Juvencus

Gaius Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus was a Hispanic presbyter who lived in the time of Constantine the Great (306–337).

Juvencus is the author of at least two Christian epics in hexameters . One, Ordo sacramentorum , is lost. Only the work entitled Evangeliorum libri quattuor (“Four Books of the Gospels”) has survived. This epic is a harmony of the Gospels in a total of about 3200 hexameters, which is based primarily on the Gospel according to Matthew , in parts also on the Gospels according to Luke and John . Alongside Commodian (around 270), Juvencus is the first Christian poet known by name. The Evangeliorum libri quattuor seem to have quickly found wide acceptance and also several successors in the Christian scholarly world. The work was widely received, especially during the Carolingian era , as the numerous manuscripts from the 9th century show. The Evangeliorum libri was first printed around 1490.

Works

Historia evangelica heroicis versibus conscripta . Jakob von Breda, Deventer 1497 ( digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf ).

literature

Manfred Flieger: Interpretations of the Bible poet Iuvencus: Gethsemane, arrest of Jesus and the Caiaphas trial (4, 478-565) . Teubner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-519-07489-3 .
Roger PH Green: Latin epics of the New Testament. Juvencus, Sedulius, Arator . Oxford 2006.
Cornel Heinsdorff: Christ, Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman at Juvencus. With an appendix to the Latin Gospel template (= Studies on Ancient Literature and History , Volume 67). Berlin and New York 2003, ISBN 3-11-017851-6 .
Herman Hendrik Kievits: Ad Iuvenci Evangeliorum librum primum commentarius exegeticus . Groningen 1940.
Michael Müller: Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ with Iuvencus (IV 570-812). Studies on poetry, theology and purpose of the "Evangeliorum Libri Quattuor" . Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-515-11340-3 .
Hans-Udo Rosenbaum: Juvencus. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 3, Bautz, Herzberg 1992, ISBN 3-88309-035-2 , Sp. 904-906. ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
Peter L. Schmidt: Iuvencus, C. Vettius Aquilinus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 6, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01476-2 , column 114.

Web links

Literature by and about Juvencus in the catalog of the German National Library
Translation of the introduction, Patrick McBrine

Remarks

↑ Hieronymus , de viris illustribus 84; chronicon ad J. 329 AD; epistolae 70, 5.

personal data
SURNAME	Juvencus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Iuvencus, Gaius Vettius Aquilinus; Juvencus, Gaius Vettius Aquilinus (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Christian poet
DATE OF BIRTH	before 337
DATE OF DEATH	4th century

[1] Hieronymus , de viris illustribus 84; chronicon ad J. 329 AD; epistolae 70, 5.