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Document Details : Title: Some Theories on the Dating of Arnobius Author(s): EDWARDS, Mark J. Journal: Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Volume: 92 Issue: 4 Date: 2016 Pages: 671-684 DOI: 10.2143/ETL.92.4.3183466 Abstract : The Adversus Gentes of Arnobius is commonly dated to c. 303 AD though a date of c. 297 has also been proposed. This article asks whether the case for a later dating, implied by Jerome’s Chronicle and recently defended by Oliver Nicholson (1982) and Mark Edwards (2004), has been conclusively refuted by Michael Simmons (2015). It concludes that, while some of the arguments employed by Edwards and Nicholson carry little weight, the objections to the conventional date of 303 have not been fully answered. The unreliability of Jerome is frequently exaggerated, and the consequences of his testimony that Arnobius wrote with an epideictic, rather than an apologetic, purpose have not been fully appreciated. It is possible that the conflict of evidence can be resolved by postulating a history of redaction. |
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