Pseudo-Nilus’s Narrationes: A product of Julian’s Edict against Christian Teachers?

Abstract

This paper suggests that the Narrationes, which have been attributed to Nilus of Ancyra or an unknown Sinai monk, was composed as a result of the Emperor Julian’s Edict prohibiting Christians from teaching pagan literature. This article begins by describing the Narrationes and how scholarship has identified its author and composition date. It then presents the evidence of the Sinai monastic communities as described in the Narrationes as indicative of a fourth century date.