← §6.6.15 Read continuously §6.7.17 → Fragments to Turbantius · §6.6.16 · Julian of Eclanum
Julian excerpts
Albinus affirms that among all animals the crocodile alone moves its upper jaws; and fire, though…
Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.
Albinus affirms that among all animals the crocodile alone moves its upper jaws; and fire, though destructive to everything else, is a plaything for the salamander.
Natural characteristics are not changed by an accidental occurrence.
A parent cannot transmit to offspring what the parent does not possess.
Latin source witness
Latin Solum esse in omnibus animalibus, cui superiores mandibulas moveri Albinus affirmat; et ignem, cum sit omnibus exitio, salamandrae esse ludibrio
Naturalia per accidens non converti
Parentem quod ipse non habet, in suam prolem non posse transmittere
Naturalia per accidens non converti
parentes in filios ea quae non habent ipsi non posse transfundere
Report a mistake in this passage
About this text Julian wrote in the early 400s, in the fight over Pelagius. This is later than the first three centuries of the church.
Julian’s earlier work To Turbantius, in four books, survives only in the excerpts Augustine quotes in his six-book reply, Against Julian. The excerpts are grouped here by those six books. Latin source text is on each section when recovered.
Julian of Eclanum (c. 386–c. 455) was bishop of Eclanum in southern Italy until 418, when he was deposed and exiled for refusing to condemn Pelagius. The most learned Pelagian controversialist, he pursued Augustine across a decade of pamphlet war.
None of Julian's works survives directly; what remains is preserved in the long quotations of Augustine, who answered him book by book. Reconstructed from those hostile pages, Julian emerges as a formidable defender of free will, marriage, and the goodness of creation.
English follows Julian’s words as Augustine excerpts them in Against Julian. This is not a recovered complete To Turbantius.
Printed text used
Translated from Augustine, Against Julian We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Latin on any section, or the Latin source link, to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.
Report a mistake
← §6.6.15 Read continuously §6.7.17 →