Unknown, Suda ω 183.621.1-27
created: This entry is taken from Suda ω 183.621.1-27 written by Unknown in 976-990 C.E..
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2023 by the contributors (Joseph L. Rife, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/315

Καισαρείᾳ

, and

Caesarea

are directly attested at Unknown, Suda ω 183.621.1-27. This passage was written ca. 976-990 C.E. possibly in Constantinople. The Suda (“Stronghold”) is an encyclopedic lexicon written by an unknown scholar during the late 10th century. It compiles copious information in alphabetical entries for use by the learned philologist, in particular on grammar, history, and biography, referring to a broad range of sources from Classical Antiquity to the Early Byzantine period. This passage from the second lemma on Origen (s.v. Ὠριγένης) discusses his relationship with Ambrose, his scholarship, and his work on the biblical text. Here the author repeats the chronicle of George the Monk, written roughly one century earlier; and this account is repeated by Constantine II Porphyrogenitus.

πολλῆς οὖν φήμης περὶ αὐτοῦ τρεχούσης, καὶ πολλῶν μακρόθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν συρρεόντων, οὐ μόνον Ἕλληνας καὶ φιλοσόφους καὶ αἱρετικοὺς ἐλλογίμους πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν εἵλκυσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὄντας Χριστιανοὺς μᾶλλον στοιχειώσας ἐπεβεβαίωσεν. ὃν ὁ προλεχθεὶς Ἀμβρόσιος ἱκετεύσας πολλὰ καὶ παραβιασάμενος ἐν Καισαρείᾳ καὶ ταχυγράφους αὐτῷ παραστήσας ἑπτά, πλείους δὲ καλλιγράφους, ἑρμηνεῦσαι τὰς θείας γραφὰς αὐτὸν πεποίηκε. καὶ ὁ μὲν τὴν δέουσαν χρείαν παρεῖχεν, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ σχολῆς γενόμενος ὑπηγόρευε τοῖς ταχυγράφοις καὶ οἱ βιβλιογράφοι σὺν γυναιξὶν ἔγραφον ἐπὶ τὸ καλλιγραφεῖν ἐξησκημέναις. πᾶσαν τε θείαν γραφὴν ἡρμήνευσεν ἐπὶ ἔτη ιηʹ. λέγεται δὲ ὅτι ͵ϛʹ βίβλους συνέταξε: τοσοῦτον γὰρ ζῆλον ἐς τὴν ἐξήγησιν τῶν θείων λογίων ὁ Ἀμβρόσιος ἐπεδείξατο, ὥστε τὴν πολλὴν αὐτοῦ σπουδὴν Ὠριγένης μαρτυρῶν γράφει πρός τινα λέγων: ὁ ἱερὸς θεῷ καὶ γνησίως ἀνακείμενος Ἀμβρόσιος πολλὰ προσηγόρευσεν: ὅστις νομίζων με φίλον εἶναι καὶ πάνυ διψᾶν τοῦ θείου ἤλεγξε τῇ ἰδίᾳ φιλοπονίᾳ τῷ πρὸς τὰ μαθήματα ἔρωτι. ὅθεν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν με παρελήλυθεν, ὥστε κινδυνεύειν ἀπαυδᾶν πρὸς τὰς αὐτοῦ προτάσεις: οὔτε γὰρ δειπνῆσαι ἔστιν ὅτι μὴ ἀντιβάλλοντα, οὔτε δειπνήσαντα ἔξεστι περιπατῆσαι καὶ διαναπαῦσαι τὸ σωμάτιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς ἐκείνοις φιλολογεῖν καὶ ἀκριβοῦν τὰ ἀντίγραφα ἀναγκαζόμεθα. οὔτε μὴν ὅλην ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ τοῦ σώματος τὴν νύκτα ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν κοιμᾶσθαι, ἐπὶ πολὺ ταῖς φιλολογίαις παρατείνοντα. ἐῶ δὲ λέγειν καὶ τὰ ἕωθεν μέχρις ἐννάτης καὶ δεκάτης ὥρας: πάντες γὰρ οἱ θέλοντες φιλοπονεῖν τοὺς καιροὺς ἐκείνους τῇ ἐξετάσει τῶν θείων λογίων καὶ ταῖς ἀναγνώσεσιν ἀνατιθέασι. πᾶσαν τοίνυν ἡρμήνευσε τὴν θείαν γραφήν. κατὰ γὰρ τοὺς χρόνους τούτους ἐν Ἱεριχῷ ἔν τινι πίθῳ περιτυχὼν τὴν Παλαιὰν εὐφυῶς μάλα καὶ ἐπιστημόνως ταύτην κατεσκεύασεν.

https://archive.org/details/adler-a.-suidae-lexicon-3-./Adler%20A.%2C%20Suidae%20Lexicon%203%20%28%CE%9A-%CE%9F.%20%CE%A9%29/page/n317/mode/2up [Ed. Adler 1933]

With many reports flying about him and many flowing to him from afar, not only did (Origen) draw to proper worship famous Greeks, both philosophers and heretics, but he also compelled into closer formation those who were already Christians. The Ambrose mentioned before often entreated him, and, after constraining (him to live) in Caesarea, (where he) provided seven stenographers to attend him and more calligraphers, made him interpret the Divine Scriptures. (Ambrose) also provided the necessities for living. (Origen), engaged in his studies, dictated to the stenographers, and the scribes, along women who were well-trained in calligraphy, prepared the text. He interpreted the entire Divine Scripture(s) in 18 years. It is said that he composed 6,000 books. Ambrose displayed so much devotion to the interpretation of Scripture that Origen, attesting to his ongoing industry, wrote to someone, “The holy Ambrose, who is genuinely dedicated to God, sent many greetings. Aware that I am a friend of God and that I thirsted much (for Him), he put me to shame with his own diligence in his love for learning. From that point he surpassed me by so much that I risked falling short of his propositions. It is not that he dines without back and forth, nor that after dining it is permitted to take walks and rest the body, but indeed at those times we are compelled to study and to make accurate copies. Nor are we permitted to sleep through the night for the health of the body, but more often he spent the time devoted to his love of language. At dawn (we) read, and from dawn until the ninth or tenth hour. All who want to be industrious dedicate these times to the examination of the Divine Scriptures and to their reading.” Thus he interpreted the entire holy text. During that time, after he had chanced upon the Old Testament in a storage jar in Jericho, Origen very beautifully and with erudition established this (biblical text). [Rev. SOL (trans. J. Arnold et al., 2000-)]

Works Cited

[...] ω 183.621.1-27

Additional Bibliography

[...]

[...]

[Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Virtues and Vices 1.137.5-140.29

Eusebius, Church History 6

George Cedrenus, Historiarium compendium, PG 121.483-490.

George the Monk, Chronicle 2.452.18-459.4]

[Jericho]

[Ambrose of Alexandria]

[Christian Bible

Christianity

Culture and Society

Education (sacred)

Hebrew Bible

Literature]