The Poems of Optatian
Authors: Hall Linda Jones 
Published: December 2023

For the first time, the poems and accompanying letters of Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius (Optatian) are published here with a translation and detailed commentary, along with a full introduction to Optatian’s work during this period. Optatian was sent into exile by Constantine sometime after the emperor’s ascent to power in Rome in 312 AD. Hoping to receive pardon, Optatian sent a gift of probably twenty design poems to Constantine around the time of the ruler’s twentieth anniversary (325/326 AD).

To enable the reader to experience the multiple messages of the poems, the Latin text is presented near the English translation with any related design close by. Some poems, laid out on a grid of up to 35 letters across and down, have an interwoven poem marking key letters in the primary poem, thereby revealing a highlighted image. Some designs include the chi-rho or numerals created from V’s and X’s to mark imperial anniversaries. Other (previously unrecognised) designs seem to represent senatorial, imperial, military or bureaucratic motifs or to derive from coin images. Shape poems representing a water organ, an altar and a panpipe reveal their relevance immediately. The introduction and commentary elucidate literary allusions from over 100 authors (lines from Vergil, Ovid, Lucan, Silius Italicus, Statius, and lesser-known writers abound) and mythological references, mostly to the Muses and Apollo. Optatian’s prestige as an official in both Greece and Rome is well attested - these poems mark Optatian as a fascinating writer of his time, holding onto the classical past while acknowledging Christian symbolism.

Late Antique poets, such as Publilius Optatianus Porfyrius, straddled a divide between inspiration by the Muses and Phoebus Apollo and acceptance of Christianity, which the emperor Constantine had clearly embraced. Optatian solves this dilemma by referring to divine inspiration while marking many of his figural poems with the Chi-Rho, Constantine’s logo on his soldiers’ shields and some coins. The celebration of Constantine’s vicennalia (twentieth anniversary) in 325-326 provides the key impetus. The roles of the young Caesars, especially Crispus, are central; many of the poems celebrate the defeat of Licinius and the re-unification of the Roman Empire. In addition to the twenty poems and letter dedicated to Constantine (and his response), there are ten poems addressed to friends or acquaintances.

Optatian is noted for his composition of cento poems which are fabricated from small snippets from over 36 Latin authors, especially Ovid and Vergil, but also from lesser-known writers. Linda Jones Hall explores the political implications of these quotes and finds that many of them can be seen as opposed to civil war. Optatian, a member of the senatorial elite, was redeemed from exile and gained appointments as governor of Achaia and as Prefect of the City. The elaborate usage of acrostic designs which incorporate additional messages, sometimes even in Greek, attracted both attention and imitation in the Middle Ages. Although some of the chronology is obscure, much can be learned about the rise of Constantine due to victories in West and East, by an analysis of Optatian’s panegyrical poems.