E00849: The Dialogues on *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. c. 397, S00050), written in Latin by Sulpicius Severus in Primuliacum (south west Gaul), c. 404-406, advertise the world-wide success of the Life of Martin by the same author.
online resource
posted on 2015-11-10, 00:00 authored by robertSulpicius Severus, Dialogues (Gallus) 23.3-6
Sed referam tibi sane, quo liber iste penetrarit, et quam nullus fere in orbe terrarum locus sit, ubi non materia tam felicis historiae peruulgata teneatur. primus eum Romanae urbi uir studiosissimus tui Paulinus inuexit: deinde cum tota certatim urbe raperetur, exultantes librarios uidi, quod nihil ab his quaestuosius haberetur, siquidem nihil illo promptius, nihil carius uenderetur. Hic nauigationis meae cursum longe ante praegressus, cum ad Africam ueni, iam per totam Carthaginem legebatur. Solus eum Cyrenensis ille presbyter non habebat, sed me largiente descripsit. Nam quid ego de Alexandria loquar? ubi paene omnibus magis quam tibi notus est. Hic Aegyptum, Nitriam, Thebaidam ac tota Memphitica regna transiuit.
'But I will relate to you to what places that book has penetrated, and how there is almost no spot upon earth in which the subject of so happy a history is not possessed as a well-known narrative. Paulinus, a man who has the strongest regard for you, was the first to bring it to the city of Rome; and then, as it was greedily laid hold of by the whole city, I saw the booksellers rejoicing over it, inasmuch as nothing was a source of greater gain to them, for nothing commanded a readier sale, or fetched a higher price. This same book, having got a long way before me in the course of my traveling, was already generally read through all Carthage, when I came into Africa. Only that presbyter of Cyrene whom I mentioned did not possess it; but he wrote down its contents from my description. And why should I speak about Alexandria? For there it is almost better known to all than it is to yourself. It has passed through Egypt, Nitria, the Thebaid, and the whole of the regions of Memphis.'
Text: Fontaine 2006. Translation: Roberts 1894.
Sed referam tibi sane, quo liber iste penetrarit, et quam nullus fere in orbe terrarum locus sit, ubi non materia tam felicis historiae peruulgata teneatur. primus eum Romanae urbi uir studiosissimus tui Paulinus inuexit: deinde cum tota certatim urbe raperetur, exultantes librarios uidi, quod nihil ab his quaestuosius haberetur, siquidem nihil illo promptius, nihil carius uenderetur. Hic nauigationis meae cursum longe ante praegressus, cum ad Africam ueni, iam per totam Carthaginem legebatur. Solus eum Cyrenensis ille presbyter non habebat, sed me largiente descripsit. Nam quid ego de Alexandria loquar? ubi paene omnibus magis quam tibi notus est. Hic Aegyptum, Nitriam, Thebaidam ac tota Memphitica regna transiuit.
'But I will relate to you to what places that book has penetrated, and how there is almost no spot upon earth in which the subject of so happy a history is not possessed as a well-known narrative. Paulinus, a man who has the strongest regard for you, was the first to bring it to the city of Rome; and then, as it was greedily laid hold of by the whole city, I saw the booksellers rejoicing over it, inasmuch as nothing was a source of greater gain to them, for nothing commanded a readier sale, or fetched a higher price. This same book, having got a long way before me in the course of my traveling, was already generally read through all Carthage, when I came into Africa. Only that presbyter of Cyrene whom I mentioned did not possess it; but he wrote down its contents from my description. And why should I speak about Alexandria? For there it is almost better known to all than it is to yourself. It has passed through Egypt, Nitria, the Thebaid, and the whole of the regions of Memphis.'
Text: Fontaine 2006. Translation: Roberts 1894.
History
Evidence ID
E00849Saint Name
Martin, bishop of Tours (Gaul), ob. 397 : S00050Saint Name in Source
MartinusRelated Saint Records
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Other saint-related textsLanguage
- Latin
