Magnus Felix Ennodius Biography | Poet

The numerous writings of this versatile ecclesiastic may be divided into (1) letters, (2) miscellanies, (3) discourses, (4) poems. The letters on a variety of subjects, addressed to high church and state officials, are valuable for the religious and political history of the period. Of the miscellanies, the most important are: The Panegyric of Theodoric, written to thank the Arian prince for his tolerance of Catholicism and support of Pope Symmachus (probably delivered before the king on the occasion of his entry into Ravenna or Milan); like all similar works, it is full of flattery and exaggeration, but if used with caution is a valuable authority; The Life of St Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, the best written and perhaps the most important of all his writings, an interesting picture of the political activity and influence of the church; Eucharisticon de Vita Sua, a sort of “confessions,” after the manner of St Augustine; the description of the enfranchisement of a slave with religious formalities in the presence of a bishop; Paraenesis didascalica, an educational guide, in which the claims of grammar as a preparation for the study of rhetoric, the mother of all the sciences, are strongly insisted on. The discourses (Dictiones) are sacred, scholastic, controversial and ethical. The discourse on the anniversary of Laurentius, bishop of Milan, is the chief authority for the life of that prelate; the scholastic discourses, rhetorical exercises for the schools, contain eulogies of classical learning, distinguished professors and pupils; the controversial deal with imaginary charges, the subjects being chiefly borrowed from the Controversiae of the elder Seneca; the ethical harangues are put into the mouth of mythological personages (e.g. the speech of Thetis over the body of Achilles). Amongst the poems mention may be made of two Itineraria, descriptions of a journey from Milan to Brigantium (Briançon) and of a trip on the Po; an apology for the study of profane literature; an epithalamium, in which Love is introduced as execrating Christianity; a dozen hymns, after the manner of St Ambrose, probably intended for church use; epigrams on various subjects, some being epigrams proper—inscriptions for tombs, basilicas, baptisteries—others imitations of Martial, satiric pieces and descriptions of scenery.

There are two excellent editions of Ennodius by G. Hartel (vol. vi. of Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna, 1882) and F. Vogel (vol. vii. of Monumenta Germaniae historica, 1885, with exhaustive prolegomena). On Ennodius generally consult M. Fertig, Ennodius und seine Zeit (1855-1860); A. Dubois, La Latinité d’Ennodius (1903); F. Magani, Ennodio (Pavia, 1886); A. Ebert, Allgemeine Geschichte der Litt. des Mittelalters im Abendlande, i. (1889); M. Manitius, Geschichte der christlich-lateinischen Poesie (1891); Teuffel, Hist. of Roman Literature, § 479 (Eng. tr., 1892). French translation by the abbé S. Léglise (Paris, 1906 foll.).