Flavius Cresconius Corippus (470/495 – 540/560) was aRoman Africanepic poet who flourished underEast Roman emperorsJustinian I andJustin II. His major works are the epic poemIohannis, apanegyric called "Panegyric of Anastasius", and a poem in praise of the Emperor Justin II,In laudem Iustini minoris.[1] Corippus was probably the last important Latin author ofLate Antiquity.
Flavius Cresconius Corippus' name is known on a basis of just one document.[2] He was a native ofAfrica, and in one of the medieval manuscripts is calledafricanusgrammaticus.[3] He has sometimes been identified, but on insufficient grounds, withCresconius Africanus,[1] a Catholic bishop (7th century), author of aConcordia Canonum, or collection of the laws of the church.[4] Nothing is known of Corippus beyond what is contained in his own poems. He appears to have held the office of tribune or notary (scriniarius) under Anastasius, imperial treasurer and chamberlain ofJustinian I, at the end of whose reign he left Africa forConstantinople, apparently in consequence of having lost his property during theVandalic War and the subsequent Moorish revolts.[4]
He was the author of two poems, of considerable importance for the history of the times. One of these,Iohannis ("Tale of John") orDe Bellis Libycis ("On the Libyan war"), the earlier of the two, was not discovered till the beginning of the 19th century. The full text survived in one copy, calledTrivultianus 686; it was made by Arezzo poetGiovanni De Bonis in late 14th century, and was rediscovered in 1814[5][6] "in the library of the Trivulzio family just outside Milan". The second copy was found in 16th century in the Korvin library in Buda byGiovanni Cuspiniano; this copy was the only one that mentioned the poet's full name. The manuscript is now lost. Even the full text is fragmentory and contains a number of "lacunae", the most significant of them is the ending of the poem.[5] It was dedicated to the nobles ofCarthage and relates the overthrow of theMoors byJohn Troglita,magister militum of Africa in a series of battles that lasted until 548.Iohannis is in eight books (the last is unfinished) and contains about 5000hexameters, or 4700 lines. The narrative commences with the despatch of John to the theatre of war by Justinian, and ends with the decisive victory near Carthage (548).[4][7]
AlthoughJohannes Cuspinianus in hisDe Caesaribus et Imperatoribus professed to have seen a manuscript of it in the library atBuda (destroyed bySuleiman I in 1527), it was not till 1814 that it was discovered at Milan by Cardinal Mazzucchelli, librarian of theBiblioteca Ambrosiana, from thecodex Trivultianus (in the Biblioteca Trivulziana, the library of the marchesi Trivulzi), the only manuscript of theJohannis extant.[4] TheJohannis "is not only a valuable historic source but a work of marked poetic merit."[8] It provides a description of the land and people of Late Roman Africa, which conscientiously records the impressions of an intelligent native observer; many of his statements as to manners and customs are confirmed both by independent ancient authorities (such asProcopius) and by our knowledge of the modernBerbers.[4]
The other poem,In Laudem Iustini Augusti minoris ("In praise of the younger Justin"), in four books, contains the death of Justinian, the coronation of his successorJustin II (November 13, 565), and the early events of his reign. The work was published at Antwerp in 1581 by Michael Ruyz Azagra, secretary toEmperor Rudolf II, from a ninth- or tenth-century manuscript.[4]
Virgil,Lucan, andClaudian were the poet's chief models.In laudem Iustini minoris, which was written when he was advanced in years, although marred by a "Byzantine" servility and gross flattery of a by no means worthy object, throws much light upon Late Roman court ceremony, as in the account of the accession of Justin and the reception of the embassy of theAvars.[4] On the whole the language and metre of Corippus, considering the age in which he lived and the fact that he was not a native Italian, is remarkably pure. That he was aChristian is rendered probable by negative indications, such as the absence of all the usual mythological accessories of an epic poem, positive allusions to texts of Scripture, and a highly orthodox passage (In laudem Iustini minoris iv. 294 ff).[4]
His "Panegyric" was written for Anastasius, a "Quaestor of the Sacred Palace and Master of Offices in the imperial capital".[5]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Corippus, Flavius Cresconius".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 155.