I must add, that Longinus is quoted by Eusebius in his Evangelical Preparation, where he calls him a writer of our time. By Photius," in the place before referred to, he is called Longinus the critic. He is also mentioned by Jeroms and Theophylact; and with a view to his distinguishing excellence, his critical skill, upon whose judgment the sentences of all others depended. Not now to repeat any thing of Suidas, I take notice of this as a proof of the taste and candour of our christian ancestors; among whom, as well as among others, a judgment according to Longinus was a proverbial expression, denoting a right judgment.

Zenobia queen of the Palmyrens, who also called herself queen of the east,' contended with the Roman emperors after the death of her husband Odenatus, which happened in the year 267. In the end she was overcome, Palmyra was taken, and she also was taken prisoner; Aurelian" then sat in judgment upon her and her people in a place near the city Emesa; when he determined to give Zenobia her life, and reserve her to do honour to his triumph. Many of her officers and counsellors were condemned to suffer death, and among them Longinus, who was supposed to have dictated a letter of Zenobia to Aurelian, written, as the emperor thought, in a haughty strain. It is manifest from Vopiscus, that this judgment of Aurelian was disliked by many. However, at this time Longinus showed himself to be not a philologer only, but a philosopher, and × as to comfort those who bewailed his fate.

q

W

so died

-τα παρα Λογγινῳ τῳ καθ' ἡμας. Pr. Ev. lib. xv. p. 822, &c. Vid. et lib. x. cap. 3. p. 464.

r

κριτικός αγωνισικον νομίζει. Cod. 265. p. 1470.

Ου το προοιμιον Λογγινος μεν ὁ

s Criticum diceres esse Longinum, Censoremque Romanæ facundiæ. Ad Rusticum, ep. 95. [al. 4.] p. 776.

t

* Μη μοι εν τας Λογγινε κρισεις περίαπτε, μη και δόξης τισιν αυτος γε 8 Kата Aоyуiνоν крivε. Theophyl. ep. xvii.

u

επανελθών εις την Έμισαν, εις κρισιν ηγαγε Ζηνοβίαν τε και τες ταυτη ovvapaμɛves. Zos. l. i. p. 659. in.

V

Ingens tamen strepitus militum fuit omnium, Zenobiam ad pœnam poscentium. Sed Aurelianus, indignum existimans mulierem interimi, occisis plerisque, quibus auctoribus illa bellum moverat, paraverat, gesserat, triumpho mulierem reservavit, ut populi Romani esset ostentui. Grave inter eos qui cæsi sunt, de Longino philosopho fuisse perhibetur, quo illa magistro usa esse ad Græcas literas dicitur; quem quidem Aurelianus idcirco dicitur occidisse, quod superbior illa epistola ipsius dictata consilio, quamvis Syro esset sermone contexta. Vopisc. Aurelian. cap. 30. p. 486.

" I allude to a passage in Porphyry's Life of Plotinus: avayvwolevтos de αυτῷ τ8 τε περι αρχων Λογγινε, και το Φιλαρχεις, φιλολογος μεν, ἔφη, ὁ Λογγινος, φιλοσοφος δε εδαμως. De Vit. Plotin. cap. 14. p. 116.

* Zos. 1. i. p. 659.

II. I now proceed to observe some testimonies in the writings of this great critic.

1. In his Treatise of the Sublime, which we still have, but not complete, he says; Soy the lawgiver of the Jews, who was no ordinary mau, having formed a just sentiment concerning the power of the Deity, he also declared it in a suitable manner, thus writing in the beginning of his laws: "God said: Let there be light, and there was light. • Let the dry land appear, and it was so.

Undoubtedly Longinus refers to the first chapter of the book of Genesis; and as he was convinced, that Moses was no ordinary man,' and openly declared his high opinion concerning him, it may be reckoned not unlikely that he had read over his Pentateuch.

6

a

From this passage Casaubon, in his notes upon Vopiscus, argues, that Longinus was a christian, or much inclined to But that does not appear; for Longinus swears by the gods as other heathens did; we have proofs of it in some of his fragments undoubtedly genuine.

be so.

2. Beside this, there is a fragment of a work ascribed to him, which was first published by Dr. Hudson, and has been since repeated in the bishop of Rochester's edition of Longinus. It is to this purpose.

h

• And for a conclusion of this whole discourse concerning Greek orators, and their manner of writing, I now just ' mention Demosthenes, Lysias, Eschines, Aristides, Isæus, Timarchus, Isocrates, Demosthenes, Crithinus, and Xenophon, to whom must be added Paul of Tarsus, of whom I may say, that he first excelled in an argument which is not of the demonstrative kind."

This fragment was received by Dr. Hudson from L. A.

* Ταυτη και ὁ των Ιεδαίων θεσμοθετης, εχ ὁ τυχων ανηρ, επειδη την τε Θεις δυναμιν κατα την αξίαν εγνώρισε, καξέφηνεν, ευθύς εν τη εισβολη γραψας των νόμων. Ειπεν ὁ Θεος, φησι. Τι, Γενεσθω φως, και εγενετο γενεσθω γη, Kaι EYEVETO. De Sublim. cap. 9. p. 60. Toll.

2 Extat hodieque Longini e veç libellus vere aureolus, ex quo semichristianum fuisse, non male fortasse colligas, propter illud quod facit de Mosis scriptis judicium. Casaub. ad Vopisc. cap. 30. p. 486.

a

πώτε vη 785 0885. Ep. Ad. Porph. De Vitâ Plotini, cap. 19. p. 122. Et inter Fragment. ap. Tollium, p. 250. Τι γαρ ω προς θεων. Ap. Euseb. Pr. Ev. 1. xv. p. 823. et inter Fragm. p. 254. Toll.

b

Κορωνις δ' ετω λογο παντος και φρονήματος Ελληνικό Δημοσθενης, Λυσίας, Αισχίνης, Αρισείδης, Ισαιος, Τιμαρχος, Ισοκρατης, Δημοσθενης ὁ και Κριθινος, Ξενοφων, προς τετοις Παυλος ὁ Ταρσεύς, όν τινα και πρωτον φημι προϊσταμεvov doyμatos avaπodεкт8. Longini Fragm. 1. apud Pearce. p. 259.

c Hoc Longini de Rhetoribus testimonium extat in præstantissimo codice Evangeliorum Bibliothecæ Vaticanæ Urbinatis, signato Num. 2. Quod mecum communicavit Laur. Alex. Zacagnius. Hudson.

Zacagni, who transcribed it from a very good manuscript of the gospels preserved in the Vatican library. But Fabricius plainly declares his opinion concerning this last clause relating to Paul of Tarsus, that it is not genuine; nor have I any thing to say in favour of its genuineness; probably it was added by a christian.

3. However, I shall here insert some curious observations upon this fragment ascribed to Longinus, in which a testimony is given to St. Paul's abilities as an orator. I have received them from the learned Mr. James Merrick without any prohibition to publish them; and I believe my readers. will be pleased with seeing them here.

I transmit to you,' says Mr. Merrick, an observation 'communicated to me in conversation some years since by a very ingenious friend, which may deserve to be considered in any future disquisition concerning the authenticity of the fragment. Δημοσθενης ὁ και Κριθινοs is one of 'the orators mentioned in it; by which person my friend • understood Dinarchus to be meant, alleging, that a commentator on Hermogenes (Syrianus, if I rightly remember) affirms, that Dinarchus was called Anuoovy Kpilios, which name, as the above-mentioned gentleman supposed, 'was designed to intimate, that the eloquence of Dinarchus bore the same proportion to that of Demosthenes, that barley bears to wheat. From this curious discovery, (for such it seems,) made by my learned friend, who also added, that hordeaceus rhetor occurs in Suetonius de Illustr. Rhetor. cap. 2. I am inclined to draw this conclusion, That we owe the words, Anμoolevns & Kaι Kpilivos, και Κρίθινος, if they originally stood in the fragment, of which I am 'speaking, not to Longinus, but to some less knowing critic, who having somewhere met with Δημοσθενης Κριθινος, was not aware, that it was a name given to Dinarchus, but 'thought that it had belonged to an orator whose real name was Demosthenes, and who was also called Kpioivos, in order to distinguish him from the more celebrated orator 'of that name. If, therefore, we admit the fragment as genuine, we should, I imagine, read ▲ewapxos, o kai Anμooθενης Κριθινος.

6

6

d

P. S. Not having an opportunity of consulting the com

Пɛρi ovveεσews λoywv. Lib. de sublimi oratione, sect. 39. Longinus ipse testatur se de hac satis copiose tractâsse in duobus commentariis.- -Extat et similis argumenti liber inter Dionysii Halicarnassei opera, de quo, lib. 3. cap. 32. Ex illis Longini petitum videtur testimonium de Rhetoribus, quod ex codice MSS. Vaticano Evangeliorum cum Hudsono Zacagnius communicavit.-Postrema de Paulo apostolo a christiano homine adjecta sunt. Fabric. Bib. Gr. 1. iv. cap. 31. T. iv. p. 445.

'ments on Hermogenes, I have looked into Fabricius's 'Bibliotheca Græca, and find there, Vol. iv. p. 434, Dinar'chus mentioned in the Index of Authors quoted by Hermogenes, and styled Hordeaceus Demosthenes. Again, ' in the same volume, p. 467, I find him mentioned in the 'Index of Authors taken notice of in the Comments of Hermogenes, (but placed by mistake after Diodorus,) by the title of Kpioivos Demosthenes.'

Whether this fragment be rightly ascribed to Longinus or not, these observations will be allowed to be curious.

CHAP. XXXV.

NUMENIUS.

6

His testimony to the scriptures of the Old Testament.

• NUMENIUS,a of Apamea in Syria,' says Suidas, a Pythagorean philosopher. This is the man who charged

• Plato with stealing from the writings of Moses his senti'ments concerning God, and the original of the world, saying: "What is Plato, but Moses in Greek ?"" The same saying is in Clement of Alexandria. Numenius, the Pythagorean philosopher, writes expressly: "What is Plato, but Moses in Greek?""

And b

с

The same is also quoted from Clement by Eusebius in his Evangelical Preparation.

Eusebius presently afterwards quotes the first and the third book of Numenius concerning What is Good; Where Numenius speaks of the rites and institutions of several nations, particularly the Brachmans, the Jews, the Ma'gians, and the Egyptians; and mentions Jannes and 'Jambres, two sacred Egyptian scribes, who, when the 'Jews were expelled Egypt, being reckoned very skilful ' in the magical art, were by common consente chosen to Νεμηνιος, Απαμεος, από Συρίας, φιλοσοφος Πυθαγορειος. Ούτος εσιν τε Πλάτωνος εξελέγξας διανοιαν, ώς εξ Μοσαΐκων τα περι θες και κοσμε γενέσεως αποσυλήσασαν, και δια τετο φησι· τι γαρ επι Πλατων, η Μωσης αττικίζων; Suid. V. Νεμηνιος. b Clem. Str. 1. i. p. 342. Pa. p. 411. Oxon. a Ib. cap. 7, et 8. p. 411.

a

e

c L. ix. cap. 6. p. 411.

την

Μεσαιῳ γεν, τῳ Ιεδαίων εξηγησαμενῳ, ανδρι γενομένῳ, Θεω ευξασθαι δυνατωτάτω. ib.

'oppose Musæus, [meaning Moses,] who was very powerful in his prayers with God, that they might remove the 'calamities brought by him upon that country.'

Numenius is quoted several times by Origen in his books against Celsus; I shall take notice of those places by and by. He is also quoted twice or thrice by Theodoret. I do not recollect that he is at all quoted by Augustine in any of his works, nor by Cyril of Alexandria in his answer to the emperor Julian. Porphyry, as quoted by Eusebius, chargeth Origen with reading and borrowing from Plato, and Numenius, and Cronius. Porphyry says, thats the Commentaries of Severus, Cronius, Numenius, Gaius, and Atticus, Platonic philosophers, were read in the school of Plotinus. He likewise says in the same work, the Life of Plotinus, that Amelius was very diligent in learning the opinions of Numenius, and out of them composed Commentaries of near an hundred books. Finally, Porphyry, in his book De Antro Nympharum, quotes Numenius and his friend Cronius.

From Macrobius we learn, that Numenius was reproached by some with having divulged or exposed the Eleusinian mysteries, and to be avenged of him, Ceres and Proserpine appeared to him in a very strange manner.

1

We now return to Origen; who quotes the first book of Numenius the Pythagorean, concerning What is Good, or Concerning the Good; and a book of his concerning the Immortality of the Soul. And still once more after this • In manner: a know also that Numenius, a skilful commentator upon Plato, and well acquainted with the Pythagorean 'doctrines, in many places of his writings has quoted the

f

συνην γαρ αει τῳ Πλατωνι-τοις τε Νεμηνις και Κρονιε. H. E. I. vi. cap. 19. p. 220. De Vità Plotini, cap. xiv.

'h Ibid. cap. iii.

i

De Antro Nymph. p. 263. Vid. et p. 271.

Νόμηνος και ο τετε έταιρος Κρονιος.

* Numenio denique inter philosophos occultorum curiosiori offensam numinum, quod Eleusinia sacra interpretando vulgaverit, somnia prodiderunt, visas sibi ipsas Eleusinias Deas habitu meretricio ante apertum lupanar ludere prostantes, &c. Macrob. Somnium Scip. 1. i. cap. 2. p. 9.

1 Contr. Cels. 1. i. p. 13. sect. 15.

n

in Ibid. 1. v. p. 269. sect. 57.

Εγω δ' οίδα και Νεμηνιον τον Πυθαγορειον --- πολλαχε συγγραμματων αυτε εκτιθεμενον τα Μωϋσεως και των προφητών, και εκ απιθανως αυτα τροπολογέντα, ώσπερ εν τῳ καλεμενῳ, Εποπι, και εν τοις περι Αριθμων, και εν τοις περι Τοπε. Εν δε τριτῳ περι τ' αγαθα εκτίθεται και περι τ8 Ιησε ίσοριαν τινα, το όνομα αυτ8 8 λεγων, και τροπολογει αυτην ποτερον δ' επιτετευγμένως, η αποτετευγμένως, αλλο καιρο εσιν ειπείν. Αλλ' εκ εν εκεινη σεμνυνόμεθα αποδεχόμεθα δ' αυτον μαλλον Κελσε και αλλων Ελληνων, βεληθεντα φιλομαθως και τα ημετερα εξετασαι, και κινηθεντα ώσπερ τροπολογεμένων, και 8 μωρων σvyypaμμarwv. Ib. 1. iv. p. 198. sect. 51.