Fragments

Contents

Fragment VIII (marked spurious by Brandt) and the ancient testimonia about Lactantius are not included.

1. 1Lactantius, as quoted by Jerome, derives the name of the Galatians from the Greek word for milk, because of the Gauls' white skin, and explains the name Gallograecia.
2. 2In a letter to Probus, quoted by Rufinus the grammarian, Lactantius explains how the Latin comic poets varied their meters, which led many to think Terence's plays had no meter.
3. 3Jerome reports that Lactantius, in his letters to Demetrianus, held that Scripture often calls the Holy Spirit the Father or the Son.
4. 4Jerome reports that Lactantius, especially in his letters to Demetrianus, denied that the Holy Spirit is a distinct substance, yet defends reading his Divine Institutes.
5. 5God implanted the passions in human nature from the beginning; kept within bounds they become virtues and earn eternal life, but beyond their bounds they become vices and bring eternal punishment.
6. 6Marius Victorinus notes that Lactantius, in a work on meters, used the terms pentameter and tetrameter.
7. 7An expanded commentary on Virgil reports that Lactantius, as a commentator, read “carried” instead of “vault” in Aeneid 7.543.