Victor's Preface in Codex Fuldensis and the Search for an »Old Latin« Diatessaron

Codex Fuldensis, commissioned by Victor of Capua in 546 CE, is the oldest complete extant version of Tatian's Diatessaron, a second-century harmonized gospel. The text of Fuldensis reads like Jerome's Vulgate, but its anonymous Vorlage has not survived. How did the Diatessaron come into Latin? Scholars have long posited a hypothetical »Old Latin« Diatessaron to connect the dots between Tatian, Fuldensis, and other Diatessaronic witnesses; however, my work preparing a new edition and translation of Fuldensis calls that conjecture into question. I argue that there is no need to posit a lost »Old Latin« Diatessaron to explain the data that we observe in Fuldensis. My study proceeds in two parts, each with special focus on the evidence provided by Victor's preface. The first part examines the alleged discrepancy between the beginning of Fuldensis (Luke 1:1-4) and its first capitulum (John 1:1-5), which I demonstrate is explicable without resorting to an »Old Latin« Diatessaron that began with John 1:1. The second part investigates Victor's purported »Vulgatization« of Fuldensis, which I demonstrate is unwarranted given his painstaking description of adding the Eusebian section and canon numbers to ensure textual orthodoxy, coupled with his total silence on what would have been the equally arduous task of conforming the entire narrative line by line to Jerome's Vulgate. What we find in Fuldensis is satisfactorily explained if Victor inherited a Vulgate harmony. Based on the clues from Victor's preface, I see no need for there ever to have been an »Old Latin« Diatessaron.