Why Was Claude de Saumaise Interested in the Scythian Hypothesis?

Abstract

The dispute between Claudius Salmasius and Daniel Heinsius as to whether the Septuagint and the New Testament were written in a distinctive lingua Hellenistica gave rise to Salmasius' De Hellenistica commentarius of 1643. This work is a milestone in the historiography of Greek and an important source for the best thought of the period on the relationship of languages. Salmasius did not, however, only write books about philology and the ancient world: his monarchist Defensio regia pro Carolo I, on the execution of Charles I of England, is a particularly important example of his polemical writings on government and on Christianity. The present contribution investigates the connection between Salmasius' interest in Johannes Elichmann's Scythian hypothesis and his political thought as expressed in the Defensio regia and elsewhere. It further discusses how Salmasius' understanding of the development of languages relates to his understanding of the development of political and religious institutions.

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