PG 10 · cols. 141–144

A. Gallandius, Notitia de Asterio Urbano

Editors' preface

debent, ut pleno Christiani inveniantur : quia cum Spiritus sanctus infunditur, cor fidele ad prudentiam et constantiam dilatatur. De Spiritu sancto accipimus, ut efficiamur spirituales : quia animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei. De Spiritu sancto accipimus, ut sapiamus inter bonum malumque discernere, justa diligere, injusta respuere, ut malitiae ac superbiae repugnemus, ut luxuriae ac diversis illecebris, et foedis indignisque cupiditatibus resistamus. De Spiritu sancto accipimus, ut amore vitae et gloriae ardore succensi, erigere a terrenis mentem ad superna et divina valeamus. Data Nonis Septembris, id est, quinto die ejusdem mensis, Antonino et Alexandro viris clarissimis consulibus.

ought [to receive], so that they may be found full Christians: for when the Holy Spirit is poured in, the faithful heart is enlarged to prudence and constancy. From the Holy Spirit we receive, that we may be made spiritual: for the natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14). From the Holy Spirit we receive, that we may know how to discern between good and evil, to love what is just, to reject what is unjust, that we may fight against malice and pride, that we may resist luxury and divers enticements and foul and unworthy desires. From the Holy Spirit we receive, that, kindled by love of life and by ardour for glory, we may be able to raise the mind from earthly things to things above and divine. Given on the Nones of September, that is, on the fifth day of the same month, Antoninus and Alexander, most illustrious men, being consuls.

ANNO DOMINI CCXXXII.

THE YEAR OF THE LORD 232.

ASTERIUS URBANUS

NOTITIA

NOTICE

(Galland., Veterum Patrum Biblioth., Proleg., III, xi.)

(Galland, Library of the Ancient Fathers, Prolegomena, III, 11.)

I. Auctor trium librorum adversus Cataphrygas, Asterius Urbanus asseritur.

I. Asterius Urbanus is asserted to be the author of the three books against the Cataphrygians.

II. Episcopus fuisse demonstratur. Episcopi antiquitus vocati quandoque presbyteri. Zoticus Otrenus, alius a Comanense videtur.

II. He is shown to have been a bishop. Bishops in ancient times were sometimes called presbyters. Zoticus of Otrus seems to be another than the one of Comana.

III. Quo tempore scripserit auctor, inquiritur. Iniqua viri docti censura retunditur.

III. It is inquired at what time the author wrote. A learned man's unfair criticism is beaten back.

I. Veterum sententiam de trium librorum auctore adversus Cataphrygas, quos Avircio Marcello nuncupatos memorat Eusebius, haud unam esse comperimus. Hieronymus enim opus illud modo Rhodonem, modo Apollonium litteris consignasse tradit. Rufinus et Nicephorus Claudium Apollinarem, Eusebii nimirum mentem minus recte assecuti. Sed ejusmodi opiniones non esse admittendas, alibi uberius exposuimus. Nunc vero post viros doctissimos, Valesium, Tillemontium, Longuerueum et Dodwellum, qui tamen postea sententiam mutavit, Asterium Urbanum eorum librorum scriptorem existimamus.

I. We find that the opinion of the ancients concerning the author of the three books against the Cataphrygians, which Eusebius mentions as dedicated to Avircius Marcellus, is by no means uniform. For Jerome hands down that now Rhodon, now Apollonius committed that work to writing; Rufinus and Nicephorus, Claudius Apollinaris, having doubtless less rightly grasped the meaning of Eusebius. But that opinions of this sort are not to be admitted, we have explained more fully elsewhere. Now, however, after most learned men, Valesius, Tillemont, Longuerue, and Dodwell (who nevertheless afterwards changed his opinion), we reckon Asterius Urbanus to be the writer of those books.

Objici quidem potest, ab hujusce operis scriptore mentionem fieri Asterii Urbani ; ut proinde non auctor fuerit ipsemet noster Asterius. Sic enim ille : Καὶ μὴ λεγέτω ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ, τῷ κατὰ

It can indeed be objected that mention is made of Asterius Urbanus by the writer of this work, so that consequently our Asterius was not himself the author. For thus he writes: And let there not say, in the same book, the one according to

Editors' notes and page, col. 141

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: memorat Eusebius› · call in col 141

Euseb., Hist. eccl. lib. v, cap. 16.

Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 5, chapter 16.

(printed under page 77)

(2) ‹anchor: consignasse tradit› · call in col 141

Hieron., De vir. illustr., capp. 37 et 40.

Jerome, On Illustrious Men, chapters 37 and 40.

(printed under page 77)

(3) ‹anchor: Rufinus› · call in col 141

Rufin., interpr. Euseb. lib. v, cap. 15.

Rufinus, translation of Eusebius, book 5, chapter 15.

(printed under page 77)

(4) ‹anchor: et Nicephorus› · call in col 141

Niceph. Call., Hist. eccl., lib. iv, cap. 23.

Nicephorus Callistus, Ecclesiastical History, book 4, chapter 23.

(printed under page 77)

(5) ‹anchor: alibi uberius exposuimus› · call in col 141

Prolegom. ad Bibl. PP. vol. I, cap. 25, § 2, et vol. II, cap. 12, § 2.

Prolegomena to the Library of the Fathers, vol. 1, chapter 25, § 2, and vol. 2, chapter 12, § 2.

(printed under page 77)

(6) ‹anchor: Valesium› · call in col 141

Vales., ad Euseb. lib. v, cap. 16.

Valesius, on Eusebius, book 5, chapter 16.

(printed under page 77)

(7) ‹anchor: Tillemontium› · call in col 141

Tillem., Mém., tom. II, pagg. 430, 441, et 670, not. 7, sur les Montan.

Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. 2, pages 430, 441 and 670, note 7, on the Montanists.

(printed under page 77)

(8) ‹anchor: Longuerueum› · call in col 141

Longuer., Dissert. de Montan., § 14, pag. 265.

Longuerue, Dissertation on the Montanists, § 14, page 265.

(printed under page 77)

(9) ‹anchor: et Dodwellum› · call in col 141

Dodw., Dissert. 4 Cypr., § 11, pag. 44.

Dodwell, fourth Dissertation on Cyprian, § 11, page 44.

(printed under page 77)

(10) ‹anchor: sententiam mutavit› · call in col 141

Id., Dissert. 4 Iren., § 38, pag. 369.

The same, fourth Dissertation on Irenaeus, § 38, page 369.

(printed under page 77)

(11) ‹anchor: Sic enim ille› · call in col 141

Aster. Urb., Fragm. 4 infr., col. 154.

Asterius Urbanus, Fragment 4 below, col. 154.

(printed under page 77)

Page

running head: 141 ASTERIUS URBANUS. — NOTITI
marginal letters: A cipere debent, ut; B I. Veterum sententiam
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Ἀστέριον Οὐρβανὸν, τὸ διὰ Μαξιμίλλης πνεῦμα. Sed quis non videat verba intermedia seriem orationis turbare, rescribendumque : Καὶ μὴ λεγέτω τὸ διὰ Μαξιμίλλης πνεῦμα, nec mihi jam dicat ille Maximillae spiritus ? Hinc merito censuit Valesius, verba illa quae interseruntur, ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ, τῷ κατὰ Ἀστέριον Οὐρβανόν, scholion esse quod vetus quidam scholiastes, vel si mavis, Eusebius ipse, ad marginem libri sui apposuerat, ad verba quae paulo ante occurrunt, αὖθις δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ φησι λόγῳ. Quod quidem scholion, ut fieri assolet, fuerit deinceps a librariis in textum illatum : importunum illud quidem, sed eo saltem nomine commodum, quod hinc demum cum ipso viro docto colligamus, Asterium Urbanum trium librorum adversus Cataphrygas habendum esse auctorem, non autem Claudium Apollinarem, ut post Rufinum complures recentiores

Asterius Urbanus, the spirit that speaks through Maximilla say. Yet who would not see that the intervening words disturb the sequence of the discourse, and that it should be written: And let not the spirit that speaks through Maximilla say, nor let that spirit of Maximilla now say to me? Hence Valesius deservedly judged that those words which are inserted, in the same book, that according to Asterius Urbanus, are a scholion which some ancient scholiast, or if you prefer, Eusebius himself, had placed at the margin of his book, at the words which occur a little before, and again in the same book he says. And this scholion, as is wont to happen, was thereafter brought by copyists into the text: an inopportune one indeed, yet convenient at least on this account, that hence at last we may gather with the learned man himself that Asterius Urbanus is to be held the author of the three books against the Cataphrygians, and not Claudius Apollinaris, as after Rufinus several more recent

Editors' notes and page, col. 142

Page

running head: NUS. — NOTITIA. 142
marginal letters: A mus, ut luxuriae; B Ἀστέριον Οὐρβανὸν
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statuerunt. Porro Valesiana conjectura Tillemontio prae caeteris atque Pearsonio arrisisse perhibetur.

writers have determined. Furthermore, the conjecture of Valesius is said to have pleased Tillemont above others, as well as Pearson.

II. Quis autem qualisve fuerit noster Asterius, non liquet. Episcopum vero ipsum fuisse, illa suadere satis videntur quae ab eo Ancyrae in Galatia peracta noscuntur. Cum enim illius urbis Ecclesiam Montani ejusque feminarum pseudoprophetiis turbatam comperisset, collecto fidelium coetu pluribus diebus disseruit, eosque in veritate fidei magnopere confirmavit, adversarios vero Deique hostes in fugam convertit : quo quidem munere fungi, virum in primis episcopali honore insignitum decebat.

II. Now who or of what sort our Asterius was is not clear. Yet that he was himself a bishop seems sufficiently persuaded by the things which are known to have been accomplished by him at Ancyra in Galatia. For when he had found the Church of that city disturbed by the false prophecies of Montanus and his women, having gathered an assembly of the faithful he discoursed for several days, and greatly strengthened them in the truth of the faith, and put the adversaries and enemies of God to flight: an office which it especially befitted a man distinguished with episcopal honour to discharge.

Praeterea testatur auctor tunc adfuisse dum loqueretur, Zoticum Otrenum quem vocat suum συμπρεσβύτερον, quin et Zoticum Comanensem et Julianum Apamenum, ἄνδρας δοκίμους καὶ ἐπισκόπους, viros probos et episcopali dignitate ornatos : ut propterea non solum in presbyterorum collegium cooptatus fuisse videatur Asterius, sed et ipsemet episcopus fuerit, qui nimirum tribus aliis astantibus episcopis ad populum in ecclesia verba fecerit. Neque vero quis jure collegerit, nostrum Asterium adeoque Zoticum Otrenum in presbyterii gradu fuisse tantummodo collocatos, quod Zoticum ipsum compresbyterum suum appellet : haud enim insolens in ecclesiasticae antiquitatis monumentis, episcopos vocari consuevisse presbyteros. Unum afferam exemplum, et quidem ter inculcatum, ex epistola Irenaei ad Victorem : « Sed et presbyteri illi, inquit, qui ante Soterem Ecclesiae praefuerunt, quam nunc gubernas. » Et mox : « Verum qui te praecesserunt presbyteri. » Paucisque interjectis, de Aniceto verba faciens : « Cum hic, ait, presbyterorum qui ante se fuerant, consuetudinem retinendam esse diceret, » etc. Καὶ οἱ πρὸ Σωτῆρος πρεσβύτεροι, οἱ προστάντες τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἧς ἀφηγῇ . . . . ἀλλ’ οἱ πρὸ σοῦ πρεσβύτεροι . . . . λέγοντα (τὸν Ἀνίκητον) τὴν συνήθειαν τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ πρεσβυτέρων ὀφείλειν κατέχειν. Plura suppeditabit Svicerus, quem profecto mirari subit illustrem hunc locum praeteriisse.

Moreover, the author testifies that there was then present while he was speaking Zoticus of Otrys, whom he calls his fellow-presbyter, and indeed also Zoticus of Comana and Julian of Apamea, approved men and bishops, upright men and adorned with episcopal dignity: so that on that account Asterius not only seems to have been co-opted into the college of presbyters, but was also himself a bishop, seeing that with three other bishops standing by he spoke to the people in the church. Nor would anyone rightly gather that our Asterius and consequently Zoticus of Otrys were placed only in the rank of the presbyterate because he calls Zoticus himself his fellow-presbyter: for it is by no means unusual in the monuments of ecclesiastical antiquity that bishops were wont to be called presbyters. I shall adduce one example, and that thrice repeated, from the epistle of Irenaeus to Victor: "And those presbyters also," he says, "who before Soter presided over the Church which you now govern." And presently: "But the presbyters who preceded you." And with a few words interposed, speaking of Anicetus: "When he," he says, "said that the custom of the presbyters who had been before him ought to be retained," etc. And the presbyters before Soter, who presided over the Church which you govern . . . . but the presbyters before you . . . . saying that he (Anicetus) ought to keep the custom of the presbyters before him. Suicer will supply more examples, whom one must certainly wonder to have passed over this illustrious passage.

Caeterum haud existimaverim equidem cum Lequienio V. C. unum eumdemque fuisse Zoticum Otrenum et Comanensem, quorum divisim meminit auctor : cum inconsonum videatur, uni

For the rest, I for my part would by no means suppose with the most illustrious Le Quien that Zoticus of Otrys and Zoticus of Comana, whom the author mentions separately, were one and the same man: since it seems incongruous that to a single

Editors' notes and page, col. 143

Footnotes

(12) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 143

Tillem., l. c., pag. 671.

Tillemont, in the place cited, page 671.

(printed under page 78)

(13) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 143

Pears., Vindic. Ignat., part. II, pag. 164.

Pearson, Vindiciae Ignatianae, part 2, page 164.

(printed under page 78)

(14) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 143

Aster. Urb., Fragm. 1, col. 145.

Asterius Urbanus, Fragment 1, col. 145.

(printed under page 78)

(15) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 143

Id. ibid., et Fragm. 4, col. 151.

The same, in the same place, and Fragment 4, col. 151.

(printed under page 78)

(16) ‹anchor: ad Victorem› · call in col 143

Iren., apud Euseb. Hist. eccl., lib. v, cap. 24.

Irenaeus, in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 5, chapter 24.

(printed under page 78)

(17) ‹anchor: tabit Svicerus› · call in col 143

Svicer., Thes. eccl., v. Πρεσβύτερος, tom. II, pag. 826.

Suicer, Thesaurus ecclesiasticus, under the word Πρεσβύτερος, vol. 2, page 826.

(printed under page 78)

(18) ‹anchor: cum Lequienio› · call in col 143

Lequien., Oriens Christ., tom. II, pagg. 447, 847.

Le Quien, Oriens Christianus, vol. 2, pages 447, 847.

(printed under page 78)

Page

running head: 143 ASTERII URBAN
marginal letters: A centiores statuerunt. Porro; B loqueretur, Zoticum Otrenum; C epistola Irenaei ad; D quienio V. C.
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episcopo duas Ecclesias longe inter se dissitas fuisse commissas. Otrys enim in Bithyniae finibus collocatur a Strabone ; Comanorum vero urbs (ut hic de Comanis Ponticis taceam) Cappadociae, Ptolemaeo teste, attribuitur. In notitiis episcopatuum, prior dioeceseos Asianae putatur, Ponticae autem posterior.

bishop two Churches far distant from one another were entrusted. For Otrys is placed by Strabo on the borders of Bithynia; whereas the city of Comana (to say nothing here of Pontic Comana) is assigned to Cappadocia, as Ptolemy witnesses. In the lists of bishoprics, the former is reckoned of the Asian diocese, the latter of the Pontic.

III. Jam vero quae superant ex tribus libris Asterii, aetatem satis declarant qua ille scribebat. Sic enim ait : Ab obitu Maximillae usque in hanc diem, plus quam tredecim anni jam elapsi sunt : nec tamen ullum aut particulare bellum, aut universale in terris fuit. Imo Christianis, praecipua quadam Dei misericordia, pax stabilis et firma permansit. Et iterum : Ostendant nobis (Cataphryges) quinam inter ipsos Montano et mulierculis successerint : etenim prophetiae donum in omni Ecclesie ad ultimum usque Domini adventum permanere debere, auctor est Apostolus. Sed nullum prorsus poterunt ostendere, tametsi jam quartus decimus hic agatur annus ab obitu Maximillae. Ex quibus sane verbis, subductis rationibus, colligit Tillemontius ista scripsisse Asterium circa Domini annum 231, imperii vero Alexandri XI. Et jure quidem : nam Alexander, Herodiano teste, εἰς τεσσαρεσκαιδέκατον ἐλάσας τῆς βασιλείας ἔτος, ἀναιμωτὶ ἦρξεν, annis quatuordecim citra sanguinem gessit imperium : ut proinde quiete agere permissi fuerint Christiani eo imperante ; adeoque pax illa, qua sub Antonino Caracalla, sub Macrino, nec non sub Elagabalo fruebatur Ecclesia, sub Alexandri quoque imperio stabilis et firma permansit, ut scribit noster auctor.

III. Now the fragments that remain from the three books of Asterius sufficiently declare the time at which he wrote. For thus he says: From the death of Maximilla even unto this day, more than thirteen years have now elapsed; and yet there has been neither any particular nor any universal war in the world. Nay rather, by a certain special mercy of God, a stable and firm peace has remained for the Christians. And again: Let them (the Cataphrygians) show us who amongst them have succeeded Montanus and his women; for the Apostle is our authority that the gift of prophecy ought to remain in all the Church even unto the final coming of the Lord. Yet they will be able to show none at all, although this is now the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla. From which words indeed, having reckoned up the computation, Tillemont gathers that Asterius wrote these things around the year of the Lord 231, and the eleventh of the reign of Alexander. And rightly so: for Alexander, as Herodian witnesses, having reached the fourteenth year of his reign, ruled without bloodshed, for fourteen years carried on his rule without blood; so that consequently the Christians were permitted to live in quiet while he reigned; and thus that peace which the Church enjoyed under Antoninus Caracalla, under Macrinus, and also under Elagabalus, remained stable and firm under the rule of Alexander also, as our author writes.

Ex iis porro quae huc usque de Asterio Urbane edisseruimus, in primis vero de illius acri studio in Christiana religione ab haereticorum fraudibus vindicanda ; quis demum aequo animo ferat eo usque processisse virum criticum, ut scribere non dubitarit, quae ab Apollonio, Asterio, Miltiade aliisque illius aevi Montanistarum oppugnatoribus, retulit Eusebius, adeo esse plena declamatoriae vanitatis, ut eo faciant fidei minus, quo magis affirmant? Itane vero? Ita quidem vir ille censet ; quo nimirum Montanum sive purget sive laudet, suumque proinde Tertullianum ab Ecclesiae unitate sejunctum ac Montanistis addictum.

Furthermore, from the things which we have thus far set forth concerning Asterius Urbanus, and especially concerning his keen zeal in vindicating the Christian religion from the frauds of heretics, who at last could bear with an even mind that a critical writer has gone so far that he did not hesitate to write that the things which Eusebius has related from Apollonius, Asterius, Miltiades, and other opponents of the Montanists of that age are so full of declamatory vanity that the more they affirm, the less credence they win? Is it so indeed? So indeed that man judges, in order doubtless either to clear or to praise Montanus, and consequently his own Tertullian, severed from the unity of the Church and given over to the Montanists.

Editors' notes and page, col. 144

Footnotes

(19) ‹anchor: Sic enim ait› · call in col 144

Aster., Fragm. 5, infr., col. 151.

Asterius, Fragment 5, below, col. 151.

(printed under page 78)

(20) ‹anchor: Et iterum› · call in col 144

Id., Fragm. 10, infr., col. 155.

The same, Fragment 10, below, col. 155.

(printed under page 78)

(21) ‹anchor: tius› · call in col 144

Tillem., Mém., tom. II, pag. 441.

Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. 2, page 441.

(printed under page 78)

(22) ‹anchor: Herodiano teste› · call in col 144

Herodian., Histor. lib. vi, sub init.

Herodian, History, book 6, near the beginning.

(printed under page 78)

(23) ‹anchor: scribere non dubitarit› · call in col 144

Rigalt., praefat. ad Tertull.

Rigault, preface to Tertullian.

(printed under page 78)