'Paulus Orosius' (c.
385–
420) was a
Christian historian,
theologian and disciple of
St. Augustine who came from
Gallaecia (a sub-province of
Hispania Tarraconensis, comprising modern
Galicia, in
Spain, and northern
Portugal), probably from the capital city
Bracara Augusta[1]. He is best known for his ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII'' ("Seven Books of History Against the Pagans"), which he wrote in response to the belief that the decline of the
Roman Empire was the result of its adoption of Christianity.
Biography
After entering the
priesthood, he took an interest in the
Priscillianist
controversy then going on in his native country. He went to consult with
Augustine at Hippo (now
Annaba in
Algeria) in 413 or 414, possibly in connection with this controversy. After staying for some time in
North Africa as Augustine's disciple, he was reportedly sent by him in 415 to
Palestine with a letter of introduction to
Jerome, then living in
Bethlehem.
The ostensible purpose of his mission (apart from the typical intent of pilgrimage and perhaps relic-hunting) was that he might gain further instruction from
Jerome on the points raised by the Priscillianists and
Origenists. In reality, it would seem that his business was to assist Jerome and others against
Pelagius, who, after the
synod of
Carthage in 411, had been living in Palestine, and finding some acceptance there.
After his arrival. John, bishop of
Jerusalem, was induced to summon a synod in June 415 at which Orosius communicated the decisions of Carthage and read several of Augustine's writings against Pelagius. Success, however, was not achieved among Greeks who did not understand
Latin, and whose sense of reverence was unshocked by Pelagius's famous question, ''Et quis est mihi Augustinus?'' ("Who is Augustine to me?")
Orosius succeeded only in obtaining was John's consent to send letters and deputies to
Pope Innocent I of
Rome; and, after having waited long enough to learn the unfavourable decision of the synod of
Diospolis (Lydda) in December of the same year, he returned to north Africa, where he is believed to have died. According to
Gennadius, he carried with him relics of the
protomartyr Stephen from Palestine to
Minorca, where they were reported to be useful in attempts to convert members of the
Jewish community to Christianity.
His work
The earliest work of Orosius, ''Consultatio sive commonitorium ad Augustinum de errore Priscillianistarum et Origenistarum'', explains its object by its title; it was written soon after his arrival in Africa, and is usually printed in the works of Augustine along with the reply of the latter, ''Contra Priscillianistas et Origenistas liber ad Orosium''.
His next treatise, ''Liber apologeticus de arbitril libertate'', was written during his stay in Palestine, and in connection with the controversy which engaged him there. It is a keen but not always fair criticism of the Pelagian position from that of Augustine.
The ''Historiae adversum Paganos'' was undertaken at the suggestion of Augustine, to whom it is dedicated. When Augustine proposed this task he had already planned and made some progress with his own ''
De civitate Dei''; it is the same argument that is elaborated by his disciple, namely, the evidence from history that the circumstances of the world had not really become worse since the introduction of Christianity.
The work, a
universal history of the calamities that have happened to mankind from the fall down to about 417, has little accuracy or learning, and even less of literary charm; but it was the first attempt to write the history of the world as a history of God guiding humanity. Its purpose gave it value in the eyes of the orthodox, and the ''Hormesta'', ''Ormesta'', or ''Ormista'' as it was called, no one knows why, speedily attained a wide popularity.
Nearly two hundred manuscripts of it have survived. An abridged, free translation by
King Alfred is still extant.
[2] Bono Giamboni translated it in Italian language.
[3]. A still unpublised XIV century Aragonese translation, made by
Domingo de GarcÃa MartÃn at the request of
Juan Fernández de Heredia, comes from
Bono Giamboni's Italian translation.
The sources Orosius used have been investigated by
T. de Morner; besides the Old and New Testaments, he appears to have consulted
Caesar,
Livy,
Justin,
Tacitus,
Suetonius,
Florus and a cosmography, attaching also great value to
Jerome's translation of the ''Chronicles'' of
Eusebius.
The history of Orosius was translated into
Arabic during the reign of
al-Hakam II of
Córdoba. It later became one of the sources of
Ibn Khaldun in his history.
See also
★
Bobbio Orosius
Notes
1. Catholic Encyclopedia - Paulus Orosius
2. Old English text, with original in Latin, edited by H. Sweet, 1883.
3. ed. Tassi, Firenze 1849; partial editions are available in Cesare Segre, ''Volgarizzamenti del Due e del Trecento'', Torino 1953 and in Cesare Segre, ''La prosa del Duecento'', Milano-Napoli 1959)
References
★
External links
★
Orosius' ''Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII'' at
The Latin Library (in Latin)
★
Orosius' ''Historiae Adversum Paganos'' at
Attalus (in Latin)
★
Orosius as a source for Ibn Khaldun
★
A collection of links on Orosius
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