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The Prologues on Easter of Theophilus of Alexandria and [Cyril]
Oxford Early Christian Texts
Synopsis
The Letter and Prologue on Easter of Theophilus of Alexandria (385-412), the 95-year list of Paschal data compiled by Cyril (412-444), and the Prologue or Praefatio to that list written in Latin about 482 in the persona of Cyril are among the foundational documents for our knowledge of the Alexandrian Easter cycle. That cycle, through the Latin versions of Dionysius Exiguus, Bede, and others was the standard method for determining the date of Easter in the western
churches until the end of the sixteenth century. There has been no modern critical edition of either Prologue since those of Bruno Krusch in 1880. This new edition of the texts is based on Alden A. Mosshammer's discovery or rediscovery of manuscript witnesses unknown to Krusch and overlooked by more
recent scholars who have engaged these texts.
The historical introduction summarizes current knowledge about the history of Easter calculations in early Christian communities, including a new hypothesis attributing the Alexandrian cycle in its final form to the mathematician and astronomer Theon of Alexandria working in the 370's. Although both texts have already been translated into English, Mosshammer's new translations are based on his new reconstruction of the texts. The commentaries address many issues currently under debate in
historical scholarship, such as the origin of 21 March as the conventional date of the vernal equinox. The newly reconstructed text of the Prologue attributed to Cyril and Mosshammer's extensive commentary make that difficult text intelligible for the first time.
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What Reviewers Are Saying
The monograph is well balanced and contains lots of knowledge and information in its 194 pages... The commentaries by Mosshammer provide an excellent interpretative tool and, thanks to his translations, the reader can now undertake the difficult task of reading (and understanding) these materials more securely. * David Paniagua, Universidad di Salamanca, Peritia: Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland * Mosshammer shows familiarity with all the relevant older and more recent literature and nowhere shrinks away from highly technical and much debated calendrical issues, such as the correspondence between Roman and Egyptian calendars for determining the dates of the vernal equinox. This makes this book and other publications by Mosshammer indispensable tools for every scholar interested in the calculation of the Easter date in early Christianity, more specifically the
development of the Alexandrian Easter cycles. * Gerard Rouwhorst, Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Tilburg, Tilburg, The Netherlands, Vigiliae Christianae * Mosshammer has rendered an invaluable service to members of both the scholarly and the faith communities who wish to understand how such events could take place. His book will be a prize possession in every research library. * Kratsu Banev, Journal Of Ecclesiastical History *