On Illustrious Men

Simon Peter, son of John, of the province of Galilee, from the village of Bethsaida, brother of the apostle Andrew, and chief of the Apostles, after the episcopate of the Church of Antioch, and the preaching to the dispersion of those who had believed from the circumcision, in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, in the second year of the emperor Claudius went to Rome to overthrow Simon Magus, and there held the priestly Chair for twenty-five years, up to the last year of Nero, that is, the fourteenth. By him he was also fixed to the cross, and was crowned with martyrdom, his head turned toward the earth and his feet raised on high: asserting that he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord. He wrote two Epistles, which are called Catholic; the second of these is denied by most to be his, on account of its dissonance of style from the former. But also the Gospel according to Mark, who was his hearer and interpreter, is said to be his.

But the books, of which one is entitled his Acts, another his Gospel, a third his Preaching, a fourth his Apocalypse, a fifth his Judgment, are rejected among the apocryphal scriptures. He was buried at Rome in the Vatican, near the Triumphal Way, and is celebrated with the veneration of the whole world.

James, who is called the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, as some think, son of Joseph by another wife, but as it seems to me, son of Mary the sister of the mother of the Lord, of whom John makes mention in his book, was ordained bishop of Jerusalem by the Apostles immediately after the passion of the Lord, and wrote only one Epistle, which is among the seven Catholic Epistles, which itself also is asserted by some to have been published by another under his name, although with the passing of time it gradually gained authority. Hegesippus, who lived near the times of the Apostles, in the fifth book of his Commentaries, narrating concerning James, says: "James, the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, took over the Church of Jerusalem after the Apostles. Many indeed were called James. This man was holy from his mother's womb; he drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate no flesh, never had his hair cut, was never anointed with ointment, nor did he use the bath.

To him alone was it permitted to enter the Holy of Holies: for he did not use woolen garments, but linen, and he alone entered the temple, and kneeling begged forgiveness for the people, so that his knees were believed to have acquired the hardness of a camel's." He says many other things too, which it would be long to enumerate. But also Josephus, in the twentieth book of the Antiquities, and Clement, in the seventh book of the Hypotyposes, relate that, upon the death of Festus who governed Judaea, Albinus was sent by Nero as his successor, and that when he had not yet arrived in the province, Ananus, he says, a young high priest, son of Ananus, of the priestly line, taking the occasion of the interregnum, gathered a council, and compelling James publicly to deny Christ the Son of God, when he refused, ordered him to be stoned.

And when he had been cast down from the pinnacle of the temple, his legs broken, still half alive, stretching his hands toward heaven, he said: "Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do"; he was struck on the head with a fuller's club, such as is used to wring out wet garments, and so perished. Josephus likewise relates that he was of such holiness and such repute among the people, that it was believed that Jerusalem was overthrown on account of his murder. This is he of whom the Apostle Paul writes to the Galatians: "But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother". And the Acts of the Apostles frequently attest to this also. The Gospel too which is called "according to the Hebrews," and which I have lately translated into Greek and Latin, and which Origen often uses, relates, after the resurrection of the Saviour: "But the Lord, when he had given the linen cloth to the servant of the priest, went to James, and appeared to him.

For James had sworn that he would not eat bread from that hour in which he had drunk the cup of the Lord, until he should see him risen from among those that sleep." And again a little further on: "Bring, said the Lord, a table and bread." And it is immediately added: "He took bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to James the Just, and said to him: My brother, eat your bread, for the Son of man is risen from among those that sleep." He ruled the Church of Jerusalem for thirty years, that is, until the seventh year of Nero, and was buried near the temple, where he had also been cast down. His tombstone was well known up to the siege of Titus and the last siege of Hadrian. Some of our own have thought that he was buried on the Mount of Olives, but their opinion is false.

Matthew, also called Levi, an apostle out of a publican, first composed a Gospel of Christ in Judaea in the Hebrew letters and words, for the sake of those who from the circumcision had believed; who afterwards translated it into Greek is not sufficiently certain. Moreover, the Hebrew itself is preserved to this day in the library at Caesarea, which Pamphilus the martyr most diligently put together. I also had the opportunity of copying it from the Nazarenes who use this volume in the city of Beroea in Syria. In which it is to be observed that, wherever the Evangelist, whether in his own person or in that of the Lord the Saviour, makes use of testimonies from the old Scripture, he does not follow the authority of the Seventy translators, but the Hebrew, of which there are two instances: "Out of Egypt have I called my son"; and: "For he shall be called a Nazarene."

Jude, the brother of James, left a short Epistle, which is among the seven Catholic Epistles. And because in it he cites a testimony from the book of Enoch, which is apocryphal, it is rejected by most; nevertheless it has by now earned authority through age and use, and is reckoned among the holy Scriptures.

The Apostle Paul, who was before called Saul, being outside the number of the twelve Apostles, was of the tribe of Benjamin and of the town of Giscala in Judaea, which when it had been taken by the Romans, he removed with his parents to Tarsus in Cilicia, whence, being sent to Jerusalem for the study of the Law, he was instructed by Gamaliel, a most learned man, of whom Luke makes mention. But when he had been present at the killing of the martyr Stephen, and, having received letters from the high priest of the temple, was going to Damascus to persecute those who had believed in Christ, being compelled by a revelation to the faith, which is written in the Acts of the Apostles, he was transformed from a persecutor into a vessel of election.

And when Sergius Paulus, proconsul of Cyprus, had first believed at his preaching, he obtained the name Paul from the fact that he had subdued him to the faith of Christ, and joining Barnabas to himself, having gone through many cities, and returning to Jerusalem, he was ordained Apostle of the Gentiles by Peter, James and John. And because his life is written most fully in the Acts of the Apostles, I will say only this, that in the twenty-fifth year after the passion of the Lord, that is, in the second year of Nero, at the time when Festus, procurator of Judaea, succeeded Felix, he was sent bound to Rome, and remaining two years in free custody, disputed daily against the Jews concerning the coming of Christ.

It should be known, however, that at his first defense, Nero's power not yet being strengthened, nor such crimes as the histories relate of him yet breaking forth, Paul was dismissed by Nero, so that the Gospel of Christ might be preached also in the parts of the West, as he himself writes in the second Epistle to Timothy, at the time when he also suffered, dictating the Epistle from his chains: "At my first defense no man stood with me, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their charge. But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion". Most plainly signifying Nero by the lion, on account of his cruelty.

And further on: "I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." And immediately: "The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom," clearly because he felt that martyrdom was then imminent for him. For in the same Epistle he had said before: "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my dissolution is at hand". This man, therefore, in the fourteenth year of Nero, on the same day as Peter, was beheaded at Rome for Christ's sake, and was buried on the Ostian Way, in the thirty-seventh year after the passion of the Lord. He wrote nine Epistles to seven Churches: to the Romans one, to the Corinthians two, to the Galatians one, to the Ephesians one, to the Philippians one, to the Colossians one, to the Thessalonians two; besides these, to his disciples, to Timothy two, to Titus one, to Philemon one.

But the Epistle which is entitled to the Hebrews is not believed to be his, on account of the difference of style and language, but is thought to be either Barnabas's, according to Tertullian, or Luke the Evangelist's, according to some, or of Clement, afterwards bishop of the Roman Church, who they say, being attached to him, arranged and adorned Paul's thoughts in his own style. Or else, because Paul was writing to the Hebrews, and because of the ill will felt toward his name among them, he removed the title from the beginning of the salutation. He had written as a Hebrew in Hebrew, that is, most eloquently in his own tongue, so that what had been eloquently written in Hebrew might be more eloquently rendered into Greek; and this is the reason it seems to differ from Paul's other Epistles. Some read also an Epistle to the Laodiceans, but it is rejected by all.

Barnabas of Cyprus, who was also called Joseph the Levite, was ordained Apostle of the Gentiles together with Paul, and composed one Epistle pertaining to the edification of the Church, which is read among the apocryphal scriptures. He, afterwards, on account of John his disciple, who was also called Mark, was separated from Paul, but nonetheless carried out the work of Gospel preaching enjoined upon him.

Luke the physician of Antioch, as his writings indicate, was not unskilled in the Greek language, a follower of the Apostle Paul and companion of all his journeying, wrote a Gospel, of which the same Paul says: We have sent with him a brother, whose praise is in the Gospel through all the churches; and to the Colossians: Luke the beloved physician salutes you; and to Timothy: Luke alone is with me. He also published another excellent volume, which bears the title of the Acts of the Apostles (πράξεων), whose history extends to the two years of Paul's stay at Rome, that is, to the fourth year of Nero. From which we understand that the book was composed in that same city. Therefore the Circuits (περιόδους) of Paul and Thecla, and the whole fable of the baptized lion, we reckon among the apocryphal writings. For how could it be that the inseparable companion of the Apostle, among all his other doings, should have been ignorant of this alone?

But also Tertullian, near to those times, relates that a certain presbyter in Asia, a zealous devotee (σπουδαστὴν) of the Apostle Paul, being convicted before John of being the author of the book, and confessing that he had done this out of love for Paul, was removed from his office. Some suspect that whenever Paul in his Epistles says, according to my Gospel, he means the volume of Luke, and that Luke learned the Gospel not only from the Apostle Paul—who had not been with the Lord in the flesh—but also from the other Apostles. This he himself also declares at the beginning of his volume, saying: As they delivered them to us, who from the beginning saw for themselves, and were ministers of the word. Therefore he wrote the Gospel as he had heard it. But he composed the Acts of the Apostles as he had seen them. He was buried at Constantinople, to which city, in the twentieth year of Constantius, his bones, together with the relics of the Apostle Andrew, were translated.

Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, according to what he had heard Peter relating, being asked by the brethren at Rome, wrote a short Gospel. When Peter had heard this, he approved it, and by his own authority published it for the churches to read, as Clement writes in the sixth book of his Outlines (ὑποτυπώσεων), and Papias, bishop of Hierapolis. Peter also makes mention of this Mark in his first Epistle, figuratively signifying Rome under the name of Babylon: She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, salutes you, and so does Mark my son. Taking therefore the Gospel which he himself had composed, he went to Egypt, and was the first to proclaim Christ at Alexandria, establishing a church of such teaching and continence of life, that he compelled all followers of Christ to his example. Finally, Philo, the most eloquent of the Jews, seeing the first church of Alexandria still judaizing, wrote a book, as it were in praise of his own nation, concerning their manner of life.

And just as Luke relates that those who believed at Jerusalem held all things in common, so also he committed to memory what he saw being done at Alexandria under Mark as teacher. He died in the eighth year of Nero, and was buried at Alexandria, Annianus succeeding him.

John the Apostle, whom Jesus loved most, son of Zebedee, brother of James the apostle, whom Herod beheaded after the passion of the Lord, wrote his Gospel last of all, at the request of the bishops of Asia, against Cerinthus and other heretics, and especially then against the rising dogma of the Ebionites, who assert that Christ did not exist before Mary. Whence he was compelled also to declare His divine nativity. But another reason too is given for this writing: that when he had read the volumes of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he approved indeed the text of their history, and confirmed that they had told the truth, but that they had woven the narrative of only a single year, that in which he also suffered, after the imprisonment of John. Passing over, therefore, the year whose acts had been set forth by the three, he narrated the events of the earlier time before John was shut up in prison: as will be evident to those who diligently read the four volumes of the Gospels.

This fact also removes the seeming discordance (διαφωνίαν) which appears to exist between John and the others. He wrote also one Epistle, whose beginning is: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, and seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life, which is approved by all churchmen and learned men. But the other two, of which the beginning is: The elder to the elect lady and her children, and the next: The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth, are ascribed to John the presbyter, whose second tomb is shown at Ephesus even to this day, although some think that there are two memorials of the same John the Evangelist, a matter which we shall discuss when in due order we come to Papias, his hearer. In the fourteenth year, therefore, Domitian raising a second persecution after Nero, he was banished to the island of Patmos, and wrote the Apocalypse, which Justin Martyr and Irenaeus interpret.

But after Domitian was slain, and his acts, on account of his excessive cruelty, were rescinded by the senate, John, remaining under the emperor Nerva, founded and ruled all the churches of Asia, and, worn out with old age, died in the sixty-eighth year after the Lord's passion, and was buried near that same city.

Hermas, of whom the Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, makes mention: Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren that are with them, is asserted to be the author of the book which is called the Shepherd, and which is already publicly read in certain churches of Greece. It is indeed a useful book, and many of the ancient writers have used testimonies from it. But among the Latins it is almost unknown.

Philo the Jew, an Alexandrian by nation, of priestly stock, is for this reason placed by us among the ecclesiastical writers, because, writing a book about the first church at Alexandria founded by Mark the evangelist, he dwelt upon the praise of our people, recording that they existed not only there but in many provinces also, and calling their dwellings monasteries. From which it appears that the first church of those believing in Christ was such as the monks now strive and desire to be, so that nothing belonged to anyone as his own, none among them rich, none poor. Their patrimonies were divided among the needy, they gave themselves to prayer and to psalms, and also to teaching and continence, such as Luke also relates the first believers at Jerusalem to have been. They say that this man was in danger at Rome under Gaius Caligula, to whom he had been sent as an envoy of his nation.

When he had come a second time to Claudius, he spoke, in that same city, with the Apostle Peter, and had friendship with him, and for this reason he also adorned with his praises the followers of Mark, the disciple of Peter, at Alexandria.

There are extant his outstanding and innumerable works: on the five books of Moses; one book, Of the Confusion of Tongues; one book, Of Nature and Discovery; one book, Of Things We Pray For and Detest by Sense; one book, Of Instruction; one book, Of the Heir of Divine Things; one book, Of the Division of Equals and Contraries; one book, Of the Three Virtues; one book, Why the Names of Certain Persons Were Changed in the Scriptures; two books, Of Covenants; one book, Of the Life of the Wise Man; one book, Of the Giants; five books, That Dreams Are Sent by God; five books of Questions and Solutions on Exodus; four books, Of the Tabernacle and the Decalogue; as well as, Of Victims and of Promises, or of Curses; Of Providence; Of the Jews; Of the Manner of Life; Of Alexander; and That Dumb Animals Have Reason of Their Own; and That Every Fool Is a Slave; and one book, Of the Life of Our People, of which we spoke above, that is, concerning apostolic men, which he also entitled περὶ βίου θεωρητικοῦ ἱκετῶν (concerning the contemplative life of suppliants), because, namely, they contemplate heavenly things and pray always to God.

And under other titles: two books, Of Agriculture; two books, Of Drunkenness. There are also other monuments of his genius which have not come into our hands. Concerning him it is commonly said among the Greeks: ἢ Πλάτων Φιλωνίζει, ἢ Φίλων πλατωνίζει; that is, either Plato follows Philo, or Philo follows Plato: so great is the likeness of thought and eloquence.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca of Cordova, disciple of Sotion the Stoic, and uncle of the poet Lucan, was of a most continent life, whom I would not place in the catalogue of Saints, were it not that those Epistles provoke me, which are read by very many—of Paul to Seneca, and of Seneca to Paul. In these, although he was the tutor of Nero, and the most powerful man of that time, he says that he wishes to hold among his own people that place which Paul holds among Christians. This man was killed by Nero two years before Peter and Paul were crowned with martyrdom.

Josephus, son of Matthias, a priest from Jerusalem, taken captive by Vespasian, was left with his son Titus. Coming to Rome, he presented to the emperors, father and son, seven books on the Jewish captivity, which were also deposited in the public library, and, on account of the glory of his genius, he was also granted a statue at Rome. He also wrote another twenty books of Antiquities, from the beginning of the world to the fourteenth year of the emperor Domitian, and two books of Ἀρχαιότητος (Antiquity), against Apion the Alexandrian grammarian, who, having been sent as an envoy under Caligula on behalf of the Gentiles, had also written, against Philo, a book containing a vilification of the Jewish nation. Another book of his also, which is entitled περὶ Αὐτοκράτορος λογισμοῦ (Concerning the Sovereignty of Reason), is held to be very elegant, in which the martyrdoms of the Maccabees are also set forth.

This man, in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities, most plainly confesses, on account of the greatness of his signs, that Christ was killed by the Pharisees, and that John the Baptist was truly a prophet, and that Jerusalem was destroyed on account of the killing of James the apostle. He wrote concerning the Lord in this manner: At that time there was Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it is fitting to call him a man. For he was a doer of wonderful works, and a teacher of those who gladly receive the truth: he had very many followers, both from among the Jews and from the Gentiles, and was believed to be the Christ. And when, through the envy of our leading men, Pilate had condemned him to the cross, nevertheless those who had first loved him persevered. For he appeared to them on the third day, alive.

And these and many other wonderful things were foretold of him by the songs of the Prophets, and even to this day the race of Christians, taking its name from him, has not failed.

Justus of Tiberias, from the province of Galilee, himself also attempted to weave a history of Jewish affairs, and to compose certain little commentaries on the Scriptures: but Josephus (In the Life of Justus) convicts him of falsehood. It is agreed, however, that he wrote at the same time as Josephus.

Clement, of whom the Apostle Paul, writing to the Philippians, says, With Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are written in the book of life, was the fourth bishop of Rome after Peter: for Linus was the second, Anacletus the third, although very many of the Latins think that Clement was the second after the Apostle Peter.

He wrote, on behalf of the Roman Church, to the Church of the Corinthians, a very useful Epistle, which is also publicly read in certain places, which seems to me to agree in character with the Epistle which is circulated under Paul's name to the Hebrews. But it also borrows much from that same Epistle, not only in thought but also in order of words. There is altogether a great similarity between the two. There is also a second Epistle under his name, which is rejected by the ancients. And a Disputation of Peter and Appion, composed in a long discourse, which Eusebius, in the third volume of his Ecclesiastical History, refutes. He died in the third year of Trajan, and the memory of his name is preserved to this day by a church built at Rome.

Ignatius, third bishop of the Church of Antioch after Peter the apostle, was condemned to the beasts when Trajan was stirring up persecution, and was sent bound to Rome. And when, sailing, he had come to Smyrna, where Polycarp, a hearer of John, was bishop, he wrote one Epistle to the Ephesians, a second to the Magnesians, a third to the Trallians, a fourth to the Romans; and setting out from there he wrote to the Philadelphians and to the Smyrnaeans; and specifically to Polycarp, commending to him the Church of Antioch, in which epistle, concerning the Gospel which was lately translated by me, he sets down a testimony about the person of Christ, saying: But I also saw him after the resurrection in the flesh, and I believe that he is. And when he came to Peter and to those who were with Peter, he said to them: Behold, touch me, and see that I am not a bodiless demon. And immediately they touched him and believed.

But it seems fitting, since we have made mention of so great a man, to set down also a few things from the epistle which he wrote to the Romans. From Syria to Rome I fight with beasts, on sea and on land, bound night and day with ten leopards, that is, soldiers who guard me: and the more kindness one shows them, the worse they become. But their wrongdoing is my instruction, yet I am not thereby justified. Would that I might enjoy the beasts that are prepared for me, whom I also pray may be swift for my destruction, and I will entice them to devour me, lest, as with the bodies of some other Martyrs, they should not dare to touch my body. But if they should be unwilling to come, I will use force, I will thrust myself upon them, that I may be devoured. Forgive me, little children: what will profit me, I know.

Now I begin to be a disciple of Christ, desiring nothing of the things which are seen, that I may find Jesus Christ. Fire, cross, beasts, the breaking of bones, the tearing apart of limbs, and the crushing of the whole body, and all the torments of the devil, let them come upon me, only that I may enjoy Christ. And when he had already been condemned to the beasts, with a burning eagerness to suffer, when he heard the lions roaring, he said: I am the wheat of Christ, I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be found pure bread. He suffered in the eleventh year of Trajan. The remains of his body lie at Antioch outside the Daphnitic gate in the cemetery.

Polycarp, disciple of John the apostle, and ordained by him bishop of Smyrna, was the foremost man of all Asia. For indeed he had as teachers, and had seen, not a few of the Apostles and of those who had seen the Lord. This man, on account of certain questions concerning the day of Easter, under the emperor Antoninus Pius, while Anicetus was governing the Church in the City, came to Rome, where he brought back to the faith very many of the believers who had been deceived by the persuasion of Marcion and Valentinus. And when Marcion by chance met him and said, "Recognize us," he replied: "I recognize the firstborn of the devil." Afterward, however, in the reign of M. Antoninus and L. Aurelius Commodus, in the fourth persecution after Nero, at Smyrna, with the Proconsul presiding, and the whole people shouting against him in the amphitheater, he was delivered to the fire. He wrote a very useful Epistle to the Philippians, which is read to this day in the assembly of Asia.

Papias, a hearer of John, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, wrote only five volumes, which he entitled, Explanation of the Sayings of the Lord. In which, when he asserts in the preface that he does not follow various opinions, but has the Apostles as his authorities, he says: I used to consider what Andrew, what Peter had said, what Philip, what Thomas, what James, what John, what Matthew, or any other of the disciples of the Lord; also what Aristion and the Elder John, disciples of the Lord, were saying. For books do not profit me so much for reading as does the living voice, sounding forth even to this day in its own authors. From which it appears, in the very list of names, that there is one John who is placed among the Apostles, and another, the Elder John, whom he enumerates after Aristion.

But we have said this on account of the above-mentioned opinion, which we have reported as handed down by very many, that the two later Epistles of John are not the Apostle's, but the Presbyter's. There it is said that he set forth a thousand-year Jewish repetition (δευτέρωσιν), which Irenaeus and Apollinaris and the rest followed, who say that after the resurrection the Lord will reign in the flesh with the saints. Tertullian also, in his book on the Hope of the Faithful, and Victorinus of Poetovio, and Lactantius are led by this opinion.

Quadratus, a disciple of the Apostles, when Publius, bishop of the Athenians, was crowned with martyrdom for the faith of Christ, was substituted in his place, and gathered together by his faith and diligence the Church which had been scattered by great terror. And when Hadrian had spent the winter at Athens, and, visiting Eleusis and being initiated into almost all the rites of Greece, had given occasion to those who hated the Christians to harass the believers without an order from the Emperor, he presented to him a book composed in defense of our religion, very useful, full of reason and faith, and worthy of Apostolic doctrine, in which, also showing the antiquity of his own time, he says that very many had been seen by him who, under the Lord, having been afflicted in Judea with various calamities, had been healed, and who had risen from the dead.

Aristides, an Athenian, a most eloquent philosopher, and, in his former garb, a disciple of Christ, presented at the same time as Quadratus a volume containing the reasoning of our doctrine to the emperor Hadrian, that is, an Apology for the Christians, which, continuing to this day, is among scholars a proof of his genius.

Agrippa, surnamed Castor, a very learned man, argued most forcefully against the twenty-four volumes which Basilides the heretic had composed on the Gospel, exposing all his mysteries, and enumerating his prophets, Barcabas and Barcob, and, for the terror of his hearers, certain other barbarous names; and his supreme God, Abraxas, who, as it were, contains the year, if reckoned according to the Greek numeral system. Now Basilides, from whom the Gnostics derive, lived at Alexandria in the times of Hadrian, at which period also Cochebas, leader of the Jewish faction, killed Christians with various torments.

Hegesippus, near to the Apostolic times, and weaving together the histories of all the acts of the Church from the passion of the Lord down to his own age, gathering together from these many things pertaining to the profit of readers, composed five books, in a simple style, so that he might also express in his manner of speaking the character of those whose life he was tracing. He asserts that he came to Rome under Anicetus, who was the tenth bishop after Peter, and that he continued there until Eleutherus, bishop of the same city, who had once been a deacon of Anicetus. Moreover, disputing against idols, he subjoins a history of the error from which they first grew, from which he shows in what age he flourished.

For he says: They made tombs and temples for the dead, as we see even to this day: among these is also Antinous, servant of Hadrian Caesar, for whom also a gymnastic contest is held at the city of Antinous, which he founded in his name, and he set up prophets in the temple. Now it is written that Caesar Hadrian held Antinous in delight.

Justin the philosopher, going about even in the garb of philosophers, from the city of Neapolis in Palestine, son of Priscus Bacchius, labored greatly for the religion of Christ: so much so that he gave to Antoninus Pius also, and to his sons and to the Senate, a book (the Longer Apology) written against the Gentiles, and did not blush at the disgrace of the Cross; and another book (the Second, shorter one) to the successors of the same Antoninus, M. Antoninus Verus and L. Aurelius Commodus. There exists also another volume of his (Discourse to the Greeks) against the Gentiles, in which he also discusses the nature of demons; and a fourth against the Gentiles, to which he gave the title ἔλεγχος (Refutation); and also another on the Monarchy of God, and another book, which he entitled the Psalter, and another on the Soul.

A Dialogue against the Jews, which he held against Trypho, a leader of the Jews; and also against Marcion notable volumes, which Irenaeus also mentions in the fourth book against heresies; and another book against all heresies, which he mentions in the Apology he gave to Antoninus Pius. This man, when he was holding disputations (διατριβάς) in the city of Rome, and was refuting Crescens the Cynic, who blasphemed much against the Christians, as a glutton and a coward in the face of death, and a follower of luxury and lusts, at last, accused through his zeal and treachery of being a Christian, poured out his blood for Christ.

Melito of Asia, bishop of Sardis, gave a book to the emperor M. Antoninus Verus, who had been a disciple of the orator Fronto, on behalf of the Christian doctrine. He also wrote other works, of which these are what we have set down: two books On the Passover, one book On the Life of the Prophets, one book On the Church, one book On the Lord's Day, one book On the Senses, one book On Faith, one book On the Creation, one book On the Soul and Body, one book On Baptism, one book On Truth, one book On the Generation of Christ, one book On his own Prophecy, one book On Hospitality, and another book which is entitled The Key; one book On the Devil, one book On the Apocalypse of John, one book περὶ Ἐνσωμάτου Θεοῦ (On the Embodied God), and six books of Selections (Ἐκλογῶν).

Tertullian, in the seven books which he wrote against the Church on behalf of Montanus, mocks the elegant and declamatory genius of this man, saying that he is considered by very many of our people to be a prophet.

Theophilus, sixth bishop of the Church of Antioch, under the emperor M. Antoninus Verus composed a book against Marcion, which exists to this day. There are also attributed to him three volumes To Autolycus, and one book against the heresy of Hermogenes; and other short and elegant treatises pertaining to the edification of the Church. I have read, under his name, Commentaries on the Gospel and on the Proverbs of Solomon, which do not seem to me to agree with the elegance and style of the works mentioned above.

Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia, flourished under the emperor M. Antoninus Verus, to whom he also gave a notable volume in defense of the faith of the Christians. There exist also five other books of his against the Gentiles, and two On Truth, against the Cataphrygians who had then first arisen with Priscilla and Maximilla, insane prophetesses, when Montanus was beginning.

Dionysius, bishop of the Church of the Corinthians, was of such great eloquence and diligence that he instructed by letters not only the peoples of his own city and province, but also the bishops of other cities and provinces. Among these is one to the Lacedaemonians, another to the Athenians, a third to the Nicomedians, a fourth to the Cretans, a fifth to the Church of Amastris and to the rest of the Churches of Pontus, a sixth to the Cnossians and to Pinytus, bishop of that same city, a seventh to the Romans, which he wrote to Soter their bishop, an eighth to Chrysophora, a holy woman. He flourished under the emperors M. Antoninus Verus and L. Aurelius Commodus.

Pinytus of Crete, bishop of the city of Cnossus, wrote to Dionysius, bishop of the Corinthians, a very elegant letter, in which he teaches that peoples should not always be fed with milk, lest they be overtaken like infants by the last day; but that they ought also to be fed with solid food, that they might advance to a spiritual old age. And this man too flourished under M. Antoninus Verus and L. Aurelius Commodus.

Tatian, who, first teaching Oratory, had won for himself no small glory from the art of Rhetoric, was a follower of Justin the martyr, flourishing in the Church so long as he did not depart from his side. But afterward, puffed up with the swelling of his eloquence, he founded a new heresy, which is called that of the Encratites, which Severus afterward increased, from whom the heretics of that same party are called Severians to this day. Furthermore Tatian wrote countless volumes, of which one, most excellent, against the Gentiles, exists, which is said to be outstanding among all his works. And this man too flourished under the emperor M. Antoninus Verus and L. Aurelius Commodus.

Philip, bishop of Crete, that is, of the city of Gortyna, whom Dionysius mentions in his letter which he wrote to the Church of that same city, published a celebrated book against Marcion, and flourished in the times of M. Antoninus Verus and L. Aurelius Commodus.

Musanus, not undistinguished among those who wrote on ecclesiastical doctrine, composed under the emperor M. Antoninus Verus a book to certain brethren who had turned aside from the Church to the heresy of the Encratites.

Modestus, he too under the emperor M. Antoninus and L. Aurelius Commodus, wrote a book against Marcion, which continues to this day. There are also attributed to him other treatises, but these are rejected by the learned as ψευδόγραφα (falsely ascribed writings).

Bardesanes was held in high regard in Mesopotamia; he was at first a follower of Valentinus, then his refuter, and founded a new heresy. His ardent talent is proclaimed by the Syrians, and he was vehement in disputation. He wrote countless works against almost all the heretics who had sprung up in his time. Among these is that most brilliant and forceful book which he addressed to Marcus Antoninus, On Fate; and many other volumes concerning persecution, which his followers translated from the Syriac language into Greek. But if there is such force and brilliance even in translation, how much do we suppose there was in his own language?

Victor, the thirteenth bishop of the city of Rome, writing on the question of Easter and certain other small works, governed the Church under the emperor Severus for ten years.

Irenaeus, a presbyter of Pothinus the bishop who governed the church of Lyons in Gaul, was sent as a delegate to Rome by the martyrs of that same place concerning certain questions of the Church, and carried back letters honorable to his name addressed to bishop Eleutherus. Afterward, when Pothinus, now nearly ninety years old, had been crowned with martyrdom for Christ, Irenaeus was put in his place. It is agreed that he was a disciple of Polycarp, the priest and martyr whom we mentioned above in the tenth chapter.

He wrote five books Against Heresies, and a short volume Against the Gentiles, and another On Discipline, and to his brother Marcianus On Apostolic Preaching, and a book of various treatises, and to Blastus On Schism, and to Florinus On the Monarchy, or that God is not the author of evils, and an outstanding commentary On the Ogdoad, at the end of which, signifying that he had been near to the apostolic times, he subscribed thus: "I adjure you, whoever transcribes this book, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by his glorious coming, in which he will judge the living and the dead, that you compare what you have transcribed, and correct it most diligently against the exemplar from which you wrote; and likewise that you also transcribe this adjuration itself, as you have found it in the exemplar." There are also carried under his name other letters to Victor, bishop of Rome, concerning the question of Easter, in which he admonishes him that he ought not lightly to sever the unity of the fellowship.

For indeed Victor had believed that many bishops of Asia and the East, who celebrated Easter on the fourteenth day of the moon with the Jews, ought to be condemned. On this opinion, those who differed from them did not give their hand to Victor. He flourished especially under the emperor Commodus, who succeeded Marcus Antoninus Verus in the empire.

Pantaenus, a philosopher of the Stoic sect, according to a certain old custom in Alexandria, where ever since Mark the evangelist there had always been ecclesiastical teachers, was of such prudence and learning both in the divine Scriptures and in secular literature, that he was even sent to India, at the request of that nation's envoys, by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria. There he found that Bartholomew, one of the twelve Apostles, had preached the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew, which, written in Hebrew letters, he brought back with him to Alexandria upon his return. Many commentaries of his on Holy Scripture are extant; but he was of more benefit to the churches by his living voice. He taught under the emperor Severus and Antoninus, surnamed Caracalla.

Rhodon, by birth an Asian, instructed in the Scriptures at Rome by Tatian, of whom we have spoken above, published a great many works: chief among them a work against Marcion, in which he relates how the Marcionites themselves also disagreed among each other; and that Apelles, another aged heretic, had once been met by him, and was held up to ridicule, because he said he did not know the God whom he worshipped. He mentions in the same book, which he wrote to Callistion, that he had been a hearer of Tatian at Rome. He also composed elegant treatises on the Hexaemeron, and a notable work against the Phrygians; and he flourished in the times of Commodus and Severus.

Clement, presbyter of the church of Alexandria, a hearer of Pantaenus, of whom we have spoken above, after the latter's death held the ecclesiastical school of Alexandria, and was a teacher of catechesis. There are carried under his name notable volumes, full of learning and eloquence, both concerning the divine Scriptures and concerning the resources of secular literature: among these are the Stromateis, eight books; the Hypotyposeis, eight books; Against the Gentiles, one book; the Paedagogus, three books; On Easter, one book; a disputation On Fasting, and another entitled Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?; On Detraction, one book; On Ecclesiastical Canons, and Against Those Who Follow the Error of the Jews, one book, which he addressed specifically to Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem. He mentions in his Stromateis the volume of Tatian Against the Gentiles, of which we have spoken above, and a certain Cassian's Chronography, a small work which I have not been able to find.

He also reports that concerning the Jews, a certain Aristobulus and Demetrius and Eupolemus, writers against the Gentiles, in imitation of Josephus, assert the antiquity of Moses and the Jewish nation. There is extant a letter of Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, who afterward governed the Church together with Narcissus, addressed to the Antiochenes concerning the ordination of Asclepiades the confessor, congratulating them, in which he sets down at the end: "These things, lords and brothers, I have sent written to you by Clement, the blessed presbyter, an illustrious and approved man, whom you also know, and will now recognize more fully, who, having come here according to the providence and visitation of God, has confirmed and increased the Church of the Lord." It is agreed that Origen was his disciple. He flourished in the times of Severus and of Antoninus his son.

Miltiades, whom Rhodon recalls in his work composed against Montanus, Prisca, and Maximilla, wrote against the same persons a notable volume, and other books against the Gentiles and the Jews, and gave an Apologeticum to the princes of that time. He flourished in the times of Marcus Antoninus and Commodus.

Apollonius, a most eloquent man, wrote against Montanus, Prisca, and Maximilla a notable and lengthy volume, in which he asserts that Montanus and his mad prophetesses perished by hanging; and many other things, in which he says concerning Prisca and Maximilla: "If they deny that they have received gifts, let them confess that those who receive them are not prophets: and this I will prove by a thousand witnesses. But prophets are also proven by their other fruits. Tell me, does a prophetess dye her hair? Does she paint her eyes with antimony? Are prophets adorned with garments and gems? Does a prophetess play at the gaming board and with dice? Does a prophet take interest on loans? Let them answer whether this is lawful or not: it is my part to prove that they have done these things." He says in the same book that it was the fortieth year, up to the time when he himself was writing the book, since the heresy of the Cataphrygians had had its beginning.

Tertullian, having published six volumes against the Church, which he wrote On Ecstasy, composed a seventh specifically against Apollonius, in which he attempts to defend everything that Apollonius had censured. Apollonius flourished under the emperors Commodus and Severus.

Serapion, ordained bishop of Antioch in the eleventh year of the emperor Commodus, wrote a letter to Caricus and Pontius concerning the heresy of Montanus, in which he adds these words also: "But that you may know that the madness of this false doctrine, that is, of the new prophecy, is rejected by the whole world, I have sent you the letter of the most blessed Apollinaris, who was bishop in Hierapolis of Asia." He also composed a volume addressed to Domnus, who at the time of persecution had turned aside to the Jews; and another book, concerning the Gospel which is carried under the name of Peter, addressed to the church of Rhossus in Cilicia, which had turned aside into his heresy through the reading of it. Short letters of his are also read here and there, in keeping with the discipline and life of their author.

Apollonius, a senator of the city of Rome, was betrayed under the emperor Commodus by a slave named Severus because he was a Christian; having obtained leave to give an account of his faith, he composed a notable volume, which he read in the senate; and nonetheless, by the sentence of the senate, he was beheaded for Christ, in accordance with the old law prevailing among them, that Christians once brought to their judgment should not be released without denying their faith.

Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine (which was formerly called Turris Stratonis), under the emperor Severus, together with the other bishops, composed a very useful synodal letter against those who kept Easter with the Jews on the fourteenth day of the moon.

Bacchylus, bishop of Corinth, held in high regard under the same emperor Severus, wrote an elegant book concerning Easter in the name of all the bishops who were in Achaia.

Polycrates, bishop of the Ephesians, together with the other bishops of Asia who, according to a certain old custom, celebrated Easter with the Jews on the fourteenth day of the moon, wrote against Victor, bishop of Rome, a synodal letter, in which he teaches that he follows the authority of the apostle John and of the ancients: from which we have excerpted these few words: "We therefore observe the inviolable day, neither adding anything nor taking anything away. For indeed in Asia the greatest lights have fallen asleep, who shall rise again on the day of the Lord, when he shall come from the heavens in his majesty to raise up all the saints: I speak of Philip, one of the twelve Apostles, who sleeps in Hierapolis, and his two daughters, who grew old as virgins, and another of his daughters, who, full of the Holy Spirit, fell asleep in Ephesus.

And John also, who reclined upon the breast of the Lord, and who, as a priest, wore the golden plate upon his forehead, a martyr and teacher, sleeps in Ephesus; and Polycarp, bishop and martyr, rests at Smyrna. Thraseas also, bishop and martyr, from Eumenia, rests in that same Smyrna. What need is there to recall Sagaris, bishop and martyr, who sleeps in Laodicea, and the blessed Papirius, and Melito the eunuch, who lived always in the Holy Spirit, who, having served the Lord always, is laid in Sardis, and awaits the resurrection at his coming? All these observed the day of Easter on the fourteenth day of the moon, deviating in no part from the evangelical tradition, and following the ecclesiastical rule. I too, the least of you all, Polycrates, according to the teaching of my kinsmen, whom also I have followed—for seven of my kinsmen were bishops, and I am the eighth—have always celebrated Easter when the people of the Jews made the unleavened bread.

Therefore, brothers, I who am sixty-five years of age in the Lord, and instructed by many brothers from the whole world, having traversed all Scripture, will not be frightened by those who threaten us. For my elders said: 'One ought to obey God rather than men.'" I have set these things down for this reason, that I might demonstrate the man's talent and authority from a small work. He flourished in the times of the emperor Severus, at the same age as Narcissus at Jerusalem.

Heraclitus, under the rule of Commodus and Severus, composed Commentaries on the Apostle.

Maximus, under the same emperors, discussed in a notable volume the famous question, whence evil comes, and that matter was made by God.

Candidus, under the same rulers, published a most beautiful treatise on the Hexaemeron.

Appion, under the emperor Severus, likewise made treatises on the Hexaemeron.

Sextus, under the emperor Severus, wrote a book On the Resurrection.

Arabianus, under the same emperor, published certain small works pertaining to Christian doctrine.

Judas discussed most fully the seventy weeks in Daniel, and brought down a chronography of former times as far as the tenth year of Severus. In this he is convicted of error, in that he said the coming of Antichrist would occur around his own time; but this was because the magnitude of the persecutions threatened the present world with imminent end.

Tertullian the presbyter, now at last placed first among the Latins after Victor and Apollonius, was of the province of Africa, of the city of Carthage, his father being a Proconsular Centurion. He was a man of keen and vehement talent, and flourished especially under the emperor Severus and Antoninus Caracalla, and wrote many volumes, which, because they are known to most people, we pass over. I myself saw a certain Paul of Concordia, which is a town of Italy, an old man, who used to say that he, when quite a young man, had seen at Rome the notary of the blessed Cyprian, now of great age, and that this man was accustomed to relate to him that Cyprian never let a single day pass without reading Tertullian, and would often say to him, "Give me the master"—meaning Tertullian.

This man, having remained a presbyter of the Church until middle age, afterward, through the envy and insults of the clergy of the Roman Church, slipped into the doctrine of Montanus, and in many books makes mention of the New Prophecy; but he especially wove volumes against the Church: On Modesty, On Persecution, On Fasts, On Monogamy, six books On Ecstasy, and a seventh which he composed against Apollonius. He is said to have lived to extreme old age, and to have composed many small works which no longer survive.

Origen, also called Adamantius, in the tenth year of Severus Pertinax, when a persecution had been stirred up against the Christians, was left poor, along with six brothers and his widowed mother, at about seventeen years of age, after his father Leonides had been crowned with martyrdom for Christ. For the treasury had seized his family property on account of his confession of Christ. When the Church at Alexandria had been scattered, he, in the eighteenth year of his age, undertook the work of catechizing, and afterward was confirmed by Demetrius, bishop of that city, in the place of the presbyter Clement, and flourished for many years. And when now of middle age, on account of the churches of Achaia, which were being troubled by many heresies, he was journeying to Athens through Palestine under the testimony of an ecclesiastical letter, he was ordained presbyter by Theoctistus and Alexander, bishops of Caesarea and Jerusalem, and thereby offended the mind of Demetrius, who raged against him with such madness that he wrote throughout the whole world concerning his name.

It is agreed that before he removed to Caesarea he had been at Rome under bishop Zephyrinus, and that, having immediately returned to Alexandria, he made Heraclas—a presbyter who still persevered in the garb of a philosopher—his assistant in catechizing; and this same Heraclas, after Demetrius, held the Alexandrian church.

How great his glory was appears from this, that Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea, invited him along with all Cappadocia, and kept him a long while; and afterward, coming to Palestine on the occasion of the holy places, was for a long time instructed by him at Caesarea in the sacred Scriptures. And also this, that at the request of Mammaea, mother of the emperor Alexander, a religious woman, he came to Antioch and was held in the highest honor; and that he wrote letters to the emperor Philip, who was the first of the Roman kings to be a Christian, and to his mother, which survive to this day.

Who does not know also how much zeal he had for the divine Scriptures, so that he even learned the Hebrew language, contrary to the nature of his age and race, and, besides the Seventy interpreters, gathered other editions also into one volume: namely those of Aquila, the Pontic proselyte, and of Theodotion the Ebionite, and of Symmachus, of the same persuasion, who also wrote commentaries on the Gospel according to Matthew, in which he tries to confirm his own doctrine. Moreover, with wondrous labor he found a fifth, sixth, and seventh edition, which we also possess from his library, and compared them with the other editions.

And since I have set forth an index of his works in the volumes of letters which I wrote to Paula, in a certain letter comparing them with the works of Varro, I now omit it: not passing over in silence this concerning his immortal genius, that he so learned dialectic also, and geometry, and arithmetic, music, grammar, and rhetoric, and the sects of all the philosophers, that he also had among his followers zealous students of secular literature, and interpreted for them daily, and wondrous crowds gathered to him: whom he received for this reason, that under the occasion of secular literature he might instruct them in the faith of Christ. As to the cruelty of the persecution which arose against the Christians under Decius, because it raged against the religion of Philip, whom it also killed, it is superfluous to speak, since even Fabian, bishop of the Roman Church, fell in that very persecution, and Alexander and Babylas, pontiffs of the churches of Jerusalem and Antioch, fell asleep in prison for the confession of Christ.

And if anyone wishes to know what happened concerning the condition of Origen, he may learn it clearly, first from his letters, which were sent to various persons after the persecution; then from the sixth book of the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea, and from the six volumes written on behalf of this same Origen. He lived until the time of Gallus and Volusianus, that is, to the sixty-ninth year of his age; and he died at Tyre, in which city he was also buried.

Ammonius, an eloquent man and very learned in philosophy, was held illustrious at Alexandria in the same period: who, among the many and outstanding monuments of his genius, also composed an elegant work on the harmony of Moses and Jesus, and devised the Gospel canons, which Eusebius of Caesarea afterward followed. Porphyry falsely accuses him of having become a pagan from a Christian, whereas it is agreed that he persevered as a Christian to the end of his life.

Ambrose, first a Marcionite, then corrected by Origen, was a deacon of the Church, and was distinguished by the glory of a confession of the Lord, to whom, along with the presbyter Protoctetus, Origen's book On Martyrdom is dedicated. By this man's industry, expense, and urging, Origen was aided in dictating countless volumes. But he himself also, as a man of noble character, was of no inelegant talent, as his letters to Origen show. He died before the death of Origen; and in this he is blamed by many, that, being a wealthy man, he did not remember, when dying, his friend, an old and poor man.

Trypho, a hearer of Origen, to whom some of his letters survive, was most learned in the Scriptures. This indeed is shown by many of his works scattered here and there, but especially by the book he composed on the Red Heifer in Deuteronomy, and on the Divided Portions, which, along with the dove and the turtledove, are set down concerning Abraham in Genesis.

Minucius Felix, a distinguished pleader at Rome, wrote a Dialogue between a Christian and a Pagan disputing, which is entitled Octavius. But another work also circulates under his name, On Fate, or Against the Astrologers, which, though it too is the work of an eloquent man, does not seem to me to agree in style with the former book. Lactantius also mentions this Minucius in his books.

Gaius, under Zephyrinus, bishop of the city of Rome, that is, under Antoninus the son of Severus, held a very notable disputation against Proculus, a follower of Montanus, charging him with rashness for defending the New Prophecy; and in the same volume, enumerating the Epistles of Paul, he counts only thirteen; the fourteenth, which is said to be to the Hebrews, he says is not his; and indeed among the Romans to this day it is not regarded as being by the apostle Paul.

Beryllus, bishop of Bostra in Arabia, having for some time gloriously governed the Church, in the end fell into a heresy which denies that Christ existed before the incarnation, and was corrected by Origen. He wrote various small works, and especially letters, in which he gives thanks to Origen; and there are also letters of Origen to him. There survives a dialogue of Origen and Beryllus, in which he is refuted of his heresy. He flourished under Alexander, son of Mammaea, and under Maximinus and Gordian, who succeeded him in the empire.

Hippolytus, bishop of a certain church—for I have not been able to learn the name of the city—wrote a reckoning of Easter and Canons of the times, up to the first year of the emperor Alexander, and discovered the sixteen-year cycle, which the Greeks call ἑκκαιδεκαετηρίς, and gave the occasion to Eusebius, who composed on the same Easter a Canon of the nineteen-year cycle, that is, ἐννεακαιδεκαετηρίς. He wrote also some commentaries on the Scriptures, of which I have found these: on the Hexaemeron, and on Exodus, on the Song of Songs, on Genesis, and on Zechariah; on the Psalms, and on Isaiah, on Daniel, on the Apocalypse, on Proverbs, on Ecclesiastes, on Saul and the Witch of Endor, on Antichrist, on the Resurrection, against Marcion, on Easter, against all heresies, and a Homily on the praise of the Lord the Savior, in which he indicates that he spoke in the church in the presence of Origen.

In rivalry with him, Ambrose, whom we said was corrected from the heresy of Marcion to the true faith, urged Origen to write commentaries on the Scriptures, providing him with seven or more shorthand-writers, and their expenses, and an equal number of copyists, and—what is greater than this—daily exacting the work from him with incredible zeal. Whence in a certain letter Origen calls him ἐργοδιώκτης (taskmaster).

Alexander, bishop of Cappadocia, when out of desire for the holy places he was journeying to Jerusalem, and Narcissus, bishop of that city, now an old man, was governing the church, it was revealed both to Narcissus and to many of his clergy that on the next day in the morning a bishop would enter who ought to be an assistant to the episcopal throne. And so the matter having been fulfilled as it had been foretold, with all the bishops of Palestine gathered together in one place, and with Narcissus himself especially urging it, he undertook the governance of the Church of Jerusalem together with him.

This man, at the end of a certain letter which he writes to the people of Antinoë concerning the peace of the Church, says: "Narcissus greets you, who held the episcopal place here before me, and now governs the same together with me by his prayers, being about a hundred and sixteen years old, and he prays along with me that you may be of one and the same mind." He wrote also another letter to the people of Antioch, sent through the presbyter Clement of Alexandria, of whom we have spoken above; and also to Origen, and on behalf of Origen against Demetrius, because, according to the testimony of Demetrius, he had made him a presbyter. But other letters of his to various persons are also in circulation. In the seventh persecution, under Decius, at the time when Babylas suffered at Antioch, he was led to Caesarea, and, shut up in prison, was crowned with martyrdom for the confession of Christ.

Julius Africanus, whose five volumes On Times survive, undertook, under the Emperor M. Aurelius Antoninus, who had succeeded Macrinus, an embassy for the restoration of the city of Emmaus, which afterward was called Nicopolis. There is a letter of his to Origen concerning the question of Susanna: because he says that this story is not found in the Hebrew, and does not agree with the Hebrew etymology, ἀπὸ τοῦ σχίνου σχίσαι, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ πρίνου πρίσαι ("from the mastic tree, to cleave; and from the holm-oak, to saw"); against which Origen writes a learned letter. There survives another letter of his to Aristides, in which he discusses very fully the disagreement which appears to exist in the genealogy of the Savior according to Matthew and Luke.

Geminus, presbyter of the church of Antioch, composed a few monuments of his talent, flourishing under the emperor Alexander, and under Zebennus, bishop of his own city, at that very time especially when Heraclas was ordained pontiff of the church of Alexandria.

Theodore, who was afterward called Gregory, bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus, while still quite a young man, for the sake of studies in Greek and Latin literature, crossed from Cappadocia to Berytus, and thence to Caesarea in Palestine, with his brother Athenodorus joined to him. When Origen had seen their outstanding natural gifts, he exhorted them to philosophy, in which, gradually introducing the faith of Christ, he also made them his own followers. After five years, therefore, having been trained by him, they were sent back to their mother; and Theodore, on setting out, wrote a panegyric of thanksgiving for Origen: and, a great crowd having been called together, with Origen himself also present, he recited it, and it survives to this day. He also wrote a paraphrase on Ecclesiastes, brief indeed, but very useful. And other letters of his are widely circulated, but especially the signs and miracles which he, now a bishop, performed with great glory to the churches.

Cornelius, bishop of the city of Rome, to whom eight letters of Cyprian survive, wrote a letter to Fabius, bishop of the church of Antioch, concerning the Roman, Italian, and African synod, and another concerning Novatian and those who had lapsed; a third concerning the proceedings of the synod; a fourth to the same Fabius, very lengthy, containing the causes of the Novatian heresy and its anathema. He governed the Church for two years under Gallus and Volusianus; and, being crowned with martyrdom for Christ, was succeeded by Lucius.

Cyprian the African first gloriously taught rhetoric; then, at the persuasion of the presbyter Caecilius, from whom he also received his surname, he became a Christian, distributed all his substance to the poor, and after not much time was chosen as presbyter, and was afterward also made bishop of Carthage. It is superfluous to weave a list of his talent, since his works are clearer than the sun. He suffered under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the eighth persecution, on the same day on which Cornelius suffered at Rome, but not in the same year.

Pontius, deacon of Cyprian, sharing his exile with him even to the day of his passion, left an outstanding volume on the life and passion of Cyprian.

Dionysius, bishop of the city of Alexandria, under Heraclas held the presbyter's school of κατηχήσεων, and was a very distinguished hearer of Origen. He, agreeing with the teaching of Cyprian and the African synod concerning the rebaptizing of heretics, sent very many letters to various persons, which survive even to this day, and wrote to Fabius, bishop of the city of Antioch, on penance, and another to the Romans through Hippolytus; to Xystus, who had succeeded Stephen, two letters, and to Philemon and to Dionysius, presbyters of the Roman Church, two letters, and to that same Dionysius, afterward bishop of Rome, and to Novatian, who was complaining that he had been ordained bishop of Rome against his will, whose letter has this beginning: Dionysius to his brother Novatian, greeting. If, as you say, you were ordained against your will, you will prove it by willingly withdrawing. For it was fitting to endure anything, even for this reason, so that the Church of God might not be torn apart.

Nor would a less illustrious testimony have resulted from this, namely that you refused to bring about a schism, than that which is wont to arise from one who refuses to sacrifice to idols—indeed, in my opinion, even more illustrious, since there one consults for a single, private soul, but here the business of the whole Church is at stake. Yet even now, if you persuade, if you compel the brethren to return to concord, you will have accomplished more by duty than you sinned by error. And this indeed will not be reckoned to you, but that will be extolled with praises. But if, they not obeying, you achieve less than you wish, still make every effort to save your own soul.

There is another letter of his to Dionysius and to Didymus, and very many "festal" (εορταστικαι) letters on the Pasch, composed in a declamatory style, and one to the Alexandrian Church on his exile, and one to Hieracas, bishop in Egypt, and another on Mortality, and another on the persecution of Decius, and two books against Nepos the bishop, who in his writings asserted a corporeal thousand-year reign, in which he discusses most carefully the Apocalypse of John; and against Sabellius, and to Ammon, bishop of Berenice, and to Telesphorus, and to Euphranor, and four books to Dionysius, bishop of the city of Rome, and to the Laodiceans on penance; likewise to Canon on penance, and to Origen on martyrdom, to the Armenians on penance and on the order of sins, on nature to Timothy, on temptations to Euphranor. Also many letters to Basilides, in one of which he states that he had begun to write commentaries even on Ecclesiastes. But also against Paul of Samosata, a few days before he died, a notable letter of his is reported.

He died in the twelfth year of Gallienus.

Novatian, presbyter of the city of Rome, having attempted to seize the priestly chair against Cornelius, established the teaching of the Novatians, which in Greek is called καθαρῶν (of the pure), refusing to receive apostates who did penance. The instigator of this was Novatus, a presbyter of Cyprian. He wrote On the Pasch, On the Sabbath, On Circumcision, On the Priest, On Prayer, On Jewish Foods, On Perseverance, On Attalus, and many other works, and a large volume on the Trinity, making it, as it were, an epitome (ἐπιτομὴν) of the work of Tertullian, which many, not knowing this, think to be Cyprian's.

Malchion, a most eloquent presbyter of the Antiochene Church, since he had taught rhetoric most brilliantly in that same city, disputed, with stenographers taking notes, against Paul of Samosata, who as bishop of the Antiochene Church had revived the teaching of Artemon; which dialogue survives to this day. But another large letter also, written by him in the person of the synod, is addressed to Dionysius and Maximus, bishops of the Roman and Alexandrian Churches. He flourished under Claudius and Aurelian.

Archelaus, bishop of Mesopotamia, composed in the Syriac tongue the book of his disputation which he held against a Manichaean coming out of Persia, which, translated into Greek, is held by many. He flourished under the emperor Probus, who succeeded Aurelian and Tacitus.

Anatolius of Alexandria, bishop of Laodicea in Syria, flourished under the emperors Probus and Carus; he was a man of wondrous learning in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. The greatness of his genius we may understand from the volume which he composed on the Pasch, and from the ten books on the elements of arithmetic.

Victorinus, bishop of Poetovio, was not as well versed in Latin as in Greek. Hence his works, weighty in sense, seem of lesser worth in the composition of words. These are as follows: Commentaries on Genesis, on Exodus, on Leviticus, on Isaiah, on Ezekiel, on Habakkuk, on Ecclesiastes, on the Song of Songs, on the Apocalypse of John, against all heresies, and many others. At the last he was crowned with martyrdom.

Pamphilus the presbyter, close friend of Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, burned with such love of the divine Library, that he copied out with his own hand the greatest part of the volumes of Origen, which are kept to this day in the library of Caesarea. But I have also found twenty-five volumes of Origen's ἐξηγήσεων (expositions) on the twelve Prophets, written out in his own hand, which I embrace and preserve with such joy that I believe myself to possess the wealth of Croesus. For if it is a joy to possess one letter of a Martyr, how much more so to possess so many thousands of lines, which seem to me to be marked with the traces of his own blood! He wrote, before Eusebius of Caesarea wrote, an Apology for Origen, and he suffered at Caesarea in Palestine under the persecution of Maximinus.

Pierius, presbyter of the Alexandrian Church, under the emperors Carus and Diocletian, at the time when Theonas the bishop governed that Church, taught the people most flourishingly, and attained such elegance of speech and of various treatises, which survive to this day, that he was called the younger Origen. It is agreed that he was a man of wondrous asceticism (ἀσκήσεως), a lover of voluntary poverty, most skilled in the art of dialectic and rhetoric, and that after the persecution he spent all the remaining time of his life residing at Rome. His is a very long treatise on the prophet Hosea, which the discourse itself shows to have been delivered on the eve of Easter.

Lucian, a most eloquent man, presbyter of the Antiochene Church, labored so much in the study of the Scriptures, that even to this day certain copies of the Scriptures are called "Lucianic." There are attributed to him little books On the Faith, and brief letters to several persons. He suffered at Nicomedia for the confession of Christ, under the persecution of Maximinus, and was buried at Helenopolis in Bithynia.

Phileas, from the city of Egypt called Thmuis, of noble birth and no small wealth, having taken up the episcopate, composed a most elegant book In Praise of the Martyrs, and, after a disputation of the proceedings held against the Judge, who was compelling him to sacrifice, was beheaded for Christ; in the same persecution in Egypt whose instigator was he who caused Lucian's death at Nicomedia.

Arnobius, under the emperor Diocletian, taught rhetoric most flourishingly at Sicca in Africa, and wrote volumes against the pagans, which are commonly extant.

Firmianus, also called Lactantius, a disciple of Arnobius, was summoned under the emperor Diocletian along with Flavius the Grammarian, whose books On Medical Matters composed in verse survive, and taught rhetoric at Nicomedia, and for lack of pupils, on account of it being a Greek city, turned himself to writing. We have his Symposium, which he wrote as a young man, and an Itinerary from Africa to Nicomedia, written in hexameter verses, and another book entitled The Grammarian, and the most beautiful On the Wrath of God, and the seven books of the Divine Institutions against the pagans, and an epitome of the same work in one headless book, and two books to Asclepiades, one book On the Persecution, four books of Letters to Probus, two books of Letters to Severus; two books of Letters to Demetrianus, his pupil; to the same, one book On the Workmanship of God, or the formation of man. In his extreme old age he was, in Gaul, tutor to Caesar Crispus, son of Constantine, who was afterward put to death by his father.

Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, most zealous in the divine Scriptures, and, together with Pamphilus the martyr, a most diligent explorer of the divine Library, published an infinite number of volumes. Among these are the following: twenty books of Εὐαγγελικῆς Ἀποδείξεως (Evangelical Demonstration), fifteen books of Εὐαγγελικῆς Προπαρασκευῆς (Evangelical Preparation), five books of Θεοφανείας (Theophany), ten books of Ecclesiastical History, an all-embracing history of the Chronicles and Canons, and their Ἐπιτομὴ (Epitome), and On the Discrepancy of the Gospels, ten books on Isaiah, and against Porphyry, who at that same time was writing in Sicily, as some think, thirty books, of which only twenty have come down to me; one book of Τοπικῶν (Topics), six books of an Apology for Origen, three books On the Life of Pamphilus, other small works On the Martyrs, and most learned commentaries on the hundred and fifty psalms, and many other works. He flourished chiefly under the emperors Constantine and Constantius, and, on account of his friendship with Pamphilus the martyr, received his surname from him.

Rheticius, bishop of the Aedui, that is, of Autun, under Constantine was held in most celebrated fame in the Gauls. His Commentaries on the Song of Songs are read, and another large volume against Novatian, nor besides these have I found any work of his.

Methodius, bishop of Olympus in Lycia, and afterward of Tyre, of neat and well-composed style, composed books against Porphyry, and the Symposium of the Ten Virgins, an outstanding work on the Resurrection against Origen, and against the same author on the Witch (Pythonissa), and On Free Will (Autexasio); commentaries also on Genesis and on the Song of Songs; and many other works, which are commonly read. And at last, in the final persecution, or, as others affirm, under Decius and Valerian, at Chalcis in Greece, he was crowned with martyrdom.

Juvencus, of most noble birth, a Spanish presbyter, translating the four Gospels into hexameter verse almost word for word, composed four books, and some other pieces in the same meter pertaining to the order of the Sacraments. He flourished under the emperor Constantine.

Eustathius, a Pamphylian by descent, of Side, first governed the Church of Beroea in Syria, then that of Antioch, and, composing many works against the teaching of the Arians, was driven under the emperor Constantine into exile at Trajanopolis in Thrace, where he is buried to this day. There survive his volumes On the Soul, On the Woman with a Familiar Spirit (Engastrimytho) against Origen, and countless letters, which it would take long to enumerate.

Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra, flourished under the emperors Constantine and Constantius, and wrote many volumes on various ὑποθέσεων (subjects), and especially against the Arians. Books of Asterius and Apollinaris are reported against him, accusing him of the Sabellian heresy, but Hilary too, in the seventh book against the Arians, mentions his name as though he were a heretic. He, however, defends himself, saying that he does not hold the doctrine of which he is accused, but that he is fortified by the communion of Julius and Athanasius, the pontiffs of the cities of Rome and Alexandria.

Athanasius, bishop of the city of Alexandria, having endured many plots of the Arians, fled to Constans, emperor of the Gauls, whence he returned with letters, and again after his death was put to flight, and remained hidden until the reign of Jovian, by whom his Church was restored to him; he died under Valens. There are attributed to him two books Against the Gentiles, and one Against Valens and Ursacius, and On Virginity, and very many books On the Persecutions of the Arians, and On the Titles of the Psalms, and a history containing the life of Antony the monk, and ἑορταστικαὶ (festal) letters, and many other works, which it would take long to enumerate.

Antony the monk, whose life Athanasius, bishop of the city of Alexandria, related in a notable volume, sent, in the Egyptian tongue, to various monasteries seven letters of apostolic sense and style, which have been translated into the Greek language, of which the chief is the one to the Arsenoites. He flourished under the reign of Constantine and his sons. He lived one hundred and five years.

Basil, bishop of Ancyra, of the art of medicine, wrote against Marcellus, and a book On Virginity, and some other works, and under the emperor Constantius, of the Macedonian party, along with Eustathius of Sebaste, was a leading figure.

Theodore, bishop of Heraclea in Thrace, of elegant and clear style, and of more historical understanding, published under the emperor Constantius commentaries on Matthew, and on John, and on the Apostle, and on the Psalter.

Eusebius, bishop of Emesa, of elegant and rhetorical genius, composed innumerable books, such as pertain to popular applause, and following history rather, is most eagerly read by those who wish to declaim; of these the chief are those against the Jews, and the Gentiles, and the Novatians, and ten books to the Galatians, and short but very numerous homilies on the Gospels. He flourished in the times of the Emperor Constantius, under whom also he died, and was buried at Antioch.

Triphyllius, bishop of Ledra, or Leucotheon, in Cyprus, was the most eloquent man of his age, and was most celebrated under King Constantius. I have read his commentaries on the Song of Songs. And he is said to have composed many other works which have by no means come into our hands.

Donatus, from whom the Donatists sprang up throughout Africa under the princes Constantius and Constantine, asserting that our people had handed over the Scriptures to the heathen during the persecution, deceived by his persuasion almost all of Africa, and especially Numidia. There are extant many of his little works pertaining to his heresy, and a book on the Holy Spirit, agreeing with the Arian doctrine.

Asterius, a philosopher of the Arian faction, wrote, in the reign of Constantius, commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans and on the Gospels and Psalms, and many other works, which are most eagerly read by men of his own party.

Lucifer, bishop of Cagliari, sent together with Pancratius and Hilary, clerics of the Roman Church, as an envoy for the faith by Bishop Liberius to the Emperor Constantius, since he refused to condemn the Nicene faith under the name of Athanasius, was banished to Palestine, and, being of wonderful constancy and a mind prepared for martyrdom, wrote a book against the Emperor Constantius, and sent it to him to read, and not long after, under the Emperor Julian, having returned to Cagliari, died in the reign of Valentinian.

Eusebius, a Sardinian by nation, and from being a Reader of the city of Rome, bishop of Vercelli, was banished by the Emperor Constantius to Scythopolis and thence to Cappadocia for confession of the faith; he returned to the Church under the Emperor Julian, and published commentaries on the Psalms of Eusebius of Caesarea, which he had translated from Greek into Latin. He died in the reign of Valentinian and Valens.

Fortunatianus, an African by nation, bishop of Aquileia, wrote, in the reign of Constantius, commentaries on the Gospels, with the headings arranged, in a brief and rustic style: and in this he is held detestable, that he was the first to solicit and break down Liberius, bishop of the city of Rome, when he was going into exile for the faith, and compelled him to subscribe to the heresy.

Acacius, whom, because he was one-eyed, they called μονόφθαλμον, bishop of the church of Caesarea in Palestine, labored over seventeen volumes on Ecclesiastes, and six of συμμίκτων ζητημάτων, and besides many and various treatises. He rose to such fame under the Emperor Constantius that he set up Felix as bishop at Rome in the place of Liberius.

Serapion, bishop of Thmuis, who by the elegance of his genius earned the surname of the Scholastic, dear to Antony the monk, published an outstanding book against the Manichaean, and another on the titles of the Psalms, and useful letters to various persons, and under the Emperor Constantius was also renowned for his confession.

Hilary, bishop of the city of Poitiers in Aquitaine, banished to Phrygia through the faction of Saturninus, bishop of Arles, from the synod of Béziers, composed twelve books against the Arians and another book on the Synods, which he wrote to the bishops of Gaul, and commentaries on the Psalms, namely the first and the second, and from the fifty-first up to the sixty-second, and from the one hundred and eighteenth to the end, in which work, imitating Origen, he also added some things of his own.

There is also his little book to Constantius, which he had presented to him while living at Constantinople, and another against Constantius, which he wrote after his death, and a book against Valens and Ursacius, containing the history of the synod of Rimini and Seleucia: and to the prefect Sallust, or against Dioscorus, and another book of Hymns and Mysteries, and commentaries on Matthew, and treatises on Job, which he translated from the Greek of Origen according to the sense, and another elegant little book against Auxentius, and several letters to various persons. Some say that he also wrote on the Song of Songs; but this work is unknown to us. He died at Poitiers, in the reign of Valentinian and Valens.

Victorinus, an African by nation, taught rhetoric at Rome under the Emperor Constantius, and in his extreme old age, giving himself over to the faith of Christ, wrote books against Arius in a very obscure dialectical manner, which are not understood except by the learned, and Commentaries on the Apostle.

Titus, bishop of Bostra, under the princes Julian and Jovian, wrote powerful books against the Manichaeans, and several other volumes. He died, however, under Valens.

Damasus, bishop of the city of Rome, had an elegant talent for composing verses, and published many short pieces in metre, and died nearly eighty years old under the Emperor Theodosius.

Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea in Syria, son of a presbyter, devoted himself in his youth rather to grammatical studies, and afterwards, writing innumerable volumes on the sacred Scriptures, died under the Emperor Theodosius. There are extant his thirty books against Porphyry, which among his other works are esteemed the most highly.

Gregory, of Baetica, bishop of Elvira, composed, even to his extreme old age, various treatises in a moderate style, and an elegant book on the Faith, which is said to survive even to this day.

Pacianus, bishop of Barcelona in the ridges of the Pyrenees, distinguished by chastity and eloquence, and as much by his life as by his speech, wrote various small works, among which is the Cervus, and one against the Novatians. He died under the Emperor Theodosius, already in his last old age.

Photinus, from Gallograecia, a disciple of Marcellus, ordained bishop of Sirmium, attempted to restore the heresy of Ebion; afterwards, driven from the Church by the Emperor Valentinian, he wrote several volumes, among which the chief are those against the Gentiles, and books to Valentinian.

Phoebadius, bishop of Agen in Gaul, published a book against the Arians. Other small works of his are also said to exist, which I have not yet read. He is still living today, in decrepit old age.

Didymus of Alexandria, deprived of his eyes from early age, and for that reason also ignorant of letters, presented such a marvel of himself to all, that he learned even dialectic and geometry, which especially require sight, to perfection. He wrote many notable works: commentaries on all the Psalms, commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew and of John, and on Doctrines, and two books against the Arians, and one book on the Holy Spirit, which I myself translated into Latin: eighteen volumes on Isaiah, on Hosea, writing to me, three books of commentaries, and on Zechariah, at my request, five books, and commentaries on Job, and countless other works which it would take a proper index to enumerate. He is still living today, and has passed his eighty-third year of age.

Optatus of Africa, bishop of Milevis, of the Catholic party, wrote, in the reigns of the princes Valentinian and Valens, six books against the calumny of the Donatist party, in which he asserts that the crime of the Donatists is falsely turned back upon us.

Aquilius Severus, in Spain, of the family of that Severus to whom the two books of Lactantius's letters are addressed, composed a volume, containing, as it were, an itinerary of the whole course of his life, both in prose and in verse, which he called Catastrophe, or Peira, and died under the Emperor Valentinian.

Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, often driven from the Church and restored, at last under the Emperor Theodosius held the episcopate unshaken for eight years. There are extant his Catecheses, which he composed in his youth.

Euzoius, educated as a young man at Caesarea together with the bishop Gregory Nazianzen under the rhetorician Thespesius, and afterward bishop of the same city, attempted with very great labor to restore, on parchment, the already corrupted library of Origen and Pamphilus. At last, under the Emperor Theodosius, he was driven from the Church. Various and manifold treatises of his are reported, which it is very easy to become acquainted with.

Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, wrote books against all heresies, and many other works, which are read repeatedly by the learned for their matter, by the simpler for their words. He survives to this day, and even in his extreme old age still forges various works.

Ephraim, deacon of the church of Edessa, composed many works in the Syriac tongue, and attained to such renown, that after the reading of the Scriptures his writings are publicly recited in certain churches. I have read a Greek volume of his on the Holy Spirit, which someone had translated from the Syriac language, and I recognized, even in the translation, the acuteness of a lofty genius. He died under the Emperor Valens.

Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, which was formerly called Mazaca, worked out excellent books against Eunomius, and a volume on the Holy Spirit, and nine homilies on the Hexaemeron, and the Ascetics, and short and various treatises. He died in the reign of Gratian.

Gregory, first bishop of Sasima, then of Nazianzus, a most eloquent man, my teacher, by whose exposition of the Scriptures I learned much, composed all his works to about thirty thousand verses. Among these are: on the death of his brother Caesarius, περὶ φιλοπτωχίας, praises of the Maccabees, praises of Cyprian, praises of Athanasius, praises of Maximus the philosopher after his return from exile, which some have wrongly entitled under the name of Hero (since there is also another book containing censure of the same Maximus; as though it were not permissible to both praise and censure the same man according to the occasion); and a book, in hexameter verse, of Virginity and Marriage, disputing against each other; one book against Eunomius, one book on the Holy Spirit. Two books against the Emperor Julian. He followed Polemon in his style of speaking, and, while still living, ordaining a bishop in his own place, he practiced the life of a monk in the countryside. And he died about three years before this, in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius.

Lucius, bishop of the Arian party after Athanasius, held the Alexandrian church up to the time of the Emperor Theodosius, by whom also he was expelled. There are extant his solemn letters on Easter, and a few little books of various hypotheses.

Diodorus, bishop of Tarsus; while he was a presbyter at Antioch, he was more renowned. There are extant his commentaries on the Apostle, and many other works, pertaining more to the style of Eusebius of Emesa, whose sense he followed, but whose eloquence he was not able to imitate, on account of his ignorance of secular literature.

Eunomius, bishop of Cyzicus of the Arian party, breaking forth into open blasphemy of his heresy, so that what others conceal, he openly confessed, is said to be living to this day in Cappadocia, and to be writing much against the Church. Apollinaris, Didymus, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa answered him.

Priscillian, bishop of Ávila, who through the faction of Hydatius and Ithacius was put to death at Trier by the tyrant Maximus, published many small works, of which some have come down to us. He is accused to this day by some of the Gnostic heresy, that is, of Basilides and Marcus, of whom Irenaeus wrote, while others defend him, saying he did not hold the views of which he is accused.

Latronianus, of the province of Spain, most learned, and to be compared with the ancients in metrical work, was likewise put to death at Trier along with Priscillian, Felicissimus, Julian, and Euchrotia, the authors of the same faction. There are extant works of his genius, published in various metres.

Tiberianus, of Baetica, wrote, on account of the suspicion by which he was accused of heresy along with Priscillian, an apologetic in swollen and elaborate style; but after the slaughter of his companions, overcome by weariness of exile, he changed his purpose, and, according to the holy Scripture, like a dog returning to his vomit, joined his daughter, a virgin devoted to Christ, in marriage.

Ambrose, bishop of Milan, writes up to the present day; concerning whom, since he still survives, I shall withhold my judgment, lest either flattery or truth be found fault with in me, on the one side or the other.

Evagrius, bishop of Antioch, a man of keen and fervid genius, while he was still a presbyter, recited in my hearing, as I read, treatises on various themes which he has not yet published. He also translated into our language, from the Greek of Athanasius, the Life of the blessed Anthony.

Ambrose of Alexandria, a hearer of Didymus, wrote against Apollinarius a volume of many verses on doctrine, and, as was recently reported to me by someone relating it, a commentary on Job, which survives to this day.

Maximus the Philosopher, born at Alexandria, was ordained bishop of Constantinople, and, having been driven out, wrote a distinguished book On the Faith against the Arians, which he gave at Milan to the emperor Gratian.

Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, brother of Basil of Caesarea, a few years ago read to me and to Gregory Nazianzen books against Eunomius; he is said to have written many other works also, and to be writing still.

John, presbyter of the church of Antioch, a follower of Eusebius of Emesa and of Diodorus, is said to compose many works, of which I have read only the one περὶ ἱερωσύνης (On the Priesthood).

Gelasius, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine after Euzoius, a man of careful and polished style, is reported to write certain works, but to keep them concealed.

Theotimus, bishop of Tomi in Scythia, has published, in the manner of dialogues and of ancient eloquence, brief and concise treatises. I hear that he also writes other works.

Dexter, son of Pacianus, of whom I spoke above, distinguished in the world and devoted to the faith of Christ, is reported to have woven together for me a universal history, which I have not yet read.

Amphilochius, bishop of Iconium, recently read to me a book on the Holy Spirit—that He is God, and that He is to be adored, and that He is also almighty.

Sophronius, a man exceedingly learned, composed, while still a boy, the praises of Bethlehem, and recently a remarkable book on the overthrow of Serapis. He also translated into Greek, in elegant style, my little works On Virginity to Eustochium and the Life of the monk Hilarion; and likewise the Psalter and the Prophets, which I translated from the Hebrew into Latin.

I, Jerome, son of Eusebius, born in the town of Stridon, which was overthrown by the Goths, and was once on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia, have written the following works up to the present year, that is, the fourteenth of the emperor Theodosius: the Life of Paul the monk, one book of Letters to various persons, the Exhortatory letter to Heliodorus, the Altercation of a Luciferian and an Orthodox, a Chronicle of universal history; twenty-eight Homilies of Origen on Jeremiah and on Ezekiel, which I translated from Greek into Latin; on the Seraphim, on Hosanna, and on the sons—the frugal and the prodigal; on Three Questions of the old Law, two Homilies on the Song of Songs, against Helvidius on the perpetual virginity of Mary, to Eustochium on preserving virginity, one book of Letters to Marcella, a Consolatory letter to Paula on the death of her daughter, three books of commentaries on the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, likewise three books on the Epistle to the Ephesians, one book on the Epistle to Titus, one book on the Epistle to Philemon, commentaries on Ecclesiastes, one book of Hebrew Questions on Genesis, one book On Places, one book of Hebrew Names; one book of Didymus On the Holy Spirit, which I translated into Latin; thirty-nine homilies on Luke; on the Psalms, from the tenth to the sixteenth, seven treatises; the Life of Malchus, the captive monk, and of the blessed Hilarion.

I rendered the New Testament according to the Greek text with fidelity, and translated the Old according to the Hebrew; but as for the letters to Paula and Eustochium, since they are written daily, their number is uncertain. I have written besides two books of explanations on Micah, one book on Nahum, two books on Habakkuk, one book on Zephaniah, one book on Haggai, and many other works on the prophetic writings, which I now have in hand, and which are not yet completed.