Lactantius Firmianus

Lucius Caelius (or Caecilius?) Firmianus Lactantius was an early Christian author who wrote in Latin (c. A.D. 240 - c. 320). Lactantius, a native of North Africa, was a pupil of Arnobius (according to Methodius, Chastity 9.2) and taught rhetoric in various cities of the Eastern Roman Empire, ending in Constantinople. He wrote apologetic works explaining Christianity in terms that would be palatable to educated pagans while defending it from pagan philosophers. His Divinae Institutiones ("Divine Institutions") is an early example of a systematic presentation of Christian thought. He was considered somewhat heretical after his death, but Renaissance humanists picked up renewed interest in Lactantius, more for his good elaborately rhetorical Latin style than for his theology.