apology directed to the world, unfinished and uncorrected, although other researchers
state that it is simply a draft of collected material that would later find its completed
expression in Apologeticum, a work written shortly afterwards. The kinship between
both works is quickly visible, because almost the entirety of the content of Ad nationes
is to be found once again in Apologeticum, albeit with certain modifications and a
different structure. This partial repetition of the content has given rise to different
interpretations regarding the relationship between the works, and in particular, the
status and character of Ad nationes. The work survived only in a Parisian codex from
the ninth century, the Codex Agobardinus, which contains 13 works by Tertullian
and which, in spite of its defects, continues to be a generally safe source for the
wording of the text.
The first book begins by proving that the juridical process against Christians is
irrational and goes against all the principles of justice, pointing out that this ini-
quity is the fruit of ignorance, since the pagans condemn what they do not know
(chapters 1 to 6). In the following chapters (7 to 19) it refutes accusations and calum-
nies suffered by Christians, which had become commonplace, and proves them false;
by reductio ad absurdum, the argument shows that the opponents themselves should
be accused (retorquere crimina), in such a way that even if the accusations against
Christians were true, the pagans themselves commit worse crimes, whereby they are
not entitled to condemn. Regarding references to Roman religion, it should be noticed
that all the concrete data that appear in the work concerning beliefs or religious prac-
tices is taken from literary tradition; it always consists of standardized examples from
different genres, particularly philosophy, historiography, poetry, and manuals of rhetoric.
Formally, this work is a speech directed to a numerous audience, to “the world”;
the second person plural is frequently used. It has no introduction and goes straight
to the point:
One proof of that ignorance of yours, which condemns whilst it excuses your injustice,
is at once apparent in the fact that all who once shared in your ignorance and hatred
(of the Christian religion), as soon as they have come to know it, leave off their hatred
when they cease to be ignorant; nay more, they actually themselves become what they
had hated, and take to hating what they had once been. (Nat.1.1)Although the tone of the first book is defensive rather than aggressive, the open-
ing sentence illustrates the way in which Tertullian builds the “other,” the non-Christian
audience he addresses. Without a doubt, the “world” to which he directs the work
is learned Roman citizens in general, among whom are also those in charge of admin-
istering justice, who, although not the direct target audience of the work, Tertullian
appears to address when writing the book (Becker 1954: 76). He draws the atten-
tion of these learned Roman citizens to their “ignorance,” an ignorance related to
hatred and their contradictory behavior in the face of injustice. These opening words,
then, are a subtle attack on his audience, whom he constructs as ignorant and unjust
and to whom, in turn, he announces the theme of the book, which revolves around
juridical procedures. Tertullian picks up from, and elaborates on, much of the Greek
apologists’ material and, in general, does not stray far from the path they set. The
Roman Religion in the Vision of Tertullian 461