Claudius Claudianus, commonly regarded as the last of the Latin classic poets, was a native of Alexandria who settled at Rome about 395. For ten years after that date he occupied a position at the court of the Emperor Honorius somewhat akin to that of poet-laureate. Much of his writing was of a very poor quality, but his descriptions were sometimes striking, as in the stanza given below. On Ammianus Marcellinus see [p. 34].
Sources—(a) Claudius Claudianus, In Rufinum ["Against Rufinus">[, Bk. I., 323-331. Text in Monumenta Germaniæ Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, Vol. X., pp. 30-31. Translated in Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders (Oxford, 1880), Vol. II., p. 2.
(b) Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum Gestarum Libri qui Supersunt, Bk. XXXI., Chaps. 2-4 [see [p. 34]]. Translated in Hodgkin, ibid., pp. 34-38.
(a)
There is a race on Scythia's[33] verge extreme
Eastward, beyond the Tanais'[34] chilly stream.
The Northern Bear[35] looks on no uglier crew:
Base is their garb, their bodies foul to view;
Their souls are ne'er subdued to sturdy toil
Or Ceres' arts:[36] their sustenance is spoil.