On Illustrious Men

11. Philo the Jew

XI. PHILO THE JEW hilo the jew, born in Alexandria1 of a priestly stock,2 and for that reason included by us among ecclesiastical writers, because, writing a book on the first church in Alexandria of Mark the evangelist, he engaged in praise of us Christians, recalling that they existed, not just there, but in many provinces, and calling their dwellings monasteries .3 2. From this it is apparent that the first church of believers in Christ was such as the monks now imitate and emulate, so that nothing is held in private by anyone, not one among them is rich, not one poor, their patrimonies are divided among the needy, they spend their time in prayer and the psalms, in doctrine and continence, just as Luke describes how believers lived at the beginning in Jerusalem.4 3. They say that Philo came at great risk to Rome in the reign of Gaius, to whom he had been sent as an ambassador of his people,5 and that he came a second time in the reign of Claudius and spoke with the apostle Peter in the same city [of Rome] and that he became his friend6 and that for this reason he embellished with his praises the followers of Mark, a disciple of Peter, at Alexandria. 4. Countless and distinguished works7 of his survive on the Pentateuch: On the Confusion of Tongues, one book;8 On Nature and Discovery, one book;9 On Things Which are Naturally Desired and Execrated, one book;10 On Instruction, one book;11 On the Heir of Divine Things, one book; On the Distinction between Odd and Even, one book;12 On the Three Virtues, one book;13 On Those Whose Names were Changed in the Scriptures and Why, one book;14 ON ILLUSTRIOUS MEN 23 5. On Covenants, one book;15 On the Life of the Wise Man, one book;16 On Giants, one book;17 On the Divine Origin of Dreams, five books;18 Questions and Answers on Exodus, five books;19 On the Tabernacle and On the Decalogue, four books;20 also On Sacrificial Victims and Promises or Curses;21 On Providence;22 On the Jews;23 On the Conduct of Life;24 On Alexander, and That Irrational Animals Have Reason,25 and That Every Foolish Man is a Slave.26 6. And the book of which we have spoken already, about our life, that is, about men of the apostolic age, which he also called, Peri; bivou qewrhtikou' iJketw'n, On the Contemplative Life of Suppliants ,27 obviously because they contemplate heavenly things, and always pray to God, and in other categories, On Agriculture, two books; On Drunkenness, two books. 7. There are also other monuments of his genius28 which have not come into our hands. Concerning him it is commonly said by the Greeks, ]H Plavtwn filwnivzei h] Fivlwn platwnivzei,29 that is, “Either Plato follows Philo, or Philo Plato.” So great is the similarity of their thought and eloquence. notes 1. Eus., h.e. 2.4.2. Cf. Courcelle, LLW, 81 and n. 164: “Actually Jerome’s remarks .l.l. are pure plagiarism from Eusebius.” See also h.e. 2.16.1. 2. “Of a priestly stock” is unsupported in Eusebius or elsewhere. Eus., h.e. 2.4.2, merely says, “inferior to none of the magnates in authority.” 3. Eusebius, h.e. 2.17.8–14, describing the Therapeutae and, in h.e. 2.17.19, their female counterparts, the Therapeutridae, a misreading unquestioned by Jerome; monasthvrion occurs at h.e. 2.17.9. 4. Eusebius, in quoting De vita cont. 70–73 (in h.e. 2.17.16–18), feels he 24 ST. JEROME has provided irrefutable proofs (ajnantirrhvtou" levxei") of the Christian identification; cf. Barnes, C. and E., 130. 5. h.e. 2.5.1, 4–5, and 2.18.8. Cf. E. M. Smallwood, Philonis Alexandrini Legatio ad Gaium (Leiden, 1961). Eusebius in h.e. 2.5.6–7 cites Legatio 24.38, and in h.e. 2.6.2. quotes Legatio 43. See C. Kraus Reggiani, ANRW II, 21, 1, 554–86. 6. h.e. 2.17.1. That he met with Peter is repeated in Photius, Bib. cod. 105, but is unlikely, and Photius’s added detail that Philo converted to Christianity is even more unlikely. 7. What follows is an abbreviated version of h.e. 2.18.1–8. Roman...