Lex omnis summam Baptistae ad tempora cepit. Giovanni Battista nella poesia latina cristiana (I): Giovenco e Sedulio

This paper provides a new, complete analysis of the role of John the Baptist in Juvencus’ Euangeliorum libri quattuor and in Sedulius’ Carmen paschale, the two first New Testament epics composed in Latin. While Juvencus, who follows more closely the biblical hypotext, invests the Precursor with an important narrative role, transforming him into a sort of deuteragonist of Jesus in the first part of the Gospel narrative, Sedulius only mentions him in the episode of Christ’s Baptism. Such differences are revealing of the poets’ different approach towards the biblical Vorlage. While Juvencus re-narrates all the main episodes of John’s ‘Gospel within the Gospel’, from the announcement to Zechariah to the prophet’s beheading, taking care of clarifying the hierarchical and theological succession of Baptist and Jesus, Sedulius exploits the testimonium of Joh. 1:29 to catalyse the references to the Precursor, in a more straightforward Christocentric perspective.