Jerome, Letters 33.1
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/324
Context
Among the voluminous correspondence of St. Jerome is this letter, written
at the end of his service to Pope Damasus I at Rome and addressed to Paula, a wealthy widow
who belonged to his circle in the Imperial capital. At the opening he pairs Varro and Origen
(Chalcenterus) as paragons of scholarly productivity, and criticizes a
declining enthusiasm for classical learning (saeculares litterae). Origen
flourished as a scholar and teacher at Caesarea.
Text
Marcum Terentium Varronem miratur antiquitas, quod apud Latinos tam
innumerabiles libros scripserit. Graeci Chalcenterum miris efferunt laudibus, quod
tantos libros conposuerit, quantos quivis nostrum alienos sua manu describere non
potest, et quia nunc otiosum est apud Latinos Graecorum voluminum indicem texere, de eo,
qui Latine scripsit, aliqua commemorabo, ut intellegamus nos Epimenidis dormire somnum
et studium, quod illi posuerunt in eruditione saecularium litterarum, in congregandis
opibus ponere.1
Textual Note
Ed. Hilberg and Slovak 1996Translation
Antiquity marvels at Marcus Terentius Varro, because of the
countless books which he wrote for Latin readers. Greek writers are extravagant in their
praise of Brass-Guts, because he has written more works than one of us could so much as
copy. But because now it would be tiresome for Latin readers to assemble a list of Greek
writings, I shall confine myself to the one (sc. Varro) who wrote in Latin. I intend for
us to understand that we are sleeping the sleep of Epimenides and devoting to the
accrual of wealth the zeal that our predecessors gave to learning in secular
literature.2
Translation Note
Rev. Fremantle 1893Works Cited
- 1 Jerome, S. Eusebii Hieronymi Opera I.1: Epistulae I-LXX, ed. Isidor Hilberg and Conrad Slovak, 2nd ed., Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 54 (Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), letter: 33, ch: 1.
- 2 Jerome, Jerome: Letters and Select Works, trans. W. H. Fremantle, Philipp Schaff, and Henry Wace, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: A Select Library of the Christian Church, 2.6 (New York: Christian Literature Publishing, 1893)
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 33.1,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published October 19, 2022, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/324.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 33.1.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2022. Entry published October 19, 2022. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/324.About this Entry
Entry Title: Jerome, Letters 33.1
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Jerome, Letters 33.1”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Jerome, Letters 33.1”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife