authorship and pseudepigraphy in early christian literature 47
imitating the style of rhetoricians. having a quarrel with theopompus the
son of damasistratus, he wrote a treatise abusing athenians, lacedaemoni-
ans and thebans alike. he imitated the style of theopompus with perfect
accuracy, inscribed his name upon the book and sent it round to the cities.
though anaximenes was the author of the treatise, hatred of theopompus
grew throughout the length of greece.
Plinius, naturalis historia pr. 21–23
In the first century ce, Pliny the elder identified at the beginning of his
Natural History the books of others which he had used as sources. In his
eyes it was unacceptable that some writers copied the works of their pre-
decessors verbatim without acknowledging their predecessor’s literary
property. Pliny regarded plagiarism as illegitimate.66
you will deem it a proof of this pride of mine that I have prefaced these
volumes with the names of my authorities. I have done so because it is, in
my opinion, a pleasant thing and one that shows an honourable modesty,
to own up to those who were the means of one’s achievements, not to do as
most of the authors to whom I have referred did.
22 for you must know that... the most professedly reliable and modern
writers have copied the old authors word for word, without acknowledg-
ment, not in that valorous spirit of Virgil, for the purpose of rivalry, nor with
the candor of Cicero who in his “republic” declares himself a companion of
Plato, and in his “Consolation” to his daughter says “I follow Crantor,” and
similarly as to Panaetius in his “de officiis”—volumes that you know to be
worth having in one’s hands every day, nay even learning by heart.
23 surely it marks a mean spirit and an unfortunate disposition to prefer
being detected in a theft to repaying a loan—especially as interest creates
capital.
Salvian, epistulae 9.1–5, 13–20
In the fifth century, the presbyter salvian of Marseille published one of his
works under the title The Four Books of Timothy to the Church (Thimothei ad
ecclesiam libri IV). When salonius, the bishop of geneva, took him to task
for this, salvian argued in a long letter that the ascription of his work to
timothy was a completely transparent and therefore non-deceptive fiction.
salvian claimed that his innocent intention had been to humbly conceal
his own name and that he had chosen the distinguished name “timothy”
because of its meaning “(for the) honor of god.” although salvian’s defense
of the innocence of his literary device may not have been fully convincing it
66 trans. by h. rackham, lCl 330:15.