FOURTH/fifth CENTURIES. Bishop of Brescia in Italy. While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land he was elected about 387 to succeed Philaster as bishop of Brescia and was persuaded by Ambrose and some Eastern bishops to accept the election. Little is known of his episcopate, but in 404-5 he was sent to Constantinople by Honorius and [[Innocent I]] to plead the cause of Chrysostom to Emperor Arcadius. He achieved nothing, but nevertheless was thanked by Chrysostom. Rufinus dedicated his Latin translation of the Clementine Recognitions to Gaudentius and refers in particular to the latter's knowledge of Greek. A number of Gaudentius's sermons survive which reflect this knowledge and show a propensity to allegorization.