Paulinus of Nola in a poem, Natalicium 11, describes the church at Nola keeping the feast day of *Priscus (4th c. bishop of Nocera, S01856). Written in Latin at Nola (southern Italy), 405.
Evidence ID
E04373
Type of Evidence
Literary - Poems
Major author/Major anonymous work
Paulinus of Nola
Paulinus of Nola, Natalicia 11, verses 515-517 [AD 405]
Extract:
forte sacrata dies inluxerat illa beati
natalem Prisci referens, quem et Nola celebrat
quamuis ille alia Nucerinus episcopus urbe
sederit.
'It chanced that the holy day had dawned which marks the feast (dies natalis) of Saint Priscus, whose day Nola keeps although he was bishop of another see at Nuceria'.
Text: Dolveck 2015.
Translation: Walsh 1975, lightly modified.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Natalicia are a series of poems which were composed by Paulinus of Nola (ob. 431), to be delivered annually on Felix’s feast day (14 January) between 395 and 408. These poems were composed and delivered before Paulinus became bishop of Nola. Natalicium 1 was composed in Spain whilst the rest of the poems were composed and delivered at Nola. They provide an insight into the development of the cult of Felix in Nola under Paulinus. They are often understood in the classical tradition of ‘birthday poems’ – in this case Felix’s birthday being the day he was reborn in heaven. Yet Roberts (2010) has argued they equally incorporate tropes from epideictic poetry and speeches delivered at public festivals. Additionally, Nat. 3 and 4 – sometimes called the Vita Felicis – draw on hagiographic tropes.The Natalicia have been re-edited in their original order by Dolveck (2015). The concordance with the numbering of Wilhelm Hartel's earlier edition (1894) is offered below:
Natalicium 1 (395) - Carmen 12
Natalicium 2 (396) - Carmen 13
Natalicium 3 (397) - Carmen 14
Natalicium 4 (398) - Carmen 15
Natalicium 5 (399) - Carmen 16
Natalicium 6 (400) - Carmen 18
Natalicium 7 (401) - Carmen 23
Natalicium 8 (402) - Carmen 26
Natalicium 9 (403) - Carmen 27
Natalicium 10 (404) - Carmen 28
Natalicium 11 (405) - Carmen 19
Natalicium 12 (406) - Carmen 20
Natalicium 13 (407) - Carmen 21
Natalicium 14 (408) - Carmen 29
For a fuller discussion of the Natalicia see E04741.
Discussion
Nocera is in Campania, south Italy.Bibliography
Edition:Dolveck, Franz, Carmina, Paulini Nolani, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 21 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2015), pp. 293 – 493.
Translation:
Walsh, P.G., Poems of Paulinus of Nola, Ancient Christian Writers (New York: Newman Press, 1975), 148.
Further Reading:
Trout, D., Paulinus of Nola: Life, Letters and Poems (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999).
Record Created By
Frances Trzeciak
Date of Entry
01/03/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S01856 | Priscus, 4th c. bishop of Nocera | Priscus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E04373 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04373