Sapientia praecedit, religio sequitur: enciclopedismo en Divinae Institutiones de Lactancio

Abstract

 The study of encyclopedism in general faces several obstacles, and one of them, the definition of the term, presents itself as steep terrain. Although it already existed as a discourse, critics consider it a typical phenomenon of Late Antiquity, a period characterized by exegesis and interpretation. On a rhetorical or discursive level, the encyclopaedic phenomenon is based on exhaustiveness and order (Le Blay, 2018), which we might consider invariable characteristics. However, the encyclopaedic discourse operates according to the culture in which it is embedded: it shows its variability through the selection of content and its organization for transmission to its audience. In particular, the category of Late Antique encyclopedism can also be understood as a set of works that deal, either wholly or partially, with the contents of the Liberal Arts for an instructive purpose (Stahl and Johnson, 1971; Hadot, 1984). For this reason, this period is a witness of the emergence of discourses about the encyclopaedia and its disciplines, such as the works of Martianus Capella, Boethius, Augustine, and Cassiodorus.

In this study, we propose an approach to the encyclopedism of Lactantius, whose work can illustrate the perspective of the first Christians of Late Antique Rome during a time of significant political, social, economic, and religious changes. Our starting point is the need for this approach within literary studies on Late Antiquity, given that the topic of encyclopedism in Lactantius’ discourse constitutes an area of vacancy. Divinae Institutiones is a work that presents encyclopaedic features on a textual level but also expresses them on a metatextual level, proposing a hierarchy of knowledge in which the understanding of God and Christian religion are the ultimate goal.