Victorinus of Pettau

Victorinus of Pettau (d. c. 304), bishop of Poetovio (modern Ptuj, Slovenia) and martyr, is the earliest known Latin exegete. His Commentary on the Apocalypse — the only surviving complete work — is the oldest Latin commentary on Revelation, combining a chiliastic reading with allegory to explain the seven visions. He also wrote commentaries on other biblical books, most now lost.

As the earliest Latin commentator whose work survives, Victorinus stands at the headwaters of Western exegesis. His Commentary on the Apocalypse is the oldest Latin commentary on Revelation, reading the visions through a blend of millenarian expectation and figurative interpretation; Jerome later revised it, and it remains a key witness to how the early church understood the last book of the Bible.