Scott Manor - Proclus: The North African Montanist?

It is generally taken for granted that Proclus was the leader of a Montanist faction in Rome.  This is due primarily to the evidence provided by Eusebius, who speaks of a work entitled Dialogue against Proclus, composed by a certain Gaius of Rome during the pontificate of Zephyrinus (HE 2.25.6-7; 3.28.1-2; 3.31.4; 6.20.3).  In turn, the brief notices and few quotations that Eusebius preserves of the Dialogue with Proclus have been understood as bearing direct attestation to Roman Montanism during the early years of the third century C.E.  Given the paucity of evidence concerning Roman Montanism at this time, Gaius’ Dialogue with Proclus is generally considered to be of immense value.

Yet while Eusebius makes it clear that Gaius was a representative of Roman orthodoxy, he never claims that Proclus also resided in this capital city.  Other early sources also speak of Proclus, but none of these allude to his Roman provenance.  

In this paper I shall argue that the extant evidence concerning this Montanist leader does not lead to the conclusion that Proclus was located in Rome, but rather that he was a representative of Montanism in North Africa.  In particular, it will be demonstrated that the citations Eusebius preserves from Gaius’ refutation actually exclude the possibility that he was located in Rome.  The Eusebian evidence also suggests that Proclus maintained eschatological views that approximated those of Tertullian in Carthage (Adv. Marc. 3.24).  Furthermore, the evidence from Tertullian suggests that he knew Proclus personally (Adv. Val. 5).  Thus, not only does the available evidence lead away from the conclusion that Proclus was Rome, it also raises some interesting considerations for the subject of Montanism in Rome at the beginning of the third century.