Paulus Orosius, shown in a miniature from the Saint-Epure codex.

Paulus Orosius ( born c. 375, died not before 418 ), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a priest, Christian historian, theologian and student of Saint Augustine of Hippo.

While there is no doubt regarding his surname of Orosius, there are questions regarding the use of the name " Paulus ".

Basically the problem is that it is not completely certain if he used this name or if he was simply called Orosius and whether Paulus has been added with the passing of time.

However, this idea is flawed as authors writing immediately after Orosius ’ s death use the name Paulus.

In fact, even Casimiro Torres Rodríguez, one of the main scholars of Orosius ’ s life, indicates that Paulus might be his Christian name and Orosius his native name, a theory that cannot be entirely dismissed.

It is known for certain that in 415 Saint Augustine referred to Paulus Orosius as " a young priest ", which means that at that time he could not have been older that 40, as he was young, and he had to be older than 30, as he was a priest.

Schematic map showing all the journeys made by Paulus Orosius. It is thought that Paulus Orosius lived in Gallaecia ( northwest Hispania ) until 409, but after that time and up until 415, there is no concrete information regarding his life.

Very little information is available regarding the life of Paulus Orosius after the publication of his Histories.

The Commonitorium and the Histories are a response, at least in their origins, to the direct influence that Saint Augustine exercised over Orosius. Although Paulus Orosius ’ s most important book was the Historiae Adversus Paganos, his other two surviving books must also be taken into account: Commonitorium and Liber Apologeticus.

Paulus Orosius ’ s masterpiece is Historiae Adversus Paganos, the only history book that he wrote, which allow us to gain an insight into the historiographical methodology of the Spanish priesthood.

Paulus Orosius is not only a widely studied author he also described his own thoughts on his historical methodology in some of the prologues to the volumes that comprise his “ Histories ”.

Colophon from an Incunable | incunabulum of the Historiae Adversus Paganos by Paulus Orosius, one of the most copied books from the Medieval period. The assumed falling out of Paulus Orosius and Saint Augustine at the end of the former ’ s life does not seem to have had a negative effect on the distribution and impact of his Histories.

sk: Paulus Orosius

sv: Paulus Orosius

Alphonsus a Sancta Maria, or Alphonso de Cartagena ( 1396 – July 12, 1456 ), Spanish historian, was born at Cartagena, and succeeded his father, Paulus, as bishop of Burgos.

Paul the Deacon ( c. 720s – 13 April probably 799 ), also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, ( i. e. " of Monte Cassino "), was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.

** Paulus Aemilius Veronensis, Italian historian ( b. 1455 )

Paulus Diaconus, a Lombard historian at the court of Charlemagne, mentioned the local Slavs from the region in his magnum opus Historia Langobardorum.

Ut queant laxis or Hymnus in Ioannem are verses in honour of John the Baptist written in Horatian Sapphics by Paulus Diaconus, the eighth century Lombard historian.

** Paulus Aemilius Veronensis, historian ( born c. 1455 )

No further collection from various sources is recorded until the time of Justinian, when epigrammatic writing, especially of an amatory character, experienced a great revival at the hands of Agathias of Myrina, the historian, Paulus Silentiarius, and their circle.

At Cividale were born Paulus Diaconus, the historian of the Lombards in the time of Charlemagne, and the actress Adelaide Ristori ( 1822 – 1906 ).

The Lombard historian Paulus Diaconus, who died in Southern Italy in the 790s, was proud of his origins and wrote on how his people once had departed from southern Scandinavia.

Pavol Jozef Šafárik ( Safáry, Schaffáry, Schafary, Saf ( f ) arik, Šafarík, Szafarzik ; Czech: Pavel Josef Šafařík ; German Paul Joseph Schaffarik ; Serbian Павле Јосиф Шафарик ; Latin Paulus Josephus Schaffarik ; Hungarian Pál József Saf ( f ) arik ) ( 13 May 1795, Kobeliarovo ( Kisfeketepatak ), Slovakia, then Kingdom of Hungary – 26 June 1861, Prague, was a Slovak philologist, poet, one of the first scientific Slavists ; literary historian, historian and ethnographer.

The 4th century Christian historian Paulus Orosius records that the violence so depopulated the province of Cyrenaica that new colonies had to be established by Hadrian:

Paulus Aemilius Veronensis ( Italian: Paolo Emilio da Verona ) ( c. 1455 – 1529 ) was an Italian historian.

* August 10-Heinrich Paulus, theologian

Paul of Venice ( or Paulus Venetus ) ( 1368 – 1428 ) was a Roman Catholic Scholastic philosopher, theologian, and logician of the Hermits of the Order of Saint Augustine.

A third rationalist theologian, Heinrich Paulus, wrote in various works from 1802 onwards that he believed that Jesus had fallen into a temporary coma and somehow revived without help in the tomb.

Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob Paulus ( 1 September 1761 – 10 August 1851 ) was a German theologian and critic of the Bible.

The chief authorities on the career of Alaric are: the historian Orosius and the poet Claudian, both contemporary, neither disinterested ; Zosimus, a historian who lived probably about half a century after Alaric's death ; and Jordanes, a Goth who wrote the history of his nation in 551, basing his work on The Trojan War.

* Orosius, Christian historian and theologian ( approximate date )

It was used systematically for the first time only about the year 400, by the Iberian historian Orosius.

Support for these dates comes from the fact that the Liber Apologeticus does not mention Orosius ’ s work as a historian, and the prologue refers to Book XI of the City of God by Saint Augustine, which was not published until 416.

Orosius never seems lacking in sources of information, he even affirms that an historian should be selective with those he has, it rather seems that this difference in level of detail reflects the emphasis that he wants to place on reinforcing his ideas.

Another important aspect of Orosius ’ s work is the importance he placed on geography in his work as a historian.

Yet another historian, Orosius says 30, 000 infantry, 1, 500 cavalry, and 30 elephants.

* 385-Paulus Orosius, historian, theologian and disciple of St. Augustine, is probably born in Braga.

Despite the scarcity of sources, if his date of birth is accepted as that given above or at least within the window between 375 and 385 it can be seen that Orosius grew up during a period of cultural flourishing along with Hydatius and the Ávitos.

This date means that Orosius had a window of 5 years for his collaboration with Saint Augustine before he travelled to Palestine.

Given that Saint Stephen ’ s relics were uncovered on 26 December 415, Orosius must have departed from Palestine after that date.

The second chronological limit is 415, which is traditionally considered to be the date when Augustine ’ s book Liber ad Orosium contra Priscillianistas et Origenistas was published, in which Augustine replies to Orosius ’ s Commonitorium.

The date of the book is not our main focus here, what is more important is Orosius ’ s objective in responding to Saint Augustine ’ s request by writing a book aimed at proving that Rome ’ s decadence – it should be remembered that Rome was sacked by Alaric I in 410 – had nothing at all to do with the fact that the Romans had relatively recently converted to Christianity.