__NOTOC__ Marcus Minucius Felix (died c. 250 AD in Rome) was one of the earliest of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

apologists for

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. Nothing is known of his personal history, and even the date at which he wrote can be only approximately ascertained as between AD 150 and 270.

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

's '' De Viris Illustribus'' No. 58 speaks of him as "''Romae insignis causidicus''" ne of Rome's notable solicitors but in that he is probably only improving on the expression of Lactantius who speaks of him as "non-ignobilis inter causidicos loci" ot unknown among solicitors

Octavius

He is now exclusively known by his '' Octavius'', a dialogue on Christianity between the pagan Caecilius Natalis and the Christian Octavius Januarius. Written for educated non-Christians, the arguments are borrowed chiefly from

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

, especially his ''

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 ...

'' ("Concerning the Nature of the Gods"), and Christian material, mainly from the Greek Apologists. The ''Octavius'' is admittedly earlier than

Cyprian Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christ ...

's ''Quod idola dei non-sint'', which borrows from it; how much earlier can be determined only by settling the relation in which it stands to

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

's ''Apologeticum''. The name Caecilius Natalis contains the nomen Caecilius and cognomen Natalis, which may refer to the gens Caecilia, a plebeian family at Rome. The name Octavius Januarius contains the nomen Octavius and cognomen Januarius, which may refer to the gens Octavia – the family name of Emperor Augustus.

Minucia Gens

The name of Marcus Minucius Felix indicates his association with the gens

Minucia ''Minucia'' is a genus of moths in the family Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromot ...

Stoic Influence

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy * STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain * ...

influences can also be seen in his work.

Notes

References

External links

*
Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Minucius Felix, Marcus 250 deaths 2nd-century Latin writers 2nd-century Romans 3rd-century Latin writers 3rd-century Romans Ancient Roman writers Christian apologists Christians in the Roman Empire Felix, Marcus Post–Silver Age Latin writers Year of birth unknown