Arnobius of Sicca

Arnobius was a teacher of rhetoric at Sicca Veneria in North Africa who, according to Jerome, converted to Christianity as an older man and wrote Against the Nations to demonstrate his sincerity to a bishop who doubted him. The work is a vigorous but doctrinally uneven defense of Christianity against pagan religion and philosophy, written before he had received much Christian instruction.

Dates

fl. ca. 297–303 (approximate)

See or city

Sicca Veneria

Region

Africa Proconsularis (North Africa)

Also known as

Arnobius Afer; Arnobius the Elder

Notes

Jerome (Chronicle, under Diocletian; Lives of Illustrious Men 79) says Arnobius was a rhetorician at Sicca who wrote Against the Nations to convince his bishop of the sincerity of his sudden conversion, and that Lactantius was among his pupils.

Works

• Against the NationsAdversus nationes · ca. 297–303 · CPL 93 (not yet checked)