The poem in which Rutilius Claudius Namatianus describes his home-coming from Rome to Gaul is of interest as well from a literary as from a historical and a topographical point of view. His lively and graphic descriptions give a vivid impression of the places he visited and of the social conditions which, owing to weak government and the raids of barbarians, prevailed in Italy at the time he travelled; while the high poetical level to which he rises when a suitable subject presents itself - such as the greatness of Rome, the merits of a valued friend, or the charms or strangeness of some natural phenomenon - shows that the light of poetic inspiration was not yet extinct at the beginning of the fifth century A.D. "The Return," in fact, is not only the most interesting of the Itineraries that have come down to us, but is also a poem of considerable merit, in which the social and political effects of barbarian invasions, and also of the growing influence of Christianity, are sketched in a vivid and attractive form.