Decimus Magnus Ausonius (ca. 310-ca. 395), a native of Bordeaux (Burdigala), belonged to a family of not very high social status. He was educated at a very early age by the women of his family, his grandmother and aunts. He received his first schooling in the school of his town and later in Toulouse, where a maternal uncle, Aemilius Magnus Arborius, was a professor of great fame. The young Ausonius, undoubtedly influenced by the example of his uncle, returned to Bordeaux, and devoted himself to teaching grammar, at first, and rhetoric, later, a profession in which he practiced with growing popularity for thirty years, until the time when, probably in 364, Emperor Valentinian I summoned him to the imperial palace at Trier and appointed him as guardian and teacher of his son Gratian, aged six at the time. The professor of Bordeaux began a new life as a powerful courtier. He was admitted as part of the imperial cortege during the campaign against the Alamanni (368-369); he later served as quaestor sacri palatii, that is, first secretary of the emperor, as prefect of Gaul, Italy, Illyricum and Africa, and finally, in 379 as consul. He converted to the Christian faith, but with little conviction: in his works he often speaks about himself, but religion is a topic that he prefers to avoid; he occasionally refers to his being a Christian, but his faith does not characterize his literary output. After 380, Gratian abandoned his previous tolerant attitude towards paganism and, under the influence of Ambrose, followed a more strongly pro-Christian policy. At that point, Ausonius’ influence at court weakened; he returned to Bordeaux, continuing his literary activity until at least 393; he probably died shortly after that date. [A. Borgna; trad. M. Formentelli]