After the death of Julian, we look at the brief reign of Jovian as well as important expressions of Christian culture at this time. The poetry of Faltonia Betitia Proba shows how Christians were able to use the styles of pagan authors such as Virgil to express Christian teaching. The Dogmatic Sarcophagus and the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus show developments in the Christian representation of Jesus Christ and the Trinity.

Links:

Image of Faltonia Betitia Proba

On the Vetus Latina or Old Latin Bible

Selections from the poetry of Faltonia Betitia Proba – begins on page 170.

Writings of Apollinaris the Elder and Younger – Christus Patiens and the Psalms in Hexameter – both in Greek

Images of the Dogmatic Sarcophagus

Smarthistory video on the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

Wikipedia has several images of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

Example of the adventus image of Marcus Aurelius

The Traditio Legis image

Images of Jesus and Christians as Sheep on Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus

The Projecta Casket with dedication to live in Christ along with images of Venus

The Hinton St. Mary Mosaic with image of Christ and of Bellerophon slaying the Chimerea

Cătălina Mărmureanu, Gianina Cernescu, Laura Lixandru, Early Christian Women Writiers: The Interesting Lives and Works of Faltonia Betitia Proba and Athenais-Eudocia, Bucharest 2008.

Sigrid Schottenius, “Typology and the Cento of Proba”, Quarderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica, Vol. 95, No. 2, (2010), pp. 43-51.

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