Nevertheless, his works were much read, and his _Apologeticus_ was even translated into Greek. [Sidenote: Style of Tertullian.] Tertullian exercised the greatest influence upon the Latin of the church, for up to his time most speculative Christian writing had been in Greek, and he was therefore obliged to invent or adapt the suitable means for the expression of those thoughts and ideas which were unknown to the pagan writers. He is justly regarded as the founder of western, as opposed to eastern or Greek, theology. His style is harsh, inelegant, and sometimes obscure, but vigorous and animated. His eloquence is that of intense earnestness rather than of careful training. His vocabulary is not strictly classic, but contains expressions taken from the popular speech and from Greek, as well as others which he seems to have formed for himself. He has been called the Cicero of the church, but whatever the greatness of his eloquence, it has little resemblance in quality to that of Cicero. Only in a few orations does Cicero approach the enthusiastic earnestness of Tertullian, and the polished beauty of Cicero’s periods is utterly lacking to Tertullian’s rugged utterance. His style has more resemblance in detail to that of his fellow-African Apuleius, but shows no evidence of conscious imitation. He uses short sentences, as a rule, and even his long sentences have no periodic structure; he strives for effect by means of unnatural expressions; he delights in antitheses, plays on words, and even rhymes. His Latin is hard to read, but his originality of thought and his passionate earnestness of purpose compensate fully for his defects of style. With Minucius Felix Christian writing in Italy appears as an attempt to express Christian thoughts, or at least to defend the Christian religion, with all the elegance of classical Latinity. Tertullian writes with vigor and enthusiasm, hampered by no classical traditions. The relative importance of the Italian and African schools may be judged in a measure by the difference in extent between the brief treatise of Minucius and Tertullian’s voluminous writings. For nearly two centuries the style of Tertullian predominates, being only gradually assimilated to the classical norm, until St. Augustine fixes the Latin of the church by forming a style in which the African elements are subordinate.