On Illustrious Men

by Jerome, Thomas P. Halton (Translator)

Often cited as a source of biographical information on ancient Christian authors, On Illustrious Men provides St. Jerome's personal evaluations of his forebears and contemporaries, as well as catalogs of patristic writings known to him. Heterodox writers and certain respected non-Christians (Seneca, Josephus, and Philo) are included in this parade of luminaries, which begins with the apostles and concludes with St. Jerome himself and a list of his own works prior to 393, the year in which On Illustrious Men was composed. St. Jerome produced this work in his monastery at Bethlehem, to which he had retreated after his precipitous exit from Roman ecclesiastical politics. He had, however, maintained correspondences with several of his former associates, such as Dexter (the son of Pacian, bishop of Barcelona), to whom he addressed the work. Relying heavily on Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, St. Jerome attempts to demonstrate the erudition and nobility of character which render Christianity immune to the criticisms of its cultured despisers. Since this work can be regarded as the patrology textbook of its day, its translator, Thomas P. Halton, has continued St. Jerome's mission by compiling bibliographical data on recent editions, translations, and studies of ancient writings mentioned in On Illustrious Men . Extensive footnote material and appendices furnish a wealth of information useful for patristic research. In addition, an index to all of the Fathers of the Church volumes published to date, listed by individual authors, appears in this, the hundredth volume of the series. Thomas P. Halton is the Margaret H. Gardiner Professor of Greek at the Catholic University of America. He has served as the general editor of the Fathers of the Church series since 1983. "A faithful translation of Jerome's 'Who's Who' of the ancient church, beginning with Simon Peter and concluding with Jerome himself. . . . Jerome's accounts are fascinating, filled with keen insight into some cases and characteristic spleen in others. The text itself, then, is well worth reading. . . . It is also extremely useful for the extensive annotations provided by Halton. . . . [Halton provides] massive bibliographic aid throughout the translation. It is this that will make this handy little book indispensable for anyone interested in early Christian history."― Heythrop Journal

Genres: Theology, Church History, Religion, Biography

211 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

St. Jerome (born c. 347) (formerly Saint Hierom) (Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Greek: Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος) was a Roman Catholic priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia (possibly in modern Croatia or Slovenia). He is best known for his translation of the Bible into Latin (the Vulgate), and his list of writings is extensive.

He is recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint and Doctor of the Church, and the Vulgate is still an important text in Catholicism. He is also recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church, where he is known as St. Jerome of Stridonium or Blessed Jerome.

Reviews

[Evan Leach]

Written in 392, this collection consists of 135 brief, matter-of-fact biographies and notes (think encyclopedia entries) focused on Christian authors from Saint Peter down to Jerome himself. The older entries rely heavily on earlier authors (principally Eusebius), while the later entries appear to be drawn more from Jerome's personal knowledge.

This doesn’t make for particularly exciting reading; the encyclopedic nature of the biographies makes the book's aesthetic appeal very limited. But, it remains a valuable historical source on early Christian writers and texts, and remains useful for that reason.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty dull stuff in this instance. I could only imagine reading it if one is on an otherwise fulfilling quest to read the complete works of the church fathers.

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

his is both my first reading of something from Jerome, as well as my first reading of a volume from the Fathers of the Church set. It may seem strange that I would start at volume 100 of the latter, but this work of Jerome's was one that I wanted to read for some time, and thus I thought it would be a good intro to the series for me.

Whilst I don't know Latin (besides a few words and phrases) and thus can't say how good the translation is, I found that it did read well - much better than many of the Church Fathers that were translated into English in the late 19th / early 20th centuries. It is well indexed and cross-referenced. So I will definitely be reading more in this series.

I was keen to see this history of the early church that Jerome produced at the end of the 4th Century, as it is a set of short biographies. Some just a sentence or two, more commonly two or three paragraphs. I especially found "interesting" his coverage of Ambrose - and that he includes himself (Jerome) as the last entry. Whilst I don't think Jerome is aiming to be a noted Historian, rather he is putting on one place what he knows, or what he has been told, about these people - there is no indication of a rigorous investigation. So there are comments that seem quite strange at times, but I still see much value in them.

So this is quite an easy read - and introduces you to many names - some that you will hear much of in Early Church, and many whose claim to fame may just be that they are written down here (at least until other works are found).

[Daniel Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book is enlightening with good insights into many of the traditions of the Early Church. Some of his comments on the authors of the NT are also interesting. 2nd half of the book is primarily short paragraphs punctured by the odd comments of well known pre Nicea Fathers

[Parker Samelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring account of the most prominent early church fathers.

[John Cairns · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not really all that informative. The editor adds a little. Jerome put people's noses out and was quarrelsome. He didn't like Ambrose, Basil or Gregory. He was malicious. He won't say anything about Ambrose in case he's blamed for flattery on the one hand or on the other for telling the truth! Ouch! Probably the best remark in the book which does give the works of all the people mentioned in it, useful if you wanted to follow up Christian and heretical thinking. There are a lot of heresies and Porphyry has a few mentions because a bit of a bugbear for the Christians who eventually can only defeat his arguments against them by destroying the books containing them. Celsus gets a mention too.

[Cecily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goed naslagwerk om te weten wat er door wie allemaal is geschreven in de vroege kerk. Niet zo geschikt om te luisteren tijdens je werk, zoals ik deed.