PL 6 · cols. 77–82

Insignium virorum de L. Caecilio Firmiano Lactantio testimonia

Editors' preface

INSIGNIUM VIRORUM TESTIMONIA DE L. CAECILIO FIRMIANO LACTANTIO.

TESTIMONIES OF DISTINGUISHED MEN CONCERNING L. CAECILIUS FIRMIANUS LACTANTIUS.

EUSEBIUS Caesariensis, in Chronico, IV saeculo:

EUSEBIUS of Caesarea, in the Chronicle, IVth century:

Crispum Lactantius latinis litteris erudiit, vir omnium suo tempore eloquentissimus, sed adeo in hac vita pauper, ut plerumque etiam necessariis indiguerit, nedum deliciis.

Lactantius instructed Crispus in Latin letters, a man the most eloquent of all in his time, but so poor in this life that he often lacked even necessities, let alone luxuries.

S. HIERONYMUS, de Scriptoribus eccl., V saeculo:

St JEROME, On Ecclesiastical Writers, Vth century:

Firmianus, qui et Lactantius, Arnobii discipulus,

Firmianus, who is also [called] Lactantius, a disciple of Arnobius,

Editors' notes and page, col. 77

Page

running head: 77 TESTIMONIA DE LACTANTIO [cut off at the image edge]
marginal letters: A ‹doceret, forum tamen nusquam›; B ‹tianus, sed philosophus potius›; C ‹cum a patre Caesar factus est›; D ‹Eusebius Caesariensis, in Chronico›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: full-width title not set: INSIGNIUM VIRORUM TESTIMONIA DE L. CAECILIO FIRMIANO LACTANTIO. (cut off at the image edge in this column; read whole across the page) stands between "in gerenda" and "Eusebius Caesariensis"; full-width heading ANNOTATIONES. and the annotations below it (Flabo. Sic restitui...; Scripsit Africae...) are set as lemma notes in n78 (keyed to Jerome's words in col 78); editors' matter set: ‹Eusebius Caesariensis› and ‹S. Hieronymus› (testimonia); ‹doceret, forum tamen› (prolegomena continuing) belongs to the previous unit and is cut; UNSURE: saeviit (type looks like saevlit), tempestate (type looks like tempestute), Opificio (second occurrence looks like Opilicio), tempore and indiguerit (letters look like tempofe and indiguetit), all taken as worn type rather than misprints; small capitals EUSEBIUS and HIERONYMUS set in normal case; column ends mid-sentence at "discipulus,"
other: a full-width band stands across cols 77/78 in mid-page: the 3 paragraph(s) above it in col 78 are set here, after the 2 above it in col 77 (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 Eusebius Caesariensis, in Chronico
running head: 77 TESTIMONIA DE LACTANTIO. 78
marginal letters: A republica erat occupatus (previous unit); B hunc, quem eloquentissimum (previous unit); C cum a patre Caesar factus est (previous unit); D sub Diocletiano principe
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 6:78

sub Diocletiano principe accitus cum Flabo grammatico, cujus de Medicinalibus versu compositi exstant libri, Nicomediae rhetoricam docuit, ac penuria discipulorum ob Graecum videlicet civitatem, ad scribendum se contulit. Habemus ejus Symposium, quod adolescentulus scripsit Africae, et Ὁδοιπορικὸν de Africa usque Nicomediam, hexametris scriptum versibus, et alium librum qui inscribitur

having been summoned under the emperor Diocletian together with Flavus the grammarian, whose books on medical matters composed in verse are extant, taught rhetoric at Nicomedia, and, for lack of pupils, the city being of course Greek, turned to writing. We have his Symposium, which he wrote as a young man in Africa, and a Hodoeporicon from Africa as far as Nicomedia, written in hexameter verses, and another book which is entitled

Editors' notes and page, col. 78

Footnotes

(Flabo) ‹anchor: cum Flabo grammatico› · call in col 78 Flabo. Sic restitui ex mss. 1 Reg., n. 3756, annorum 900, et 1 Clarom. approbante clar. Baluzio, et e mss. PP. Capucinorum. In impressis est Flavio; in uno, Fannio.

Flabo. So I have restored it from the manuscripts: one Regius, no. 3756, nine hundred years old, and one Claromontanus, with the approval of the celebrated Baluze, and from the manuscripts of the Capuchin Fathers. The printed editions have Flavio; one has Fannio.

(Scripsit Africae) ‹anchor: adolescentulus scripsit Africae› · call in col 78 Scripsit Africae. Ita mss. 1 Reg Tornesianus, et 1 Clarom. nec male, ut apud Ciceronem, Siciliae cum essem. In versione Graeca est ἐν τῇ Ἀφρικῇ. Supradictam locutionem latinam ignorantes editores emendare voluerunt, in pluribus editis tollendo Africae; in duobus praeponendo in scholis τῷ scripsit Africa; in duobus aliis mutando adolescentulus in adolescentibus, ita ut legatur adolescentibus scripsit Africae.

Scripsit Africae ("wrote in Africa"). So read the manuscripts, one Regius (the Tornesianus) and one Claromontanus, and not wrongly, as in Cicero, "Siciliae cum essem" ("when I was in Sicily"). The Greek version has ἐν τῇ Ἀφρικῇ ("in Africa"). Editors unfamiliar with this Latin idiom tried to emend it: in most editions by removing Africae; in two by putting in scholis ("in the schools") before scripsit Africa; in two others by changing adolescentulus to adolescentibus, so that it reads "he wrote for young men in Africa".

(printed under page 42)

Page

running head: DE LACTANTIO. 78 (left half of the running head cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹republica erat occupatus›; B ‹hunc, quem eloquentissimum›; C ‹Quo anno, vel qua in urbe›; D ‹sub Diocletiano principe accitus›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: editors' matter: the column holds the editors' life of Lactantius (prolegomena, ‹republica erat occupatus›) and the start of a collection of testimonia (‹sub Diocletiano principe›, Jerome, De viris illustribus 80, beginning mid-sentence in col. 77); full-width headings ‹…ORUM TESTIMONIA / DE / …IANO LACTANTIO.› stand between the life and the testimonium, cut off at the left edge, not set; full-width heading ‹…NOTATIONES.› and the annotations beneath it at the page foot (‹essem. In versione Graeca…›) not set, left for the apparatus pass; last word split at the column break: in- (inscribitur); ‹tanti› printed with the i looking like l, taken as damaged type; s damaged in Chri⟨s⟩topho and egi⟨s⟩se; Flabo set as printed (usually Flavo)
other: the 3 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 77 (reading order, moved on receipt)
running head: 77 TESTIMONIA DE LACTANTIO. 78
marginal letters: A republica erat occupatus (previous unit); B hunc, quem eloquentissimum (previous unit); C Quo anno, vel qua in urbe (previous unit); D sub Diocletiano principe
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 6:79

Grammaticus, et alium pulcherrimum de Ira Dei, et Institutionum Divinarum adversus Gentes libros septem et Ἐπιτομὴν ejusdem operis in libro uno ἀκεφάλῳ; et ad Asclepiadem libros duos; de Persecutione librum unum; ad Probum Epistolarum libros quatuor; ad Severum Epistolarum libros duos; ad Demetrianum, auditorem suum, Epistolarum libros duos; ad eumdem, de Opificio Dei, vel formatione hominis librum unum. Hic extrema senectute magister Caesaris Crispi, filii Constantini, in Gallia fuit, qui postea a patre interfectus est.

Grammaticus, and another, most beautiful, On the Wrath of God, and seven books of Divine Institutes against the Gentiles, and an Epitome of the same work in one book, headless; and to Asclepiades two books; on the Persecution one book; to Probus four books of Letters; to Severus two books of Letters; to Demetrianus, his pupil, two books of Letters; to the same, On the Workmanship of God, or the formation of man, one book. In extreme old age he was tutor to Caesar Crispus, the son of Constantine, in Gaul, who was afterwards put to death by his father.

Idem, Commentar. in Eccles. cap. X:

The same, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, chapter 10:

Firmianus quoque noster in praeclaro Institutionum suarum opere... de virtutibus et vitiis plenissime disputavit.

Our Firmianus also, in the splendid work of his Institutes... discussed virtues and vices most fully.

Idem, in cap. IV Epistolae Pauli ad Ephesios:

The same, on chapter 4 of Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians:

Firmianus noster librum de Ira Dei docto pariter et eloquenti sermone conscripsit, quem qui legerit, puto ei ad irae intellectum satis abunde posse sufficere.

Our Firmianus wrote a book On the Wrath of God in language at once learned and eloquent; whoever reads it, I think, will find it amply sufficient for an understanding of wrath.

Idem, in epistola 13, ad Paulinum:

The same, in Letter 13, to Paulinus:

Lactantius quasi quidam fluvius eloquentiae Tullianae, utinam tam nostra confirmare potuisset, quam facile aliena destruxit.

Lactantius, a sort of river of Ciceronian eloquence: would that he had been able to establish our own [teachings] as easily as he demolished those of others.

Idem, in epistola 83 (al. 84), ad Magnum:

The same, in Letter 83 (otherwise 84), to Magnus:

Septem libros adversus Gentes Arnobius edidit, totidemque discipulus ejus Lactantius; qui de Ira quaque et Opificio Dei duo volumina edidit: quos si legere volueris, Dialogorum Ciceronis in eis ἐπιτομὴν reperies.

Arnobius published seven books against the Gentiles, and his disciple Lactantius as many; he also published two volumes, on the Wrath and on the Workmanship of God: if you wish to read them, you will find in them an epitome of Cicero's Dialogues.

Eucherius episcopus, in epist. ad Valerianum, V saeculo:

Eucherius, bishop, in his letter to Valerianus, fifth century:

Et quando clarissimos facundia, Firmianum, Minutium, Cyprianum, Hilarium, Johannem, Ambrosium, ex illo volumine numerositatis evolveris.

And when, out of that volume of rhythmic prose, you have unrolled those most renowned for eloquence, Firmianus, Minucius, Cyprian, Hilary, John, Ambrose.

Honorius, Augustodun. presbyter, de Luminaribus Ecclesiae, sive de Scriptoribus eccles., XII saeculo:

Honorius, priest of Autun, On the Luminaries of the Church, or On Ecclesiastical Writers, twelfth century:

Firmianus, qui et Lactantius, Arnobii discipulus, scripsit in scholis Africae Itinerarium hexametris versibus, et alium librum, qui inscribitur Grammaticus, et alium pulcherrimum de Ira Dei, et Institutionum divinarum adversus Gentes libros septem; ad Asclepiadem duos; ad Demetrium (lege Demetrianum), auditorem suum, Epistolarum libros septem; de Persecutione unum; ad Probum epistolarum libros quatuor; ad Severum Epistolarum libros duos; ad Demetrianum de Opificio Dei, vel Formatione hominis, librum unum. Hic magister Caesaris Crispi, filii Constantini, fuit.

Firmianus, also called Lactantius, a disciple of Arnobius, wrote in the schools of Africa an Itinerary in hexameter verses, and another book which is titled Grammaticus, and another, most beautiful, On the Wrath of God, and seven books of Divine Institutes against the Gentiles; to Asclepiades two; to Demetrius (read Demetrianus), his pupil, seven books of Letters; on the Persecution one; to Probus four books of letters; to Severus two books of Letters; to Demetrianus, On the Workmanship of God, or the Formation of man, one book. He was tutor to Caesar Crispus, the son of Constantine.

Abbas Trithemius, de Scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, XV saeculo:

Abbot Trithemius, On Ecclesiastical Writers, fifteenth century:

Firmianus Lactantius, Arnobii rhetoris quondam auditor, atque discipulus, vir in saecularibus litteris abundanter doctus, divinis Scripturis nobiliter institutus ita, ut in arte dicendi post Ciceronem facile obtinuerit principatum, rhetoricen primum Nicomediae, deinde Romae (male, sed solum Nicomediae) sub Diocletiano ab eo vocatus gloriose docuit. Et caetera, ut supra.

Firmianus Lactantius, once a hearer and disciple of Arnobius the rhetorician, a man abundantly learned in secular letters and nobly instructed in the divine Scriptures, so that in the art of speaking he easily held first place after Cicero, taught rhetoric gloriously, first at Nicomedia, then at Rome (wrongly, but only at Nicomedia), under Diocletian, having been summoned by him. And the rest, as above.

Raphael Volaterranus, Antropol., lib. XVI, ut sup., XV saeculo.

Raphael of Volterra, Anthropology, book 16, as above, fifteenth century.

Franciscus Petrarcha, Epistolarum Senilium lib. I, epistola 4, ad Joannem Boccacium, XIV saeculo:

Francesco Petrarca, Letters of Old Age, book 1, letter 4, to Giovanni Boccaccio, fourteenth century:

De secundo autem, et de utroque quamvis, ut vides, maximi sint auctores, quid tamen vir doctus et eloquens Lactantius Firmianus hinc senserit, non alienum videtur inserere, etc.

But concerning the second, and concerning both, although, as you see, the authorities are very great, yet it does not seem out of place to insert what the learned and eloquent man Lactantius Firmianus thought on this matter, etc.

Et ibidem paulo infra:

And in the same place a little below:

Quid vero si quid tale Lactantio dictum esset? Quid si dictum, et creditum Augustino? Dicam quod in animo est, neque ille tam valide peregrinarum superstitionum fundamenta convelleret, neque iste Civitatis Dei muros tanta arte construeret.

But what if some such thing had been said to Lactantius? What if it had been said to Augustine, and believed by him? I will say what is in my mind: neither would the former have torn up so vigorously the foundations of foreign superstitions, nor would the latter have built the walls of the City of God with such great skill.

Editors' notes and page, col. 79

Footnotes

(Ἀκεφάλῳ) ‹anchor: ἀκεφάλῳ› · call in col 79 Ἀκεφάλῳ. ms. 1 Reg. habet ἀκέφαλον : in edd. est acephalo.

Ἀκεφάλῳ ("headless"). One Regius manuscript has ἀκέφαλον; the editions have acephalo.

(Ad Demetrianum) ‹anchor: ad Demetrianum, auditorem suum› · call in col 79 Ad Demetrianum. Sic habent mss. 1 Reg. ac Tornesianus, et editi. At in uno ms. Clarom. et apud Honorium Augustodunensem legitur ad Demetrium, corrupte, ut videtur ex omnibus tum mss. tum editis Lactantii codicibus.

Ad Demetrianum ("To Demetrianus"). So read the manuscripts, one Regius and the Tornesianus, and the printed editions. But one Claromontanus manuscript, and Honorius of Autun, read ad Demetrium, a corruption, as appears from all the copies of Lactantius, both manuscript and printed.

(Extrema senectute) ‹anchor: Hic extrema senectute› · call in col 79 Extrema senectute. Edd. tres addunt praepositionem in, quam caeteri respuunt.

Extrema senectute ("in extreme old age"). Three editions add the preposition in, which the rest reject.

(printed under page 43)

Page

running head: 79 TESTIMONIA DE (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A scribitur Grammaticus, et alium pulcherrimum; B utinam tam nostra confirmare potuisset; C suum, Epistolarum libros septem; D Lactantius Firmianus hinc senserit
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: column begins with "scribitur", the rest of a word (presumably in-scribitur) broken from the previous column; full-width heading "ANNOTATIO..." (cut off at edge) below Petrarch's quotation not set; the editors' annotations at the page foot (Ἀκεφάλῳ..., Ad Demetrianum..., Extrema senectute...) are set above as lemma notes; "scripsit" in Honorius slightly damaged but legible
misprints kept as printed: quaque (for quoque, Jerome to Magnus: "de Ira quaque et Opificio Dei")

PL 6:80

Idem, Invectivar. in medic. lib. primo, ad fin. :

The same, Invectives against a Physician, book one, towards the end:

Audi ergo quid Lactantius vir et poetarum et philosophorum notitia, et Ciceroniana facundia, et quod cuncta transcendit, catholica religione clarissimus primo suarum Institutionum libro ait.

Hear, then, what Lactantius says in the first book of his Institutes, a man most illustrious for his knowledge both of the poets and of the philosophers, and for his Ciceronian eloquence, and, what surpasses all things, for the catholic religion.

Et de Otio religiosorum lib. primo :

And On the Leisure of the Religious, book one:

Atque in primis Lactantium Firmianum, qui omnem deorum scenam, turpesque latebras scelerum aperiens, totam rei seriem, qui fuerint, quid egerint, qui mores, quae vita, qui exitus, quae sepulcra, operosissima disputatione complectitur.

And above all Lactantius Firmianus, who, laying open the whole stage-show of the gods and the shameful hiding-places of their crimes, embraces in a most laborious disputation the whole sequence of the matter: who they were, what they did, what their morals were, what their life, what their ends, what their tombs.

Et libro secundo :

And in the second book:

Lactantius Firmianus et ipse magnus vir in eo libro, quo, Gentilium erroribus exarmatis, fidem nostram, quantum quivit, armavit, omnemque hanc deorum scenam mira et laudabili curiositate detexit, inque hoc idem opus Augustino atque aliis sequacibus viam fecit, etc.

Lactantius Firmianus, himself also a great man, in that book in which, having disarmed the errors of the Gentiles, he armed our faith as far as he could, and uncovered this whole stage-show of the gods with wonderful and praiseworthy care, and made a way into this same work for Augustine and other followers, etc.

Et paulo infra :

And a little below:

Accessit sacer nominandus Ambrosius, accessere Hieronymus, Gregoriusque, novissimus oris aurei Joannes, et exundans lacteo torrente Lactantius. In hoc pulcherrimo comitatu Scripturarum sacrarum fines, quos ante dispexeram, venerabundus ingredior, etc.

There came Ambrose, holy and worthy to be named; there came Jerome, and Gregory, and last John of the golden mouth, and Lactantius overflowing with a milky torrent. In this most beautiful company I enter with reverence the territories of the sacred Scriptures, which I had before descried, etc.

Idem, Rerum Memorabilium lib. primo, in M. Varrone :

The same, Of Memorable Things, book one, in [the article on] M. Varro:

Vir fide pius, eloquioque sacer Lactantius Firmianus, etc.

Lactantius Firmianus, a man pious in faith and holy in eloquence, etc.

Joannes Franciscus Picus, lib. de Stud. divinae atque humanae philosoph., cap. 7, XV saeculo :

Giovanni Francesco Pico, book On the Study of Divine and Human Philosophy, chapter 7, fifteenth century:

Quis apud nos non videat esse Ciceronem, sed christianum, hoc est aliquem, qui eum ad lineam unguemque expresserit? Quis enim non advertit Lactantium Firmianum aequasse ipsum, et forte praecelluisse in eloquendo?

Who among us does not see that there is a Cicero, but a Christian one, that is, someone who has reproduced him to the line and to the fingernail? For who does not notice that Lactantius Firmianus equalled him, and perhaps surpassed him, in eloquence?

Idem, lib. III Epistolar., epistola 10 :

The same, book 3 of the Letters, letter 10:

Lactantius Ciceronis stylum effigiavit, aut, ut quibusdam placet, supergressus est. Mihi videtur rebus et sententiis crebrior, nec numeris injucundior, nec fili aequabilitate et candore posterior : has quippe virtutes maximis viribus et aemulatus et assecutus est : hunc nec aequales, nec posteri momorderunt; nemo elumbem et fractum, Asianum, et redundantem nemo causatus est.

Lactantius copied the style of Cicero, or, as some hold, surpassed it. To me he seems richer in matter and in thoughts, not less pleasing in rhythm, nor inferior in the evenness and brightness of the thread [of his discourse]: for these virtues he both strove after with the greatest powers and attained; him neither his contemporaries nor posterity have carped at; no one has charged him with being nerveless and broken, no one with being Asiatic and redundant.

Leonardus Aretinus, in epistola ad Constantiam Sfortiam, XV saeculo :

Leonardo of Arezzo, in the letter to Costanza Sforza, fifteenth century:

Maxime vero inter omnes, qui de christiana veritate scripserunt, longe eminet, et excellit nitore quodam ac copia Lactantius Firmianus, vir omnium christianorum procul dubio eloquentissimus, cujus libros lege, quaeso, si litteras amas.

But most of all, among all who have written of Christian truth, Lactantius Firmianus stands far out and excels by a certain brilliance and richness, a man beyond doubt the most eloquent of all Christians; read his books, I beg you, if you love letters.

L. Coelius Rhodiginus, Antiquarum Lect. lib. VI, cap. 18, XV saeculo :

L. Caelius Rhodiginus, Ancient Readings, book 6, chapter 18, fifteenth century:

Lactantius inter christianae veritatis assertores eloquentia maxime illustris.

Lactantius, among the champions of Christian truth the most illustrious in eloquence.

Idem, libro IX, cap. 12 :

The same, book 9, chapter 12:

At ego, o Lactanti, non te quidem dementem dixerim, cum et prudenter et docte scripseris non parum multa.

But I, O Lactantius, would not indeed call you mad, since you have written not a few things both wisely and learnedly.

Et paulo post ibidem :

And a little after in the same place:

Hoc fuisse tibi propositum, vir doctissime, et de Christiana veritate optime merite, malim credere, etc.

I would rather believe that this was your purpose, most learned man, and most deserving of Christian truth, etc.

Joannes Ludovicus Vives, Valentinus, ad finem libri tertii de Tradend. Discipl., XVI saeculo :

Juan Luis Vives of Valencia, at the end of the third book On Handing Down the Disciplines, sixteenth century:

Christianorum omnium facundissimus est Lactantius: sonum habet plane Ciceronianum.

Of all Christians Lactantius is the most eloquent: he has a thoroughly Ciceronian sound.

Et libro quarto :

And in the fourth book:

Ad efficacem rationem argumentandi Aristoteles, ad civilem Ciceronis Dialogi et Lactantius primas partes feret.

For the effective method of arguing Aristotle, for the civil one the Dialogues of Cicero and Lactantius, will take the first place.

Editors' notes and page, col. 80

Page

running head: [T]ESTIMONIA DE LACTANTIO: 80 (first letter cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A Idem, Invectivar. in medic.; B ronymus, Gregoriusque, novissimus; C maximis viribus et aemulatus; D Joannes Ludovicus Vives, Valentinus
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: editors' matter: the whole column continues the editors' Testimonia de Lactantio (first words "Idem, Invectivar. in medic."); the column does not begin mid-word. Not set: the ANNOTATIONES at the page foot, which are left for the later apparatus pass, and the left column (79). The authors' names are printed in small capitals and set in normal case. "feret" (singular with a plural subject) is set as printed; it could be a misprint for ferent, but this is unsure.

PL 6:81

Et libro quinto.

And in the fifth book:

Judicium porro, ut quod est in prudentia naturale, doceri non potest, elimari et excoli potest: primum lectione eorum auctorum, qui plurimum bono illo valuerunt Platonis, Aristotelis, Demosthenis, Ciceronis, Senecae, Quintiliani, Plutarchi; ex nostris autem Origenis, Chrysostomi, Hieronymi, Lactantii, etc.

Judgement, moreover, being what is natural in prudence, cannot be taught, but it can be polished and refined: first by reading those authors who were most strong in that gift, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Cicero, Seneca, Quintilian, Plutarch; and among our own, Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Lactantius, etc.

Joannes Baptista Pius, Annotat. c. 98, XVI saeculo:

Joannes Baptista Pius, Annotationes, ch. 98, sixteenth century:

Lactantius Firmianus maximus religionis verae propugnator.

Lactantius Firmianus, the greatest champion of the true religion.

Gregorius Giraldus Veronen., Dialogo quinto de Hist. poetarum, XVI saeculo:

Gregorius Giraldus of Verona, in the fifth Dialogue on the History of the Poets, sixteenth century:

Eodem quo Juvencus tempore fuit et Lactantius Firmianus, unus eloquentiae Ciceronianae inter christianos praecipuus aemulator, qui praeter ea, quae multa soluta oratione scripsit, et quae passim in manibus habentur, versus quoque composuit, etc.

At the same time as Juvencus there lived also Lactantius Firmianus, the one foremost emulator of Ciceronian eloquence among Christians, who, besides the many things which he wrote in prose and which are widely in people's hands, also composed verses, etc.

Franciscus Floridus, Subsecivarum Lect. lib. II, cap. 4, XVI saeculo:

Franciscus Floridus, Subsecivae Lectiones, book 2, chapter 4, sixteenth century:

Lactantius Firmianus, Arnobii auditor, Latinorum omnium, qui theologica tractarunt, citra controversiam eloquentissimus, nostraeque religionis assertor acerrimus, celeberrimi, dum viveret, nominis propter singularem excellentiam a christianae pietatis cultoribus habitus est, editisque non paucis elegantissimis, magnaque eruditione refertis lucubrationibus, quarum bona pars doctorum manibus teritur, pars vero commune cum caeteris Romanorum scriptis naufragium passa est, sic in omnium ore versatur, quasi qui unice cuncta philosophorum dogmata christianis ex diametro adversantia optimis rationibus pervertens, et gravissimis sententiis, et

Lactantius Firmianus, a hearer of Arnobius, beyond dispute the most eloquent of all the Latins who have treated theological matters, and a most vigorous defender of our religion, was held, while he lived, to be of most celebrated name by the devotees of Christian piety on account of his singular excellence; and having published not a few most elegant works of night-study, filled with great learning, of which a good part is worn by the hands of the learned, while part has suffered shipwreck in common with the other writings of the Romans, he is so on everyone's lips, as one who alone, overturning with the best reasons all the doctrines of the philosophers diametrically opposed to Christians, and with most weighty sentences, and

styli candore unice sit commendandus. Quamobrem fuerint licet, qui alias theologiae partes facilius, quam ille, atque etiam argutius excoluerint, in iis tamen, quae ad confutanda Gentium (sic enim vocabantur quicumque ante Christi adventum legem a Moyse traditam non amplecterentur) placita spectant, nemo ad hanc diem extitit (quantum quidem ipse judicare valeo) qui cum Lactantio longo intervallo sit conferendus; vel quia rerum verborumque pondere, ac efficaci quadam naturae vi susceptum contra munitissimas ethnicorum sententias munus egregie obit, vel quia paucis verbis plurima complectitur, semper (quod de Thucydide perhibet M. Tullius) sibi instans, nullasque sordes, ut alii complures faciunt, secum trahens. Quod nisi tam eximius auctor plurima scripsisset, in quibus vix credas virum tam curiose in sacris profanisque litteris versatum labi potuisse, eum unum ex omnibus latinis Scriptoribus maxime deligendum censerem, qui pueris in manibus semper esset, ut eodem tempore illi ex unius lectione, et christianae fidei rudimenta, et Romani sermonis puritatem discerent, etc.

is to be commended uniquely for the brilliance of his style. Wherefore, although there may have been those who cultivated other parts of theology more easily than he, and even more acutely, yet in those matters which concern the refuting of the tenets of the Gentiles (for so were called all who before the coming of Christ did not embrace the law handed down by Moses), no one has arisen to this day (so far at least as I myself am able to judge) who is to be compared with Lactantius, by a long interval; whether because, by the weight of his matter and words and by a certain effective force of nature, he excellently discharges the task he undertook against the most strongly fortified opinions of the heathen, or because he embraces very many things in few words, always pressing hard upon himself (as Marcus Tullius says of Thucydides), and dragging no refuse along with him, as many others do. Indeed, had so distinguished an author not written a great many things in which you would scarcely believe that a man so carefully versed in sacred and profane letters could have slipped, I should judge that he alone, out of all the Latin writers, ought above all to be chosen to be always in the hands of boys, so that at one and the same time they might learn from the reading of one man both the rudiments of the Christian faith and the purity of the Roman tongue, etc.

Gulielmus Canterus, Novar. Lect. lib. III, cap. 30, XVI saeculo:

William Canter, New Readings, book 3, chapter 30, sixteenth century:

Quem inter Graecos theologos locum Nazianzenus Gregorius obtinet, eum inter Latinos fere Firmianum Lactantium tenere non immerito quis judicet.

The place which Gregory Nazianzen holds among the Greek theologians, one might not undeservedly judge that Firmianus Lactantius holds very nearly the same among the Latins.

Non ex re putavimus ultra progredi: sat est monuisse, neminem inter nostrorum temporum scriptores esse, qui Lactantii nostri cum laude non meminerit. Quamvis eum non inculpatum omnino habeant eruditi, ejus tamen multiplicem doctrinam, variam in re profana eruditionem, summam tandem ejus eloquentiam praedicant omnes.

We have thought it not to the purpose to go further: it is enough to have pointed out that there is no one among the writers of our times who has not made mention of our Lactantius with praise. Although the learned do not hold him to be altogether blameless, yet all proclaim his manifold learning, his varied erudition in profane matters, and finally his consummate eloquence.

Editors' notes and page, col. 81

Footnotes

(none)  (printed under page 44)

Page

running head: 81 SYNTHESIS DOCTRINÆ LA (cut off at the image's right edge)
marginal letters: A ‹Et libro quinto›; B ‹Franciscus Floridus, Subsecivarum›; C ‹Quoniam plus operae in falsis›; D ‹nec perseverantiam morientium vanam esse›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: editors' matter set: testimonia on Lactantius (Et libro quinto; Joannes Baptista Pius; Gregorius Giraldus; Franciscus Floridus) and the Synthesis (Quoniam plus operae); full-width rule and title SYNTHESIS DOCTRINÆ LAC… with ornament, printed across both columns between "gravissimis sententiis, et" and "Quoniam", not set; UNSURE: worn type gives Plntonis, mngnaque, cup., cop., set as Platonis, magnaque, cap., cap. (damaged a, not misprints); caeteris vs coeteris uncertain in the italic; Floridus sentence continues in col. 82 after "et"
other: a full-width band stands across cols 81/82 in mid-page: the 4 paragraph(s) above it in col 82 are set here, after the 8 above it in col 81 (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 continues with Quoniam (another unit); not set here

PL 6:82

Editors' notes and page, col. 82

Page

running head: DOCTRINÆ LACTANTII. 82
marginal letters: A ‹styli candore unice sit›; B ‹Gulielmus Canterus, Novar. Lect.›; C ‹c. 21). Num igitur, inquit›; D ‹largientem. Da timidum doloris›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: editors' matter set: end of the testimonia on Lactantius (styli candore unice), Canter's testimony (Quem inter Graecos), the editors' closing remark (Non ex re putavimus); the start of the Synthesis doctrinae Lactantii in this column (c. 21). Num igitur) belongs to the next unit and is not set here; full-width title ‹SYNTHESIS DOCTRINAE LACTANTII.› printed across both columns between the testimonia and the synthesis, cut off at the left edge, not set; column ends mid-word ‹appeten-› (appetentem); "eum liberalem" read from slightly damaged type
other: the 4 paragraph(s) of this column above the full-width band are set under col 81 (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)