Apponius

APPONIUS, ap-pō´ni-Us: The author of an exposition of the Song of Solomon. He names himself in his preface, addressed to the presbyter Armenius, but neither the time nor the place of his activity can be determined with certainty. An approximation to his date may be reached by means of the facts that he mentions Macedonius, Photinus, and Bonosus among heretics, and that Bede (d. 735) quotes him, which places him between the beginning of the fifth century and the middle of the seventh—probably nearer the beginning than the end of this period, since he does not mention Nestorius and Eutyches among his heretics. Mai identified Armenius with the personage of that name associated with Agnellus, and accordingly fixed the middle of the sixth century as Apponius’s date. His insistence on the position of Peter as vicar of Christ has been thought to point to Rome or its vicinity as the place of his residence. His interpretation of the Canticles is entirely mystical and spiritual, regarding it as an exposition of the relations of God with his Church.

(A. Hauck.)

Bibliography: Books i.-vi. of Apponius’s work are in the Bibliotheca maxima patrum Lugdunensis, xiv. 98 sqq., 1677, and in the Bibliotheca patrum, of De la Bigne, i. 763 sqq., Paris, 1589; books vii., viii., and the first half of ix., in Mai, Spicilegium Romanum, v. 1 sqq.; the complete work is edited by H. Bottina and I. Martins, Rome, 1843.