PL 5 · cols. 189–202

De Commodiano Gazaeo, origine Afro, prolegomena

Editors' preface

PL 5:189

DE COMMODIANO GAZAEO, ORIGINE AFRO, PROLEGOMENA.

PROLEGOMENA ON COMMODIAN OF GAZA, OF AFRICAN ORIGIN.

ARTICULUS I.

ARTICLE I.

Ejus Vitae Synopsis.

Synopsis of his Life.

De Commodiano quid veteres meminerint? — Commodiani primus veterum meminit Gennadius, ejusque characterem satis bene his verbis expressit: «Commodianus, inquit, dum inter saeculares litteras etiam nostras legit, occasionem accepit fidei. Factus itaque christianus, et volens aliquid studiorum suorum muneris offerre Christo, suae salutis auctori, scripsit mediocri sermone, quasi versu librum adversum paganos.

What do the ancients record of Commodian? — The first of the ancients to record Commodian is Gennadius, and he expressed his character quite well in these words: "Commodian," he says, "while among secular letters he was also reading ours, took occasion of faith. Having become a Christian, therefore, and wishing to offer to Christ, the author of his salvation, some gift from his studies, he wrote in a middling style, as if in verse, a book against the pagans.

Editors' notes and page, col. 189

Footnotes

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Percurrentem Labb.

"Percurrentem" (running through), Labbe.

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Gennad., de Scriptor. Eccles., cap. 15.

Gennadius, On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 15.

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Page

running head: 189 DE COMMODIANO GAZÆO, (cut off at the right edge)
marginal letters: A ‹carnis in Christo denegant›; B ‹sententiis intonantes, quod›; C ‹suisse, quibus diligentia›; D ‹ARTICULUS I.›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: heavy ink smudging in the first lines (denegant veritatem, Salvatore, secundum, omnia, possit) and at "in splendidissimam" (printed like "fu"); the words are read from their context and the visible letters. "latuisse" is blurred and might be printed "latnisse"; unsure. The reference (I Cor., V) is printed so, although the quotation is 2 Cor. 5:19. A full-width title, DE COMMODIANO GAZAEO ... PROLEGOMENA, stands between the variant note and Articulus I and is not set. Editors' matter set: the Prolegomena, Articulus I, ‹Ejus Vitae Synopsis› and ‹De Commodiano quid veteres meminerint?›. The column ends mid-word at paga-.
other: a full-width band stands across cols 189/190 in mid-page: the 2 paragraph(s) above it in col 190 are set here, after the 1 above it in col 189 (reading order, moved on receipt); the band itself (its title lines) is not set by the volunteer page: set it here, at the move, with full_width
other: the column opens with the end of the previous work (another unit); not set here: the unit begins at ARTICULUS I.
running head: 189 DE COMMODIANO GAZAEO, ORIGINE AFRO. 190
marginal letters: A ‹lis, praedicatum est gentibus› (right col, preceding document); B ‹presbyter, et exinde› (right col, preceding document); C ‹quasi ipse primus› (footnote area, preceding document); D ‹nos. Et quia parum› (right col, this unit)
old-edition numerals: (none)

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Et quia parum nostrarum attigerat litterarum, magis illorum destruere potuit dogmata, quam nostra firmare. Unde et de divinis repromissionibus adversum illos vili satis et crasso, ut ita dixerim, sensu disseruit, illis stuporem et nobis desperationem incutiens, Tertullianum et Lactantium, et Papiam auctores secutus. Moralem sane doctrinam, et maxime

And because he had touched but little of our letters, he was better able to destroy their doctrines than to establish ours. Hence also, concerning the divine promises, he discoursed against them in a sense quite cheap and coarse, if I may so speak, striking stupor into them and despair into us, having followed Tertullian and Lactantius and Papias as his authorities. Moral teaching, indeed, and above all

Editors' notes and page, col. 190

Footnotes

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Huc usque verba S. Leonis, ex quibus videas aliter olere catulos.

Thus far the words of St Leo, from which you may see that the whelps smell otherwise.

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Illud tamen nos. Quod hic et supra in vita Caii de hierarchia ecclesiastica constituta, a Caio pontifice instituta dicantur, nequaquam sic sunt intelligenda, quasi ipse primus instituerit, ut ad summum ordinem ascensurus, per inferiorum ordinum gradus sublime sacerdotii conscenderet: nam ejusmodi hierarchiæ ordinem, temporibus apostolorum in Ecclesia stabilitum fuisse, supra pluribus locis est enarratum. Caii igitur decretum nihil aliud constituisse videtur, quam quod ad tronum episcopalem nemo proveheretur, nisi qui in singulis inferioribus ordinibus, debito ac consueto tempore ministrasset. Vide Baron., anno 296, numero 2. Sever. Binius.

"Yet this we ...". What is said here and above in the life of Gaius about the ecclesiastical hierarchy, that it was established and instituted by Pope Gaius, is by no means to be understood as if he were the first to institute it, so that one about to rise to the highest order should climb to the sublime height of the priesthood through the grades of the lower orders; for it has been related above in several places that the order of such a hierarchy was established in the Church in the times of the apostles. Gaius's decree, then, seems to have laid down nothing else than that no one should be advanced to the episcopal throne unless he had served in each of the lower orders for the due and customary time. See Baronius, year 296, number 2. Severinus Binius.

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Verba Pontificalis.

Words of the Pontifical [the Liber Pontificalis].

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An. Christi 296

Year of Christ 296

LECTIONES VARIANTES. (printed under page 97)

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Nos replicare nisi Labb.

"Nos replicare nisi" (we ... to reply, unless), Labbe.

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Ac sane Papiam sequitur, probans dogma de mille annis cap. ultimo. Tertullianum vero in multis, quæ de gentium diis disputat. De Lactantio equidem dubito (inquit perdoctus Albertus Fabricius in Bibl. med. et infim. latinatis, tom. i, pag. 406, edit. Patavinæ, 1754), licet Gennadio hac in parte suffragatus primum est etiam Rigaltius (nam in curis secundis (continues)

And indeed he follows Papias, approving the doctrine of the thousand years in the last chapter; Tertullian, however, in many of the things he argues concerning the gods of the gentiles. About Lactantius I am in doubt indeed (says the most learned Albert Fabricius in the Bibliotheca mediae et infimae latinitatis, vol. 1, p. 406, Padua edition, 1754), although Rigault too at first sided with Gennadius on this point (for in his second thoughts (continues)

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running head: [...]ANO GAZÆO, ORIGINE AFRO.
marginal letters: A ‹lis, praedicatum est gentibus›; B ‹presbyter, et exinde›; C ‹quasi ipse primus instituerit› (beside a footnote line); D ‹nos. Et quia parum›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the 2 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 189 (reading order, moved on receipt)
running head: 189 DE COMMODIANO GAZAEO, ORIGINE AFRO. 190
marginal letters: D ‹nos. Et quia parum›
old-edition numerals: (none)

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voluntariae paupertatis amorem optime prosecutus, studentibus inculcavit ». Haec Gennadius: ex quo paucula Honorius quoque Augustodunensis. Sed post massiliensem presbyterum meminit etiam Commodiani Gelasius romanus pontifex, illius opus inter aprocrypha in suo decreto recensens.

the love of voluntary poverty, having pursued them most excellently, he impressed upon the studious." So far Gennadius; from him Honorius of Autun also [drew] a very few things. But after the presbyter of Marseilles, Gelasius the Roman pontiff also makes mention of Commodian, listing his work among the apocrypha in his decree.

Auctor Gazaeum se nominat, cur vero? — Cujas vero fuerit hic auctor, plane incompertum, tacentibus de patria ejus antiquis scriptoribus. Nonnulli eum Italis ac Romanis ascribunt. Qui eum Afrum fuisse putant, conjecturam adhibent non plane contemnendam. Gazaeum quidem se ipsum vocat: utrum autem a Gaza Palaestinae urbe, quis tuto adfirmarit? Atqui vero propius eruditis videtur, ipsum propterea ita se appellasse, quod in christianorum coetum admissus, e gazophylacio, seu Ecclesiae thesauro victum acciperet. Quam quidem conjecturam ipsemet confirmare censetur, dum mendicum Christi se nominat, uti ex instructionis ultimae litteris, quae versus inchoant, retro sursum legendis, comperimus.

The author names himself Gazaeus; but why? — Of what country this author was is entirely unknown, since the ancient writers are silent about his homeland. Some assign him to the Italians and Romans. Those who think he was an African employ a conjecture not altogether to be despised. He does indeed call himself Gazaeus; but who could safely affirm whether [this is] from Gaza, the city of Palestine? Yet it seems nearer [the truth] to the learned that he called himself so for this reason, that, having been admitted into the assembly of Christians, he received his sustenance from the gazophylacium, that is, the treasury of the Church. This conjecture indeed he himself is thought to confirm when he names himself the beggar of Christ, as we discover from the letters of the last instruction which begin the verses, read backwards upwards.

Afer existimatur. Utut sit, Dodwellus Afrum fuisse Commodianum ex eo conjicit quod multa suis instructionibus habeat cum sancto Cypriano communia. In eamdem porro sententiam praeiverat Rigaltius: quo judice, stylus auctoris africanae ferociae rusticitatem sapit; quae tamen ad acumina Tertulliani, Cypriani, Minucii non infrequenter alludit. Suadere insuper videntur judice Caveo, quae usurpat vocabula, afris scriptoribus pene propria, Zabulus, Zacones, etc.

He is thought to be an African. However that may be, Dodwell conjectures that Commodian was an African from the fact that in his instructions he has many things in common with Saint Cyprian. Rigaltius, moreover, had gone before him into the same opinion: in his judgement the author's style savours of the rusticity of African fierceness; yet it not infrequently alludes to the subtleties of Tertullian, Cyprian and Minucius. Moreover, in Cave's judgement, the words which he uses, almost peculiar to African writers, Zabulus, Zacones, etc., seem to argue [for this].

Ex ethnica superstitione ad fidem Christi conversus, libellum composuit. Instructiones adversus gentium Deos inscriptum. — Ortu et cultu fuisse ethnicum, satis indicat ipse cum in praefatione, tum dum alibi gentiles sic alloquitur:

Converted from heathen superstition to the faith of Christ, he composed a little book entitled Instructions against the Gods of the Nations. — That by birth and by worship he was a heathen he himself sufficiently indicates, both in the preface and when elsewhere he addresses the gentiles thus:

Et ego, qui moneo, idem fui, nescius errans.

I too, who admonish you, was the same, wandering in ignorance.

Inde Instructione LXI, se de cloaca levatum dicit, id est, de saeculo, de idololatria. Cum igitur religionis

Hence in Instruction 61 he says that he was raised from the sewer, that is, from the world, from idolatry. Since therefore, having no share in religion

Editors' notes and page, col. 191

Footnotes

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Honor. Augustod., de Scriptor. eccl., l. ii, c. 15.

Honorius of Autun, On Ecclesiastical Writers, book 2, chapter 15.

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(2) ‹anchor: se ipsum vocat› · call in col 191

Commod., Instruct. lxxx.

Commodian, Instructions 80.

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Gazæum se vocat, non ab urbe aliqua, Gaza dicta; sed a gazo, seu Ecclesiæ thesauro, ut a commodo Commodianus dicebatur. Hoc nomen erat gentilium; illud, christianus jam factus sibi indidit; idque non alia forsan ratione, quam quod post conversionem pauper factus, ex communi Ecclesiæ ærario nutriretur. Unde et mendicum Christi se nominat. Cav., Hist. litterar., tom. i, pag. 136 et 237.

He calls himself "Gazaeus", not from some city called Gaza, but from gaza, that is, the treasury of the Church, as he was called Commodianus from commodum. The latter was his name among the gentiles; the former he gave himself once he had become a Christian; and perhaps for no other reason than that, having become poor after his conversion, he was maintained from the Church's common treasury. Hence he also names himself "Christ's beggar". Cave, Historia litteraria, vol. 1, pp. 136 and 237.

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Dodwell., dissertat. de Ætat. Commod., § 9.

Dodwell, Dissertation on the Age of Commodian, § 9.

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(5) ‹anchor: præiverat Rigaltius› · call in col 191

Rigalt., præfat. ad Commod.

Rigault, preface to Commodian.

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(6) ‹anchor: judice Caveo› · call in col 191

Caveus, loco cit.

Cave, in the place cited.

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Ego similiter erravi tempore multo / Fama prosequendo: parentibus insiciis ipsis / Abstuli me tandem inde, legendo de lege. (Commod. in Præfat., v. 4 — 6.)

I likewise strayed for a long time, / Following rumour: without my parents' knowledge / I took myself away from there at last, by reading in the Law. (Commodian, Preface, lines 4–6.)

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Commod. instruct. xxxiii, v. 491, et instruct. xxxvi, v. 374: Gens et ego fui perversa mente moratus, (continues)

Commodian, Instruction 33, line 491, and Instruction 36, line 374: "I too was a gentile, abiding in a perverse mind," (continues)

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running head: 191 DE COMMODIANO GAZÆO, C[ut off at the image edge]
marginal letters: A ‹voluntariae paupertatis amorem›; B ‹sus, e gazophylacio›; C ‹Ex ethnica superstitione›; D ‹dicta; sed a gazo› (in the footnotes)
old-edition numerals: (none)
misprints kept as printed: "aprocrypha" (for apocrypha).

PL 5:192

christianae expers, ethnicae vero superstitioni adhuc addictus esset Commodianus, et in tenebris superstitiosarum et impiarum gentium versaretur, Dei munere accidit, ut sacris litteris evolvendis incumbens, ex earum lectione e nocte illa sensim emergeret, ac coelesti lumine collustratus, Christo nomen daret: quod quidem evenisse item Justino Martyri, Tatiano, aliisque, ex eorum monumentis probe novimus. Doctrina itaque salutari confirmatus, fideique zelo accensus, ad expugnandos imprimis divinae veritatis hostium errores se convertit, operamque suam in refellendis illorum erroribus posuit; hujus igitur instituti causa libellum conscripsit sub titulo: Instructiones adversus gentium Deos pro christiana disciplina. Perstrinxit in ea falsa gentium numina, pravosque cultus, et quamvis ingenii atque artis praestantia heic minus appareat, satis tamen singularem sanctimoniam, verumque, nec simulatum erga Deum amorem declaravit.

of the Christian kind, Commodian was still given over to heathen superstition and was moving in the darkness of the superstitious and impious gentiles, it came about by the gift of God that, applying himself to unrolling the sacred writings, he gradually emerged from that night through the reading of them, and, illuminated by heavenly light, gave his name to Christ: which indeed we know well from their own records to have happened likewise to Justin Martyr, Tatian and others. Strengthened therefore by saving doctrine and kindled with zeal for the faith, he turned above all to overthrowing the errors of the enemies of divine truth, and devoted his labour to refuting their errors; for the sake of this undertaking, then, he wrote a little book under the title: Instructions against the Gods of the Gentiles, for the Christian Discipline. In it he censured the false deities of the gentiles and their depraved worship, and although excellence of talent and art appears less here, he nevertheless displayed sufficiently a singular holiness and a true and unfeigned love towards God.

Tempus inquiritur, quo claruit Commodianus. — De aetate, qua vixerit Commodianus, eruditi non conveniunt. Rigaltius, Dupinius, Ceillierius floruisse eum putant Constantini Magni imperio, atque sub pontificatu sancti Sylvestri, cujus pontificis in scriptis suis Commodianum meminisse, communi eruditorum opinione fertur. Antiquiorem tamen ac Cypriano vel aequalem, vel supparem fuisse Dodwellus censuit; quare Caveus, cum in prima Commentarii sui de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis editione, inter quarti saeculi scriptores Commodianum recensuisset, in altera Oxoniensi editione Dodwelli conjecturis motus in eadem cum ipso sententiam abiit. Ad tempora saeculi secundi vergentis, sive desinentis eumdem refert Sebastianus Pauli, clericus regularis in dissertatione italice edita Neapoli, 1714, in 8° de Poesi SS. Patrum graecorum, latinorumque in primis Ecclesiae Christi saeculis.

The time is investigated at which Commodian flourished. — Concerning the age in which Commodian lived, the learned do not agree. Rigault, Dupin and Ceillier think that he flourished under the rule of Constantine the Great and under the pontificate of Saint Sylvester, which pontiff Commodian is said, by the common opinion of the learned, to mention in his writings. Dodwell, however, judged that he was older, and either contemporary with Cyprian or nearly so; for which reason Cave, although in the first edition of his Commentary on ecclesiastical writers he had listed Commodian among the writers of the fourth century, in the second, Oxford edition, moved by Dodwell's conjectures, came round to the same opinion as he. Sebastiano Pauli, a clerk regular, assigns him to the times of the second century as it was declining or ending, in a dissertation published in Italian at Naples, 1714, in octavo, on the Poetry of the Holy Greek and Latin Fathers in the first centuries of the Church of Christ.

Gennadius expensus. — Si vero Gennadium audiamus, statuendum videtur saeculo IV, ut nimium, vixisse Commodianum: ait enim, ipsum Tertullianum et Lactantium, et Papiam auctores fuisse secutum. Atque hanc fuisse quidem Gennadii sententiam plerique existimarunt. Verum si ejus verba penitius inspiciantur, non sunt fortasse de nostri scriptoris aetate intelligenda, sed potius de placitis nonnullis, quae re vera cum iis auctoribus habuisse communia Commodianus comperitur: alioquin dicendus esset presbyter ille massiliensis censuisse, Papiam Tertulliano et Lactantio fuisse posteriorem, quem videlicet scriptoribus illis subjiciat; quod sane affirmare non ausim: ut proinde, meo quidem judicio, illud solum iis verbis

Gennadius weighed. — If, however, we listen to Gennadius, it seems we must establish that Commodian lived in the fourth century at the latest: for he says that he followed Tertullian and Lactantius and Papias as his authorities. And most have indeed reckoned that this was Gennadius's opinion. But if his words are examined more deeply, they are perhaps not to be understood of our writer's age, but rather of certain tenets which Commodian is found in fact to have held in common with those authors: otherwise that presbyter of Marseilles would have to be said to have held that Papias was later than Tertullian and Lactantius, since he places him after those writers; which I certainly would not dare to affirm: so that, in my judgement at least, by those words only this

Editors' notes and page, col. 192

Footnotes

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Commod. in Præfat., Versus 4 — 6.

Commodian, Preface, lines 4–6.

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(2) ‹anchor: Rigaltius› · call in col 192

Rigalt., Præfat. in Commodianum.

Rigault, Preface to Commodian.

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(3) ‹anchor: Dupinius› · call in col 192

Dupin., Bibl. des Auteurs, tom. i, p. 326 et 328, in Not. edit. Colon. latinæ.

Dupin, Bibliothèque des auteurs [ecclésiastiques], vol. 1, pp. 326 and 328, in the notes of the Latin edition of Cologne.

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Ceillier., Hist. Général., tom. iv, cap. 6, p 179.

Ceillier, Histoire générale [des auteurs sacrés], vol. 4, chapter 6, p. 179.

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Dodwell., Dissert. de Commodiani ætate, Oxonii, 1698, in–8°.

Dodwell, Dissertation on the Age of Commodian, Oxford, 1698, octavo.

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(6) ‹anchor: Sebastianus Pauli› · call in col 192

Sebast. Pauli, Dissert. de Poesi SS. PP. p. 180.

Sebastiano Paoli, Dissertation on the Poetry of the Holy Fathers, p. 180.

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running head: ANO GAZÆO, ORIGINE AFRO. 192 (left part cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A christianae expers, ethnicae vero; B cultus, et quamvis ingenii; C suisset, in altera Oxoniensi; D cum iis auctoribus habuisse
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insinuasse Gennadius videatur, Commodianum alicubi sectatum fuisse, quae Papias primum, deinde Tertullianus, ac postea Lactantius minus recte tradiderunt.

Gennadius seems to have insinuated that Commodian in some places followed what first Papias, then Tertullian, and afterwards Lactantius handed down less than rightly.

Rigaltii sententia minus probatur. — Utcumque sit, Rigaltius Gennadii auctoritate, uti videtur, permotus, ejusque verba de Commodiani aetate accipiens; eam praeterea ex ipsius auctoris instructionibus confirmare aggressus est: ratus nimirum temporis notationem sibi fuisse detectam qua illum Sylvestro romano pontifici, atque adeo Constantino Magno coaevum statueret. In quam quidem rigaltianam sententiam tantum non omnes eruditi deinceps concessere.

The opinion of Rigault is less approved. However that may be, Rigault, moved, as it seems, by the authority of Gennadius, and taking his words as referring to Commodian's age, undertook moreover to confirm it from the author's own Instructions, thinking, namely, that he had detected an indication of the time by which he might establish him as contemporary with Sylvester, the Roman pontiff, and so with Constantine the Great. To this Rigaltian opinion all but every scholar thereafter assented.

Dodwelliana potior videtur. — Verum Henricus Dodwellus in antiquitatis indagatione rimator acerrimus, postquam verae lectioni, Sirmondo tamen praeeunte, Commodiani locum restituisset, a Rigaltio sollicitatum, quo suae causae praesidium quaereret; integrum deinde perlustrans opusculum, saevientibus adhuc Ecclesiae persecutionibus illud fuisse conscriptum perspexit; adeoque Commodianum Cypriano potius, quam Sylvestro extitisse propriorem edocuit. Et viri quidem Critici pleraque argumenta sunt ejusmodi, quae ad assensum extorquendum plurimum valere videantur: eaque strictim saltem in medium proferre animus est, cum plurimis haud praesto sit dissertatio de Commodiani aetate, quam V. C. Annalibus Velleianis, Quintilianeis, et Statianis subjecit Oxonii, 1698, in-8°.

The Dodwellian [opinion] seems preferable. But Henry Dodwell, a most keen searcher in the investigation of antiquity, after he had restored to its true reading, though with Sirmond leading the way, the passage of Commodian which had been tampered with by Rigault so that he might seek support for his own case, then, going through the whole little work, perceived that it had been written while the persecutions of the Church were still raging, and so showed that Commodian had lived nearer to Cyprian than to Sylvester. And most of the critic's arguments are of such a kind that they seem to have very great force for wringing out assent; and it is our intention to bring them forward, at least briefly, since the dissertation On the Age of Commodian, which that distinguished man appended to his Annales Velleiani, Quintilianei, et Statiani at Oxford, 1698, in octavo, is not at hand for very many.

Dodwelli sententia summatim a Caveo exposita. — Dodwelli sententiam summatim exponit perdoctus Caveus ita disserens: « Notandum igitur 1° Commodianum ducentos tantum a Christo annos numerare. Instruct. VI, vers. 2, gentiles ita alloquitur:

Dodwell's opinion set out in summary by Cave. The most learned Cave sets out Dodwell's opinion in summary, arguing thus: “It is to be noted, then, first, that Commodian reckons only two hundred years from Christ. In Instruction 6, verse 2, he addresses the gentiles thus:

Et si parvulitas sic sensit, cur annis ducentis / Fuistis infantes? numquid et semper eritis?

And if childishness thought so, why for two hundred years have you been infants? Will you indeed be so for ever?

Fatendum est, ducentos hoc loco annos non stricte esse intelligendos, quasi non fuerint paulo plures. Veteres enim nondum adinventa accurata aerae christianae Epocha, annos a Christo nato ad suam usque aetatem computantes, numero plerumque rotundo loqui solent, et in fine seculi proxime elapsi subsistere, resecto, plus minusque fuerit, quod excurrit, tempore. Quandoque et ita se explicat Arnobius, lib. I, pag. 9: Trecenti sunt anni ferme, minus vel plus aliquid, ex quo coepimus esse christiani. Nec aliter olim Ennius, septingenti sunt, paulo plus aut minus, anni. Verum hoc numquam ab iis factum est, ubi qui supra numerum excurrunt anni, integrum istius saeculi spatium occupant; multo minus, ubi alterum etiam comprehendunt. Etiamsi igitur nondum exacto saeculo tertio, ducentos annos dicere potuit Commodianus, tamen ultra labentem currentis saeculi partem, nulla ratione extendi queunt. Invicto plane argumento, nulloque sophismate eludendo, auctorem nostrum

It must be admitted that two hundred years are not to be understood strictly in this place, as though they were not a little more. For the ancients, the accurate epoch of the Christian era not yet having been devised, when computing the years from the birth of Christ down to their own time, are generally accustomed to speak in a round number and to stop at the end of the century last elapsed, the time that runs over, whether more or less, being cut off. Sometimes Arnobius too expresses himself thus, book 1, page 9: It is about three hundred years, something less or more, since we began to be Christians. Nor otherwise did Ennius of old: it is seven hundred years, a little more or less. But this was never done by them where the years which run over beyond the number occupy the whole space of that century; much less where they take in another as well. Even if, therefore, the third century not yet being completed, Commodian could say two hundred years, yet they can by no means be extended beyond the passing part of the current century. By a plainly invincible argument, and one not to be evaded by any sophistry, our author

Editors' notes and page, col. 193

Footnotes

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Rigalt., ad Instruct. xxxiii, vers. 494.

Rigault, on Instruction 33, line 494.

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(2) ‹anchor: ita disserens› · call in col 193

Cave, Hist. litterar., pag. 137, edit. Oxon. secundæ, 1740.

Cave, Historia litteraria, p. 137, second Oxford edition, 1740.

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running head: 193 DE COMMODIANO GAZÆO, O[...] (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹insinuasse Gennadius videatur›; B ‹Dodwellus in antiquitatis indagatione›; C ‹Dodwelli sententia summatim a Caveo exposita›; D ‹pag. 9: Trecenti sunt anni ferme›
old-edition numerals: (none)

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intra tertii saeculi limites esse coercendum.

is to be confined within the limits of the third century.

« Scripsit Commodianus vel pace vixdum plene reddita, vel persecutione mox expectanda. Hinc pacem subdolam vocat, Instruct. LXV; et persecutionem instare dicit: agonia summe propinqua, Instruct. LIII, v. 10. Fideles monet, ut martyribus assistant, seu, ut ipsius verbo utar, admartyrizent, Instruct. LVIII, v. 19, ubi etiam describit pugnam cum tristitia, et palmam, quae victoriae donatur, Instruct. LXII. Agit de iis, qui martyrium affectare prae se ferebant, Instruct. LX, v. 1: Pastor si confessus fuerit, id est, interpretante Rigaltio, si de nomine interrogatus, clare et constanter responderit, Sum Christianus; si thus acerae profanorum imponere jussus, fortiter abnuendo clamaverit, non facio, geminavit agonem. Et, ne plura congeram, Caesarem Tyrannum vocat Instr. XXIII, v. 14. Haec aliaque plura saeculo tertio optime congruunt, quando cessante persecutione Deciana, pacem sub Gallieno redditam, infirmam quidem, et instabilem, persecutio sub Aureliano mox interrupit; Sylvestri vero temporibus convenire nequeunt. Constantino enim rerum in Occidente potito, quieta ac tranquilla erant omnia; nullus a gentilibus persecutionis metus. Vivebant Christiani sub ejus patrocinio tuti, legibus muniti, privilegiis ornati, divitiis et dignitatibus aucti, magistratus ubique, imperatoris exemplo, propitios et benevolos experti.

« Commodian wrote either when peace had scarcely been fully restored, or when persecution was soon to be expected. Hence he calls the peace treacherous, Instruction 65; and he says that persecution is imminent: the contest is very near at hand, Instruction 53, v. 10. He admonishes the faithful to stand by the martyrs, or, to use his own word, to "join in martyrdom" (admartyrizent), Instruction 58, v. 19, where he also describes the struggle with sorrow, and the palm which is given to victory, Instruction 62. He deals with those who openly made a show of aspiring to martyrdom, Instruction 60, v. 1: If the pastor has confessed, that is, as Rigaltius interprets it, if, when questioned about the name, he has answered clearly and steadfastly, I am a Christian; if, when ordered to place incense on the censer of the profane, he has cried out with a firm refusal, I will not do it, he has doubled the contest. And, not to heap up more, he calls Caesar a Tyrant, Instruction 23, v. 14. These and many other things fit the third century excellently, when, the Decian persecution having ceased, the peace restored under Gallienus, weak indeed and unstable, was soon interrupted by the persecution under Aurelian; but they cannot fit the times of Sylvester. For once Constantine had gained power in the West, all things were quiet and tranquil; there was no fear of persecution from the gentiles. Christians lived safe under his patronage, protected by laws, adorned with privileges, increased in riches and dignities, and found the magistrates everywhere, after the emperor's example, favourable and well disposed.

« Tota scribendi ratio aevi Cypriani ingenium, mores, et disciplinam imitatur. Iisdem pene cum Tertulliano et Cypriano loquendi modis non raro utitur, ut ubique observat Rigaltius. Novati schisma carpere videtur, Instruct. XLII. Reprehendit eos, Instruct. LXI, qui dum fratres adversante mundo, sub armis laborarent, ipsi farti opibus, nec pugnarent, nec pugnanti se sisterent, et cum viderent fratrem causa schismatis abstentum, optabant nihilominus in castris pacem, indulgentiam nempe lapsis dandam, antequam pax Ecclesiae redderetur. Instruct. LVII, disciplinam non esse nimia indulgentia laxandam contendit. Instruct. LII, duo desertorum genera constituit: Est alius nequam, qui scilicet sacrificat idolo; alius in parte recedit, qui praesidi offert libellum, concussori pecuniam, ne in Capitolium sacrificaturus pertrahatur. Respicit, inquit Rigaltius, thurificatos, et libellaticos; et hi quidem posteriores vix alio, quam aevo Cyprianico, memorantur. Infinitus essem, si omnia recenserem, quae de poenitentibus, de martyrii zelo, de fuga in persecutione, de schismaticorum studiis, de pompa funerum, de filiis sub persecutione defunctis non lugendis, de Judaeis, etc., cum Cypriano communia habet.

« The whole manner of writing reflects the character, customs and discipline of Cyprian's age. Not seldom he uses almost the same modes of speech as Tertullian and Cyprian, as Rigaltius notes throughout. He seems to censure the schism of Novatus, Instruction 42. He rebukes those, Instruction 61, who, while their brethren laboured under arms with the world against them, themselves, stuffed with riches, neither fought nor stood by the one fighting, and, when they saw a brother kept away on account of schism, nevertheless wished for peace in the camp, namely that indulgence should be given to the lapsed before peace was restored to the Church. In Instruction 57 he contends that discipline must not be relaxed by excessive indulgence. In Instruction 52 he distinguishes two kinds of deserters: One is wicked, namely he who sacrifices to an idol; another withdraws in part, he who offers a certificate to the governor and money to the extortioner, so as not to be dragged to the Capitol to sacrifice. He has in view, says Rigaltius, the thurificati and the libellatici; and these latter indeed are mentioned in scarcely any other age than Cyprian's. I should be endless if I were to go through everything that he has in common with Cyprian concerning penitents, zeal for martyrdom, flight in persecution, the pursuits of schismatics, the pomp of funerals, children who died in persecution not to be mourned, the Jews, and so on.

« Nulla, ne quidem levissima in toto hoc libello victoriae a Constantino, de Maxentio nuper reportatae, nulla signi crucis in coelo miraculose apparentis, nulla gloriae et felicitatis Constantini, vel immunitatum Ecclesiae concessarum mentio, quod tamen ab homine immenso suae religionis zelo flagrante, merito expectari poterat. Argumentum fateor negativum,

« There is no mention, not even the slightest, in this whole little book, of the victory recently won by Constantine over Maxentius, none of the sign of the cross miraculously appearing in the sky, none of the glory and good fortune of Constantine, or of the immunities granted to the Church, which nevertheless could rightly have been expected from a man burning with immense zeal for his religion. The argument, I admit, is a negative one,

Editors' notes and page, col. 194

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running head: [COMMODIA]NO GAZÆO, ORIGINE AFRO. 194
marginal letters: A ‹strum intra tertii saeculi›; B ‹ne plura congeram, Caesarem›; C ‹utitur, ut ubique observat Rigaltius›; D ‹quam aevo Cyprianico, memorantur›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: editors' matter: dissertation on Commodian's date (‹strum intra tertii saeculi›), quoting another scholar in «-marked paragraphs; column begins with the fragment "strum" (end of a word broken from col. 193, likely nostrum); column ends mid-word "negati-" (negativum); "victoriae" in para 1 ("quae victoriae donatur") read through poor type (looks like rictoriae); "inquit" read through poor type

PL 5:195

sed quod non levem, apud aequos rerum aestimatores, vim atque auctoritatem habet.

but one which, among fair judges of things, has no slight force and authority.

« His ita expositis, restat, ut communem de tempore Sylvestri papae sententiam breviter excutiamus. Ejus unica quidem basis et fundamentum est ipsius Commodiani locus, prout in editis habetur Instruct. XXXIII, v. 5, ubi gentiles ad Ecclesiam invitat:

« These things having been thus set out, it remains for us briefly to examine the common opinion concerning the time of Pope Sylvester. Its one basis and foundation is a passage of Commodian himself, as it stands in the printed editions, Instruct. 33, v. 5, where he invites the gentiles to the Church:

Intrate stabulis sylvestri ad praesepe pastoris.

Enter the stables of Sylvester to the manger of the shepherd.

Verum haec non sunt ipsius Commodiani, sed ingenii potius Rigaltiani commentum, et longe aliud respicere videntur. In codice Sirmondiano, ex quo descripsit Rigaltius, verba, ipsomet fatente, ita se habent:

But these words are not Commodian's own, but rather an invention of Rigault's ingenuity, and they appear to look towards something very different. In the Sirmond codex, from which Rigault copied, the words, as he himself admits, stand thus:

Intrate stabulis sylvestri ad praesepia tauri.

Enter the stables of Sylvester to the mangers of the bull.

Alloquitur gentiles nempe, tamquam belluinis animis, moribusque praeditos. Hinc versu praecedenti, corda fera et exasperata; Instruct. XXXV, v. 1, Indomita cervis; v. 5, Noli pecus esse ferinum; v. 17, Quasi bestius errans. Hos igitur, instar taurorum, in sylvis campisque palantes invitat, ut Ecclesiae stabula intrarent, ut ad Christi praesepe accederent; ubi, ut verbis proxime sequentibus loquitur, latronibus tuti sub regia tecta manerent. Non dubito igitur, quin cum cl. Dodwello levi mutatione legendum sit: Intrate stabula Sylvestris ad praesepia tauri: Sylvestris plurali numero pro Sylvestreis: utroque enim modo scribebant veteres. » — Haec hactenus, et forsan plus satis ex doctissimo Caveo. Hic solummodo adhuc observo, quod Sirmondus legit: Intrate stabiles vestra ad praesepia tauri. In apographo autem erat: Intrate stabilis Sylvestri ad praesepia tauri. Tandem observo, quod cl. Schroeckhius in historia christiana parte IV, pag. 489 et cl. Oelrichs sententiae dodwellianae accedant.

He is addressing the gentiles, that is, as men endowed with bestial minds and manners. Hence in the preceding verse, fierce and embittered hearts; Instruct. 35, v. 1, Untamed with the stags; v. 5, Do not be a wild beast; v. 17, Wandering like a beast. These men, therefore, roaming like bulls through woods and fields, he invites to enter the stables of the Church, to approach the manger of Christ, where, as he says in the words immediately following, they might remain safe from robbers under the royal roofs. I do not doubt, therefore, that with the celebrated Dodwell we should read, by a slight change: Intrate stabula Sylvestris ad praesepia tauri ("Enter the stables, you woodland ones, to the mangers of the bull"): Sylvestris in the plural number for Sylvestreis; for the ancients wrote it both ways. » So far this, and perhaps more than enough, from the most learned Cave. Here I only further observe that Sirmond reads: Intrate stabiles vestra ad praesepia tauri ("Enter, steadfast ones, your [stables] to the mangers of the bull"). In the copy, however, it was: Intrate stabilis Sylvestri ad praesepia tauri. Finally I observe that the celebrated Schroeckh in his Christian history, part 4, p. 489, and the celebrated Oelrichs agree with Dodwell's opinion.

ARTICULUS II.

Article II.

De libello quem Commodianus composuit.

On the little book which Commodian composed.

Opusculi divisio et scopus. — Opusculum Commodiani instructiones adversus gentium Deos inscriptum, octoginta universim complectitur capita: quorum priora sex et triginta ad homines potissimum diriguntur a christiana religione alienos; quibus vanitate impiorum numinum demonstrata, eos ad suscipiendam Christi religionem hortatur; quae autem sequuntur usque ad quadragesimum quartum, Judaeos respiciunt, quos auctor ad christiani nominis societatem graviter invitat; ubi simul de antichristo, de judicio et resurrectione verba facit: reliqua vero ad erudiendos praecipue catechumenos, Deique religiosos cultores, et singillatim ad poenitentes pertinent, ne obliti scilicet christianorum officiorum, ad saecularia redeant.

Division and purpose of the little work. — Commodian's little work, entitled Instructions against the gods of the gentiles, comprises eighty chapters in all, of which the first thirty-six are directed chiefly to men estranged from the Christian religion; having shown them the emptiness of the impious deities, he exhorts them to take up the religion of Christ. Those which follow, up to the forty-fourth, concern the Jews, whom the author earnestly invites into the fellowship of the Christian name, where he also speaks of the antichrist, of the judgement and of the resurrection; the rest pertain chiefly to the instruction of catechumens and of the devout worshippers of God, and in particular to penitents, lest, that is, forgetting Christian duties, they return to worldly things.

Stylus auctoris. — Scripsit Commodianus mediocri sermone, quasi versu, inquit Gennadius. Nimirum Rigaltio

The author's style. — Commodian wrote in middling language, as if in verse, says Gennadius. Indeed with Rigaltius

Editors' notes and page, col. 195

Footnotes

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Male ad sæculum quartum rejicitur Commodianus. Oelrichs, Commentarii de Scriptor. Eccles. latin. priorum sex sæculor, pag. 44.

Commodian is wrongly put back to the fourth century. Oelrichs, Commentarii de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis latinis priorum sex saeculorum, p. 44.

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Schurtzfleisch., præfat. ad Commodianum.

Schurtzfleisch, preface to Commodian.

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running head: 195 DE COMMODIANO GAZÆO,
marginal letters: A ‹vum, sed quod non levem›; B ‹Intrate stabulis sylvestri ad praesepia tauri›; C ‹servo, quod Sirmondus legit›; D ‹tur usque ad quadragesimum quartum›
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PL 5:196

interprete: « Versibus faciendis nec leges nec modulos servat: major ubique acrostichidis ratio, quam metri. Acrostichides vero sunt ex cujusque poematii titulis constructae, sic adsignata cuique versui littera, ut a primo cujusque poematii versu totus deinceps poematii titulus per litteras versuum primas decurrat. » Alicubi tamen deficit haec norma, ut suis locis animadversum est a viris eruditis. Versus autem Commodiani ita sunt comparati, ut numerus Hexametri carminis utcumque servetur, neglecta syllabarum quantitate, sicut in psalmo trochaico S. Augustini contra partem Donati, qui ejus scriptis contra Donatum, tom. IX operum praemittitur: vel sicut in aliis apud illustrem Scipionem Maffeium dissert. (subjecta ejus historiae diplomaticae) Sopra i versi ritmici, pag. 186, seqq. et in hexametris codici latino-biblico praemissis circa annum Christi 750, a Gregorio cardinali apud Justum Fontaninum, in appendice ad discum argenteum votivum, pag. 86, vel ut in carminibus politicis recentis Graeciae solet fieri, vel quale carmen hexametron graecum ex psalterio Ms. murbacensi edidit celeberrimus Montfauconius in Palaeographia Graeca, pag. 220.

as interpreter: "In making his verses he keeps neither laws nor measures: everywhere the account taken of the acrostic is greater than that of the metre. The acrostics, moreover, are constructed from the titles of each little poem, a letter being so assigned to each verse that, from the first verse of each little poem onwards, the whole title of the little poem runs through the first letters of the verses." In some places, however, this rule fails, as has been noticed in their places by learned men. The verses of Commodian, moreover, are so composed that the number of the hexameter poem is kept after a fashion, the quantity of the syllables being neglected, as in the trochaic psalm of St Augustine against the party of Donatus, which is placed before his writings against Donatus, in volume IX of his works; or as in others in the illustrious Scipione Maffei's dissertation (appended to his diplomatic history) Sopra i versi ritmici, p. 186 ff.; and in the hexameters placed before a Latin biblical codex about the year of Christ 750, by Cardinal Gregory, in Giusto Fontanini, in the appendix on the votive silver disc, p. 86; or as is customarily done in the political verses of recent Greece; or such as the Greek hexameter poem from the Murbach manuscript psalter which the most celebrated Montfaucon published in his Palaeographia Graeca, p. 220.

Ad rationem autem scribendi quod attinet, durior illa quidem, quia et insolentes in Latio voces passim adhibitae: sed vicissim graecae ac latinae antiquitatis scita non vulgaria interserit auctor, ut viris doctis observatum.

As regards his manner of writing, it is indeed rather harsh, because words unusual in Latium are also used here and there; but in return the author inserts uncommon points of knowledge of Greek and Latin antiquity, as has been observed by learned men.

4. Operis pretium, et censura. — Caeterum in hoc ecclesiasticae vetustatis monumento spectatur imprimis antiqua pietas: ejus enim Auctor ubique se prodit virum bonum, vere christianum, ab omni gloriae saecularis fuco alienum, et charitatis, quae proprie christianum decet, cultorem egregium. At illud non est dissimulandum, naevis aliquot inspersum esse libellum, quos cum nonnullis vetustiorum Patrum communes habet Commodianus: cujusmodi sunt, quae narrantur de Angelis desertoribus, unde nati gigantes; de chiliasmo, de anastasi prima, de felicitate terrena, etc.: quae quidem in causa fuisse videntur, cur opusculum inter Gelasii apocrypha recenseretur: quemadmodum in eumdem censum referuntur item ob suos naevos Clemens Alexandrinus, Arnobius, Lactantius, Sulpicius Severus, aliique praestantissimi Auctores. Verum haud ita est accipienda Gelasii censura, ut ejusmodi vestutiorum scriptorum opera prorsus rejicienda existimentur; perinde ac si ea summus ille pontifex ab Ecclesia omnino proscribat, inquit magnus Baronius, sed ut publica in Ecclesia lectione priventur. Qua de re nos alibi ex cl. Fontaninio plura observasse meminimus, scribit

4. The worth of the work, and the judgement on it. — For the rest, in this monument of ecclesiastical antiquity an ancient piety is seen above all: for its Author everywhere shows himself a good man, truly Christian, a stranger to every false gloss of worldly glory, and a distinguished cultivator of charity, which properly befits a Christian. But this must not be concealed, that the little book is sprinkled with some blemishes, which Commodian has in common with certain of the more ancient Fathers: of which kind are the things related about the deserter Angels, from whom the giants were born; about chiliasm, about the first resurrection, about earthly felicity, etc.: these indeed seem to have been the reason why the little work was reckoned among the apocrypha of Gelasius; just as into the same list are likewise referred, on account of their blemishes, Clement of Alexandria, Arnobius, Lactantius, Sulpicius Severus and other most excellent Authors. But the censure of Gelasius is by no means to be taken in such a way that the works of such more ancient writers are judged to be wholly rejected, "as if that supreme pontiff were altogether proscribing them from the Church," says the great Baronius, but that they are deprived of public reading in the Church. On this matter we remember having observed many things elsewhere from the celebrated Fontanini, writes

Editors' notes and page, col. 196

Footnotes

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Rigalt., loc. cit.

Rigault, in the place cited.

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In ultimo capite acrostichis non ut in aliis a primo ad ultimum, sed a postremo ad primum versum legenda refert verba: Commodianus mendicus Christi.

In the last chapter the acrostic, to be read not, as in the others, from the first line to the last, but from the last line to the first, gives the words: "Commodianus, Christ's beggar."

(printed under page 100)

(3) ‹anchor: gigantes› · call in col 196

Commodian., Instruct. iii.

Commodian, Instructions 3.

(printed under page 100)

(4) ‹anchor: terrena, etc.› · call in col 196

Id., Instruct. xviii, xliv.

The same, Instructions 18, 44.

(printed under page 100)

(5) ‹anchor: magnus Baronius› · call in col 196

Baron., ad ann. 31, § 60.

Baronius, at the year 31, § 60.

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(6) ‹anchor: Fontaninio› · call in col 196

Fontanin., Hist. Aquilei. litterat., lib. v, cap. 11, § 8, pag. 354.

Fontanini, Historia litteraria Aquileiensis, book 5, chapter 11, § 8, p. 354.

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running head: [cut off at left] IANO GAZÆO, ORIGINE AFRO. 196
marginal letters: A ‹galtio interprete›; B ‹ritmici, pag. 186›; C ‹tiqua pietas›; D ‹Gelasii censura›
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PL 5:197

perdoctus Gallandius, ex quo haec deprompsimus.

the most learned Gallandi, from whom we have drawn these things.

Judicium cl. Dupinii de stylo, Auctoris charactere, operisque pretio. — A censura Gallandii non multum abludit perdocti Dupinii de Commodiano, ejusque libello crisis. Stilus ejus, inquit hic, est durus, verba barbara, et cogitationes demissae. Auctor videtur fuisse bonus, simplex, humilis, beneficus, Christi amore flagrantissimus, ejus religioni addictissimus, moribus austeris, vitio infensissimus, omnia saeculi hujus bona parvi faciens, quique optimus monachus fuisset, sicut observavit Rigaltius. Non erat tamen indoctus, atque imperitus; multa enim erudita, ad scientiam profanam pertinentia, in ejus opere habentur; immo nonnulla inveniuntur de gentilium diis rara, et exquisita. Videtur esse mentis sanae, aeris, et christianis praeceptis moralibus instructissimae.

The judgement of the distinguished Dupin on the style, the character of the author, and the worth of the work. — The verdict of the most learned Dupin on Commodian and his little book does not differ much from Gallandi's assessment. His style, says he, is harsh, the words barbarous, and the thoughts lowly. The author seems to have been good, simple, humble, beneficent, burning most ardently with love of Christ, most devoted to His religion, of austere morals, most hostile to vice, setting little value on all the goods of this world, and one who would have made an excellent monk, as Rigault observed. Yet he was not unlearned and unskilled; for many learned things pertaining to profane knowledge are found in his work; indeed, some rare and choice things are found concerning the gods of the gentiles. He seems to be of a sound and keen mind, most thoroughly instructed in the moral precepts of Christianity.

Operis hujus synopsis seu analysis. — In tres partes dividi potest hoc opusculum. Prima, quae triginta et sex strophas continet, inscripta est gentilibus, quos ad christianam religionem amplectendam hortatur, postquam deos, quos adorant, fictitios esse demonstravit. Secunda inscripta est Judaeis, quos etiam ad fidem christianam amplectendam hortatur, ostendens legem fuisse figurativam. De antichristo, judicio ultimo, et resurrectione disserit. Ultima inscripta est christianis catechumenis, fidelibus et poenitentibus, quibus praecepta moralia optima dat; a stropha quadragesima sexta incipit.

Synopsis or analysis of this work. — This little work can be divided into three parts. The first, which contains thirty-six strophes, is addressed to the gentiles, whom he exhorts to embrace the Christian religion, after he has shown that the gods whom they worship are fictitious. The second is addressed to the Jews, whom he likewise exhorts to embrace the Christian faith, showing that the law was figurative. He discourses on the Antichrist, the last judgement, and the resurrection. The last is addressed to Christian catechumens, the faithful and penitents, to whom he gives excellent moral precepts; it begins at the forty-sixth strophe.

Apud hunc auctorem veterum errores plerique inveniuntur. Docet daemones esse angelos mulierum amore corruptos, ex quorum cum illis commercio gigantes nati sunt; mundum post sex mille annos finitum iri; Neronem esse antichristum, duplicem fore resurrectionem: resurrectionem bonorum ante mille annorum regnum; et resurrectionem illam generalem, quae in ultimo judicio fiet: post priorem resurrectionem bonos mille annos in terra mansuros; posteaque omnes homines judicandos, malos in ignem praecipitandos, et totam naturae faciem mutandam.

In this author most of the errors of the ancients are found. He teaches that demons are angels corrupted by love of women, from whose intercourse with them the giants were born; that the world will come to an end after six thousand years; that Nero is the Antichrist; that there will be a twofold resurrection: a resurrection of the good before the reign of a thousand years, and that general resurrection which will take place at the last judgement; that after the first resurrection the good will remain a thousand years on earth; and that afterwards all men will be judged, the wicked cast headlong into the fire, and the whole face of nature changed.

Praecepta ejus moralia eximia sunt. Catechumenis commendat, ut vitam peccati expertem agant; poenitentibus, dies noctesque orent, vitamque severissime exigant, ad delicti veniam impetrandam. Hortatur fideles, malum vitent, odiumque deponant, affirmans martyrium illis non profuturum, si fratres odio haberent. Apostatis peccati sui enormitatem exhibet. Monet omnes christianos, ut cum Christi milites sint, adversus affectus suos continuo dimicent. Spectaculis profanis adesse prohibet. Mulieribus christianis commendat, ut sint modestae, luxum fugiant, et vestium magnificentiam. Optima praecepta dat pastoribus, et presbyteris, ut ministerio suo rite fungantur, vitam agant inculpatam, et avaritiae expertem; imprimis autem pauperibus succurrant;

His moral precepts are excellent. He urges catechumens to lead a life free of sin; penitents, to pray day and night and to pass their life most severely, in order to obtain pardon for their offence. He exhorts the faithful to shun evil and lay aside hatred, affirming that martyrdom will not profit them if they hold their brethren in hatred. To apostates he sets forth the enormity of their sin. He admonishes all Christians that, since they are soldiers of Christ, they should fight continually against their passions. He forbids attendance at profane spectacles. He urges Christian women to be modest, to flee luxury and magnificence of dress. He gives excellent precepts to pastors and presbyters, that they should discharge their ministry duly, lead a blameless life, free of avarice; and above all that they should succour the poor;

Editors' notes and page, col. 197

Footnotes

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Galland., Bibl. vet. PP., tom. iii, Prolegom, cap. 18, n. 2, pag. xlviii.

Gallandi, Bibliotheca veterum Patrum, vol. 3, Prolegomena, chapter 18, no. 2, p. 48.

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(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 197

Dupin., Bibl. Auctor., tom. i, pag. 327, edit latin. Colon.

Dupin, Bibliotheca auctorum, vol. 1, p. 327, Latin edition of Cologne.

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running head: 197 DE COMMODIANO GAZÆO, C[...] (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹perdoctus Gallandius›; B ‹christianis praeceptis moralibus›; C ‹amore corruptos, ex quorum›; D ‹affirmans martyrium illis›
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PL 5:198

divitibus, ait, ne propter divitias suas mente elatiores fiant, sed eas egenis impertiantur, illos juvent, aegros invisant, ac indigentes nutriant. Filiorum et cognatorum mortem non esse complorandam, dicit. Funebres pompas et funera splendida damnat. Eos acriter reprehendit, qui in templo silentium non observant. « Dixit Domini sacerdos, » inquit, « Corda ad Deum tollite; respondetis vos ea ad illum habere, et mox a promisso disceditis. Deum orat pro plebe, interea fabulas inter vos vicissim narratis, ridetis, alienae famae obtrectatis, sermones inconsideratos seritis, quasi abesset Deus, qui omnia fecit, videt et audit. » Deum precantibus ait cor suum purificent, priusquam ad preces se conferant. Uno verbo, harum instructionum pars ultima eximias continet cohortationes, quibus Christiani virtutem sectentur, et vitium fugiant, et commonitiones adversus mores Christianorum depravatos, et illius saeculi flagitia saeculi nostri fere similia. Hactenus perdoctus Dupinius.

to the rich, he says, let them not become prouder in mind on account of their riches, but let them share these with the needy, help them, visit the sick, and feed the indigent. He says that the death of sons and kinsfolk is not to be bewailed. He condemns funeral processions and splendid obsequies. He sharply rebukes those who do not keep silence in church. "The priest of the Lord has said," he says, "'Lift up your hearts to God'; you answer that you have them with Him, and straightway you depart from your promise. He prays to God for the people; meanwhile you tell stories to one another in turn, you laugh, you disparage another's good name, you sow thoughtless talk, as if God were absent, Who made all things, sees and hears." To those praying to God he says that they should purify their heart before they betake themselves to prayer. In a word, the last part of these Instructions contains excellent exhortations by which Christians may follow virtue and flee vice, and admonitions against the depraved morals of Christians, and the vices of that age, nearly like those of our own age. Thus far the most learned Dupin.

ARTICULUS III.

Article III.

De Commodiani editionibus.

On the editions of Commodian.

De editione Rigaltiana. — Hic tractatus Commodiani diu latuit in tenebris, et primum in lucem productus est elapso saeculo, cum Pater Sirmondus eum de antiquo manuscripto exscripsisset. Rigaltius hoc exemplum anno †1649, vel potius anno 1650, typis excudi jussit. Quantum vero curae atque laboris Rigaltius Commodiano impenderit, ipsemet his verbis declarat: « Libelli vetus exemplar, » inquit, « apographum habui tantum ab eximio viro Jacobo Sirmondo; sed foedis ubique fere mendis corruptum. Veterem scripturam, vel ipse Sirmondus habet, vel unde haberi queat, scire non diffitetur. Ego quidem valde assentior existimantibus, futilem esse, atque fallacem, immo plerumque in hac litterarum parte perniciosam conjectandi licentiam: sed ex istius libelli apographis constat, †matrem illam antiquam fuisse jam pridem depravatissimam. Itaque quod fieri solet in desperatis, libuit in isto misello Commodiano (non tamquam in ea re; nam esse pretii duco non minimi christianum, quem inter illustres censuit Gennadius) periculum facere, si qua posset industria libellus scriptoris antiquissimi editione nostra reformari ac restaurari. — Caeterum, qualiscumque iste Commodianus esse videbitur, ab Gennadio primum, inde ab Gelasio citatus; hoc tandem saeculo in Sirmondi manibus apparuit squalidus,

On the Rigault edition. — This treatise of Commodian long lay hidden in darkness, and was first brought to light in the past century, when Father Sirmond had copied it out from an ancient manuscript. Rigault ordered this copy to be printed in the year 1649, or rather in the year 1650. How much care and labour Rigault spent on Commodian he himself declares in these words: "Of the little book's old exemplar," he says, "I had only a transcript from that excellent man Jacques Sirmond; but it was corrupted almost everywhere with foul errors. Sirmond does not deny that he either has the old text himself or knows whence it may be had. I indeed strongly agree with those who think that the licence of conjecture is futile and deceptive, nay, for the most part pernicious in this branch of letters: but it is clear from the transcripts of this little book that that ancient parent [copy] had long since been most corrupt. Therefore, as is usually done in desperate cases, I chose to make a trial on this poor wretched Commodian (not as though in a matter of that kind; for I reckon a Christian of no small worth whom Gennadius counted among illustrious men), whether by any diligence the little book of a most ancient writer could be reformed and restored by our edition. — For the rest, whatever this Commodian shall appear to be, he was cited first by Gennadius, then by Gelasius; at last in this century he appeared in Sirmond's hands, squalid,

Editors' notes and page, col. 198

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: sacerdos, » inquit› · call in col 198

Commodian., Instruct. LXXVI: Sacerdos Domini cum sursum corda præcepit, in prece fienda, ut fiant silentia vestra, limpide respondes, nec temperas quoque promissis. Exorat ille Altissimum pro plebe devota, ne pereat aliquis, et tu te in fabulas vertis; tu subrides ibi, aut detrahis proximi famæ, indisciplinate loqueris, quasi sit Deus absens, omittis, qui fecit, nec audiat, neque cernat.

Commodian, Instructions 76: When the priest of the Lord has bidden "Lift up your hearts", so that in the prayer to be made there may be silence among you, you answer clearly, yet you do not even hold to what you have promised. He entreats the Most High for the devout people, that none may perish, and you turn to idle tales; you smile there, or slander your neighbour's good name, you talk without discipline, as if God were absent; you neglect Him who made you, as though He neither heard nor saw.

(printed under page 101)

(2) ‹anchor: exscripsisset› · call in col 198

Meminit ejus adhuc inediti apographi, et duo loca emendat Gilbertus Gaulminus ad Eustathium de Ismeniæ et Ismenes amoribus, pag. 17 et seq.

Gilbert Gaulmin mentions this copy, still unpublished, and corrects two passages of it, in his notes to Eustathius On the Loves of Ismenias and Ismene, p. 17 ff.

(printed under page 101)

(3) ‹anchor: inquit› · call in col 198

Nicol. Rigalt. Præfat. in Commodianum.

Nicolas Rigault, Preface to Commodian.

(printed under page 101)

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running head: ANO GAZÆO, ORIGINE AFRO. (beginning cut off at left edge; column number 198)
marginal letters: A ‹rant; divitibus, ait›; B ‹tinet cohortationes›; C ‹declarat: « Libelli vetus›; D ‹nostra reformari ac›
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tamquam ex vinculis ac diutino apud Barbaros situ, vindicias poscens. Nec vindicem sane alium optare potuit praestantiorem Sirmondo. Nam exinde ostensus et communicatus amicis, benigne excipi ac foveri coepit. Neque ipsum hac editione sperare aliud velim, quam ut oblatus iterum Sirmondo, plena demum ac juxta apud eum manumissione prodeat, liberali schemate tersus ac nitidus. Interea vero dum id properatur, magnae auctoritatis manumissorem exoratum cupio; ac, pro viri benignitate, confido fore, bonas ut in partes accipiat, horas aliquot a me impensas homini christianae pietatis ac disciplinae sanciendae studiosissimo: nimirum ut appareat hodie Cypriano, sicut Minucius nuper adstitit Tertulliano: et jam uterque doctor suo gaudeat sequaci: uterque item minister suo serviat magistro, sive sacerdoti. Saeculum iste suum malis moribus inquinatissimum castigat, acer ubique et horridus monitor: quasi prophetico furore carminum sonos fundit, negligens ordinis, negligens elegantiarum, asyndeta vel anacoluta passim, ut tamen existat in ipso neglectu cura et facultas, et vis aliqua dicendi. — Observationibus meis hoc praesertim studui, de scriptoribus aevo Commodiani proximis apponere, quod obscuris daret lucem. Conjecturas proposui, quales absque exemplaribus antiquis praestare nemo debeat; quibus tamen uti minime pudeat, quamdiu non contradicent exemplaria. » Hucusque Rigaltius.

as if from chains and long neglect among the barbarians, demanding to be claimed into freedom. Nor indeed could he have wished for any more excellent champion than Sirmond. For from then on, once shown and shared with friends, he began to be kindly received and cherished. Nor would I wish him to hope for anything else from this edition than that, offered once more to Sirmond, he may at last come forth with a full and proper manumission at his hands, cleaned and polished in a liberal dress. Meanwhile, however, while that is being hastened, I desire that the manumitter of great authority be entreated; and, given the man's kindness, I trust that he will take in good part the few hours I have spent on a man most zealous for establishing Christian piety and discipline: namely, so that he may now appear beside Cyprian, as Minucius lately stood beside Tertullian; and so that each doctor may now rejoice in his own follower, and each minister likewise serve his own master, or priest. He chastises his age, most defiled by evil morals, a sharp and rough admonisher everywhere: as if with prophetic frenzy he pours out the sounds of his verses, neglecting order, neglecting elegances, with asyndeta and anacolutha here and there, yet so that in this very neglect there appear care and skill, and a certain force of speaking. — In my observations I have chiefly been at pains to set beside him, from the writers nearest to Commodian's age, whatever might shed light on obscure places. I have put forward conjectures, such as no one ought to offer without ancient copies; yet which one need not be at all ashamed to use, so long as the copies do not contradict them." Thus far Rigault.

Recensio editionum hujus libelli. — Primus itaque Commodianum e Jacobi Sirmondi apographo admodum mendoso edidit Nicolaus Rigaltius, Tulli Leucorum apud S. Belgrand et J. Laurentium typographos regios, anno 1650, in-4°, additis notis eruditis. Deinde subjectus est ad calcem Cypriani, Minucii, Arnobii, et Julii Firmici, qui ejusdem Rigaltii et Philippi Priorii cura illustrati prodierunt, Parisiis, 1666, in-fol. Deinde omissis Rigaltii notis, tom. XXVII Bibliothecae Patrum, Lugduni, 1677, in-fol. Ab eo tempore cum Rigaltii animadversionibus, Dodwellique dissertatione, et praefatione D. Henrici Leonardi Schurtzfleischii recusus est Wittebergae, 1705, in-4°. Supplemeutum notarum in illum scriptorem ex Ezech. Spanhemii Bibl. cum laudati Schurtzfleischii Glossario et indice separatim excusum est Wittebergae, 1709, in-4°. Posteriori suae Minucii Felicis editioni Commodianum quoque notis suis et Rigaltii illustratum subjunxit vir clarissimus Joannes Davisius Cantabrigiae, 1711, in-8°. Eumdem scriptorem exhibet etiam poetarum latinorum collectio pisaurensis, tom. VI, anno 1756. Postremo Venetiis, anno 1767, in Bibliotheca vet. PP. tom. III, a pag. 621—653, recusus habetur Commodianus: suam autem Gallandius expressit editionem ad normam posterioris Rigaltianae Parisiensis, ejusdem notis, cum davisianis observationibus textui suppositis,

Review of the editions of this little book. — Commodian, then, was first edited, from a very faulty transcript of Jacques Sirmond's, by Nicolas Rigault, at Toul, by S. Belgrand and J. Laurent, printers to the king, in the year 1650, in quarto, with learned notes added. Next he was appended at the end of Cyprian, Minucius, Arnobius and Julius Firmicus, which came out illustrated by the care of the same Rigault and of Philippe Prieur, at Paris, 1666, in folio. Next, with Rigault's notes omitted, in vol. XXVII of the Bibliotheca Patrum, Lyons, 1677, in folio. After that time he was reprinted with Rigault's remarks, Dodwell's dissertation, and a preface by Dr Heinrich Leonhard Schurtzfleisch at Wittenberg, 1705, in quarto. A supplement of notes on that writer from Ezechiel Spanheim's library, with the Glossary and index of the said Schurtzfleisch, was printed separately at Wittenberg, 1709, in quarto. To his later edition of Minucius Felix the most distinguished John Davies also subjoined Commodian, illustrated with his own notes and Rigault's, at Cambridge, 1711, in octavo. The Pesaro collection of Latin poets also presents the same writer, vol. VI, in the year 1756. Lastly, at Venice, in the year 1767, Commodian is found reprinted in the Bibliotheca veterum Patrum, vol. III, pp. 621–653: but Galland modelled his edition on the later Parisian edition of Rigault, with the same notes, together with Davies's observations placed beneath the text,

Editors' notes and page, col. 199

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: anno 1650, in-4°› · call in col 199

Clarissimus Remigius Ceillierius, tom. IV Hist. Général., cap. 6, pag. 181, notat editionem Commodiani parisiensem de anno 1648, et Gallandius editionem Tulli Leucorum, 1649.

The most distinguished Rémi Ceillier, Histoire générale, vol. 4, chapter 6, p. 181, notes a Paris edition of Commodian of the year 1648, and Gallandi an edition of Toul, 1649.

(printed under page 102)

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running head: 99 DE COMMODIANO GAZÆO, … (only the left part visible in these images; printed column number reads 99, not 199)
marginal letters: A ‹tamquam ex vinculis›; B ‹item minister suo serviat›; C ‹dum mendoso edidit›; D ‹Felicis editioni Commodianum›
old-edition numerals: (none)
misprints kept as printed: "Supplemeutum" (for Supplementum); "juxta" in "plena demum ac juxta apud eum manumissione" (probably for justa; the English follows justa; UNSURE).

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propriisque subinde animadversionibus adjectis. Gallandii editionem secutus est cl. P. Dominicus Schramm Banthensis Benedictinus in analysii SS. Patrum, tom. VI, Augustae Vindelicorum 1784, a pag. 485—518. Ex manuscripto codice S. Albini Andegavensis loca quaedam Commodiani emendavit Baluzius ad Cyprianum, pag. 454, 455, 458. Claudit recensionem opusculi hujus Caveus optimis hisce Rigaltii verbis: « Usus et efficacia libelli hujusce fuerit constans et perpetuus amor Christi; animus ad martyrium fortis; pietas erga pauperes maxima. Hoc praeterea scire vitia, quae etiamnum Ecclesiam dehonestant, esse vetustissima: infinitam semper fuisse de rebus divinis disputantium multitudinem, paucissimos vero Christianos. »

and his own annotations added from time to time. Gallandi's edition was followed by the distinguished Father Dominicus Schramm, Benedictine of Banz, in his Analysis of the Holy Fathers, vol. 6, Augsburg 1784, from p. 485 to 518. From the manuscript codex of St Aubin of Angers, Baluze emended certain passages of Commodian in his notes on Cyprian, pp. 454, 455, 458. Cave closes his review of this little work with these excellent words of Rigault: "Let the use and efficacy of this little book be a constant and perpetual love of Christ; a mind brave for martyrdom; the greatest piety towards the poor. Besides this, to know that the vices which even now dishonour the Church are very ancient: that there has always been an infinite multitude of those disputing about divine things, but very few Christians."

ARTICULUS IV

Article IV

De Antonio Carminis adversus gentes auctore.

On Antonius, author of the Poem against the Gentiles.

Carmen adversus gentes Commodiano subjectum; perperam Paulino Nolano attributum. — Commodiano adnectitur ob argumenti affinitatem a perdocto Gallandio Carmen ad gentes, quod sub nomine sancti Paulini Nolani superiore saeculo desinente, in lucem extulit Ludovicus Muratorius. At carmen hoc Paulinum auctorem non agnoscere, sed alium nomine Antonium, ex ethnica superstitione ad Christi fidem conversum, primus recte observavit Joannes Lironius Benedictinus in opere anno 1717 Parisiis edito et gallice inscripto: Les Aménités de la critique, ou dissertations et remarques nouvelles sur divers points de l'antiquité ecclésiastique et profane: de quo praeter Auctorem Bibliothecae historicae et criticae scriptorum congregationis S. Mauri videsis Diarium eruditorum Parisiense.

The Poem against the Gentiles is placed after Commodian; wrongly attributed to Paulinus of Nola. — Because of the affinity of its subject, the most learned Gallandi attaches to Commodian the Poem to the Gentiles, which Ludovico Muratori brought to light under the name of Saint Paulinus of Nola at the close of the last century. But that this poem does not acknowledge Paulinus as its author, but another, Antonius by name, converted from heathen superstition to the faith of Christ, was first rightly observed by Jean Liron, Benedictine, in a work published at Paris in the year 1717 and given the French title: Les Aménités de la critique, ou dissertations et remarques nouvelles sur divers points de l'antiquité ecclésiastique et profane; concerning which, besides the author of the Historical and Critical Library of the Writers of the Congregation of St Maur, see the Paris Journal of the Learned.

Quis fuerit Antonius ille disquiritur. — Quis porro fuerit Antonius ille carminis auctor, haud equidem assequi valeo. Si graece scripsisset, facile fortasse inter Graecos occurreret, cui carmen referretur acceptum. Sed requirendus Auctor inter Latinos.

Who that Antonius was is inquired into. — Who, moreover, that Antonius, the author of the poem, was, I for my part am not able to discover. Had he written in Greek, someone among the Greeks to whom the poem might be credited would perhaps readily present himself. But the author must be sought among the Latins.

Fabricii conjectura de Antonio Fussalensi rejecta. — Et Fabricius quidem a tergo inscriptionis sui delectus argumentorum Hamburgi evulgati anno 1725 carmen, de quo agimus, cuidam Antonio Fussalensi adscribit, nulla reddita ratione cur demum ita censeat. Quodsi vero Antonium illum Fussalensem respexerit, cujus meminit sanctus Augustinus, a vero longe aberrasset vir eruditus. Nostrum enim Antonium priusquam Christo nomen daret, impio falsorum numinum cultui fuisse addictum, variis ex locis compertum habemus. Et primum quidem statim ab initio ait (Carmen, vers. 1):

Fabricius' conjecture about Antonius of Fussala rejected. — And Fabricius indeed, on the back of the title page of his Delectus argumentorum published at Hamburg in the year 1725, ascribes the poem with which we are dealing to a certain Antonius of Fussala, giving no reason at all why he should so judge. But if he had in view that Antonius of Fussala whom Saint Augustine mentions, the learned man would have strayed far from the truth. For we know for certain from various passages that our Antonius, before he gave his name to Christ, was devoted to the impious worship of false deities. And first indeed, right at the beginning, he says (Poem, line 1):

Discussi, fateor, sectas Antonius omnes.

I, Antonius, have, I confess, examined all the sects.

Editors' notes and page, col. 200

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 200

Caveus, Hist. litt., t. i, ad ann. 270, p. 138.

Cave, Historia litteraria, vol. 1, at the year 270, p. 138.

(printed under page 102)

(2) ‹anchor: congregationis S. Mauri› · call in col 200

Bibl. Histor. crit. des Auteurs de la Congrégation de St-Maur, pag. 201.

Bibliothèque historique et critique des auteurs de la Congrégation de Saint-Maur, p. 201.

(printed under page 102)

(3) ‹anchor: Diarium eruditorum Parisiense› · call in col 200

Journal des Savants, ann. 1717, juin, pag. 654 et suiv.

Journal des Savants, year 1717, June, p. 654 ff.

(printed under page 102)

(4) ‹anchor: sanctus Augustinus› · call in col 200

Augustin. epist. 209, al. 261, n. 3, et seqq. opp. tom. ii, pag. 777, edit. BB.

Augustine, Letter 209 (elsewhere 261), no. 3 ff., Works vol. 2, p. 777, Benedictine edition.

(printed under page 102)

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running head: [cut off at left] …ANO GAZÆO, ORIGINE AFRO. (column number 200)
marginal letters: A ‹propriisque subinde animadversionibus›; B ‹blank line after "simos vero Christianos. »", before ARTICULUS IV›; C ‹dissertations et remarques nouvelles›; D ‹seat. Quodsi vero Antonium illum›
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Deinde pluribus interjectis, postquam deorum fabulas retulisset, subdit (Ibid., vers. 151-154) :

Then, after many things set in between, when he had related the fables of the gods, he adds (ibid., lines 151-154):

Haec ego cuncta prius, clarum cum lumen adeptus, Neque diu incertum, et tot tempestatibus actum. Sancta salutari suscepit Ecclesia portu, Postque vagos fluctus tranquilla sede locavit.

All these things I [worshipped] before; when I had obtained the clear light, me, not long uncertain and driven by so many storms, holy Church received in her saving harbour, and after the wandering waves settled in a tranquil seat.

Et mox (ibid., vers. 161, 162) :

And soon after (ibid., lines 161, 162):

Ut modo qui nobis errorem mentis ademit, Hic meliore via paradisi lumina pandat.

So that He Who has now taken from us the error of the mind may by a better way open the lights of paradise.

Verum Augustinianus Antonius episcopus fussalensis, catholicis parentibus ortus fuisse perhibetur. Sic enim de eo sanctus pater.

But the Augustinian Antonius, bishop of Fussala, is said to have been born of catholic parents. For thus the holy father [writes] of him.

« Fussala, dicitur hipponensi territorio confine castellum : antea ibi numquam episcopus fuit. Obtuli non petentibus quemdam Antonium, qui mecum tunc erat, in monasterio quidem a nobis parvula aetate nutritum. »

"Fussala is the name of a fortress bordering on the territory of Hippo: before that there had never been a bishop there. I offered them, though they were not asking, a certain Antonius who was then with me, one indeed brought up by us in the monastery from a tender age."

Quo jure auctor existimatur Antonius Hieronymianus?

On what grounds is the author reckoned to be Antonius the Hieronymian?

— In aliam porro sententiam abierunt Historiae litterariae gallicae scriptores clarissimi e congregatione S. Mauri, alium adferentes Antonium, cujus mentio fit in Epistolis hieronymianis. At eorum etiam opinatio mera conjectura est, non innixa ulli fundamento.

— Furthermore, the very distinguished writers of the Literary History of France, of the Congregation of St Maur, went over to another opinion, putting forward a different Antonius, of whom mention is made in the Letters of Jerome. But their view too is mere conjecture, resting on no foundation.

Quae in eo recudendo a Gallandio cura exhibita? — Exegit Gallandius Carminis antoniani editionem ad exemplum posterioris muratorianae de anno 1736, typis Veronae, cum notis ejusdem Muratorii, quibus praeterea intexuit observationes eruditas, quas ad idem Antonii Carmen illustrandum publici juris fecerat Cornelius Vonckius (Vonck., Specim. critic., pag. 1-10, edit. Traject. ad Rhen., 1744). Neque illa praetermittenda Gallandius putavit, quae in recensione Speciminis critici Vonckiani fuerunt ab Anonymo in Actis eruditorum lipsiensibus (Act. erud., Lips., 1746, pag. 215 et seqq.) animadversa.

What care was shown by Galland in reprinting it? — Galland produced his edition of the Poem of Antonius on the model of the later edition of Muratori, of the year 1736, printed at Verona, with the notes of the same Muratori, into which he moreover wove the learned observations which Cornelius Vonck had made public for the elucidation of the same Poem of Antonius (Vonck, Specimen criticum, pp. 1-10, Utrecht edition, 1744). Nor did Galland think that those remarks should be passed over which were made by an Anonymous writer in the Acta eruditorum of Leipzig, in a review of Vonck's Specimen criticum (Acta erud., Leipzig, 1746, p. 215 ff.).

Editors' notes and page, col. 201

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: sanctus pater› · call in col 201

Augustin. Epist. 209, al. 261, n. 3 et seq. opp. tom. II, p. 777, edit. BB.

Augustine, Letter 209 (elsewhere 261), no. 3 ff., Works vol. II, p. 777, Benedictine edition.

(printed under page 103)

(2) ‹anchor: Fussala› · call in col 201

Augustin., loc. cit., n. 2, 3.

Augustine, in the place cited, nos. 2, 3.

(printed under page 103)   [lemma] ‹anchor: Per litteras versuum primas› · title, cols 201–202 Per litteras versuum primas. Eugenius episcopus Toletanus cujus opuscula Jacobus Sirmondus edidit, epitaphia duo scripsit per litteras versuum primas et ultimas. Galland.

"By the first letters of the lines." Eugenius, bishop of Toledo, whose minor works Jacques Sirmond edited, wrote two epitaphs by the first and last letters of the lines. Gallandi.

[lemma] ‹anchor: Respectumque bonum› · line 2, col 201 Respectumque bonum. Septuaginta interpretes Respectum, dicunt ἐπισκοπὴν visitationem; divinæ scilicet gratiæ aut ultionis; benedictionis in vitam æternam; maledictionis in gehennam. Bonum respectum pollicetur Sapientia Salomonis justis et sanctis, eap. 3. Et in tempore erit respectus illorum: Καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἐπισκοπῆς αὐτῶν ἐκλάμψουσι. Rig.

"And a good regard." The Seventy translators say "regard", ἐπισκοπή, visitation: that is, of divine grace or of vengeance; of blessing unto eternal life, of cursing unto Gehenna. The Wisdom of Solomon promises a good regard to the just and holy, chapter 3: "And in the time of their regard (visitation) they shall shine forth." Rigault.

[lemma] ‹anchor: Legendo de lege› · line 6, col 201 Legendo de lege. Legem hic et alibi passim appellat libros utriusque testamenti. Rig. — Ita quoque Minucius in Etav. cap. vii. Specta de libris. Ad quem locum observat Davisius, hanc loquendi rationem scriptoribus Africanis, et præsertim Tertulliano, esse familiarem. Sic ipsemet Commodianus infra Instr. xlvii. v. 745. Fideles admoneo fratres de odio tollant. Davis.

"By reading in the Law." Here and elsewhere throughout he calls the books of both Testaments "the Law". Rigault. — So too Minucius in the Octavius [printed "Etav."], chapter 7: "Look in the books." On which place Davies observes that this manner of speaking is familiar to African writers, and especially to Tertullian. So Commodian himself below, Instruction 47, line 745: "I admonish the faithful brethren to put away hatred." Davies.

[lemma] ‹anchor: Doleo pro civica turba› · lines 7–8, col 202 Doleo pro civica turba! Inscia quod perdit. Magis placet interpunctio quam exhibet Dodwellus in Dissert. de Commodiani ætat. § ix. Doleo pro civica turba. Dolet nimirum, inquit, pro suæ conditionis hominibus, erroris antiqui sociis. Sic Instr. xxii, v. 277. Heu doleo, cives, sic vos hebetari de mundo. Neque aliter Davisius, qui mox pro perdit rectius Perit legendum censet. Davis.

"I grieve for the crowd of my fellow citizens! that, unknowing, it is lost." The punctuation Dodwell gives in his Dissertation on the Age of Commodian, § 9, is preferable: "I grieve for the crowd of my fellow citizens." He grieves, that is, he says, for men of his own condition, companions of his old error. So Instruction 22, line 277: "Alas, I grieve, citizens, that you are so dulled by the world." Nor does Davies take it otherwise, who thinks that just after, for "perdit", "perit" is the better reading. Davies.

[lemma] ‹anchor: Ignaros instruo verum› · line 9, col 202 Ignaros instruo verum. Atque hinc titulus operi, Instructiones, christianæ videlicet pietatis. Habemus etiam sub eodem Instructionum titulo, Eucherii episcopi Lugdunensis duos ad Salonium libros, sæculo Theodosii junioris. Rig.

"I instruct the ignorant in the truth." And hence the work's title, Instructions, that is, in Christian piety. We also have, under the same title of Instructions, two books of Eucherius, bishop of Lyons, to Salonius, from the age of Theodosius the Younger. Rigault.

(printed under page 103)

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: in Epistolis hieronymianis› · call in col 202 (para 1, set under col 201's rail)

Hist. littér. de la France, tom. II, pag. 193.

Histoire littéraire de la France, vol. 2, p. 193.

(printed under page 103, above the full-width title band)

Page

running head: …CTIONES ADVERSUS GENTIUM DEOS. 202 (left part cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A nus? — In aliam porro; B Speciminis critici Vonckiani; C Fana prosequendo; D Neque aliter Davisius (in the Commentarius)
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the 2 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 201 (reading order, moved on receipt)
other: the text of this column below the full-width band belongs to the next unit; not set here (rail-only part)
other (Q1): in parts/c201_a.md the heading word split at the 201/202 break stands as "Hieronymia-" / "nus?" (source and English) and was not joined on receipt; it should stand whole, "Hieronymianus?", at the end of the col 201 paragraph, with "— In aliam porro…" opening the next. Noted here, not written in c201. (Q2b: RESOLVED — c201 now has "Hieronymianus?" whole.)
other (Q2b): the page runs "nus? — In aliam porro…" on in one paragraph (as para 2 runs "exhibita? — Exegit…"). In parts/c201_a.md the question "Quo jure … Hieronymianus?" and "In aliam porro…" stand as separate paragraphs and the printed dash " — " is lost. Restore it: either join them as "Hieronymianus? — In aliam porro…" (matching the "exhibita? — Exegit" paragraph) or open the next paragraph with "— In aliam porro…". Noted here, not written in c201.