This Dissertation consists of the first critical edition of De consolatione in adversis (Cons. = PG 31, 1687C-1704B). It also includes the first English translation of Cons. and an introduction containing interpretative studies. A Latin work traditionally ascribed to Basil of Caesarea (329-379), Cons. largely concerns offering comfort to victims of leprosy. The text is found among works of Augustine and Jerome in MS Tours 281, saec. 9, the oldest known witness for this text. The text likewise appears in MS Caen 34 (373), saec. 16, as part of a medley of documents by Hieronymus and of works both by and addressed to Eucherius of Lyons. Cons. is one of three works included in Migne's edition of Basil, which are transmitted in Latin with no known Greek original.

My research establishes that Cons. is a consolatory sermon in overall diatribal style. In light of its hybrid diatribal nature, Cons. is thus akin to pre-Christian predecessors, such as the diatribal treatises of Plutarch, the discourses of Dio and Maximus of Tyre, and the diatribal letters of Seneca. I demonstrate that the diatribal features in Cons. ought to be construed in the context of its goal of offering moral support to victims of leprosy and of the diatribe's overall function as a medium for disseminating moral-philosophical propaganda.

Besides showing the connection of Cons. to the Stoic-Cynic diatribe, I also examine the probable direct indebtedness of Cons. to a specific Stoic source and point out pertinent Stoic features. The sermon's distinctive Stoic ethical theses are to be expected in light of the large scale amalgamation of Christian and Stoic elements in the early Church.

Lastly, I suggest a provisional date of Cons. in the sixth century AD. I have arrived at this conclusion through a study of the piece's Latinity and the analysis of its metrical and accentual clausulae. Giving consideration to the probable date of the treatise, its content, its concentration on the plight of the lepers, and other stylistic and exegetical components, I reached the conclusion that the probable author of Cons. is St. Radegundis of Poitiers.