Gaius Marius Victorinus
Encyclopedia
Gaius Marius Victorinus (also known as Victorinus Afer, fourth century) was a Roman
grammarian, rhetorician and Neoplatonic philosopher. Victorinus was African by birth and experienced the height of his career during the reign of Constantius II
. He is also known for translating 2 of Aristotle
's books from ancient Greek
into Latin: the Categories
and On Interpretation
(De Interpretatione). Victorinus had a religious conversion
, from being a pagan to a Christian
(c. 355) "at an advanced old age".
for Rome
(hence some modern scholars have dubbed him Afer), probably for a position teaching, and had great success in his career, eventually being promoted to the lowest level of the senatorial order. That promotion probably came at the time when he received an honorific statue in the Forum of Trajan in 354 (Jerome supplied biographical information but was not his student). Victorinus' religious conversion
from Platonism
to Christianity
(c. 355), "at an advanced old age" according to Jerome, made a great impression on Augustine of Hippo
, as recounted in Book 8 of the latter's Confessions. His conversion is historically important in foreshadowing the defection of more and more of the traditionally pagan intellectual class, from the gods who in pagan belief had made Rome great. Victorinus' conversion, even though criticized by some scholars (e.g. Ernst Benz, and repeated by other) as purely intellectualist, was undoubtedly sincere, as events connected with the revival of paganism initiated by the last pagan emperor, Julian the Philosopher
(dubbed "Julian the Apostate" by Christians) came to show.
Brought up a Christian
, Emperor Julian had converted to a philosophical and mystical form of paganism; and once in power upon the providential death of Constantius II
, then Julian attempted to reorganize the highly decentralized pagan cults, on lines analogous to the Christian Church. The emperor, wanting to purge the schools of Christian teachers, published an edict in June of 362 mandating that all state appointed professors receive approval from municipal councils (the emperor's accompanying brief indicated his express disapproval of Christians lecturing on the poems of Homer or Virgil when their religion demanded the annihilation of the religion of Homer and Virgil). Victorinus resigned his position as official rhetor of the city of Rome, professor of rhetoric, not an orator. The sprightly old professor kept writing treatises on the Trinity
to defend the adequacy of the Nicene Creed
's definition of Christ the Son being "of the same substance" (homoousios in Greek) with the Father. After finishing this series of works (begun probably in late 357), he turned his hand to writing commentaries on the Pauline Epistles
, the first in Latin. Although it seems from internal references that he wrote commentaries on Romans and the Corinthians letters as well, all that remains are works, with some lacuane, on Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians (the comments from the first 16 verses of this latter are missing.
We are fairly well informed on his previous works, mosts texts for his teaching areas of grammar and rhetoric. His most important works from the standpoint of the history of philosophy were translations of Platonist authors (Plotinus and Porphyry at least), which are unfortunately lost. They greatly impacted Augustine and set him out on a road of creating a careful synthesis of Christianity and Neoplatonism that was tremendously influential. Victorinus wrote a brief treatise De Definitionibus, that is,On Definition, which lists and discusses the various types of definitions utilized by rhetoricians and philosopher, recommending the "substantial definitions" proferred by the latter (prior to the late 19th century this work was ascribed to Boethius
. Victorinus' manual of prosody
, in four books, taken almost literally from the work of Aelius Aphthonius, is extant. It is doubtful whether he is the author of certain other extant treatises attributed to him on metrical and grammatical subjects. His commentary on Cicero
's De Inventione is very diffuse, and is itself in need of commentary.
He retained his Neoplatonic philosophy after becoming Christian, and in Liber de generatione divini Verbi, he states that God is above being, and thus it can even be said that He is not. Victorinus noted, "Since God is the cause of being, it can be said in a certain sense, that God truly is (vere ων), but this expression merely means that being is in God as an effect is in an eminent cause, which contains it though being superior to it."
He was also a very original thinker in terms of Christian dogmatics. His exposition of the doctrine of Trinity in Adversus Arium 1B is unprecedented in earlier Christian philosophy.
There are heated discussions concerning the sources of his trinitarian concept. This matter is obscure, but several interesting theories have been made, including a spectacular and elaborate, though doubtful, one by Pierre Hadot in his work "Porphyry and Victorinus".
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
grammarian, rhetorician and Neoplatonic philosopher. Victorinus was African by birth and experienced the height of his career during the reign of Constantius II
Constantius II
Constantius II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death....
. He is also known for translating 2 of Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
's books from ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
into Latin: the Categories
Categories (Aristotle)
The Categories is a text from Aristotle's Organon that enumerates all the possible kinds of thing that can be the subject or the predicate of a proposition...
and On Interpretation
On Interpretation
Aristotle's De Interpretatione or On Interpretation is one of the earliest surviving philosophical works in the Western tradition to deal with the relationship between language and logic in a comprehensive, explicit, and formal way.The work begins by analyzing simple categoric...
(De Interpretatione). Victorinus had a religious conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
, from being a pagan to a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
(c. 355) "at an advanced old age".
Life
Victorinus, at some unknown point, left AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
for Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(hence some modern scholars have dubbed him Afer), probably for a position teaching, and had great success in his career, eventually being promoted to the lowest level of the senatorial order. That promotion probably came at the time when he received an honorific statue in the Forum of Trajan in 354 (Jerome supplied biographical information but was not his student). Victorinus' religious conversion
Religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a new religion that differs from the convert's previous religion. Changing from one denomination to another within the same religion is usually described as reaffiliation rather than conversion.People convert to a different religion for various reasons,...
from Platonism
Platonism
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato or the name of other philosophical systems considered closely derived from it. In a narrower sense the term might indicate the doctrine of Platonic realism...
to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
(c. 355), "at an advanced old age" according to Jerome, made a great impression on Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
, as recounted in Book 8 of the latter's Confessions. His conversion is historically important in foreshadowing the defection of more and more of the traditionally pagan intellectual class, from the gods who in pagan belief had made Rome great. Victorinus' conversion, even though criticized by some scholars (e.g. Ernst Benz, and repeated by other) as purely intellectualist, was undoubtedly sincere, as events connected with the revival of paganism initiated by the last pagan emperor, Julian the Philosopher
Julian the Apostate
Julian "the Apostate" , commonly known as Julian, or also Julian the Philosopher, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363 and a noted philosopher and Greek writer....
(dubbed "Julian the Apostate" by Christians) came to show.
Brought up a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, Emperor Julian had converted to a philosophical and mystical form of paganism; and once in power upon the providential death of Constantius II
Constantius II
Constantius II , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 361. The second son of Constantine I and Fausta, he ascended to the throne with his brothers Constantine II and Constans upon their father's death....
, then Julian attempted to reorganize the highly decentralized pagan cults, on lines analogous to the Christian Church. The emperor, wanting to purge the schools of Christian teachers, published an edict in June of 362 mandating that all state appointed professors receive approval from municipal councils (the emperor's accompanying brief indicated his express disapproval of Christians lecturing on the poems of Homer or Virgil when their religion demanded the annihilation of the religion of Homer and Virgil). Victorinus resigned his position as official rhetor of the city of Rome, professor of rhetoric, not an orator. The sprightly old professor kept writing treatises on the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
to defend the adequacy of the Nicene Creed
Nicene Creed
The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
's definition of Christ the Son being "of the same substance" (homoousios in Greek) with the Father. After finishing this series of works (begun probably in late 357), he turned his hand to writing commentaries on the Pauline Epistles
Pauline epistles
The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...
, the first in Latin. Although it seems from internal references that he wrote commentaries on Romans and the Corinthians letters as well, all that remains are works, with some lacuane, on Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians (the comments from the first 16 verses of this latter are missing.
We are fairly well informed on his previous works, mosts texts for his teaching areas of grammar and rhetoric. His most important works from the standpoint of the history of philosophy were translations of Platonist authors (Plotinus and Porphyry at least), which are unfortunately lost. They greatly impacted Augustine and set him out on a road of creating a careful synthesis of Christianity and Neoplatonism that was tremendously influential. Victorinus wrote a brief treatise De Definitionibus, that is,On Definition, which lists and discusses the various types of definitions utilized by rhetoricians and philosopher, recommending the "substantial definitions" proferred by the latter (prior to the late 19th century this work was ascribed to Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after...
. Victorinus' manual of prosody
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
, in four books, taken almost literally from the work of Aelius Aphthonius, is extant. It is doubtful whether he is the author of certain other extant treatises attributed to him on metrical and grammatical subjects. His commentary on Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
's De Inventione is very diffuse, and is itself in need of commentary.
He retained his Neoplatonic philosophy after becoming Christian, and in Liber de generatione divini Verbi, he states that God is above being, and thus it can even be said that He is not. Victorinus noted, "Since God is the cause of being, it can be said in a certain sense, that God truly is (vere ων), but this expression merely means that being is in God as an effect is in an eminent cause, which contains it though being superior to it."
He was also a very original thinker in terms of Christian dogmatics. His exposition of the doctrine of Trinity in Adversus Arium 1B is unprecedented in earlier Christian philosophy.
There are heated discussions concerning the sources of his trinitarian concept. This matter is obscure, but several interesting theories have been made, including a spectacular and elaborate, though doubtful, one by Pierre Hadot in his work "Porphyry and Victorinus".