The Latin account translated below from the text published by Ferdinand Meister in Daretis Phygii... more The Latin account translated below from the text published by Ferdinand Meister in Daretis Phygii de excidio Troiae historia (1873) pp. iii-52, 1 looks like a late Classical work of fiction that became quite popular in the medieval West. A year earlier Meister published the much longer text of Dictys the Cretan, who fought on the Greek side alongside
This translation has been made from the text (NH Codex VI, 4) edited in the publication of P. Ché... more This translation has been made from the text (NH Codex VI, 4) edited in the publication of P. Chérix. 2 There are minor gaps in the text that cannot be reconstructed, and these will be signalled by square brackets and dots. The numbers in brackets throughout the text are the folio numbers (fol. 36-48). The abbreviation CD refers to W.E. Crum Coptic Dictionary (1939). The text is a sort of teaching document, in which the teacher is identified at the beginning of the text in the phrase 'everyone in whom my form is revealed will be saved:'. The imperative 'know/recognize' indicates that answers to questions (spoken or unspoken) are being provided. Essentially, the information provided by the teacher is about the aeons: two perishable and one imperishable. The first is the aeon of the flesh, in which all but Noah and his family were destroyed (38); the second is the aeon of the soul, the present aeon, full of sin and impurity, in which everything will come to an end in a great fire. The knowledge provided about these two aeons is followed by an interlude (40-43) that may be of Christian origin. This interlude is followed by a lecture on the third and final imperishable aeon, to be ushered in by a great fire that will last for 1468 years and consume all: the pure will find eternal rest, while the impure will suffer eternal punishment. It is not known where the text was composed. Like many of the 4th cent. NH texts the dialect of the text is somewhere between Subakhmimic (SA 2) and Sahidic (S), and it was only towards the end of that century that Sahidic emerged as something resembling a standard dialect, at least in the Nile Valley. My translation is the product of an informal gathering throughout a semester in which I took part and attempted to help theology students at the university where I teach English (Kassel) to make sense of the text. 1 This translates the title at the end, the usual place for the title of a work. The two lines at the head of the text, perhaps a later addition, read: teschsis Ndianoia-pnohma Ntnaq Nqam : διάνοια seems to refer to critical faculty of thinking, while νόημα seems to refer to the object of thinking. The first line may be an attempt to explain the title proper. It might be understood perhaps as an exhortation to use reason to understand the thought of the Great Power. The term Great Power also occurs in Acts 8, 9ff., where it is clearly used of Simon Magus and in the Gospel of Thomas logion 85, where it is the progenitor of Adam. 2 P. Chérix Le concept de notre Grande Puissance (1982), which the text, a translation and detailed linguistic notes. Various text and translation publications of the entire corpus have been made by scholars, in various countries and for various reasons, but they are too numerous to mention here.
Charlemagne, known in German as Karl der Große, was a Frank who in 800 became the acknowledged su... more Charlemagne, known in German as Karl der Große, was a Frank who in 800 became the acknowledged successor 1 of Romulus, the last Roman emperor (d. 476). The titles of imperator and augustus were conferred on him, against his will, by the Pope 2. The capitulatio was a legal code to regulate the territories of Saxony: much of what is now France and Germany was under the control of the Franks by the 770s, but non-Christian Saxony was not, and Charlemagne, after thirty years of bitter fighting, 3 eventually subdued the Saxons, christianized them and added their territory to the growing kingdom of the Franks. The ordinances below governing Saxony give some idea of how important Christianization was to Charlemagne, and offences against Christianity, e.g. ordinances 2-12, might be penalized by death. They remained in force until 782, when they were replaced by a modified version, the capitulare saxonicum.
The short Greek text from which the following translation has been made was published by C. Tisch... more The short Greek text from which the following translation has been made was published by C. Tischendorf Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha (1851) pp. 261-265. There is an informative introduction on pp. lxxi-lxxvi. A brief description of its contents is made by M.R. James Apocryphal New Testament (1924) p. 471. Tischendorf claims that the Acta 'contain almost nothing that does not relate to the early apocryphal traditions of the apostles.' It is a brief text that has the appearance of not having been 'over-elaborated'. It begins with the story of the correspondence between Abgar V of Edessa and Christ and the resulting portrait made of Christ for Abgar in the throes of illness. After establishing Christianity at Edessa, Thaddaeus then moved north to Amida 1 and other parts of Syria, even as far as Berytus to preach.
The Coptic text of this martyrdom can be found in E. A. Budge Coptic Martyrdoms (1914) pp. 102-12... more The Coptic text of this martyrdom can be found in E. A. Budge Coptic Martyrdoms (1914) pp. 102-127.The Greek text was published in 1660 by François Combefis Illustrium Christi martyri lecti triumphi pp. 1-43. 1 There are occasional differences between the two, especially in the Proemium. 2 There is also a Syriac version, to which I have no access. The saint had two names: Placidas before his conversion and Eustathius after it. The Greek title makes no mention of the emperor at the time of the martyrdom. The title of the Coptic specifies that the martyrdom took place in the reign of Trajan, but later in the text it is clear that Hadrian was the emperor at the time. Neither Trajan nor Hadrian seems to have pursued an aggressive policy towards Christians: the only account of Trajan's attitude to the new religion is in his correspondence with Pliny, the governor of Bithynia (Letters 10, 96 and 97); Hadrian's attitude can be seen in his letter to a governor in Asia Minor, (cited by Justin Martyr 1 Apology § 68), both evidently of the opinion that Christians as such posed no threat and that accusations against them must be founded on hard evidence and subjected to 'due process' to determine if they were more than a mere delatio/συκοφαντία (denunciation). Hadrian is characterized in the Coptic text as 'more impious than all his predecessors', 3 but Eustathius, by refusing to celebrate his victory over the Parthians with Hadrian in the temple of Apollo and by attributing his success to God alone, may well have committed an act of lèse-majesté, a capital offence. Until his conversion Eustathius has been a successful and prosperous pagan. But to achieve his 'crown' of martyrdom, he learns in his conversion to Christianity that he has to submit to a series of tests, like Job: among other misfortunes, he loses his possessions, has to abandon his wife and is deprived of his children. The martyrdom process, from the conversion, involves a number of trials for whole family, some of them recalling motifs of the Greek stories of Xenophon of Ephesus, Chariton and others. The martyrdom itself is described briefly, and evidence that Eustathius and his entire family managed to 'rise above' the gruesome punishment inflicted on them is that, after several days of torture, 'the bodies of the saints shone as white as snow'. 4 The translation below is faithful, if not to the word at least to the sense. I have added notes where I thought appropriate. The writer is given at the end of the text as 'Victor the deacon, son of Mercurius the deacon'. This is the life and conduct of St Eustathius, general of Trajan, and Theopiste his wife and Agapius and Theopistus his children. Their contest was completed in the great city of Rome on 20 Thoth 5 under Trajan. Amen. Proemium The devout human being is endowed 6 with an ability to learn that is partly natural and partly voluntary: he establishes virtue and wishes to teach his neighbours from the examples of other previous generations, who gave thanks to the Benefactor of us all, our God and Lord, Jesus Christ and from whom he in turn expects thanks. I mean the acts of kindness that he does for us and our
The Latin text translated below is taken from Patrologia Latina 103 cols. 434-442. The title ascr... more The Latin text translated below is taken from Patrologia Latina 103 cols. 434-442. The title ascribes the text to Serapion, Macarius, Paphnutius and Macarius the Second, 1 all distinguished Egyptian monks whose names have probably been assumed by the authors to lend a certain authority to the document, written perhaps around the time of Benedict (480-527). According to the prefatory remarks, the text appears to be the product of a meeting of monastic leaders conducted in consilio saluberrimo. The text consists of three parts, in the first of which various rules are attributed to each of the brothers by name, e.g. 'the rules of Serapion' occupy sections 2-4, and so on. The other two parts seem to be rules jointly formulated by all four of them. This is a loose translation of Part One only.
Christianity probably came to Britain with soldiers in the Roman army guarding the frontier provi... more Christianity probably came to Britain with soldiers in the Roman army guarding the frontier province that had been incorporated into the empire by Claudius in 43 AD and possibly also merchants doing business there. There are references to Britain in the works of Origen and Tertullian. 1 The entry in the Liber Pontificalis that a British king Lucius wrote to Pope Eleutherius (2nd half of 2nd cent.) asking to be received into the Church cannot be verified. 2 The first Christian martyr in Britain was St Alban, a victim of Diocletian's persecution of the early 4th cent. 3 Three British bishops, a priest and a deacon are known to have attended the Council of Arles in 314. Other Christians of note include Patrick, who evangelized Ireland, and Pelagius, whose concept of free will was rejected by prominent Christians such as Augustine of Hippo. The material remains of Christianity are discussed in F. Haverfield Romanization of Britain (1915), who concludes that Britons seem to have responded positively to the new culture notwithstanding resistance warriors such as Caractacus and Boudicca, and David Petts 'Christianity in Roman Britain' Oxford Handbook of Roman Britain (2014). According to Gildas (chapters 66-110), the British Church seems to have been best by moral decay: the gradual Roman evacuation of Britain in the early 5th cent. and the arrival of increasing numbers of settlers/invaders from the northern coastal regions of Germany, who were not Christian and brought new languages with them, may have accelerated this decay, and by the end of the 6th cent. Pope Gregory I is said by Bede Ecclesiastical History of the English People Bk 2 §1 to have been so impressed by the appearance of non-Christian English youths on sale in a Roman slave market that he authorized a mission led by Augustine to re-christianize the island.
The following translation has been made from the text published, with French translation, by F. N... more The following translation has been made from the text published, with French translation, by F. Nau 'Lettre à Cosme'
The Greek text from which this translation has been made is published in A. Vassiliev Anecdota Gr... more The Greek text from which this translation has been made is published in A. Vassiliev Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina (1893) pp. 308-315. The foundations of the story are, to some extent, the Book of Jeremiah and, to a much greater extent, the pseudepigraphon known as 4 Baruch or the Paralipomena of Jeremiah (see note 11). The narrative has clearly been Christianized. In the introduction to the text (pp. lix-lxi) Vassiliev cites texts that use the same material as found in this text, e.g. in the post-5th cent. work entitled De Prophetis, 1 attributed to Dorotheus or Epiphanius of Salamis. Jerusalem was attacked twice by Nebuchadnezzar II in his attempt to extend the neo-Babylonian empire: 597 BC, which involved the siege of the city and the installation of a new monarch, Zedekiah; and 587 BC, which involved the destruction of the city and the transfer of its people into Babylonian captivity. The first siege seems to be documented in Biblical and non-Biblical sources; 2 the second only in Biblical sources. The manuscript from which the printed text has been edited, Codex Barberinus III, 3, was written in 1497. The narrative of the capture of Jerusalem, the lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah and the trance 3 of Abimelech. The great prophet Jeremiah from the village of Anathoth prophesied many things, in which the strength of prophecy is evident, about Jerusalem and Babylon as well as about divine incarnation. 4 Paschor, son of Emmer, the ruler of the house of the Lord, once struck him very hard and placed him who was lamenting the capture of Jerusalem in the stocks. Divine justice did not permit him to stay there, and he said to Paschor: 'Your name will declare you to be 'foreigner' and at the same your apostasy will become clear, because of your cursed neglect of the work of the Lord.' When Jehoiakim was king, Jeremiah was lamenting the fate of Israel. The false prophets persuaded the 1 Patrologia Graeca 43 col. 400. 2 D.J. Wiseman Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (1956) p. 32. 3 ἔκστασις 4 The 'divine incarnation' prophecy is perhaps Jer. 1, 2: ὡς ἐγενήθη λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν, in which the Logos is understood as a reference to Jesus. priests to destroy him: The hand of Saphan the son of Ahikam was with 5 Jeremiah and prevented his death. The Lord then said to Jeremiah: 'Make for yourself chains or a wooden yoke to put around your neck, and I will send you to the King of Moab and Idumaea, Ammon, and of Tyre and Sidon'. and Jeremiah did so. Ananias son of Azor, the false prophet, took the yoke from his neck and broke it before the people. He said: 'The Lord said to me: 'I will break the yoke of the King of Babylon from all nations.' Jeremiah said to the false prophet: 'Your lips are treacherous and your heart is poisonous. The truth is that you have broken the wooden yoke. 6 But instead, says the Almighty Lord: 'I will make a yoke of iron and place it on the neck of nations, and you, Ananias, will die.' 7 No sooner was this said than it was done: he departed to join the dead seven months later. In year 18 of Zedekiah, 8 King of Judah, when Jeremiah was grieving for Jerusalem, he was imprisoned. The Chaldeans were approaching the city, but somehow the prophet escaped and made his way to Benjamin, 9 driven by necessity. He was arrested by the Chaldeans and beaten and incarcerated. After some time in prison, he was rescued secretly by Zedekiah, who said to him: 'Since you are well-informed about the future of my kingdom, tell me.' And Jeremiah replied: 'It is not I who speak, my king, but the spirit who speaks in me. I have written what I have written.' And he accepted this. His detractors lobbied the king: 'How is that this man, incarcerated, is allowed to weaken the hearts of the warriors and does not preach peace but instead stirs things up ? It is better that one should die for many.' And Zedekiah said: 'Look, he is in your hands.' And they threw Jeremiah into the pit of mire of the dead. When Abimelech learned of this, he said to the king: 'Why do you maltreat this man ?' The king replied: 'I do this unwillingly, but he is in the charge of the people. Take thirty strong men with you and and bring him out of the pit.' And Abimelech hastened and, with the help of God, brought up the prophet unharmed. The king stood quite near him and said: 'Do not conceal from me what I seek.' Why put aside the truth, my lord ? I will not tell lies, even if you condemn me to death.' The king said: 'As the God of our fathers lives, I will not kill you whatever you say. Nor will I hand you over to these men.' Jeremiah said: 'If you adopt my counsel and do not proceed against the Babylonians, your life will be saved and the city will not be destroyed. But if you oppose them, know that you will not escape their hands and the city will be consumed by fire.' Zedekiah considered the words of the prophet to be worthless and so incurred the 5 It can easily be seen from LXX Jer. 33, 24 that Χηραχικὰμ is a copying error and is to be understood as χεὶρ ᾿Αχεικὰμ 6 The passages of Jeremiah are not direct citations and have been adapted by the writer. 7 τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπορῥήξεις 8 Installed as king by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. 9 In N. Judea. Not affected by the Babylonian attack.
The following contains two translations:-a relatively free version of two Latin letters:from the ... more The following contains two translations:-a relatively free version of two Latin letters:from the Pope to the King of England with reply about a crusade 1 and-an equally free version of the French text 2 of the deposition of a servant, Bernard de Vignolles, about the attempt to assassinate Henry VII in 1496. 3 What these two events have in common is that they never took place. Julius' letter to Henry is clearly in response to a letter from Henry, alluded to in Henry's reply to the Pope, calling for action against the Ottoman Empire. 4 In the first sentence of Henry's reply (§ 5) the words 'we had given' (dederamus) may suggest that the letter did not go through the normal postal channels but was delivered in some other way. It seems a little odd, in view of the universal joy it seems to have occasioned in the Vatican, that no copy of this communication has survived. It is not clear if Henry's first letter was addressed to all the European princes or only to the Pope. In the 15th and 16th cent. growing Turkish power had gained control of the main trading routes between Europe and Western Asia power and finally put an end to the Byzantine Empire with its conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman-Venetian War (1499-1503) ended in favour of the Ottoman Empire and left the Turks in control of the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. On Henry's participation in European affairs after the death of his son Arthur, cf. Charlotte
Junius Philargyrius is also known as a commentator on the Bucolics and Georgics and was probably ... more Junius Philargyrius is also known as a commentator on the Bucolics and Georgics and was probably born in Milan, possibly somewhere between the 5th and 7th cent.
The following is an English version of the Latin text published in Sixtus Senensis Bibliotheca Sa... more The following is an English version of the Latin text published in Sixtus Senensis Bibliotheca Sancta (1610) pp. 94ff. 1 An English translation of a different text 2 was published by M. R. James Apocryphal New Testament (1924) pp. 480-484. He is one of many who doubt the authenticity of the 14 letters first mentioned by Jerome de viris illustribus 12, who was moved to include the philosopher in his 'catalogue of saints' because of the popularity of the letters (quae leguntur a plurimis 'which are read by very many') and did not dismiss them as fictitious. Whether Paul knew Latin and, if he did, how good it was 3 is not known. Even his letter to the Romans may not have been addressed to natives of the city but to Jewish Christian immigrants. The consul dates of letters 10, 11, 12 and 14 correspond to those given in the comprehensive account at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_consuls, which seems to be reliable. Seneca is presumably in Rome, but there is nothing to indicate the whereabouts of Paul. Letter 5 has an indirect reference to the sympathy felt by Poppaea Sabina, the second wife of Nero, for Judaism, as in Josephus antiquitates judaicae 20 189ff.: the suggestion seems to be that she was indignant with Paul for converting from Judaism to Christianity, which he did when she was only three years old. Letter 1 Seneca to Paul My dear Paul, I believe you have been told of our discussion yesterday with our friend Lucilius 4 about matters secret and otherwise, for it was attended by some of your fellow-philosophers. We found a secluded spot in the Gardens of Sallust, 5 where the aforementioned colleagues, who were going in another direction, saw us and took the opportunity to join us. We would have been glad of 1 I have seen a reference to a recent volume entitled Der apokryphe Briefwechsel zwischen Seneca und Paulus (2006) ed. A. Fürst, but I have not been able to consult it. 2 He does not identify this version. 3 He probably addressed his gaoler in Latin (Acts 16, 27). If one believes the letters, Paul's Latin was good enough but lacked veneer. 4 The recipient of many of Seneca's epistulae morales. 5 Originally belonged to Julius Caeasar and later acquired by the historian Sallust in NE Rome.
The following text is a dialogue in which the questions are usually short and intelligible; the a... more The following text is a dialogue in which the questions are usually short and intelligible; the answers can be descriptive, metaphorical or enigmatic, 1 ; some might even be called riddles, e.g. [1] and [2]; some indicate a weary or even jaundiced view life in general; some answers have a double meaning, e.g. [61]. There is evidence that the emperor and the philosopher were reasonably well acquainted, 2 so an exchange of this sort is not impossible, but it is not clear to me
The following translation has been made from the text published by E. Bratke in Religionsgespräch... more The following translation has been made from the text published by E. Bratke in Religionsgespräch am Hof der Sasaniden, which appeared as a monograph in Texte und Untersuchungen 19 fasc. 3 (1899) pp. 1-305, where the title of the document is given as Έξήγησις τῶν πραχθέντων ἐν Περσίδι. The text occupies pp. 1-45. Details of all the mss. can be found on pp. 62-87. The copy used by Bratke is Cod. Paris graec. 1084. The numbers in brackets are those of the publication. This, in part, a somewhat free translation. 1 The Greek capital letters are Middle Persian or Pahlavi words, the Iranian language used in the Sassanid Era. A Greek translation is provided, presumably by the author of the text.
Bracciolini (1380-1459) was born near Arezzo in Tuscany. He earned his living as a notary and sec... more Bracciolini (1380-1459) was born near Arezzo in Tuscany. He earned his living as a notary and secretary of various dignitaries but is known to posterity for his 'rediscovery' of classical Latin texts and as a member of
The Latin account translated below from the text published by Ferdinand Meister in Daretis Phygii... more The Latin account translated below from the text published by Ferdinand Meister in Daretis Phygii de excidio Troiae historia (1873) pp. iii-52, 1 looks like a late Classical work of fiction that became quite popular in the medieval West. A year earlier Meister published the much longer text of Dictys the Cretan, who fought on the Greek side alongside
This translation has been made from the text (NH Codex VI, 4) edited in the publication of P. Ché... more This translation has been made from the text (NH Codex VI, 4) edited in the publication of P. Chérix. 2 There are minor gaps in the text that cannot be reconstructed, and these will be signalled by square brackets and dots. The numbers in brackets throughout the text are the folio numbers (fol. 36-48). The abbreviation CD refers to W.E. Crum Coptic Dictionary (1939). The text is a sort of teaching document, in which the teacher is identified at the beginning of the text in the phrase 'everyone in whom my form is revealed will be saved:'. The imperative 'know/recognize' indicates that answers to questions (spoken or unspoken) are being provided. Essentially, the information provided by the teacher is about the aeons: two perishable and one imperishable. The first is the aeon of the flesh, in which all but Noah and his family were destroyed (38); the second is the aeon of the soul, the present aeon, full of sin and impurity, in which everything will come to an end in a great fire. The knowledge provided about these two aeons is followed by an interlude (40-43) that may be of Christian origin. This interlude is followed by a lecture on the third and final imperishable aeon, to be ushered in by a great fire that will last for 1468 years and consume all: the pure will find eternal rest, while the impure will suffer eternal punishment. It is not known where the text was composed. Like many of the 4th cent. NH texts the dialect of the text is somewhere between Subakhmimic (SA 2) and Sahidic (S), and it was only towards the end of that century that Sahidic emerged as something resembling a standard dialect, at least in the Nile Valley. My translation is the product of an informal gathering throughout a semester in which I took part and attempted to help theology students at the university where I teach English (Kassel) to make sense of the text. 1 This translates the title at the end, the usual place for the title of a work. The two lines at the head of the text, perhaps a later addition, read: teschsis Ndianoia-pnohma Ntnaq Nqam : διάνοια seems to refer to critical faculty of thinking, while νόημα seems to refer to the object of thinking. The first line may be an attempt to explain the title proper. It might be understood perhaps as an exhortation to use reason to understand the thought of the Great Power. The term Great Power also occurs in Acts 8, 9ff., where it is clearly used of Simon Magus and in the Gospel of Thomas logion 85, where it is the progenitor of Adam. 2 P. Chérix Le concept de notre Grande Puissance (1982), which the text, a translation and detailed linguistic notes. Various text and translation publications of the entire corpus have been made by scholars, in various countries and for various reasons, but they are too numerous to mention here.
Charlemagne, known in German as Karl der Große, was a Frank who in 800 became the acknowledged su... more Charlemagne, known in German as Karl der Große, was a Frank who in 800 became the acknowledged successor 1 of Romulus, the last Roman emperor (d. 476). The titles of imperator and augustus were conferred on him, against his will, by the Pope 2. The capitulatio was a legal code to regulate the territories of Saxony: much of what is now France and Germany was under the control of the Franks by the 770s, but non-Christian Saxony was not, and Charlemagne, after thirty years of bitter fighting, 3 eventually subdued the Saxons, christianized them and added their territory to the growing kingdom of the Franks. The ordinances below governing Saxony give some idea of how important Christianization was to Charlemagne, and offences against Christianity, e.g. ordinances 2-12, might be penalized by death. They remained in force until 782, when they were replaced by a modified version, the capitulare saxonicum.
The short Greek text from which the following translation has been made was published by C. Tisch... more The short Greek text from which the following translation has been made was published by C. Tischendorf Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha (1851) pp. 261-265. There is an informative introduction on pp. lxxi-lxxvi. A brief description of its contents is made by M.R. James Apocryphal New Testament (1924) p. 471. Tischendorf claims that the Acta 'contain almost nothing that does not relate to the early apocryphal traditions of the apostles.' It is a brief text that has the appearance of not having been 'over-elaborated'. It begins with the story of the correspondence between Abgar V of Edessa and Christ and the resulting portrait made of Christ for Abgar in the throes of illness. After establishing Christianity at Edessa, Thaddaeus then moved north to Amida 1 and other parts of Syria, even as far as Berytus to preach.
The Coptic text of this martyrdom can be found in E. A. Budge Coptic Martyrdoms (1914) pp. 102-12... more The Coptic text of this martyrdom can be found in E. A. Budge Coptic Martyrdoms (1914) pp. 102-127.The Greek text was published in 1660 by François Combefis Illustrium Christi martyri lecti triumphi pp. 1-43. 1 There are occasional differences between the two, especially in the Proemium. 2 There is also a Syriac version, to which I have no access. The saint had two names: Placidas before his conversion and Eustathius after it. The Greek title makes no mention of the emperor at the time of the martyrdom. The title of the Coptic specifies that the martyrdom took place in the reign of Trajan, but later in the text it is clear that Hadrian was the emperor at the time. Neither Trajan nor Hadrian seems to have pursued an aggressive policy towards Christians: the only account of Trajan's attitude to the new religion is in his correspondence with Pliny, the governor of Bithynia (Letters 10, 96 and 97); Hadrian's attitude can be seen in his letter to a governor in Asia Minor, (cited by Justin Martyr 1 Apology § 68), both evidently of the opinion that Christians as such posed no threat and that accusations against them must be founded on hard evidence and subjected to 'due process' to determine if they were more than a mere delatio/συκοφαντία (denunciation). Hadrian is characterized in the Coptic text as 'more impious than all his predecessors', 3 but Eustathius, by refusing to celebrate his victory over the Parthians with Hadrian in the temple of Apollo and by attributing his success to God alone, may well have committed an act of lèse-majesté, a capital offence. Until his conversion Eustathius has been a successful and prosperous pagan. But to achieve his 'crown' of martyrdom, he learns in his conversion to Christianity that he has to submit to a series of tests, like Job: among other misfortunes, he loses his possessions, has to abandon his wife and is deprived of his children. The martyrdom process, from the conversion, involves a number of trials for whole family, some of them recalling motifs of the Greek stories of Xenophon of Ephesus, Chariton and others. The martyrdom itself is described briefly, and evidence that Eustathius and his entire family managed to 'rise above' the gruesome punishment inflicted on them is that, after several days of torture, 'the bodies of the saints shone as white as snow'. 4 The translation below is faithful, if not to the word at least to the sense. I have added notes where I thought appropriate. The writer is given at the end of the text as 'Victor the deacon, son of Mercurius the deacon'. This is the life and conduct of St Eustathius, general of Trajan, and Theopiste his wife and Agapius and Theopistus his children. Their contest was completed in the great city of Rome on 20 Thoth 5 under Trajan. Amen. Proemium The devout human being is endowed 6 with an ability to learn that is partly natural and partly voluntary: he establishes virtue and wishes to teach his neighbours from the examples of other previous generations, who gave thanks to the Benefactor of us all, our God and Lord, Jesus Christ and from whom he in turn expects thanks. I mean the acts of kindness that he does for us and our
The Latin text translated below is taken from Patrologia Latina 103 cols. 434-442. The title ascr... more The Latin text translated below is taken from Patrologia Latina 103 cols. 434-442. The title ascribes the text to Serapion, Macarius, Paphnutius and Macarius the Second, 1 all distinguished Egyptian monks whose names have probably been assumed by the authors to lend a certain authority to the document, written perhaps around the time of Benedict (480-527). According to the prefatory remarks, the text appears to be the product of a meeting of monastic leaders conducted in consilio saluberrimo. The text consists of three parts, in the first of which various rules are attributed to each of the brothers by name, e.g. 'the rules of Serapion' occupy sections 2-4, and so on. The other two parts seem to be rules jointly formulated by all four of them. This is a loose translation of Part One only.
Christianity probably came to Britain with soldiers in the Roman army guarding the frontier provi... more Christianity probably came to Britain with soldiers in the Roman army guarding the frontier province that had been incorporated into the empire by Claudius in 43 AD and possibly also merchants doing business there. There are references to Britain in the works of Origen and Tertullian. 1 The entry in the Liber Pontificalis that a British king Lucius wrote to Pope Eleutherius (2nd half of 2nd cent.) asking to be received into the Church cannot be verified. 2 The first Christian martyr in Britain was St Alban, a victim of Diocletian's persecution of the early 4th cent. 3 Three British bishops, a priest and a deacon are known to have attended the Council of Arles in 314. Other Christians of note include Patrick, who evangelized Ireland, and Pelagius, whose concept of free will was rejected by prominent Christians such as Augustine of Hippo. The material remains of Christianity are discussed in F. Haverfield Romanization of Britain (1915), who concludes that Britons seem to have responded positively to the new culture notwithstanding resistance warriors such as Caractacus and Boudicca, and David Petts 'Christianity in Roman Britain' Oxford Handbook of Roman Britain (2014). According to Gildas (chapters 66-110), the British Church seems to have been best by moral decay: the gradual Roman evacuation of Britain in the early 5th cent. and the arrival of increasing numbers of settlers/invaders from the northern coastal regions of Germany, who were not Christian and brought new languages with them, may have accelerated this decay, and by the end of the 6th cent. Pope Gregory I is said by Bede Ecclesiastical History of the English People Bk 2 §1 to have been so impressed by the appearance of non-Christian English youths on sale in a Roman slave market that he authorized a mission led by Augustine to re-christianize the island.
The following translation has been made from the text published, with French translation, by F. N... more The following translation has been made from the text published, with French translation, by F. Nau 'Lettre à Cosme'
The Greek text from which this translation has been made is published in A. Vassiliev Anecdota Gr... more The Greek text from which this translation has been made is published in A. Vassiliev Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina (1893) pp. 308-315. The foundations of the story are, to some extent, the Book of Jeremiah and, to a much greater extent, the pseudepigraphon known as 4 Baruch or the Paralipomena of Jeremiah (see note 11). The narrative has clearly been Christianized. In the introduction to the text (pp. lix-lxi) Vassiliev cites texts that use the same material as found in this text, e.g. in the post-5th cent. work entitled De Prophetis, 1 attributed to Dorotheus or Epiphanius of Salamis. Jerusalem was attacked twice by Nebuchadnezzar II in his attempt to extend the neo-Babylonian empire: 597 BC, which involved the siege of the city and the installation of a new monarch, Zedekiah; and 587 BC, which involved the destruction of the city and the transfer of its people into Babylonian captivity. The first siege seems to be documented in Biblical and non-Biblical sources; 2 the second only in Biblical sources. The manuscript from which the printed text has been edited, Codex Barberinus III, 3, was written in 1497. The narrative of the capture of Jerusalem, the lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah and the trance 3 of Abimelech. The great prophet Jeremiah from the village of Anathoth prophesied many things, in which the strength of prophecy is evident, about Jerusalem and Babylon as well as about divine incarnation. 4 Paschor, son of Emmer, the ruler of the house of the Lord, once struck him very hard and placed him who was lamenting the capture of Jerusalem in the stocks. Divine justice did not permit him to stay there, and he said to Paschor: 'Your name will declare you to be 'foreigner' and at the same your apostasy will become clear, because of your cursed neglect of the work of the Lord.' When Jehoiakim was king, Jeremiah was lamenting the fate of Israel. The false prophets persuaded the 1 Patrologia Graeca 43 col. 400. 2 D.J. Wiseman Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (1956) p. 32. 3 ἔκστασις 4 The 'divine incarnation' prophecy is perhaps Jer. 1, 2: ὡς ἐγενήθη λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν, in which the Logos is understood as a reference to Jesus. priests to destroy him: The hand of Saphan the son of Ahikam was with 5 Jeremiah and prevented his death. The Lord then said to Jeremiah: 'Make for yourself chains or a wooden yoke to put around your neck, and I will send you to the King of Moab and Idumaea, Ammon, and of Tyre and Sidon'. and Jeremiah did so. Ananias son of Azor, the false prophet, took the yoke from his neck and broke it before the people. He said: 'The Lord said to me: 'I will break the yoke of the King of Babylon from all nations.' Jeremiah said to the false prophet: 'Your lips are treacherous and your heart is poisonous. The truth is that you have broken the wooden yoke. 6 But instead, says the Almighty Lord: 'I will make a yoke of iron and place it on the neck of nations, and you, Ananias, will die.' 7 No sooner was this said than it was done: he departed to join the dead seven months later. In year 18 of Zedekiah, 8 King of Judah, when Jeremiah was grieving for Jerusalem, he was imprisoned. The Chaldeans were approaching the city, but somehow the prophet escaped and made his way to Benjamin, 9 driven by necessity. He was arrested by the Chaldeans and beaten and incarcerated. After some time in prison, he was rescued secretly by Zedekiah, who said to him: 'Since you are well-informed about the future of my kingdom, tell me.' And Jeremiah replied: 'It is not I who speak, my king, but the spirit who speaks in me. I have written what I have written.' And he accepted this. His detractors lobbied the king: 'How is that this man, incarcerated, is allowed to weaken the hearts of the warriors and does not preach peace but instead stirs things up ? It is better that one should die for many.' And Zedekiah said: 'Look, he is in your hands.' And they threw Jeremiah into the pit of mire of the dead. When Abimelech learned of this, he said to the king: 'Why do you maltreat this man ?' The king replied: 'I do this unwillingly, but he is in the charge of the people. Take thirty strong men with you and and bring him out of the pit.' And Abimelech hastened and, with the help of God, brought up the prophet unharmed. The king stood quite near him and said: 'Do not conceal from me what I seek.' Why put aside the truth, my lord ? I will not tell lies, even if you condemn me to death.' The king said: 'As the God of our fathers lives, I will not kill you whatever you say. Nor will I hand you over to these men.' Jeremiah said: 'If you adopt my counsel and do not proceed against the Babylonians, your life will be saved and the city will not be destroyed. But if you oppose them, know that you will not escape their hands and the city will be consumed by fire.' Zedekiah considered the words of the prophet to be worthless and so incurred the 5 It can easily be seen from LXX Jer. 33, 24 that Χηραχικὰμ is a copying error and is to be understood as χεὶρ ᾿Αχεικὰμ 6 The passages of Jeremiah are not direct citations and have been adapted by the writer. 7 τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπορῥήξεις 8 Installed as king by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BC. 9 In N. Judea. Not affected by the Babylonian attack.
The following contains two translations:-a relatively free version of two Latin letters:from the ... more The following contains two translations:-a relatively free version of two Latin letters:from the Pope to the King of England with reply about a crusade 1 and-an equally free version of the French text 2 of the deposition of a servant, Bernard de Vignolles, about the attempt to assassinate Henry VII in 1496. 3 What these two events have in common is that they never took place. Julius' letter to Henry is clearly in response to a letter from Henry, alluded to in Henry's reply to the Pope, calling for action against the Ottoman Empire. 4 In the first sentence of Henry's reply (§ 5) the words 'we had given' (dederamus) may suggest that the letter did not go through the normal postal channels but was delivered in some other way. It seems a little odd, in view of the universal joy it seems to have occasioned in the Vatican, that no copy of this communication has survived. It is not clear if Henry's first letter was addressed to all the European princes or only to the Pope. In the 15th and 16th cent. growing Turkish power had gained control of the main trading routes between Europe and Western Asia power and finally put an end to the Byzantine Empire with its conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman-Venetian War (1499-1503) ended in favour of the Ottoman Empire and left the Turks in control of the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. On Henry's participation in European affairs after the death of his son Arthur, cf. Charlotte
Junius Philargyrius is also known as a commentator on the Bucolics and Georgics and was probably ... more Junius Philargyrius is also known as a commentator on the Bucolics and Georgics and was probably born in Milan, possibly somewhere between the 5th and 7th cent.
The following is an English version of the Latin text published in Sixtus Senensis Bibliotheca Sa... more The following is an English version of the Latin text published in Sixtus Senensis Bibliotheca Sancta (1610) pp. 94ff. 1 An English translation of a different text 2 was published by M. R. James Apocryphal New Testament (1924) pp. 480-484. He is one of many who doubt the authenticity of the 14 letters first mentioned by Jerome de viris illustribus 12, who was moved to include the philosopher in his 'catalogue of saints' because of the popularity of the letters (quae leguntur a plurimis 'which are read by very many') and did not dismiss them as fictitious. Whether Paul knew Latin and, if he did, how good it was 3 is not known. Even his letter to the Romans may not have been addressed to natives of the city but to Jewish Christian immigrants. The consul dates of letters 10, 11, 12 and 14 correspond to those given in the comprehensive account at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_consuls, which seems to be reliable. Seneca is presumably in Rome, but there is nothing to indicate the whereabouts of Paul. Letter 5 has an indirect reference to the sympathy felt by Poppaea Sabina, the second wife of Nero, for Judaism, as in Josephus antiquitates judaicae 20 189ff.: the suggestion seems to be that she was indignant with Paul for converting from Judaism to Christianity, which he did when she was only three years old. Letter 1 Seneca to Paul My dear Paul, I believe you have been told of our discussion yesterday with our friend Lucilius 4 about matters secret and otherwise, for it was attended by some of your fellow-philosophers. We found a secluded spot in the Gardens of Sallust, 5 where the aforementioned colleagues, who were going in another direction, saw us and took the opportunity to join us. We would have been glad of 1 I have seen a reference to a recent volume entitled Der apokryphe Briefwechsel zwischen Seneca und Paulus (2006) ed. A. Fürst, but I have not been able to consult it. 2 He does not identify this version. 3 He probably addressed his gaoler in Latin (Acts 16, 27). If one believes the letters, Paul's Latin was good enough but lacked veneer. 4 The recipient of many of Seneca's epistulae morales. 5 Originally belonged to Julius Caeasar and later acquired by the historian Sallust in NE Rome.
The following text is a dialogue in which the questions are usually short and intelligible; the a... more The following text is a dialogue in which the questions are usually short and intelligible; the answers can be descriptive, metaphorical or enigmatic, 1 ; some might even be called riddles, e.g. [1] and [2]; some indicate a weary or even jaundiced view life in general; some answers have a double meaning, e.g. [61]. There is evidence that the emperor and the philosopher were reasonably well acquainted, 2 so an exchange of this sort is not impossible, but it is not clear to me
The following translation has been made from the text published by E. Bratke in Religionsgespräch... more The following translation has been made from the text published by E. Bratke in Religionsgespräch am Hof der Sasaniden, which appeared as a monograph in Texte und Untersuchungen 19 fasc. 3 (1899) pp. 1-305, where the title of the document is given as Έξήγησις τῶν πραχθέντων ἐν Περσίδι. The text occupies pp. 1-45. Details of all the mss. can be found on pp. 62-87. The copy used by Bratke is Cod. Paris graec. 1084. The numbers in brackets are those of the publication. This, in part, a somewhat free translation. 1 The Greek capital letters are Middle Persian or Pahlavi words, the Iranian language used in the Sassanid Era. A Greek translation is provided, presumably by the author of the text.
Bracciolini (1380-1459) was born near Arezzo in Tuscany. He earned his living as a notary and sec... more Bracciolini (1380-1459) was born near Arezzo in Tuscany. He earned his living as a notary and secretary of various dignitaries but is known to posterity for his 'rediscovery' of classical Latin texts and as a member of
The following is a modern English prose version, more a paraphrase in fact, of part of a poem wri... more The following is a modern English prose version, more a paraphrase in fact, of part of a poem written about the beginning of the 16th cent and published for the first time in 1520. 1 The poem is called the Lyfe of Joseph of Arimathie, and the text below renders the section that deals with Joseph's arrival and stay in England (lines 113 to 400). The
The text from which the following translation has been made is published in P. de Lagarde Catenae... more The text from which the following translation has been made is published in P. de Lagarde Catenae evangeliorum aegyptiacae quae supersunt (1886) pp. 82-127. 1 There is only one manuscript, a late 9th cent. Bohairic copy text from Deir es Suriani in the Wadi Natrun. 2 The text was written presumably between the mid-6th and the end of the 9th century; the interpretations of Mark, unlike those of the other gospels, are mostly those of Severus of Antioch. The text survives, as far as I know, in no other language. The manuscript was acquired by Robert Curzon (Lord Zouche) in 1838. The obvious errors made by Curzon were corrected by Lagarde, Bishop Lightfoot and others. It is now in the British Library, and a description of it can be found in B.
This short text is no. III in H. Delehaye Les versions grecques des Actes des Martyrs Persans sou... more This short text is no. III in H. Delehaye Les versions grecques des Actes des Martyrs Persans sous Sapor II (1905) pp. 39-44. On p. 7 Delehaye provides a list of the days on which martyrs were executed together with references to the Syriac versions in Assemani and Bedjan. 1 The feast day of Pherbute is April 5. Shapur II (309-379) seems to have pursued a vigorous pro-Zoroastrian policy, perhaps in relatiation for the pro-Christian policy of Constantine. He is said to have been the first to collect the Avesta, the scriptures of Zoroastrianism, and seems to have been on friendly terms with the Jews in his territory. According to Syriac texts his persecution of Christians began around the time of Constantine's death in 337. Pherbute is portrayed in the text as intelligent and attractive. After her arrest she is interrogated by someone called the mauptes 2 and two officials (ἄρχοντες). Each one succumbs to her charms and promises to rescue her from death if only she will marry him. Mutatis mutandis the episode recalls the story of Susanna and the two judges in the eponymous apocryphal Biblical tale. 3 According to F. Just Iranisches Namenbuch (1895) p.99, Pherbute was the sister of Simeon Bishop of Seleucia. 4
There are two texts of the Life: a 9th cent. text written by an unnamed monk of the abbey of Ruys... more There are two texts of the Life: a 9th cent. text written by an unnamed monk of the abbey of Ruys and a 12th cent. one by Caradoc of Llancarfan. 1 They are quite different from each other. The translation that follows is that of Caradoc's text, first published in complete form by J. Stevenson in Gildas de excidio et conquestu britanniae (1838) pp. xxxi-xli, as a preface to some of the works of Gildas. Gildas may have been born around 510. There is no agreement about his place of birth. 2 At some point he moved to Brittany, where he founded a monastery at Ruys not far from the coast. There is still a statue of Gildas in a bay near the coast. There is also a church named after him, and the inhabitants of the region are known in French as Gildasiens. Whether there was one or two persons named Gildas is not known but perhaps probable. 3
The following translation has been made from J. B. Chabot Synodicon Orientale (1902), 1 which has... more The following translation has been made from J. B. Chabot Synodicon Orientale (1902), 1 which has the text and translation of thirteen synods held by the Church of the East between 410 and 775. The fifth synod was held in 544. Mar Aba was a convert to Christianity from Zoroastrianism, who eventually succeeded two rival church leaders, Elisha' and Narse: in their mutually hostile fifteen-year tenure of office they managed to split the Church of the East, the principal see of which was Ctesiphon. Unity of faith and conduct had to be re-established, and Aba found it necessary to reach out to all Christians in his jurisdiction after his election in 540. The result was a synod in 544. 2 The text of the Aba Synod consists of a number of writings by Aba that form discrete sections. The text translated below is the fourth section that deals with the schism precipitated by the dual patriarchate, cf. Chabot pp. 85-89 (Syriac) and pp.338-345 (French), and has been made principally from the latter with occasional reference to the former. The signatures of the ten bishops who ratified the decisions (ܦܣܩܐ) and definitions (ܬܚܘܡܐ) made in this section appear after the text.
This short tract warning against the dangers of gambling was found among the works of Cyprian the... more This short tract warning against the dangers of gambling was found among the works of Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage (210-258), but was subsequently shown to be a work of Victor the Bishop of Rome from 189-199. 1
A poem of 536 hexameters commemorating this 'summit' was published in full by Ernst Dümmler Poeta... more A poem of 536 hexameters commemorating this 'summit' was published in full by Ernst Dümmler Poetae latini aevi Carolini (1881) vol. 1 pp. 377-379. It is known in German as the 'Paderborner Epos'. Its Latin title is 'Karolus Magnus et Leo Papa'. The final section of the work (ll. 426-536) is presented below with an English version. Dümmler has many footnotes, 1 but I have included none of them here. The author of the work, Angilbertus or Engelbertus, was educated by Alcuin at the court of Charlemagne and was nicknamed 'Homer' because he wrote poetry.
The following translation has been made from the Arabic text published, with Latin translation, b... more The following translation has been made from the Arabic text published, with Latin translation, by J.K. Thilo Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti vol. 1 (1832) pp. 66-131. In his notes (pp. xxviff.) Thilo states that the text was first copied and translated by H. Sike 1 at Utrecht in 1697 and quotes extensively from Sike's work. Jeremiah Jones published the text, a parallel Latin-English version, in volume II of his New Method for establishing the New Testament Canon (1827) pp. 144-186. The Latin version is also published in C. Tischendorf Evangelia Apocrypha (1876), discussed on pp. xlviii-lii and printed on pp. 181-209. 2 In 1886 an English translation, probably from the Latin, by Alexander Walker was published in the Ante-Nicene Fathers (1886) vol. 8.The text is summarized by M.R. James Apocryphal New Testament (1924) pp. 80-82. The Syriac version, published by E.A. Wallis Budge in The history of the Blessed Virgin (1899) with English translation in two volumes, has probably given rise to the Arabic version. A summary of the relationship between the various infancy gospels is provided by P. Peeters Évangiles Apocryphes 2 (1914) in his introduction. The Jesus of the text has been described as follows: Cette image grotesque d'un gamin omnipotent et omniscient est une des plus fortes caricatures qu'on ait jamais inventées, et certes ceux qui l'ont écrite avaient trop peu d'esprit pour qu'on puisse leur prêter l'intention d'y avoir mis de l'ironie. 3 Jesus performs miracles in this text as both an infant (though he does speak on two occasions) in §10-§34, the miraculous cure effected by his swaddling clothes or bathwater and as a child in §35-§47. From §48 to the end he engages with scholars and demonstrates his superior knowledge, 'to be about my Father's business' (§53). One or two stories exhibit a swift divine punishment of wrongdoers (e.g. §29). One or two stories allude to the human nature of the miracle-worker (e.g. §30). Many of the stories are quite short, but one occupies two sections: 33 and 34. Details, such as parents' suspicion that Jesus might be a magician (§36) or the comment that Joseph was not a very good carpenter (§38), relieve the tedium of the catalogue of miracles. 1 From a manuscript now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. For a digitized copy of fols. 1b-34a see: https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/f041d73c-5f3e-4afb-9a44-ba8ea77b8cff/surfaces/922ece94-540c-4499-b22c-bccc9c579664/# The ms. has no chapter numbers, and the divisions of Sike are his own. 2 The Latin texts published by Jones, Thilo and Tischendorf are copies of the translation made by Sike. 3 The contemptuously dismissive verdict of Ernest Renan Histoire des origines du christianisme vol. 6 (1877) p. 514 1 In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we undertake with the help of God and his favour and success to write the miracles of Our Lord Jesus Christ, known as the Infancy Gospel. In the peace of the Lord. Amen. 1. In the book of Joseph the Chief Priest, who lived at the time of Christ and, according to some, was Caiaphas, we find that Jesus in his cradle said to his mother Mary: "I am Jesus Son of God. the Logos, to whom you gave birth, as Gabriel the angel announced to you, sent by my Father for the salvation of the world." 4 2. In year 309 of the Era of Alexander 5 Augustus ordered everyone to be registered in the place of his birth. He 6 rose and took Mary his betrothed and went to Jerusalem and came to Bethlehem to be registered there with the people of his house in his village. When they reached the cave, 7 Mary said to Joseph: "The birth-time is near, and I cannot go the village. Let us go into the cave." This was at sunset. Joseph went quickly to bring her a woman to be with her. While he was doing this, he saw an old Hebrew woman from Jerusalem and said to her: "Bless you, come into this cave, for in it there is a woman about to give birth." 3. The old woman went with Joseph, and it was sunset as they entered. It was full of beautiful lights, great lamps and candles of sunlight. The child wrapped was sucking at the breasts of his mother Our Lady Mary in a manger. While they were marvelling at this light, the old woman said to Our Lady: "Are you his mother ?" She said: "Yes". The old woman said: "You do not look like the daughters of Eve." Our Lady replied: "As there has never been a boy like this, so his mother has no equal among women." The old woman said: "Mistress, I have come to earn an eternal reward." Mary said: "Place your hands upon the child." She did so and straightaway became pure, She went out and said: "From this day forward I will serve and attend to this child, all the days of my life." 4. Shepherds then arrived and lit a fire and rejoiced, the hosts of heaven appearing and celebrating God on high. While the shepherds were doing this, the cave began to look to them like a venerable 4 There is a Quranic parallel for Jesus speaking, mutatis mutandis, in the cradle in Sûra 19, 29-34. 5 Also known as the Seleucid Era, which marks the conquest of Babylon, according to the Christian calendar 312/311 BC. The use of this calendar may point to a Syriac origin of the text. 6 No name is given, but Joseph is to be understood 7 One might expect 'a cave', but the Ar. uses the def. art.
The following stories can be found in E.A. Wallis Budge The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gr... more The following stories can be found in E.A. Wallis Budge The laughable stories collected by Mâr Gregory John Bar Hebraeus (1897), in which he publishes the Syriac text of all seven hundred and twenty seven stories with an English version of all but the stories translated below, which it was felt required 'the respectable obscurity' of Latin. The same book also has the Syriac title Book of Refreshing Stories and the Arabic version made by Bar
The short text reproduced and translated below was first published by Jean-Baptiste Cotelier Eccl... more The short text reproduced and translated below was first published by Jean-Baptiste Cotelier Ecclesiae Graecae Monumenta in 1681 vol. 2 pp. 457ff. The copy reproduced below is from William Stubbs The chronicles and memorials of the reign of Richard I vol. 1 (1864) pp. 183-189, which includes an English translation. The text, written by a Cypriot monk named Neophytus, contains observations on how Cyprus suffered during the Crusades and how Richard I was received when he appeared there during the Third Crusade (1189-1192) and what he did there. Each page of Greek is followed by a page of English. Where the following translation lacks fidelity, this is indicated in a note.
who made several corrections and suggestions. My aim here is to present translations of some pass... more who made several corrections and suggestions. My aim here is to present translations of some passages that are more faithful to the Coptic and, in some cases, more accurate than those of Schiller. I make no reference to Crum's review. Where possible I have checked the printed text with the copies of the manuscripts on plates I-VII. 1 Release 26 xatmpnoute etouatB eouon nim. mpou< ou >w< ejitou 'with God who is above
This note contains the text and translation of imperial edicts that chart the progress of Christi... more This note contains the text and translation of imperial edicts that chart the progress of Christianity from an illegal faith to a legal faith to the dominant faith of the Empire. The edicts in question were issued by Galerius (311), Constantine/Licinius (315) and Theodosius (380). The sources of these documents are: Lactantius de mortibus persecutorum for the texts of Galerius (§34) and Constantine/Licinius (§48) and the codex theodosianus xvi 1, 2 for that of Theodosius. Greek versions of the Galerius and Constantine/Licinius Edicts can also be found in Eusebius historia ecclesiastica 8 ch. 17 § § 3-and Bk 10 ch. 5 § §2-14 respectively. I have not translated the Greek text, but have added notes to the parallel Greek and Latin texts that follow.
Aelfric (955-1020) was a late Anglo-Saxon abbot of a monastery at Eynsham, approx. 8 km north of ... more Aelfric (955-1020) was a late Anglo-Saxon abbot of a monastery at Eynsham, approx. 8 km north of Oxford. In addition to his voluminous religious works in Old English, he produced a teaching manual of Latin for children based on the works of Donatus (310-380), who wrote two works on language, ars major and ars minor, and Priscian (c. 500), whose 18 vol. institutiones grammaticae is a comprehensive treatment of the language. The work has a preface in both English and Latin, which are quite different from each other. The Latin is directed specifically at pupils, mentioned affectionately more than once, and dwells a little on the difficulties of grammar; while the English certainly mentions pupils but dwells rather on the need for learning, with an allusion to the Gospel injunction about making use of talents, and warns of poor copying as a source of error. The rather peevish comments that he makes about the British pronunciation of Latin, in particular the word pater, would be out of place in the English version, and that is why they are not in it.. For ease of consultation I have added the appropriate pages from Julius Zupitza Aelfrics Grammatik (1880) pp. 1-2.
The text translated here appears in two forms: as (a) a self-contained narrative and (b) part of ... more The text translated here appears in two forms: as (a) a self-contained narrative and (b) part of a longer text, a dispute held in Persia between Christians and non-Christians. 1 The former has probably been excerpted from the latter. (a) The former was first published from two mss in Munich by Johann Christian von Aretin Beyträge zur Geschichte und Literatur (1804) vol. 2 fasc. 4 pp. 49-69 and reprinted in J-P. Migne Patrologia Graeca 10 (1857) cols 97-108 and was clearly at one time attributed to the eminent Christian writer Sextus Julius Africanus, an attribution contemptuously rejected by Aretin.
The short text translated below was published by A. Vassiliev Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina (1893) pp... more The short text translated below was published by A. Vassiliev Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina (1893) pp. 1-4 from the 11th cent. Ms. Monte Cassino 277. 1 On p. 4 it is claimed that the author of the text was a certain Eurippus, otherwise unknown: All of this has been by written by me, Eurippus, the second of his disciples, as accurately as possible (κατὰ ἀκρίβειαν). For a comprehensive study of all the known texts of the beheading of John, cf. A. Berendts Die handschriftliche Überlieferung der Zacharias-und Johannes-Apokryphen (Texte und Untersuchungen n.s. 1904), in particular pp. 5ff., which deal specifically with the Cassino text. For those who wish to consult the Greek text I have added it after the translation.
Graeco-Byzantina (1893) pp. 58-72 reproduces two quite different versions of a text that deals wi... more Graeco-Byzantina (1893) pp. 58-72 reproduces two quite different versions of a text that deals with the priesthood of Christ. The text on pp. 58-60 is an ἀπόδειξις (A); the text on pp. 60-72 is a διήγησις (B) in two versions, of which I have translated the left-hand version. The date of composition is not known. There is an Arabic version, published by B. Evetts 'History of the Patriarchs' Patrologia Orientalis 1 (1907) pp. 120-134, where it follows sections of text designated by Evetts as 'Prefaces' and by C.F. Seybold Historia Patriarcharum (1904) pp. 8-15. The compiler of the History, Severus Bishop of Ashmunein, 1 says of it that he collected material for the History from all over Egypt, and some of these were translated from Coptic into Arabic by a deacon named Michael, the first of these being the story form (διήγησις) of Priesthood, in the monastery of Nahyâ. 2 I am not aware of any surviving Coptic version. The text precedes the History perhaps because Jesus was characterized in Hebrews 3, 1 as the 'chief priest of our faith', a description that is not inappropriate for a patriarch. The Arabic is so different from the Greek that comparison between the two would make little sense. Several Latin versions were published in the Middle Ages, including one by Robert Grosseteste, the 13th cent.
The following note contains the text of P.Oxy 6.903, copied from the Duke Database of Documentary... more The following note contains the text of P.Oxy 6.903, copied from the Duke Database of Documentary Papyri (DDbDP) with photograph. The translation and notes are mine. My interest in it was prompted by how close some of its phraseology is to that of Coptic, the indigenous language. The names of the complainant woman and the accused man are not given. They appear to be married, but it is not clear to me whether they were in fact married when the violence outlined in this suit began. Only two place names are mentioned: Antinoopolis and, possibly, sambacw. The text was found at Oxyrhynchus and is probably the scene of the action outlined in it. Antinoopolis, which had a bishop in the 4th cent. 1 , is some distance to the south. The several personal names are probably untraceable. The text may be an affidavit or perhaps deposition, but how a document of this sort was made, kept or used I cannot say. The document lacks details of date,. Is one to assume that the complainant wrote it ? The complainant has various charges to make: (1) the accused has inflicted physical violence on those in her service and those in her charge and implicitly accuses the complainant of theft; (2) the accused has locked the complainant out of her house, apparently after she had attended church, an activity of which the accused may have disapproved; (3) the accused has not contributed in any way to the payment of taxes, but apparently insists that the complainant pay them, and in connection with this he confiscated the 'documents', had the complainant locked up, after or during which the accused's assistant, Choous, was incarcerated and later bailed by a certain Euthalamus and the complainant; (4) the accused robs the complainant of her bathing accessories in front of the baths at Antinoopolis in the presence of his own mother, apparently to recoup some of the bail money which she had provided for Choous; (5) the accused tries to force the complainant to dismiss a servant, whom he seems to accuse of theft, but she refuses to do, and he threatens that in one month's time he will take a mistress ! Like many tales of domestic woe recounted in such brief form, principally for the benefit of those concerned, it is not easy to follow.
The following is a relatively simple English version of the above-mentioned texts contained in a ... more The following is a relatively simple English version of the above-mentioned texts contained in a book that used to belong to the Monastery of Michael the Archangel at Phantoou near Hamouli in the Fayyum and has since found its way into the Pierpont Morgan Library (USA) with the designation M 609. The texts occupy fols. 53r to 100v.
The following Sahidic Coptic text was first published as such in É. Chassinat Le quatrième livre ... more The following Sahidic Coptic text was first published as such in É. Chassinat Le quatrième livre des entretiens et épîtres de Shenouti MIFAO 23 (1911) pp. 84-94 1 and later by P. du Bourguet 'Entretien de Schenouté sur les devoirs des juges' Bulletin de l'Institut Français Orientale 55 (1955) pp. 87-109. The English translation that follows it is mine. The numbers in brackets throughout the text are the page numbers of the manuscript.
English version of the Sahidic text with notes referring to the Bohairic text, both of which were... more English version of the Sahidic text with notes referring to the Bohairic text, both of which were edited and translated (into French) by Émile Amélineau (Bohairic) and Henri Munier (Sahidic) in th early part of the 20th cent.
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