Lactantius
(INTER 240-250 – Post 317 AD)
Historical Note
Lactantius’ full name was Lucius Caelius Firmianus Lactantius. Born
between the years 240 and 250 AD in Numidia, Africa, he studied under
Arnobius and became a master rhetorician by profession. He worked with
significant success in Africa before being summoned around the year 290
AD by the Emperor Diocletian to teach rhetoric in his capital Nicomedia.
However, having little work to do in a Greek-speaking city the Latin-
speaking Lactantius turned to writing books. By 303 AD, he had converted
to Christianity. As a consequence, he was obliged to resign from his
teaching position due to the recent imperial decree of Diocletian (Feb. 24)
forbidding Christians from holding public offices.
In 305 AD, Lactantius left Bithynia and lived a life of obscurity and
poverty, passing through the persecutions untouched until recalled by the
Emperor Constantine around the year 317 AD to tutor his son Crispus in
Latin. It was during the intervening years that Lactantius composed his
most important work The Divine Institutions, a seven-volume refutation of
paganism and defense of Christianity in a form pleasing to cultured minds.
Book I deals with the unity of God and refutes polytheism; Book II
demonstrates that paganism cannot be true worship; Book III shows that
philosophy by itself -cannot give man all the truth he needs; Books IV-VII
expounds the truth of Christianity, its moral and discipline systems and its
beliefs about the end of the world and everlasting life. Despite its doctrinal
shortcomings and theological mediocrity, it is the first valuable Latin
summary of the Christian faith.
Lactantius was a sincere Christian who possessed a peaceful and well-
balanced disposition. He did his work quietly without seeking attention. As
a writer his works exhibit order, measure and harmony. What remains of
his writings include four apologetical, one historical and one poetical
work. His Deaths of the Persecutors is a remarkably accurate history of the
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