Among the literary remains of second-century Christianity a unique place is occupied by the remarkable collection of 451 ethical and religious aphorisms ascribed to Sextus. The collection presents many problems, especially with regard to its character and origin, to which it cannot yet be said that any agreed solution has been reached. The aphorisms came to have an intriguing history. From the third century onwards they were widely and appreciatively read by Christian folk, as is proved by the remarks of Origen, by the Syriac and Armenian translations, and by the extraordinary success of the Latin version made late in the fourth century by Tyrannius Rufinus of Aquileia. This translation of Rufinus played a minor role in the great quarrel between him and his former friend Jerome, becoming the target of some of Jerome's most vituperative observations. Yet it continued as a best seller, and had the distinction of being invoked by that earnest moralist, the British monk Pelagius, in order to lend support and authority to his enthusiastic campaign for moral rearmament. In medieval times the Latin version continued to be read and studied, especially in monastic circles. One aphorism is quoted as authoritative in the Rule of Saint Benedict.

A collection of ethical aphorisms, therefore, which over a period of many centuries found an extensive reading public in four languages among Christians from Britain to Mesopotamia, may properly appear worthy of study and examination.