Thursday, January 3, 2008

History of the Vandal Persecution

Thanks to alibris, this morning arrived my long-awaited copy of Victor of Vita's History of the Vandal Persecution (tr. J. Moorhead).  I have long had an interest in the history, triumphs, trials – and sad end – of Christianity in North Africa, and am looking forward to reading and blogging about what Victor (fl. 484) has to say.  What a Church, to have withstood a century of persecutions under the Arian yoke of the barbarian Vandals!


There is a fine edition online, thanks to Google Books, of Dom Theodoric Ruinart's 1694 compilation Historia Persecutionis Vandalicæ, which incorporates the whole of the Historia Persecutionis Africanæ Provinciæ, Temporibus Geiserici et Hunirici regum Wandalorum (or Hist. Pers. Afr. Prov. for short) by this Victor Vitensis.  But my Latin isn't good enough to read it, apart from now referring to the English version I've just obtained.


There is an interesting article, considering The Role of Arianism in the Vandal Kingdom, by Emőke Horváth, giving a good modern overview of the period, and of the enduring worth of Victor's account.


Omnes sancti Martyres Africæ, orate pro nobis.

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