Bissula (flourished in 4th century AD) was an Alemannic woman in the 4th century. She was captured by the Romans in 368 at the Battle of Solicinium, in the area of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, at a young age and became a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

of the Roman poet

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; ) was a Latin literature, Roman poet and Education in ancient Rome, teacher of classical rhetoric, rhetoric from Burdigala, Gallia Aquitania, Aquitaine (now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future E ...

who had participated in the campaign. Ausonius, who by then was a widower of about 60 years of age, fell in love with Bissula and released her from slavery. He wrote a poem on her, ''de Bissula'' ("About Bissula"), which he sent to his friend Paulus.

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Latin text
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a German translation by M. W. Besser, 1908 * Friedrich Marx: Ausonius 3. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (RE). Band II,2, Stuttgart 1896, Sp. 2562–2580, hier Sp. 2564 und Sp. 2571. * Felix Dahn: Gesammelte Werke. Erste Serie, Band 3. Berlin 1884. 4th-century Germanic people Alemannic women Imperial Roman slaves and freedmen 4th-century women {{Germany-bio-stub