Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 674
Orosius, presbyter from the Iberian Peninsula, writes seven books "Against the pagans", ca AD 410-423. Account in the "Lives of Illustrious Men" by Gennadius of Marseille, writing in Marseille (Gaul), ca AD 490.
XL.
 
OROSIUS presbyter Hispani generis, vir eloquens et historiarum cognitor, scripsit Adversus quaerulos Christiani nominis, qui dicunt defectum Romanae reipublicae Christi doctrina invectum libros septem, in quibus totius paene mundi temporis calamitates et miserias ac bellorum inquietudines replicans, ostendit magis Christianae observantiae esse, quod contra meritum suum res Romana adhuc duraret et pace culturae Dei pacatum teneret imperium.
Sane in primo libro descripsit positionem orbis Oceani interfusione et Tanai limitibus intercisam, situm locorum, nomina et numerum moresque gentium, qualitates regionum, initia bellorum et tyrannidis exordia finitimorum sanguine dedicata.
Hic est Orosius, qui ab Augustino pro discenda animae ratione ad Hieronymum missus, rediens reliquias beati Stephani, primi martyris, tunc nuper inventas, primus intulit Occidenti. Claruit extremo paene Honorii imperatoris tempore.
 
(ed. E. Cushing Richardson 1896)
XL.
 
Orosius, presbyter of Spanish origin, an eloquent man and learned in history, wrote seven books against those enemies of the Christians who say that the decay of the Roman Republic was caused by the Christian religion. In these, rehearsing the calamities, miseries, and war disturbances of the almost whole world from its very beginning, he shows that the Roman Empire owed to the Christian religion its undeserved continuance and the state of peace which it enjoyed for the worship of God.
In the first book, he reasonably described: the position of the world situated between the stream of Oceanus and the banks of the Danube river, the location of the places, names, and the number and customs of [various] people, the characteristics of different regions, the beginnings of wars, and the origins of tyrannies founded on the blood of neighbours.
This is the Orosius who, returning from Jerome to whom he was sent by Augustine in order to learn the nature of the soul, was the first to bring to the West relics of the blessed Stephen the first martyr then recently found. He [i.e. Orosius] flourished almost at the end of the reign of the emperor Honorius.
 
(trans. by E. Cushing Richardson, changed by J. Szafranowski)

Place of event:

Region
  • East
  • Iberian Peninsula

About the source:

Author: Gennadius of Marseille
Title: De viris illustribus, Lives of Illustrious Men, De viris inlustribus, On the lives of famous men On the Lives of Famous Men
Origin: Marseille (Gaul)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
The "Lives of Illustrious Men" by Gennadius of Marseille is the continuation of Jerome`s work bearing the same title. It contains 99 additional additional entries on different famous ecclesiestatics. It was written in the end of 5th century. At one point Gennadius writes that the death of presbyter and monk Theodore (Theodulus) of Coelesyria  occured `three years ago, in the reign of Zeno` (died AD 491). Gennadius also knows that pope Gelasius died (AD 496) and Julianus Pomerius is considered alive (d. AD 498). Therefore, Gennadius composed majority of his work most probably in the first half of the 490s.
Edition:
E. Cushing Richardson ed., Hieronymus liber De viris inlustribus; Gennadius liber De viris inlustribus, Leipzig 1896, 57-97.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence
Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
Relation with - Another presbyter
Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior
Education
Writing activity
Devotion - Veneration of saints and relics
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: J. Szafranowski, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER674, http://presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=674