''Octavius'' is an early writing in defense of Christianity by the Roman Marcus Minucius Felix. It is written in the form of a

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

between the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Caecilius Natalis and the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Octavius Januarius, a provincial lawyer, the friend and fellow-student of the author.

Summary

The scene is pleasantly and graphically laid on the beach at Ostia on a holiday afternoon, and the discussion is represented as arising out of the homage paid by Caecilius, in passing, to the

Cult image In the practice of religion, a cult image is a Cultural artifact, human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit or Daimon, daemon that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, incl ...

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Egyptian Greeks, Graeco-Egyptian god. A Religious syncretism, syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis (deity), Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the ord ...

. His arguments for paganism (possibly modelled on those of

Celsus Celsus (; , ''Kélsos''; ) was a 2nd-century Greek philosopher and opponent of early Christianity. His literary work '' The True Word'' (also ''Account'', ''Doctrine'' or ''Discourse''; Greek: )Hoffmann p.29 survives exclusively via quotati ...

) are taken up one at a time by Octavius, with the result that the assailant is convinced. Minucius himself plays the part of umpire. The form of the dialogue is modelled on the ''

De natura deorum ''De Natura Deorum'' (''On the Nature of the Gods'') is a philosophical dialogue by Roman Academic Skeptic philosopher Cicero written in 45 BC. It is laid out in three books that discuss the theological views of the Hellenistic philosophies of ...

'' and '' De divinatione'' of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

and its style is both vigorous and elegant if at times not exempt from something of the affectation of the age.

Analysis

Its style is not of the typical Christian literature. If the

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

s of the Divine unity, the

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...

, divinization and

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

are left out of the account, the work has less the character of an exposition of Christianity than of a

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

ethical Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied e ...

polemic Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

against the absurdities of

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

. While it thus has much in common with the Greek Apologies it is full of the strong common sense that marks the Latin mind. Its ultimate appeal is to the fruits of faith.

Manuscript

A copy of it (which is the primary source of modern translations) can be found in the poor French manuscript of Arnobius of Sicca's ''Adversus nationes''.

Legacy

This work was referenced in 1751 by

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

in his apostolic constitution 'Providas' against freemasonry by quoting Caecilius Natalis: 'Honest things always rejoice in the public, crimes are secret'. Benedict XIV, Providas

Editions, Translations and Commentaries

Editions

*Minucius Felix. ''Octavius''. Texte établi et traduit par . Paris: Société d'Édition «Les belles lettres», 1964. *M. Minucii Felicis Octavius. Edidit . Leipzig: Teubner, 1982. 2. Auflage: Stuttgart, Teubner, 1992, ISBN 3-8154-1539-X.

English Translations

*''The Octavius of Marcus Minucius Felix'', translated and annotated by ), 1974 ( Ancient Christian Writers, 39).

Commentaries

* Schubert, Christoph (2014). ''Minucius Felix, „Octavius“.'' Kommentar zu frühchristlichen Apologeten, vol. 12. Freiburg: Herder, .

References

External links

''Octavius'' in English translation''Octavius'' with Latin, English, and analysis at ''Open Library'', various formats
*
Editio princeps
of the ''Octavius'' as ''liber octavus'' of Arnobius' ''Disputationes adversus gentes'', Rome 1542. (Online at the

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...

)
Did Tertullian use Minucius Felix' Octavius?
- at the Tertullian Project. {{Authority control 2nd-century Christian texts 2nd-century books in Latin Dialogues