Positively, the Epistle provides clear evidence that by the end of the 1st cent, many of the apos- tolic writings were known and studied in the Church of Rome. For it contains an express reference to St. Paul's Eirst Epistle to the Corinthians (xlvii. 1 ff.), indubitable traces of the influence of Romans (xxxiii.-xxxvi. xlvii. 1.) and Hebrews (xxxvi. xliii. ; cf. xvii. 1 ), and possible reminiscences of the phrase- ology of Acts (ii. 1), the Pastoral Epistles (ii. 7, Ixi, 2), 1 Peter and James (xxx. 2, xlix. 5).
An apocryphal work is quoted in xxiii. 3 with the formula ij ypa^i] axirr}. The same quotation occurs in an amplified form in the so-called Second Epistle of Clement (xi.). Possibly, as Lightfoot suggests (Clem. Bom. vol. ii. p. 80), it may have been taken from the lost pseudepigraphic book of Eldad and Medad, which was certainly known to the primitive Roman Church (see Hernias, Vis. ii. 3). Whatever the source may have been, it is the only book quoted by Clement which is outside the Canon of the Greek Bible.
Fourthly, the Epistle of Clement contains his- torical allusions which are of great interest. Not only does it provide contemporary evidence for the persecutions of Nero and Domitian, both of which occurred during the writer's lifetime, but it also adds fresh detail to our knowledge of the life-story of St. Paul. For the statement that the Apostle 'taught righteousness to the whole world' and 'reached the furthest bounds of the west' (iwl rd T4p/j.a Tijs 5vaeo}s iXOibv, v. 7), occurring in an Epistle written from Rome, seems most naturally to mean that before his death St. Paul fulfilled his intention, expressed in Ro 15^^, of making a missionary journey to Spain. An allusion is made to the same journey by an anonymous Avriter two genera- tions later (Muratorian Fragm. ap. Westcott, Hist, of NT Cdnon^, 1881, p. 521 fl'.).
Finally, the long prayer with which the Epistle concludes (lix.-lxiv.) is full of interest to the iitur- giologist. Lightfoot lias pointed out the strong Jewish colouring which it has in common with the rest of the Epistle, and especially its marked affinity with the 'eighteen benedictions' of the synagogue service {Clem. Rom. vol. i. p. 393 ff.). turtliermore, as the same writer observes, 'it is impossible not to be struck with the resemblances in this passage to portions of the earliest known liturgies. Not only is there a general coincidence in the objects of the several petitions, but it has also individual phrases, and in one instance [lix. 4] a whole cluster of petitions, in common with one or other of tiiese' {op. cit. p. 384 f.). Yet it would be straining the evidence too far to conclude that Clement is quoting an actual form of prayer already in use in the Roman Church. The utmost that can be said is that the passage in question is ' an excellent example of the style of solemn prayer in which the ecclesiastical leaders of that time were accustomed to express themselves at meetings for worship' (Duchesne, Christian Worship, Eng. tr. from 3rd Fr. ed., 1903, p. 50).
6. MSS and yersions.— Two early Greek MSS and three ancient versions of the Epistle are known.
(1) MSS.— (a) Cod. A.—T\\Q oldest Greek MS which contains the Epistle is the famous 5th cent, uncial, generally known as Codex Alexandrinus. Cod. A originally included the whole of the Old and New Testaments. The Epistle of Clement stands at the end of the NT, immediately after the close of the Ajjocalj'pse and before the spurious 'Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians.' One whole leaf of Clement's Epistle is missing [i.e. from Ivii. 7 to the end of Ixiii.), and the edges of the remaining leaves are considerably mutilated. Many editions of the Epistles of Clement based on the text of Cod. A have appeared since the ' editio princeps ' of Patrick Young, published in 1633. It is still the chief authority for the text.
(6) Cod. C. — The second Greek MS, which, amongst other patristic writings, contains the Epistles of Clement, was made known to the world in 1875, when Brj'ennios, then Metropolitan of Serrse, published the first complete text of 1 and 2 Clement. This MS, which bears the date A.D. 1056, was found at Constantinople, in the library of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Its chief value is that it enables us to fill in the gaps in Cod. A, but on the whole its text is distinctly inferior to that of the earlier MS.
{2) Versions. — {a)Sijriac. — Almost simultaneously with the discovery of Bryennios, the first ancient version of Clement's Epistle came to light. A MS of the Harklean (Syriac) Version of the NT, then acquired by Cambridge University, was found to include Clement's Epistles, placed after tiie Catholic and before the Pauline Epistles. The date of the MS is A.D. 1170. As an authority for the text of Clement it is superior to Cod. C, but inferior to Cod. A. An edition of this Syriac text of 1 and 2 Clem, was published in 1899.
(b) Latin. — Much more remarkable, in view of the lack of any real acquaintance with Clement's Epistle on the part of tiie early Latin Church, was the discovery by G. Morin in 1894 of an ancient Latin version. The MS which contains it was written in the 11th cent., but the available evidence clearly shows that the translation is at least as old as the 4th cent., and perhaps as old as the 2nd. The Greek text which it represents is independent of that of all the other authorities, and probably ranks second only to that of Cod. A. The Latin text was published by Morin in 1894. (For an estimate of its value see R. Knopf, TU xx. 1 [I'JUl] ; also CQB xxxix. [1894] 190-195, and JThSt ii. [1900] 154).