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Clement of Alexandria Quotes Marcus Aurelius's Meditations at the End of the Stromata
I am not sure who might be interested in this observation. I happen to be going through one of the last chapters of the Stromata when I observed something that escaped everyone else's notice. Clement cites from the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. The passage in question is:
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As, then, in war the soldier (τῷ στρατιώτῃ) must not abandon (λειπτέον) the arrangement (τάξιν = 'post') which the commander has arranged (ἔταξεν), so neither must we desert that given by the Word (ὁ λόγος), whom we have received as the guide of knowledge (ἄρχοντα εἰλήφαμεν γνώσεώς) and of life. But the most (οἱ πολλοὶ) have not even inquired, if there is one who should direct us (ἐξητάκασιν), and who this is, and how he is to be followed (ἀκολουθητέον). For as is the Word (ὁ λόγος), such also must the believer's life be (ὁ βίος εἶναι τῷ πιστῷ), so as to be able "to follow God" (ὡς ἕπεσθαι δύνασθαι τῷ θεῷ), who brings all things to end from the beginning "by the right course." (ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὰ πάντα εὐθεῖαν περαίνοντι).
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It is the last words here that are cited from Marcus Aurelius's Meditation x.11 which reads in full:
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Acquire the contemplative way of seeing how all things change into one another, and constantly attend to it, and exercise thyself about this part of philosophy. For nothing is so much adapted to produce magnanimity. Such a man has put off the body, and as he sees that he must, no one knows how soon, go away from among men and leave everything here, he gives himself up entirely to just doing in all his actions, and in everything else that happens he resigns himself to the universal nature. But as to what any man shall say or think about him or do against him, he never even thinks of it, being himself contented with these two things, with acting justly in what he now does, and being satisfied with what is now assigned to him; and he lays aside all distracting and busy pursuits, and desires nothing else than to accomplish the straight course through the law, and by accomplishing the straight course to follow God (διὰ τοῦ νόμου καὶ εὐθεῖαν περαίνοντι ἕπεσθαι τῷ θεῷ).
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The reason this struck me as interesting is that I wondered about Clement's motivation. Why include these words now?
The military reference that begins the paragraph is striking enough. Christ as the commander and the disciples his soldiers. But then to immediately follow this with a citation of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Was this is somehow developed to deflect charges - like those of the near contemporary Celsus (c. 177 - 180 CE), that Christians were a seditious insurgency movement loyal only to Christ and not to the Emperor?
This got me thinking. When were the Stromateis written? I see that a number of experts date the text to the persecutions during the reign of Septimius Severus in Alexandria (c. 202 - 203 CE) and some as late as 208 CE. The only chronological marker I could find is in Stromata Book One where he references 'the death of Commodus' innumerable times. Yet the idea crossed my mind - why doesn't Clement make reference to the beginning of the reign of Septimus Severus?
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Again, from the first Olympiad, some say, to the building of Rome, are comprehended twenty-four years; and after this to the expulsion of the kings,' when consuls were created, about two hundred and forty-three years. And from the taking of Babylon to the death of Alexander, a hundred and eighty-six years. From this to the victory of Augustus, when Antony killed himself at Alexandria, two hundred and ninety-four years, when Augustus was made consul for the fourth time. And from this time to the games which Domitian instituted at Rome, are a hundred and fourteen years; and from the first games to the death of Commodus, a hundred and eleven years
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and again:
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As also Duris, from the taking of Troy to the march of Alexander into Asia, a thousand years; and from that to the archonship of Hegesias, in whose time Alexander died eleven years. From this date to the reign of Germanicus Claudius Caesar, three hundred and sixty-five years. From which time the years summed up to the death of Commodus are manifest.
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and again:
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After which periods, there were two hundred and thirty-five years of the Persian monarchy. Then of the Macedonian, till the death of Antony, three hundred and twelve years and eighteen days. After which time, the empire of the Romans, till the death of Commodus, lasted for two hundred and twenty-two years.
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and again:
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Then, from the seventy years' captivity, and the restoration of the people into their own land to the captivity in the time of Vespasian, are comprised four hundred and ten years: Finally, from Vespasian to the death of Commodus, there are ascertained to be one hundred and twenty-one years, six months, and twenty-four days.
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and again:
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And nothing, in my opinion, after these details, need stand in the way of stating the periods of the Roman emperors, in order to the demonstration of the Saviour's birth. Augustus, forty-three years; Tiberius, twenty-two years; Caius, four years; Claudius, fourteen years; Nero, fourteen years; Galba, one year; Vespasian, ten years; Titus, three years; Domitian, fifteen years; Nerva, one year; Trajan, nineteen years; Adrian, twenty-one years; Antoninus, twenty-one years; likewise again, Antoninus and Commodus, thirty-two. In all, from Augustus to Commodus, are two hundred and twenty-two years; and from Adam to the death of Commodus, five thousand seven hundred and eighty-four years, two months, twelve days.
Some set down the dates of the Roman emperors thus: Caius Julius Caesar, three years, four months, five days; after him Augustus reigned forty-six years, four months, one day. Then Tiberius, twenty-six years, six months, nineteen days. He was succeeded by Caius Caesar, who reigned three years, ten months, eight days; and be by Claudius for thirteen years, eight months, twenty-eight days. Nero reigned thirteen years, eight months, twenty-eight days; Galba, seven months and six days; Otho, five months, one day; Vitellius, seven months, one day; Vespasian, eleven years, eleven months, twenty-two days; Titus, two years, two months; Domitian, fifteen years, eight months, five days; Nerva, one year, four months, ten days; Trajan, nineteen years, seven months, ten days; Adrian, twenty years, ten months, twenty-eight days. Antoninus, twenty-two years, three months, and seven days; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, nineteen years, eleven days; Commodus, twelve years, nine months, fourteen days.
From Julius Caesar, therefore, to the death of Commodus, are two hundred and thirty-six years, six months. And the whole from Romulus, who founded Rome, till the death of Commodus, amounts to nine hundred and fifty-three years, six months. And our Lord was born in the twenty-eighth year, when first the census was ordered to be taken in the reign of Augustus. And to prove that this is true, it is written in the Gospel by Luke as follows: "And in the fifteenth year, in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, the word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zacharias." And again in the same book: "And Jesus was coming to His baptism, being about thirty years old," and so on. And that it was necessary for Him to preach only a year, this also is written: "He hath sent Me to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." This both the prophet spake, and the Gospel. Accordingly, in fifteen years of Tiberius and fifteen years of Augustus; so were completed the thirty years till the time He suffered. And from the time that He suffered till the destruction of Jerusalem are forty-two years and three months; and from the destruction of Jerusalem to the death of Commodus, a hundred and twenty-eight years, ten months, and three days. From the birth of Christ, therefore, to the death of Commodus are, in all, a hundred and ninety-four years, one month, thirteen days. And there are those who have determined not only the year of our Lord's birth, but also the day; and they say that it took place in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus, and in the twenty-fifth day of Pachon. And the followers of Basilides hold the day of his baptism as a festival, spending the night before in readings.
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and again:
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Flavius Josephus the Jew, who composed the history of the Jews, computing the periods, says that from Moses to David were five hundred and eighty-five years; from David to the second year of Vespasian, a thousand one hundred and seventy-nine; then from that to the tenth year of Antoninus, seventy-seven. So that from Moses to the tenth year of Antoninus there are, in all, two thousand one hundred and thirty-three years. Of others, counting from Inachus and Moses to the death of Commodus, some say there were three thousand one hundred and forty-two years; and others, two thousand eight hundred and thirty-one years.
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The point of my question is that if Clement only references the death of Commodus and not the beginning of the reign of Septimius Severus, why is it that everyone else dates the work to a much later period. Why doesn't he acknowledge Septimius Severus as the ruler?
I know that there was a great deal of chaos after the death of Commodus. Severus didn't take over right away. I just don't know why the text couldn't have been written closer to the death of Commodus. All of which brings me to the question - why end with such an emphasis on the writings of Commodus's father Marcus Aurelius? There must have been a reason the text is cited. Was it to flatter Septimius Severus? Was it to show the loyality of the Alexandrian Church? That it could be relied upon to control the believers like a body of soldiers?
Could this also be part of the background to the writing of the text and others like it (viz. to Theodore)? Was the fact that the Alexandrian Church COULDN'T control all the 'heretics' running around the Empire a sign that it was weak and degenerate? Severus was a military man. Were the heretics problematic because they demonstrated a lack of order in the Church? Just asking.
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02-12-2011, 09:59 PM
