Jerome. Lives of Illustrious Men 11
11 Philo Judæus PL 23, 625
Philo the Jew, an Alexandrian of the priestly class, is placed by us among the ecclesiastical writers on the ground that, writing a book concerning the first church of Mark the evangelist at Alexandria, he writes to our praise, declaring not only that they were there, but also that they were in many provinces and calling their habitations monasteries. From this it appears that the church of those that believed in Christ at first, was such as now the monks desire to imitate, that is, such that nothing is the peculiar property of any one of them, none of them rich, none poor, that patrimonies are divided among the needy, that they have leisure for prayer and psalms, for doctrine also and ascetic practice, that they were in fact as Luke declares believers were at first at Jerusalem. They say that under Caius Caligula he ventured to Rome, whither he had been sent as legate of his nation, and that when a second time he had come to Claudius, he spoke in the same city with the apostle Peter and enjoyed his friendship, and for this reason also adorned the adherents of Mark, Peter’s disciple at Alexandria, with his praises. There are distinguished and innumerable works by this man: On the five books of Moses, one book Concerning the confusion of tongues, one book On nature and invention, one book On the things which our senses desire and we detest, one book On learning, one book On the heir of divine things, one book On the division of equals and contraries, one book On the three virtues, one book On why in Scripture the names of many persons are changed, two books On covenants, one book On the life of a wise man, one book Concerning giants, five books That dreams are sent by God, five books of Questions and answers on Exodus, four books On the tabernacle and the Decalogue, as well as books On victims and promises or curses, On Providence, On the Jews, On the manner of one’s life, On Alexander, and That dumb beasts have right reason, and That every fool should be a slave, and On the lives of the Christians, of which we spoke above, that is, lives of apostolic men, which also he entitled, On those who practice the divine life, because in truth they contemplate divine things and ever pray to God, also under other categories, two On agriculture, two On drunkenness. There are other monuments of his genius which have not come to our hands. Concerning him there is a proverb among the Greeks “Either Plato philonized, or Philo platonized,” that is, either Plato followed Philo, or Philo, Plato, so great is the similarity of ideas and language.
Philo Judaeus, natione Alexandrinus, de genere sacerdotum, idcirco a nobis inter scriptores ecclesiasticos ponitur, quia librum de prima Marci evangelistae apud Alexandriam scribens Ecclesia, in nostrorum laude versatus est, non solum eos ibi, sed in multis quoque provinciis esse memorans, et habitacula eorum dicens monasteria. Ex quo apparet talem primum Christo credentium fuisse Ecclesiam, quales nunc monachi esse nituntur [ Ms. imitantur] et cupiunt, ut nihil cujusquam proprium sit, nullus inter eos, dives, nullus pauper. Patrimonia egentibus dividuntur [ Al. dividunt], orationi vacatur [ Al. vacant], et Psalmis, doctrinae quoque et continentiae, quales et Lucas refert , primum Hierosolymae fuisse credentes. Aiunt hunc sub Caio Caligula Romae periclitatum, quo legatus gentis suae missus fuerat. Cum secunda vice venisset ad Claudium, in eadem urbe locutum esse cum apostolo Petro, ejusque habuisse amicitias, et ob hanc causam, etiam Marci, discipuli Petri, apud Alexandriam sectatores ornasse laudibus suis. Exstant hujus praeclara et innumerabilia opera, in quinque libros Moysi, de Confusione linguarum liber unus, de Natura et Inventione liber unus, de His quae sensu precamur et detestamur liber unus, de Eruditione liber unus, de Haerede divinarum rerum liber unus, 849 de Divisione aequalium et contrariorum liber, de Tribus virtutibus liber unus, Quare quorumdam in Scripturis mutata sunt [ Mss. sint] nomina liber unus, de Pactis libri duo, de Vita sapientis liber unus, de Gigantibus liber unus, Quod somnia mittantur a Deo libri quinque, Quaestionum et solutionum in Exodo libri quinque, de Tabernaculo et Decalogo libri quatuor, necnon de Victimis et Repromissionibus, sive Maledictis, de Providentia, de Judaeis, de Conversatione vitae, de Alexandro, et Quod propriam rationem muta animalia habeant, et Quod omnis insipiens servus sit, et de Vita nostrorum liber unus, de quo supra diximus, id est, de Apostolicis viris, quem et inscripsit περὶ Βίου θεωρητικοῦ ἱκετῶν, quod videlicet coelestia contemplentur, et semper Deum orent. Et sub aliis indicibus, de Agricultura duo, de Ebrietate duo. Sunt et alia ejus monumenta ingenii, quae in nostras manus non pervenerunt. De hoc vulgo apud Graecos dicitur, ἢ Πλάτων φιλωνιζει, ἢ Φίλων πλατωνίζει: id est, aut Plato Philonem sequitur, aut Platonem Philo: tanta est similitudo sensuum et eloquii.
Φίλων Ἰουδαῖος, τεχθεὶς ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ, γένους ἱερέων, δι' αὐτοῦ παρ' ἡμῶν μεταξὺ τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν συγγραφέων τάσσεται, ἐπείπερ περὶ τῆς πρώτης Μάρκου Εὐαγγελιστοῦ ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἐκκλησίας γράφων, εἰς ἔπαινον τῶν ἡμετέρων χωρεῖ, οὐ μόνον αὐτόθι αὐτοὺς ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν πολλαῖς ἐπαρχίαις εἶναι φάσκων, καὶ τὰς οἱκήσεις αὐτῶν καλῶν μοναστήρια. Ἀφ' ὧν δηλοῦνται τοιαύτην ἐξ ἀρχῆς τῶν τῷ Χριστῷ πιστευσάντων ἐκκλησίαν γενέσθαι, ὁποῖοι οἱ νῦν μοναχοὶ εἶναι ζηλοῦσι καὶ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ὥστε μηδὲν ἴδιον ἔχειν τινὰ, μηδὲ εἶναι εἰς αὐτοὺς πλούσιον ἢ πένητα, τὰς δὲ οὐσίας τοῖς ἔθνεσι διανέμοντες, εὐχαῖς σχολάζουσι καὶ ψαλμοῖς, παιδεύσει τε καὶ ἐγκρατείᾳ, οἳους καὶ Λουκᾶς ἀναφέρει, τὸ πρῶτον ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις τοὺς πιστοὺς γεγενῆσθαι. Λέγουσι τοῦτον ἐπὶ Γαΐου Καλλιγύλα, ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ κινδυνεῦσαι, ὅπη καὶ πρεσβευτῆς τοῦ οἰκείου ἔθνους ἀπεστάλη. Καὶ ὅτε τὸ δεύτερον ἦλθε πρὸς Κλαύδιον, ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ πόλει διαλεχθῆναι τῷ Ἀποστόλῳ Πέτρῳ, καὶ τούτου ἐσχηκέναι φιλίαν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς σπουδαστὰς Μάρκου τοῦ μαθητοῦ Πέτρου, ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἔπεσι κεκοσμηκέναι. Εἰσὶ τοὺτου περιφανῆ καὶ ἀναρίθμητα συντάγματα εἰς πέντε λόγους Μωϋσέως, οὕτως· περὶ Συγχύσεως γλωσσῶν λόγος εἷς, περὶ Φύσεως καὶ εὑρήματος, περὶ Ὧν κατὰ νοῦν εὐχόμεθα, καὶ ἀπομαρτυρούμεθα, λόγος εἷς, περὶ Παιδεύσεως λόγος εἷς, περὶ κληρονόμου τῶν θείων πραγμάτων λόγος εἷς, περί Μερισμοῦ ἴσων καὶ ἐναντίων λόγος εἷς, περὶ Τριῶν δυνάμεων λόγος εἷς, περὶ τῶν ἐναλλαγεισῶν Γραφῶν παρά τινων 850 λόγος εἷς, περὶ Συνθηκῶν λόγοι δύο, περὶ Βίου φιλοσοφικοῦ λόγος εἷς, περὶ γιγάντων λόγος εἷς, περὶ τοῦ Τοὺς ὀνείρους παρὰ θεοῦ πέμπεσθαι λόγοι πέντε, Ζητημάτων καὶ ἑρμηνευμάτων τῆς Ἐξόδου λόγοι πέντε, περὶ τῆς Σκηνῆς καὶ Δεκαλόγου λόγοι τέσσαρες, περὶ Θυσιῶν, περὶ Ὑποσχέσεων ἤτοι Καταρῶν, περὶ Προνοίας, περὶ Ἰουδαίων, περὶ Διαγωγῆς βίου, περὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου, καὶ Ὅτι ἴδιον λογισμὸν ἔχει τὰ ἄλογα, Ὅτι πᾶς ἄφρων δοῦλός ἐστιν, περὶ Διαγωγῆς τῶν ἡμετέρων, περὶ οὗ ἔμπροσθεν εἴπομεν, τουτέστι τῶν Ἀποστόλων, λόγος εἷς, ὃν ἐπέγραψε, Περὶ Βίου θεωρητικοῦ ἱκετῶν, τουτέστιν, ὅτι τὰ ἐπουρανία ἀτενίζουσι, καὶ ἀεὶ εὔχονται τῷ θεῷ, περὶ Γεωργίας λόγοι δύο, περὶ Μέθης δύο. Εἰσὶ καὶ ἔτερα αὐτοῦ συγγράμματα, οὔπω εἰς τὰς ἐμᾶς χεῖρας ἐλθόντα. Περὶ τούτου ἐστὶ ἡ παροιμία τῶν ἑλληνικῶν, Ἢ Πλάτων φιλωνίζει, ἢ Φίλων πλατωνίζει. Τοσαύτη ἐστιν ὁμοιότης τῆς τε διανοίας καὶ φράσεως.