Quintus Julius Hilarianus
Quintus Julius Hilarianus (fl. 397), commonly known as Hilarian, was a Roman African chronographer and computist. He is sometimes identified with the bishop Hilarianus who attended the Council of Carthage in 411. This is uncertain and he may have even been a Donatist. His writings point to his having been a monk.[1]
Hilarianus is known for two works in Latin:
- De ratione Paschae et mensis (or Expositum de die Paschae et mensis) was completed on 5 March 397.[1] It is a treatise about the importance of celebrating Easter.[2] It has been read as a sermon,[2] but this is not certain.[1] It is used in the Carthaginian Computus of 455, which also cites a letter of one Agriustias to Hilarianus on the subject of computus.[1]
- Written later in 397, the Chronologia siue Libellus de mundi duratione (or De cursu temporum) is a treatise on salvation history.[1][2] It argues that the Second Coming will occur in 498, when the Earth is 6,000 years old. There will follow the thousand-year reign of Christ and a final battle. Since the end of the world is placed beyond the lifetime of Hilarianus or his initial audience, the Libellus does not seem to be a response to contemporary events but "a statement about hope for life eternal". Its brand of millenarianism, however, soon came to be regarded as heresy, making Hilarianus "one of [its] last vocal proponents".[2] Nevertheless, in two groups of manuscripts the Libellus was incoporated into the compilation known as the Chronicle of Fredegar. In one group, it replaces the contribution of the Liber generationis.[3] The 9th-century manuscript Reginensis 213 opens with it.[4][5]
Some scholars have suggested Hilarianus as the author of the Liber genealogus.[6]
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Mandouze 1982, pp. 557–558.
- ^ a b c d Palmer 2014, p. 45.
- ^ Wallace-Hadrill 1960, pp. xxvi, xlvi.
- ^ van Hees 2021.
- ^ Wallace-Hadrill 1960, p. li.
- ^ Mandouze 1982, pp. 557–558, citing German critics.
Bibliography[edit]
- Croke, Brian (2018). "Hilarianus, Q. Iulius". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, Volume 1: A–I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 720. ISBN 978-0-19-881624-9.
- Mandouze, André, ed. (1982). Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire. Vol. 1: Prosopographie de l'Afrique chrétienne (303–533). Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique.
- Martindale, John R., ed. (1980). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume II, AD 395–527. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-20159-4.
- Palmer, James (2014). The Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press.
- Van Nuffelen, Peter (2020). "What Happened after Eusebius? Chronicles and Narrative Identities in the Fourth Century". In Richard Flower; Morwenna Ludlow (eds.). Rhetoric and Religious Identity in Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press. pp. 160–179.
- van Hees, Bart (2021). "Minor Annals and Frankish History Writing". The Medieval Chronicle. 14: 92–112.
- Wallace-Hadrill, J. M., ed. (1960). The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar with its Continuations. Thomas Nelson and Sons.