526J. Paulus Orosius

Pauli Orosii Viri Doctissimi Historiarum initium ad Aurelium Augustinum; Historiarum adversus paganos libri VII.

Venedig: Bernardinus de Vitalibus, 12.oct.1500          price SOLD

Folio 30 x 20 cm. Signatures: a-m⁶ n⁸ (a1 blank and present).  Capital spaces with guide letters with capitals supplied in Red and Blue . Printer’s device and register at colophon. This is a very largre copy bound in later vellum from an antiphonal leaf. 

“Orosius’s universal history, written to counter the prevailing belief among non-Christians that disasters which had befallen civilization were the result of the pagan gods, angry with worshippers turning to Christianity.   Orosius argued that the 410 CE sack of Rome by Alaric I, King of the Goths (r. 394-410 CE) had nothing to do with the Roman adoption of Christianity, a claim popularly supported among the pagans of the day. 

This history is a continuation of the thrust of Augustine’s “City of God. Augustine urged Orosius to write this history to refute Symmachus who in an address to Emperor Valentinianus in 384 C.E. alleged that the Roman Empire was crumbling due to Christianity. “Most scholars agree that Orosius’ history shows signs of being written in haste and perhaps Augustine wanted it finished quickly so that he could use it as a resource in completing City of God. Other theories suggest that Orosius assisted in writing City of God and his history is written quickly because he was working on two pieces at once. All of this is speculation, however, because all that is really known is that Orosius left Hippo and returned with St. Stephen’s relics to Portugal. He then wrote his history and, shortly afterwards, disappeared.

“

In Book I, Orosius gives the history of the world from creation to the Great Flood and the early founding of Rome. The second book discusses Roman history up until its sack in 390 BCE by the Gauls and Rome’s interactions with other nations afterwards. In the third and fourth books, Orosius deals with Alexander the Great, the rise and fall of nations, and Rome’s role in the Punic Wars and the destruction of Carthage. The fifth, sixth, and seventh books focus on Rome from the end of the Third Punic War (146 BCE) to Orosius’ time c. 418 CE.”

 Mark, J. J. (2019, April 03). Orosius. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Orosius/

ISTC io00101000., Goff O-101; Hain, L. Repertorium bibliographicum,; 12104*; Copinger, W.A. Supplement to Hain’s Repertorium bibl

Short Link: https://wp.me/p3kzOR-a0c