The fourth-century Latin poet, Ausonius, enjoyed in his own time considerable prestige and success. Our witnesses for this reputation are by no means inconsiderable figures. In a letter, the emperor Theodosius proclaims that his admiration for the poet could not be greater. He equates Ausonius with the poets of the Augustan golden age and concludes that, although Augustus might have esteemed these authors as highly as Theodosius does Ausonius, he could not possibly have loved them more. In another fascinating document, Symmachus, one of the most influential and learned men of the age, playfully castigates Ausonius for the fact that, despite their friendship, he hasn't received a copy of the poet's latest best seller. The work in question is Ausonius' poem in praise of the Moselle river; copies of it, Symmachus punningly protests, are circulating everywhere, but they have glided right past him. Still, he has managed to obtain a copy to read, and the praise he lavishes on the work is boundless; he proclaims that the Moselle has become more famous than the Tiber and does not blush to conclude by holding up Ausonius to the master himself, Vergil: ego hoc tuum carmen libris Maronis adiungo (‘I class your poetry with Vergil's’).