Curated playlist
4th-century Romans
- EusebiusMany lost ancient books survive only because Eusebius of Caesarea quoted them. Some fragments exist nowhere else.
- Augustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo once prayed, "Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet."
- Saint GeorgeHow did a soldier who left almost no historical trace become Saint George?
- PrudentiusPrudentius left a career as a Roman governor to write Christian poems. He also fasted until evening each day.
- Gregory of NazianzusGregory of Nazianzus offered to be thrown overboard like Jonah. He told a council of 150 bishops in 381 to seize him.
- LactantiusLactantius, a North African writer, ended up tutoring the son of the Roman emperor Constantine.
- MacrobiusMacrobius left almost no record of his life, yet medieval scholars kept copying his books.
- JeromeJerome translated the Old Testament from Hebrew, against most Christians' advice. He finished the project by 405.
- Saint LucySaint Lucy, also called Lucia of Syracuse, has given her name to a county in Florida, an estuary in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, and a place in Queensland, Australia. Her name also marks a hill in Santiago, Chile, known as Cerro Huelen,…
- ClaudianScholars date Claudian's death by a silence in his poems. They stop recording Stilicho's victories around 404.
- Ammianus MarcellinusThe first thirteen of Ammianus Marcellinus' thirty-one history books have vanished. He was a Greek soldier.
- Mardonius (philosopher)Mardonius taught Julian Plato and Aristotle after an emperor's decree banned such lessons. The tutor ignored the ban.