Claudianus

Claudianus is the name of more than one fifth-century correspondent, and this record (appearing across both Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Sidonius Apollinaris) likely conflates distinct men. The best-attested bearer of the name in these letter collections is Claudianus Mamertus (d. c. 473), a learned priest of Vienne in Gaul, brother of Bishop Mamertus, and author of the philosophical treatise De statu animae, which defended the incorporeality of the soul; he was a close friend and correspondent of Sidonius Apollinaris, who praised his erudition and later mourned him in verse. A separate Claudianus also appears among the eastern correspondents of Theodoret of Cyrrhus in fifth-century Syria, about whom little independent is known. Beyond the Gallic philosopher-priest, the figure is otherwise sparsely attested and is known chiefly through this correspondence.