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Lactantius. a. D. 306. 483
century of the christinn oera, and must have been a man
of note for polite literature before the year 300; yet it is
likely, that most of his remaining- pieces, particularly the
Divine Institutions, his principal work, were not written till
after the year 303.
This author's name is now generally written Lucius
Coelius, or Ctecilius Firmianus Lactantius. But whether
the names Lucius and Coelius, or Coecilius, belong- to him,
may be questioned ; they not being' given him by any of the
ancient writers who lived near his time : and they are gene-
rally wanting- in the manuscript copies of his works, and^ in
the most early printed editions. In this manner divers
learned men^ argue upon this point: whilst some others
contend, that'' his name is rightly written as above.
The native country of Lactantius is not certainly known.
Some have conjectured, that' he was born at Firmum, now
Fermo, in Italy, and that from thence he was called Firmianus.
But it is more generally reckoned, that"^ he was an
African : his education under Arnobius, who taught rhetoric
at Sicca in Africa, is an argument of some weight: and it
is confirmed by the Itinerary of Lactantius from Africa to
Nicomedia, which, probably, contained a description of his
own journey from Africa to Nicomedia, when he was sent
for by Dioclesian.
The original of the names' Firmianus and"" Lactantius,
f Vid. Montf. Diar. Ital. p. 256.
e Vid. Chr. M. Pfaff. Diss. Praelim. ad Epit. Inst. Div. Sect. 12, et 13.
* Vid. Heunian. Pr. ad Lact. Symp. sect. 16. p. xxviii. et sect. 22. p. xxxv.
' Patriam habuit Italiam, forsan Firmio, quod agri Piceni oppidum est ad
oram maris Hadriatici, oriundus. Cav. ubi supra, p. 161. Firmianus cognominatur
a Firmo, agri Piceni oppido. Cellar. Excerpt, de Vit. Lact.
'' Vid. Bahiz. Annot. ad Lact. de M. P. Tillem. Mem. Eb. Lactance,
T. 6. P. i. p. 340. et note 1. Vid. et Heuman. Pr. ad Symp. sect. 18, et 19.
p. xxix. xxxi.
' Caeterum vulgata est opinio, Lactantium cognomen Firmiani accepisse a
patria Firmo, agri Piceni oppido. Sed hie quidem error facile confutatur.
Primum enim ostendemusinferius.Firmianumfuisse proprium Lactantii nomen,
neque adeo a patria inditum. Heuin. ib. sect. 18. p. xxx.— Unde igitur,
inquies, Firmiani nomen ? Fuisse hoc proprium virorura nomen illo aevo non
infrequens, facile sibi persuadebit, qui consideravit, plura voteribus nomina
fuisse propria ajirmo deducta. Non enim solum ipsum nomen Firmus factum
est nomen proprium, sed etiam Firmius, Firmicus, Firminus, Firmilianus,
Firmianus, &c. Id. ib. sect. 20. p. xxxii.
" Superest Lactantii nomen, quod communiter creditur ei inditum fuisse a
lacteo flumine eloquentiae. Sed et haec sententia, et simul altera ilia de patria
ejus Firmo, satis refellilur silentio Hieronymi. Is enim, cum in catalogo sue,
tum alibi, ubi Lactantii mentionem facit, perspicue ostendit, utrumque nomen
et Lactantii et Firmiani, ipsius fuisse proprium ; ut multum errent, qui ea pro
cognominibus habent a patria et eloquentia impositis—Quomodo enim a
lactans derivatum est nomen Lactantii, sic a prudens, vincens, constans,—
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