, ready for those who pray,
helps the hopes of men with gentle favor.
Here, as often as I prayed prostrate, sick with the corruptions
of mind and body, I obtained help.
That I rejoice in my return, that I have been allowed to embrace you,
venerable bishop, that I write these very things,
I know I owe to Hippolytus, to whom Christ, God,
has given the power to grant what anyone asks.
The little shrine itself, which contains those spoils of the soul within,
flashes with solid silver.
A rich hand has fixed plates with a smooth surface in front,
gleaming like a hollow mirror shining.
Not content to cover the entrance with Parian stones,
it added splendid sums to adorn the work.
In the morning people run together to greet him: all the youth
adore; they come, they go, right until sunset.
Love of religion gathers into one wedge Latins and strangers alike,
peoples mixed together.
They fix kisses pressed on the shining metal,
pour out balsams, water their faces with tears.
Now, when the year renews itself as the months run out,
and the festal passion brings back his birthday,
how great a crowd do you think gathers with eager zeal,
or what prayers come together to celebrate God?
The august City pours out and spills forth its Quirites,
patricians too with equal ambition.
The plebeian phalanx mingles, with equal shields,

### Translation notes

- The altar over the martyr’s tomb and the martyr’s power to grant requests, as written.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.161 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 161–192; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-161).

## Hymn 11, lines 193–224

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-193
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: On Hippolytus’ feast pilgrims come from all central Italy; since the crypt is too small, they gather in the great basilica beside it, which the poet describes; the feast is kept on 13 August.

### Latin text

Discrimen procerum, praecipitante fide.
Nec minus Albanis acies se candida portis
Explicat, et longis ducitur ordinibus.
Exsultant fremitus variarum hinc inde viarum,
Indigena, et Picens, plebs et Etrusca venit.
Concurrit Samnitis atrox habitator, et altae
Campanus Capuae, iamque Nolanus adest.
Quisque sua laetus cum coniuge, dulcibus et cum
Pignoribus, rapidum carpere gestit iter.
Vix capiunt patuli populorum gaudia campi,
Haeret et in magnis densa cohors spatiis.
Angustum tantis illud specus esse catervis
Haud dubium est, ampla fauce licet pateat.
Stat sed iuxta aliud, quod tanta frequentia templum
Tunc adeat, cultu nobile regifico,
Parietibus celsum sublimibus, atque superba
Maiestate potens, muneribusque opulens.
Ordo columnarum geminus laquearia tecti
Sustinet, auratis suppositus trabibus.
Adduntur graciles tecto breviore recessus,
Qui laterum seriem iugiter exsinuent.
At medios aperit tractus via latior alti
Culminis, exsurgens editiore apice.
Fronte sub adversa gradibus sublime tribunal
Tollitur, antistes praedicat unde Deum.
Plena laborantes aegre domus accipit undas,
Artaque confertis aestuat in foribus,
Maternum pandens gremium, quo condat alumnos,
Ac foveat fetos accumulata sinus.
Si bene commemini, colit hunc pulcherrima Roma
Idibus Augusti mensis, ut ipsa vocat

### English translation (Claude)

the distinctions of the nobles, as faith hurries them headlong.
No less does a white-robed line unfold itself from the Alban gates
and is led in long ranks.
The roars of the various roads on this side and that exult:
the native comes, and the Picenian, and the Etruscan people.
The fierce dweller of the Samnite land runs together, and the Campanian
of lofty Capua, and now the man of Nola is here.
Each, glad, with his wife and his sweet children,
is eager to make his swift journey.
The open plains scarcely hold the joys of the peoples,
and the dense throng sticks even in the great spaces.
There is no doubt that that cave is narrow for such crowds,
though it opens with a wide mouth.
But beside it stands another temple, for so great a throng
to come to then, noble with royal adornment,
lofty with high walls, and powerful in proud majesty,
and rich in gifts.
A double row of columns supports the panels of the roof,
set under gilded beams.
Slender aisles are added with lower roof,
which hollow out the series of the sides continuously.
But a wider way opens the middle tract of the high
roof, rising with a loftier summit.
Opposite the front, a lofty tribunal is raised by steps,
from which the bishop preaches God.
The full house receives with difficulty the laboring waves,
and seethes, narrow, at the crowded doors,
opening its maternal bosom to shelter its nurslings,
and, heaped up, to cherish the brood in its lap.
If I remember rightly, most beautiful Rome honors it
on the Ides of August, as she herself calls

### Translation notes

- A footnote on the reading ‘exsinuent’ was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.193 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 193–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-193).

## Hymn 11, lines 225–245

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-11-225
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–245
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The poet asks Bishop Valerian to add Hippolytus’ feast to the yearly feasts of his church, and prays that Valerian may guard his flock, bring back the poet as a sick sheep, and join Hippolytus in heaven.

### Latin text

Prisco more diem, quem te quoque, sancte magister,
Annua festa inter dinumerare velim.
Crede, salutigeros feret hic venerantibus ortus,
Lucis honoratae praemia restituens.
Inter solemnes Cypriani, vel Chelidoni,
Eulaliaeque dies currat et iste tibi.
Sic te pro populo, cuius tibi credita vita est,
Orantem Christus audiat omnipotens.
Sic tibi de pleno lupus excludatur ovili,
Agna nec ulla tuum capta gregem minuat.
Sic me, gramineo remanentem denique campo,
Sedulus aegrotam pastor ovem referas.
Sic, quum lacteolis caulas compleveris agnis,
Raptus et ipse sacro sis comes Hippolyto.

### English translation (Claude)

the day, by ancient custom; and I would wish you too, holy master,
to count it among your annual feasts.
Believe me, it will bring saving risings to those who venerate it,
repaying the rewards of the honored light.
Among the solemn days of Cyprian, or of Chelidonius,
and of Eulalia, let this one too run its course for you.
So may Christ almighty hear you
praying for the people whose life has been entrusted to you.
So may the wolf be shut out from your full fold,
and may no lamb, captured, diminish your flock.
So may you, careful shepherd, carry me back at last,
a sick sheep left behind in the grassy field.
So, when you have filled the folds with milk-white lambs,
may you yourself, caught up, be the companion of holy Hippolytus.

### Scripture references

- Luke 15:5: echo, medium confidence
- John 10:12: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- The editor’s prose argument of Peristephanon 12 leaked after the last line and was removed. Luke 15:4–6; John 10:12.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 11.225 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 225–245; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/11-225).

## Hymn 12, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-12-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: A friend explains the Roman feast of Peter and Paul: Peter was crucified head downward at his own request, and a year later on the same day Paul was beheaded; their tombs lie on either side of the Tiber, Peter’s with a fountain.

### Latin text

Romam per omnem cursitant, ovantque. » —
— « Festus Apostolici nobis redit hic dies triumphi,
Pauli, atque Petri nobilis cruore.
Unus utrumque dies, pleno tamen innovatus anno,
Vidit superba morte laureatum.
Scit Tiberina palus, flumine quae lambitur propinquo,
Et crucis, et gladii testis, quibus inrigans easdem
Bis fluxit imber sanguinis per herbas.
Prima Petrum rapuit sententia legibus Neronis,
Pendere iussum praeminente ligno.
Ille tamen veritus celsae decus aemulando mortis
Ambire tanti gloriam Magistri,
Exigit, ut pedibus mersum caput imprimant supinis,
Quo spectet imum stipitem cerebro.
Figitur ergo manus subter, sola versus in cacumen :
Hoc mente maior, quo minor figura.
Noverat ex humili caelum citius solere adiri ;
Deiecit ora, spiritum daturus.
Orbis iter flexi rota percucurrit anni,
Evomit in iugulum Pauli Nero fervidum furorem,
Iubet feriri gentium magistrum.
Ad Christum eundum est, iam resolvor, inquit.
Nec hora vatem, nec dies fefellit.
Dividit ossa duum Tibris, sacer ex utraque ripa,
Inter sacrata dum fluit sepulcra.
Canens oliva, murmurans fluento.
Namque supercilio saxi liquor ortus excitavit
Fontem perennem chrismatis feracem.
Nunc pretiosa ruit per marmora, lubricatque clivum,
Interior tumuli pars est; ubi lapsibus sonoris

### English translation (Claude)

are running about through all Rome, rejoicing.”
“This festal day of the apostolic triumph returns to us,
glorious with the blood of Paul and Peter.
One and the same day, though renewed after a full year,
saw each crowned with laurel by a proud death.
The Tiber marsh, washed by the nearby river, knows it,
witness of the cross and of the sword, by which twice
a shower of blood flowed, watering the same grass.
The first sentence, by the laws of Nero, seized Peter,
ordered to hang on a lofty beam.
But he, afraid of seeking the glory of so great a Master
by imitating the honor of a lofty death,
demands that they press down his head, sunk, with his feet upturned,
so that he might look with his head at the bottom of the stake.
So his hands are fixed below, his soles turned to the top:
greater in mind by as much as he is lesser in posture.
He knew that heaven was usually reached more quickly from a low place;
he cast down his face as he was about to give up his spirit.
[When] the wheel of the turning year had run its circuit,
Nero vomits his burning fury against the throat of Paul,
and orders the teacher of the nations to be struck.
“I must go to Christ; I am now being released,” he said.
Neither the hour nor the day deceived the prophet.
The Tiber divides the bones of the two, sacred on both banks,
as it flows between the consecrated tombs.
[…] gray with olive, murmuring with its stream.
For water, rising at the brow of a rock, has roused
an everlasting fountain, fruitful in chrism.
Now it rushes over precious marbles, and makes the slope slippery;
the inner part of the tomb is where with sounding falls

### Scripture references

- John 21:18: echo, medium confidence
- 2 Tim 4:6: allusion, medium confidence
- Phil 1:23: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 12: Peter and Paul. The first line of the poem (the poet’s question) and several lines of this passage are missing in the scan (e.g. after ‘lambitur propinquo’, after ‘anni’, before ‘Ad Christum’, before ‘Canens oliva’); not supplied. Footnotes and an inscription from the notes were removed. 2 Tim 4:6; Phil 1:23; John 21:18–19.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 12.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/12-1).

## Hymn 12, lines 33–70

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-12-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–70
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The friend describes the baptistery at St Peter’s and the splendid basilica of St Paul on the Ostian Way built by the emperor; on the feast the people and the bishop go to both shrines in one day.

### Latin text

Omnicolor vitreas pictura superne tinguit undas,
Musci relucent, et virescit aurum:
Cyaneusque latex umbram trahit imminentis ostri;
Credas moveri fluctibus lacunar.
Pastor oves alit ipse illic gelidi rigore fontis,
Videt sitire quas fluenta Christi.
Parte alia titulum Pauli via servat Ostiensis,
Qua stringit amnis caespitem sinistrum.
Regia pompa loci est: princeps bonus has sacravit arces,
Lusitque magnis ambitum talentis.
Bracteolas trabibus sublevit, ut omnis aurulenta
Lux esset intus, ceu iubar sub ortu.
Subdidit et Parias fulvis laquearibus columnas,
Distinguit illic quas quaternus ordo.
Tum camuros hyalo insigni varie cucurrit arcus:
Sic prata vernis floribus renident.
Ecce duas fidei summo Patre conferente dotes,
Urbi colendas quas dedit togatae.
Adspice, per bifidas plebs romula funditur plateas,
Lux in duobus fervet una festis.
Nos ad utrumque tamen gressu properemus incitato,
Et his et illis perfruamur hymnis,
Ibimus ulterius, qua fert via pontis Hadriani,
Laevam deinde fluminis petemus.
Transtiberina prius solvit sacra pervigil sacerdos,
Mox huc recurrit, duplicatque vota.
Haec didicisse sat est Romae tibi : tu domum reversus,
Diem bifestum sic colas, memento. » —

### English translation (Claude)

Many-colored painting above tinges the glassy waters,
the mosses gleam, and the gold grows green;
and the dark-blue water takes on the shade of the purple above:
you would think the panelled ceiling moved with the waves.
There the Shepherd himself feeds his sheep with the cold freshness of the fountain,
whom he sees thirsting for the streams of Christ.
On the other side the Ostian road keeps the memorial of Paul,
where the river grazes the turf on its left.
The splendor of the place is royal: the good emperor consecrated these heights,
and lavished great sums upon their circuit.
He gilded the beams with gold leaf, so that all the light
within might be golden, like radiance at sunrise.
He set beneath the tawny ceilings columns of Parian marble,
which a fourfold row arranges there.
Then he ran the curved arches variously with splendid glass:
so meadows shine with spring flowers.
See two gifts of faith, conferred by the supreme Father,
which he gave to the toga-clad City to honor.
Look, the people of Romulus pours out through the twin streets;
one daylight burns in two feasts.
Yet let us hurry with quick step to both,
and enjoy both these hymns and those.
We shall go further, where the road of Hadrian’s bridge leads,
then we shall make for the left side of the river.
The wakeful bishop first performs the rites across the Tiber,
then hurries back here, and doubles the prayers.
It is enough for you to have learned this at Rome: when you return home,
remember to keep the doubly festive day in this way.”

### Scripture references

- John 10:11: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- A footnote quoting the dedicatory inscription of St Paul’s (Theodosius and Honorius) was removed. The first two lines of Peristephanon 13 had been attached here by the importer; they were moved to 13.1.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 12.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/12-33).

## Hymn 13, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-13-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Cyprian of Carthage, whose writings will be read as long as the world lasts, was given by the Spirit as an expounder of Paul; once a young magician who used spells to corrupt chastity, he was converted by Christ, changed his life, and became bishop.

### Latin text

Punica terra tulit, quo splendeat omne quidquid usquam est,
Inde domo Cyprianum, sed decus orbis et magistrum.
Est proprius patriae martyr, sed amore et ore noster.
Incubat in Libya sanguis; sed ubique lingua pollet:
Sola superstes agit de corpore, sola obire nescit.
Dum genus esse hominum Christus sinet, et vigere mundum,
Dum liber ullus erit, dum scrinia sacra litterarum,
Te leget omnis amans Christum ; tua, Cypriane, discet.
Spiritus ille Dei, qui fluxerat auctor in Prophetas,
Fontibus eloquii te caelitus actus inrigavit.
O nive candidius linguae genus ! O novum saporem !
Ut liquor ambrosius cor mitigat, imbuit palatum,
Sedem animae penetrat, mentem fovet, pererrat artus,
Sic Deus interius sentitur, et inditur medullis.
Unde bonum subitum terris dederis, Pater, revela.
Deerat Apostolicis scriptis opulentus exsecutor:
Eligitur locuples facundia, quae doceret orbem,
Quaeque voluminibus Pauli famulata disputaret,
Quo mage cruda hominum praecordia perpolita nossent,
Sive timoris opus, seu mystica vel profunda Christi.
Unus erat iuvenum doctissimus artibus sinistris,
Fraude pudicitiam perfringere, nil sacrum putare :
Saepe etiam magicum cantamen inire per sepulcra,
Quo geniale tori ius solveret, aestuante nupta.
Luxuriae rabiem tantae cohibet repente Christus,
Discutit et tenebras de pectore, pellit et furorem,
Implet amore sui, dat credere, dat pudere facti.
Iamque figura alia est, quam quae fuit, oris et nitoris :
Exuitur tenui vultus cute, transit in severam :
Deflua caesaries compescitur ad breves capillos.
Ipse modesta loqui, spem quaerere, regulam tenere,
Vivere iustitiam Christi, penetrare dogma nostrum.
His igitur meritis dignissimus usque episcopale
Provehitur solium doctor, capit et sedile summum.

### English translation (Claude)

The Punic land brought forth, to make bright all that exists anywhere,
Cyprian from its own home, but the glory and teacher of the world.
He is the martyr proper to his homeland, but ours in love and speech.
His blood lies in Libya, but his tongue is powerful everywhere:
it alone survives from the body, it alone knows not how to die.
As long as Christ allows the human race to exist and the world to thrive,
as long as there is any book, as long as there are sacred cases of letters,
everyone who loves Christ will read you, Cyprian, and will learn what is yours.
That Spirit of God, who had flowed as author into the Prophets,
moved from heaven, watered you with the fountains of eloquence.
O kind of speech whiter than snow! O new savor!
As ambrosial liquid soothes the heart, steeps the palate,
penetrates the seat of the soul, cherishes the mind, travels through the limbs,
so God is felt within, and put into the marrow.
Reveal, Father, whence you gave this sudden good to the earth.
The apostolic writings lacked a rich expounder:
a wealthy eloquence is chosen, to teach the world,
and, serving the volumes of Paul, to discuss them,
so that the crude hearts of men, polished more, might know
either the work of fear, or the mystical or deep things of Christ.
There was one young man most learned in sinister arts,
in breaking chastity by fraud, in thinking nothing sacred,
often too in performing magic spells among the tombs,
to dissolve the marriage right of the bed by inflaming a bride.
Christ suddenly checks the madness of such great wantonness,
shakes the darkness from his breast, and drives out the frenzy,
fills him with love of himself, gives him to believe, gives him to be ashamed of what he did.
And now the form of his face and his appearance is other than it was:
his face puts off its delicate skin, passes into a severe one;
his flowing hair is checked into short locks.
He himself [learns] to speak modestly, to seek hope, to keep the rule,
to live the righteousness of Christ, to penetrate our doctrine.
For these merits, most worthy, the teacher is promoted
to the episcopal throne, and takes the highest seat.

### Scripture references

- 2 Pet 1:21: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 13: Cyprian of Carthage. The poet joins to him the story of Cyprian the magician (of Antioch), as written. The first two lines were restored here from the end of 12.33, where the importer had placed them. A running head and a page header were removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 13.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/13-1).

## Hymn 13, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-13-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Under Valerian and Gallienus, Cyprian encourages his people to martyrdom; imprisoned in a dark cave, he prays to God, who washed away his former sins, to let him die for Christ.

### Latin text

Valerianus opum Princeps erat, atque Gallienus;
Constituere simul poenam capitis Deum fatenti.
Millia turrigerum spurcissima iusserant sacrari.
Contra animos populi doctor Cyprianus incitabat;
Ne quis ab egregiae virtutis honore discreparet,
Neu fidei pretium quis sumere degener timeret,
Esse levem cruciatum, si modo conferas futura,
Quae Deus ipse viris intermina fortibus spopondit :
Mercede doloris emi spem luminis et diem perennem,
Omne malum volucri cum tempore transvolare cursim :
Nil grave, quod peragi finis facit, et quiete donat.
Se fore principium pulchrae necis, et ducem cruoris,
Seque gladio caput submittere, sanguinem dicare :
Qui sociare animam Christo velit, ut comes sequatur.
His ubi corda virum Christo calefacta praeparavit,
Ducitur ante alios, Proconsule perfurente, vinctus.
Antra latent Tyriae Carthaginis altius reposta,
Conscia Tartareae caliginis, abdicata soli :
Clausus in his specubus sanctus Cyprianus, et catena
Nexus utraque manu, nomen Patris invocat supremi :
— « Omnipotens genitor Christi Deus, et creator orbis,
Christe parens hominis, quem diligis et vetas perire,
Ille ego, vipereis quem tu bonus oblitum venenis,
Criminibus variis tinctum, miseratus abluisti,
Iamque tuus fieri mandas, fio Cyprianus alter;
Et novus ex veteri, nec iam reus aut nocens, ut ante.
Si luteum facili charismate pectus expiasti,
Et tenebrosa animae ergastula caeca dissipasti,
Eripe corporeo de carcere, vinculisque mundi
Hanc animam: liceat fuso tibi sanguine immolari,
Nec ferum reprimat clementia iudicem, tyranni
Nec sciat invidia mitescere, gloriam negare.

### English translation (Claude)

Valerian was emperor of the realm’s wealth, and Gallienus;
together they established the penalty of death for one who confessed God.
They had ordered thousands of most filthy [gods] crowned with towers to be worshiped.
Against this, Cyprian the teacher roused the minds of the people,
lest anyone should depart from the honor of outstanding virtue,
or anyone, degenerate, fear to take the reward of faith,
saying that torture is light, if only you compare the future things
which God himself has promised as endless to the brave:
that the hope of light and everlasting day are bought with the payment of pain,
that every evil flies swiftly past with winged time:
nothing is grievous which an end brings to completion and endows with rest.
He himself would be the beginning of a beautiful death and the leader in blood,
submitting his head to the sword, dedicating his blood:
let whoever wishes to join his soul to Christ follow as companion.
When by these words he had prepared men’s hearts, warmed for Christ,
he is led before the others, bound, as the proconsul raged.
There are caves of Tyrian Carthage hidden deeper,
acquainted with the gloom of Tartarus, cut off from the sun:
shut in these caves holy Cyprian, bound with a chain
on both hands, calls on the name of the supreme Father:
“Almighty God, begetter of Christ, and creator of the world,
Christ, parent of man, whom you love and forbid to perish,
I am he whom, smeared with viper’s poisons,
stained with various crimes, you in your goodness pitied and washed,
and now you command me to become yours: I become another Cyprian,
and new from the old, no longer guilty or harmful, as before.
If you have expiated my muddy breast with easy grace,
and scattered the dark, blind prisons of my soul,
snatch this soul from the bodily prison and the chains
of the world: let me be sacrificed to you with my blood poured out,
and let no clemency restrain the fierce judge,
nor let the tyrant’s spite know how to grow mild and deny me the glory.

### Scripture references

- 2 Cor 5:17: echo, medium confidence
- Rom 8:18: echo, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Line 28 is damaged in the scan and read by sense. ‘Washed’ refers to baptism.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 13.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/13-33).

## Hymn 13, lines 65–106

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-13-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–106
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: At Cyprian’s prayer the Spirit fills the Christians of Carthage with courage; three hundred leap into a pit of burning lime rather than sacrifice (the White Mass); Cyprian (Thascius) confesses Christ and is beheaded; his writings still teach the whole West.

### Latin text

Da quoque, ne quis iners sit de grege, quem tuum regebam,
Ne cadat impatiens poenae, titubetve quis tuorum;
Incolumem ut numerum reddam tibi, debitumque solvam. » —
Talibus his Dominum permoverat; influebat inde
Spiritus in populum Carthaginis, auctor acrioris
Ingenii, stimulis ut pectora subditis calerent
Ad decus egregium discrimine sanguinis petendum;
Non trepidare docens, nec cedere, nec dolore vinci,
Laudis amore rapi, Christum sapere, et fidem tueri.
Fama refert, foveam campi in medio patere iussam,
Calce vaporifera summos prope margines refertam :
Saxa recocta vomunt ignem, niveusque pulvis ardet,
Urere tacta potens, et mortifer ex odore flatus.
Adpositam memorant aram fovea stetisse summa,
Lege sub hac, salis aut micam, iecur aut suis litarent
Christicolae, aut mediae sponte inruerent in ima fossae.
Prosiluere alacres cursu rapido simul trecenti,
Gurgite pulvereo mersos liquor aridus voravit,
Praecipitemque globum fundo tenus implicavit imo.
Corpora candor habet, candor vehit ad superna mentes,
Candida massa dehinc dici meruit per omne saeclum.
Laetior interea iam Thascius ob diem suorum
Sistitur indomiti proconsulis eminus furori.
Edere iussus erat, quid viveret : — « Unicultor, inquit,
Salutiferi mysteria consecrata Christi. » —
Ille sub haec : — « Satis est iam criminis; ipse confitetur
Thascius: ipse Iovis numen negat. Expedite ferrum,
Carnifices: gladio poenam luat hostis idolorum. » —
Ille Deo meritas grates agit, et canit triumphans.
Flevit abire ad Christum moesta Africa, quo docente facta est
Cultior, eloquio cuius sibi docta gloriatur:
Mox tumulum Carthago struxit, cineresque consecravit.
Desine flere bonum tantum : petit ille regna Caeli;
Nec minus involitat terris, nec ab hoc recedit orbe:
Disserit, eloquitur, tractat, docet, instruit, prophetat.
Nec Libyae populos tantum regit : exit usque in ortum
Solis, et usque obitum; Gallos fovet, imbuit Britannos,
Praesidet Hesperiae, Christum serit ultimis Hiberis.
Doctor humi idem est, idem quoque martyr in supernis:
Instruit hic homines, illinc pia dona dat patronus.

### English translation (Claude)

Grant too that no one of the flock which I ruled as yours be idle,
lest any of yours fall, impatient of punishment, or waver;
that I may give back the number to you unharmed, and pay my debt.”
With such prayers he had moved the Lord; from there the Spirit
flowed into the people of Carthage, author of a keener
spirit, so that their hearts, with goads applied, grew hot
to seek outstanding glory at the risk of blood;
teaching them not to tremble, not to yield, not to be conquered by pain,
to be carried away by love of praise, to savor Christ, and to guard the faith.
Report says that a pit was ordered to lie open in the middle of a field,
filled almost to the top of its edges with steaming lime:
the burnt stones vomit fire, and the snowy powder burns,
able to burn what it touches, with a breath deadly in its smell.
They record that an altar stood placed at the top of the pit,
under this law: either Christians should offer a grain of salt or a pig’s liver,
or of their own accord rush into the depths in the middle of the pit.
Three hundred leapt forward eagerly at a rapid run together;
the dry liquid devoured them, plunged in the powdery whirlpool,
and wrapped the headlong mass right down to the bottom.
Whiteness holds their bodies, whiteness carries their minds to the heights;
from then on it deserved to be called the White Mass through every age.
Meanwhile Thascius, gladder now because of his people’s day,
is set before the untamed proconsul’s fury, at a distance.
He had been ordered to declare by what he lived: “Worshiper of one God,” he says,
“[I keep] the consecrated mysteries of saving Christ.”
At this the other: “There is enough guilt now; Thascius himself
confesses it: he himself denies the godhead of Jupiter. Get the iron ready,
executioners: let the enemy of idols pay the penalty by the sword.”
He gives God due thanks and sings, triumphant.
Sorrowful Africa wept that he had gone to Christ, by whose teaching she was made
more cultivated, she who, learned, glories in his eloquence;
soon Carthage built a tomb and consecrated his ashes.
Stop weeping for so great a good: he seeks the kingdoms of heaven;
yet he hovers over the earth no less, nor departs from this world:
he discusses, speaks, treats, teaches, instructs, prophesies.
Nor does he rule only the peoples of Libya: he goes out to the rising
of the sun, and to its setting; he cherishes the Gauls, steeps the Britons,
presides over Italy, sows Christ among the farthest Spaniards.
He is a teacher on earth, and likewise a martyr in heaven:
here he instructs men, there as patron he gives holy gifts.

### Translation notes

- The ‘White Mass’ (Massa Candida) is placed by other sources at Utica. Thascius was Cyprian’s own name. The last line but one is damaged in the scan and read by sense; a footnote was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 13.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–106; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/13-65).

## Hymn 14, lines 1–32

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-14-1
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Agnes, whose tomb protects Rome, won a double crown of virginity and martyrdom; as a young girl she refused to sacrifice, and the judge threatened to put her in a brothel, but she trusted Christ to keep her chaste.

### Latin text

Agnes sepulcrum est Romulea in domo,
Fortis puellae, martyris inclitae.
Conspectu in ipso condita turrium
Servat salutem Virgo Quiritium:
Nec non et ipsos protegit advenas,
Puro ac fideli pectore supplices.
Duplex corona est praestita martyri:
Intactum ab omni crimine virginal,
Mortis deinde gloria liberae.
Aiunt iugali vix habilem toro,
Primis in annis forte puellulam
Christo calentem, fortiter impiis
Iussis renisam, quo minus idolis
Addicta, sacram desereret fidem.
Nunc ore blandi iudicis inlice,
Nunc saevientis carnificis minis
Corpusque duris excruciatibus
Ultro offerebat, non renuens mori.
Tum trux tyrannus : — « Si facile est, ait,
Poenam subactis ferre doloribus,
Et vita vilis spernitur, at pudor
Carus dicatae virginitatis est.
Hanc in lupanar trudere publicum
Certum est, ad aram ni caput adplicat;
Ac de Minerva iam veniam rogat,
Quam virgo pergit temnere virginem.
Omnis iuventus inruet, et novum
Ludibriorum mancipium petet. »
— « Haud, inquit Agnes, immemor est ita
Christus suorum, perdat ut aureum
Nobis pudorem, nos quoque deserat.
Praesto est pudicis; nec patitur sacrae

### English translation (Claude)

The tomb of Agnes is in the house of Romulus,
the brave girl, the glorious martyr.
Laid to rest in full sight of the towers,
the Virgin keeps the Quirites safe;
and she protects strangers too
who pray with a pure and faithful heart.
A double crown was granted to the martyr:
virginity untouched by any sin,
then the glory of a free death.
They say that, scarcely fit for the marriage bed,
in her first years, a little girl,
glowing with love for Christ, she bravely
resisted impious commands, lest, given over
to idols, she should desert the sacred faith.
Now by the mouth of the enticing, coaxing judge,
now by the threats of the raging executioner, [tried,]
she offered her body of her own accord
to harsh tortures, not refusing to die.
Then the savage tyrant says: “If it is easy
to bear punishment by subduing pains,
and life is spurned as cheap, yet the modesty
of her dedicated virginity is dear.
It is settled to thrust her into the public brothel,
unless she bows her head at the altar
and now asks pardon of Minerva,
the virgin whom, a virgin, she persists in scorning.
All the young men will rush in and seek
the new slave of their sport.”
“Christ,” says Agnes, “is not so forgetful
of his own as to let our golden modesty perish,
or to desert us.
He is at hand for the chaste, and does not allow the gifts

### Translation notes

- Peristephanon 14: the virgin martyr Agnes of Rome. A line (or two) appears missing in the scan before ‘Nunc ore blandi’ and before ‘Corpusque’; the sense ‘tried’ is supplied in brackets.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 14.1 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 1–32; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/14-1).

## Hymn 14, lines 33–64

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-14-33
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Agnes is exposed in the square; the people turn away, and one youth who looks on her with lust is struck blind by lightning, though some say she prayed for his healing; the defeated judge orders her killed by the sword.

### Latin text

Integritatis munera pollui.
Ferrum impiabis sanguine, si voles;
Non inquinabis membra libidine. » —
Flexu in plateae sistere virginem.
Stantem refugit moesta frequentia,
Aversa vultus, ne petulantius
Quisquam verendum conspiceret locum.
Intendit unus forte procaciter
Os in puellam, nec trepidat sacram
Spectare formam lumine lubrico.
En ales ignis, fulminis in modum,
Vibratur ardens, atque oculos ferit :
Caecus corusco lumine corruit,
Atque in plateae pulvere palpitat.
Tollunt sodales seminecem solo,
Verbisque deflent exsequialibus.
Ibat triumphans virgo, Deum Patrem,
Christumque sacro carmine concinens.
Quod sub profani labe periculi
Castum lupanar nec violabile
Experta victrix virginitas foret.
Sunt qui rogatam retulerint preces
Fudisse Christo, redderet ut reo
Lucem iacenti : tum iuveni halitum
Vitae innovatum visibus integris.
Primum sed Agnes hunc habuit gradum
Caelestis aulae, mox alius datur.
Accensus iram, nam furor incitat
Hostis cruenti : — « Vincor, ait gemens:
I, stringe ferrum, miles, et exsere

### English translation (Claude)

of sacred integrity to be polluted.
You will stain your sword with blood, if you will;
you will not defile my limbs with lust.”
[He orders] the virgin to be set at the corner of the square.
The sorrowful crowd shrinks from her as she stands,
their faces turned away, lest anyone
should look too boldly on the place to be revered.
One, as it happened, insolently turned
his face toward the girl, and did not tremble
to look upon the sacred form with lustful eye.
See, a winged fire, like a thunderbolt,
is hurled burning, and strikes his eyes:
blinded by the flashing light he falls,
and writhes in the dust of the square.
His companions lift him half-dead from the ground,
and lament him with funeral words.
The virgin went on in triumph, singing of God the Father
and of Christ in a sacred song,
because, under the threat of a profane danger,
her victorious virginity had found the brothel
chaste and inviolable.
There are those who have reported that, when asked, she poured out
prayers to Christ to give back light to the guilty man
as he lay; then breath of life was renewed
in the young man, with his sight whole.
But this was the first step Agnes had
to the heavenly court; soon another is given.
The bloody enemy is kindled to anger, for fury drives him:
“I am beaten,” he says, groaning;
“go, soldier, draw your sword, and carry out

### Translation notes

- A line is missing in the scan before ‘Flexu in plateae sistere virginem’ (the judge’s order, supplied in brackets). A footnote and a running head were removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 14.33 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 33–64; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/14-33).

## Hymn 14, lines 65–96

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-14-65
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Agnes welcomes the armed executioner rather than a seducer, prays as Christ’s bride to be taken to heaven, and is beheaded; her soul rises and laughs at the vanities of the world below.

### Latin text

Mucrone nudo, laetior haec ait :
— « Exsulto, talis quod potius venit
Vesanus, atrox, turbidus, armiger,
Quam si veniret languidus ac tener,
Mollisque ephebus, tinctus aromate,
Qui me pudoris funere perderet.
Ferrum in papillas omne recepero,
Sic, nupta Christo, transiliam poli
Omnes tenebras, aethere celsior.
Aeterne Rector, divide ianuas
Caeli, obseratas terrigenis prius,
Ac te sequentem, Christe, animam voca,
Cum virginalem, tum Patris hostiam. » —
Sic fata, Christum vertice cernuo
Supplex adorat, vulnus ut imminens
Cervix subiret prona paratius.
Ast ille tantam spem peragit manu;
Sensum doloris mors cita praevenit.
Exutus inde spiritus emicat,
Liberque in auras exsilit. Angeli
Miratur orbem sub pedibus situm :
Spectat tenebras ardua subditas,
Ridetque, solis quod rota circuit,
Quod mundus omnis volvit et implicat,
Rerum quod atro turbine vivitur,
Quod vana saecli mobilitas rapit ;
Reges, tyrannos, imperia et gradus,
Pompasque honorum stulta tumentium :
Argenti et auri vim rabida siti
Cunctis petitam per varium nefas,
Splendore multo structa habitacula:
Inlusa pictae vestis inania.

### English translation (Claude)

[When Agnes saw the soldier standing] with naked blade, she says, more joyful:
“I exult that rather such a man comes,
mad, savage, turbulent, armed,
than if there came a languid and tender one,
a soft youth, steeped in perfume,
to destroy me by the death of my modesty.
I will receive all the iron in my breasts,
and so, bride of Christ, I will leap over
all the darkness of the sky, higher than the upper air.
Eternal Ruler, part the doors
of heaven, barred before to the earthborn,
and call, Christ, the soul that follows you,
a virgin’s, and also a victim for the Father.”
So she spoke, and with bowed head
adores Christ as a suppliant, so that her neck, bent forward,
might more readily undergo the impending wound.
And he with his hand accomplishes so great a hope;
swift death forestalls the sense of pain.
The spirit, put off from there, flashes out,
and leaps free into the air. Angels […]
She marvels at the world placed beneath her feet;
from on high she looks at the darkness below,
and laughs at what the wheel of the sun goes round,
what the whole world turns and entangles,
the life lived in the black whirlwind of things,
what the vain fickleness of the age sweeps away:
kings, tyrants, empires and ranks,
and the pomps of honors of the foolishly swollen;
the force of silver and gold sought with rabid thirst
by all through various wickedness;
dwellings built with much splendor;
the empty mockeries of embroidered clothing;

### Translation notes

- The scan lacks several lines: before ‘Mucrone nudo’, after ‘Qui me pudoris funere perderet’, and after ‘Angeli’; senses given in brackets or ‘…’.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 14.65 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 65–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/14-65).

## Hymn 14, lines 97–125

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/prudentius-peristephanon/11-1/#p-14-97
- Source: Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–125
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Agnes tramples on the world’s vanities and on the dragon’s head; God crowns her twice, with eternal light and the hundredfold fruit of virginity; the poet asks her to look on his impurity and cleanse him.

### Latin text

Iram, timorem, vota, pericula :
Nunc triste longum, nunc breve gaudium,
Livoris atri fumificas faces,
Nigrescit unde spes hominum, et decus:
Et, quod malorum tetrius omnium est,
Gentilitatis sordida nubila.
Haec calcat Agnes, ac pede proterit ;
Stans et draconis calce premens caput,
Terrena mundi qui ferus omnia
Spargit venenis, mergit et inferis.
Nunc virginali perdomitus solo,
Cristas cerebri deprimit ignei,
Cingit coronis interea Deus
Frontem duabus martyris innubae:
Merces perenni lumine conficit,
Centenus exstat fructus in altera.
O virgo felix, o nova gloria,
Caelestis arcis nobilis incola,
Intende nostris conluvionibus
Vultum gemello cum diademate:
Cui posse soli cunctiparens dedit
Castum vel ipsum reddere fornicem.
Fulgore, nostrum si iecur impleas.
Nil non pudicum est, quod pia visere

### English translation (Claude)

anger, fear, vows, dangers;
now long sadness, now brief joy;
the smoky torches of black envy,
by which the hope and honor of men grows black;
and, what is fouler than all evils,
the filthy clouds of heathenism.
Agnes tramples these and crushes them with her foot,
standing and pressing with her heel the head of the dragon,
who, savage, sprinkles all the earthly things of the world
with poisons, and plunges them into the underworld.
Now, utterly subdued by the virgin’s sole,
he lowers the crests of his fiery head.
Meanwhile God binds the brow of the unwed martyr
with two crowns:
[one] reward is made up of everlasting light;
in the other stands the hundredfold fruit.
O happy virgin, O new glory,
noble dweller of the heavenly citadel,
turn toward our filth
your face with its twin diadem;
to you alone the Father of all has given the power
to make even the brothel chaste.
[…] by the brightness [of your face], if you fill my heart.
Nothing is not chaste that you, loving one, deign to visit

### Scripture references

- Gen 3:15: echo, medium confidence
- Matt 13:8: allusion, medium confidence

### Translation notes

- Gen 3:15; Matt 13:8. Several lines are missing in the scan (e.g. before ‘Fulgore’ and the final line of the poem); a list of errata from the end of the printed volume had been attached and was removed. The end of the Peristephanon.

### Citation (SBL)

Prudentius, Perist. 14.97 (Lanfranchi 1:lines 97–125; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/prudentius-peristephanon/14-97).