This book looks at Arator, the Roman sub-deacon who wrote a verse-commentary on the Acts of the Apostles in AD 544, and studies the Historia Apostolica as biblical commentary. Baptism for the early Christians was a subject of crucial importance, and its symbolism fired the imagination of writers throughout the Christian world. Arator was no exception. Arator's Historia Apostolica is a work of historical importance. Written at a time of crisis, politically and theologically, it is of interest as prop ... More

This book looks at Arator, the Roman sub-deacon who wrote a verse-commentary on the Acts of the Apostles in AD 544, and studies the Historia Apostolica as biblical commentary. Baptism for the early Christians was a subject of crucial importance, and its symbolism fired the imagination of writers throughout the Christian world. Arator was no exception. Arator's Historia Apostolica is a work of historical importance. Written at a time of crisis, politically and theologically, it is of interest as propaganda for a papacy under threat from Constantinople. But Arator's concentration on baptismal themes offers vital evidence of the transmission of exegetical ideas in late antiquity. Passages of particular baptismal importance are presented both in the original Latin and in a new translation, and considered in the context of the writings of earlier Christian commentators.