flourished in the
early part of the second century were Saturninus of Antioch and
Basilides of Alexandria. [433:1] Valentine, who appeared somewhat later,
and who is supposed to have first excited attention at Rome about A.D.
140, was still more celebrated. He taught that in the Pleroma there are
fifteen male and fifteen female Aeons, whom he professed to distinguish
by their names; and he even proceeded to point out how they are
distributed into married pairs. Some have supposed that certain deep
philosophical truths were here concealed by him under the veil of
allegory. As he, like others of the same class, conveyed parts of his
Gnosis only into the ears of the initiated, it may be that the
explanation of its symbols was reserved for those who were thus made
acquainted with its secret wisdom. It has been alleged that he
personified the attributes of God, and that the Aeons, whom he names and
joins together, are simply those divine perfections which, when
combined, are fitted to produce the most remarkable results. Thus, he
associated _Profundity_ and _Thought, Intelligence_ and _Truth_,
_Reason_ and _Life_. [433:2] His system seems to have had many
attractions for his age, as his disciples, in considerable numbers, were
soon to be found both in the East and in the West.

When Valentine was at Rome, Marcion, another heresiarch of the same
class, was also in the great metropolis. [433:3] This man is said to
have been born in Pontus, and though some of the fathers have attempted
to fix a stain upon his early reputation, his subsequent character seems
to have been irreproachable. [434:1] There is reason to think that he
was one of the most upright and amiable of the Gnostics. These errorists
were charged by their orthodox antagonists with gross immorality; and
there was often, perhaps, too much ground for the accusation; for some
of them, such as Carpocrates, [434:2] avowed and encouraged the most
shameless licentiousness; but others, such as Marcion, were noted for
their ascetic strictness. All the more respectable Gnostics appear to
have recommended themselves to public confidence by the austerity of
their discipline. They enjoined rigorous fasting, and inculcated
abstinence from wine, flesh-meat, and marriage. The Oriental theology,
as well as the Platonic philosophy, sanctioned such a mode of living;
and, therefore, those by whom it was practised were in a favourable
position for gaining the public ear when they came