«AUDIT TYRANNUS ANXIUS». — Matins hymn for the feast of the Holy Innocents. It is part of the *Hymnus Epiphaniae* by Prudentius and consists precisely of strophes 24, 25, and 34, in which the inhuman slaughter ordered by King Herod is vividly described. Herod, terrified by the announcement of the birth of the King of Israel, orders his henchmen to go and slaughter the newborns of Bethlehem immediately in their cradles. But to what avail, the poet asks, is such a slaughter? Out of all the children, only one is saved, precisely the one against whom Herod’s soldiers had been sent! This disappointment is one that the poet takes delight in highlighting.
BIBL.: G. G. Belli, *Inni del Breviario romano tradotti*, Rome 1856, pp. 122–31; L. Venturi, *Gli inni della Chiesa*, translated and annotated, 3rd ed., Florence 1880, pp. 172–73; S. Colombo, *La poesia cristiana antica*, Rome 1910, pp. 103–23; G. Bossi, *Gli inni del Breviario romano*, rhythmic version, Rome 1910, p. 79; U. Moricca, *Storia della letteratura latina cristiana*, II, Turin 1928, p. 893; A. Mirra, *Gli inni del Breviario romano*, Naples 1947, p. 90. Silverio Mattei