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The Octavius of Minucius Felix

Minucius Felix

Chapter 1

About this work

A polished Latin dialogue in which pagan and Christian friends debate providence, Roman religion, accusations against Christians, resurrection, and the philosophical credibility of Christian monotheism.

Author: Minucius Felix
Date: Late 2nd or early 3rd century
Origin: Rome or North Africa
Genre: Dialogue

The work’s date relative to Tertullian and the author’s geographical setting remain debated.

Minucius Felix.

Chapter I.—Argument: Minucius Relates How Delightful to Him is the Recollection of the Things that Had Happened to Him with Octavius While He Was Associated with Him at Rome, and Especially of This Disputation.

When I consider and

Chapter 2 ›

mentally

review

my

remembrance

of

Octavius

,

my

excellent

and

most

faithful

companion

,

the

sweetness

and

charm

of

the

man

so

clings

to

me

,

that

I

appear

to

myself

in

some

sort

as

if

I

were

returning

to

past

times

,

and

not

merely

recalling

in

my

recollection

things

which

have

long

since

happened

and

gone

by

.

Thus

,

in

the

degree

in

which

the

actual

contemplation

of

him

is

withdrawn

from

my

eyes

,

it

is

bound

up

in

my

heart

and

in

my

most

intimate

feelings

.

And

it

was

not

without

reason

that

remarkable

and

holy

man

,

when

he

departed

this

life

,

left

to

me

an

unbounded

regret

for

him

,

especially

since

he

himself

also

glowed

with

such

a

love

for

me

at

all

times

,

that

,

whether

in

matters

of

amusement

or

of

business

,

he

agreed

with

me

in

similarity

of

will

,

in

either

liking

or

disliking

the

same

things

.

You

would

think

that

one

mind

had

been

shared

between

us

two

.

Thus

he

alone

was

my

confidant

in

my

loves

,

my

companion

in

my

mistakes

;

and

when

,

after

the

gloom

had

been

dispersed

,

I

emerged

from

the

abyss

of

darkness

into

the

light

of

wisdom

and

truth

,

he

did

not

cast

off

his

associate

,

but

—

what

is

more

glorious

still

—

he

outstripped

him

.

And

thus

,

when

my

thoughts

were

traversing

the

entire

period

of

our

intimacy

and

friendship

,

the

direction

of

my

mind

fixed

itself

chiefly

on

that

discourse

of

his

,

wherein

by

very

weighty

arguments

he

converted

Cæcilius

,

who

was

still

cleaving

to

superstitious

vanities

,

to

the

true

religion

.

Notes

1
[Sallust, Catiline, “Idem facere atque sentire,” etc. Also, Catiline’s speech, p. 6 of The Conspiracy.]
2
[Beautiful tribute to Christian friendship, in a primitive example. We must bear in mind that the story is of an earlier period than that of the work itself, written at Cirta.]