375:
Touber, Jetze. “Patristic
Scholarship and Religious Contention, 1678-1716: The Rediscovery and Publication of Lactantius's ‘De Mortibus Persecutorum," with Special Focus on Gijsbert Cuper (1644-1716).” Church History and Religious Culture, vol. 96, no. 3, 2016, pp. 266–303.,
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I relate all those things on the authority of well-informed persons, and I thought it proper to commit them to writing exactly as they happened, lest the memory of events so important should perish, and lest any future historian of the persecutors should corrupt the
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Of the end of those men I have thought good to publish a narrative, that all who are afar off, and all who shall arise hereafter, may learn how the
Almighty manifested his power and sovereign greatness in rooting out and utterly destroying the enemies of His
244:, France. For decades after the discovery, the authenticity of the work was disputed by scholars. French scholar Rene Pinchon proved decisively that Lactantius was the author in 1902 and this view has subsequently been adopted by most scholars.
64:. In this work, Lactantius describes in occasionally lurid detail the downfall and deaths of the most egregious persecutors of Christians. The first few chapters briefly cover the ends of the earliest Christian persecutors:
120:
of
Christians which was initiated by Diocletian and Galerius in AD 303, containing information on individuals and events from that period that appear nowhere else.
431:
Touber, Jetze. “Patristic
Scholarship and Religious Contention, 1678-1716: The Rediscovery and Publication of Lactantius's ‘De Mortibus Persecutorum.” p. 279.
422:
Touber, Jetze. “Patristic
Scholarship and Religious Contention, 1678-1716: The Rediscovery and Publication of Lactantius's ‘De Mortibus Persecutorum.” p. 274.
413:
Touber, Jetze. “Patristic
Scholarship and Religious Contention, 1678-1716: The Rediscovery and Publication of Lactantius's ‘De Mortibus Persecutorum.” p. 277.
404:
Touber, Jetze. “Patristic
Scholarship and Religious Contention, 1678-1716: The Rediscovery and Publication of Lactantius's ‘De Mortibus Persecutorum.” p. 276.
217:. The document is recorded here by Lactantius in the original Latin whereas the version in Eusebius is a translation from Latin into Greek.
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and the work was considered lost for centuries until a manuscript was discovered in 1678 preserved in the
Augustine Convent library in
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While this quote reveals the apologetic character of the work, Lactantius was also quite aware of the historical import, saying:
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306:: "Lactantius’ prejudices and strong opinions foster the suspicion that he must have tailored the facts to suit his thesis."
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Lactantius has long been criticized as a biased observer of the events he records, writing polemic rather than history.
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On the Deaths of the
Persecutors: A Translation of De Mortibus Persecutorum by Lucius Cæcilius Firmianus Lactantius
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On the Deaths of the
Persecutors: A Translation of De Mortibus Persecutorum by Lucius Cæcilius Firmianus Lactantius
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Since its rediscovery, the work has been translated into English several times, including versions by
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in the 17th century caused some controversy. For example, the mention by Lactantius that the Apostle
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259:(1782), M. F. MacDonald (1964), and J. L. Creed (1984). See listings in the bibliography below.
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Several historical figures are known to us completely or primarily from Lactantius's account in
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which Constantine experienced just prior to the battle. Differing from the account of
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that Peter had arrived much earlier in AD 44. The work was also appropriated by
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scholars who attempted to compare the persecuting tyrants of the Tetrarchy with
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during the reign of Nero seemed to contradict the established belief of the
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who specifically recounts a vision of a cross in the sky with the words,
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As to his reason for writing, Lactantius says in Chapter 1:
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occurs in Chapter XLIV wherein Lactantius describes the
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Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1981. p. 13.
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Catholic University of America Press: Washington, DC.
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This work is also one of the sources, along with the
514:Lactantius. McDonald, Mary Francis (transl.) 1964.
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153:, the daughter of Diocletian and wife of Galerius;
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228:was mentioned among the works of Lactantius by
36:, written in Latin sometime after AD 316.
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52:is probably the most important extant work of
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488:Lactantius. Lord Hailes (transl.) (2021)
322:Lactantius. Lord Hailes (transl.) (2021)
494:Evolution Publishing, Merchantville, NJ
328:Evolution Publishing, Merchantville, NJ
528:. Translated by Mary Francis McDonald.
461:"Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius"
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177:One of the most important passages in
302:summed up this position saying about
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534:Catholic University of America Press
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526:The Divine Institutes: Books I–VII
389:Lactantius. J. L Creed (transl.).
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363:On the Deaths of the Persecutors
348:On the Deaths of the Persecutors
201:on the shields of his soldiers.
173:Constantine's dream of the cross
29:On the Deaths of the Persecutors
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380:. Accessed 22 May 2021. p. 272.
511:Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.
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395:Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984.
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213:of Eusebius Pamphilus, of the
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378:www.jstor.org/stable/43946151
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517:Lactantius: The Minor Works.
183:Battle of the Milvian Bridge
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578:4th-century Christian texts
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588:Christian apologetic works
583:4th-century books in Latin
149:, the wife of Diocletian;
48:, the comparatively brief
593:Christianity and paganism
508:De Mortibus Persecutorum.
466:The Catholic Encyclopedia
442:Constantine and Eusebius.
392:De Mortibus Persecutorum.
263:Controversy and criticism
236:. Jerome called the work
143:De Mortibus Persecutorum,
505:Lactantius. J. L Creed.
459:Healy, Patrick (2012) .
304:De Mortibus Persecutorum
269:De Mortibus Persecutorum
226:De Mortibus Persecutorum
179:De Mortibus Persecutorum
50:De mortibus persecutorum
22:De mortibus persecutorum
475:Robert Appleton Company
157:, the son of Galerius;
211:Ecclesiastical History
169:, the son of Severus.
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62:Constantine the Great
44:After the monumental
598:Christian philosophy
234:De Viris Illustribus
536:. pp. 15–544.
524:Lactantius (1964).
440:Barnes, Timothy D.
195:in hoc signo vinces
221:Manuscript history
205:The Edict of Milan
191:Eusebius Pamphilus
167:Flavius Severianus
161:, the short-lived
60:and the Christian
500:978-1-935228-20-2
471:New York City, NY
334:978-1-935228-20-2
267:The discovery of
165:of the West; and
118:Great Persecution
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275:arrived in
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155:Candidianus
110:Constantine
102:Constantius
572:Categories
563:New Advent
310:References
285:Protestant
90:Diocletian
58:Diocletian
54:Lactantius
34:Lactantius
559:Full text
249:John Fell
187:theophany
114:Maxentius
106:Maximinus
86:Tetrarchy
366:, p. 75.
351:, p. 93.
255:(1687),
251:(1680),
185:and the
163:Augustus
98:Galerius
94:Maximian
82:Aurelian
78:Valerian
70:Domitian
40:Contents
242:Moissac
199:chi-rho
159:Severus
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336:, p. 2
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147:Prisca
137:truth.
80:, and
74:Decius
273:Peter
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538:ISBN
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