OCTAVIANUS PORPHYRIUS. — When the emperor CONSTANTINE celebrated the Vicennalia in 325, he received as a gift from an exile, Publius Optatianus Porfyrius, a member of high society, a collection of 20 panegyric poems. The gift had the desired effect and P. was recalled from exile.
These poems were later published together with others and with the emperor’s letter of thanks by the author. They are carmina figurata, already known in Alexandrian art, which represented objects, squares, diagonals etc. in the arrangement of individual letters. Christian elements are found in O. alongside others of ancient origin. Poems of this kind delighted Ennodius in his youth and are also found in the works of Venantius Fortunatus, Boniface, Alcuin, Rabanus Maurus etc.; they are also known in Persian art.