5. De mortibus peisecutoi-tim (On Martyrdom). — Le Nourry was of opinion that this treatise does not belong to Lactantius. In the only codex whicli we have of it, it bears, not the inscription Firmiani Lactantii, but Lu- cii C;i?cilii, which is never given to our author by the ancient writers. We must confess that, without being aAvare of this judgment of I,e Nourry, we had already, upon a careful reading of the treatise, come to the same conclusion from internal evidence. Mohler, on tlie other hand, maintains its genuineness; in confirmation of which he refers to the facts: (1) that Jerome refers to a work of Lactantius under the name De Perseciitione, which, says he, indicates a similar subject matter with the work in question ; (2) that it is dedicated to a cer- tain Donatus, like that De Dri Dei, and the writer shows himself to have been an eyewitness of the transactions in Nicomedia under Diocletian. These reasons certainly are not very strong; but, meanwhile, it is a curious question whether the Donatus addressed in this treatise as a professor may not have been the first Donatus of heretical notoriety. Mohler further adds that the style is the same as that of Lactantius's other works. From this we must strongly dissent. The style is harsher, more rugged, and broken and irregular — often obscure. It frequently reminds one of Tacitus; whereas the gen- uine Lactantius rarely departs from an imitation of the clear, smooth, flowing, and copious stj'le of Cicero, whom he had chosen for his special model of eloquence.
In the early editions of Lactantius De mortibus 2)€rse- cutorum is altogether wanting. It was first printed by Ste[)hen Baluze in his Miscellanea, vol. ii (Paris, 1679), from a very ancient MS. in the Bibliotheca Colberti- na. Its authenticity as the De Persecutione Libe?- Umis of Lactantius, mentioned by Jerome, is maintained by Baluze, Ileumann, and others. Among the latest au- thorities in favor of accepting the production as a genu- ine work of Lactantius we count JVIcihler (see below) and Dr. riiilip Schaff (Ch. Hist, iii, 958, note 2). Against accrediting this treatise to Lactantius are prominent, besides Nourry (in the Append, to ii, 830 S(j. of Migne's edition of Lactantius), Pfaff, Walch, Le Clerc, Lardner, Gibbon, Burckhardt, and others.
The object of this work is to show the truth of the Christian religion historically, from the tragical fate of all those who have persecuted the Church of Christ. It gives a very detailed description of several scenes in the persecutions of Nero, Domitian, and Valerian, but es- pecially dwells upon the later times, those of Diocletian and his imperial colleagues Galerius and Maximin, and shows how avenging justice overtook them all. This work, if genuine, furnishes highly important contribu- tions to ecclesiastical history. Among other things, its author, whoever he may be, declares that Peter and Paul preached the Gospel at Rome, and established a temple of God there, where they both suffered martyrdom.
G. Lost Writings. — The Si/mposium of Lactantius has probably perished, though some have surmised that the yEnif/mata, published under the name of Symposius, is really the youthful composition of Lactantius. Jerome mentions besides an Itinerarium in hexameters, two books to Asclepiades, eight books of letters to Probus, Severus, and Domitian, all of which are lost. It ap- pears from his own words (^Instit. vii, 1, sub fin.) that he had formed the design of drawing up a work against the Jews, but we cannot teU whether he ever accom- plished his purpose.
Several other pieces still extant, but which have been erroneously ascribed to Lactantius, are, De Phanice, in elegiacs, a compilation of tales and legends on the far- famed Arabian bird ; it is probably of a later date (see WernsdorfF, Poetm Lat. Minores, iii, 283) : — Symposium, a collection of one hundred riddles, more likely the work of a certain Caalius Firmianus : — De Pascha ad Felicem Episcopum, now generally considered as the work of Venantius Honorianus Clementianus Fortunatus, in the Gth century : — De Passione Domini (printed in G. Fabri- cius's Poet. Vet.Eccles. Op. Christiana, Basle, 15G4; and in Bibl. Paf'r. Lugdun. 1G77), in hexameters, worthy of Lactantius, but bearing in its language the impress of a much later age.
The Editio Princeps of Lactantius was printed at the monastery of Subiaco, by Swoynheym and Pannartz, in 14()5, and is one of the earliest specimens of tyjjograph- ical art; the same printers published two other editions (Home, 14G8, 1470), the latter under the direction of An- drew, bishop of Aleria. A number of editions have been published since; the most important are by GaUteus (Lugd. Bat. IGGO, in a series of Variorum Classics, 8vo), C. Cellarius (Lpz. 1698, 8vo), Walchius (Lpz. 1715, 8vo), Heumann (Getting. 1736, 8vo), Bunemann (Lpzg. 1739, 8vo), Le Brun and Lenglet du Fresnoy (Paris, 1748, 2 vols. 4to), F. Ea St. Xaverio (Home, 1754-9), and Migne (Paris, 1844, 2 vols, royal 8vo). A convenient manual edition was prepared by O. F. Fritzsche for Gersdorfs Bibliotheca Pat rum ecc.les. selecta (Lips. 1842), vols. x,xi. See Jerome, De Viris III. p. 79, 80 ; Chronic. Euseb. ad ann. cccxviii, Comment, in Eccles. c. 10 ; Comment, in Ej^hes. c. 4, Ad Paidin. Epist.; Lactant. Divin. histit. i, 1, § 8; v, 2, § 2; iii, 13, § 12; Schrockh, Kirchenrjesch. V, 232 ; Schonemann, Bibl. Patr. Lat. vol. i, § 2 ; Biihr, Gesch. d. Romisch. Litterat. Suppl. Band, 1" Abtheil. § 9 ; 2'^Abtheil. § 38^6; Biihr, />«e christlich-rom.Theolor/ie, p. 72 sq. ; Franciscus Floridus, Subcesivarum. Lect. liber ii, ch. iv; Lenain de Tillemont, Histoire Eccles. vol. vi; Dupin, Biblioth. des A uteurs eccles. i, 295 ; Brooke IMoun- tain,^ Summanj of the Writinr/s of lAictantius (Lond. 1839) ; Mohler, Patrologie, i, 917-933 ; Ceillier, Hist, des Aut. sacres, ii, 494 sq. ; Schaff, Ch. Hist. vol. iii, § 173 ; Riddle, Christian Antiquities, p. 160-163; Christian Re- view, 1845, p. 415 sq. ; Woodham, Tertullicai, p. liii ; Leckey, Hiit. Europ. Morals, i, 493 sq. Excellent arti- cles may also be found, especially on the writings of Lactantius, in Smith, Diet, of Greek and Roman Biog. ii, 701 ; and Herzog, Recd-Encyklop. viii, 158. On the Christology of Lactantius, consult Dorner, Doctrine of the Person of Christ, div. i, vol. ii, p. 192 sq. ; Lamson, The Church in 'the first three Centuries, p. 183 sq.; Bull, On the rr»«Vy (ii, index) ; 'S(iM\Aer,Chr. Dogmas ; Zeitschr. f. d. hist. Theol. 1871, vol. iv, art. xiii.