The Word "modernus"

Author(s): John Moorhead

Source: Latomus , AVRIL-JUIN 2006, T. 65, Fasc. 2 (AVRIL-JUIN 2006), pp. 425-433
Published by: Société d'Études Latines de Bruxelles

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41544104

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Latomus

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 The Word modernus

Sometimes one has the sensation of an author feeling for a word which is not
available. In his De Ciuitate Dei , Augustine uses expressions such as «in our
times», «in Christian times», and «in times close at hand», to designate a period
close to that in which he lived ('). Within a few decades the word modernus had
come into use in written Latin. The purpose of the following enquiry is to
attempt to establish precisely what early users of this word meant by it, bearing
in mind a suggestion that when pope Gregory the great wrote of «modern times»
in his Dialogues he often meant post-apostolic rather than recent times (2). Our
enquiry will necessitate placing occurrences of the word in the contexts in which
it is employed, so as to throw light on the senses in which it is being used ; in the
case of Gregory's Dialogues , we shall consider the way in which Gregory orga-
nized his material, in what can give the impression of being an unorganized
work.
Let us begin by examining the ways in which its earliest users employed the
word. An inscription placed over the entrance to a chapel which was installed by
Peter Chrysologus, a bishop of Ravenna who died shortly after the mid-point of
the fifth century, contains the line lex est ante , uenit celli decus unde moder-
num (3), suggesting that it was from light which existed beforehand that the cur-
rent splendour of the building was derived. Some decades later, pope Gelasius
used the word twice. At some time before August 495 he wrote to two bishops,
Martyrius and Justus, concerning men who had been ordained contrary to the
will of their lord. In somewhat awkward Latin in which he uses the word in

(1) Nostris temporibus: De Ciuitate Dei (ed C[orpus] C[hristianorum] S[eries]

L[atina] 47f) 3,17 line 127 ; 3,19 line 34 ; 3,22 line 18, etc. Temporibus christianis : 1,1
line 19f ; 1,15 lines 34f, 58 ; 1.30 line 5f, etc. Note as well uicinis temporibus : 9,10 line 1.
(2) P. Brown, Gloriosus obitus : The End of the Other Ancient World in W. E.
Klingshirn and M. Vessey, ed., The Limits of Ancient Christianity : Essays on Late
Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus , Ann Arbor, Mi., 1999, p. 289-
314 at p. 296, citing W. McCready, Signs of Sanctity Miracles in the Thought of Gregory
the Great , Toronto, 1989, p. 16-32. To the best of my knowledge, however, Gregory only
used the word on one occasion in this work.
(3) D. M. Deliyannis, The Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis : Critical Edition
and Commentary (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania, 1994), 51
(p. 502).

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426 J. MOORHEAD

which we are interested as a substantiv

dealt with post modernum, quod tanto
saluberrimae prouisionis assensu constat
14 in a series of 28 decreta which ha
Lucania, Bruttium and Sicily on 1 1 Mar
slaves or originarli who fled from their
the clergy (5). Gelasius' usage is clearer i
495, addressed to bishops Rufinus and
plaint made by the illustrious Maxima t
deacons; Gelasius stated that this occ
princes, the rules of the fathers, and m
nas ), the last category presumably bei
Gelasius employed the word modernus
which was certainly no further than on
Shortly after the time of Gelasius the
op of Pavia, began writing. He uses the w
ductions, and while his style is genera
sense of how he understood the term. A
of an office at Ravenna, late in 503 be
had indicated in a "modern" piece of w
spending time nearby (7). While Hon
Ennodius, so that we cannot place this l
light on the precise significance he atta
reasonable to assume that the piece of w
date. Ennodius uses the word twice in
which takes the form of a precept tha
ions (8). While we know nothing about
editor Vogel observes that the order co

(4) A. Thiel ed., Epistulae Romanorum Pon

20 (= P. Jaffé and G. Wattenbach, Regesta P
651). I am grateful to my colleague Tom Ste
(5) Thiel, ер. 14 (= Jaffé-Wattenbach n°
nection with ep. 20, W. Ullmann, Gelasius
Spätantike zum Mitterlalter , Stuttgart, 198
(6) Thiel, ep. 22 (= Jaffé-Wattenbach n° 6
(7) Ennodius ep. 2,27. I cite Ennodius fr
G[ermaniae] H[istorica] A[uctores] A[ntiq
and the recipient of this letter, Honoratus,
des ausgehenden Römertums , Helsinki, 191
(8) Praeceptum quando iussi sunt omnes e
date, R. Bartlett, Magnus Felix Ennodius :
PhD thesis, University of Queensland, 199

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 THE WORD MODERNVS All

it can be placed against the accusations of improper c

were levelled against pope Symmachus during th
schism ; in a book of controversy prompted by the s
time later, Ennodius referred to such charges in a rou
not take us very far in establishing the sense in whic
Praeceptum. He asserts, referring to the words of a p
ordered ancient things and disposes modern things"
derna disponat ), and later refers to "ancient and mod
dernis legibus ) (9). The sense of the word "ancient",
"modern", seems very broad, as is also the case in a
Benedictio cerei composed for Easter, in which Enno
the concepts of ancient and modern things. In this ca
passage of the Hebrews through the Red Sea, and the
gy (l0). In his Life of bishop Epiphanius of Pavia, whi
contrary to preceding scholarship, to about 513, Enno
discharging a mission on behalf of king Theoderic
Gundobad, king of the Burgundians : "The old lord lo
new embraces as well" ( antiquus dominus prouinciam
amplecitur) ("). The former lord is presumably Gund
in Liguria during the war between Theoderic and Od
period 489-93, and departed with what was said to ha
the modernus Theoderic. The word, placed in the m
taking a mission which must have taken place not lon
a state which had very recently come to obtain. We m
for Ennodius, the word could either be used in a pr
which was virtually contemporary, conforming to t
a very general way which could denote something t
period.
The word is used with greater frequency by Cassiodorus. Again, some of the
contexts in which he employed it imply that it is being used to refer to very
recent times. In a letter written on behalf of king Theoderic, apparently early in
510, Inportunus, having been made a patricius, is reminded of his father and
uncle, «who adorned modern times with ancient ways» ( modernis saeculis mori-

(9) Mulierum turbas , adseritis urbanis coloribus cum praefato ad iudicia conuenisse,
Libellus pro synodo 65.
(10) Ennodius comments, nil hie est, in quo discrepant antiqua nouis aut moderna
ueteribus {opuse. 9.8).
(11) Vita Epiphani 161 ; Sirmond's emendation diligit yields somewhat better sense
than the dilige of Vogel and the manuscripts, which would lead one to expect a vocative
case. See M. Cesa, Ennodio Vita del beatissimo Epifanio vescovo della chiesa pavese ,
Como, 1988, p. 203. The date of composition is discussed by R. Bartlett, Magnus Felix
Ennodius [n. 8], p. 353-57.

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 428 J. MOORHEAD

bus ornabuntur antiquis) (12). That the

careers we are able to follow in some de
times could be held to suggest that Cassi
of one lifetime or a human generation.
the word in a letter he addressed to th
years in the past is contrasted with the
had been taken {moderna praesumption
Cassiodorus with unmistakably contemp
very year refers to news being brought
lowing the death of Theoderic, known
being moderna (l5); a letter written shor
ing modernám principis mentem , prob
recently deceased Theoderic (16), and a
of rhetoric insists upon a "modern comp
empresses of old; the modern person is
adopted the title of regina in that s
Cassiodorus proceeds to compare her
The word seems to have a sense of
Theoderic asks for materials to be sent
stating that "we desire to erect modern
(moderna sine priorům imminutione d
letters of Cassiodorus do on occasion
Symmachus is lauded as "a most diligen
noble teacher of the moderns" (l9), but
temporary; the people so described mu
teaching.
Another work in which Cassiodorus uses the word is his Institutiones. At the
end of his discussion of works which had been written explaining the letters of
the apostles, Cassiodorus states that he does not forbid the use of "modern expos-

(12) Variae 3,5,3 (ed. MGH AA 12) ; on the date, S. Krautschick, Cassiodor und die
Politik seiner Zeit, Bonn, 1983.
(13) J. R. Martindale ed., Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire 2, Cambridge,
1980, s.v. Basilius 12 and Decius 2.
(14) Variae 3,31,3f, where «tricennii praescriptione» is neatly played off against
«moderna praesumptione».
(15) Variae 8,14,2.
(16) Variae 8,25,1.
(17) Variae 1 1,1,19 ; on Amalasuintha's title, J. Martindale, Prosopography 2, [n. 13],
p. 65 s.v. Amalasuintha.
(18) Variae 3,9,1 ; the contrast between moderna and priorům reproduces one drawn
in the preceding sentence between noua and uetusta.
(19) Variae 4,51,2: antiquorum diligentissimus imitator, modernorum nobilissimus
institutor.

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 THE WORD MODERNVS 429

itors", subject to their being catholics, since God's g

may have been hidden from "old teachers" (priscis d
teachers he has in mind are presumably those mentio
the most recent of whom are Augustine and the
Tripolitania, who compiled a series of excerpts from
A Historia Tripartita commissioned by Cassiodo
Epiphanius, comprising Latin versions of the Chu
Sozomen and Theodoret, has come down to us. In a t
Socrates which discusses the thorny question of the
Easter, a distinction is drawn between the "modern" J
in everything, and the old ones and Josephus (2I). L
Theodosius, qualified as modernus (translating Theod
lus of the following chapter is «De laudibus Theodosii
that modernus , as well as iunior , is being used to con
fifth century with his predecessor of the fourth centur
ing in the mid-sixth century, describes Galla Placidia
er of the modern Valentinian the younger emperor"
also uses the word modernus in a passage translated
John Chrysostom is represented as telling the magiste
ing been made magister and adorned with the consula
his old (prisca ) poverty with the wealth he now e
tia) (23). Here, at least, the reference is to something
On the other hand, Cassiodorus uses the word in a v
sage in his exposition of the Psalms. Commenting on
your salvation, Lord, and loved your commandment
observes that it could be made to apply to both ancie
antiquis fidelibus...et modernis) by taking it to refer
Lord. The former group could be seen as having hop
incarnation, and the latter the coming of the futur
moderni in this case are people living subsequent to
work, the De Orthographia , Cassiodorus notes that ol
form quom for the word which modern ones have w
spelling was «apparently usual before the Ciceronian

(20) Institutions, ed. R. Mynors, Oxford, 1937, 1,8.

(21) Historia Tripartita (ed. Corpus Scriptorum Eccle
9,38,12.
(22) Quae mater fuit moderni Valentiniani iunioris imp
MGHAA 5).
(23) Historia Tripartita 10,6,6.
(24) Expositio psalmorum (ed. CCSL 97-98) 118 : 166.
(25) De Orthographia (ed. H. Keil, Grammatici Latini 7
145,1.

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430 J. MOORHEAD

archaizing writers» (26), and if Cassio

which it was used we would need to s
were writing having stretched a long
on safer ground merely to note that, y
contrast with another word, in this ca
that it is being used in a much broader
is used in an unmistakablely narrow
describes Priscian as a modern author
elsewhere that Cassiodorus thought o
time (27). We may note in passing that
sense when he contrasts the moderni
who, instead of the forms huic , nost
nostratis and uestratis (28).
Cassiodorus is the author who uses th
period, and it may be that this featur
being someone who was aware of "the
we may observe occurrences of it in
Josephus, another work undertaken in
lifespan of Noah, who is said to have
tion of a life ( uitam modernám , trans
Greek texts translated into Latin whe
made them relevant in the middle of th
by Theodosius and Valentinian to Cyri
ops to Antioch wh because of an issue
translating tœv vüv) (31). The moder
Pelagius wrote in his Defence of the
raries, whose opinion is contrasted w
The word is also employed by Venanti
in which recent light came upon an ol
when a blind man regained his sigh

(26) Oxford Latin Dictionary , Oxford, 19

(27) De Orthographia 7, p. 147,15 ; cf. e
Constantinopli doctor fuit (p. 207, 13f).
(28) H. Keil ed. Grammatici [п. 251, 3, p
(29) M. Vessey in Cassiodorus Institutes
Soul , transi. J. W. Halporn, with introdu
(30) F. Blatt, ed. The Latin Josephus 1, C
pare propter calumniam modernám 1 ,4 <
(31) Acta Concihorum Oecumenicorum (
(32) Pelagius, In Defensione Trium Capit
p. 25 (= Patrologia Latina Supplementum

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 THE WORD MODERNVS 43 1

against antiquus , he is clearly using the former wor

recent happening (33).
Finally, we come to Gregory the great. He uses the
ten at the beginning of his pontificate. In he first, wri
of the emperor Maurice, he wrote of the pastoral off
hold (ex hac moderna pastoralis officii continentid). A
October 594, and Gregory became pope in Septembe
ern must apply to the very recent past (34). But wr
Bacauda, bishop of Formiae, he transferred to a new
an old one "by ancient and modern right or privilege"
uel priuilegio) (35). The two occurrences of the word
have already established, the first having the sense
place very recently and the second indicating an ind
which is contrasted with an earlier time.

It is tempting to continue our enquiry into later periods. An intriguing use of

the word is found in the prologue to the Life of Charlemagne by Einhard.
Introducing his work, Einhard draws attention to Charles' outstanding deeds,
which he felt could scarcely be matched by people of the modern time (moderni
temporis hominibus) (36). Perhaps we should see Einhard as using the word mo-
derni in the sense of "very recent", so as to imply a distinction between the deeds
of Charles and those of people in the time when he was writing, in a way that
may have been politically motivated, and accepting a date of 825-26 for
Einhard's work (37) would allow us to locate such motivation against the circum-
stances obtaining in the Frankish state just then. Taking the word in its restrict-
ed sense would also enable us to draw a parallel between Einhard's view and the
distinction Walafrid Strabo drew in a prologue he supplied not long afterwards
to Einhard's work in which, having commented on the brightness of learning in
the time of Charles, he asserted that the light of learning was become rare in his
own time (38). But the word modernus has no stable significance among the
Carolingian authors who use it (39), and one should be cautious in drawing con-
clusions.

(33) Venantius Fortunatus, Poèmes , ed. M. Reydellet, Paris, 1994, carm. 2., 16,75.
(34) Registrum epistularum (ed CCSL 140) 1,5.
(35) Registrum epistularum 1,8.
(36) Vita Karoli Magni ed. G. H. Pertz and G. Waitz, Hannover, 191 1, p. 1.
(37) H. Löwe, Die tntstehungsziet der Vita Karoli tinhards in Deutsches Archiv Зу,
1983, p. 85-103.
(38) Ed. G. H. Pertz and G. Waitz [n. 36], p. xxviii.
(39) W. Hartmann, Modernus und Antiquus : Zum Verbreitung und Bedeutung
dieser Bezeichnungen in der Wissenschaftlichen Literatur vom 9. bis 12. Jahrhundert in
A. Zimmermann ed. Antiqui und moderni Traditionsbewußtsein und Fortschrittbewußtsein
im spätem Mittelalter , Berlin, 1974 (= Miscellanea Mediaevalia 9), p. 21-57 at 23 ; the
evidence of Einhard is not used.

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 432 J. MOORHEAD

Nevertheless, the evidence we have for

suggests some definite conclusions. It
legitimate to include Venantius Fortunat
al, we have been able to distinguish tw
could refer to something which had hap
Greek it was used to translate, or to so
undefined but possibly very lengthy pe
evidence allows us to be more precise tha
emus in the former sense, as we have seen in the cases of Ennodius and
Venantius Fortunatus, they can do so by contrasting it with another word ; when
they do in the latter sense, they do this in an overwhelming number of cases. The
most common word used in apposition is antiquus , but priscus and uetus are also
used, and it may be that such a sense of comparison is already present in Peter
Chrysologus' juxtaposition of modernum with ante. Indeed, we may take the
contrasting of modernus against another word to be almost a constant when the
word is used in a general sense. When the word modernus stands alone, it gen-
erally has the sense of «recent».
With this in mind, we may consider the sense which the word bears on the one
occasion in which Gregory the great uses it in his Dialogues , a work written in
the period 593-94. After telling of a miracle performed not long ago (non ante
longa tempora ) by the guardian of the church of Palestrina, Acontius, Gregory
commented that if he were to tell of everything that took place in that church he
would have to be silent about everything else. It was therefore necessary for his
narrative to turn back to the modern fathers whose lives shone across the
provinces of Italy C0). It is unlikely that Gregory is suggesting a contrast between
Acontius and such fathers, given that he had lived so recently and that Gregory,
having just quoted the words of a girl who addressed him as «father», admitted-
ly in error but certainly appropriately, seems to view him as belonging to such a
group (4I). Seen against the background of preceding usage of the word we have
been considering, this would suggest that Gregory used it to mean "recent".
Gregory's organization of material in the Dialogues throws further light on his
use of the word modernus in this instance (42).
The first book of this work proceeds in accordance with geography rather than
chronology ; Gregory brought together tales of holy men who operated in vari-
ous regions. When he came to give an account of the life of Benedict in the sec-
ond book, Gregory organized his material both chronologically and thematical-

(40) Unde necesse est ut ad modernos patres quorum uita per Italiae provincias claruit
narratio se nostra retorqueat : Dialogues 3,25,1 ; 3. I quote from the edition of A. De
Vogüé, Sources Chrétiennes 260.
(41) Roso te pater indica mihi quis est Acontius custos : ibid 3,25,2.
(42) The following discussion does no more than summarize the excellent discussion
of A. De Vogüé, Sources Chrétiennes 251, p. 55-65.

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 THE WORD MODERNVS 433

ly. In the third book, he presents groups of miracle-w

bishops and monks, and then goes on to present data i
almost always arranged in pairs of chapters. But a fir
superimposed in this structure, also operates in this b
op Paulinus of Nola, who died in 431, although th
anachronistically set in a slightly later period, Gregor
through the sixth century, describing in their correct o
in the reigns of the Gothic kings Theoderic, Theodahad
time of the Lombard invasion, and the more recent p
The "modern fathers" to whom Gregory's narrative ret
of Acontius can be easily placed within this structure.
of them, the holy man Menas, as having been active in
having died scarcely ten years before he wrote (. Dialo
on to describe an encounter he had with a Lombard.)
low, while they do not involve fathers, are dated by Gre
before he wrote ( Dialogues 3,27,1) and to the same pe
of events which transpired in Spoleto when Lombards
in Rome just two years before he was writing (3,30,1)
deals with miracles which were performed against the
place in Spain following the murder of Hermenigild, w
and in Africa in the times of the emperor Justinian (
obviously out of chronological sequence, but as it tur
support his narrative with evidence provided by a ma
tinople, that is c. 579/580 - c. 586 C4), after which h
intention, having said sufficient things in condemnat
return to miracles which had been recently worked in
makes clear the near contemporaneity of the modern
alluded. I therefore concur with the view that the word
translated "present-day, modern" (46). The sense in wh
fits perfectly the first of the two senses we have dist

University of Queensland , John Moorhead.

Brisbane , QLD, Australia.

(43) Dialogues 3,31,5 ; on the date of Hermenigild's murder, J. R. Martindale ed.,

Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire 3, Cambridge, 1992, p. 450.
(44) J. Martindale, Prosopography 3 Гп. 431, p. 550.
(45) Nunc ad ea, quae nuper in Italia gesta sunt , signa redeamus : 3,32,4.
(46) A. J. Kinnerey, The Late Latin Vocabulary of St Gregory the Ureatx Washington,
DC, 1935, p. 12.

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