Institut d’Études Augustiniennes

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Abstracts:

Lukas J. DORFBAUER, «Textkritische Notizen zu Timotheus, De pascha», p. | 1-15

This paper discusses some paragraphs of the editio princeps of Timothy, De pascha, published in 2019 by Pierre Chambert-Protat and Camille Gerzaguet. A number of conjectures is suggested.

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Victoria ZIMMERL-PANAGL, «Zu Ambrosius, Explanatio in psalm. 61: Titel, Anfangsworte, ‚Veröffentlichung‘ und Corpus-Bildung», p. 17-51

Ambrosius In psalm. 61 is known as twelfth and last part of his Explanatio in psalmos XII. The twofold content – on the one hand, Christological exegesis, on the other hand, political implications – led, however, also to combinations with other works. This contribution focuses on problems and questions that arise when preparing a new critical edition of the text. It is unclear whether Ambrose gave the work a title and whether the text was ’published’ by Ambrose himself. The article examines how In psalm. 61 was transmitted and asks if it was Martinus Corbo who was the first to add In psalm. 61 to the Explanatio in psalmos XII and whether a manuscript that Corbo received from Verona (Milano, Bibl. Ambr. I 145 inf., s. XII) could indeed have been the exemplar of Corbo’s text.

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Laurence GOSSEREZ, «La strophe énigmatique de Prudence sur saint Cassien de Tanger (Pe 4, 45-48)», p. 53-80

The stanza on Cassian of Tingis (Pe. 4, 45-48) is not an interpolation. It makes a definite allusion to the ancient Berber idolatrous cults, reflects Theodosian propaganda and is inserted with coherence in eschatological vision who structures the whole poem. It marks specifically African character of the tradition on martyrdom of Cassian, which it is the most ancient and authentic witness.

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Math OSSEFORTH, «The One Tree: Hiding in Plain Sight. A New Interpretation of Augustine’s Fig Tree», p. 81-91

In the Confessions Augustine uses references to Christian, but also to classical, non-Christian culture and literature to enhance his line of argument. The story he tells is a protreptic; recognition of the story world and identification with the protagonist enables the reader to follow in the protagonist’s footsteps.And we should keep in mind that that reader might be Christian, but also non-Christian, classicaly educated. A well-knownreference in the Confessions is the fig tree in the garden in Milan, where Augustine’s conversion takes place. Traditionally, that fig tree is seen as a biblical reference. In this article I propose a completely new interpretation of that fig tree, using literary as well as archeological sources; whereas the fig tree would remind the Christian reader of the Old Testament, that same tree would bring the Roman Forum and the most important of all classical myths to the mind of the non-Christian reader: the arrival of Romulus and Remus. This article illustrates Augustine’s great talent in addressing his heterogeneous audience in the Confessions, while using one and the same reference to appeal to all.

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Marina GIANI, «The Transmission of Augustine’s De ciuitate Dei in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. A Starting Point for Further Research»,p. 93-138

The article summarizes the state of the art as regards the late-antique and early medieval direct tradition of Augustine’s De ciuitate Dei, with some new critical insights. It aims to provide a solid basis for future research on the topic and to fill a gap in the existing literature, by critically sifting through the information scattered in the bibliography and bringing it together into a coherent and up-to-date picture. The first part deals with a general overview of the earliest dissemination of De ciuitate Dei and its textual history in the early Middle Ages. In the second part, the complete and partial witnesses dated up to the 9th century that may be used to establish the text of De ciuitate Dei are listed. After an outline of the history of Bernhard Dombart’s edition and its revision by Alphonse Kalb, the last part deals with the little information available so far regarding the genealogical relations between the earliest copies, with a focus on Florus of Lyon’s role in the transmission of the work. Paratexts, readers’ annotations, and variant readings are discussed and mutually integrated, also in light of the recently published articles by Emanuela Colombi (2013 and 2019) and Jesse Keskiaho (2019).

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Martine DULAEY, «Eucher de Lyon, lecteur d’Augustin: le témoignage des Instructiones», p. 139-164

This article demonstrates there was widespread knowledge of Augustine’s works on the other side of the Mediterranean, well before the transfer of the Hippo library to Rome under Pope Leo the Great, refuting previous views. In his ‘Instructiones’, written at Lérins monastery around 430-434, Eucherius gives us verbatim quotes from several works of the bishop of Hippo (§ 1); in many cases, he reveals his knowledge of Augustine’s biblical exegesis by using Augustinian expressions (§ 2); moreover, many interpretations that can only be found in the works of the bishop of Hippo are found in his writing (§ 3). Eucherius mainly draws on the commentaries on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of Saint John, but they are not by any means the only ones he refers to.

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Raúl VILLEGAS MARÍN, «Arnobe “le Jeune”: esquisse d’une biographie et d’un portrait intellectuel», p. 165-184

Arnobius came, most probably, from the province Mauretania Caesariensis, from which he moved to Rome fleeing from the Vandals. In the Vrbs, this seruus Christi and Catholicus doctor – as he styled himself in his works – found his place as the spiritual advisor of pious Christian aristocrats. By the last years of Pope Celestine’s pontificate (422-432) – and quite probably under Sixtus III (432-440) too –, Arnobius was very well connected with the Roman ecclesiastical milieus. Indeed, some sections of his works seek to justify Pope Celestine’s anti-Novatian campaign as well as the Catholic expropriation of Roman Montanist churches. Yet, Arnobius’ relationship with the Roman Catholic hierarchy deteriorated towards the last years of Sixtus III and the beginning of the pontificate of Leo the Great (440-461). This was due to the resurfacing in Rome of controversies on grace, in the course of which Arnobius came to be accused of heresy (“Pelagianism”). These accusations damaged his reputation as Catholicus doctor among his contemporaries and for posterity – as attested by the so-called Decretum Gelasianum.

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François DOLBEAU, «Les sermons d’Augustin 361 et 362 sur la résurrection des morts. Édition critique», p. 213-292

This article consists in a critical edition of two Augustinian sermons on the resurrection of the flesh (Serm. 361 and 362). The edition is chiefly based on Mainz, Municipal Library I 9, ca. 1470-75. The two sermons are always linked both in manuscripts and editions; however, sermon 361 circulated separately, notably in Lyons, Municipal Library 604, from the beginning of the seventh century. This manuscript, although accidentally damaged, is the version on which all later manuscripts depend.
These two sermons were very likely preached successively in Carthage in the winter of 403-404. This can be inferred from their content and the context of their circulation. Thanks to two exchanges of letters (Epp. 94 and 95, 121 and 149), it has long been known that Paulinus of Nola wrote to Augustine asking about the form of the resurrection during a winter that he spent in Carthage. If sermons 361-362 were preached at that time, it follows that the chronology of Paulinus’s correspondence with the bishop of Hippo should be re-dated.

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Johannes VAN OORT, «Notes on Augustine’s De pulchro et apto and its Manichaean Context», p. 293-324

We only know Augustine’s lost work De pulchro et apto from his Confessiones. In conf. 4,20-27 he slightly lifts the veil that hangs over its content. The present essay examines the possible subject matter of De pulchro et apto within the context of Augustine’s former Manichaeism. Apart from the Confessiones, other writings of Augustine seem to shed light on the content of his former Manichaean work. But most important to unravel the topics of Augustine’s first writing appear to be some genuine Manichaean sources. This extensive search for the content of De pulchro et apto ends up with twelve conclusions.

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Barbara FEICHTINGER, «Von der (Un-)Möglichkeit des Scheiterns. Zu Intertextualität und Autorschaft in Hieronymus ep. 1», p. 325-342

The article explores the metapoetic (self-)reflections on Christian authorship in the framing text passages of Jerome’s Epistula 1. The analysis shows that this literary debut, in which the author’s purported inability is offset by the brilliance of his writing, is, in fact, a literary showpiece of Jerome, which refutes the irrelevance of aesthetics in Christian themes. The analysis of quotations from the classics in particular underlines that he defines Christian writing through Christian themes and religious beliefs while at the same time holding on to the aesthetic norms of classical antiquity and thus – through rhetorical elegantia – recommending himself to a lettered and demanding audience. In an age which technically does not allow for professional poets being supported by patronage and remuneration as was common during the classical period, Jerome virtually wants to establish himself as a Christian Virgil of prose writing.

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Gert PARTOENS, «A neglected homily by Caesarius of Arles. The complete version of Sermo Étaix 4», p. 343-362

In 1975, Raymond Étaix published on the basis of Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, latin 2730 a fragment of what he considered to be a lost sermon by Caesarius of Arles (sermon Étaix 4). In the Parisian manuscript, this fragment (fol. 68v-69r) is attached as a kind of peroratio to what according to Étaix was Augustine’s sermon 304 on the martyr Laurentius (fol. 67r-68v). The present article argues, however, that the fragment is attached to a strongly modified version of the Augustinian homily and that the entire item on fol. 67r-69v is the very sermon by Caesarius that Étaix thought to be lost. The article additionally shows that for the compilation of this homily, the bishop of Arles has used a more original version of Augustine’s sermon 304 than the one that is transmitted by the sermon’s entire direct transmission and and that is found in the modern editions. A critical edition of the new Caesarian sermon is given at the end of the article.

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Pascal MUELLER-JOURDAN, «“Du caractère inconnaissable qui est dans les êtres en vertu de leur union au Premier Principe”. Proclus, Théologie platomnicienne II.6», p. 363-380

This article discusses a critical question in the Platonic theology of Proclus. This concerns the limits of human understanding of the notion of being as it relates to the loftiest of realities, namely the divine, as well as to the most humble. In the Platonic Theology, book II, Proclus states: "The unknowable, which is in beings owing to their union with the first principle, cannot be known by us or revealed by a name." (Plat. Theol., II.6 (42.16-18), ed. Saffrey-Westerink). The scope of this article is to shed light on the relationship we have to all realities as discussed by Proclus.

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