Professores Burdigalenses

Professores Burdigalenses is a collection of poems by the Latin poet and rhetorician Ausonius, who was born in Burdigala (modern-day Bordeaux, France) around 310 CE. This work is notable for its focus on the provincial life of Gaul and offers delightful portraits of the professors of Burdigala. It provides valuable insights into the intellectual and social milieu of provincial Gallic life during the late Roman Empire. Ausonius taught in the schools of Burdigala, first as a grammarian and then as a rhetorician, before being called to Trier to tutor the future emperor Gratian. Despite being a Christian, Ausonius wrote primarily in the pagan tradition, but his extensive preserved works mark him as a precursor to Christian Latin literature and the literature of his homeland.1