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Jerome, Letters 33.4-6

   https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/333

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 end he pivots from Varro to Origen, whom he praises as a great and productive scholar, despite his condemnation on theological grounds and the jealousy his intellectual brilliance attracts. Origen flourished as a scholar and teacher at Caesarea.

Text

(4) Quorsum Varronis et Chalcenteri mentio facta sit, quaeritis? Videlicet, ut ad Adamantium nostrum nostrumque Chalcenterum veniamus, qui tanto in Sanctarum Scripturarum commentariis sudore laboravit, ut iuste Adamantis nomen acceperit. Vultis nosse, quanta ingenii sui reliquerit monimenta? Sequens titulus ostendet: … (5) Videtisne et Graecos pariter et Latinos unius labore superatos? Quis enim umquam tanta legere potuit, quanta ipse conscripsit? Pro hoc sudore quid accepit praemii? Damnatur a Demetrio episcopo; exceptis Palaestinae et Arabiae et Phoenices atque Achaiae sacerdotibus in damnationem eius consentit orbis; Roma ipsa contra hunc cogit senatum non propter dogmatum novitatem, non propter heresim, ut nunc adversum eum rabidi canes simulant, sed quia gloriam eloquentiae eius et scientiae ferre non poterant et illo dicente omnes muti putabantur. (6) Haec quare scripserim et ad pauperis lucernae igniculum cito, sed non cauto sermone dictaverim, potestis intellegere, si Epicuros et Aristippos cogitetis.1

Textual Note

Ed. Hilberg and Slovak 1996

Translation

(4) But to what end, you ask, have I mentioned Varro and Brass-Guts? Simply to bring to your attention the Christian Brass-Guts, or Man of Steel, who has labored with so much sweat over his commentaries on the Sacred Writings that he has rightly received the name “Steel.” Do you wish to learn how many monuments to his genius he has left us? The following list shows: … (5) Do you not see that the Greek as well as Latin authors have been surpassed by the hard work of this one man? Who has ever been able to read all that he has written? And yet what reward has he received for his sweat? He stands condemned by Demetrius, his bishop, and the whole world agrees with his condemnation, with the exception of the bishops of Palestine, Arabia, Phoenicia, and Achaia. Rome herself convenes the Senate in opposition to him, not—as the rabid hounds who now pursue him cry—because of the novelty or heterodoxy of his teachings, but because men could not tolerate the glory of his eloquence and knowledge, and they thought that all others were voiceless when he spoke. (6) I have written these things quickly by the light of a meager lamp and I have expressed them incautiously. You will understand why if you consider the adherents of Epicurus and Aristippus.2

Translation Note

Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Fremantle 1893

Works 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: 4-6.Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
  • 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)Link to Zotero Bibliographic Record
About This Text

 

How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 33.4-6,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published October 19, 2022, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/333.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Jerome, Letters 33.4-6.” 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/333.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Jerome, Letters 33.4-6

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 33.4-6”
  • Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Jerome, Letters 33.4-6”

Additional Credit:

  • TEI encoding by William L. Potter
  • Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
  • Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife
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