Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies (Stromata) Book VII

...He interprets stromatodesmos in a metaphorical sense, similar to stromateis, to mean "collections of choice sayings." Is the simple word stroma ever used this way? It would appear so from the lexicons, but the only instances seem to be in Jerome’s De Viris Illustribus 38, where, after mentioning "eight books of Stromateis" in his catalogue of Clement’s works, he later says, "he mentions Tatian in his stromatibus." Sophronius translated this as "in his own stromata." Likewise, in his translation of the Chronicle of Eusebius and in his commentary on Galatians, Jerome refers to the "tenth book of stromata" of Origen. He likely used this form to avoid the awkward grammatical endings of "stromateus." The word stromateus was also used as a nickname for Clement himself by later writers.

Let us see what Clement himself says of the word. In Stromateis IV, §4, he tells us that his notes are intentionally scattered in various ways—as the name stromateus implies—passing rapidly from one point to another. It signifies one thing to the careless reader, based on the literal connection of words, while suggesting something different to the more thoughtful; thus, what is said requires sifting. In Stromateis I, §18, he writes: "The Stromateis will contain the truth, mixed up with or hidden in the teaching of the philosophers, just as the kernel is hidden in the husk." Clement is aware that many are suspicious of philosophy, holding that faith is all-sufficient and all else is superfluous. He fears casting his pearls before swine. He describes his work as having the truth "sown here and there and scattered about." In Stromateis VI, §2, he writes: "In meadows and parks, the various kinds of flowers and trees are not separated from one another. And so, titles like Meadow, Helicon, Honeycomb, or Robe have been used for their learned collections by authors of anthologies; and the form of my own Miscellanies has the variegated appearance of a meadow, from the haphazard way in which things came into my mind—not clarified by arrangement or style, but mingled together in a studied disorder."