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Optatus
Optatus, sometimes anglicized as Optate, was Bishop of Milevis, in Numidia, in the fourth century, remembered for his writings against Donatism. Biography and context Augustine of Hippo suggests that Optatus was a convert: "Do we not see with how great a booty of gold and silver and garments Cyprian, ''doctor suavissimus'', came forth out of Egypt, and likewise Lactantius, Victorinus, Optatus, Hilary?" ( De doctrina Christiana, xl). His (untitled) work against the Donatists is an answer to Parmenianus, the successor of Donatus in the primatial see of Carthage. According to Jerome ( ''De viris illustribus'', # 110), it was in six books and was written under Valens and Valentinian I (364-75). Seven books are now known, and the list of popes is carried as far as Siricius (384-98). Similarly the Donatist succession of antipopes is given (II, IV), as Victor, Bonifatius, Encolpius, Macrobius, Lucianus, Claudianus (the date of the last is about 380), though a few sentences earlier ...
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Parmenian
Parmenian (Latin: ''Parmenianus;'' died ca. 392) was a North African Donatism, Donatist bishop, the successor of Donatus Magnus, Donatus in the Donatist bishopric of Carthage. He wrote several works defending the rigorist views of the Donatists and is recognized as "the most famous Donatist writer of his day", but none of his writings have survived. Life Optatus, Optatus of Milevis, the anti-Donatist polemicist and contemporary of Parmenian, calls him ''peregrinus,'' meaning that he was probably not a native of Africa. He may have come from Spain or Gaul. Whatever his origin, Parmenian succeeded Donatus as Donatist bishop of Carthage around the year 350. He was banished from the city in 358. He returned in 362 under the decree of Julian (emperor), Julian that allowed exiled bishops to return to their sees. About this time, if not earlier, he published a work in five parts defending Donatism (''Adversus ecclesiam traditorum''), to which the treatise of Optatus is a reply. In about ...
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Parmenianus
Parmenian (Latin: ''Parmenianus;'' died ca. 392) was a North African Donatist bishop, the successor of Donatus in the Donatist bishopric of Carthage. He wrote several works defending the rigorist views of the Donatists and is recognized as "the most famous Donatist writer of his day", but none of his writings have survived. Life Optatus of Milevis, the anti-Donatist polemicist and contemporary of Parmenian, calls him ''peregrinus,'' meaning that he was probably not a native of Africa. He may have come from Spain or Gaul. Whatever his origin, Parmenian succeeded Donatus as Donatist bishop of Carthage around the year 350. He was banished from the city in 358. He returned in 362 under the decree of Julian that allowed exiled bishops to return to their sees. About this time, if not earlier, he published a work in five parts defending Donatism (''Adversus ecclesiam traditorum''), to which the treatise of Optatus is a reply. In about 372, he wrote a book against Ticonius. At an unkno ...
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Jerome's De Viris Illustribus
''De Viris Illustribus'' (''On Illustrious Men'') is a collection of short biographies of 135 authors, written in Latin, by the 4th-century Latin Church Father Jerome. He completed this work at Bethlehem in 392–393 AD. The work consists of a prologue plus 135 chapters, each consisting of a brief biography. Jerome himself is the subject of the final chapter. A Greek version of the book, possibly by the same Sophronius who is the subject of Chapter 134, also survives. Many biographies take as their subject figures important in Christian Church history and pay especial attention to their careers as writers. It "was written as an apologetic work to prove that the Church had produced learned men." The book was dedicated to Flavius Lucius Dexter, who served as high chamberlain to Theodosius I and as praetorian prefect to Honorius. Dexter was the son of Saint Pacianus, who is eulogized in the work. Contents Listed below are the subjects of Jerome's 135 biographies. The ...
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Mila, Algeria
Mila (, , ) is a city in the northeast of Algeria and the capital of Mila Province. In antiquity, it was known as Milevum (in Latin; as such still a Latin Catholic titular see) or Miraeon, ''Μιραίον'' (in Ancient Greek) and was situated in the Roman province of Numidia (Roman province), Numidia. History Ancient history In Ptolemy's ''Geography'', IV, iii, 7, the city is mentioned under the name of Mileum or Mireon. During the Roman era it was called Colonia Sarnensis Milevitana, after the River Sarnus in Campania, whence the colonists had emigrated. This name is often found in the inscriptions of the city. Together with Cirta, Collo and Rusicade, Milevum formed the confederation known as the Four Colonies, the territory of which was very extensive. In the 6th century the Byzantine Emperor Justinian had Milevum enclosed by a fortified wall, which still stands and forms a rampart for the Muslim city of Mila. It has yielded quite a number of Latin inscriptions from this city ...
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Donatism
Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christianity, Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province Africa (Roman province), Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the western coast of Libya) and Mauretania Tingitana (roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco), in the Diocletianic Persecution, persecutions of Christians under Diocletian. Named after the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus, Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries. Donatism mainly spread among the indigenous Berber people, Berber population, and Donatists were able to blend Christianity with many of the Berber local customs. Origin and controversy The Roman governor of North Africa, lenient to th ...
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Donatists
Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the western coast of Libya) and Mauretania Tingitana (roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco), in the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian. Named after the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus, Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries. Donatism mainly spread among the indigenous Berber population, and Donatists were able to blend Christianity with many of the Berber local customs. Origin and controversy The Roman governor of North Africa, lenient to the large Christian minority under his rule throughout the Diocletianic Persecu ...
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Donatus Magnus
Donatus Magnus, also known as Donatus of Casae Nigrae, was the leader of a schismatic Christian sect known as the Donatists in North Africa, Algeria. He is believed to have died in exile around 355. Life Little is known of his early life because of the complete loss of his correspondence and written works. He first appears in Church records as Donatus of Casae Nigrae in October 313 when Pope Miltiades found him guilty of re-baptizing clergy who had lapsed and of forming a schism within the Church. Casae was a settlement located on the extreme southern edge of the plains of Numidia, south of Theveste, an area settled by people predominantly of Berber descent. The Schism During the wave of persecutions of Christians by the Roman Emperor Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As ...
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Photinus
Photinus (Greek: Φωτεινός; died 376) was a Christian bishop of Sirmium in Pannonia Secunda (today the town Sremska Mitrovica in Serbia), best known for denying the incarnation of Christ, thus being considered a heresiarch by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. His name became synonymous in later literature for someone asserting that Christ was not God. His teachings are mentioned by various ancient authors, like Ambrosiaster (Pseudo-Ambrose), Hilary of Poitiers, Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen, Ambrose of Milan, Augustine of Hippo, John Cassian, Sulpicius Severus, Jerome, Vigilius of Thapsus and many others. None of his writings are extant; his views must be reconstructed through his critics. Life Photinus grew up in Ancyra in Galatia, where he was a student and later a deacon of bishop Marcellus. Marcellus, in later life a staunch opponent of Arianism, was excommunicated and deposed in 336 but rehabilitated by the Synod of Serdica in 343, which also made ...
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Julian (emperor)
Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar (title), Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Ancient Greek, Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenistic religion, Hellenism in its place, caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate in the Christian tradition. A nephew of Constantine the Great, Julian was one of few in the imperial family to survive the purges and civil wars during the reign of Constantius II, his cousin. Julian became an orphan as a child after his father was executed in 337, and spent much of his life under Constantius's close supervision. However, the emperor allowed Julian freedom to pursue an education in the Greek-speaking east. In 355, Constantius II summoned Julian to court and appointed him to rule Roman Gaul, Gaul. Julian was successful in his rule, defeating and counterattacking Germanic peoples, Germanic raids across the Rhine ...
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Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' () is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved appendices to it. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church. History In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decreed a revision of the Julian calendar, creating a new system, now called, after him, the Gregorian calendar. The ''Roman Martyrology'' was first published in 1583. A second edition was published in the same year. The third edition, in 1584, was made obligatory wherever the Roman Rite was in use. The main source was the Martyrology of Usuard, completed by the ''Dialogues'' of Pope Gregory I and the works of some of the Fathers, and for the Greek saints by the catalogue known as the Menologion of Sirlet. Its origins can be traced back to the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, which was originally based on calendars of Roman, A ...
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Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristics, Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries, flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the State church of the Roman Empire, state church of the Roman Empire. For many denominations of Christianity, the writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Nicene Fathers and Christianity in the 5th century#Post-Nicene Fathers, Post-Nicene Fathers are included in Sacred tradition, Sacred Tradition. As such, in traditional dogmatic theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative for the establishment of doctrine. The academic field of patristics, the study of the Chu ...
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Siricius
Pope Siricius ( – 26 November 399) was the bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death on 26 November 399. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the ''Directa'' decretal, containing decrees of baptism, church discipline and other matters. His are the oldest completely preserved papal decretals. He is sometimes said to have been the first bishop of Rome to call himself pope. Early life Siricius was a native of Rome; his father's name was Tiburtius. Siricius entered the service of the Church at an early age and, according to the testimony of the inscription on his grave, was lector and then deacon of the Roman Church during the pontificate of Liberius. Pontificate After the death of Damasus I, Siricius was elected pope unanimously, despite attempts by Ursinus to promote himself. Emperor Valentinian II's confirmation of his election stilled any further objections. Siricius was an active pope, involved in the administration of the Chur ...
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