Calcidius

Calcidius (4th century CE) was a Christian philosopher who was noted during the Middle Ages for his annotated translation of Plato's Timaeus into Latin, a translation which he dedicated to Osius, Bishop of Córdoba, Spain.

For European western intellectuals during the Medieval Age and part of the Modern Age, this translation became an important tool for understanding the doctrines of Plato. Calcidius's work seems not to have been much recognized in his own day, but it came to be more widely admired and studied as knowledge of Greek declined.

Debates about his origin

There have been many conjectures about who Calcidius was and where he came from, but there are few facts. Tradition has it that Calcidius served as archideacon of Osius (supposedly the same Bishop of Cordova that along with the Roman priests Vito and Vicente represented the Pope in the first famous "Concilium Ecumenicum" of Nicea). There have been suggestions that he was of Jewish origin, or served as a deacon in the church of Carthage, but no firm arguments or indisputable information on these points have yet surfaced. The only documents about his personality and private life are a few private letters dubiously attributed to him.

There is, however, in his annotated translation of the first part of Plato's Timaeus, his personal dedication to Osius. This introductory letter is thus one of the most important elements used to identify the time and location of Calcidius' life. The letter suggests that Osius gave Calcidius the task of not only translating the Timaeus from Ancient Greek to Latin, but also of annotating the text. (According to Calcidius, this was "something never tried before", operis intemptati ad hoc tempus.) In some manuscripts, there are inscriptions which shed light on this: "Osius episcopo Calcidius archidiaconus". This suggests that Osius is a Bishop, and Calcidius his archideacon. In fact, in this epoch there was indeed an Osius, Bishop of Cordova (approximately 257-357 CE) who was an important figure in western Christianity. Osius played a consequential role in the defense of the orthodoxy in the Councils of Nicea (325 CE) and Sardica (344 CE), and was dedicated to fighting the arrianismo. If it is this Osius whom Calcidius addresses in his dedication, then Calcidius wrote his annotated translation in around 325-350 CE.

However, Waszink, the most recent editor of Calcidius, disagreed, believing that Calcidius must have lived at the end of the 4th century or even at the beginning of the 5th. According to Waszink, the intellectual attitude reflected in Calcidius' work (the mix of neoplatonic and Christian) would be that of Milan of the end of the 4th century, an epoch in which the Italian city was a center of neoplatonism both pagan and Christian, and where Osius might have been an active imperial official around 395 CE. There is, though, no evidence of this supposed Osius of Milan. Also, Klibansky observed that San Isidorus Hispalensis, who usually highlighted the Hispanic origin of writers of the past, does not mention Calcidius. This argument, that Calcidius is related to Milan around 395 CE, has been refuted by Dillon, who returns to the ancient, traditional hypothesis sustained in the inscription, and points out:

• that San Isidoro did not mention all the Hispanic authors who existed before his epoch.
• that the work of Calcidius scarcely had any influence in late antiquity, and was only consulted again after the 12th century; i.e., many centuries after the epoch of San Isidoro.
• and that the Platonic character of Calcidius' work would be a more than sufficient reason for San Isidoro (a fervent and devout Christian) not to include it among the famous authors of the early centuries of Hispanic Christianity.

According to Dillon, at around the year 350 CE it would have been impossible for "a real Christian" to have written a commentary to "a pagan text" like the Timaeus, especially in a manner that is clearly more partisan of the Platonic ideas that of the proper Christian faith.

On the other hand, Moreschini disagreees with both the traditional and the Waszink hypotheses. For Moreschini, the inscription might be an invention of someone who lived in the epoch in which Calcidius was re-discovered, namely, the 12th century. Nevertheless, the traditional hypothesis - that Calcidius was a disciple of Osius, Bishop of Cordova is supported by a lexical study of Calcidius's language which suggests a possible Andalusian or Hispanic origin.

The fact of entrusting a translation of the Greek Timaeus into Latin suggests that Osius had a direct interest in the literary work. Calcidius only completed a translation of the first part, which suggests that this first part particularly included topics that Osius was interested in. Amongst other things, this first part includes Plato's account of Atlantis.

Calcidius' translation of the Timaeus reveals some details that support the hypothesis that Calcidius was a disciple of Osius. These details are in passages of the Timaeus relating to the history of Atlantis.

For example, Timaios 24e: ΝΗΣΟΝ ΓΑΡ ΠΡΟ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΟΜΑΤΟΣ ΕΙΧΕΝ Ο ΚΑΛΕΙΤΕ ΩΣ ΠΗΑΤΕ ΗΥΜΕΙΣ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΟΥΣ ΣΤΗΕΛΑΣ. A literal translation of this passage would be: "since it had an 'insular land' (ΝΗΣΟΣ) before of the mouth that you name, as you announce, the Pillars of Hercules". However, Calcidius translates the Greek fragment as: "HABENS IN ORE [AC VESTIBULO SINUS] INSULAM, QUOD OS A VOBIS HERCULIS CENSETUR COLUMNAE", "it had in the mouth [and vestibule, in the gulf] an island, which is the one that you consider to be the Columns of Hercules.".

The part between square brackets does not exist in the Greek text of the Timaios, nor in any of the codices and well-known MS; this addition [AC VESTIBULO SINUS], is a clarification, presumably intended for Osius, as if Calcidius believed it was necessary to specify the place where Plato was locating "ATLANTIS INSULA", ie, before of the mouth of the strait of Hercules, but “in the same vestibule or entry (VESTIBULO), in the gulf (SINUS), ie, in the current Gulf of Cadiz (also known as Atlantic Gulf or Atlantic Pelagus), which is the only Gulf that exists, just in the Atlantic mouth, before the Pillars of Hercules, i.e., the Strait of Gibraltar.

This precision of Calcidius about the location of the "ATLANTIS INSULA" (presented by Plato as a "true history" [ΑΛΗΘΙΝΟΝ ΛΟΓΟΝ]) -- suggests that Calcidius knew the region well and/or knew of the local traditions of the region; or perhaps had had access to other sources of information. In any case, this suggests an intent to give Osius a closer understanding of Atlantis, reinforcing the idea that Osius may have had a special interest in this part of the Timaeus.

Other evidence in the annotated translation support this possibility. For example, in Timaios 25a:

"...ΤΑΔΕ ΜΕΝ ΓΑΡ ΟΣΑ ΕΝΤΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΣΤΟΜΑΤΟΣ ΟΥ ΛΕΓΟΜΕΝ ΦΑΙΝΕΤΑΙ ΛΙΜΗΝ ΣΤΕΝΟΝ ΤΙΝΑ ΕΧΩΝ ΕΙΣΠΛΟΥΝ..." (Timaios. Platon; 25a)

"…On the other hand, which is inside the mouth that we mention, appears like a narrow port for anyone that sails inwards..."

Calcidius translates this as:

"...quippe hoc intra os sive Herculeas columnas fretum angusto quodam litore, [in quo etiam nunc portus veteris apparent vestigia, dividitur a continente]..."

"...what is here inside the mouth or of your Columns of Hercules, which is like a coast with a narrow strait [in it also now is the visible vestige of an ancient port, which divides the continent]..."

This interpolation by Calcidius, directed once again to Osius, adds a more descriptive explanation (and quite exact from the geographical point of view) of the strait of Hercules. It is a description that is arguably difficult to ascribe to someone who would not have had sufficient geographical knowledge of the area of the strait of the Pillars of Hercules.

Only in modern times have we known that Europe and Africa, were indeed once joined by the isthmus (or divided by the strait?) of Hercules; but this conclusion might have been drawn by imaginative minds at any time. In any case, the description of Calcidius of the strait of Hercules is faithful to the appearance of the Strait of Gibraltar, which without doubt is like the "visible vestige of an ancient port, which divides the [European] continent" from the African.

There are other arguments regarding the life of Calcidius. One question is whether his work more reflects Middle Platonism orNeoplatonism. It has been suggested that Calcidius did not know the neoplatonic doctrine of Plotinus, even though Plotinus was used by all the Christian authors of his epoch. However, perhaps Calcidius was not interested in Plotinus, preferring the earlier Middle Platonism. The simple fact of this open question offers another point in favor of the Andalusian or Hispanic origin of Calcidius, as the neoplatonic doctrine of Plotinus developed exclusively in the Italian peninsula.

This suggests that Calcidius was probably of Andalusian or Spanish origin, and probably a disciple of Osius, Bishop of Córdoba. If so, he may have known that classical sources, from Solon to the contemporaries of Plato, placed the Pillars of Hercules in a "visible vestige of an ancient port, which divides the [Europe and African] continent" - possibly, the Strait of Gibraltar.

References and notes

Bibliography

Translation

• Commentario al Timeo di Platone, Milano, 2003 ISBN 88-452-9232-0

Studies

• BOEFT, J. DEN, Calcidius on fate. His doctrine and sources, Leiden, 1970.
• BOEFT, J. DEN, Calcidius on demons (Commentarius ch. 127-136), Leiden, 1977.
• CALCIDIO, Commentario al «Timeo» di Platone (testo latino a fronte), a cura di Claudio Moreschini, con la collaborazione di Marco Bertolini, Lara Nicolini, Ilaria Ramelli, Bompiani, Il Pensiero Occidentale, Milán, 2003.
• CICERÓN, Sobre la adivinación, Sobre el destino, Timeo, introd., trad. y notas de Ángel Escobar, Biblioteca Clásica Gredos, nº 271, Madrid, 1999.
• EASTERLING, P. E & KNOX, B. M. W. (eds.), Historia de la literatura clásica (Cambridge University). I. Literatura griega, vers. esp. Federico Zaragoza Alberich, Madrid, 1990.
• GERSH, Stephen, Middle Platonism and Neoplatonism: The Latin Tradition, Publications in Medieval Studies, vol. 23. University of Notre Dame Press, 1986.
• PLATON, Oeuvres Complètes. Tomo X. Timée, Critias, texte établi et traduit par Albert Rivaud, Les Belles Lettres, París, 1970 (5ª reimpr.).
• WASZINK, J. H., Studien zum Timaioskommentar des Calcidius, I. Die erste Hälfte des Kommentars (mit Ausnahme der Kapitel über die Weltseele), Leiden, Brill, 1964.
• WINDEN, VAN J. M. C., Calcidius on matter. His doctrine and sources. A chapter in the history of platonism, Leiden, Brill, 1959.

External linkage

• Plato's Timaeus by Calcidius, in a Manuscript of the XIIth century found in Osney Abbey. Bodleian Library Collection.
• Was Calcidius Spanish? The Timaeus and Atlantis in Gibraltar. Georgeos Díaz-Montexano. Madrid, February, 2007 (original article in Spanish).

'Calcidius' in other languages

• Spanish: Calcidio
• German: Chalcidius
• Finnish: Kalkidios
• French: Chalcidius
• Italian: Calcidio
• Japanese: カルキディウス