The rhetorical use of violence in the Libellus precum and the Altercatio Luciferiani et Orthodoxi

Abstract

This article studies two works that have been fundamental sources on the history of the Luciferian schism, that is, Jerome’s Altercatio Luciferiani et Orthodoxi and the Libellus precum of the presbiter Faustinus, both of them from the fourth century. The manifestations of physical and verbal violence in these works are analysed in order to determine why the authors resort to aggressive means of argumentation, and why they describe violent actions.