Evidence ID
E00976Saint Name
Sergios, martyr in Syria, ob. 303-311 : S00023
Bakchos, martyr in Barbalissos (Syria), ob. c. 303-311 : S00079Saint Name in Source
Σέργιος
ΒάκχοςType of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)Evidence not before
535Evidence not after
565Activity not before
535Activity not after
565Place of Evidence - Region
Asia MinorPlace of Evidence - City, village, etc
AmaseaPlace of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Amasea
Nicomedia
Νικομήδεια
Nikomēdeia
Izmit
Πραίνετος
Prainetos
NicomediaCult activities - Places
Cult building - independent (church)Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Awarding privileges to cult centresCult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Monarchs and their familySource
A stone found near Koumenos in the area of Aladjam, near ancient Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor). Its existence was communicated to Franz Cumont by Anthimos Alexoudes, metropolitan bishop of Amaseia. There is no published description.Discussion
The inscription is from a boundary stone of a sanctuary of Saints *Sergios and *Bakchos. According to the original reading, the first line contains an unusual introductory formula ἐνορίας μίας (?) τῶν ἁγίων, normally it should be ὅροι τῶν ἁγίων. However, we cannot be sure if this reading is correct. ἐνορία means 'territory' (see, for example, an inscription from Prokonnesos, published in the Packard Humanities Institute database under no. IMT Kyz PropInseln 1322: ἀπὸ χορίου Νενου ἐνορίας Μίρου πόλε[ως] / 'from the village of Nenos in the territory of the city of Miros'). The meaning of μιας is less clear in this context. Normally, μιᾶς is the feminine genitive of the numeral 'one' (εἷς, μία, ἕν). Perhaps the sanctuary owned several estates which were numbered no. 1, no. 2, etc. Therefore, one could understand the expression ἐνορίας μιᾶς τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων Σεργίου καὶ Βάκχου as '(Boundaries) of the estate (territory) no. 1 (of the church) of the holy martyrs Sergios and Bakchos'.
The other, more plausible, possibility is that line 1 needs to be emended. Denis Feissel proposed that one could read the first two words as ἐνορία <ἀ>σ<υλ>ίας / 'the territory (site) of the refuge'.
Dating: 527–565, based on a reference to the emperor Justinian.Bibliography
Edition:
Amelotti, M., Migliardi Zingale, L., (eds.), Le costitutioni giustinianee nei papiri e nelle epigrafi (Milan: A. Giuffré, 1985), 133.
Cumont, F., Cumont, E., Studia Pontica, vol. 2: Voyage d'exploration archéologique dans le Pont et la Petite Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1906), 120 note 2.
Further reading:
Anderson, J.G.C., Cumont, F., Grégoire, H., Studia Pontica, vol. 3, part 1: Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines du Ponte et de l'Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1910), 227.
Amelotti, M., Migliardi Zingale, L., (eds.), Le costitutioni giustinianee nei papiri e nelle epigrafi (Milan: A. Giuffré, 1985), 135.
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.C. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 104.
