THE ADDRESS O F ^ SEPT. TERTULLIAN, T O SCAPULA TERTULLUS, PROCONSUL OF AFRICA. TRANSLATED BY SIR DAVID DALRYMPLE, EDINBURGH: Printed by MURRAY & COCHRANE. MDCCXC. sS* jS rv U DEC 1 3 1968 T O The RIGHT REVERFND JOHN BUTLER, D. D. BISHOP of HEREFORD, THIS TREATISE IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, B Y DAY. DALRYMPLE. PREFACE. 7 Offer to the Public a Verfton of the Addrefs ofTERTVLLi AN to SCAPULA. The merit of the original is e well known. It contains many cir- cumjiances re/pe fling the ft ate of the Church Joon after the commencement of the third century, and therefore may be reckoned among the va-uable Remains of Chri/tian Antiquity. The traces of a wild imagination are not Jo dijcernible in the Addrejs to SCAPULA, as in the other works of IERTULLIAN. The topics which he ujcs, jeem, in general^ well cbo- Jen, and jndicioujly enjorced. As As the original is printed along *with the verfion, the lent ned reader f will have an opportunity of compa ring them, and of detecting the er rors which may have been commit ted in the attempt to render Tertul- lian into Evgiijh. The attempt, in it- felf, was difficult, and became more fo by a fancy of mine, which, with out pretending to juftify it, I mujl communicate to my readers. Whether William Duke of Nor mandy conquered England at a king dom, or only acquired it as an inhe ritance, -it is no fart of my present bufme/s to inquire. This much, h>:.<iv- ever, is certain, that the Norman conqueft conqueft or acquifition had vio lent effects on the Englifh language , ^ at that <zra, French words and phrafes rufhedin, and -well nigh over whelmed the Anglo Saxon diaktl. It occurred to me that, between Anglo Saxon and Latin, a few pages might be compofed without the aid of French auxiliaries \ and this produced he folio-wing verfton. a verfwn -which, perhaps, lofesmoreby thefmgularityof tsjlvle, than it gains by the grave and olemn air produced from the blending fold Engli/h and Latin. For the better underjlanding of the Qn/e of Tertullian, many Notes and niuftrations became nece/ary. After I ( viii ) I had availed myfelf of the aid of former comment at or s^ I found that much, efpecially as to the hiflorical fart) remained without explanation. The attempt made to /upply this defi ciency , isjubmitted to the candour of the reader. While engaged in the drawing up ofthefe Notes, I had occafion to rc-\ mark fome Jlrange inaccuracies in the \ work of a celebrated Hiftorian ; and I have ufed the liberty of point-ing them out. Even in the jirft volume of The Decline and Fall of the Ro man Empire, and independently of the two famous chapters^ there is a wide Jield for literary and hiftoncal cntmjm. Q. Q. SEPT. TERTULLIAN, T O SCAPULA TERTULLUS, PRESIDENT OF AFRICA, And His COUNCIL. OF a truth, we Chriftians do not mightily fear or dread aught which we undergo from thofe wiio know us not ; forafmuch as when we became of this fetf, we thereby A bound bound ourfelvcs to let out our very lives in the warfare belonging unto it. We look not only for the reward which God proffers, but we alfo fear his threaten- ings againft thofe who live after another \vay. Furthermore, we drive againft your urmoft cruelty, crowding uncalled before you, and happier on being found guilty than when we are difmifled ; and, therefore, have we lent unto you this little book, not that we fear aught for ourfelvcs or our well-wifhers, but that we fear for you and for all our foes. 7 his is the rule of our faith, that we love thofe who hate us, and that we be- feech God to blefs thofe who afflict us ^ and herein lieth that goodnefs which is peculiar to us. All men love thofe who love them, Chriftians alone thofe who hate them. We, who bewail your want ( 3 ) want of knowledge, who mourn over the wanderings of mankind, who fore- fee what will befal, and fee daily its to kens, we muft needs break forth, and, after this way, put in writing the things of which ye will not give us leave to fpeak before you. We worfhip the One God, whom, by nature, ye all know, at whofe lightnings and thunders ye all quake, whofe lo- ving-kindnefles gladden you all. Others alfo there are whom ye believe to be gods, and whom we know to be d&- mons. But it belongeth of right unto mankind, that every one may worfhip as he thinketh bed ; nor doth the religion of any man harm or help another. Nei ther indeed is it the bufmefs of religion to compel religion, which ought to be taken up willingly, and not againft the A 2 will: ( 4 ) will : a willing mind is looked for even from him who facrificeth; and, there fore, mould ye indeed compel us to fa- crifice* that would do nought for your gods ; of the unwilling they would not have facrifice,, unlefs they were way ward. God is not fo ; and He, who is true, deaieth all things rightly unto the profane and unto his own ; and, there fore, hath he fet a day of doom everlaft- ing for thofe whom he loveth, and for thofe whom he loveth not. Ye think us facrilegious, and yet ye have never found us to be guilty of theft, much lefs of facrilege ; while thofe who plunder temples, do alfo fwear by the gods and worfhip them. Such men are not Chriftians, neverthe- lefs they are found to be facrilegious. It would be too long for me to unfold k# in ( 5 ) in how many other ways all your god? are fcofred at, and made li^ht of by their wormippers themfelves. Again, we are branded with the name of men untrue to the State No Chri- ftian, however, was at any time found in fellowfhip with Albinus, or Niger, or Cafiius ; while the men who, but yefter- day, iwore by the genius of the Casfarg, who, for their health, made and be came bound to make facrifices, and who had often doomed the Chriflians to die, even they were found untrue to the Cse- fars. Chriftians have no hatred or- ill- will at any man, and lead of all at Cse- far; for knowing him to be fet up by their God, they mud needs love him, and fhew him worfhip, and wifli his wel fare, and the welfare of the Roman date, while the times which now ard fhall lad, and and folong (hall that ftate laft : Thus do we give worfhip unto Csefar, fo far and in fuch a way as is lawful for us and is fit for him, as a man next to God, and having from God whatever he hath, and as only lefs than the true God. This he himfelf ought to wifh, for he is greater than all others, in that he is lefs than the one and the true God. So alfo is he great er than your gods, for he beareth fway o- ver them. Furthermore, we indeed facri- fice for the health of Caefar ; but we do this unto our God and his, and after that way which He hath willed, by the invo- cating of him in the way of fupplication only. For He, the maker of the world, flandeth in no need of any fweet fmells, or of the blood of aught ; theft are the food of daemons As for daemons, we not only abhor them, but we overcome and ( 7 ) and draw them forth daily, and we drive them out of men, as is known unto very many of yourfelves. We, of all others, mod fitly befeech God for the health of Csefar, feeing that we afk of Him who can beftow it ; and, in truth, it may be plain enough to you, that we behave our- felves after the rules of heaven-taught forbearance, fince being fo many, and reckoned nearly the moft in every city, we, neverthelefs, live in ftillnefs and mo deration, better known, perhaps, fingly than as a body, and no otherwife known at all, than as men who have laid afide their former fins. But far be it from us, that we (hould repine at what we wiih to bear, or that we {hould plot aught to feek that retaliation ourfelvcs which we look for from God. Neverthelefs, as we have faid already, we muft needs mourn for ( 8 ) for this, that no city which hath fhcd our bio- d (hall be held guiltlefs. Thus, While Hilarion was Prefident, the mul titude called out together, fpcaking of the threfhing-floors where we bury our dead, " No threiliing floors;" and there were none, for the harvefl was never brought in ! Moreover, in the rain of laft yrar it was fecn what ought to be fall mankind, as in old times a flood came for the unbelief and evil deeds of men. And what thofe fires threatened,, which, not long ago, hung over the walls of Carthage throughout the night, they know who faw them ; and the for- mer thunder, what tidings it brought, they know whofe hearts were thereby hardened. All thefe are the tokens of the impending wrath of God, which it behoves us, in whatever way we can, to : ( 9 ) to fet forth and foretel, and meanwhile to befeech Heaven that the evil may reach no farther ; but they who mifunderftand fuch tokens fhall feel, in fit time, that it will reach over all, and be the great and theLtftcvil. Again, the fun, withhislight almoft put out, in the diftrift of Utica, was indeed portentous. That could not have been owing to any eclipfe, for he was then in his altitude and houfe. Yc have aftrologers, alk of them ! We might alfo lay before you the end of fome Prefidents, who, at laft, came to know, that, in their afflicYmg of the Chriflians, they had finned. Vigilius Sa- turninus, foremen: in this city amongft our perfeeutors, became blind ; and, in Cappadocia, Claudius Herminianus, be ing angry that his wife had gone over to our iect, wrought much ill to the Chri- B ftians. ftians. But, wafted by the plague, forfaken of his friends in his own houfe, and, while yet alive, fwarming with worms, he thus fpake: " Let no one " know of this, left the Chriftians beglad " over me." And then, having feen his tranfgreflion, in that by torture he had made fome to fall off from the faith, he died almoft a Chriftian; and Coecilius Capella, at the overthrow of Byzantium, called out, " Now, Chriftians, be glad." SCAPULA, thou mayeft think, that there are men of this kind, whom no evil hath hitherto overtaken. Neverthe- lefs we wim that thy ficknefs. which fol lowed foon after Mavilus of Adrumetum was by thee doomed to fight with lions, may have been only a warning ; yet now, when, in a like time, it hath come back, may not blood have put in its claim ? claim ? Think, however, of what is to come. We mean not to affright thee y whom we fear not My fmgle wiih is, that we Chriftians could (hield all men from evil, by admoniming them, " not " to war againft God." Thou mayeft do the duties of thy ftation, and yet re member humanity, were it but for this, that thou alfo art under the rule of ano ther : and what elfe hath Csefar prefcri- bed unto thee, but that thou fliould ft doom to death thofe who acknowledge that, by the laws, they are worthy of death, and that thou fhould ft, through tortures, elicite a like acknowledgement from thofe who with-hold it ? So, by urging men to fay what, of themfelves, they have already faid, ye fet at nought the mandates of Caelar, and ye bear teftimony that we are guilt- B 2 lefs, lefs, whom ye will not find girlty on our oivn acknowledgement. In ftriving to overwhelm us, ye invade innocency itfelf. But have not many Prefidents, although more hard-hearted and bloody than you, connived at us ? Such was Gin- cius Severus, who at Tifdra did himfelf fhew a way whereby the Chriftians might make anfwer, and yet go free : fuch alfo was Vefpronius Candid us, who difrnifled a Chriftian, faying, " Were I " to yield to the call of the multitude, " uproar might arife." Thus, when a man having been (lightly tortured, fell off from the faith, Afper did not require him to facrifice ; and he had faid at firft, " Sorry am I that fuch bufmefs fhould " have fallen to my mare," Pudens too difmified a Chriftian who had been fent to him; and underftanding the accu- fation ( 3 ) fation to be fpiteful and vexatious, he /tore it, and profefled that, by the man- .dates of Caefar, he could try no man without an accufer. Thine advocates, SCAPULA, could, as is their bounden duty, fuggeft all this unto thee, thofe very advocates, who, however they may rail agamft us, arc much beholden to the Chriftians ; for the amanuenfis of one, having been thrown headlong by a daemon, was treed, .and, in like wife, others had a kinfman .and a young lad healed ; and how many are there of good ftation, for 1 fpeak not now of the vulgar, who by us have been cither relieved from daemons, or healed of diftcmpers ? Severus himfelf, the father of Anto ninus, was mindful of us, for he fought cut the Chriftian Proculus, (the fleward of ( 14 ) of Euhodus, and who by oil had for merly healed his mafter), and kept him while he lived in the Palace. Antoninus, himfelf foftered by a Chriftian, knew Pro- culus well Befides, Severus was fo far from harming the women and the men of high ftation whom he knew to be of our feft. that he fpake in their praife, and he alfo (laid the multitude when madden ed againft us. Moreover, Marcus Aurelius, while warring with the Germans, impetrated plentiful rain, in the great drought, through the ^applications which the Chriftians of his hoft made unto God ; and indeed at what time have not great droughts given way to our fadings and- Applications ? Then the multitude fhout- ed together, giving thanks unto " the God of gods, who alone is mighty/ And ( 5 ) And thus, by the appellation of Jupiter, did they bear witnefs unto our God. Furthermore, we keep not back that which hath been depofited in our handg, we violate no one s marriage-bed, we deal confcientioufly with our wards, we help the needy, and we never retort evil for evil. Let thofe who untruly give out that they are of our feel:, look to themfelves ; we know them not. In a word, who is there that hath aught to fay againft us, and when is a Chriflian called to anfwer at law, unlefs for his religion ? A religion which, after fo long time and inquiry, no man hath evinced to be inceftuous, or defiled with blood. For behaviour thus harmlefs, and for fuch integrity, for righteoufnefs, for mo- deiiy, ior faithfulnefs, for truth, for the living God, are we burnt. The facri- legious fegious are not fo dealt with, neither are outlaws, nor thofe, how many fo- ever, who have been found falfe to the ftate. Nay, at this very time, it is with the 1-word alone that the Prefidents of Leon and of Mauritania perfecute the Chriftians ; and fuch, by the firft mandates of Csefar, was the doom for delinquents of this kind. But the more defperate the fight, the greater are the rewards " to him which overcometh j" and your bloody deeds work our glory. Take heed, SCAPULA, left we, who undergo fuch unutterable hardfhips, fhould all of us at once break forth and fhew, that fo far from dreading, we fpontaneoufly call for tortures. While Arrius Antoninus was zealoufly perfecu- ting the Chriftians in Afia, they came uncalled, and in one body, before him. Havicg ( 7 ) Having doomed fome few of them to death, he faid unto the reft, " Wretches, " if ye muft needs die, have you not ^ crags and halters !" Should the Chri- ftians here act like thofe of Afia, what wouldit thou do to fo many thoufands, men and vomen, young and old, and of every ftation, yielding themfclvcs up uncalled at thy tribunal ! How great fires and how many fwords would then be needed, and what would Carthage herftlf, to be decimated by thee, then undergo, when each one might recog- nife, in the croud, his kinftnen and his bofom-friends; when, perhaps, thou mighteft fee fenators like thyfelf, and matrons, and men of the firft repute^ and the kinfmen and friends of thine own friends! Wherefore, if thou wilt not fpare us, fpare thyfelf, and, if not C thyfelf, ( 18 ) thyfelf, fpare Carthage, fpare the whole Province, which, as foon as thy meaning towards us was under flood, became ob noxious to the infults of the foldiery, and each man in it to the malevolence of his foes. We have no Lord but God alone ; he is before thine eyes, neither can he be hid ; but againft him thou canft not do aught. Moreover, they whom thou thinkeft to be thy lords are men, and, at fome time, they mall die ; but this feel: fhall remain, reared into a more {lately and ftronger building by what you think will overthrow it. For every one beholding fuch wonderful endurance, becomes perplext in his mind, and then is led eagerly to inquire what Chrifli- anity is ; and, on his finding out, he fol lows THE TRUTH. SEPT. FLOR. TERTULLIANI A D SCAPULAM TERTULLUM, AFRICA PR^ESIDEM, LIBEL LUS. NOS quidem neque expavefcimus, neque pertimefcimus ca quas ab ignorantibus patimur : cum ad hanc fec- tam utique fufcepta conditione ejus padi venerimus, ut etiam animas noitras auc- C 2 torati torati in has pugnas accedamus, ea qua: Deus repromittit, confcqui optantes, et ca quce diverfae vitas comminatur pati ti- mentes. Denique cum omni faevitia ve- ftra concertamus, etiam ultro erumpen- tes : magifque damnati quam ahfoluti gaudemus. Itaque hunc libellum non nobis timentes mifirnus, fed vobis et om nibus inimicis noftris, nedum amicis. I- ta enim difciplina jubemur diligere ini- micos quoque, et orare pro eis qui nos perfequuntur, ut base fit perfeda et pro- pria bonitas noflra, non communis. A- micos enim diligere omnium eft, inimi- cos auttm, folorum Chriftianorum. C)ui ergo dolemus de ignorantia veftra, et miferernur erroris huaiani, et futura pro- fpicimus, figna eorum quotidie intentari videmus, neceffe eft vel hoc modo erum- pere ad proponenda vobis ea, quas pa- lam f 1 lam non vultis audire. Nos unum De- um colimus, quern omnes naturaliter no- i flis : ad c.ijus fulgura et tonitrua con- tremifcitis, ad cujus beneficia gaudetis. ; Ceteros et ipfi putatis deos efle, qu >s nos | dasmonas fcimus. Tamen humani juris ct naturalis poteftatis eft unicuique quod putaverit colere : nee alii obeft aut pro- | deft alterius religio. Sed nee religionis j eft, cogere religionem, quae fponte fufci- I pi debeat, non vi : cum et hofliae ab a- nimo libenti expoftulcntur. Ita et fi nos compuleritis ad facrificandum, nihil pras- ftabitis diis veftris : ab invitis enim facri- ficia non defiderabunt, nifi contentiofi funt : contentiofus autem Deus non eft. Denique qui eft verus, omnia fua ex se- quo et prophanis et fuis praeftat. Ideo- que et judicium conftituit aeternum de gratis ct in^raus. Tamen rios, quos facrilrgos facrilegos exiftimatis, nee in furto un quam deprehendiftis, nedum in facrile- gio. Omnes autem, qui templa defpo- liant, et per deos jurant et eofdem co- lunt, et Chriftiani non funt, et facrilegi tamen deprehenduntur. Longum eft, fi retexamus quibus aliis modis et deride- antur et contemnantur oinnes dii ab ipfis cultoribus fuis. Sic et circa majeftatem imperatoris infamamur, tamen nunquam Albiniani, nee Nigriani, vel CafTiani inve- niri potuerunt Chriftiani: fed iidem ipfi, qui per genios eorum in pridie ufque ju- raverant, qui pro falute eorum hoftias et fecerant et voverant, qui Chriftianos fe- pe damnaverant, hoftes eorum funt re- perti. Chriftianus nullius eft hoftis, ne dum imperatoris : quern fciens a Deo fuo conftitui, necefle eft ut et ipfum dili- gat, et revercatur, et honoret, et faivum veitt, velit, cum toto Romano imperio, quouf- que fseculum ftabit : tamdiu enirn ftabit. Colimus ergo et imperatorem fie, quo- modo et nobis licet, et ipfi expedit, ut hominem a Deo fecundum ; et quicquid eft, a Deo confecutum, et folo Deo mi- norem. Hoc et ipfe volet. Sic enim omnibus major eft, dum folo vero Deo minor eft. Sic et ipfis .diis major eft, dum et ipfi in poteftate funt ejus. I- taque et facrificamus pro falute impera- toris, fed Deo noftro et ipfms, fed quo- modo prsecepit Deus, pura prece ; non cnim eget Deus, conditor univerfitatis, odoris aut fanguinis alicujus ; hsec enim dsemoniorum pabula funt : daemones au- tem non tantum refpuimus, verum et re- vincimus, et quotidie traducimus, et de hominibus expelJiinus, ficut plurimis no- turn eft, Ita nos magis oramus pro fa- lutc lufe imperatoris, ab eo cam poftulantcs, \ qui prasftare poteft. Et utique tx dif- cipllna patitntise divinas agtre nos fatis; manifeflum effc vobis poteft, cum tanta hominum multitude, pars pene major ci- Vitatis cujufque, in filcntio et modeitia a- gimus, fmguli forte noti magis quam omnes, nee aliunde nofcibiles quam de emendatione vitiorum priflinorum, Ab- lit enim ut ind gne feramus ea nos pad quas optamus, aut ultionem a nobis ali- quam machincmur, quam a Deo expec- tamus. Tamen (ficut fupra diximus^ do- leamus necefle eft, quod nulla civitas impune Jatura fit fanguinis noftri eiFu- fionem : (icut et fub Hilariano praefide, cum de areis fepulturarum noflrarum ad- clamaflent : ARE^E NON SINT: area3 ipforum non fuerunt : inefles enim fuas non egerunt, Ceterura et imbre anni prasteriti, prasteriti, quid commeruerit genus hu- manum apparuit, cataclyfmum fcilicet et retro fuiffe, propter incredulitatem et ini- quitates hominum: et ignes qui fuper moenia Carthaginis proxime pependerunt per noclem quid minati fint, fciunt qui viderunt, et priftina tonitrua quid fonu- erint, fciunt qui obduruerunt. Omnia base figna funt imminentisirse Dei, quam neceffe eft, quoquo modo poflumus, ut et annuntiemus, et praedicemus, et de- precemur interim localem efie. Univer- falem enim et fupremam fuo tempo re fentient, qui exempla ejus aliter interpre- tantur. Nam et fol ille in conventu U- ticenfi extinclo penelumine adeo porten- tuin fuit, ut non potuerit ex ordinario dcliquio hoc pati, pofitus in fuo hypfo- mate et domicilio. Habetis Aftrologos. Poflumus seque et exitus quorumdam D prsefidum prsefidum tibi proponere, qui in fine vitas fuse recordati funt deliquiffe quod vexaf- fent Chriftianos. Vigellius Saturninus, qui primus hie gladium in nos egit, lu- mina amifit. Claudius Herminianus in Cappadocia, cum, indigne fereris uxorem fuam ad bane feclam transifie, Chriftia nos crudeliter traclaflet, folufque in prse- torio fuo vaftatus pefte ciim vivus vermi- busebuliflet, " Nemofciat,aiebat, ne fpe <c \\.fuper w^lgaudeantChriftiani." Po- ilea cognito errore fuo, quod tormentis quofdam a propofito fuo excidere feciOTet, pene Chriftianus deceffit. Caecilius Ca- pella in illo exitu Byzantino, " Chriftiani " gaudete," exclamavit. Sed t qui vi- dentur tibi impune tuliffe, venient in diem divini judicii. Tibi quoque optamus ad- inonitionein folam fuifTe, quod cum A- drumeticum Mavilum ad beftias dam- naffes, nafles, et ftatim hsec vexatio fubfecuta eft, et nunc ex eadein caufa interpella- tio fanguinis Sed memento de cetero. Non te terremus, qui nee timemus : fed velirn ut omnes falvos facer e poifimus, monendo p* $10/4*%. Pates et officio jurifdidionis tuss fungi, et humanitatis meminifie, vel quia et vos fub gladio eftis. Quid enirn amplius tibi manda- tur, quam nocentes confeflbs damnare, negantes autem ad tormenta revocare ? Videtis ergo quomodo ipfi vos contra mandata faciatis, ut confelfos negare co gaiis. Adeo confitemini innoceates e(fe nos, quos damnare ftatim ex confelfione non vultis. Si autem contenditis ad eli- deridos nos, jam ergo innocentiam ex- pugnatis. Quanti autem praefides, et conftantiores et crudeliorcs, diflimulave- runt ab hujufmodi caufis ? ut Cincius Severus, qui Tifdras ipfe dedit remedium quomodo refponderent Chriftiani, ut di- mitti poflent : ut Vefpronius Candidus, qui Chriftianum, quafi tumultuofum ci- vitms fuis fatisfacere, dimifit : ut Afper, qui modicc vexatum hominem, et fta- tim dejedum, nee facrificium compu- lit facere, ante profeifus inter advocatos et adfeflbres, dolere fe incidifle in hanc caufam. Pudens etiam miffum ad fe Chriftianum, in elogio concuffione ejus intellffta, dimifit, fciflb eodem elogio,. fine accufatore negans fe audit urum ho minem, fecundum mandatum. Haec omnia tibi et de officio fuggeri poffunt, et ab eifdem advocatis, qui et ipfi bene- ficia habent Chnftianorum, licet adcla* merit quae volunt. Nam et cujufdam notarius cum a dasmone praecipitaretur, liberatus eft : et quorumdam propinquus et ct puerulus. Et quanti honefti viri (de vulgaribus enim non dicimus) aut a dae- moniis, aut a valetudinibus remcdiati funt. Ipfe etiam Severus, pater Anto- nini, Chriftianorum memor fuit. Nam et Proculum Chriftianum, qui Torpa- cion cognominabatur, Euhodi procura- torem, qui eum per oleum aliquando cu- raverat, requifivit, et in palatio fuo ha- buit ufque ad mortem ejus : quern et Antoninus optiine noverat, lade Chrifti- ano educatus, Sed et clariflimas femi- nas, et clariilimos viros Severus fciens hujus fedse efle, non modo non Isefit, verum et teftimonio exornavir, et populo furenti in nos palam reftitit. Marcus quoque Aurelius in Germanica expedi- tione, Chriftianorum militumorationibus ad Deum fatis, imbres in fiti ilia impe travit. Quando non geniculationibus et jejunationibus ( 3 ) jejunationibus noftris etiam ficcitates funt depulfas? Tune et populus adclamans, DEO DEORUM QUI SOLUS POTKNS EST, in Jovis nomine Deo noitro tefti- monium reddidit. Procter haec, depofi- tum non abnegamus, matrimonium nul- lius adulteramus, pupiilos pie traclamus, indigentibus refrigeramus, nulli malum pro malo reddimus. Viderint qui fedtam mentiuntur , quos et ipfi reculamus. Qiiis denique de nobis alio nomine que- ritur? Quod aliud negotium patitur Chri- flianus, nifi fuse icche ? quarn inceftain, quam crudelcm, tanto tenipore nemo probavit. Pro tanta innocentia, pro tan- ta probitate, pro juftitia, pro pudicitia, pro fide, pro veritate, pro Deo \ivo cre- mamur ; quod ncc facnlegi, nee holies public!, veru.n nee tot majeitatis rei pati foient. Nam et mine a prseiidc Legio- et a praefide Mauritania vexatur hoc nomen, fed gladio tenus, ficut et a primordio mandatum eft animadvert! in hujufmodi. Sed majora certamina ma- jora fequuntur praemia, Crudelitas ve- ftra gloria eft noftra. Vide tantutn ne hoc ipfo, quod talia fuftinemus, ad hoc folum videamur erumpere, ut hoc ipfurn probemus, nos haec non timere, fed ul- tro vocare. Arrius Antoninus in Afia cum perfequeretur inftanter, omnes il- lius civitatis Chriftiani ante tribunaliaejus fe manu facia obtulerunt ; cum ille, pau- cis duci juffis, reliquis ait, d> Se/xci 3-e\e- 71 aVcS-^o-xefy, Kfviuwi; YI^^O^H; i%iTi Hoc fi placuerit et hie fieri, quid facies de tantis millibus hominum, tot viris ac fe- minis, omnis fexus, omnis aetatis, omnis dignitatis, offcrentibus fe tibi? Quantis ignibus, quantis gladiis opus erit? Quid ipfa Carthago paffura eft decimanda a re, ( 3* ) te, cum propinquos, cum contubernales fuos illic unufquifque cognoverit, cum videris illic fortafie et tui ordinis viros et matronas, et principales quafque perfo- nas, et amicorum tuorum vel propiu- quos vel amicos ? Parce ergo tibi, ii non nobis, Parce Carthagini, fi non tibi : par- ce provinciae quae vifa intentione tua ob- noxia fa&a eft concuffionibus et militum et inimicorum fuorum cujufque. Magi- flrum neminem habemus, nifi Deum fo- lum. Hie ante te eft, nee abfcondi po- teft, fed cui nihil facere poffis. Cete- rum quos putas tibi magiftros, homines funt, et ipfi morituri quandoque. Nee tamen deficiet hsec fela ; quam tune ma- gis sedificari fcias, cum casdi videtur. Quifque enim tantam tolerantiam fpec- tans, ut aliquo fcrupulo percufTus, et in- quirere accenditur, quid fit in caufa ; et ubi cognoverit veritatem, et ipfe ftatim fequitur. NOTES and ILLUSTRATIONS. p. 1. 1. 3 . SCAPULA TERTULLUS. There is ex tant a refcript addrefTed by Marcus Anto ninus, and his fon Commodus, Scapula Tcrtyllo Frafidi, 1. 14. Dig. de Ojficio Pra- fidis. Every antiquary knows, that Ter- tultus and Tertyllus are different ways of fpelling the fame name. Hence it appears, that Scapula Ter- tullus was high in office towards the lat ter end of the reign of Marcus Antoni nus. Profper Aquinas [Chronicon] places tertulius and Clemens as Conluls in the third or fourth year of the Emperor Se- verus, and fo alfo the FaJH Idatiani. The Fqfti Confulares Anonymi^ publifhed by E Cardinal ( 34 ) Cardinal Noris, bear A t U. C. 948. A. C. N. 195. " Tertullo et Clemente Coff. >r There is extant in Gruter, Infcript. p 1027. N 4. the delineation of a ftone dug up at Oftia, which bears the fol lowing words : " P. Martio. Quir. Phi- " lippo, tribuno fabrum navalium Por- c< tens. Corpus fabrum navalium Oftiens. <c Quibus ex S. C. coire licet > Patrono opt f " mo, P. P: On the right fide of this ftone, there is added, Cc Dedicata in. fdus " April Scapula Tertullo et Tineio Cle mente Co/: 99 Pamelius ad Tertul p. 68. (a] fays, that this ftone is preferved in the Farnefe palace at Rome ; and, to add one evidence more, mention is made of " Oratio Severi Augufti, in Senatu red- tl fata, Tertullo et Clemente Confuli- <c bus? 1. i. i, Dig. de Rebus eorum qui fub tutela, <bc. The difcourfe was read in the Senate, [/ fenatu recitata\? by reafon of the abfence of the Emperor OA ( 35 ) on bis military expeditions. And this, by the way, (hews the great truft which he re- pofed in Scapula Tertullus. In the treatife of Tertullian, now under confidcration, we find Scapula Tertullus Preiident, or, to fpeak with more accu racy, Proconfu! of Africa. One is naturally led to inquire for fome further particulars of the hiftory of a man who bore a high office under Marcus An toninus; who remained fecure, if not dif- tinguifhed, throughout the times of Corn- modus; who obtained the dignity of Conful from Severus in the early part of that reign ; and who, even at its conclu- lion, held the government of Africa. There is a paflage in Julius Capitoli- nus, which appears applicable to Scapula Tertullus. The hiftorian fays, that Mar cus Antoninus was blamed for having promoted the paramours of his wife Fau- ftina to various eminent offices. Ter~ E 2 tullus tullus (lands firft in the lift of the perfons fo promoted. I fubjoin the pafiage, which contains many remarkable cirumftances : " Criminiei datum eft quod adulteros ux- * oris promoverit, Tertullum, et Uti- " Hum, et Orphitum, et Moderatum, ad * c varios honores : quum Tertullum etiam " prandentem cum uxore deprehenderit. * De quo mimus in fcena, praefente An- * tonino, dixit, quum ftupidus nomen a- " dulteri uxoris a fervo quaereret, et ille ** diceret ter Tuttus, et adhuc ftupidus t quaereret, refpondit, jam dixi ter Tul- 4i lus dicitur." Htft. Aug. Script, p. 34. It feems unneceffary to give a tranflation of this chronique fcandaleufe. If we fuppofe Scapula Tertullus to have been a man of fixty -three or fixty-four when Tertullian addrefled him, there will be no a- nachronifm in the ranking him among the favourites of Fauftina ; and thus the paflage in Julius Capitolinus, and 1. 14. D. de Offi* do ( 37 ) do Prafidisi already quoted, will ferve to illuftrate each other. P. i. 1. 9. 10. " When we became ofthisfeft" [cum ad hanc feftam venerimus]. The fol lowers of different philosophers were cal led " philofophorum fet# t familiae, difci- " plinae." In imitation of this, Tertullian. applies the phrafe, " hxc fefta" to the dif- ciples of Chrift ; and, prefently after, he calls their inftitutions " difciplina" P. 2. 1. I. " We thereby bound ourfelves to let " out our very lives in the warfare bc- c * longing to Xt, M [ut etiam animas no- ftras auflorati in has pugnas accedamus]. This alludes to the practice of gladiators,- who contracted to fight. The verfion does not exprefs the energy of the ori ginal : " To let out life," is an aukward and an ambiguous phrafe ; " we hire our * lives," might found better j but, in modern ( 38 ) modern Englifh at leaft, " to hire," is " conducere? and not locare" P. 3. 1. 17. " Neither indeed is it the bufinefs of " religion to compel religion," [fed nee religionis eft cogere religionem], Left," Pamelius fays, " any one fhould chance to ts pervert this paflage, as if it meant toad- " mit of licence to fefts y it is proper to " take notice of an opinion of the au- tf thor, in the beginning of the treatife " called Scorpiace, \_Qfthe Antidote^ which " is altogether contrary to fuch liberty" [" Ne quis forte locum hunc detorqueat ** ad feftarum licentiam, adnotata venit * autoris fententia earundem libertatl * f prorfus contraria," p. 69. edit. Rigalt.^ Licentia^ in Latin, may fignify the fame thing as libertas ; but, as it is generally ufed in a bad fenfe, it would have been expedient to repeat the word inftead of va rying it. The varying of terms common- ( 39 ) ly happens, when an author unintention ally puts the change on himfclf, or in tentionally on his readers. The Antidote prefcribed by Pamelius is in thefe words : " It is fit that herc- " tics be compelled to their duty, and " not enticed ; their obftinacy ought to " be vanquilhed, not Toothed ? [" ad of- ficium haereticos compelli, non inlici " dignum eft ; duritia vincenda eft, non " fuadenda," p. 488.] This expreffion appears harfb in lan guage and fentiment. But, granting it to imply all that Pamelius imagines, it proves, at moft, that " Tertuilian contradicted himfelf ." Such a propofition cannot found ftrange to any one who is fo well ac quainted with the works of that learned and capricious African, as to be able to write commentaries on them. The words, taken in general, might alfo prove, that Tertuilian, when heat ed ( 40 ) cd in controverfy, fpake a language dif ferent from thit which he ufed in an addrefs for the Chriftians at large to a Roman governor. One might eaiily retort the obfervation of Pamelius thus : C( Left any one fhould " chance to pervert this paifage in Scor- * place, as if it meant to recommend " intolerance* it is proper to take notice * of an opinion of the author in the t( beginning of the treatife to Scapula^ t( which is altogether contrary to fuch in- " tolerance." The truth is, that, in the preface to Scor place, Tertullian fpeaks not of into lerance at all At that time, as is well known, the ChritHans of Africa were mi- ferably divided on an important point, not of metaphyfics, but of practice. Some were of opinion, that perfecurion ought to be avoided ; and perhaps they went too C 4i ) too far in the means which they ufed for the avoiding of it : Others again were of opinion, that it ought rather to be court ed ; and perhaps they too, in their honefl zeal, went to the other extreme. The former were naturally led to depreciate martyrdom, or to employ expreffions ca pable of being fo interpreted. The lat ter, while extolling martyrdom, grew la- vifh in their commendations of every mar tyr. Tertullian efpoufed the opinions of the feverer party, and undertook to confute its adverfaries. Full of confidence, pro bably brought by him from the bar into the church, he imagined that every caufe which he patronized, would be won. Hence in the like triumphant ftyle, he at tacked the herefies of Marcion, and vin dicated the extravagancies of Montanus and h s followers. Keeping this in view, we fliall eafily perceive ( 42 ) perceive the meaning of the phrafe, that " Heretics muft be compelled to their du- t ty," and of. the other lofty expreffions to which Pamelius alludes. Tertullian made no doubt, that he fhould, by dint of argument, if a colloquial term may be ufed, fubduehisantagonifts} and lead them captives to his fyftem. Indeed when the ftate of the Chriftiaa church in that age is confidered, it feems vmreafonable to fuppofe that Tertullian meant to fpeak of any thing elfe than the efficacy of his own arguments. The times had not yet arrived, when the Princes of the earth, by wholefome feverities, " com- * pelled heretics to their duty," and the State became an executioner for the Church. P. 5- 1. 7- " Albinus." An account of him, af- cribed to Julius Capitolinus, is to be found in Hift. Aug. Script. Salmafius perempto rily afcribes it to Spartian j and Mr Gib bon ( 43 ) bon implicitly follows Salmafius, T. i. p. 134. not. 17. ** Spartianus, " fays he," " in " his indigefted collections, mixes up all " the virtues and all the vices that enter " into the human compofition, and be- " flows them on the fame object." This criticifm feems much too fevere. In the delineating of the manners of Albinus, the author, be he Julius Capi- tolinus, or be he Spartian, quotes the ac counts given of him by -^Elius Cordus, Marius Maximus, and by the Emperor Severus himfelf in his memoirs. Thofc accounts are, no doubt, inconfiftent ; but what could an author do, who, Jiving at a later period, had no knowledge of Al binus, other than what he learned from more early hiftorians ? It is true, that he might have firft formed an hypothefis, and then have felected whatever was fa vourable to the reputation of Albinus, or unfavourable, juft as beft fuited his pur- F 2 pofe. ( 44 ) pofe. But this would have been to make hiftory, not to write it. Unacquainted with fuch refinements, the hiftorian has fet down every thing that he found rela ted, either in praife or difpraife, of the un- fuccefsful ufurper. We moderns have one art, among o- thers, which the ancients knew not : what we are unwilling to place in the text 9 we huddle into notes ; and thus, without any difparagement to ourfelves, we may either tell the fame ftory in two different ways, or alternately aflume a doubtful or a decifive tone. Not meaning to be the hiftorian of Al- binus, I cannot ftay to examine all the portraits which have been drawn of him. The lateft, and not the moft inconfider- able artift fays : " Virtue, or the appear- * ances of virtue, recommended Albinus ( to the confidence and good opinion of Marcus."[ Aurelius Philofophus.]GW0fl, i. 134. I judge the fenfe of the author to be, that cc the appearances of virtue were (t neceflary to recommend a man to the " good opinion of the Royal Philofo- pher." But, at p. 103. I read, that the fame Emperor " promoted feveral of the lo- <r vers of his wife to pofts of honour and " profit." What thofe lovers were, we learn from p. 102. and from the note 2. Now it might be worth the inquiring, whether the paramours of Fauftina were recommended to Marcus by the appear ances of virtue ? If they were, they agree not with the account given of them at p. 102. If they were not, then Marcus is unjuftly praifed at p. 134. and he proves to have been juft fuch a one as ma ny other Princes, who beftow places of honour and profit from their own caprice or conveniency, or from the caprice or conveniency of their minifters. And And here I muft be permitted to obferve, tfrat the note in queftion, and another [59] at p. 1 79. might well have been fpared, Mr Oibbon rrmft have thought little of his own ability to inftrudl his readers, and of his readers ability to be inftru&ed, when he judged that any commentaries were re- quifite to explain his meaning. An hiftorian fliould fay to himfelf, with the Poet, Virginibus puerifque canto. The work of Mr Gibbon, being fafhion- able, may have found its way to the toilets of virgins ; and it is certain enough that youths have read it. Surely he did no* defire to have/we^ readers oijuch notes. P. 5. 1. 8 " In fellowfhip with Caffius," ICaffia- m.~\ Avidius Caffius rebelled againft Mar cus Antoninus, and aflumed the imperial dignity ; he was aflaffinated about three months after by fome of his foldiers, Dion ( 47 ) Dion CaJ/ius, 1. Ixxi. c. lilt. Julius Capi* tolinus, Hift. Aug. Script, p. 33. Vuk catius GallicanuSj ib. p. 42. There is no faft in ancient hiftory better authenticated than the murder of Avidius Caffius ; and^ therefore, one cannot, without confide- rable furprife, read the following paflage in Mr Gibbon, u 95. * Marcus regret- * 4 ted, that Avidius Caffius, who excited " a rebellion in Syria, had difappointed <c him, by a voluntary death, of the plea- " fure of converting an enemy into a friend." What renders this error ftill more ex traordinary, is, that Mr Gibbon himfelf quotes Vulcatius Callicanus t who has pre- ferved the letter written by Marcus An toninus to his wife Fauftina, on the death of Caffius. " In a word," fays the Em- peror, " had the events of war corre- " fponded with my wifhes, not even A- " vidius himfelf Ihould have been kiN " lcd. w ( 48 ) t led. * [Denique, fi ex mea fententia de bello judicatum efiet, nee Avidius efiet oo cifus.] 1 have looked into the abridgement of Mr Gibbon s work, and I fee that the a- bridger has faithfully turned affafjlnation intofuicide. P. 5. 1. 8. " Caffius." The like fentiment is ex- prefied at greater length by Tertullian. JpoL c. 35. " Unde Caflii, et Nigri, et " Albini, unde qui inter Duas Laurus obfi- <c dent Caefarem ? unde qui faucibus expri- c< mendispaljeftriamexercent? unde qui ar- <* matiPalatium irrumpunt, omnibus Sige- c riis atque Partheniis audaciores ? De Ro- " manis, nifi fallor, id eft de non Chri- < ftianis, atque adeo omnes illi fub ipfa <c ufque impietatis eruptione et facra fa- " ciebant pro falute Imperatoris, et ge- nium ejus dejerabant, alii foris, alii in- < tus, et utique publicorum hqftium nomen " Chriftianis dabant. Sed et quinuncfce- " leftarum C 49 ) * s leftarum partium focii aut plaufores " quotidie revelamur, poft vindemiam * parricidarum racematio fuperftes, quatn * recentiflimis et ramofiflimis laurels po- <f ftes pneftruebant, quam elatiffimis et <c clariflimis lucernis veftibula nebula- " bant, quam cultiffimis et fuperbiffimis <c toris Forum fibi dividebant ? non ut " gaudia publica celebrarent, fed ut vota < propria jam edicerent in aliena folem* * nitate, et exemplum atque imaginem <( fpei fuse inaugurarent, npmen Principis " in corde mutantes." This pafiage is paraphrafed by Reeves in the following manner, Chriflian dpclo- gies, vol. i. p. 319. c< Whence come th e <c Caffius s, the Nigers, and Albinus s ? <c Whence thofe who fet upon the Em- " peror Commodus between the two Lau- " rel groves at Lauretum ? and thofe who " got him flrangled at his cxercife with G " his ( 50 ) * !hiswrefHing-mafterNarcirTus ? Whence " thofe who broke into the Palace, fword " in hand, and murdered Pertinax in a C more audacious manner, than Domi- " tian was by the Sigerius s and the Par - <c thenius s ? Now thefe parricides, if I " miftake not, were men of rank, and " Romans, and not a Chriftian among " them. And thefe traitors, juft before <c the perpetration of this horrid impiety, " ofFered facrifices to Casfar s health, and f fwore by Csefar s genius, with religion <c in their faces, and murder in their " hearts, and branded the Chriftians with " the character of public enemies. But " the principals and abettors of this " wicked confpiracy, which are daily de " tected, and picked up as the gleanings " after a vintage of rebellion ; Blefs me ! 4< With what loads of laurel did they fig- " nalize their gates on Csefar s birth-day ? ** With what extraordinary illuminations " did " did their porches overcaft the fun? " With what exquiiite and (lately tables " did they take up the forum ? Not, in * c truth, to celebrate the public joy, but " to take omens from hence of their own f future empire, and to inaugurate this 11 image of their hopes, even upon Cae- " far s feftival, by calling themfelves in " the hearts by the name of Csefar." He who has ever made the experiment, mull know how very difficult it is to ren der the lentimtnts of Tertullian into Eng- liih ; and this may (erve as an apology botti for Reeves and for mylelf. 1 do not mean to cenfure P^eeves s pa- raphraie for the colloquial phrafes with which it abounds ; iuch as, <c got Com- ** modus ftrangled broke into the Pa- <c lace iword in hand not a Chriilian " among them picked up Blefs me" Writers ot the age in which Reeves lived, G 2 and ( 5* ) and writers by far his fuperiors, were toa apt to debafe their ferious works by the ufe of mean and vulgar language ; fo, what was the fault of his times, ought not to be particularly cenfured in him. The error of the prelent times is juft the reverfe of what formerly prevailed. For now, a marriage, or an elopement, a re- fignation of an office, or an appointment to it, an additional bow-window at a No bleman s feat, or a new gravel -walk at a watering-place, are all announced to the public, and what is it that is not announ ced to the public, either in the grave ftyle of Hiftory, or with every trope of Rhe toric. The paraphrafe of Reeves deviates fo widely from the meaning of the original, that, for the fake of the unlearned read er, it cannot be pafled over without fome few criticifms. He has interpolated the phrafe, " men " of 1 ( 53 ) " of rank," forgetting that NarclfTus, the wreftlcr % was the chief confpirator againft Commodus. Converting night into day, he fpeaks of u illuminations which overcaft the fun? and I murt add, that the conclufion of his paraphrafe is unintelligible jargon. At firft fight, I inclined to rank the cxpreffion, " thofe who got Commodus * c ftrangled at his exercife -with his TV reft* g ft ling-ma/ler Narcifius," among the mif- tranflations of Reeves. Dion Caffius, b, Ixxii. p. 828. ; the author of the life of Commodus, in Hi/I. dug. Script, p. 52. ; and Herodian, p. 28. 20. [edit Steph.] all concur in relating, that Commodus was ftrangled, while incapable of making any reiiftance. Yet, if Aurelius Victor may be credited, Commodus died in that way which the paraphraie of Reeves de- fcribes. His words are: Et Commodum. " quidem primo occultatius veneno pcti- < vere, C 54 ) cc vere, cujus vis fruflrata per ciburn quo " fe cafu repleverat, cum alvi dolorem f caufaretur, auclore medico principe fao " tionis, in palxftram perrexit, ibi per " miniftrum ungendi, nam forte is quo- " que e confilio erat, faucibus qua/I arte <c exercitii bracbiorum nodo validius prejfis, " exfpiravit." This is juil what Tertulhan may have meant by the words, " qui * faucibus exprimcndis palseilricam ex- ercent." Dion Caffius, indeed, omits this fingular circumftance, and gives a dif ferent turn to the tlory ; and he profeffes, that he wrote by a divine impulfe y and was perfectly mafter of the fuDJeft; but I ob- ferve, that notwithftanding iuch protef- fions, Mr Gibbon does not follow him implicitly. Dion Caffius expreisly fays, that poifon was administered to Commo- dus in a dilh of beef, [ey Kftxci fioeioisd or, as Principal Blackwali would have ex- prelled ( 55 ) preflcd it, " of beef-fteaks, on which his * Imperial Majefty fupped heartily." Mr Gibbon, after Heriodian, fays, i. 1 1 8. " Marcia feized the occafion of " prefenting a draught of wine to her " lover, after he had fatigued himfelf with hunting fome wild beafts. Corn- " modus retired to fleep ; but whilft he " was labouring with the effects of pot/on " and drunkennefs, [for it feems that " the wine was poifoned, though the hi- ftorian forgets to mention it], a robuft < c youth, by profeffion a wreftler, entered his chamber, and ftrangled him with* " out refiftance." It is of little moment in what way Corn- modus, a brute and a madman, was put to death ; but it will be remembered, that Tertullian wrote before any of the hifto- rians now extant, who have undertaken to relate the circumftances of that event. I think that the meaning of Tertullian, in in the paffage quoted, may be thus expreffecL <( Whence were Caffius, and Niger, and Al- * binus ? whence thofe, who between the " Laurel Groves befet Caefar, and thofe who, " to (hew their proficiency in the art of <c wreftling, ftrangledhim? Whence were <f the armed men, who forced their way " into the Imperial Palace, and atchieved * a deed more audacious than any of Si- 41 gerius or Parthenius ? If I miftake not, * c they were Romans, that is, they were not, in any fort, Chriftians; and ac- fc cordingly, until the very moment at ft which their impious confpiracy burft <c forth, all of them performed holy <c rites for the welfare of the Emperor, <( and folemnly fwore by his tutelary ge- < nius, loyal in the outfide, but inward- " ly traitors ; and yet fuch men never * ceafed to beftow the appellation of pu- f blic enemies on the Chriftians ! And " even now, thofe aiTociates or abettors of ( 57 ) " of flagitious factions, who are detected " from day to day, thofe gleanings after " a vintage of parricides, what frefh and " bufhy garlands of laurel did they pile " up before their gates, with what lofty " and refulgent lamps did they over- " fprcad the entry to their houfes, and c with how many elegant and fumptuous " tables did they lhare the Forum among " themfelves ; not that they might partake " in the celebration of the public joy, " but that they might even then, on a " feftival appointed for a very different " purpofe, utter their private vows, and, fubftituting in their own thoughts the " name of another Emper.r, feize the " occafion to figure to themfelves an o- minous reprefentation of their own " h<pe." P. 5. 1. 19. " The welfare of the Roman State," [ut ipfum fulvum velit cum toto Romano H imperio/I ( 58 > imperio.] To the like purpofc he elfe- where fpeaks. " Eft et alia major ne- * ceffitas nobis orandi pro Imperatoribus, * etiam pro omni ftatu imperil qui vim 4< maximam, univerfoorbi imminentem " Romani imperii commeatu fcimus retar- dari," Apol c. 32. An excellent fummary of both paflages is to be found in the fol lowing words : " Tertullian is at pains to 4f vindicate the Chriftians from the charge " of being ill-afFeled to the State ; and " gives it as one reafon, among others, * why in their public liturgies they con- " ftantly prayed for the fafety of the Cw- <( farean empire, from the perfuafion 4< then generally held, and profefTed- " ly founded on the authority of this " text, [2ThefT.c.2. v. 5. 8.] that An- * tichrift could not be revealed, fo long <c as that empire fhould continue, and u that the greateft calamity which ever " threatened the world, was only delay- " ed C 59 ) ed by its prefervation." Sermons by Bp Halifax, v. i. p. 152. On this occafion, I indulge myfelf in the melancholy pleafure of quoting the words of a lamented friend, and I add my teftimony of approbation, fuch as it is, to that of all who knew his worth and accomplifhments. P. 6. 1. 9. " So alfo is he greater than your gods, " for he beareth fway over them *," [et ipfis diis major eft, dum et ipfi in pote- flate funt ejus.] He explains this at more length in Apol. c. 29. " Mul i d^nique dii " habuerunt Csefarem iratum, Ficit ad " caufam fi et propitium ; cum illis ali- c< quid liberalitatis aut privilegii confert. * Ita qui funt in Cafaris potejtdte> cujus * et toti funt 9 quomodo habebunt falutem " Cse^aris in potettate, ut earn praetlare * poiTe videantur, quam faciliusipli a C<e- " fare confequantur ?" H 2 P. P. 8. 1. 5. Threfhing -floors." [Areae.] Area\* thus defcribed by Varro, de L L iv. " U- " bi frumenta fefta teruntur et arefcunt: * propter harum fimilitudinem, loca in ** urbe pura area ;" and hence Florenti- nitS) 1. 24. D. de verborem fignificatione 9 fays, " locus fine sedificio in urbe, area" In this laft fignification, the word has been received into the Englifh language. Such places ufed for fepulture, how ever mconfiftent with modern notions, were known among the ancient Chriftians. Thus Pontius, fpeaking of Cyprian the martyr, fays, " Sepultus eft in areis Ma- " crobii Candidi Procuratoris," vita Cypr. p. 14. edit. Fell. It is probable that the ancient Chriftians did not incline to lay their dead in places dedicated to Pagan divinities, nor the Pagans to admit them there. There is an ambiguity in the phrafe of Tertullian, ( 61 ) Tertullian, which cannot be exprefled by any t ran flat ion. The cry of the multi tude related to thole areas, or void fpa~ ces, in which the Chriftians were wont to bury their dead. But Tertullian inter prets it in another fenfe, as implying the tbrefbing or treading floors then in ufe for the feparation of grain from the hulk. The manner of preparing and ufing iuch areas, may be feen in Dickfin s Hujbandry of the Ancients, ii. 175. 194. In the heathen world, there were very many phrafes of /// omen, which daftardly men applied to their own condition and cir- cumftances, while men of more courage and prefence of mind, although not free from fuperftition, turned them into omens of good. Here Tertullian, according to the genius of Paganifm, perverts an unimpor tant expreffion into an ill omen, verified, as he fays, by the event. To the learned reader, this note mud appear ( 62 ) appear fuperfluous, but it may be of ufe to the unlearned. P. 9 1.7. " In the diftricl: of Utica," [in conven- tu Uticenfi,] One might fuppofe that the author fpake of a phenomenon which was obferved at the time of fome public aflembly held in the city of Utica ; but his meaning is, that the phenomenon was obferved in " the diftricl:," or, " in the c territory fubjecl: to the jurifdi&ion of " Utica." P. 9 1. 12. * That could not have been owing to " any eclipfe, for he was then in his al- " titude and houfe, w [ut non potuerit ex ordinario deliquio hoc pati, pofitus in fuo hypfomate et domicilio.^ For the follow ing commentary on this obfcure paflage, I am beholden to an ingenious and learn ed friend. For the better explaining of the paf- iage C 63 ) fage in Tertullian, it may be proper to premife a few obfervations on the fcience of Aftrology, and the terms of art which its profeflbrs employed. The two luminaries, and the five pla nets, were among the principal objects with which the fcience was concerned. To each of them refpectively, were attri buted certain fundamental virtues derived from their own nature, but acting with more or lefs energy, according to the circumftances in which thofe bodies at any given time were placed. The circumftances which thus modified their action, were in barbarous Latin cal led dignitates and debilitates^ and were di vided into eflential and accidental. The two firft of the effential dignities were the Hoiife, (in Latin, Domus or Do- micilium, and in Greek o/xoc), and the ex altation, which the Greeks called fyup.& 9 and ( 64 ) and the Latins elevatio> exaltatio, and fome- times altitudo. The houfe of the planet or luminary, was a certain conftellation of the Zodiac, fuppofed to fuit beft with its particular nature, and in which it was more vigo rous than elfe where. Each of the five planets had two houfes, a day-houfc and a night-houfe, but one only was affigned to each of the luminaries. The Sun s houfe was the conftellation Leo, the reafons for which choice I need not fpeak of. As to the uvf/w^a, it was an exaltation of ftrength arifmg from the planet or lumi nary being alfo in a particular conftel lation of the Zodiac, but which conftei- lation, according to moft of the ancient and all the modern aftrologers, was differ ent from its houfe. Thus the Suns v^ufjux. was in Aries. Julius Firmicus, however, a Latin aftro- loger, loger, (fuppofed to have written in the fourth century), mentions (ii. 3.) that ac cording to the Babylonians, the houfe and place of exaltation were the fame. "r^<iy/a ( it may be obferved, was alfo ufed to fignify the place where the exalta tion happened. In regard to the meaning of the word fy&jtt*, as an aftrological term, fee Sex- tus Empiricus, p. 115. ed. Genev. 16215 and alfo Plutarch, Sept. fap. conviv. vi. 564. edit. Rufcii. The reafon for explaining the fun s v^ajua in Aries ftems to have been, that he was there paffing into the- northern he- mifphere, and his light and heat increa- fing. Hence Sextus Empiricus purs it in the nineteenth degree of the conjlella- tion, which I fuppofe he underrtood in his own days as the place of the equinox. It is, however, to be remarked, that ftill the term y ^a did not, in the fenfe I of ( 66 ) of afirolbgers, exprefs his growing alti tude above the plane of the horizon, or any other plane, but merely the exalta tion of his ftrength and vigour, or the place where fuch exaltation happened. This is exprefsly remarked by Origanus, a Profeffor of Mathematics, who is au thor of the Brandenburg Tables, to which he has prefixed a very complete fyftem of aftrology. The pafTage I allude to is in page 415. of his introduction to thofe Ta bles. It appears to me too, that the paf- fages above quoted indicate this to be the true fenfe of the word , nor have I been able to find any inftance where it is ufed iynonymoufly with eVa^/c, ett&pijMti or the like words. Befides, it is to be ob- ferved, that the moon and the five pla nets had their t/\f,-oy*ala affigned to them, for reafons which do not feem to ad mit of this word s being underftood o- therwife ( 67 ) therwife than in the fenfe above men tioned. I muft now fpeak concerning the divi- fion of the heavens by aftrologers into twelve portions, known more lately by the name of damns c^lcftes^ or the celeftial hou- fes. The divifion itfelf appears to have been very ancient, but the name has, I fufpecl:, more lately come into life. This fort of houfe is totally different from that of which I have already fpoken. It was by their own proper motions, that the pla nets and two luminaries entered into and left their own honfes ; but it was by the revolution of the primum mobile^ that they, as well as the fixed ftars, pafled fucceffive- ly in the courfe of a fidereal day through all the twelve celeftial houfcs. The circles of the fphere by which this division of the heavens was made, were different in different fyftems of aftrology. But all the fyftems feem to have agreed in I 2 this, this, that the femicircle forming the weft- moft boundary of the firft houfe, was ei ther the eaftern femicircle of the horizon, or another femicircle cutting it, and that the houfes were numbered from weft to eaft, according to the order of the figns of the ecliptic. I need not take notice of the names and properties of the different houfes, it being fufficient to mention, that all queftions concerning human affairs were folved by confideringwhatftars, at a particular time, were in certain celeftial houfes, and in what arrangement they were difpofedj one houfe being more fit for refolving one fet of queftions, and another a different fet. It became, therefore, an important ob ject, to have a method of determining with precifion, what ftars, at any given inftant of time, and at a given place, were in the different houfes. It could be but very ( 69 ) very rudely done by actual obfervation, and frequently not at all. But if the place of every ftar referred to fome known cir cle of the celeftial fphere, fuch as the e- cliptic or equator, was known for every inftant of time, the celeftial houfe which at any time it occupied could be found by calculation, if the place of obfervation was given : And hence it was, that in the older ephemerides of Europe, tables were conftructed to facilitate thofe calcu lations. When I firft read the pafiage in Tertul- lian, I imagined fu-um domicilium to mean the celejlial houje in which the fun was at the time, and hypfoma, his altitude above the horizon, from which, the hour and place of obfervation being given, and as he is always in the ecliptic, his place in the heavens might be determined. And I couriered the author as meaning to fay, that ( 70 ) that the fun was in a place, where he could not undergo fo complete an eclipfe. I am now difpofed to confider clomi- cilium and hypfoma as employed by Ter- tullian, not in this fenfe, but in that which I firft explained, namely, domicilium^ as fignifying his own proper hoiife, and hyp" foma, as fignifying that exaltation of flrength, or the place where it accrued to him, of which I have faid fo much. For, frfti We feem to have no authority for confidering the word hypfoma, when applied to him, as having any other meaning. And, in the next place, I am not (atisfied, that the twelve portions of the heavens, called more lately celeftial houfes, had in Tertullian s days obtained that name. Likewife, although in the cafe of the fun, from the celeftial houfe be ing given in which he was, and his alti tude above the horizon, his place in the ecliptic might be foimd, yet it would be a verv ( 7 ) very aukward way of proceeding. Laf~ fy, as Tertullian fays not a word about the moon s place, it appears to me obvi ous that he cannor have had in view her interpofition between the fun and earth, as the caufe which the Pagans affigned for folar eclipfes, and which caufe, he in tended to fay, could not account for fuch a darknefs, as in this particular inftance had happened. It is impoffi ole, that if this theory had been in his view, he would have mentioned only the fun s place in the heavens : For the poilibility of an eclipfe depends entirely on his diftance from the moon s node at the time of change, and not at all on his own place. It feems to me more likely therefore, that he had fame other theory in con templation, which he underftood to be that by which the Pagans accounted for eclipfes, and which he intended to fhevr was ( 7* ) was infufficient to account for the parti cular phxaome non to which he refers. Considering the period at which he wrote, I doubt not, that although a few philofophers might ftill retain the know* ledge of the true caufe, yet the vulgar theory of eclipfes might be founded, (as it feems to have been in earlier days), on fome ftrange notions of their being oc- caiioned by a difeafe or enemy with which the luminary had to ftruggle. We may fuppofe Tertullian to have heard, that the Pagans imputed the fun s eclipfe to an accident of this fort. We may fup pofe him alfo to have had a fuperficial knowledge of aftrology, and to have un- derftoo^i in general, that there were cer tain contiellations where the fun, moon, and pl.incts, were more powerful than in any others, which may have given him a confuted notion of their getting in fuch places an increaie of ftrength and vigour, like C 73 ) like that which an animal or a plant gets in favourable circumftances. Suppofing this to have been the ftate of his ideas on the fubjeft, if he was told, that at the time of the eclipfe happening the fun was in his own houfc, or in hisjigii of exaltation* or (according to the Baby lonian aftrology) that he was in a con- ftellation which was both his own houfe and place of exaltation, it may have ap peared to him impoflible, without fupsr- natural means, and the fpecial interpo. fition of the Deity, that the luminary, when thus at his utmoft ftrength, and moft exalted in all his powers, (in dimi- cilio fuo ct hypfomate pofitus), rtiould be fo much overpowered, as to have his light almoft extinguifhed. This interpretation appears to derive fupport from the fneering manner in which Tertullian brings in the habetis ajlrologos, and is on the whole (though I am by no K means C 74 ) means confident of having rightly explain ed the paffage) the moft plaufible ac count that at prefent occurs to me of the author s meaning. Lampridius records a fudden darknefs at Rome in the reign of Commodus, " Re- * pentina caligo ac tenebra in circo Cal. Januariis oborta," Hift. Aug. Script, p. 31. It is probable, that the darknefs recorded by Tertullian was of a like kind, to be accounted for by natural phi- lofophers, rather than by aftrologers. P. fo- 1. 5. " Left the-Chriftians.be glad over me," [Ne fpe gaudeant Chriftiani.] The word fpe occurs in no manufcript of this trea- tife but one, and, therefore, Rigaltius looks upon it as an interpolation. In deed the phrafe, " left the Chriftians re- joice in hope" is much too fcriptural for a heathen to uie j and we may reaion- .ably prefume, that Herminianus did not C 75 ) ufe it. But let us inquire, whether there may not have been fome miftake here, and whether, while we fet afide the word fpe, we may not find fome other expref- fion more applicable to the circumftances of Herminianus. In a MS. full of abbreviations, as an cient MSS. not written in capitals gene rally are, we may fuppofe, that fuper me was written thus, fpme, or even fpe s that one tranfcriber, not adverting to the con- traftion, and to the upper line expreffive of m, wrote fpe for fpe; and that other tranfcribers obferving the ftrange charac ters y^wir, omitted them as being unintel ligible. From this conjecture, there will arife a new reading, " ne fuper me gau- deant Chriftiani," by which Herminia- nus is made to convert a general obferva- tion and inference into fomething more appofite and peculiar to his own condi- K z tion. By the reading fpe % the Chriftians are underftood to rejoice ; by the reading fuper me, which I propofe, they are un derftood to infuli. P. ro.. 1. 10. " At the overthrow of Byzantium," [in illo exitu Byzantine.] This Teems the juft translation ; ", at the end of Byzanti- " um," would have been literal and abfurd. Tertullian frequently ufes the word exi tus. Thus,.not to mention other examples, he has " faeculi exitus" oppofed to dif- pofttiO) as if one fhould fay, " the compo* " fing and dccompofmg of things," ApoL. c. 1 8. " Exitus hcdiernus Juduiorum, J? the prefent ruined ftate of the Jews, ApzL c. 21. <{ Exitus furoris," the con- fequenccs of fanaticifm, ApoL c. 21. (t A- " poftolorum exitus" the martyrdom of the Apoftles, Scorpiace, c. 15. And { exitus Domini," the paffion of our Lord, dc Jcjun* c. 10. Byzantium, C 77 ) Byzantium, having been occupied by the foktiers of Niger, long with flood Se- verus ; and at laft, as Mr Gibbon chufes toexprefsit, i. 147. furrendered to fa- " mine." Were we tofpeak with precifion, we fhould fay, that Byzantium was attack- " ed by fea, and blockaded on the land- * fide;" and that, for want of provifions, " the garrifon capitulated." See Hero* dian, iii. 68. edit. Stepk, Mr Gibbon fays, that, in Byzantium, " the citizens and foldiers, -we know not "from what cait/e, were animated with " equal fury." The caufe may be found in Herodian, iii. 64. They knew the impla- cable temper of beverus. " Severus," fays Herodian, " after having cut off Niger, " indifcriminately and unfparingly p u - nilhed his ailociates, and all who, < from choice, or even from neceffity, had * c attached themfelves to him." ( 7* > O" li THIS* v povov t* 5r/>0/f<reCj i aWyxw yrpriMo otula, That elegant Hiftorhn, whom I have fo often occafion to quote, fays, " for the < theory [of the fiege of Byzantium], the fanciful Chevalier de Folard may be looked into. See Pofyfo, torn. I. p. 76.^ [p. 8S. edit. Paris.] It is probable, that few of my readers are acquainted with Folard s woik, and therefore I hive tranfcribed the paffage which contains the theory of the fiege of Byzantium. " IT n y a gueres de fiege regulier et de vive " force, qui foit plus memorable dans l Hiftoire,niquiaitdure pluslong terns. < Dion dit, que la vittefut affiegee durant trois ans par les/ots, s ilfaut ainfi dire, de toute la terre, et qu iY y av it unfi grand nombre de machines, f dit es prefque toutes par Prifque, bourgeois de Nicee, qui avoit un art tout particular pour celtt, < qu oa ( 79 ) cf qu on n avoit jamais rien vu de fembla- 4C ble." On " peut bien juger que parmi " les machines des affieges il y avoit des t( corbeaux (harp agones), a. i extremite def- " quels etoient des griiFes ou des agraphes " de fer, qu on Ian9oit et qu on jettoit fur " les affiegeans, qui s accrochant a tout " ce qui pouvoit donner prife, 1 enlevoit d* " une vitefTe et d une rapidite furprenante." Hence we learn, and we learn nothing more, that harpago, " a large hook or a grappling-iron," is in French tin cor- beaity and that fuch an inftrument was no doubt employed by the befieged at Byzan tium, although Dion Caffius fays nothing of the matter. This is called <l the theory <( of the flege of Byzantium." It fliould feem, that Tertullian has pre- ferved the name of the brave, although unfortunate governor of Byzantium, COE- CJLIUS CAPELLA. P- p. II. 1. 17. Cyprian has exprefled this argument at greater length, and, as I think, with more perfpicuity. " Quae haec eft infatiabi- ft lis carnificinse rabies ? quae inexplebilis " libido faevitiae? Quin potius elige tibi " alterum de duobus : Chriftianum efle, " aut eft crimen, aut non eft : fi crimen ic eft, quid non interficis confitentem ? fi * crimen non eft, quid perfequeris inno- (( centem ? torqueri enim [^f. equidem] <c fi negarem, fi poenam tuam metuens, c< id quod prius fueram, et quod deos " tuos non colueram, mendacio fallenti * celarem, tune torquendus fuiiTem, tune * ad confeffionem criminis vi doloris adi- " gendus , ficut in ceteris quseitionibus < torquentur rei qui fe negant crimine " quo accufantur teneri, ut facinoris ve * ritas, quae indice voce non promitur, f( dolore corporis exprimatur, nunc vero cum fpcnte confitear et clamem, et.cre-. ** bris " ac repetitis identidem vocibus, Chrifti- * anum me efie conteftor; quid tormenta " admoves confitemi, et deos tuos non " in abditis etfecretis iocis, fed palam, fed f publice, fed in foro ipfo, Magiftrati- " bus et Prsefidibus audiemibus deftru- * enti ?" &c. Ad Demctrianum y p. ipi. edit. Fell. P. 12. 1. 6. " Cincius Severus." We muft regret that Tertullian has omitted to record that expedient which this mild Governor de- yifed for the relief of the Chriftians in their day of triall There is extant, in the Province 06 Byzatium, an infcription, bearing thefe words : " Pro falute M. Antonini Aug. <c Pii liberorumque ejus Cintius, C. F. R. N." &c. Shaw, Travels, Part i. c. 3. p. 101. A Cincius Severns was put to death in the early part of the reign of Se- verus, on a charge of having attempted L to- to poifon the Emperor. " Cincium S- " verum calumniatus eft quod fe vene- <c no appetiflct, atque ita interfecit," JEL Spartian, Hift. Aug. Script, p. 69. If we hold him to be the perfon whom Tertullian applauds, it is probable, that the expedient, propofed at Tifdra, took place during the perfecution under Marcus Antoninus, for Commodus, the fuccefTor of Antoninus, gave peace to the Chriftians. P. 12. l.y. " At Tifdra," [Tifdra,;] " Tifdra, Tif " drus, Thyrfdrus, Thyfdrum, Tifdro, ie now called Jemme % about fix leagues to the S. S. W. of Surjeff, (anciently Sar> " furd), in the kingdom of Tunis," Skaiu 9 Travels, t. i. part 2. c. 5. p. 117. 410 e- dit. Mr Gibbon, fpeaking of the infur- reclion in Africa, while Maximin reign ed, fays, " the confpirators feized on the " little town of Thyfdrus, and compel- " led Gordianus their Proconful to ac- " cept * ( cept the imperial purple." He adds in, a note, u this city was decorated, pro- " bably by the Gordians, with the title of Colony, and with a fine amphitheatre, ftill in a very perfect ftate," i. 2 1 2. He refers to Dr Shaw, and feems to improve on his conjecture. The words of Dr Shaw are: " As the elder Gordian was c proclaimed Emperor at this city, it is " not improbable, that, in gratitude to " the place where he received the purple, " he might have been the founder of it. " Upon one of the medals of the younger Gordian, [meaning the younge/l], we " have an amphitheatre^ not hitherto ac- < counted for by the medalifts : It may be too peremptory, perhaps, to fix it here at Tifdra," Travels, p. 117. Dr Shaw forgot, that the frft Gordi an reigned, if he may be faid to have reigned at all, but a year and fix months at moft j in the opinion of fome critics, fix L 2 months ; C 84 ) months ; and of others, only thirty-fix days. This laft opinion is approved of, as being indubitable, by Mr Gibbon, i. 219. Thefecond Gordian was flain in bat tle before the death of his father, ib. p. 218. Thus, whichever computation be followed, it is plain that neither the jirft nor the fecond Gordian had time or leifure to finifh, or even to found fuch an amphitheatre as that at Tifdra. The third Gordian was murdered at a very early age, and the difturbed flate of the empire during his mort reign, muft necef- farily have prevented him or his guardian Mifitheus from erecting fuch public build ings as amphitheatres. Indeed great and ornamental works of that nature are not creeled, unlefs in times of wealth and tranquillity. And accordingly we learn, from Julius Capitolinus, Hifl. Aug. Script. p. 164. that Gordian intended to have made a portico near the Campus Martius, with with what, in modern language, would be called a (hrubbery, and alfo public baths. But the only things which the hiftorian mentions, of the nature of public works, as actually executed by Gordian, were cer tain fountains, or conduits, \_Nymph<sa~\ ; a pretty plain proof, that he had never heard of a magnificent amphitheatre at Tif- dra erected by Gordian. Dr Shaw admits, that the amphitheatre in queftion " feems to have been built a near the time of the Antonines^ agreeing ** exactly in proportion and workmanfhip * with the buildings of that age." Why then fhould he, contrary to all likelihood, fuppofe it to have been erected at a later period ? He adds, it is true, that on the reverfc of a medal of Gordian there is an am phitheatre. I can have no doubt that an author fo worthy and refpectable as Dr Shaw fpake from information ; but the courfc C 86 ) courfe of his ftudies did not lead him to any knowledge in medals ; and it is remarka ble, that Vaillant, who has defcribed no fewer than 316 coins of the third Gordian, takes no notice of any one of them with an amphitheatre on the reverfe , and this is the more remarkable, becaufe an amphitheatre is an uncommon reverfe, and therefore could hardly have efcaped the obfervation of Vaillant, had he difcover- cd it on a coin of that Emperor. See Vaillant Numifmata Imperatorum, p. 148. 158. edit. Huguetan. But although the fact, reported by Dr Shaw, were to be admitted, it would not follow of necefiary confequence, that Gor dian erected an amphitheatre, either at Tifdra, or any where elfe. In proof of this, I appeal to two indifputable facts ; iy?, There is extant a medal of thej^r/? or of the fecond Gordian, with this infcrip- tion, Victoria ditgujtorum. It was ftruck by ( 87 ) by authority of the Roman Senate, -on ac count of the victory which the Gordians, father and fon, if ere to obtain over Maxi- min ; ftruck, to ufe the emphatical ex- preffion of Mr Gibbon, " When the Gor- " dians ihemfelves were no more." i. 218. A delineation of this medal may be feen in Begeri Thefaurus, iii. 144. 20Vy, Vaillant has defcribed a medal of the third Gordian, which reprefents a chariot drawn by four horfes, with all the cir- cumftances of a folemn triumph. Numif- mata Imperatorum, p. 157. Yet, unfor tunately, the third Gordian never tri umphed. The truth is, that about the time of the Gordians, the zeal of various cities, and even of the Roman Senate, by a fond anticipation, celebrated the events which they wiilied and looked for. If then, a reverfe of the third Gordian, ha ving an amphitheatre, be produced, I make no doubt, that it will be found to imply no ( 88 ) no more than this, that fome future am phitheatre was looked for, to rife tinder the reign of Gordian, after he had con quered the Perfians, and reftored univer- fal fecurity to the Roman Empire; or, perhaps, that an order had been given un der the reign of Gordian, for the repara tion of the ancient amphitheatre of Vef- pafian and Titus at Rome. This much was neceflary to (hew, that from the hypothefis of Mr Gibbon him- felf, the amphitheatre in queftion could not have been erected by the firft or by the fecond Gordian, and that there is no evidence, or even probability, that it was erected by the third. Mr Gibbon appears to doubt, whether Tifdra ought to be called a little toiun t or a city; for, in the very fame page, he gives it both appellations. Without en tering into criticisms as to toiun and city, I think that it muft have been a very con- fiderable ttnfiderakle place. Its fpacious and ele gant amphitheatre, although not decora- ted t from an imaginary fentiment of gra titude, by any of the Gordians, proves that it was opulent and populous. We learn from Tertullian, that Cincius Severus, the Roman Governor of the diftrict called Bi- zacium, had, occafionally at leaft, his tri- bunal at Tifdra ; and which deferves par* ticularly to be remarked, when Gordian the Proconful was obliged to affiime the fatal purple, he refided there t not as in a retreat from bufinefs, but as in a place where, in quality of fupreme magiftrate, Jje fat for the daily adminiftration of ju- jftice ; We learn this from Herodian, vii. 150. who fays, " The young men [the ** infurgents, who had juft before afTaffi- nated the Procurator of Africa] pro- * c ceeded in the afternoon to the houfe " of Gordian the Proconful. Gordian *< had chanced to beftow that very day M " at ( 90 ) athome, in repofe from his labours, and in ceflation from public bufinefs," &c. you jnvaQuws YiAtctc \.7ria.viv O/ xfcar/Vxo; yo YlS SfJf&f VIC TGLvlot. t^f>(X.TTtlo 9 0/X0I araauxax ae^yar re raf Tr^aecr/.j Here is an amiable pifture of an aged ma- giftrate enjoying an interval of reft a- midft the duties of his office* One more quotation from Herodian, p. 150. will convince Mr Gibbon, if he can believe his favourite hiftorian, that Tifdra was not a little town. The leaders of that difaftrous infurre&ion aiTembled a great multitude of their flaves from the country, T^i-ycf. li n TrxyQos >i3-^o/V0^, ha ving concealed weapons, bludgeons, and hatchets, [y *a ri xa/ TtxIiet^J, and or dered this multitude to follow them to the reiidence of the Procurator, but fo as to appear ^ fart of the croiid 9 ( 9* ) Unlefs upon the fuppofition that Tifdra was a very confiderable place, the whole of this narrative muft appear utterly ab~ furd. P. 12. 1. 10. " Vefpronius Candidus." This name occurs different times, both in hiftory and in the fafti confulares, from the days of Trajan down to the acceffion of Severus. But the diftance of time between the one sera and the other is fo great, that every thing that is faid of a Vefpronius Candidus cannot relate to the fame man. It is certain that there was a Julius Vef- pronius Candidus confui in the reign of Trajan. Pliny the younger records a faying of his - r " aliud eloquentia, aliud lo- " quentia," Epift. v. 20. For it feems that, in thofe days, the diftinftion was not ge nerally underftood. He was again Con- ful in the reign of Hadrian j and it is pof- M ^ fible, C fible, though not very Irkdy, that he id the Vefpronius Candidus to whom the Em peror Marcus Antoninus Pius addrefled a refeript, /. 7 . Dig. de Accufationibus. If the perfon, whom I have mentioned as repeatedly conful, be the magiftrate to whofe prudence Tertullian bears honour able teftimony, then the circumftance which he mentions happened during the perfecution under Trajan. But there is another perfon, plainly of the fame family, Vefpronius Candidus, con ful immediately after the deceafe of Mar cus Antoninus the philofopher. See No- ris, Epijtola Confularis, ap. Grav. Thef. Jlntiquit. Roman, xi. 460. He was one of the ambaiTadors fent by the Senate to perfuade the Pannonian, or, more pro perly, the lllyrian legions, to abandon their leader Severus, He is thus defcribed by Spartian, or by fome more ancient au thor, whom Sparaan has copied : " In- " ter C 93 ) " ter cxteros legatus eft Vefpronius Can- " didus vetus confularis, olim militibus ** invifus ob durum et fordidum imperi- " urn," Hifi. Aug. Script, p. 62. Such a commander, at once rigid and penu rious, muft have been hateful to the fol- diery , and hence he was the moft unfit perfon imaginable to be fent for the pur- pofe of corrupting the legions. This fecms the fenfe of the hiftorian. One fhould na turally have looked for Vefpronius Can- didus, in the long lift of confular men, and other eminent Senators, whom Seve- rus put to death, but his name is not to be found there; hence it is no improbable conjecture, that he purchafed his fafety with that wealth which he had hoarded up while in office. Of this perfon, I fuppofe, Tertullian fpeaks : For it is not likely that any of the examples which he gives of the beha viour of Roman governors towards the Chriitians, ( 94 ) Chriftians, refer to times fo far remote as thofe of Trajan. P. 12. 1. 15. Jtfper. Two perfons bearing that name are mentioned as confuls in the firft year of Caracalla, A. U. C. 465. A. C. N. 2 12. Whether either of them be the perfon here meant, it is impoffible to determine. It is conjectured by Aoris, Epiftola Confu- laris, p. 469. ut. fup. that they were the fons of L. Julius Julianus* P. 12. 1. 18. Ptidens. Probably Septimius Puden*. He appears to have been a favourite of Marcus Antoninus ; for, according to fome of ihefafti) he was conful for two fucceffive years in the early part of that Emperor s reign. JElius Lampridius men tions him as conful with Pollio in the year when Commodus received the title of Cae- far, Hift. Aug. Script, p. 50. P, I2e < 95 ) P. 12. 1. 20. " Underftanding the accufation to be <{ fpiteful and vexatious, he tore it," [in clogio, concuffione ejus intellecta, fciflb eodem elogio, &c.] Le Clerc magifterially fays : " Elogium eft accufatio, qua a quo- 41 piam, per lihellum fine nomine, [quis] <c Chriftianifmi accufabatur ; quod fadtum vocatur concujjlo t hoc eft, injufta vexatio. " fxpe, in hos fenfus, utraque voce utitur Tertullianus,cujus locos glojfe Tertullia- " na fuppeditabunt," Hift.Ecclef. p. 580. p. 9. Thus, according to Le Clerc, eloglum " is an anonymous information; in which " fenfe, (it is faid), Tertullian frequently " ufe6 the word." But, in truth, eloglum means any information conveyed to a judge, whether with or without the name of the informer or accufer. I do not think that, unlefs in this fingle paflage, Tertullian ever ufes it in the fenfe of an anonymous information. So extenfive is ihe ( 96 ) the meaning of the word, that a " ftate ;< of the grounds of arcufation," tranf- mitted by an inferior judge to a fuperior, was called elogium. To this it is that Feftus alludes, Aft. Jpoft. c. 25. v. 26. Hejj? \s acrpaxec n ypfyao rw Kvp/cy J 010 Trpcvy&yov aaflov <p* Jywwr, xa/ /xa\/$-a ii; c^u n y^a^a/. Le Clerc is e- qually miftaken, when he fays, that the aft of prefenting an anonymous infor mation is termed concitflio. See Dig. tit. de Gontuffnne. In the fecond law of that title it is faid, " poena legis Cornelise te- " neri jubentur, qui in accufationem in- <c nocentium coierint." This, as I under- ftand, is what the Englifli law calls a con- /piracy. Were I at liberty to alter the text in Tertullian, I fhould read, " Pudens etiam "** mifium ad fe Chriftianum cum elogio, < <oncuffione ejus intelleda, dimifit, fcif- rt fo ( 97 ) 4< fa codem elogio, fine accufatore negans " fe auditurum hominem, fecundum man- " datum :" that is, Pudens declined to ad mit, as equivalent to a criminal charge, the grounds of accufation tranimitted to him by an inferior judge. P. 13. 1.2. Cc The mandates," [mandatum.] The inftruclions which the Emperor gave to governors of provinces, as rules for their conduct, were called " Mandata" They were divided into heads or articles; and hence any point of thofe inftructions might be called mandatum. It is not unlikely that Pudens had in view the article of inftru51ions t which re quired an accufer in the trial of crimes. But the general opinion is, that he allu ded to a letter written by the Emperor Hadrian to Minucius Fundanus, procon- ful of Afia. Juftin. M. iubjoined that let* ter in Latin, to what is called his Firft Apo* N logy, ( 98 ) logy. Eufebius tranflated it into Greek, as he himfelf fays, Ecclef. Hift. iv. 8. ; and it is that Greek tranflation, iv. 9, which now appears at the end of Juftin s Apolo gy. The unlearned reader will find a tranflation of it in Lardner, Ttftmwnies, iL 109. But the learned reader will perufe it as in Eufebius. Dr Jortin juftly ob- ferves, that ft it is obfcure, and that it is 11 probable that Hadrian compofed it fa " on purpofe," Remarks on Ecclef. Hift. ii. 89. I am apt to confider it as a pri vate or familiar letter , the expreffion me- hercfe t [^a TOY *H/jaxA.a|, would have founded odd in a mandatum^ a refcriptum^ or even in an Epijtola Principis. p. i 3 . i. 3 . (( He could try no man without an ao " cufer,"[fine accufatore negans feauditu- rum hominem.] <( Audire hominem" is an uncommon phrafe. The Emperors Se- verus and Antoninus fay, u Us tune con* " tejlata .( 99 ) teftata videtur, cum judex per narra- <c tionem negotii caujam audire ccepit," t un. Cod. de lit. conteft. The mean* ing here is " enter upon the trial of a " man." A caufe could not proceed without an accufer. Thus, Marcus Antoninus fays, Cl Non poffumus reum facere quern nul- lus accufat," Vulcat. Gallic. Hift. Aug. Script, p. 40. P. 13. 1. 5. " Thine advocates" He means the affef- fores, men converfant in the form of judi cial proceedings, whom the governors of provinces were wont to confult. P. 13. 1. 18. Severus himfelf," [ipfe Severus.] Of this fubject, I have treated at large, /- quiry into tbefecondary caufes, &c. p. 67 79 ; and I fee no reafon to depart from the opinion there delivered, unlefs in one particular. It feems rather improbable, N 2 that C that the words l< Severus, the father of Antonin," are to be underftood of Se verus while yet alive. Sulpiciu?, no doubt, relates, in his ecclefiaftical hifto- ry, that the Chriftians enjoyed peace du ring the reign of Caracalla ; and it may be objected, that if they were perfecuted du- iing the firft year of that Emperor, they could not be faid to have enjoyed peace during his reign. But, if we hold the words of Tertullian to be more applicable to the reign of Caracalla than to that of Severus, the evidence of a writer, who fpake of what was paffing before his eyes, muft greatly overbalance that of one who wrote long after. Befides, it is very pro bable, that on the demife of Severus, the governors of provinces would enforce e- difts ftill exifting againft the Chriftians, though dormant ; and that, not only to procure popularity from the vulgar in the beginning of a new adminiftration 5 but alfo alfo in the view of gain from confifca- tions and competitions, This violence might naturally enough have continued, until it was flopped by the orders of Ca- racalla : fo that, upon the whole, I in- cl : ne to date the addrefs to Scapula in the early part of the firft year of Caracalla, and while he reigned with Geta; and fo far to aflent to the opinion of Moiheim, which I formerly rejected. This makes no difference whatever in my general argu ment. p. i 4 . i. 5. " Severus," &c. Salmafius feems to coniider this paflage as inconiiftent with what is faid by Spartian : " Judseos fieri * fub gravi p<Ena vetuit, idem etiam de " Chriftianis fanxit," Hift. Aug. Script. p. 70. p. 138. But in truth, there is no discrepancy between the two authors. Tertullian fays, that on certain occafions, Severus fcreen- ed cd many Chriftians from the fury of the populace; not furely, that he never per- fecuttd the Chriilians at all. I am apt to iuppofe, that the edift of Severus, mentioned by Spartian, was di rected principally againft thofe who be came profelytes to the faith j and of courfe againft thofe who were inftrumental in the converfion of Pagans. By fuch means a politic Emperor might, naturally enough, endeavour to check the growth of a religion which he could not era dicate. It was fit that Tertullian, addreffing himfett to Scapula, fhould place the mo deration and benevolence of Severus in the faireft light. But we, who have learnt from the concurring voice of hiftorians, that he was both cruel and covetous, may well conjecture, that, covetoufnefs having prevailed over cruelty, he fold his mode ration ration and benevolence, for a price paid by Chriftians of eminent rank. P. 14. 1. ii. " Marcus Aurtlius." Tertullian elfe- where alludes to the fame event, ApoL c. 5. " Literae Marci Aurelii, graviffimilmpera- " toris, requirantur, quibus illam Ger- " manicam fitim, Chriftianorum forte " militum precationibus impetrato imbre < difcufTam conteftatur ;" which is thus tranflated by the laborious Dr Lardner, Teftimonies, ii. 226. " If the epiftle of " that worthy Emperor Marcus Aurelius " be fought for, it will perhaps be feen, " that he afcribes his deliverance from a " great drought in the German war, to " the prayers of Chriftian ibldiers." At p. 247 he changes the pofition of per- haps, and fays, obtained perhaps by the " prayers of the Chriftian foldiers " Dr Lardner obferves, that Bafnage, An* naL an. 174. took notice of the word/or- tc; te ; and faid, " dixhTetne Chrijlianonim <c forte militum precationibus ii literas per- " leghTet." He then adds, " in the La- " tin original of Tertullian s Apology, and " alfo as it is cited in the Latin edition of " Eufebe s Chronicle, there is an un- * lucky forte or perhaps; wherein he * c feems to exprefs a doubt, whether the c Emperor did, in his letter to the fenate, * exprefsly acknowledge, that his delive- * ranee, in a time of great drought, was * c owing to the prayers of the Chriftians. * It muft be allowed, that if this for* " te has no meaning, it comes in very un* < luckily." I think that forte, however unlucky it may be efteemed, has a meaning, but that Bafnage, and Lardner after him, have miftaken it. The paffage in Tertullian ought to be pointed thus : " Chriftiano- " rum, forte militum, [or militamiumj ** precationibus j w that is, " through the " prayers C 05 ) prayers of Chriftians, who chanced to " be foldiers in the Imperial army," [qui turn forte fub Marco Aurelio militabant ;] and not, " perhaps he afcribes his delive- " ranee to the prayers of Chriftian fol- " diers." Dr Lardner obferves, that no expref- iion correfponding to the word forte ap pears in the Greek tranflation of Tertul- lian, which Eufebius has inferted in his Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, v. 5. Here it may be fit to remark, that Eu febius refen to Tertullian, but does not tranjlate his words. If he underftood/0r- tf as I do, he has exprefTed what I fup- pofe to be the fenfe of Tertullian, *a/{ TUV Xfifltotwv QtXeufj muft mean, " by " the prayers of Chriftian foldiers, who <( chanced to be in the Imperial army ;" for it could only be in the quality o foldiers, that any Chriftians encountered the gitadi and Marcomanni in Germany. O Not Not having the original Greek of the Chronicle of Eufebius, we know not whe ther it contained the \vordforte ; the pre- fumption is, that it did, or fomething e- quivalent. The Latin verfion, as was moftreafonable, tranfcribes the very words of Tertullian ; fo there is no evidence, that Eufebius, in his Chronicle, meant to fupprefs any thing which Tertullian had faid. Let me not be underftood, as intend ing to afiert, that Tertullian ever faw a letter to the Pxoman Senate, in which Mar cus Antoninus afcribed the feafonable, if not wonderful, rain to the prayers of his Chriftian foldiers. On the contrary, I ima gine that Tertullian, in his Apology, ad- opted a prevalent rumour, which he af terwards difcovered to be of no autho rity. For it is plain, that the pafTage in the addrefs to Scapula, which gave occa- lion to this note, fays much lefs, and in words words more guarded, than had been for merly ufed in the Apology. The fuppofed epiftle of Marcus Anto ninus to the Roman Senate, is generally fubjoined to the works of Juftin Martyr, as a tranflation into Greek from the ori ginal Latin; no found critic in our days will affert its abfolute authenticity : But the queftion remains, is it fa!fe t or is it only interpolated? The general narrative may be authentic, although what refpecls the Chriftians ought to be coniidered as the fhamelefs forgery of a later age. This, however, is a matter of criticifm foreign to the prefent fubjelt of inquiry. Towards the beginning of this note, I gave the epithet of laborious to Dr Lard- ner ; and in other traces publifhed by me, I have, in fpeaking of that author, ufed the fame epithet, or fomething equi valent. While engaged in the fupport of the O * proofs proofs of Chriftianity, I little expected to meet with the following note by one whom we muft fuppofe friendly to the common caufe : " That fpirit of the Warburtomans t Cl which induces one of them to call the " author of The Credibility of the Go/pel " Hijhry> the laborious Doftor Lardner. " The difcipies of this fchool generally ts difpenfe their praife with a difcretion, " which prevents its being exhaufted by " their occafional prodigality, to the pro- * fane, oW/w/ X il ? 9 but to t ^ ie i"^^ 16 ^ (. v "" ft * * CX6) TO) UUhOLKCi). The friends of Chriftianity, and in par ticular the friends of the Church of Eng land, ought to be cautious in giving cur rency to fuch a nickname, when they re- collecl -who it was that added to the Eng- li(h language, already redundant in terms of farcafm and invedlive, the phrafe War- burtonian fchooL I received many civili ties from Bifhop Warburton, and I ho nour nour his memory: I have pofTefled the friendfhip of bis friends, and I am proud of it ; but neither they nor I ever confider- ed the Bifliop as infallible. Non ifto vivitur illic " ^iio tu vere modo." And now as to the epithet beftowed on Dr Lardner, I fliould be glad to know what I ought to have called him ? Ortho. dox divine, able textuary, exaft translator, or elegant writer ? I prailed him for his labour and induftry well employed; and this may be efteemed no mean praife, iince every age produces perfons fuperior to him in genius and literary accomplifhments, who do not employ their time and talents fo uft fully as he did. I like to give things their true names ; and, were a man to emp ty his common- place book of Greek and Latin upon the public, I might fay that he had read much, but I ftiould hardly call ( "0 ) call him judicious ; I might fcatter a few grains of praife, but I (hould be unwilling to pour out a fackjul of encomiums on his pamphlet. After all, it is probable enough, that the author of this bitter farcafm had in his eye a perfon much my fupericr. But as be cannot anfwer for himfelf, I deiire, that what I have faid may be conlidered as an apology for what my departed friend has faid. P. 15. 1. 1 6. " Inceftuous, or defiled with blood," [quam inceftam, quam crudelem nemo tanto tempore probavit.] This alludes to the charges brought againft the Chriftians by the malice or credulity of the Heathens. See what I have collected on this fubjecT:, Remains of Chriftian Antiquity* vol. i. p. 1 69. 183. j and Notes on Minuciits Fe~ lixy p. 146. 156. p. 15. ( III ) P. 15. 1. 18. For the living God are we burnt," [pro Deo vivo cremamur], that is, for the avowal of our belief in the felf-exiftent, the one God. He began his difcourfe with this afTertion, " We worfhip the one God." The atheifm of Chriftians was a conftant topic of declamation among the hea thens ; and their wife men were the loud- eft in the cry, " away with the atheifts, rfyiT? a flfewf.] Ariftides the fophift, af ter having vehemently abufed iome of his brethren, adds, " their manners near- " ly refemble thofe of the impious people in Paleftine," ii. 309. edit. Jeb. [Tc/V tr TY\ JlaLKauffTivy Jvwtftivi TrapoiTrMvio/; rwf TPOTVC ] Ic is remarkable, that this rhe torician fupprefles the name of Chriftians, although they had, too furely, acquired a name in law, by the fanguinary edicts iflued againft them, and the more fangui- nary execution of thofe edicts. P- 16. ( II* ) P. 1 6. 1. 1 8. Arrius Antoninus. Three Proconfuls of Afia, bearing the name of Arrius An" toninusj are recorded in hiftory, and all of them very eminent perfons. I. Arrius Antoninus * the father of Ar- ria Fadilla, and maternal grandfather of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. He it was whofe judicious addrefs to Nerva, on his afluming the imperial dignity, is recorded in the epitome of Victor. " When Nerva, " on his entrance into the fenate-houfe, " was felicitated by the fenators, Arrius " Antoninus alone, a man of fpirit and c * difcernment, and one intimately con- " netted in friendfliip with the Emperor, " forbore to join in the general congra- " tulations ; but embracing him, thus " fpake: I felicitate the fenate, and the " people > and the provinces ) not you per- f< fonally \ it would have been more eligible ct for you to have continued to elude the < machinations ( "3 ) ce machinations of wicked Princes, than 9 <( while labouring under the weight offove* * c reignty, to be fubjefted to vexations and " dangers / and, at the fame time, to have your reputation expojcd to the malevo- " fence, not only of your enemies, but a/fy " of your friends- For ycur friends, ima~ " gining that their deferts cannot be too * amply recompenfed, will, whenever they < fail in extorting any favour from you, " become more virulent than even your " avowed enemies : thus did he judi- <J cioufly defcribe the condition of Prin- * ces :" [Nerva cum in curiam a fenatu gratanter exceptus eflet, folus ex omnibus Arrius Antoninus, vir acer, eique amicifli- mus, conditionem imperantium prudenter exprimens, gratulari fe ait fenatui et po- pulo provinciifque : ipfi autem nequaquam cui fatius fuerat malos principes eludere, quam tanti oneris vim fuftinentem, non moleftiis modo et periculis fubjici, fed famae P etiam ctiam inimicorumparitcr et amicorum, qui, cum fe merer! omnia prsefumunt, fi quic- quam non extorferint, atrociores funt [I. fiunt] ipfis quoque hoftibus.] Of him alfo Pliny the younger thus fpeaks : " That you have been twice con- c< ful, and acted with the dignity of the " ancients in that office ; that you have c< been Proconful of Alia, and that fcarce c< any of your predeceflbrs or fucceflbrs, * your modefty prohibits me from faying " none, have equalled you, and that in <( morality, authority, and even in age, c< you are the principal perfon in our city, " is, I confefs, a very venerable and beau- " tiful part of your character, and yet I admire you ftill more in your retire- <c ment/ Lord Orrery s tranflation. [Quod femel atque iterum conful fuifti fimilis an tiquis, quod Proconful Afise qualis ante te, qualis poft te vix unus aut alter, non finit enim me verecundia tua dicere, qua lis ( "5 ) lis nemo, quod fanclitate, quod au&ori- tate, setate quoque Princeps civitatis, eft quidem venerabile ac pulchrum j ego ta- men te vel magis in remiffionibus miror, Epift. iv. 3.] Thus likewife Julius Capi- tclinus, when fpeaking of Antoninus Pius, fays: " He was the only Proconful of lc Afia, who, in the worthy difcharge of " that office, excelled his grandfather*" [Proconfulatuni Afix fie egit, ut folus a- vum vinceret," Hift. Aug. Script, p. 18.] It feems very improbable, that he was the Arrius Antoninus mentioned by Ter- tullian. He could not have been Procon- iul of Alia at any time later than the reign of Domitian. Now, it is hardly fuppo- fable, that, in fo early times, the Chri- ftians of Afia could have amounted to fuch numbers as the narrative in Tertullian im plies. It is a true propofition, that (l the growth of Chriftianity was rapid." But the maintainers of that propofitica ought P ^ to to prove it by unambiguous teftimonies ? feeble arguments, in defence of truth, muft be thrown afide, they fuit not our warfare. II. The Emperor Titus Aurelius Fulvius BoiGiiius Antoninus Pius> was Proconful of Afia. He fometimes had the appella tion of Arrius from his maternal grand father, that venerable magiftrate alrea dy mentioned, JEL Spartian. Hift. Aug. Script, p. ii. JuL Capitol ib. p. 18. Mr Gibbon fays : " I am inclined to afcribe " this ftory [in Tertullian] to Antoninus tf Pius, who was afterwards Emperor, " and who may have governed Ada, un- 11 der the reign of Trajan," i. 662. It may neverthlefs be averred, with as much certainty as is generally looked for in hiftorical facts, that Antoninus Pius, afterwards Emperor, did not govern A- iia * under the reign of Trajan." He was conful with L. Catilius Seve- rus, A. U. C. 873, A. C. 120. in the 4th year ( "7 ) year of Hadrian, Jul. Capit. Hift. Aug* Script, p. 17. It appears from JuL Capit. ib. p. 1 8. that he never exercifed the office of Pro- conful of Afia but once ; and that this was during the reign of Hadrian, no one can doubt who reads the ftory in Phi- loftratus concerning Polemo, vita Sophifi. c. 25. 3- Le Clerc, Hift. Ecclef. p. 575 9. adopts an hypothefis different from that of Dod- well and Mr Gibbon. He obferves, that Antoninus Pius, under the title of 71 Ait- relius Ftihiis, was conful, A. U. C. 873. A C. 120; and he fuppofes that in the following year, A. C. 121. he went Fro- conful into Afia, and perfecuted the Chri- ftians in the manner related by Tertullian. Le Clerc naturally enough fixes the com mencement of the proconfulfhip of An toninus Pius in the I2oth year of the vulgar xra, or the ffth of Hadrian, But ( "ft ) But he falls altogether in his application of the paiTage, quoted from Tertullian, to the conduct of Antoninus Pius. What could have induced Tertullian, if he meant to fpeak of the Emperor An toninus Pius, x to give him the appella tion of Arrius Antoninus^ an appellation by which he was not known after he be came Emperor, and by which, it is pro bable, he was little known even before his elevation ? To this let me add, that Hadrian him- felf was not dHpofed to do violence to the Chriftians. This tolerant fyftem, whether founded on his natural difpofitions, or on policy, muft have been refpected by his confident and fon-in law, while acting under his authority. From all which we may conclude, that the Arrius Antoninus mentioned by Tertullian, was a perfon different from the Emperor Antoninus Pius. Ill, If ( "9 ) III. If wh\t has been already faid fhould be conildered as fatisfactory, it foliows, that Tertullian meant to fpeak of a third Arrius Antoninus^ proconful of Alia. While in the exercife of that office he gave fome judgement, we know not of what nature, againft one Attalus. Cle- ander, the worthlels favourite o*-" the worthlefs Commodus, was, it feems, the friend of Attalus, and therefore he refol- ved to revenge himfelf on Arrius Antoni nus. This he at laft accomplished by ac- cufing him to Commodus of an intention to afftime the Imperial purple. On fuch pretences Arrius Antoninus was put to death, and fliared a like fate with many of the Senators, whom Marcus Antoni nus had favoured. JEl. Lamprid. Hift. Aug. Script, p. 48. and Jul. Capitol, ib. p. 54. The learned reader, when he recollects the manner in which Marcus Antoninus fj>ak ( 20 ) fpake of the Chriftians, will difcern a (In king iimiiitude be-. ween it and the lan guage in which Arrius Antoninus ad- drefled them. He, like his m after, the Imperial >toic, faw nothing but mere ob* Jlinacy in their perfifting to avow the te nets of their religion. It has been fuppofed in this note, that Hadrian was no perfecutor of the Chri ftians ; but here I meet with a very refpec- table contradictor in St Jerom, who thus fpeaks : " Did not Quadratus, a difciple <l of the apoftles, and Bifhop of Athens, t prefent a treatife in defence of our re- <c ligion to the Emperor Hadrian, while * he was viliting Athens at the celebra- ** tion of the Eleuiinian Myfteries; and <{ did not his tranfcendent abilities, ad- " mired by all men, calm a moft grievous * perfecution?" [Quadratus, apoftoloruna 4ifcipulus, et Athenienfis Pontifex eccle- ( "I ) x nonne Adriano Principi Eleufinia fa- era invifenti librum pro noftra religione tradidit, et tantse admirationi omnibus fuit, ut perfecutlonem graviffimam illius excel - lens fedaret ingenium ?] Epi/l. 83. a!. 84. Thus fpeaks St Jerom, and thus many- Others, on his authority, fpeak. Were I purpofing to defend an hypo- thefis, as the wont is, with every fort ot : argument, I might to the teftimony of St Jerom oppofe that of Tertullian, who ex prefsly afferts, that Hadrian did not per- fecute the Chriftians, ApoL c. 5. ; but there occurs a circumftance which makes me, in a great meafure, difregard his afTer- tion. He thought fit to aver, that none but flagitious Princes ever perfecuted the profeflbrs of our faith ; and, in fupport of this paradoxical fancy, he mitigated the rigour of Trajan, and threw a veil over the leverities of Marcus Antoninus ; and perhaps it might be faid, that he Ipake of Hadrian "Hadrian alfo in a like ftrain of indul gence ; neither will it be a fufficient apo logy for fuch want of precifion, that he conlidered nothing as a perfecution autho- rifed by the Emperors^ unlefs it took place at Rome, the feat of empire. Setting afide then the evidence of Tertul- lian, let us hear Eufebius. He gives an ac count of the caufe which induced Quadra- tus to prefent his apology very different from that given by St Jerom. <c It was," fays he, " for this reafon, that fome wick- 11 ed men were attempting to difturb thofe " of our religion." pi/ /)) rivts TTOY^OI anfpiC ry? Yifj.i\tf>\is ivo^Knv imtfurlt^ Hift. EC clef. iv. 3. That " certain evil-minded perfons at- " tempted to moleft the Chriftians," is far fhort indeed of " a moft grievous per- fecution." At that time, the edicts againft the pro- feflbrs of Chriftiamty, however dcrinant, flood ( 1*3 ) flood unrepealed ; and it was natural, that men, enjoying the exercife of their reli gion under a precarious connivance, fhould feek to obtain fome legal mitigation of pe nal laws , and fuch appears to have been the purpofe of that Apology which Qua- dratus addrefTed to the Emperor Hadri an. If Eufebius be right in his ftatcment o the fact, St Jerom is wrong. The authority of " a father of the Church" might have been preferred to that of the father of ecclefiaftical hi- " ftory," had both of them lived in the fame age, and poffefled equal means of in formation. But Eufebius lived much near er the times of Quadratus than St Jerom did; and that he had better opportunities of knowing the ftate of the Chriftian Church under the Emperor Hadrian may be collected from this, that he wrote with the Apology of Quadratus before him, which, which, it {hould feem, St Jerom only knew, as we now do, from the teftimony of Eu- febius. " While Arrius Antoninus was zea- " louflyperfecutingtheChriftians," [cum perfequeretur inftanter, &c.] No words can be plainer than thofe which Tertullian ufes ; and yet there are two writers of e- minent learning, who have contrived to mifundcrftand them, and who have drawn inferences from them altogether incon- fiftent with their obvious meaning. The firft is Mr Dodwell, who fays, " It " is not probable, that many Chriftians were t put to death, fince Arrius Antoninus, " in fo cold and careiefs a way, inflicted " capital punifliment on a few only." I may have miftaken the import of Mr Dod- well s words, and therefore I fubjoin them : " Ceterum multos fuifie probabile non eft, " quos h&paucos tarn frigide cenfuit efTe " animudvertendos," Dij}\ Cypr. xi. . ^. Overlooking, ( "5 ) Overlooking, as Dr Lardner well ob* ferves, the words " cum perfequeretur " inftanter? Mr Dodweli feems to fup- pofe, that, at the firft moment of perfecu- tion, all the Chriftians of Afia prefented themfelves before the tribunal of the Pro- conful ; yet it is plain, that they were the Chriftian inhabitants of one city, no mat- ter whether Epheius or Smyrna, who thus came in a body to offer themfelves to death ; and that their appearance in this humble, though affecting manner, ought to be aicribed to a periecution already be gun, and even feverely felt : " Brethren, " let us die together -," muft have been their ientiment ; but that is not the fenti- ment which arifes in the human mind on the very firil emergency of diftrcfs. Arrius Antoninus dilmiiled the croud (manus fatla] with expreffions of contempt, and it would have been well had the itory ended there. But, juit by way of exam ple, ( 126 ) pie, he ordered a few of the Chriftians to inftant execution. I can hardly ima gine that a perfon entrufted with the go vernment of Afia by Marcus Antoninus, was a believer in the rabble of Pagan di vinities. He, probably, in his heart thought of Paganifm as his Emperor did. Yet it was politically expedient, that men who difdained to conceal their belief in ene God, fhould be punifhed for their ob- ftinacy, and that fome human facrifices fhould be made in honour of that popu lar religion which the Emperor and his vicegerents knew to be falfe ! This apology, however, may be offer ed for Mr Dodwell, that he had an hypo- theiis to maintain, that of " the paucity " of martyrs." But what apology can be offered for the other learned man, Mofheim, who thus paraphraiesthe words of Tertullian: "Ta- " king it amifs that they had met with no " accufer, C "7 ) * accufer, and that the proconful, in o- bedience to the I nperial edict, would (f not move in any inquiry for their pro- fecution, they became accufers of them- * felves." [Molefte nimirum fercntes nul- him fibi accufatorem obtigifTe, et procon- fulem inquirere nolle, quod Imperator vetuerat, ipfi accufatorum fibi partes fu- mebant.3 De Reb. Chriftian. ante Conftan~ tin. M. p. 235. and all this is gravely re lated on the authority of Tertullian ! Tertullian faid, rhetorically perhaps, that the Ckriftians, {landing before the Heathen tribunals, rejoiced more when found guilty, than when abfolved : but, furely, he never faid that the Chriftians, while permitted in peace to worihip God according to their consciences, provoked their Heathen rulers, and, with one voice, called aloud for tortures and death ! On the contrary, he recollects in the lan- u?.ge of exultation and thankfulnefs, that tranquillity tranquillity which the church had, at in tervals, t-njuyed. The concluilon of Mofheim s paraphrafe runs thus: So, that he might intimidate " the others, he condemned a few of the c< Chriftians to death, and, with marks c< of difdain and contempt, difmifled the <f reft of the multitude." [Itaque paucis, ut terreret cseteros, condemnatis, reli- quam multitudinem cum indignatiene et contemptu dimittebat.] The learned reader will obferve that I have tranflated indignatio in Mofheim by difdain. Had I tranflated it mdignatitn t I fhould have perverted the fenfe of that author ; carelefs as his paraphrafe is, it could never mean to convey an idea equi valent to that forcible Englifh word, in dignation. Mofheim s paraphrafe is again para- phrafed by Mr Gibbon, i. 662. " Ar- -rius Antoninus," feys he, <c was ex- tremely C " tremely cautious, as is obferved by a, <c learned and pious hiftorian % of punifli- * ing men who had found no accufers Cl but themfelves, the Imperial laws not * having made any provi/lon for fo unex- " petted a cafe ; condemning, therefore, * a few, as a warning to their brethren, " he difmifled the multirude with indig- * nation and contempt." Thus, by the help of two paraphrafts, the " cum perfequeretur inftanter" of Tertullian, is fairly excluded from the narrative, and the cafe comes to this : " The Chriftians of Afia, while enjoy- <c ing a profound peace, and having no " one to difturb them, prefentcd them- " felves, at once, before the tribunal <c oi : the proconful, and called for execu- < tion of the Imperial edifts againft them- " felves." The fanatics of Munftcr, du ring a paroxyfm of outrageous phrenzy, could not have done more ! R Of Of this I read nothing in Tertullian ; and it would have been juft as well had Mr Gibbon looked a little at the original, inftead of relying with implicit faith on the learning and piety of Mofheim. The learning of Mofheim is nothing to the purpofe, when he paraphrafes the plain words of a known author, and his piety cannot make a paraphrafe right, however much it may ferve as an apology for a paraphrafe if egregioujly wrong. There is another thing which, on Mr Gibbon s hypothecs, requires fome expla nation : " The Imperial laws had not made " any provifion for the unexpected cafe of " perfons accufing them/elves." If fo, by what authority did the proconful put any of thofefe/f-acctifers to death ? This was beyond the mandate ; and every one, ac quainted with Roman jurifprudence, knows that he ought to have ftaid execution, have written to the Emperor, and have given judgement judgement according to the inftru&ions contained in the Imperial refcript, or, " anlwer to the cafe put." Thus, if Mr Gibbon be right, the proconful, TO extreme ly cautious t erred in a point of form fami liar to the meaneft practitioners in his court. As to Mofheim, any one not acquaint ed wirh his principles might be led to fup- pole, that he meant to throw Ibme blame on the Chriftians of Ada, and to infinuate that the proconful, without any great fe- verity, might hive ordered for inftant ex ecution, lome more of thoie men who were lo ready to die. The words uttered by the proconful {hew plainly that he difmilTed th^ Chriftian - multitude with contempt. Mi- Gibbon ap pears uncertain whether this contempt was real, or only affefted ? Suppofing Arrius Antoninus to have been a bigotted heathen, who held that R 2 there ( 32 ) there was an intercommunity of local gods, or an unprincipled politician, who held " that private opinions muft yield to e< ftate policy," I judge that his " contempt 7 * was real. But fuppofing that he was him- felf a Theiftt and that he had inquired in to the opinions of thofe whom he was * zealoufly, or earneftly, perfecuting," I judge his u contempt" to have been COR- CORRECTIONS and ADDITIONS. P. 4. 1. ii. The original has <c de gntis " et ingratis," which is ambiguous. We might render the paflage thus, for " the thankful and the unthankful," or, " for thofe who are thankful for his bkffings, and thofe who are not." P. $. 1. 6. * was at any time found" rather, " has at any time been found," 1 13. were found" perhaps, "have " been found" P. 8. 1. 3. " Hilarion" r. " Hilarian * or " Hilarianus" 1. 15. " the former thunder." A correspondent ingenioufly obferves, that * Tertullian may allude to the thunder " in the days of Pharoah, as, before, " he had alluded to the deluge." P. 10, ( 34 ) P. 10. 1 14. Some words are wanting in the tranfhtion ; add, " Neverthelefs " they (hall come to the day of doom," [Ted venient in diem divini judicii], and we wifh," &c. P. 15. 1. i. " by the appellation" perhaps " under" &c. 1. 3. " Furthermore," perhaps " A- " bove all this," - 1. i r. " -who is there that hath aught ts to fay againft us ?" r. " iuho is there " that, on any other ground, hath <c aught to fay againft us?" P. 17. i. 16. " fee fenators" r. " fee, a- " mong us, fenators," P. 1 8. 1. 9. t( Moreover, they whom thou i( thinkefi: to be thy lords are men," r. " As for thofe, whom thou thinkeft to " be thy lords, they are men," 1. ii. " they fhail die i" r. " they themfelves fliall die j" P. 19. It has been iuggefted to me that, that, a? the topics ufed by Tertullian are fufficiently diftinft, they ought to be fcparated into paragraphs thus: P. 21. 1. i. " Nos unum" &c. P. 22. 1. 9. " Sic et"&c. P. 24.1 2. "ETutique" &c. P. 27. 1. 6. " POTES et" &c. P. 28. 1. 14. " HJEC omnia" &c, P. 30. 1. 5. " PRATER hsec" &c. P. 31. 1. 6. " VIDE tantum," &c. I am forry that this fuggeftion came too late for me to profit by it. P. <Q. I 3. " patimur: cum" r. " pa- " timur ; cum" P. 20. 1. 6. " erumpentes:" r. " erum- " pentesi" 1. 9. The words " nedum ami- " cis," (hould be placed in the preceding line after " mifimus." This correction of the text feems necelTary, and thetranf- lation is agreeable to it. 1 18. c< figna" r. " et figna" P. 21. P. 21. I. IT. " non vi: cum" r. " non " vi*, cum" 1. 1 8. fuis prseftat. Ideoque" r. c< fuis prxftat; ideoque" t P. 22- 1. 1 8. a imperatoris :" r. " im- <c peratoris;" P. 25. 1. 12. * localem efle. Univerfa- " lem" r. localem efie ; univerfalem" &c. 1. 1 6. " fi^o portentum fuit," "a S( Deo" has been propofedas a corre<H:ion of the text; and if the words which fol low, " ut non potuerit " &c. do not op- pofe this correction, it feems an eligible one. P. 26. 1. 10. " ebuliffet," r. <* ebulliflet," P. 30. L 8. " indigentibus refrigeramus," An eminent philologift of my acquaint ance is furprifed at this phrafe. A commentator is, in fome fort, the Pa, iron of the author on whom he com ments, and he has always fome favour- able ( 37 ) able glofs or conjectural emendation to produce in the caufe of his client. Were we to read refrigerium damns , in- flead of refrigeramus, the emendation would not be very violent, and the cre dit of the Latinity of lertullian would be faved ; but unfortunately he himfelf has excluded this conjecture : for, in his treatilecfc anima. c. 51. he fays, con- <c pus, mutatione fitus, fibimet ipfi re* * JrigeraJTet" I quote this pafTage or account of its conftrnftiont without re gard to itsjenfe. Thus, fome other a- pology muft be thought of.Indigenti- bus opitularCi or, more commonly, opi- tulari, is good Latin ; becaufe, as we are informed by the grammarians, the verb opitulo means opem to/to. Perhaps Tertullian, not adverting to the com pound, which includes the noun govern ed, has formed indigentibus rejrigerare from indigentibus opitulari. S P. 3 1 1- 15. yfyt>x*c r. * fy^ out. Spartian, or his tranfcriber, has Spoilt lejeft, fuch as it is, by the in- iertmg of the word dicitur. 48. h 13. palscftriam^r. palxftri- cam ;" that is, as 1 underftand it, ar - * tern - 74. 1. 4- After meaning" add ]. ~~ J 5 " Byzatium" r ? ( P. 108. 1. ri . prodigality," r . " pro. digality," * ^ * Ab j/?<7 vixlmus illic, Quo tu rere, modo. P- 1 10. 1. 10. After friend" add Bi- * f /hop Hallifax," P- ill. 1. 10. ^fer ^^ JI 3- ] 12. enemies: T. enemies : I- 19. nequaquam r. nequaquam, Publijhed by tie fame Author. I. Remains ofChriftian Antiquity, in three volumes: Vol. i. Containing, Account of the Martyrs at Smyrna and Lyons, in thf fecond century. -~- Vol. 2. The Trial of Juftin, fitrnami I Martyr, and of Ins companions. The E- fiftle of Dionyfius, Bifhop of Alexan dria, to Fabius B ifhop of Antioch. The Trial and execution of Cyprian Bi- fbop of Carthage : The Trial of Fruc- tuofus, and Iris two deacons : The Maiden of Antioch. Vol. 3. Hiflory of the Martyrs in Pa- leftine, from the original of ^Eufebius. II. O&avius, A Dialogue, by M. Minucius Felix. III. Of the manner in which the Perfecutors died. A treatife by L. C. F. Laftantius. IV. Difqrifitions concerning the Antiquities ef the Chriltian Church. BINDING SECT. SEP 9-1969 Tertullianus, Quintus 65 Septlmius Florens T343 The address 1790 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY * EH