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Concerning the date and place of his birth, little is known beyond what he tells about himself in his Oratio ad Graecos, chap. xlii ( Ante-Nicene Fathers, ii. 81-82): that he was born in "the land of the Assyrians"; both Clement of Alexandria and Theodoret call him a Syrian. Current scholarly consensus is that he died c. 185, perhaps in northern Mesopotamia.
He enjoyed a good education and became acquainted with Greek culture. Extensive travels led him through different countries and showed him the nature of Greek education, art, and science. He himself states that he studied the pagan religions.
Finally he came to Rome, where he seems to have remained for some time. Here he seems to have come for the first time in touch with Christianity. According to his own representation, it was primarily his abhorrence of the pagan cults that led him to spend thought on religious problems. By the Old Testament, he says, he was convinced of the unreasonableness of paganism. He adopted the Christian religion and became the pupil of Justin Martyr. It was the period when Christian philosophers competed with Greek sophists, and like Justin, he opened a Christian school in Rome. It is not known how long he labored in Rome without being disturbed.
Following the death of Justin in 165, the life of Tatian is to some extent obscure. Irenaeus remarks (Haer., I., xxvlii. 1, Ante-Nicene Fathers, i. 353) that after the death of Justin, was expelled from the church for his Encratitic views (Eusebius claims he founded the Encratitic sect), as well as for being a follower of the gnostic leader Valentinius. It is clear that Tatian left Rome, perhaps to reside for a while in either Greece or Alexandria, where he may have taught Clement. EpiphaniusEpiphanius refers to several early Christian scholars and priests. Epiphanius of Salamis (also called Epiphanius of Cyprus # Epiphanius of Constantinople # Epiphanius Scholasticus. relates that Tatian established a school in Mesopotamia, the influence of which extended to AntiochThis is about one of the cities called Antioch in Asia Minor, now Turkey. See Antioch (disambiguation) for other places called Antioch. The city of Antioch-on-the-Orontes (modern Antakya is located in what is now Turkey. It was founded near the end of the in Syria, and was felt in Cilicia and especially in Pisidia, but his assertion can not be verified.
The asceticAn ascetic is one who practices a renunciation of worldly pursuits to achieve spiritual attainment. Lao Zi, Gautama Buddha, Mahavir Swami and Jesus Christ can all be considered ascetics. These people left their families, possessions, and homes, and in the character which Syriac Christianity bore as late as the time of Aphraates was not impressed upon it by Tatian, but has roots that reach deeper.
Tatian was the first to give the Syriac congregations the Gospel in their own language. The Syrian church possessed and used the Gospel from the very beginning until the time of RabbulasRabbulas (or Rabbula was bishop of Edessa ( 411 435). He was opposed to the views of Theodore of Mopsuestia, as well as those of Nestorius. However, his successor Ibas, who was in charge of the school of Edessa, reversed the official stance of that bishop only in the form of the Diatessaron; it is probable, therefore, that Tatian not only brought the Diatessaron into Syria, but also developed there a successful missionary activity in the last quarter of the second century. A later age did not realize that the Syrian asceticAn ascetic is one who practices a renunciation of worldly pursuits to achieve spiritual attainment. Lao Zi, Gautama Buddha, Mahavir Swami and Jesus Christ can all be considered ascetics. These people left their families, possessions, and homes, and in the tendencies had been transmitted from Semitic primitive Christianity, hence it regarded Tatian as a sectarian, the head of the Encratites.
The early development of the Syrian church furnishes a commentary on the attitude of Tatian in practical life. Thus for Aphraates baptism conditions the taking of a vowA vow ( Lat. votum vow, promise; see vote) is a transaction between a person and a god whereby the former undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the god or devotes something valuable now and here to his use. The vow is a kind of oath, in which the catechumen promises celibacy. This shows how firmly the views of Tatian were established in Syria, and it supports the supposition that Tatian was the missionary of the countries around the EuphratesThe Euphrates (the traditional Greek name for the river, which is in Aramaic Frot/Frat Old Persian Ufrat in Arabic , in Turkish Firat and in ancient Assyrian language Pu-rat-tu is the westernmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia ( Bethnahri.
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