The Apologists · AD 130–180

Aristides of Athens

fl. c. 125 · Philosopher · Earliest surviving apologist · Athens

The Apologists

Aristides of Athens — historical depiction 1 — Aristides of AthensPeloponnisios · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons

Aristides of Athens — historical depiction 2 — Aristides of AthensUnknown author Unknown author · Public domain · Commons

Aristides of Athens — historical depiction 3 — Aristides of AthensPainting, unknown artist, 3rd century A.D., Rome photo by Joseph Wilpert (1856-1944) · Public domain · Commons

Aristides of Athens — historical depiction 4 — Aristides of Athensanonymous artist, reproduction by H. F. Jos Liell · Public domain · Commons

Aristides of Athens — historical depiction 5 — Aristides of Athensunknown artist, 3th century A.D., Rome photo made under direction of Joseph Wilpert, published 1903 photos in the book made by Pompeo Sansaini hand coloring of photos by Carlo Tabanelli · Public domain · Commons

Who Aristides of Athens was

Aristides was an Athenian philosopher who kept his cloak and turned his trade to a new defense: a reasoned brief for the Christians addressed to the emperor — Hadrian, by Eusebius’s account, or Antoninus Pius by the Syriac copy. The Apology was lost for over a millennium until 1889, when a scholar found the full Syriac text in the monastery library of St. Catherine’s on Sinai (and realized medieval monks had smuggled the Greek, nearly whole, into the novel Barlaam and Josaphat). Aristides surveys the worships of barbarians, Greeks, and Jews, then describes the Christians simply by how they live — a portrait of second-century congregational ethics without equal.

Common questions

When was Aristides active?

Aristides of Athens is dated fl. c. 125 in the archive, which places Aristides in the Apologists (AD 130–180). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

What did Aristides write?

Aristides of Athens has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: The Apology of Aristides.

Which early sources mention Aristides?

Aristides of Athens is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea, Jerome of Stridon and Jerome. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Aristides from?

The archive associates Aristides of Athens with Athens.

Writings (1)

The Apology of Aristides

c. 125

They walk in all humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them, and they love one another… he that hath giveth to him that hath not, without grudging. This is truly a new people, and there is something divine in the midst of them.

Earliest witness · Sinai Syriac 16 (St Catherine's) (7th c.)

Read the interlinear source text →

Primary-source mentions (3)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Ecclesiastical History IV.3

c. AD 325

Aristides also, a faithful disciple of our religion, has left an Apology of the faith addressed to Hadrian.

Eusebius of Caesarea · Ecclesiastical History IV.3 · source text

Chronicle of Jerome (under Hadrian)

c. AD 380

Jerome of Stridon · Chronicle, ann. Abr. 2142 · source text

On Illustrious Men 20

c. AD 393

Aristides a most eloquent Athenian philosopher, and a disciple of Christ while yet retaining his philosopher's garb, presented a work to Hadrian… an Apology for the Christians, which is still extant. [The addressee is debated: Hadrian in Eusebius's account, Antoninus Pius in the Syriac version.]

Jerome · 20 · source text