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 



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