Corippus

Who is Corippus?

Flavius Cresconius Corippus was a late Roman epic poet of the 6th century, who flourished under East Roman Emperors Justinian I and Justin II. His major works are the epic poem Iohannis and the panegyric In laudem Iustini minoris. Corippus was probably the last important Latin author of Late Antiquity.

He was a native of Africa, and in one of the manuscripts is called grammaticus. He has sometimes been identified, but on insufficient grounds, with Cresconius Africanus, a Catholic bishop, author of a Concordia Canonum, or collection of the laws of the church.

Nothing is known of Corippus beyond what is contained in his own poems. He appears to have held the office of tribune or notary under Anastasius, imperial treasurer and chamberlain of Justinian I, at the end of whose reign he left Africa for Constantinople, apparently in consequence of having lost his property during the Vandalic War and the subsequent Moorish revolts.

He was the author of two poems, of considerable importance for the history of the times. One of these, Iohannis or De bellis Libycis, the earlier of the two, was not discovered till the beginning of the 19th century.