and relates
the overthrow of the Moors by a certain Johannes, _magister militum_ in
546; it is in eight books (the last is unfinished) and contains about
5000 hexameters. The narrative commences with the despatch of Johannes
to the theatre of war by Justinian, and ends with the decisive victory
near Carthage (548). The other poem (_In laudem Justini minoris_), in
four books, contains the death of Justinian, the coronation of his
successor Justin II. (14th of November 565), and the early events of his
reign. It is preceded by a preface, and a short and fulsome panegyric on
Anastasius, the poet's patron. The _Laus_ was published at Antwerp in
1581 by Michael Ruyz Azagra, secretary to the emperor Rudolf II., from a
9th or 10th century MS. The preface contains a reference to a previous
work by the author on the wars in Africa, and although Johannes
Cuspinianus (1473-1529) in his _De Caesaribus et Imperatoribus_
professed to have seen a MS. of it in the library at Buda (destroyed by
Suleiman II. in 1527), it was not till 1814 that it was discovered at
Milan by Cardinal Mazzucchelli, librarian of the Ambrosian library, from
the codex Trivultianus (in the library of the marquis Trivulzi), the
only MS. of the _Johannis_ still extant.

The _Johannis_ is of great value, not only from a purely historical
point of view, but also as giving a description of the land and people
of Africa, which conscientiously records the impressions of an
intelligent native observer; many of his statements as to manners and
customs are confirmed both by independent ancient authorities (such as
Procopius) and by our knowledge of the modern Berbers. Virgil, Lucan,
and Claudian were the poet's chief models. The _Laus_, which was written
when he was advanced in years, although marred by Byzantine servility
and gross flattery of a by no means worthy object, throws much light
upon Byzantine court ceremony, as in the account of the accession of
Justin and the reception of the embassy of the Avars. On the whole the
language and metre of Corippus, considering the age in which he lived
and the fact that he was not a native Italian, is remarkably pure. That
he was a Christian is rendered probable by negative indications, such as
the absence of all the usual mythological accessories of an epic poem,
positive allusions to texts of Scripture, and the highly orthodox
passage _Laus_ iv. 294 ff.

The editions of the _Johannis_ by P. Mazzucchelli (1820) and of the