To honor the 20th year of his reign, Emperor Constantine was given what may be the most precious gift of his lifetime: a codex of artistic panegyrics and odes dedicated to him by the poet Optatianus. Optatianus' poems showcase the poetic talent of their creator and go beyond the classical confines of a panegyric: they form a literary invitation to an intellectual bond between laudator and laudandus.

Autorentext

Anna-Lena Körfer, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.