Veteres igitur primique Romani: The Roman Kingdom and Republic in Early Latin Christian Apologetics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4312/keria.12.2-3.111-128Keywords:
Roman kingdom, Roman republic, apologetics, Church FathersAbstract
The paper discusses the presentation of early Roman history in the Latin writings by select early Christian apologists. Although the first works of apologetics to address early Roman history in a relatively systematical way were later ones, Augustine’s City of God and Orosius’ Histories against the Heathen, some of its key themes were already treated by earlier apologists.
The texts discussed are dominated by a negative view of Rome’s beginnings, especially Minutius Felix’ treatise Octavius. On the other hand, numerous positive references to (mainly) Republican events and figures can be found as well. Early Christian theologians admired the Roman »founding fathers« for their moral integrity and austerity, drawing parallels between them and the Christian martyrs. Moreover, examples of the legal and religious changes undergone by Rome in its very earliest centuries helped them confront some of the key pagan accusations. Thus it is both Augustine’s (mainly positive) and Orosius’ (mainly negative) assessment of the Roman Kingdom and Republic that may be traced back to the African apologetic tradition.