Jeffrey Fung - 2020 Mitra Scholar

2019-20 Mitra FAMILY GRANT Recipient Take Up the Cross: Pagan Elements in Lactantius’ De Mortibus Persecutorum Jeffrey Fung

Take Up the Cross: Pagan Elements in Lactantius’s ​De Mortibus Persecutorum

Jeffrey Fung 2020 Mitra Family Scholar Mentors: Mr. Byron Stevens, Mrs. Meredith Cranston April 15, 2020

Fung 2 In the late 310s, the Christian author Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius penned ​De Mortibus Persecutorum,​ a chronicle of the last persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire.

The purpose of the work was both to record these events and to celebrate the triumph of Christianity over paganism. While still a valuable source for knowledge about the time period, De Mortibus Persecutorum ​(​On the Deaths of the Persecutors​) intersected the bounds of history and apology to the point where translator Mary Francis McDonald called the narrative “pamphlet 1

literature.”

Traditionally, historians and theologians alike have disparaged Lactantius for his lack of 2

knowledge about scripture and his limited skill in philosophy. Edward Gibbon, the eighteenth century English historian who penned ​Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,​ questioned “how [the conversations between emperors reported in ​De Mortibus Persecutorum]​ came to the 3

knowledge of an obscure rhetorician.” However, beginning in the twentieth century, a reexamination of Lactantius’s work began with McDonald, who attempted to revive interest in his historical and theological merit, claiming that “no other writer is more completely revealing 4

of his own times.” More recently, Jeremy Schott has focused on Lactantius’s dedication of Institutiones​ ​Divinae ​(​The Divine Institutes)​ , a broad defense of Christianity and Lactantius’s

Lucius Caecilius Lactantius, ​The Minor Works​, trans. Mary Francis McDonald (Baltimore, Md.: Catholic University of America Press, 1965), 119.

1

James Stevenson and M. J. Edwards, “Lactantius (Lucius Caelius Firmianus),” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 789.

2

Edward Gibbon, ​Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire​ (London: Elecbook, 1999), I:123, ProQuest Ebook Central.

3

Mary Francis McDonald, "General Introduction," introduction to ​The Divine Institutes,​ by Lucius Caecilius Lactantius, trans. Mary Francis McDonald (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1955), x.

4

Fung 3 5

magnum opus, to Constantine and the role of the work in history. Elizabeth DePalma Digeser regards that work as a historical source and considers the treatise greatly impactful on the scene of the early fourth century. Despite the scholarship on ​Institutiones Divinae​, ​De Mortibus Persecutorum ​has been largely ignored amid this new scholarship despite the information it contains about this time period. Paul Stephenson calls ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ an “angry 6

screed, with no known model in Greek or Latin literature, nor in Christian apologetic.”

However, there are distinct traces of classical writings in the work meriting further examination.

In his ​De Mortibus Persecutorum, ​Lactantius echoed the style of earlier Latin authors to appeal to the Roman aristocracy with a return to Rome’s military glory under Christian leadership.

Background By the late third century, the Roman Empire was experiencing a distinct decline in political power, perhaps the greatest in the polity’s history since its founding a thousand years prior. Commodus, successor to the great Marcus Aurelius, set the tone for the next hundred years by participating in gladiatorial games while corrupt politicians grappled for control over the 7

empire. The Crisis of the Third Century, a conflict of emperors who gained the throne only to lose their laurels the next year, left Rome economically wounded and with border territories 8

scarcely defended or abandoned. During the reigns of dozens of emperors in half a century, coinage lost a significant portion of its value, and an insufficient metal supply signaled danger Jeremy M. Schott, ​Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity​ (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008), 129, ProQuest Ebook Central.

5

6

Paul Stephenson, ​Constantine: Roman Emperor, Christian Victor​ (New York: Overlook Press, 2010), 109.

Adrian Goldsworthy, ​How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower​ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 53-54.

7

8

Goldsworthy, 138-39.

Fung 4 9

for Roman economic stability. Only two emperors in the third century died of natural causes, while most fell at the hands of assassins or usurpers. The continual power vacuum caused a vicious cycle of civil war, with the once-influential Roman Senate devolving into a powerless 10

bystander.

From the chaos emerged Diocletian, who managed to quell the political upheaval and establish a new system of rule: a tetrarchy, in which the provinces of Rome were divided among four emperors, two senior and two junior. Diocletian masterminded his control in this turbulent age by emphasizing his own divine status and demanding sacrifices, prayers, and offerings from 11

his people. Diocletian saw his rule as an instance of overt monarchy, establishing himself as a more publicly powerful figure than emperors in the Augustan era, who had concealed their reigns behind decrees of the Senate. Instead, Diocletian compelled the utmost respect from even his highest officials, forcing them to engage in obsequious rituals of subservience designed to elevate his status. The language of his propaganda detailed a restoration of the glory of the ​Pax 12

Romana,​ a time of stability and prosperity. In order to maintain this image, he undertook the suppression of beliefs that might threaten the idea of his divinity, beginning with Manichaeism, a 13

rising dualist religion from Persia. He then turned to Christianity, a faith gaining traction, with 14

some adherents even gaining positions in the government.

9

Goldsworthy, 144-45.

10

Goldsworthy, 147-48.

11

Goldsworthy, 157-58.

12

Goldsworthy, 158.

Raymond Davis, "Diocletian," in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 454.

13

14

Henry Chadwick, ​The Early Church​, rev. ed. (London: Penguin Books, 1993), 31.

Fung 5 Ancient Roman Christians had been dealing with the dilemma of emperor worship practically since their religion’s inception. Christianity’s nature as a monotheist religion precluded believers from making sacrifices to the emperor, a tradition adopted by the Roman government to enhance the emperor’s reputation and power, cementing his status as a representative of the divine. Over the centuries, persecutions had been intermittent, with some rulers directly attacking Christians and others taking a more nonchalant approach. These practices allowed Christianity to gain more followers and influence, but as a result of internal theological disputes and a lack of official standing, the religion remained largely confined to 15

worship hidden at night. In the year 300, Christianity had not yet been legalized and its status and survival remained in doubt. In the year 303, Diocletian launched the Great Persecution, the 16

most complete aggression on the livelihood of Christians throughout the empire in its history.

However, in 305, Diocletian abdicated his throne, plagued by a mysterious illness, and chaos ensued as the tetrarchy broke down amid civil war. Out of the struggle, Constantine emerged

victorious, having defeated a series of rival claimants and enemies, and after he became the first Christian emperor, Christianity grew in power during the downfall of the Western portion of the 17

empire and beyond.

Lactantius likely had enormous influence on the unlikely conversion of Constantine to Christianity. A professor of rhetoric at Nicomedia, Lactantius probably lectured Constantine, 18

who was studying there contemporaneously. Dubbed the “Christian Cicero” for his fluid prose

15

Chadwick, 31.

16

Chadwick, 121-22.

17

Goldsworthy, ​How Rome,​ 178-79.

18

McDonald, "General Introduction," xiii.

Fung 6 style, Lactantius earned the respect of his contemporaries and other patristic fathers, securing a place in Jerome’s ​De Viris Illustribus ​(​On Illustrious Men)​ .), a catalog of important Christian 19

authors. Lactantius' apologetic ​Institutiones Divinae​ has been considered the first treatment of 20

the range of Christian theology. Classical thought pervaded Lactantius’s writing and ideas, and McDonald went so far as to say his solution to the problem of evil has a dualist “stoic 21

derivation.” Lactantius’s works mainly fall in the apologetic genre, in which Christians “sought 22

to answer criticisms of Christianity advanced by individuals outside the church community.”

These writings attempted to clarify misconceptions about the church and helped define the entity in its early days.

De Mortibus Persecutorum ​displays Lactantius’s ability as a teacher of rhetoric to call upon elements of Roman literature from more prosperous times. A valuable and useful history, De Mortibus Persecutorum ​unfolds the chronological events of the Great Persecution. After an introduction and brief account of previous emperors who decreed persecutions, Lactantius launches into a description of the tetrarchy and the start of the reign of Constantine. He gives detail and treatment to occurrences from 300 to 316, and as McDonald states, there are no 23

contradictions with other sources.

Jerome, ​On Illustrious Men​, trans. Thomas P. Halton (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1999), 111, ProQuest Ebook Central.

19

Anthony P. Coleman, ​Lactantius the Theologian: Lactantius and the Doctrine of Providence​ (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2017), 2, ProQuest Ebook Central.

20

21

McDonald, "General Introduction," x.

Tom Sizgorich, "Christian Apologists," in ​World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras​ (ABC-CLIO, 2020), last modified 2020.

22

23

Lactantius, ​The Minor​, 137.

Fung 7

Lactantius’s Celebration of Traditional Roman Virtues The Introduction: Traits of the Ancient Epic Audivit dominus orationes tuas, Donate carissime, quas in conspectu eius per omnes horas cotidie fundebas, ceterorumque fratrum nostrorum, qui gloriosa confessione sempiternam sibi coronam pro fidei meritis quaesierunt. ecce, deletis omnibus adversariis, restituta per orbem tranquillitate, profligata nuper ecclesia rusrum exurgit et maiore gloria templum dei, quod ab impiis fuerat eversum, misericordia domini fabricatur. excitavit enim deus principes qui tyrannorum nefaria et cruenta imperia resciderunt et humano generi providerunt, ut iam quasi discusso tristissimi temporis nubilo mentes omnium pax iucunda et serena laetificet. nunc post atrae tempestatis violentos turbines placidus aer et optata lux refulsit. nunc placatus servorum suorum precibus deus iacentes et afflictos caelesti auxilio sublevavit, nunc maerentium lacrimas extincta impiorum conspiratione detersit. qui insultaverant ceciderunt, qui iustos excarnificaverant, caelestibus plagis et cruciatibus meritis nocentes animas profuderunt.

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O dearest Donatus, the Lord has heard your prayers, which you poured daily in his sight through all hours, and those of the rest of our brothers who have sought for themselves an eternal crown as a reward for faith through glorious confession. Behold, with all our enemies vanquished, with order restored throughout the world, the recently scorned church again rises, and by a greater glory the temple of God that had been overturned by 24

Any consonantal “u” from the Latin text has been rendered by the author as a “v.” All translations of De Mortibus Persecutorum are the author’s work, and the original Latin has been provided as well. Translations of other Latin and Greek texts have been quoted from the English of other authors, unless otherwise noted.

Fung 8 the irreverent is remade by the mercy of the Lord. Indeed, God has incited princes who have struck down the evil and gory orders of tyrants and made provisions for the human race that now a blessed and calm peace may gladden the minds of all, just as after a cloud of the saddest time has been dissipated. Now after the violent whirlwinds of a dark storm, a tranquil sky and desired light shines once more; now God, pleased by the prayers of his servants, has lifted up with divine aid those cast down and oppressed; now he brushes away the tears of the mourning, as the plot of the wicked has been destroyed. They who had insulted our God lie dead, they who had overturned our holy temple have fallen on account of a greater destruction, they who butchered the just, those deserving of divine 25

gashes and tortures, have poured out their harming souls.

De Mortibus Persecutorum​ opens with an apostrophic invocation, a traditional feature of epic poetry that Lactantius uses to honor the dedicatee of his history. Works from Homer’s Odyssey ​to Virgil’s ​Aeneid​ utilize this technique to prime the listener for an emotional tale and establish the work within the broader tradition of the epic genre. However, Lactantius cannot, as a Christian, invoke a pagan muse to empower his story. Instead, he chooses a figure named Donatus, a fellow Christian. Always accompanied by the epithet “​carissime,​” meaning “most dear,” Donatus, a victim of the very persecutions in ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​, replaces the goddesses of the heathen past. In the same way that Donatus triumphed over the persecution, he also takes the established spot of a pagan deity, signifying that Christianity as a whole was in the ascendency. At first glance, the phrase “​Donate carissime”​ bears extraordinary similarity to the

Lucius Caecilius Lactantius, ​L. Caeli Firmiani Lactanti Opera Omnia​, ed. George Laubmann, ed. Samuel Brandt (Academiae Litterarum Caesareae, 1897), 171-172, accessed February 6, 2020, Google Books.

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Fung 9 26

dedication of the Book of Luke to “​optime Theophile”​ (most excellent Theophilus). This shared feature appears to indicate a closer relationship between the opening of ​De Mortibus Persecutorum ​and Christian literature than expected. However, there are notable differences in the treatment of Donatus and Theophilus, despite limited knowledge about their identities. One theory supposes that Theophilus, meaning “dear to God,” is an addressal to the entirety of 27

Christian readership. On the other hand, Donatus, although unidentified, is a specific individual 28

who “suffered torture nine times under Diocletian [and was] imprisoned for six years.” While Theophilus is named once and then disregarded, Lactantius inserts Donatus as a character into 29

his narrative, detailing his struggle and strength.

After the invocation, Lactantius launches into a description of his history filled with intense word choice, intending to propel his reader into a narrative of true events related with passion and ardor. At the same time, he maintains the rhetorical devices of earlier writers to give his account the gravitas and authority necessary to merit the attention of the Roman aristocracy.

The phrase “restituta per orbem tranquillitate” (with order restored throughout the world), would have ironically evoked the title “​Restitutor Orbis​” adopted by Aurelian, a minor emperor and 30

persecutor of the early third century. By using vivid terms such as “​cruenta,​ ” “​excarnificaverunt​,” and “​plagis,​ ” (meaning gory, butchered, and gashes, respectively),

26

Luke 1:3 (Vulgate).

27

Thomas L. Leishman, "Facts about the Bible," ​The Christian Science Monitor​ (Boston), April 26, 1934, 15.

28

Lactantius, ​The Minor​, 137.

29

Lactantius, 155.

Jennifer Hutchinson, "Aurelian," in ​World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras,​ (ABC-CLIO, 2020), last modified 2020.

30

Fung 10 Lactantius calls to mind the sort of martial literature that the Romans had created and enjoyed for centuries. He alludes even more directly to ​The Aeneid w ​ ith​ “​ turbines” (whirlwinds), the same word that Virgil uses to describe the impending vortex that threatens Aeneas’s fleet in the 31

beginning of the epic. Chiasmus, a rhetorical device in which Latin cases are inverted, appears 32

in the introduction as well: “​discusso tristissimi temporis nubilo.​” The phrase, “after a cloud of the saddest time has been dissipated,” has an ABBA pattern: ablative, genitive, genitive, ablative.

Additionally, Lactantius uses a tricolon crescens to denote the punishments of those who attacked the church: “​Qui insultaverant deo, iacent, qui templum sanctum everterant, ruina maiore ceciderunt, qui iustos excarnificaverunt, caelestibus plagis et cruciatibus meritis nocentes animas profuderunt.​” Three relative clauses, each of which begins with ​qui,​ are contrasted with increasingly severe and descriptive penalties. Lactantius’s employment of these devices would add an extra level of credence to his works and ideas on the whole for an aristocratic Roman audience.

Reputation: A Discussion of Past Persecutors Immediately following the introduction, Lactantius draws upon the notoriety of previous Roman emperors to strengthen his ideas, seeking to connect a hatred of Christianity with their tyranny. Tiberius, emperor from 14 to 37, was the first in a series of rulers whose reigns featured persecutions of Christians and also general problems and strife. Tiberius found managing the empire challenging, as he was unable to resolve economic issues and riots over grain shortages.

Publius Maro Vergilius and Barbara Weiden Boyd, ​Vergil's Aeneid: Selected Readings from Books 1, 2, 4, and 6​ (Mundelein, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2012), 11.

31

T.V.F. Brogan, Albert W. Halsall, and Walter Hunter, "Chiasmus," in ​The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics​, ed. Roland Greene, et al., 4th ed. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012), 225, ProQuest Ebook Central.

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Fung 11 A number of senators who had fallen into debt despised him for inadequate payments, and as 33

such both the common people and upper classes resented his frugality. Lactantius notes that Tiberius deserves additional loathing for the crucifixion of Christ, which occurred during his 34

reign as emperor. After Tiberius came Nero, whose stature suffered after a fire broke out in 35

Rome, lasting nine days and crippling the economy. Quoting the Sibylline Oracles, a set of prophecies dating to almost the founding of Rome, Lactantius writes: “​matricidam profugum a finibus terrae esse venturum​” (a matricide, an exile will come from the ends of the earth), to emphasize how Nero’s killing of his mother and denial of a lavish burial were predicted almost a 36

thousand years earlier. Lactantius took sacred texts from the Roman religion and chose not to disparage them, as other apologists often did, but cited them for their pre-Christian wisdom.

Schott notes that the Oracles had dubious authenticity in Late Antiquity, such that authors 37

“impugned [them] as forgeries.” However, Lactantius encouraged interpretation of the Oracles as nuggets of holy vision into the future. He sought to build them up as truth, scrupulously citing 38

various sibyls throughout his ​Institutiones Divinae.​ By characterizing elements of Roman religion as believable and factual, Lactantius sets up a moment of connection between the Christian reader and the pagan audience. The recognition of pagan foresight and perception John Percy Vyvian Dacre Balsdon and Barbara Levick, “Tiberius,” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, ed.

Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 1479.

33

34

Lactantius, ​The Minor​, 155.

Martin Percival Charlesworth, Guy Edward Farquhar Chilver, and M. T. Griffin, “Nero,” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 1010.

35

36

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli​, 175.

37

Schott, ​Christianity, Empire​, 90.

38

Schott, 91.

Fung 12 convinced readers that their traditional beliefs were understandable, that there was some value to the religious ideas held before the advent of Christ.

Lactantius also appealed to the likelihood that many in his aristocratic Roman audience also would have been touched by imperial mistreatment. One common characteristic of each of these emperors was paranoia, and the tyranny that came with such unbridled fear. In particular, Domitian felt that anyone with a shred of power plotted against him. He remarked that “‘no one believes in a conspiracy against an emperor until it has succeeded,’” and thus executed twelve 39

ex-consuls at minimum throughout his rule. Many of Lactantius’s readers came from aristocratic families that would have held various consulships and high positions over the years: the chance that each house could claim a victim of the killing sprees of past emperors is quite high. Lactantius suggests in this section that both the Christians and the traditional elites of Rome have suffered under the yokes of emperors, and thus eloquently reveals his empathy for their suffering, not too dissimilar from his own.

Departure from the ​Mos Maiorum At the core of Lactantius’s history is his belief that the suffering of the Christians under the yoke of the persecutors mirrored the struggle of the earlier Romans. He forcefully turns the plight of his own people into a cause that deserved attention and support from the Romans of his own era by referencing historical and literary attempts to uphold traditional Roman values.

Lactantius attempts to convince his readers that Galerius, successor to Diocletian, had strayed from the concept of the ​mos maiorum​ (the way of the ancestors), which had guided the actions of

Brian Campbell, “Domitian,” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 473.

39

Fung 13 Romans for a thousand years. Galerius first transgresses against these rules by condemning the study of literature and laws: iam illa prae his levia fuerunt: eloquentia extincta, causidici sublati, iure consulti aut relegati aut necati, litterae autem inter malas artes habitae et qui eas noverant, pro inimicis hostibusque protriti et execrati. licentia rerum omnium solutis legibus adsumpta et iudicibus data. iudices militares humanitatis litterarum rudes sine adsessoribus in provincias immissi.

Now [the severe punishments and tortures for Christians] had been trivial before these: eloquence was destroyed, advocates were stolen away, experts in the law were both exiled and killed. Moreover, books were regarded among the “wicked” arts, and those familiar with literature were proscribed and cursed as rivals and enemies of the state.

Freedom in all matters, after the laws were unenforced, was usurped and given to military judges, who, unpolished in the scholarship of mankind, were sent into the provinces 40

without counselors.

As a former teacher of rhetoric, Lactantius knew the great value placed on the study of writing and literature, and was willing to go so far as to say that the suffering of his Christian brothers was inconsequential compared with the lost liberties of the Roman people. The inability to advance the borders of human understanding seemed to Lactantius the most grievous insult of an already tumultuous and terrifying reign. Embedded in the Roman ethos was the belief that

40

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli​, 198.

Fung 14 their rise brought order and sophistication to the ancient Mediterranean, and even the slightest removal of their refinement threatened a return to the barbaric disorder of the age before Rome.

The return of the practice of proscription in particular would have scared the Roman elite.

The term refers to a political tool for quelling dissent used during the late Roman Republic, in which the ruling powers would draw up a list of criminals whose lives had been declared forfeit and whose property had been taken by the state. Bounty hunters were then legally allowed to kill 41

these targets and present their heads to the government for a sizable reward. Proscription represented the loss of safety and security assured by Rome’s power and created the trepidation that at any moment a prosperous family could be destroyed. Additionally, proscription gained notoriety for its association with the death of Cicero, a victim of the proscriptions of 43 BCE. Admired for his fluid prose and eclectic contributions to philosophical discourse, Cicero also speaks to the benefits of literature in his ​Pro Archia:​ “When a natural disposition which is noble and elevated is given in addition a systematic training in cultural knowledge, then something 42

remarkable and unique comes about.” To take away emphasis on learning and then to reestablish proscriptions presented double insults to the legacy of Cicero, still an admired Roman centuries after his death. Digeser, in ​The Making of a Christian Empire: Lactantius and Rome,​ indicates that Cicero’s works, including ​Pro Archia,​ belonged to canonical literature of which 43

aristocratic Romans of antiquity would have had “intimate rote knowledge.” She claims that Institutiones Divinae ​expounds upon the laws for an archetypal Rome, much as Cicero detailed

Theodore John Cadoux and Robin J. Seager, “proscription,” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 1223.

42 Marcus Tullius Cicero, ​Defence Speeches​, trans. D. H. Berry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 115.

41

43

Digeser, ​The Making​, 57.

Fung 15 legal procedures and ideas in his ​On the Laws​. Likewise, she explains that allusions in Lactantius to Cicero, although “obscure” to the modern reader, would have been evident to well-read elites.

44

To attack Cicero was to attack the foundations of Roman justice, an affront that Lactantius

took to heart and begged his readers to internalize as well.

Furthermore, Galerius performed a corrupt census, another debasement and manipulation of Roman tradition for his own gain: At vero illud publicae calamitatis et communis luctus omnium fuit, census in provincias et civitates semel missus. censitoribus ubique diffusis et omnia exagitantibus hostilis tumultus et captivitatis horrendae species erant. agri glebatim metiebantur, vites et arbores numerabantur, animalia omnis generis scribebantur, hominum capita notabantur, in civitatibus urbanae ac rusticae plebes adunatae, fora omnia gregibus familiarum referta, unus quique cum liberis, cum servis aderant, tormenta ac verbera personabant, filii adversus parentes suspendebantur, fidelissimi quique sevi contra dominos vexabantur, uxores adversus maritos. si omnia defecerant, ipsi contra se torquebantur et cum dolor vicerat, adscribebantur quae non habebantur. nulla aetatis, valitudinis excusatio. aegri et debiles deferebantur, aestimabantur aetates singulorum, parvulis adiciebantur anni, senibus detrahebantur. luctu et maestitia plena omnia. quae veteres adversus victor iure belli fecerant, et ille adversus Romanos Romanisque subiectos facere ausus est, quia parentes eius censui suiugati fuerant.

44

Digeser, 57.

Fung 16 But truly there was a matter of public distress and communal sorrow for all, for a census was commissioned once for the provinces and states. After the takers of the census had spread out everywhere and were harassing all, there were dangerous riots and the sights of dreadful bondage. Fields were distributed by clumps of soil little by little, grape vines and trees were counted, animals of each kind were recorded, the number of people was noted. In each state the plebeians of the city and the countryside were brought together, all forums were filled with throngs of families; each was present with children and slaves.

Tortures and beatings rang out continually, children were brought forth [as witnesses] against parents, all the most faithful slaves were harassed to testify against their masters, wives against their husbands. If all other manners had failed, they themselves were tortured unto self-confession, and when pain had conquered them, [punishments] they had not committed were assigned to them. There was no excuse for old age or ill health.

The sick and the disabled were brought forth, the ages of each were estimated. Years were added to the young and subtracted from the old. All things were full of sorrow and gloominess. That man dared to do the things which our forefathers had done to their opponents conquered justly in battle to the Romans themselves.

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Galerius took a Roman practice established for the smooth running of the state and turned it into a farce designed to fill his own pockets—decidedly un-Roman behavior. Two poets affected by similar land redistribution in their own day were Horace and Virgil, the latter of whom writes in his ​Eclogues:​ “Ah, when shall I see my native land again? . . . To think of some godless soldier owning my well-farmed fallow, a foreigner reaping these crops! To such a pass

45

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 198-99.

Fung 17 46

has civil dissension brought us.” The loss of ancestral land cut deeply into Virgil’s pride, and the quotation reveals how the struggle for power had disrupted the natural order such that a stranger would come to Italy to replace a Roman. This inversion would have already been anathema to the Roman aristocracy, but Galerius’ own heritage further would have insulted them. Galerius grew up as a peasant shepherd, not in Rome, but in the province Dacia, far to the 47

east of the empire. Lactantius proposes that Galerius was the outsider, the barbarian emperor who sought only to milk Rome for wealth and power.

Lactantius describes the end of Galerius’ reign, when he fell ill due to a mysterious, painful disease, as the perfect example of divine punishment for the figure who committed wrongdoing against not only the Christians but the Romans as well. Going into lurid and gruesome detail, Lactantius notes the failure of doctors to treat the condition and the subsequent turn to healing gods for aid: “​Apollo et Asclepius orantur, remedium flagitatur. dat Apollo curam: malum multo peius augetur​” (Apollo and Asclepius are entreated, a cure is 48

sought—Apollo gives a cure: the evil is made much worse). Lactantius sought to make his story more relatable for pagan readers, showcasing his knowledge that they might take similar steps if struck down by such a malady themselves. However, he proposes that all the pagan gods could do would be to make the infection worse, as their power could not possibly match the strength of God. Galerius, having attained semi-divine status as an emperor, should have been able to merit respite from Apollo and Asclepius. Lactantius, by emphasizing the pain that

Virgil, ​The Eclogues and the Georgics​, trans. C. Day Lewis, ed. R. O. A. M Lyne (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 6.

46

J. H. W. G. Liebeschuetz, “Galerius,” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 601.

47

48

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 211.

Fung 18 Galerius endured, points out the ridiculousness of the Roman religion, if within it a supposedly blessed figure became subject to so much suffering and strife.

Lactantius as Constantine’s Propagandist Revealing the Evil Nature of Diocletian One of the tools Lactantius utilizes to add emotion to his history is negative characterization, which he does through anecdotes, in particular an episode regarding the sabotage of Diocletian’s Imperial Palace. In these chapters, Lactantius portrays Diocletian and Galerius as evil, power-hungry antagonists of his history, revealing to Roman readers the true nature of the emperors they once worshipped. Galerius, the Caesar under Diocletian, secretly set the palace ablaze twice, blaming the arson on Christians trying to assassinate the emperor.

Diocletian, incensed by the attack, ordered his persecutions to be increased, and Lactantius alludes to ​The Aeneid​ to describe the new injustice: “​non, mihi si linguae centum sint oraque centum, ferrea vox, omnes scelerum comprendere formas, omnia poenarum percurrere nomina possim​” (even if I had one hundred tongues and one hundred mouths, an iron voice, I could not 49

express all the forms of wickedness, pronounce the names of all the punishments). Lactantius repurposes this quotation, in which Virgil describes wrongdoers in the lowest levels of the underworld, to imply that Diocletian deserves the very punishments he inflicts on Christians.

Furthermore, rather than attempt to explain the concept of Christian divine justice to his pagan readers, Lactantius simply refers to the Tartarus, with which such readers would already have been familiar. In doing so, Lactantius also avoids questions about the nature of the Christian hell

49

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 189.

Fung 19 and instead focuses on the terror awaiting those who believed in the pantheon, suggesting the eternal reward of heaven as an alternative.

Diocletian plays the role of a judge, yet inept in his rulings; the fierce condemnation of incompetence in Roman rulers can also be found in the ​De Vita Caesarum​ (​On the Life of the 50

Caesars​) of Suetonius. Lactantius describes Diocletian as an emperor who “semper se volebat videri astutum et intellegentem” (always desired himself to be regarded as clever and wise), yet who fails to discern the nature of the arson, and thus resorts to tormenting every slave at his 51

palace. Diocletian allowed his rage to overcome his reason, giving himself over to fiery justice in his condemnation of the innocent. Lactantius hints that Diocletian completely contrasts the author’s rationality, a primary characteristic of Lactantius’s writings. The scholar believed in the power of logic and calm thinking, going on at length about the power of reason in his ​De 52

Opificio Dei​ (​On the Workmanship of God)​ . Diocletian fails to utilize his capacity for reason, and in doing so resembles more closely a beast than a human. Suetonius, the Silver Age historian, similarly characterizes Caligula as a murderous madman with the words “what remains 53

to be said of him bespeaks him rather a monster than a man.” The biographer describes Caligula’s tyranny with anecdotes illustrating the horrors of his reign in lurid detail. For example, when a slave steals silver inlays at a feast, Caligula ordered an executioner to cut off

50

2020.

Tim J. Watts, "Suetonius," in ​World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras​ (ABC-CLIO, 2020), last modified

51

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 187.

52

Lactantius, ​The Minor​, 4.

Suetonius, ​The Lives of the Twelve Caesars,​ trans. Alexander Thomson, accessed December 13, 2019, Project Gutenberg, 265.

53

Fung 20 54

the offender’s hands, displaying them around his neck and parading him in front of his guests.

Suetonius established the Roman historical custom of presenting tales about a figure to color the reader’s opinion of that person. Michael Grant, in his introduction to Tacitus’s ​The Annals of Imperial Rome,​ recognizes that poetry played a large role in the genesis of history as a genre.

Ancient history, he proposes, developed out of the more established school of oratory and 55

rhetoric, in which the primary goal was to change the feelings of the listener. Lactantius imitates this trait of the classical history: emotionally charged writing to arouse hatred.

Lactantius also tapped into the great hatred of sycophantic courtiers established in the writing of the great satirist Juvenal. In ​The Satires​, Juvenal presents the nobles of Domitian as absurd in their kowtowing to the emperor: “[One of the nobles] should have been one of the beggars who blow obsequious kisses as they throng the wheels of carriages jolting down to Africa . . . like a priest of Bellona goaded to frenzy, [he] broke into prophecy: ‘There,’ he 56

intoned, ‘you have a gigantic omen of great and glorious victory.’” In this episode, the omen described is a monstrous fish, which each of the courtiers proposes should be interpreted in an outlandish, fortuitous manner to curry favor with the emperor. Lactantius describes Diocletian’s officials as the similar silly grovelers to arouse deep disgust for the imperial court: iudices universi, omnes denique qui erant in palatio magristri data potestate torquebant. erant certantes quis prior aliquid inveniret: nihil usquam reperiebatur.

54

Suetonius, 274.

Michael Grant, "Introduction," introduction to ​The Annals of Imperial Rome​, by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, rev. ed. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971), 10.

55

56

Juvenal, ​The Satires,​ trans. Niall Rudd, ed. William Barr (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 28-29.

Fung 21 All together, the judges and in fact all the magistrates who were in the palace were torturing by the power given to them. They were competing as to who might find 57

something before another: nothing was found in any place.

Diocletian’s lackeys, power-hungry to a fault, go to every end to please their master, mirroring his cruelty and injustice. Lactantius draws attention to their incompetence as well as their ridiculous and demeaning subservience, urging his readers to consider the outrageous characteristics of Diocletian’s leadership.

Reading Constantine as Lactantius’s Aeneas In contrast with the negative characterization of Diocletian, Lactantius sought to portray Constantine as his opposite, a figure who commanded respect and was able to successfully deal with his enemies who might undermine him. Amid political upheaval, a former emperor, Maximian, came to Contantine seeking safety and protection, which Constantine provided partially because Maximian was the father of Fausta, Constantine’s wife. Maximian, after advising Constantine to attack Frankish barbarians with a small force he believed would perish quickly, immediately fomented rebellion, seizing the treasury and assuming Constantine’s title.

Constantine, however, suppressed the uprising with “​admirabili celeritate​” (astonishing speed), 58

and granted Maximian clemency. Lactantius previews some of Constantine’s talents and traits in this episode, not only his military expertise in recovering from a dangerous tactical position, but also his great capacity for forgiveness. Constantine took care to learn Maximian’s opinion and thoughts as the two conversed at a parley: “​alloquitur, non aspere nec hostiliter, sed rogat

57

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 188.

58

Lactantius, 206.

Fung 22 quid sibi voluisset, quid ei defuisset,​ ” (Constantine addressed Maximian neither harshly nor as an enemy, but asked what Maximian had wanted of Constantine, what Constantine had failed to do 59

in Maximian’s eyes). Constantine, according to Lactantius, trusted his father-in-law’s wisdom and expertise and was willing to hear Maximian's perspective. Diocletian, on the other end of the spectrum, tortured and killed innocents when his life was threatened by the arson of his palace.

Lactantius took care in crafting Constantine’s reputation as a successful conqueror as well as a merciful victor.

Lactantius also recognized the benefits of portraying Fausta as loyal and clever, increasing the Roman people’s faith in the rising power couple. Maximian again plotted against Constantine, this time trying to assassinate the emperor in his sleep: vocat filiam Faustam eamque nunc precibus nunc blandimentis sollicitat ad proditionem mariti, alium digniorem virum pollicetur: petit, cubiculum patens relinqui et neglgentius custodiri sinat. pollicetur illa facturam et refert protinus ad maritum.

He called his daughter Fausta and now beseeched her with prayers and flattering words to betray her husband, promising her another husband, a worthier man. He sought that Constantine’s bedroom be left open and that Fausta arrange for him to be guarded more carelessly. She promised to carry out these things—and without delay related them to her husband.

60

59

Lactantius, 206-07.

60

Lactantius, 207.

Fung 23 Fausta here displays the ancient virtue of ​pietas,​ the central belief in loyalty to Rome and 61

respect for gods and ancestors. Even though she faces a moral conflict between her duty to her husband and her duty to her father, Fausta does not hesitate in turning her father over to Constantine. She values the good of her fatherland, preserved only through the rule of Constantine, over her own blood relations.

Lactantius utilizes quotations from ​The Aeneid​ to aid his presentation of the ideal ruling duo in Constantine and Fausta. When Constantine surprises Maximian with a band of armed guards, the traitor “​mutus stupet, quasi ‘dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes​’”​ ​([stands] agape and 62

astonished, “as if a hard flint or a Marpesian rock”). Lactantius alludes to Aeneas’ journey to the underworld and his encounter with Dido, Aeneas’ lover who sought to keep him in Carthage 63

and prevent him from founding Rome. Lactantius, who viewed Constantine as the Aeneas of his age, sought to contrast the relationship between Aeneas and Dido with that of Constantine and Fausta. Whereas Dido attempted to impede Aeneas’ destiny and duty to his country, Fausta supported Constantine’s rule and actions to strengthen Rome. Lactantius references another powerful female figure in ​The Aeneid,​ Queen Amata, when depicting the death of Maximian: “​datur ei potestas liberae mortis ‘ac nodum informis leti trahe nectit ab alta​’” (the ability to choose the manner of his death was given to him, “and he tied the knot of an ignominious 64

destruction from a tall branch”). Amata, a native of Italy, tries to thwart Aeneas’ plan to marry

William Chase Greene and John Scheld, “pietas,” in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 1148.

61

62

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 207.

63

Vergilius and Boyd, ​Vergil's Aeneid​, 109.

64

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 208.

Fung 24 Lavinia, her daughter, but kills herself upon failing. By drawing similarities between the painful demises of Maximian and Amata, Lactantius strengthens his comparison of Constantine to Aeneas, and implies that all his opponents would face similar deaths.

Utilizing the Roman Obsession with War Lactantius, knowing the expectations of a Roman epic, places two battle scenes in ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ to serve as the climax of his narrative. After the killing of Maximian, Constantine moved against Maxentius, Maximian’s son who held Rome. At the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine carried the day, and Maxentius drowned in the Tiber River.

Lactantius references the Sibylline Books in his description to call attention to the prophesied nature of Maxentius’ ruin: “​senatoribus libros Sibyllinos inspici iubet: in quibus repertum est illo die hostem Romanorum esse periturum​,” (Maxentius ordered the Sibylline Books to be inspected by the senators, and in them it was found that on that very day the enemy of the Roman people 65

would perish). Maxentius prepares for the battle by consulting heathen oracles, whereas 66

Constantine marks ​Christum,​ Christ, on the shields of his men. Lactantius includes this prophecy to demonstrate that even the pagan wisdom of the past confirmed Constantine as the Christian emperor of the future. Constantine, by achieving victory, reveals the triumph of God’s power and marked the first time a Christian army marched into Rome.

The tactics of Constantine’s victory mirrored those of a particular battle during the​ G ​ allic Wars, a rout engineered by none other than Julius Caesar. Fighting against Ariovistus, a German

65

Lactantius, 224.

66

Lactantius, 224.

Fung 25 chieftain, Caesar managed to put his enemies to flight until they arrived at the Rhine River, 67

where most became trapped and were killed by the Roman forces. Likewise, at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge Constantine pressed Maxentius’ men to the Tiber, and a slaughter ensued.

Lactantius showcases how Constantine’s talent in war stemmed from lessons learned from Caesar, who represented the pinnacle of Roman military success for his conquests in Gaul. He even claims that Maxentius outnumbered Constantine, making the latter’s victory even more 68

impressive. In the era of ancient Rome, success on the battlefield could define political careers and create rises to power from humble backgrounds. The Romans, having acquired their vast swaths of land through invasions and terrifying martial might, respected and honored generals who could triumph through brilliance especially when underdogs.

The End: A Consideration of Truth Quae omnia secundum fidem — scienti enim loquor — ita ut gesta sunt mandanda litteris credidi, ne aut memoria tantarum rerum interiret aut si quis historiam scribere voluisset, non corrumperet veritatem vel peccata illorum adversus deum vel iudicium dei adversus illos reticendo. cuius aeternae pietati gratias agere debemus, qui tandem respexit in terram, quod gregem suum partim vastatum a lupis rapacibus partim vero dispersum refiecere ac recolligere dignatus est et bestia malas extirpare, quae divini gregis pascua protriverant, cubilia dissipaverant. ubi sunt modo magnifica illa et clara per gentes Ioviorum et Herculiorum cognomina, quae primum a Dioclete ac Maximiano insolenter adsumpta ac postmodum ad successores eorum translata viguerunt? nempe delevit ea

Gaius Iulius Caesar, Caesar, ​Selections from His Commentarii De Bello Gallic​o, ed. Hans-Friedrich Müller (Mundelein, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2013), 230.

67

68

Lactantius, ​The Minor​, 190.

Fung 26 dominus et erasit de terra. celebremus igitur triumphum dei cum exultatione, victoriam domini cum laudibus frequentemus, diurnis nocturnisque precibus celebremus, celebremus, ut pacem post annos decem plebi suae datam confirmet in saeculum. tu praecipue, Donate carissime, qui a deo mereris audiri, dominum deprecare, ut misericordiam suam servet etiam famulis suis propitius ac mitis, ut omnes insidias atque impetus diaboli a populo suo arceat, ut florescentis ecclesiae perpetuam quietem custodiat.

I have trusted in a blessed belief that all the events of this book must be committed to writing; I have spoken with someone knowing of these matters, so that the memory of such great happenings does not perish, or anyone who might have wished to write a history does not corrupt by being silent the truth, the sufferings of those opposed to God, or their punishment. We ought to give thanks for the eternal goodness of God, who at last cared for the world, partly because he considered his flock ravaged by rapacious wolves, partly because he came down to reforge and regather his scattered people in truth. He has rooted out those evil beasts who had oppressed the pastures of his divine flock and scattered their resting places. Where are those magnificent and famous surnames of the Jovii and Herculii, until recently known throughout all nations? Where are those family names, which were first haughtily taken up by Diocletian and Maximian and afterward were handed down to their successors? Certainly the Lord has destroyed them and struck them from the earth. Let us celebrate therefore the triumph of God with exultation, let us observe the victory of the Lord with praises, let us rejoice by daily and nightly prayers, so

Fung 27 that He confirms the peace given to his community after ten years shall last for the ages.

You especially, dearest Donatus, who deserves to be heard by God, entreat the Lord, favorable and gentle, to preserve his mercy still, to keep all the traps and attacks of the 69

devil from his people, to guard the eternal rest of his flourishing church.

Lactantius, by ending ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ with his purpose in writing the history and a reassurance to the reader that the events in his narrative were factual, legitimizes his account. The aristocracy had been educated in philosophy and encouraged to ask questions about the nature of the world, and even the greatest Roman authors had to defend themselves against claims of lying. In Ovid’s ​Metamorphoses​, the poet finishes the tale of Baucis and Philemon with a message similar to Lactantius’s: “​Haec mihi non vani (neque erat, cur fallere vellent) narravere sense; equidem pendentia vidi serta​” (Old men who had no cause to lie told me this 70

story; I myself beheld the hanging garlands).” Ovid foresaw concerns about truth and sought to assuage doubts by mentioning the wisdom of the elderly and his own eyewitness account of events. Similarly, Lactantius cites another source, one “knowing of these matters,” to add a sense of certitude to his work. Although the gesture is small, Lactantius surrounds the statement with his passion for writing a truthful history, leaving his readers with an impression of his career and life dedicated to the preservation of knowledge.

After disparaging prominent pagan gods, Lactantius then displays again the power of his classical, emotional writing to close his history. The names “Jovii” and “Herculii” referenced Jupiter, also called Jove, and Hercules, two powerful gods in the Greco-Roman pantheon.

69

Lactantius, ​L. Caeli,​ 236-38.

Ovid, ​Ovid's Metamorphoses,​ Books 6-10, ed. William S. Anderson (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972), 101. This quotation has been translated by the author.

70

Fung 28 Jupiter, chief god of the Olympians, ruled the sky and enforced justice, and prayers for the health 71

of the emperor were traditionally associated with him. Lactantius instead mocks Jupiter, asking about the disappearance of his power in the face of the true God and implying that, if Jupiter existed, he would have exacted punishment on the victorious Christians. Hercules, Jupiter’s son revered for his heroic qualities, was adopted as an identity by emperors such as Commodus, who 72

claimed to be the god reincarnate. In the eyes of Lactantius, the days of claiming to personify a pagan deity have passed.

Thus, Lactantius’s ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ existed for a greater purpose than to simply tell the story of the Great Persecution. Rather, he took traditions and ideas from the literature of ancient Rome and blended them with Christianity. At the same time, the work is more than simply a celebration of the triumph of Christianity. Lactantius deliberately wove the style of respected Roman authors into his own work, pouring into it the distinctive characteristics of classical poetry and history.

Constantine, of course, is central to the narrative of ​De Mortibus Persecutorum,​ and the relationship between the emperor and the author, while not entirely clear, appears to have been cordial. Perhaps the acme of Lactantius’s long career was his reading of ​Institutiones Divinae​, in 73

its entirety, to the court of Constantine at Trier. This event indicates the support the emperor gave to Lactantius, and the rising reputation of the author himself as a trusted religious advisor and inventive thinker. Therefore, Lactantius had a scope of influence greater than the world of

John Scheld, "Jupiter," in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 779.

71

Herbert Jennings Rose and John Scheld, "Hercules," in ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ ed. Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 4th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), 667.

72

73

Digeser, ​The Making,​ 57.

Fung 29 classical academia, but his treatises found themselves on the shelves of important political figures, exactly the kind of upper class Romans Lactantius desired as an audience.

Virgil proved to be the most prominent poetic influence on Lactantius. Allusions to ​The Aeneid​ allow him to make connections between the great heroes of mythology and Constantine, the hero of Lactantius’s era. Not only through direct quotations and allusions did Virgil leave an imprint on ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​, but in the vocabulary itself of the work, evocative of Aeneas’ quest. Alongside Virgil come the techniques and styles of Suetonius, Juvenal, and Cicero, a triad of emotional history, caustic satire, and philosophical eloquence. To truly appreciate the writing of Lactantius, the reader must consider the vastness of the literary curriculum of the elites. The powerful aristocracy, due to their familiarity with the celebrated authors of earlier generations, would have found Lactantius of a similar caliber, making Lactantius refreshing in their eyes, a perspective different from the typical, almost one-dimensional tone of Christian apology. By taking the indirect approach, the winding road, Lactantius attained a unique regard as a patristic father, the scholar who used pagan writing to convert pagans.

Fung 30 Bibliography Balsdon, John Percy Vyvian Dacre, and Barbara Levick. "Tiberius." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 1478-79. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Brogan, T. V. F., Albert W. Halsall, and Walter Hunter. "Chiasmus." In ​The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics​, edited by Roland Greene, Stephen Cushman, Clare Cavanagh, Jahan Ramazani, Paul F. Rouzer, Harris Feinsod, David Marno, and Alexandra Slessarev, 225-26. 4th ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012.

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Cadoux, Theodore John, and Robin J. Seager. "proscription." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 1223.

4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Caesar, Gaius Iulius. ​Caesar, Selections from His Commentarii De Bello Gallico​. Edited by Hans-Friedrich Müller. Mundelein, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 2013.

Gaius Julius Caesar wrote ​Commentarii​ ​De Bello Gallico​ as an account of his military campaign in Gaul, literature which was then distributed throughout Rome as propaganda to support the war effort. His expedition, carried out in the 50s B.C.E., closely preceded the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire. While Caesar emphasizes his patriotism and the service he intends to provide for Rome, his desire for power is evident in this work, and is reflective of the demise of republican ideals.

Campbell, Brian. "Domitian." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 472-73. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Chadwick, Henry. ​The Early Church.​ Rev. ed. London: Penguin Books, 1993.

The Early Church​ describes the Great Persecution of Diocletian and later the Council of Nicaea under Constantine. Henry Chadwick was a Regius Professor at both Oxford and Cambridge and a theologian and priest who specialized in the history of the early church.

Chadwick provides information crucial for understanding the disordered state of the church under Constantine and the eventual unity which the Council of Nicaea helped create.

Challoner, Richard, and Michael Tweedale, eds. ​Biblia Sacra: The Holy Bible in Latin and English​. Vulgate. Fourth ed. N.p.: Ex Fontibus Company, 2018.

Charlesworth, Martin Percival, Guy Edward Farquhar Chilver, and M. T. Griffin. "Nero." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 1009-10. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Fung 31 Cicero, Marcus Tullius. ​Defence Speeches​. Translated by D. H. Berry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Marcus Tullius Cicero was an ancient orator of the first century B.C.E. who rose to prominence as an eminent lawyer, politician, and philosopher of his day. His defense speeches reveal the nature of his writing style and provide insight into the Roman customs of his day. ​Pro Archia,​ a speech written to defend a Greek poet accused of not being a Roman citizen, diplomatically and passionately argues for the poet's reinstatement of citizenship on the basis of his talent.

Coleman, Anthony P. ​Lactantius the Theologian: Lactantius and the Doctrine of Providence​.

Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Anthony P. Coleman is a member of the Online Theology Faculty at Saint Joseph's College of Maine. ​Lactantius the Theologian: Lactantius and the Doctrine of Providence explains the role of the title concept in Lactantius' beliefs and works, primarily Institutiones Divinae​. Coleman's book provides a new interpretation on a central tenet of Lactantian thought which influenced his writing of history.

Davis, Raymond. "Diocletian." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 453-54. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Digeser, Elizabeth DePalma. ​The Making of a Christian Empire: Lactantius and Rome​. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2000.

Elizabeth DePalma Digeser is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. ​The Making of a Christian Empire: Lactantius and Rome​ analyzes the influence of Lactantius' theology on Christianity's acceptance, growth, and gain of power in Late Antiquity. Digeser claims that ​Institutiones Divinae​ provided a constitution of sorts for this empire in transition.

Gibbon, Edward. ​Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.​ Vol. I. London: Elecbook, 1999.

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Edward Gibbon was an 18th century English historian who examined Rome's demise from a secular viewpoint, proposing that Christianity may have been a cause of the downfall. As such, his seminal work attracted much criticism from the church and other scholars in his day, and many modern historians no longer agree with his views.

However, ​Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire​ remains an important text for its use of primary sources and distinctive writing style.

Goldsworthy, Adrian. ​How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower.​ New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower​ addresses the question of the nature of Rome's demise, concluding that the fall of Rome was a long decade brought on my centuries of warfare. Adrian Goldsworthy is a British author of ancient Roman history, a lecturer and consultant for documentaries of the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. In the book, Goldsworthy goes into detail about the era of Diocletian and Constantine.

Fung 32

Grant, Michael. "Introduction." Introduction to ​The Annals of Imperial Rome,​ by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, 7-26. Rev. ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971.

Tacitus' ​The Annals of Imperial Rome​ provides scholars with details about emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Michael Grant was a prominent classicist, numismatist, and translator, a former professor of Latin at the University of Edinburgh. His introduction provides details about the characteristics of Roman history and the genre of classical history on the whole.

Greene, William Chase, and John Scheld. "Pietas." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 1148. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

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Accessed April 15, 2020.

Jerome. ​On Illustrious Men.​ Translated by Thomas P. Halton. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1999. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Saint Jerome was an early Catholic theologian most notable for his creation of the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible. In his ​On Illustrious Men,​ Jerome lays out the important Christians of Late Antiquity, providing biographies and lists of their works.

Jerome's writings, intended for Christians of his era, primarily intended to enhance the comprehension of elements of Christianity.

Juvenal. ​The Satires​. Translated by Niall Rudd. Edited by William Barr. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Decimus Junius Juvenalis was a Roman Silver Age poet and satirist known for his Satires, a 16 book criticism of his era. Juvenal intended for elites to read his Latin, and indeed elites often bore the brunt of his vitriol. Juvenal writes with a contemptuous tone that provides intense meaning behind the ironic humor of his writing.

Lactantius, Lucius Caecilius. ​L. Caeli Firmiani Lactanti Opera Omnia​. Edited by George Laubmann and Samuel Brandt. Academiae Litterarum Caesareae, 1897. Accessed February 6, 2020. Google Books.

Lactantius was a fourth century apologist, historian, and professor of rhetoric at Nicomedia. His ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ describes the ten years period of strife begun

by Diocletian's Great Persecution and ending with Constantine's accession to the throne and the death of Maximin Daia. ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ is written triumphantly, filled with descriptions of the evil doings of the persecutors, their punishments, and the heroic actions of Christians, most notably Constantine.

———. ​The Minor Works​. Translated by Mary Francis McDonald. Baltimore, Md.: Catholic University of America Press, 1965.

Lactantius' minor works consist mainly of the following: ​De Opificio Dei​ (​On the Workmanship of God​), ​De Ira Dei​ (​On the Anger of God)​ , ​De Mortibus Persecutorum

Fung 33 (​On the Deaths of the Persecutors)​ , and ​De Ave Phoenice​, (​On the Phoenix)​ . ​De Opificio Dei​ theorizes on the anatomy of humans and examines the concept of the soul; despite many of its conjectures failing in the light of modern science, Lactantius still provides an interesting take on the role of the spirit. ​De Ira Dei​ defends Christianity from primarily Epicurean objectors and argues for the necessity of anger in providing justice in the world. ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ is a history of the late persecutions under Diocletian and Galerius, filled with bitterness towards pagan oppressors but also hope for the future as rulers supported by God come to power. ​De Ave Phoenice​ is a poem that uses the phoenix to explain the resurrection in terms more appealing to educated poems. Both of these latter two works echo famous works of ancient Rome, such as Suetonius or Ovid.

Leishman, Thomas L. "Facts about the Bible." ​The Christian Science Monitor​ (Boston), April 26, 1934. ProQuest.

This article details Theophilus, to whom the Books of Luke and Acts are addressed.

Thomas L. Leishman was an international lecturer in theology and biblical studies and a contributor to the ​Christian Science Monitor.​ The theory regarding Theophilus stemming from Latin states that his name, meaning "dear to God," referred to all Christian readers rather than an individual.

Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G. "Galerius." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 601-02. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Lucretius. ​Of the Nature of Things.​ Translated by William Ellery Leonard. Accessed December 13, 2019. Project Gutenberg.

Titus Lucretius Carus was a Roman poet of the late Republic most famous for his ​De Rerum Natura.​ His work marks one of the first great epics composed in Latin on an original theme, an Epicurean argument against superstition and the Roman religion. ​De Rerum Natura​ presents a philosophical discussion of principles from free will to atomic theory.

McDonald, Mary Francis. "General Introduction." ​The Divine Institutes,​ by Lucius Caecilius Lactantius, ix-xxv. Translated by Mary Francis McDonald. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1955.

The Divine Institutes​ is Lactantius' most famous work, a seven book treatise using logic to destroy opponents of Christianity while wholeheartedly defending the church. Written around 303, amid the Great Persecutions of Diocletian and Galerius, Lactantius wrote the work while in poverty and hiding from torturers, having been removed from his post as a professor of rhetoric at Nicomedia. Lactantius combines angry invective with cold reason in a work dismantling the foundations of Greco-Roman paganism.

Ovid. ​Ovid's Metamorphoses, Books 6-10​. Edited by William S. Anderson. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1972.

Ovid was an Augustan era poet of works such as ​Amores, Ars Amatoria,​ and Metamorphoses. Metamorphoses,​ a series of tales about mythological transformations,

Fung 34 presented the pagan gods in new ways, perhaps even causing Ovid's banishment to the Black Sea. Ovid was intensely concerned with love, as evident in stories such as Pygmalion and Baucis and Philemon.

Rose, Herbert Jennings, and John Scheld. "Hercules." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, edited

by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 666-67. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Scheld, John. "Jupiter." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary,​ edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 779. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Schott, Jeremy M. ​Christianity, Empire, and the Making of Religion in Late Antiquity​.

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central.

Jeremy M. Schott is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. His work examines the growing apologetic movement in the political and military spheres of Rome during Late Antiquity. He focuses on Lactantius' Divine Institutes​ as a work designed to support the reign of Constantine from a religious standpoint.

Sizgorich, Tom. "Christian Apologists." ​World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras,​ ABC-CLIO, 2020. Accessed April 15, 2020.

Stephenson, Paul. ​Constantine: Roman Emperor, Christian Victor.​ New York: Overlook Press, 2010.

Paul Stephenson, in his ​Constantine: Roman Emperor, Christian Victor,​ details the rise of Constantine to power and the Christian elements of his military strength and reign.

Stephenson is a Professor at the Medieval Studies Research Centre at the University of Lincoln. Although he recognizes the worth of ​De Mortibus Persecutorum​ as a historical source, he considers the text to have no influence from the literature of ancient Rome.

Stevenson, James, and M. J. Edwards. "Lactantius (Lucius Caelius Firmianus)." In ​The Oxford Classical Dictionary​, edited by Simon Hornblower, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow, 789. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Suetonius. ​The Lives of the Twelve Caesars.​ Translated by Alexander Thomson. Accessed December 13, 2019. Project Gutenberg.

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was a Silver Age historian who chronicled the early emperors of Rome in his ​De Vita Caesarum.​ His characteristic style includes stories about the emperors as well as personal details. A member of the rising equestrian order, Suetonius often favored the Senate when relating disputes of power.

Vergilius, Publius Maro, and Barbara Weiden Boyd. ​Vergil's Aeneid: Selected Readings from Books 1, 2, 4, and 6.​ Mundelein, Ill.: Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, 2012.

Fung 35 Publius Vergilius Maro was the greatest poet of the Augustan era, most famous for ​The Aeneid.​ Simultaneously an homage to the ancient tradition and the current emperor, ​The Aeneid​ was intended to celebrate Augustus and the restoration of traditional Roman values. Following the time of turmoil in the late Republic with rampant civil war, Virgil's writing ​The Aeneid​ would have convinced readers to respect and honor Augustus.

Virgil. ​The Eclogues and the Georgics​. Translated by C. Day Lewis. Edited by R. O. A. M Lyne.

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Virgil's ​Eclogues​ present a 10 book commentary on social change within idyllic backgrounds in the Roman countryside. Composed following the death of Julius Caesar and during the ensuing civil war, Virgil begs for love to replace war, coining the phrase "​omnia vincit amor."​ The ​Eclogues​ were not only published but also performed as spoken word or in song.

Watts, Tim J. "Suetonius." ​World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras​, ABC-CLIO, 2020.

Accessed April 15, 2020.

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