Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 2.djvu/697

JUSTIN us. old man, of meek and venerable aspect, by whom he was convinced that Plato, although the most iilustrious of the heathen pliilosophers, was either unacquainted with many things, or had erroneous notions of them ; and he was recommended to the study of the Hebrew prophets, as being men who, guided by the Spirit of God, had alone seen and revealed the truth, and had foretold the coming of the Christ. The conversation of this old man with Justin, which is narrated with considerable fulness by the latter {Dial, cum Tryph. c. 3, &c.), led to Justin's conversion. He had, while a Platonist, heard of the calumnies propagated against the Christians, but had hardly been able to credit them. {Apolog. Secunda, c. 12.) The date of his conversion is doubtful. The Bollandists place it in A. D. 119; Cave, Tillemont, Ceillier, and others, in A. D. 133 ; and Halloix about a. d. 140. Whether Justin had lived wholly at Flavia Neapolis before his conversion is not quite clear : that it had been his chief place of abode we have every reason to believe. Otto conjectured, from a passage in his works (Co/iurtaL ad Graec. c. 13), that he had studied at Alexandria ; but, from the circumstance that while in that city he had seen with interest the remains of the cells built, accord- ing to the Jewish tradition, for the authors of the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, we are disposed to place his visit to Alexandria after his conversion. He appears to have had while yet a heathen an opportunity of seeing the firmness with which the Christians braved suffering and death {Jpol. Secunda, c. 12), but we have no means of knowing where or on what occasion. Justin retained as a Christian the garb of a phi- losopher, and devoted himself to the propagation, by writing and otherwise, of the faith which he had embraced. Tillemont argues from the language of Justin (Apolog. Prima, c. 61, 65) that he was a priest, but his inference is not borne out by the passage ; and though approved by Maran, is rejected by Otto, Neander, and Semisch. That he visited many places, in order to diffuse the knowledge of the Christian religion, is probable (comp. CoJiortat. ad Graec. cc. 13, 34), and he appears to have made the profession of a philosopher subservient to this purpose. (Dialog, cum Tryphon. init. ; Euseb. H. E. iv. 11 ; Phot. Bibl. cod. 125.) According to what is commonly deemed the ancient record of his martyrdom (though Papebroche considers it to narrate the death of another Justin), he visited Rome twice. On his second visit he was appre- hended, and brought before the tribunal of Rus- ticus, who held the office of praefectus urbi ; and as he refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, he was sentenced to be scourged and beheaded ; which sen- tence appears to have been immediately carried into effect. Several other persons suffered with him. Papebroche rejects this account of his mar- tyrdom, and thinks his execution was secret, so that the date and manner of it were never known : the Greek Menaea (a. d. 1 Junii) state that he drank hemlock. His death is generally considered to have taken place in the persecution under the emperor Marcus Antoninus ; and the Chronicon Paschale, (vol.i. p. 258, ed. Paris, 207, ed. Venice, 482, ed Bonn), which is followed by Tillemont, Baronius, Pagi, Otto, and other moderns, places it in the consulsliip of Orphitus and Pudens, a. D. 165 ; Dupin and Semisch place it in A. D. 166, Fleury in A. d. 167, and Tillemont and Ma- JUSTINUS. 683 ran in a. d. 168. Papebroche {Ada Sanctorum, April, vol. ii. p. 107), assigning the Apologia Se- cunda of Justin to the year 171, contends that he must have lived to or beyond that time. Dodwell, on the contrary, following the erroneous statement of Eusebius in his Clironicon, places his death in the reign of Antoninus Pius ; and Epiphanius, ac- cording to the present reading of the passage al- ready referred to, which is most likely corrupt, places it in the reign of the emperor Hadrian or Adrian, a manifest error, as the Apologia Prima is addressed to Antoninus Pius, the successor of Ha- drian, and the second probably to Marcus Aurelius and L. Verus, who succeeded Antoninus. The death of Justin has been very commonly ascribed (comp. Tatian. contra Graecos, c. 19 ; Euseb. H. E. iv. 1 6, and Ckron. Paschale to the ma- chinations of the Cynic philosopher Crescens. The enmity of Crescens, and Justin's apprehension of injury from him, are mentioned by Justin himself (Apolog. Secunda, c. 3) ; but that Crescens really had any concern in his death is very doubtful. [Crescens.] Justin has been canonized by the Eastern and Western churches : the Greeks cele- brate his memory on the 1st June ; the Latins on the 13th April. At Rome the church of S. Lorenzo without the walls, is believed to be the resting- place of his remains ; but the church of the Jesuits at Eystadt, in Germany, claims to possess his body ; there is, however, no reason to believe that either claim is well founded. The more common epitliet added to the name of Justin by the ancients is that of" the philosopher " (Epiphan. I. c; Euseb. Chronicon, lib. ii.; Hieronym. de Vir. lllud. c. xxiii.; Chron. PascJiale, I. c. ; Georgius Syncellus, pp. 350, 351, ed. Paris, p. 279, ed. Venice ; Glycas, Annal. pars iii. p. 241, ed. Paris, 186, ed. Venice, 449, ed. Bonn) ; that of " the martyr," now in general use, is employed by Tertullian (Adv. Valetit. c. 5), who calls him " philosophus et martyr ; " by Pho- tius (Bihlioth. cod. 48, 125, 232), and by Joannes Damascenus (Sacra Parall. vol. ii. p. 754, ed. Le- quien), who, like Tertullian, conjoins the two epithets. In our notice of the works of Justin Martyr we adopt the classification of his recent editor, J. C T. Otto, by whom they are divided into four classes. I. Undisputed Works. 1. ^hiroKoyia irpwrr] vnep Xpiariavuv npos 'AvtwpTvov rdv EutreSrj. Apologia prima pro Christianis ad Antoninum Pium. In the only two known MSS. of the Apologies, and in the older editions of .Justin, e. g. that of Stepha- nus, fol. Paris, 1551, and thatof Sylburg,fol. Heidel- burg, 1593, this is described as his Second Apology, It is the longer of the two A{)ologies, and is one of the most interesting remains of Christian antiquity. It is addressed to the emperor Antoninus Pius and to his adopted sons " Verissimus the Philosopher," afterwards the emperor M. Aurelius, and " Lucius the Philosopher" (we follow the common reading, not that of Kusebius), afterwards the emperor Verus, colleague of M. Aurelius. From the circumstance that " Verissimus" is not styled Caesiir, which dig- nity he acquired in the course of a. d. 139, it is inferred by many critics, including Pagi, Neander, Otto, and Semisch, that the Apology was written previously, and probably early in that year. Eu- sebius places it in the fourth year of Antoninus, or the first year of the 230th Olympiad, a. d. 141, which is rather too late. Others contend for a later date still. Justin himself, in the course of