or ELPI'DIUS, sometimes written Helfridius, was a Christian poet, who
flourished towards the close of the fifth century, was physician to the Gothic monarch
Theodoric, and is believed by many to be the Rusticus Helpidius commemorated in an inscription
with the title of
The following compositions, still extant, are ascribed to this author:--
Twenty-four epigrammatic narratives, taken from Bible history, each comprised in three dactylic hexameters, with titles descriptive of the subjects, such as
A song of praise and thanksgiving, comprised in 150 hexameters, not altogether destitute of elegance, and certainly very superior in every respect to the weak and pointless tristichs.
It would appear from an allusion, somewhat ambiguous, however, contained in the last-named piece (1. 45, &c.), that Helpidius had written a poem to comfort himself while in sorrow, but, if such a production was ever published, it is now lost.
Both of the above works are given in
Cassiodor. Var. 4.24; Ennod. Ep. 9.21, 11.19, and
notes of Sirmond.