ST AUGUSTINE AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF VARRO.
This paper argues that St Augustine's presentation of Varro's Antiquitates rerum divinarum in City of God was pivotal to the latter text's disappearance. It shows how Augustine used the Antiquitates' tripartite theology (poetic, civil, and natural) to destroy Varro's authority on traditional Roman r...
| Published in: | Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Vol. 60; no. 2; pp. 76 - 92 |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Dec2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=126723259&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 126723259 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00760730 6EYU jtl: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies issn: 00760730 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Dec2017 vid: 60 iid: 2 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 126723259 10.1111/2041-5370.12058 ppf: 76 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 400KB tig: atl: ST AUGUSTINE AND THE DISAPPEARANCE OF VARRO. aug: au: HADAS, DANIEL affil: King's College London su: Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 Varro, Marcus Terentius Roman religion Apologetics Conversion (Religion) sug: subj: Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 Varro, Marcus Terentius Roman religion Apologetics Conversion (Religion) keyword: apologetics Augustine Christianization civil conversion theology transmission Varro ab: This paper argues that St Augustine's presentation of Varro's Antiquitates rerum divinarum in City of God was pivotal to the latter text's disappearance. It shows how Augustine used the Antiquitates' tripartite theology (poetic, civil, and natural) to destroy Varro's authority on traditional Roman religion. In Augustine's reading, Varro's open criticism of the gods of myth and poetry implied an equal rejection of the civil cult. This left the natural gods of the philosophers, but Augustine derided Varro's attempts at philosophical theology. The result was that, to readers of the City of God, the Antiquitates rerum divinarum appeared as a failure: Varro had been incapable of justifying traditional Roman religion, while lacking the courage to attack it openly. Readers could then turn to the City of God itself as a better guide to the Roman gods, and there was no further need to read or copy the Antiquitates. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: © 2020 Institute of Classical Studies. item: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies holder: Oxford University Press / USA dt: @attributes: year: 2017 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|