Walerian w niewoli Szapura I. Czy Orozjusz znał De mortibus persecutorum Laktancjusza
Valerian in captivity of Shapur I

Did Orosius know De mortibus persecutorum by Lactantius?

Summary/Abstract: It has recently been proposed that Lactantius was the source for Orosius’s description of the humiliation of Valerian in Persian captivity. The hypothesis is interesting, but despite many similarities between the descriptions there are also differences. There is no evidence that Orosius knew the text of Lactantius describing the rule of the tetrarchs. Futhermore in describing the fate of Walerian, Orozjusz is closer to the description the Epitome de caesaribus than Lactantius. We find traces of knowledge of the Epitome de caesaribus also in the descriptions of the reigns of Gratian or Theodosius I. I think that probably the source for describing the fate of Valerian in Persian captivity in Historia against paganos of Orosius was Epitome de caesaribus, not Lactantius.

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