Abstract
This paper deals with the earliest manuscript transmission and dissemination of Book 22 of Augustine’s De ciuitate Dei (411–426/7). Firstly, it offers a list of the extant manuscripts predating the tenth century, highlighting their physical characteristics and indicating their paratexts (tabulae capitulorum, sets of marginalia, tituli, and particular features of some of them). Subsequently, it provides a stemma codicum based on the findings and conclusions obtained from the collatio of these witnesses. It underlines the divergences between the transmission of Book 22 and that of other books in the work, namely Books 1, 6, 13, and 18.
Acknowledgements
This paper has been carried out within the framework of the C-i project “Magnum opus et arduum: Towards a History of the Reception of Augustine's De civitate Dei”, supervised by Gert Partoens, Anthony Dupont, and Andrea Robiglio at KU Leuven. I wish to thank Monika Asztalos, Álvaro Cancela, Marina Giani, Gert Partoens, and the three anonymous reviewers of the paper for their comments and suggestions, which have greatly improved this work.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
2 Quaterniones sunt XXII quos in unum corpus redigere multum est; et si duos uis codices fieri, ita diuidendi sunt, ut decem libros habeat unus, alius duodecim … Si autem corpora malueris esse plura quam duo, iam quinque oportet codices facias, quorum primus contineat quinque libros priores quibus aduersus eos est disputatum qui felicitati uitae huius non plane deorum sed daemoniorum cultum prodesse contendunt, secundus sequentes alios quinque qui uel tales uel qualescumque plurimos deos propter uitam quae post mortem futura est per sacra et sacrificia colendos putant. Iam tres alii codices qui sequuntur quaternos libros habere debebunt; sic enim a nobis pars eadem distributa est, ut quattuor ostenderent exortum illius ciuitatis totidemque procursum, siue dicere maluimus, excursum, quattuor uero ultimi debitos fines (Divjak Citation1981, 7–8).
22 Bischoff (Citation2014, n. 6986) dated this manuscript to the tenth cent. I follow Gavinelli’s dating (Citation2007, 273).
27 Aguilar Miquel (Citationforthcoming). Archetype is understood as the source from which the entire preserved tradition originates, when it shares conjunctive errors that cannot be attributed to the original.
28 The passages from Book 22 are quoted from Dombart–Kalb’s edition. In order to demonstrate the links in the higher parts of the stemma, the errors are presented in greater detail and commented on when necessary. Errors in the lower branches, on the other hand, are listed more briefly.
29 “But we are aware that Romulus lived less than six hundred years ago, when writing and education were long familiar and all the primitive ignorance of uncivilized life had been superseded” (Green Citation1972, 197).
31 “But fear could not prevent a great multitude of martyrs among all the peoples of earth from worshipping Christ as God, and, what is more, from openly confessing their faith. And that was not the fear of a slight displeasure, but of unlimited torture of every kind, and of death itself, which is feared more than all else” (Green Citation1972, 201).
32 “They have written that by this [palingenesia] in four hundred forty years the same body and the same soul which were once joined in a man come back to be joined once more” (adapted from Green [Citation1972, 353]).
33 Alexanderson (Citation1997, online publication without pagination).
35 “But since, when made partakers of his peace according to our capacity, we too know the highest peace in ourselves and with each other and with him, whatever our ‘highest’ is, so likewise according to their capacity the holy angels know God’s peace. But men’s knowledge is now much lower, however outstanding their mental progress is” (Green Citation1972, 357).
43 “When I heard this story I was full of wrath that in that city, when that woman, certainly no obscure person, was concerned, so great a miracle was so unknown. Indeed, I thought she should be admonished, if not rebuked” (Green Citation1972, 223).
44 “Though he did not know that these were the last words of the blessed Stephen, spoken when he was being stoned by the Jews. These were Martialis’ last words, too, for he died not long after” (Green Citation1972, 235).
45 “The man dined with me and told me in detail the whole story of his calamity, and that of his brother and mother” (adapted from Green [Citation1972, 247]).
46 “And let them believe as the world has believed, for he predicted that they would believe, praised their faith, promised it and now shows it accomplished” (Green Citation1972, 343).
48 “For then will be fulfilled what the Apostle immediately added when he had said: Do not judge anything before the time, namely, until the Lord come; and he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the thoughts of the heart, and then shall each man have his praise from God” (adapted from Green [Citation1972, 371–373]).
49 “All the limbs and inner organs of the incorruptible body, organs now assigned to various necessary uses […]” (Green Citation1972, 373).
50 “This will be nothing but what God promised, that the blessed souls will live for ever with their own eternal flesh” (adapted from Green [Citation1972, 351]).
51 Alexanderson (Citation1997, online publication without pagination) points out as an archetypal error the opposition uicturas/facturas (futuras, facturus, facturum) of ciu. 22.27, since he thinks that the correct uicturas is Dombart’s conjecture. However, this reading is preserved in manuscripts R T as well; thus I note the error of the remaining witnesses in the list “Conjunctive errors of the members of φ” (cf. infra).
52 “For even our good works, at the moment when they are known to be his, not ours, are at once imputed to us in order that we may gain this sabbath. For if we ascribe them to ourselves they will be servile works, while it is said of the sabbath: Ye shall not do any servile work” (adapted from Green [Citation1972, 381–383]).
53 “So these two incredible things, that is, the resurrection of our body for eternity, and the world’s belief in so incredible a thing, were both predicted by the same God before either one of them took place” (Green Citation1972, 189).
54 “Although Christ is the founder of a heavenly and eternal city, his city did not believe in him as God because it was founded by him […]” (Green Citation1972, 199).
55 “The patient was terrified, and turned white with fear. When he regained composure and could speak, he ordered them to go away and not come near him again […]” (Green Citation1972, 215–217).
56 “The doctor who had told her to attempt no treatment, if she wished to prolong her life, examined her afterwards and found her entirely cured. It was by a similar examination that he had learned that she had the disease. So he eagerly asked her what remedy she had used […]” (Green Citation1972, 223).
57 “For the prophet Elisha, though absent in body, saw his servant Gehazi receiving gifts from Naaman the Syrian, whom the prophet cited had freed from the deformity of leprosy” (Green Citation1972, 359).
59 “[…] since the peaceable structure of the whole body holds both members together” (Green Citation1972, 377).
60 “A skilled physician knows almost all the diseases of the body as they are known in medical science” (Green Citation1972, 379).
63 In entry 81–83 of Lorsch’s inventory one can read: eiusdem de civitate dei contra paganos libri XXII, id est in uno volumine X, in alio VII, in tertio V. Pa seems to fit with the third part of the mentioned work. See Hässe (Citation2002, 123).
65 “For it is he who in the beginning created the world, full of all good things, visible to eye or mind, and in it he put nothing better than those spirits to whom he gave intelligence. These he created capable of contemplating and receiving himself, and bound them in one fellowship which we call the holy and heavenly city. There God himself is the substance by which they are sustained and made happy […]” (Green Citation1972, 175).
67 “Therefore it is possible, and very probable, that we shall see the worldly bodies of the new heaven and the new earth […]” (adapted from Green [Citation1972, 369]).
68 In Bx a lacuna of considerable size stands out: from chapter 24 (tantummodo decorem habeant) until chapter 29. 1 (manifestatio eius). Nonetheless, it is a material gap not a textual one (in the lower margin of the folium 281v one finds the note deest folium), so that it cannot be considered a separative error of this manuscript against Pa.
69 “There would be no evil at all in existence if a nature subject to change – good though it was and created by God and his unchangeable goodness who made all things good – had not sinned and so created its own evil for itself” (Green Citation1972, 175).
70 “A relic of the most glorious martyr Stephen was being brought to Aquae Tibilitanae by the bishop, Praeiectus, while a great throng accompanied him or came out to meet him. A blind woman of the place asked to be led to the bishop who was carrying the relic. She gave him the flowers which she was carrying, then, when he returned them, pressed them to her eyes, and immediately gained her sight” (Green Citation1972, 231–233). Presumably one should understand memoriam (i.e. relic) as the implied direct object of afferente.
71 “The question what the movements there of such bodies will be, is one that I am reluctant to answer precisely, because I cannot get it clear in my mind” (Green Citation1972, 373).
72 A detailed study of G and Va, at the codicological, palaeographical and textual level, can be found in Giani (Citationforthcoming [b]).
73 The same selection of books can be seen in the manuscript Firenze Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana Plut. 12.26, copied in the eleventh cent. Oxford, Bodleian Library Canon. Pat. Lat. 171 preserves Books 21 and 22. I will provide a complete study of this manuscript in a paper currently in progress.
74 Firstly, the sixth work contained in our manuscript is a brief text, erroneously attributed to Ambrose of Milan. Known as De pudicitia et castitate, it is preserved in only two witnesses: our Fuldensis, and the manuscript Milano, Ambrosiana, D218 Inf., a Carolingian manuscript copied in Bobbio. Secondly, the aforementioned manuscript, with the same selection of books (see previous note), was copied in this area. Thirdly, the only marginal note present in the manuscript is written in a cursive handwriting with distinctly Italian features. Regarding the debate around its origin, see Bischoff (Citation1998, n. 1318); Hausmann (Citation1992, 34–37).
75 Giani (Citationforthcoming [a]). Dr Giani and myself are currently preparing a joint paper in which we will present the conclusions of the five partial studies carried out. It will compares the results of these studies and give an overview of the first manuscript transmission of the City of God as a whole.
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