Volume 59, Issue 1, June 2019
Giuseppe Peressotti
Pages 101-127
Demonologia in area aquileiese
The present work focuses on some particular demonological texts attributed to Fortunatianus (mid-IV century) and Chromatius (between the IV and the V century), both bishops of Aquileia. It also includes Victorinus, bishop of Poetovium (in present-day Slovenia, second half of the III century), who shared the same geographical-cultural milieu of the Aquilean bishops. We have considered primarily their biblical commentaries and, in the case of Chromatius, also his liturgical sermons. In these texts, the devil is characterized by a broad range of expressions in relation to his spiritual struggle against humanity, a struggle already won by Jesus and now entrusted to Christians. The three bishops highlight both the devil’s ability to deceive the sons of God, leading them to idolatry and heresy, and also the victory over him achieved by means of evangelical preaching.