On the Date and Order of Delivery of St. Augustine's Tractates on the Gospel and Epistle of St.

John
Author(s): Roy J. Deferrari
Source: Classical Philology, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Apr., 1917), pp. 191-194
Published by: University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/263233
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 NOTESAND DIscussIONs 191

itself, belongs to an order of ideas otherwise unrepresentedamong vase

inscriptions. Apart from that, I submit that, given the words xaarra yas
'a Bpanxa, the naturaltranslation,the almostinevitable translation,would be
"The Brasian woman is the fairest on earth." This, besides being the
obviousmeaningof the words,wouldbringthe inscriptioninto line with innu-
merableinscriptionson Attic potteryof the sixth and fifth centuries-inscrip-
tionsof the type O'raTs KaXo's, i' ra- KCA?,O SKaWm Xo -"va ica=Xv. Klein's
GriechischeVasen mit Lieblingsinschriften supplies still closer parallels. Thus
we find two youths, Andrias and Hippocritus, acclaimed each as Ka.Waros.
And there are several instances of 80Kc-tin this class of inscriptions,e.g.,
Catalogue of Vases in the British Museum, Vol. III, E 718: 'A4Opo&o(ac KaXv,
irwo SOKELEv'X(e)ipw.Other instances may be found on pp. 39, 61, 98 of
Klein's Lieblingsinschriftenand on p. 50 of his Meistersignaturen.
In short, I am convinced that the vase painter meant to celebrate a
woman,not a small piece of country. But that he would referto her as the
"the Brasian woman" rather than by her individual name does not seem
very likely. If it be suggestedthat her name was Brasia, the objection is
that the articleis never used with a propername in this class of inscriptions.
I propose,therefore,to see in HABPA:IA a single word, Habrasia. This,
though unexampled, seems to be possible as a woman's name, com-
pounded of a/3p- and 'Aaia. A place-name does sometimes occur as the
second element of a personal name, and 'Aj3pao-(alooks as intelligible
asas'ApwTita-rpo
APCOKU7rPOS.
Mr.Sheartranslates by "land,"whereasI preferto take it as "earth,"
yas

but his understandingof the constructionis the same as mine. Parallels

are quoted by Kr(iger, GriechischeSprachlehre, I, 47, 29, A 7; viz., Plato,
Protag. 342 A: Uo4tarai 7XCTTrOL Yq CKe eZcrat, and Xenophon, Symp.
VIII, 40: ~am&torpew&arrarovi&tv "as xroALc SEXaS.
F. B. TARBELL
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

ON THE DATE AND ORDER OF DELIVERY OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S

TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL AND EPISTLE OF ST. JOHN
M. Peronne ((Euvrescomplftes de Saint Augustin [Paris, 1869], IX, 212 ff.;
X, 452), dates these discourses in the year 416 or 417 A.D. It is certain from
the content of the various sermons that they were delivered in the midst of the
struggle between the Catholics and the Donatists. They might therefore be
placed as far back perhaps as the year 411, just preceding the famous con-
ference at Carthage between Catholic and Donatist bishops. In Tractates
XLV, XLVIII, LXXXIII, CV, CXI, not only the doctrine of predestination,
but also the errors of the Pelagians are discussed. Now the Pelagian heresy
began to make its way into Africa about 411 A.D., and for that reason these
sermons cannot be placed before that date.

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 192 NoTES AND DISCUssMONS

The followingstatementfromTractate CXX would make it clear that a

date later than 415 is to be assumed: "Hic ergointelligendumest ad lesum,
non tunc solum, sed tunc primumvenisse Nicodemum; venititasse autem
postea ut fieretaudiendodiscipulus; quodcerte modoin revelationecorporis
beatissimi Stephani fere omnibus gentibus declaratur." The discovery of
the bodies of Nicodemusand St. Stephenwas made at the close of 415 A.D.
Besides,at the end of Augustine'sworkDe trinitate(XV, 27 [481),Augustine
quotes fromone of the last sermonson the Gospelof St. John (XCIX, 8, 9).
The De trinitatewas finishedin or after 416. The date 416-17 for this series
of sermons,therefore,is the earliestprobabledate.
M. P6rronesays also that these discourseswere delivered"tous les jours
sans distinction." This statement, however, cannot be accurate, if it is
intended to indicate immediatelysuccessivedays. Thus SermonsI and II
were preachedon Sunday (note II, 1) and Monday (II, 1, 2), respectively;
and Sermons VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII in close succession on Sunday
(VII, 24), Monday (VIII, 1, 13), Tuesday (VIII, 9, 13), Wednesday(X, 11,
12), Sunday (XIII, 1), and Monday (XII, 1), respectively. Thus underthe
closest possible successive arrangement,allowing a separate day for each
sermon,one day remainsunoccupiedbetweenSermonsII and VII, and three
days betweenSermonsX and XI. SermonsXXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI, and
XXXVII took place on successive days, on Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday,as we learnfromthe followingpassages: XXVIII, 1; XXXVII,
1, 6; XXXVI, 3; XXXV, 1. SermonsXLV and XLVI also were delivered
on a Saturdayand the followingSundayrespectively(XLVII, 1; XLVI, 1).
The particulardays of the week cannot be ascertainedfor any other
sermons than those above mentioned, but certain homilies can be linked
togetheras occurringon immediatelysuccessivedays. Such are the sermon
groupsXV (note sec. 1) and XVI; XVII and XVIII (sec. 1); XIX (sec. 1,
20), XX (sec. 13), XXI (sec. 1), XXII (sec. 1, 11), and XXIII (sec. 3, 6, 15);
XXIV and XXV (see. 1); XXVIII and XXIX (sec. 1); XXXVIII (sec. 8);
and XXXIX; XLIX and L (sec. 1); and LI and LII (sec. 1, 12).
All homilieswhichhave been mentionedso far precedeLIII. Beginning
with LIV, the sermonsbecomemorecompactin thought,and sharplyreduced
in length to about one-thirdof the averageprevioussermon. Furthermore,
the day of the week of no singlesermonfrom LIV to the end can be learned,
and no two sermonscan be joined with certainty as occurringon immedi-
ately successivedays. Definitephrasesin the firstgroupof sermons(I-LIII)
which refer specificallyto the precedingor immediatelyfollowing sermon,
such as praeteritodie dominico,hesternodie, hesternam in crastinum,
sermonem,
crastinodie, etc. (lOc.cit.) give way in the secondgroup(LIV-CXXIV) on the
one hand to such indefinitewordsas pristinosermone(LXXI, 1; LXXII, 1;
LXXIII, 2; XCVIII, 8), and praeteritosermone(LXI, 1; XCVII, 2), where
referenceis always made to the immediatelyprecedingverses of the Gospel,
and on the otherhandto sermonealio (XCVII, 5; CV, 8; CVI, 7; CVIII, 5;

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 NOTES AND DISCUSSIONS 193

CXII, 6; CXVI, 9; CXX, 9), alia disputatione(CIX, 5; CXV, 5), ab alio

exordio(CXIII), and alias (CXVIII, 5), where referenceis always made to
the sermondirectlyfollowing. This suddenand continueddeparturein the
method of referringto immediatelyprecedingand followingsermonsseems
to indicate greaterlapse of time between the several sermonsof the second
groupthan betweenthose of the first group.
In XLVII, 9, Augustinesays: "Fratres,quaeramushoc paulo attentius.
Non nos at artat horaque solet die dominico." From this statement it
seems reasonableto believe that the brevity of the sermonsof the second
groupis due to their beinggiven regularlyon Sundaysand specialfeast-days,
under the definitelimitationsof the holyday service. However,Augustine
may also have come to realizethat he was at times tiresometo his audience,
and may have consentedto shortenhis sermonsfor that reason.
The ten tractates on the Epistle of St. John were delivered during a
breakin the serviceon the Gospelof St. John, as we learnfromthe beginning
of the first of these ten sermons. Some manuscriptscut off the beginningof
this first sermonas a prologusto the entire series. This, however,does not
seem justifiablesince Augustinein I, 5, refersback to the so-calledprologus
as to the beginningof his sermon: "Mementotein principiosermonisnostri,
quia Epistola ista caritatemcommendat." From internal evidencethe fol-
lowing sermonson the Epistle occurredon successivedays: I and II (note
sec. 3); III, IV (sec. 1, 2), V (sec. 1), and VII; and IX and X (sec. 1).
Accordingto the authors of certain ancient manuscripts,II and III were
given on the secondand third day, respectively,of Easter Week. If so, the
groupsof I and II, and III-VII may be joinedas a seriesof daily sermons.
M. P6ronne(loc.cit.) places the deliveryof these tractatesdirectly after
Tractate XI of the series on the Gospel of St. John. He does this for the
most part on the basis of the opening words of SermonXV, which show
clearly a special effort to brush up the memory of his hearerson matters
dropped a considerabletime before. These sermons on the Epistle, in
length and generalcharacter,do appearto belong to the first group of the
sermonson the Gospel (I-LIII). At any rate, the discourseson the Epistle
forma cognatepart or episodein the serieson the Gospel.
Thus SermonsI-LIII on the Gospel were given nearly every day, and
are characterizedby their greater length (cf. VI, a sermonof 5,500 words
which probablytook an hour for delivery). Ten sermonson the Epistle of
St. John seem to have been given as an interruptionof this group, perhaps
at SermonXI. No two sermonsof the secondgroup (LIV-CXXIV) appear
to have been deliveredon immediatelysuccessivedays. Moreover,they are
characterizedby markedbrevity and compactnessof thought,and may have
been given on holydays and Sundays only.
At the very beginningof VI, Augustinerefers to the weather as being
extremelycold. This statement, together with certain remarksduringthe
course of the sermons,places the commencementof the delivery of these

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194 NOTES AND DISCUSSIONS

tractates at the end of 416 A.D. The great number of the sermons (134 in all),
as well as the likelihood that a good portion of them were not delivered on
successive days, leads us to believe that they were extended over the major
part of 417 and possibly into 418 A.D.
RoY J. DEFERRARI
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

VARIA TOPOGRAPHICA
The Basilica Opimia.-In 121 B.c. L. Opimius erected a basilica near
the temple of Concord, which stood until it was removed by Tiberius in
10 A.D. Cicero in his oration for Sestius (140) contrasts the reputation of
those Romans who have roused their fellow-citizens to revolt and sedition
with that of those who have used their influence to check such uprisings,
and writes: "ac ne quis ex nostro aut aliquorum praeterea casu hanc vitae
viam pertimescat, unus in hac civitate, quem quidem ego possum dicere,
praeclare vir de re publica meritus, L. Opimius, indignissime concidit; cuius
monumentum celeberrimum in foro sepulchrum desertissimum in litore
Dyrrachio relictum est." The meaning of celeberrimum,"much frequented,"
is perfectly clear, but not only have translators often fallen into error (cf.
Bohn, "superb monument"), but Hutlsen misses the point and makes this
passage his authority for the following statement (Forum2, 13): "Opimius
erbaute . . . eine Basilica die . . . als stattliches Monument geriihmt
wird: was, da der Bauplatz nur klein gewesen sein kann, wohl auf pracht-
volle Ausstattung schliessen lasst." We may wonder that Hiulsen was
caught napping, and still more that both his French and his English trans-
lators perpetuate the error. Carcopino even quotes the Latin words. In
this way is the old basilica made over into a stately edifice!
Elephas herbarius.-The last monument mentioned in the Regionary
Catalogue in region VIII is Elephas herbarius, which from its place in the
list probably stood near the foot of the Capitoline, in the modern piazza
Montanara. There is no other reference to the monument in antiquity, but
the name was preserved during the Middle Ages as a local designation in the
title of the Church of S. Abbaciro ad Alafantum. It was undoubtedly a
bronze statue of an elephant, comparable with the elephantes aenei on the
Sacra Via, which are mentioned by Cassidorus (Varia 30), but the epithet
herbarius has proved a stumbling-block for topographers. Becker (601)
hazards no conjecture, but simply says: "der so wenig mit dem Forum
Olitorium gemein hat als herbae und olera gleichbedeutend sind." Preller
(154) remarks: "Der Beiname herbariusmag auf einem besondern Umstande
beruhen; sonst hiessen animalia herbatica oder herbaria grassfressende
Thiere." Jordan (I, 2, 476) calls it Krautelephant, and comments thus:
"Der Beiname herbarius sollte allerdings wie bei Hercules olivarius und
Apollo sandaliarius auf der Nihe eines Geschifts von herbarii weisen.

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