Commentary Par X 118-120

Orosius, whose historical compendium, entitled Historiae adversus paganos, was written at the suggestion of St. Augustine as a defense of the Christian religion's beneficial role in human history.  Augustine made use of it in writing his De civitate Dei, and it is frequently used by Dante.  See Toynbee (Toyn.1902.1), 'Dante's obligations to the Ormista,' pp. 121-36, for the opinion that the reference is indeed to Orosius, which for a long time has been the view of the majority of the commentators.  However, Alberto Pincherle, 'Agostino' (ED.1970.1, p. 82b) mentions the usual suspects (Orosius, Ambrose, Tertullian, Paulinus of Nola, and Lactantius), and settles on Marius Victorinus.  For continued insistence that the avvocato de' tempi cristiani is in fact Orosius, see Brugnoli (Brug.1998.1), pp. 491-92.  The early commentators were divided, with the majority favoring St. Ambrose, but others backing Orosius.  After them, the majority opinion has settled on Orosius by a wide margin, with many convinced by Venturi's argument (comm. to this tercet) that Dante would never have spoken of the great St. Ambrose as a 'piccioletta luce' (little light).  Moore should still be consulted (Moor.1889.1), pp. 457-60, for three strong arguments for the reference's being to Orosius and not to Ambrose.  But see Lieberknecht (Lieb.1996.1) for a thoughtful attempt to resuscitate Ambrose's candidacy, even if the author ends by admitting that Orosius remains the front-runner.