apology · work by Minucius Felix
Three friends walk on the shore at Ostia during the vintage holidays and argue. Caecilius states the pagan case — the gods made Rome great, the world is unknowable, the Christians are a furtive and disgusting sect — and Octavius answers him, with Minucius sitting as arbiter and giving the verdict at the end. It is the earliest Christian apology in Latin, or very nearly, and it is the only surviving work of its author; it argues entirely from philosophy and never once quotes scripture.