E00947: Prudentius, in his Latin Crowns of the Martyrs (Peristephanon), written c. 400 in Calahorra (northern Spain), in a poem on the martyrdom of *Romanos (martyr of Antioch, S00120) addresses the saint and asks him for the gift of eloquence to compose his poem.

Liber Peristephanon, Poem X.1-15

Romane, Christi fortis adsertor dei,
elinguis oris organum fautor moue,
largire comptum carmen infantissimo,
fac ut tuarum mira laudum concinam,
5 nam scis et ipse posse mutos eloqui.

Plectrum palati et faucium saeuus tibi
tortor reuulsit nec tamen silentium
indixit ori quo fatebaris deum.
Vox ueritatis testis extingui nequit,
10 nec si recisis palpitet meatibus.

Sic noster haerens sermo lingua debili
balbutit et modis laborat absonis,
sed, si superno rore respergas iecur
et spiritali lacte pectus inriges,
15 uox inpeditos rauca laxabit sonos.


'Romanus, stout defender of the divine Christ, grant thy favour and stir up the tongue within my speechless mouth, bountifully bestow graceful song on the mutest of men and enable me to sing the wonders of thy glory; for thou knowest, thyself too, that the dumb can speak. The cruel torturer tore out from thee the tongue that played on palate and throat, and yet did not impose silence on the lips wherewith thou wert confessing God. The voice that bears witness to the truth cannot be annihilated, even if its passage be cut away and it can only gasp. So my speech sticks and stammers with feeble tongue and labours in inharmonious measures; but if thou sprinkle my heart with the dew from on high and flood my breast with the milk of the spirit, my hoarse voice will unloose the sounds which are now obstructed.'

Text: Cunningham 1966, 330. Translation: Thomson 1953, 228-231.