w nature. Cf.
_Perist._ i. 67: _Christus illic candidatis praesidet cohortibus_,
and Ambrose (_de Mysteriis_, vii.): "Thou didst receive (that is,
after baptism) white garments as a sign that thou hast doffed the
covering of thy sins and put on the chaste raiment (_velamina_) of
innocence, whereof the prophet spake (Ps. li. 7), 'Thou shalt purge
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: thou shalt wash me, and I
shall be whiter than snow'" (Vulg.).

199 Phlegethon (rendered "Hell"), one of the rivers of the Virgilian
Hades, is used to express the abode of the lost. Cf. Milton, _P. L._,
ii. 580:--

"... fierce Phlegethon,
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage."

The subject of the _descensus ad inferos_ was evidently a favourite
one with Prudentius and his contemporaries. It has been suggested
that apart from the scriptural basis of this conception Prudentius
was influenced by the so-called _Gospel of Nicodemus_, which embodies
two books, the _Acts of Pilate_ and the _Descent into Hell_. The
latter is assigned by several critics to 400 or thereabouts, and
gives a graphic account of Christ's doings in Hades. Synesius deals
with the subject in one of his hymns (ix.), and Mrs Browning's
translation (see the essay on _The Greek Christian Poets_) of a
passage in that poem may be quoted:--

"Down Thou earnest, low as earth,
Bound to those of mortal birth;
Down Thou earnest, low as hell,
Where Shepherd-Death did tend and keep
A thousand nations like to sheep,
While weak with age old Hades fell
Shivering through his dark to view Thee.

* * * * *

So, redeeming from their pain
Chains of disembodied ones,
Thou didst lead whom thou didst gather
Upward in ascent again,
With a great hymn to the Father,
Upward to the pure white thrones!"

For a modern treatment of the theme see _Christ in Hades_, by
Stephen Phillips.

202 The words suggest the Catacombs, and perhaps refer to the custom
of placing in the tomb a small cup or vase containing spices, of
which myrrh (a symbol of death, according to Gregory of Nyssa, cf.
xii. 71) was most usually employed. Or the allusion may be to the
practice of embalm