whose name appears in the best MSS. under the form Q. Septimius Florens Tertullianus, is the most ancient of the Latin fathers now extant. Notwithstanding the celebrity which he has always enjoyed, our knowledge of his personal history is extremely limited, and is derived almost exclusively from a succinct notice by St. Jerome.
From this we learn that Tertullian was a native of Carthage, the son of a proconsular centurion (an officer who appears to have acted as a sort of aide-de-camp to provincial governors); that he flourished chiefly during the reigns of Septimius Severus and of Caracalla; that he became a presbyter, and remained orthodox until he had reached the term of middle life, when, in consequence of the envy and ill-treatment which he experienced on the part of the Roman clergy, he went over to the Montanists, and wrote several books in defence of those heretics; that he lived to a great age, and was the author of many works.
Various editors and historians of ecclesiastical literature have endeavoured to extend or illustrate the scanty information conveyed in the above sketch.
1. Since the elevation of Septimius Severus took place in A. D. 193, and since Caracalla was slain in A. D. 217, if we suppose that Tertullian attained to the age of eighty, his birth would fall somewhere about A. D. 160, and his death about A. D. 240. Allix places his birth about 145 or 150, and his death about A. D. 220; but the period thus embraced would scarcely be sufficient to justify the statement of his biographer that he was believed to have attained to extreme old age (usque ad decrepitam aetatem vixisse fertur).
2. It has been inferred from certain expressions which occur in different treatises by Tertullian, that he was not born and educated in the true faith. Making every allowance for the rhetorical style to which he is so much addicted, the words in question seem upon the whole to warrant this interpretation, but nothing can be ascertained with regard to the time or the circumstances of his conversion. (Apolog. 18, dc Poenit. 1, de Spectac. 19, de Resurrect. Carn. 59, de Fuga in Persec. 6, adv. Marc. 3.21.)
3. There can be no doubt that he was married, for we find among his tracts an address to his wife, in two books, and it seems probable, from their tenor, that she was considerably younger than himself.
4. Some members of the Roman Church, disturbed by the example of a wedded priest, have maintained that he never was a presbyter, and appeal to two passages in which he certainly assumes the character of a layman (de Monog. 12, de Exhort. Cast. 7). But we are here again embarrassed by the abrupt transitions and bold personifications so common in this author, and it has been urged, with considerable force, that in the passages referred to he is led naturally, by the course of his argument, to speak as if he actually belonged to that class whose position he describes. It is perfectly true, on the other hand, that we might read through the works of Tertullian without discovering that he had ever been ordained ; but neither this negative presumption nor the uncertain conclusions drawn from phrases of doubtful import can outweigh the positive testimony of Jerome, who had ample means of ascertaining the fact which he records, and no conceivable motive for suppressing or perverting the truth.
5. It being admitted that he was a presbyter, another question arises as to the place where he exercised his functions, whether at Carthage or at Rome. Here we shall have much difficulty in forming a positive opinion. We should naturally conclude, in absence of all direct evidence to the contrary, that he remained in his native country, and we know that writers who flourished towards the close of the fourth century designate him as a Carthaginian presbyter (Optat. ad v. Parmen. i. ; Praesdest. de Haeres. 26). On the other hand, it being certain that he visited Rome (de Cult. Femm. 1.7), his collision with the Roman clergy and the intimate knowledge which he frequently manifests with regard to the state of parties and the ecclesiastical proceedings in the metropolis, seem to indicate a lengthened residence and close personal observation. (Comp. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 2.2.)
6. His defection from the Church, caused, according to Jerome, by the harsh and insulting conduct of the Roman clergy, has been ascribed by some persons in modern times to disappointed ambition. They suppose that he had fixed his desires upon the bishopric of Rome or of Carthage, and that upon seeing others preferred to himself he seceded in disgust. It is unnecessary to enter into any lengthened investigation of this subject, for the views thus propounded are purely hypothetical, receiving no support or countenance from any trustworthy authority.
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