WRITER

Ausonius

310 - 395

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Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; c. 310 – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala, Aquitaine (now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future Emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. His best-known poems are Mosella, a description of the River Moselle, and Ephemeris, an account of a typical day in his life. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ausonius has received more than 240,203 page views. His biography is available in 42 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 39 in 2019). Ausonius is the 562nd most popular writer (up from 588th in 2019), the 651st most popular biography from France (up from 700th in 2019) and the 100th most popular French Writer.

Ausonius was a late Roman poet and orator. He is most famous for his poem "Mosella," which is an account of a journey along the Moselle River.

Memorability Metrics

  • 240k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 66.05

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 42

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.34

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.46

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Cupido messo in croce
2002
Ausonius (Vol. 1)
Epistolary poetry, Latin
Ausonius (Decimus Magnus), ca. 310-ca. 395 CE, a doctor's son, was born at Burdigala (Bordeaux). After a good education in grammar and rhetoric and a short period during which he was an advocate, he took to teaching rhetoric in a school which he began in 334. Among his students was Paulinus, who was afterwards Bishop of Nola; and he seems to have become some sort of Christian himself. Thirty years later Ausonius was called by Emperor Valentinian to be tutor to Gratian, who subsequently as emperor conferred on him honours including a consulship in 379. In 383, after Gratian's murder, Ausonius retired to Bordeaux. Ausonius's surviving works, some with deep feeling, some composed it seems for fun, some didactic, include much poetry: poems about himself and family, notably "The Daily Round"; epitaphs on heroes in the Trojan War, memorials on Roman emperors, and epigrams on various subjects; poems about famous cities and about friends and colleagues. "The Moselle," a description of that river, is among the most admired of his poems. There is also an address of thanks to Gratian for the consulship. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Ausonius is in two volumes; the second includes Eucharisticus ("Thanksgiving") by Paulinus Pellaeus.
1921
M. Ter. Varronis De lingua Latina libri qui supersunt: cum fragmentis ejusdem
1788
Mosella
1998
Ausonius
1921

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Ausonius ranks 562 out of 7,302. Before him are Francisco de Quevedo, Mikael Agricola, George Eliot, Dino Buzzati, Ivan Bunin, and Georges Perec. After him are Marina Tsvetaeva, Sidney Sheldon, A. A. Milne, Faxian, Romain Gary, and William S. Burroughs.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 310, Ausonius ranks 2. Before him is Pope Liberius. After him are Apollinaris of Laodicea, Egeria, Antipope Eulalius, Proclus of Constantinople, Pope Theophilus of Alexandria, Gaius Marius Victorinus, Jovinus, Maximus of Ephesus, Count Theodosius, and Pacian. Among people deceased in 395, Ausonius ranks 4. Before him are Theodosius I, Gregory of Nyssa, and Ammianus Marcellinus. After him are Rufinus, and Macarius of Alexandria.

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In France

Among people born in France, Ausonius ranks 651 out of 6,770. Before him are Louis Blériot (1872), Maurice Chevalier (1888), Hugh the Great (898), Ferdinand Cheval (1836), Ansgar (801), and Georges Perec (1936). After him are Marcel Lefebvre (1905), Pérotin (1160), Marin Marais (1656), Simone Veil (1927), Paul Mauriat (1925), and Marie Tussaud (1761).

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Among WRITERS In France

Among writers born in France, Ausonius ranks 100. Before him are Pierre de Ronsard (1524), Paul Claudel (1868), Gaston Leroux (1868), Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1741), W. Somerset Maugham (1874), and Georges Perec (1936). After him are Ninon de l'Enclos (1620), Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922), Madame de La Fayette (1634), Pierre Loti (1850), Madame Roland (1754), and Raymond Queneau (1903).

French born Writers

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