Contra Symmachum

work by Prudentius

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June 24, 2026

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The Contra Symmachum is a work by the Christian Latin poet Prudentius, written in the late 4th or early 5th century CE. It consists of two books composed in response to the pagan senator Symmachus's request to restore the altar of Victory to the Roman Senate house.1

Prudentius, who held high positions in the Roman Empire before dedicating himself to Christian poetry, used his writings to expound Christian doctrines in a classical literary style. The Contra Symmachum specifically addresses paganism and its arguments against Christianity, advocating for the Christian faith and its tenets. This work is part of a larger collection of Prudentius's poems, which also include allegorical works like the Psychomachia and didactic poems on Christian themes.1

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Prudentius
The two Contra Symmachum (“Books Against Symmachus”) were written in reply to that pagan senator’s requests that the altar of Victory be restored to the Senate house. The Dittochaeon (“The Double Testament”), 49 quatrains intended as captions for the murals of a basilica in Rome, is of…
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The two Contra Symmachum (“Books Against Symmachus”) were written in reply to that pagan senator’s requests that the altar of Victory be restored to the Senate house. The Dittochaeon (“The Double Testament”), 49 quatrains intended as captions for the murals of a basilica in Rome, is of…
Read More