Ancient Wisdom, Modern Translations

Life of Saint Martin

The Life of Saint Martin by Sulpicius Severus is one of the earliest and most influential hagiographies in Western Christianity. Written around 397 AD, it chronicles the life and miracles of Martin of Tours, from his time as a Roman soldier to his episcopal ministry.

Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae; Passio septem monachorum; Notitia provinciarum et civitatum Africae

Victor Vitensis, known to us as Victor of Vita, was a fifth-century North African bishop and chronicler living through one of the most tumultuous periods in the history of the Western Church. While precise dates of his birth and death are unknown, his life and work are inextricably linked to the…

Vita S. Severini; Excerpta ex operibus S. Augustini

Eugippius, an abbot and scholar of the late fifth and early sixth centuries, stands as a pivotal figure in the transition from the late Roman world to the early Middle Ages. Born around 455 and dying after 533, he led the monastic community at Lucullanum, near Naples, during a tumultuous period…

Epistula ad Macedonium; Carmen Paschale; Opus Paschale; Carmina ad Sedulium Spectantia; Excerpta ex Remigii Expositione in Paschale Carmen

Sedulius, a Christian poet and presbyter of the fifth century, stands as a pivotal figure in the transition from classical Latin verse to the rich tradition of medieval Christian poetry. While the precise details of his life remain somewhat obscure, he is traditionally believed to have been active…

De Statu Animae; Epistulae

Claudianus Mamertus, a Gallo-Roman priest and theologian of the fifth century, stands as a significant yet often overlooked figure in the twilight of the Western Roman Empire. Active around 450–474 AD, he was the brother of Bishop Mamertus of Vienne and a close friend of the celebrated writer…

Speculum; Liber de divinis scripturis

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) stands as one of the most formidable and influential thinkers in Western history. As bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa, he was a prolific writer, a powerful preacher, and a central architect of Christian theology during a period of profound transformation…

De non conveniendo cum haereticis; De regibus apostaticis; De sancto Athanasio; De non parcendo in deum delinquentibus; Moriendum esse pro dei filio; Epistulae

Lucifer Calaritanus, or Lucifer of Cagliari, was a formidable and controversial figure of the fourth-century Church. As the Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, he emerged as one of the most zealous and uncompromising defenders of the Nicene Creed against Arianism, the theological heresy that denied the…

Carmen apologeticum; Instructiones

Commodianus stands as one of the most enigmatic and distinctive voices of early Latin Christianity. While precise biographical details are scarce, he is generally believed to have lived and written in the mid-third century, possibly in North Africa. His significance lies in his role as a…

Carmina; Carmina; Eucharistos; Alethia; Cento; Sancti Paulini Epigramma; Versus ad gratiam domini; De verbi incarnatione; De ecclesia

Paulinus of Périguex, often known by the Latinized form Paulinus Petricordiae, was a fifth-century Gallo-Roman bishop and poet, a significant but sometimes overlooked figure in the flourishing of late antique Christian literature in Gaul. Active during the turbulent decades following the…

Tractatus; Canones; Commonitorium de errore Priscillianistarum et Origenistarum

Priscillianus, a figure of profound controversy in the late fourth-century Western Church, was a Spanish bishop whose ascetic teachings and charismatic leadership sparked one of the earliest and most severe heresy trials in Christian history. Active around 375–385 CE, he led a popular movement…

De Gratia; De Spiritu Sancto; Epistulae; Sermones; De Ratione Fide

Faustus of Riez, known in Latin as Faustus Reiensis, stands as a pivotal figure in the theological and ecclesiastical landscape of fifth-century Gaul. Active from approximately 400 to 490 AD, he served as the abbot of the famed Lérins monastery before becoming Bishop of Riez. His life and work…

Tractatus super psalmos

Hilarius Pictaviensis, known to us as Saint Hilary of Poitiers, stands as one of the most significant and original Latin theologians of the fourth century. Born around 310 AD and serving as Bishop of Poitiers until his death in 367, his life and work were defined by the great Trinitarian…

Heptateuchos

Cyprianus, often known in English as Cyprian, was a prominent Christian bishop, writer, and martyr of the third century. Born around the year 200 and martyred in 258, his life and work were central to the development of the early Latin Church during a period of both persecution and internal…

Evangeliorum Libri Quattuor

Gaius Vettius Aquilinus Juvencus stands as a pivotal, yet often underappreciated, figure at the dawn of Christian Latin literature. Flourishing in the early fourth century, likely during the reign of Constantine the Great, he was a Spanish presbyter who witnessed the profound transition of…

Contra Felicem; De Natura Boni; Epistula Secundini ad Augustinum; Contra Secundinum; De Fide contra Manicheos; Commonitorium

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) stands as one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. As bishop, theologian, and philosopher, his writings shaped the development of Christian doctrine, medieval thought, and even modern philosophy. Living through the final turbulent century of the…

Contra Parmenianum Donatistam; Appendix Decem Monumentorum Veterum

Optatus, Bishop of Milevis in Roman North Africa during the latter half of the fourth century, stands as a pivotal figure in the early history of the Christian Church. While the precise dates of his life and episcopacy remain uncertain, his literary activity is generally placed around the 360s and…

Quaestiones in Heptateuchum; Adnotationes in Iob

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) stands as one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. As bishop, theologian, and prolific writer, he helped shape the doctrines of the early Christian Church during a period of profound transformation in the late Roman Empire. His intellectual legacy…

Carmina

Paulinus Nolanus, known to us as Paulinus of Nola (c. 354–431 AD), stands as a pivotal figure at the crossroads of the late Roman Empire and the early Christian world. A man of immense privilege, he was a senator, a governor, and a student of the renowned poet Ausonius before undergoing a profound…

Formulae Spiritalis Intelligentiae; Instructiones; Passio Agaunensium Martyrum; De Laude Heremi; Epistulae ab Salviano et Hilario et Rustico ad Eucherium Datae

Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon in the mid-fifth century (c. 380–c. 450), stands as a pivotal figure in the twilight of the Western Roman Empire and the dawn of early medieval Christian culture. A member of a prominent Gallo-Roman senatorial family, he and his wife, Galla, famously embraced the ascetic…

Epistulae I, 1-30

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) stands as one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. As bishop of the North African city of Hippo Regius, he was a pastor, theologian, and controversialist whose writings helped shape the doctrines of the Christian church during its formative centuries…

De Civitate Dei

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) stands as one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. A bishop, theologian, and philosopher, his writings fundamentally shaped the development of Christian doctrine, medieval thought, and even modern philosophy. Living through the turbulent final years of…

Altercatio Legis inter Simonem Iudaeum et Theophilum Christianum

Evagrius, often distinguished as Evagrius of Antioch to avoid confusion with his more famous monastic namesake, was a significant ecclesiastical figure of the late fourth century. Flourishing around 370–400 AD, he served as the Bishop of Antioch following the death of Meletius. His tenure was marked…

Interpretatio Orationum Gregorii Nazianzeni

Tyrannius Rufinus of Aquileia (c. 345–411) stands as a pivotal, if sometimes controversial, figure at the crossroads of late antique Christianity. A contemporary and one-time friend of Jerome, Rufinus was a monk, theologian, and prolific translator whose work was instrumental in shaping the Western…

In Porphyrii Isagogen Commenta

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 477–524 AD) stands as one of the most pivotal and tragic figures at the twilight of the Roman world. A Roman senator, consul, and philosopher serving under the Ostrogothic King Theodoric, Boethius was a scholar of profound ambition: to preserve and translate…

Tractatus de Fabrica Mundi; Commentarii in Apocalypsin

Victorinus of Pettau (Victorinus Petavionensis) stands as a pivotal, yet often overlooked, figure in the early Latin Church. Active in the late third century, he is traditionally regarded as the first biblical commentator to write in Latin, earning him the epithet of the earliest Latin exegete. As…

Tractatus de Fabrica Mundi; Commentarii in Apocalypsin

Victorinus of Pettau (Victorinus Petavionensis) stands as a pivotal, yet often overlooked, figure in the early Latin Church. Flourishing in the late third century, he served as the bishop of Pettau (modern-day Ptuj in Slovenia) and is traditionally regarded as the first Latin-language exegete to…

Contra Academicos; De Beata Vita; De Ordine

Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) stands as one of the most influential thinkers in Western history. A bishop, theologian, and philosopher, his writings fundamentally shaped the development of Christian doctrine, medieval thought, and even modern philosophy. Born in Roman North Africa, Augustine’s…

Patrologia Latina Vol. 48