CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, Saint (CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS), Greek theologian, one of the most eminent and learned of the fathers of the Church. Very little, almost nothing, is known regarding his life. The first mention of him by a writer living in or near his time is made by Eusebius of Caesarea and by Photius; they give his name as Flavius Titus Clemens, and later writers add to the name the designation Alexandrinus, aof Alexandria,.* From his names and surname one might infer that he was of Latin race; but he wrote in Greek, and his writings do not indicate any special acquaint ance with Roman life or thought. Whether he was a native of Alexandria or of some Grecian City cannot be decided. He was a convert from paganism and had an intimate acquaintance with the literature of Grecian philosophy, but of the circumstances of his conversion to Chris tianity, we know nothing. He was supposedly a disciple of Pantmnus, director of the Cate chetic school of Alexandria and became his suc cessor, and had among his pupils Origen, who in turn succeeded him. Further, Clement was a priest of the church of Alexandria. The per secutions in the region of Septimius Severus drove him from Alexandria. He wandered to Palestine and Asia Minor, but there is no defi nite information as to the rest of his career. A list of his writings is given by Eusebius, Saint Jerome and Photius. It contains the titles of 10 separate works, namely: to the Greeks' ; (The Tutor' ; (The Stromates> (usu ally called Stromata) : this as its title indicates is a patchwork or collection of miscellaneous observations; is the Rich Man that is Saved?' These four works have come down to us complete or nearly so. The remaining six
titles are works that have been lost: (Outlines' ; the Passover' ; On Fasting' ; (On Slan der' ; 'Exhortation to Patience' ; (The Church Rule.' The 'Hortatory to the Greeks' ex poses the absurdities and immoralities of the pagan religions; but the Grecian philosophers and poets had a notion of the true author of the Tutor' sets forth the rule of Christian living. (The Stromates' is a mis cellany but it consists of the author's own studiesof questions and problems in philos ophy, literature, history, etc. not of passages taken from other authors. Yhe treatise on the aRich is a very judicious exposition of the passage in the Gospel of Mark x, 17-31. Con sult editions by Potter (Oxford 1715) printed in Migne's (Vols. VIII and IX, Paris 1857) ; Eng. trans. in 'Ante Nicene Fathers' (Vol. II, ed. by A. C. Coxe, New York 1885). Consult also (Clem ent' (in Smith and Wace, (Dictionary of Chris tian Biography,' London 1877-87) ; Bigg, Christian Platonists of Alexandria' (London 1899) ' • de Faye, Eugene, 'Clement d'Alexan drie) (Paris 1898).