ABSTRACT
Understanding of Chromatius's sermons hinges on the presence of any "Arian" groups in Aquileia during Chromatius's episcopate. The specific history of Aquileia in regard to Arian groups is uncertain, the history of such factions in the region is clearer. The anti-Jewish rhetoric in Chromatius's sermons, which often specifically deals with unbelief in the divinity of Christ, could be understood not as anti-Jewish rhetoric but as reflecting the rivalry with other Christian factions like the Arians. The rhetoric of the sermons could act as an inoculation against other Christianities while also growing the powerful standing of the bishop in Aquileia. Chromatius was advancing, namely that heresy functioned as an attempt to destroy the true faith. Chromatius linked the Jewish rejection of Christ with the attempt of heretics to corrupt belief in the trinity. This history of heresy implied a preexistent body that orthodoxy claimed as its own.
