AUGUSTINE AND THE NUMBER SIX: A LOOK TO THE ARITHMOLOGICAL ACCOUNT IN DE GENESI AD LITTERAM IV.2-14

Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the arithmological account which Augustine exposes in the book IV of the writing De Genesi ad litteram (2-6; 13-14), in the course of his interpretation of the creation of God in six days, and to outline the possible sources of this text. Three are the main steps of this research: in the first section, we shall assess the view of a well-known scholar, Aimé Solignac, about the arithmological sources of Augustine; then, we shall compare the aforesaid text of Augustine with a parallel passage of his pupil Favonius Eulogius, author of a commentary on the Somnium Scipionis; finally, we shall underscore the similarities and the apparent differences between the texts of Augustine and Favonius and point out that they share the same arithmological material and the same sources.