Subject. In a remarkable passage, Prudentius (circ. 400 A.D.) views the victorious empire of Rome as preparing the way for the coming of Christ. The triumphs of the Romans were not, he says, the gifts of false gods, grateful for sacrifices, but were designed by Providence to break down the barriers between the jarring nationalities of the world, and familiarise them with a common yoke, by way of disciplining them for a common Christianity. An “universal peace is struck through sea and land,” and Law, Art, Commerce, and Marriage constitute the world one city and one family. Thus the way was paved for the coming of Christ by the unity of the empire and the civilisation of the individual subject.—North Pinder.
584 fotibus (cf. fotum, foveo) = cherishings, supports, post-classical.
585 sic cluat = is so famed, for cluo (ante and post-class.) cf. κλέος.
590-591 quo (sc. iugo) . . . amor, i.e. hearts once knit together by a common yoke would best be held together by a common faith.—N. P.
609 fraterna in vincla = in the bonds of brotherhood, not those of slavery, as domitos would naturally suggest.
634 concordibus = now they are in harmony and peace, emphatic.
635 capit = is fit to receive thee.