[Sidenote: Ausonius.] The only really interesting poet of the fourth century is, however, Ausonius, whose life extends through nearly the entire century. Decimus Magnus Ausonius was born at Bordigala (Bordeaux) about 310 A. D. He became a teacher of rhetoric and oratory, and was appointed tutor to Gratian, the son of the Emperor Valens. When Gratian became emperor he rewarded his teacher with public offices, and raised him in 379 A. D. to the consulate. After Gratian’s death (383 A. D.) Ausonius retired from public life and devoted himself to literary pursuits at his native Bordeaux until his death, which took place not far from 395 A. D. Nearly all his extant writings belong to this period. The only considerable specimen of his prose extant is the oration in which he expressed his thanks to Gratian for the consulship. In this the style, though somewhat flowery, is not without dignity, and the vocabulary is pretty strictly classic. The extant poems are of various kinds and in various metres. They include epigrams, idylls, letters, a series of short poems called _Parentalia_, devoted to the poet’s relatives, a _Commemoratio Professorum Burdigalensium_, describing his colleagues at Bordeaux, verses on the Roman emperors, on famous cities, and a variety of other subjects. Some of these show cleverness in the use of language, but no higher quality. Such are the letters written partly in Greek and partly in Latin, and the idylls so composed that the last word of each line is a monosyllable; but among the poems are some of considerable interest even though their poetic qualities are not of the highest. So the _Parentalia_ and the verses on the Bordeaux professors give the reader some insight into the life of an important provincial city. It is interesting, too, to observe that of the seventeen cities mentioned in the _List of Famous Cities_ five are in Gaul. To be sure, Ausonius was himself a Gaul, and may have made his native region unduly prominent, but other evidence, including the remains of ancient buildings, supports his estimate of the importance of the Gallic cities. His lines on Bordeaux, famous for its wine, its culture, its fertile soil, great rivers, copious water supply, and fine buildings, show his patriotism and his skill in descriptive writing. The latter quality is conspicuous in the most famous of his idylls, the one entitled _Mosella_, in which Ausonius describes the stream and the valley of the Moselle, which he had visited on some business not further specified. The vine-clad hills and grassy meadow lands, the roofs of villas that stand upon the banks, the broad, clear river, calm and placid as a lake, are all brought before our eyes with clear, well-chosen words and a masterly lightness of touch. At the same time the poet’s love of nature and her beauties is as plainly manifest as in any poem of Wordsworth or Whittier. Unfortunately, Ausonius proceeds to mention all the different kinds of fish in the Moselle,