(printed p. 265 — Book III)
Philo was great among the Jews in birth, learning, and authority. Concerning him, as Saint Jerome says, it is commonly said among the Greeks: either Plato follows Philo, or Philo follows Plato, so great is the likeness of their thoughts and eloquence. Saint Augustine, against Faustus the Manichaean, says: “Philo was a certain man, most liberally learned, one of those whose eloquence the Greeks do not hesitate to equal to Plato’s.”
He handed down many splendid things about the Essenes to memory. But because, as I noted above, there are some controversies about his opinion, I have decided to trace and explain it step by step. First, I inquire where he treats these men, because I see only two passages of his commonly cited: namely the book whose title is That Every Good Man Is Free, and the book On the Contemplative Life, or On Those Who Pray, or On Suppliants. But a third passage must be added from the book which contained an Apology for the Jews and was also
[margin: Chapter XII begins. Philo’s works on the Essenes are listed.]
(printed p. 266)
entitled On the Jews, as Saint Jerome says in the Catalogue, and Eusebius in book 2 of the History, chapter 18. For Eusebius, in explaining the Essenes, praises these three books and draws not a few things from them: from the Apology and from the book On the Freedom of the Good Man in book 8 of the Preparation for the Gospel; but from the book On the Contemplative Life in book 2 of the History, chapter 17, in the Greek.