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E02725: Palladius of Helenopolis, in his Historical Dialogue on the Life of John Chrysostom, of 408 or shortly after, mentions the 'shrines of the martyrs' by the Romanesian gate of Antioch (Syria). Written in Greek at Syene (Aswan, Upper Egypt).

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posted on 2017-04-20, 00:00 authored by Bryan

Palladius of Helenopolis, Historical Dialogue on the Life of John Chrysostom (BHG 870, 870e, 870f; CPG 6037), V. 53-65

ἐκράτει δὲ τῶν πραγμάτων Εὐτρόπιος ὁ σπάδων, ἀφηγητὴς τῶν βασιλικῶν κοιτώνων. Βουλόμενος οὖν αὐτὸν παραθέσθαι τῇ πόλει (εἶχεν γὰρ πεῖραν τῆς ἀρετῆς Ἰωάννου, βασιλικῆς αἰτίας αὐτὸν εἰς ἀνατολὴν τὴν ἐνδοτέραν ἀγαγούσης), οὗτος παρασκευάζει τὸν βασιλέα γράμματα χαράξαι πρὸς τὸν κόμητα Ἀντιοχείας, ἀψοφητὶ ἐξαποστεῖλαι τὸν Ἰωάννην, μὴ ταράξαντα τὴν Ἀντιοχέων. ὃς ἐξαυτῆς δεξάμενος τὸ γράμμα παρακαλεῖ αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως γενέσθαι μέχρι τῶν μαρτυρίων πλησίον τῆς πύλης καλουμένης Ῥωμανησίας, καὶ ἐπιβιβάσας αὐτὸν δημοσίῳ ῥηδίῳ παραδίδωσι τῷ ἀποσταλέντι εὐνούχῳ σὺν τῷ στρατιώτῃ τοῦ μαγίστρου. οὕτως ἀχθεὶς χειροτονεῖται ἐπίσκοπος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπολιτῶν ἐκκλησίας.

‘The powerful man of the time was Eutropios the eunuch, chief of the imperial chambers. Wishing to have John brought to the city (for he had had knowledge of John’s virtue, since some imperial affair had taken him to the inner East), he incited the emperor to write to the military commander of Antioch, instructing the latter to secretly send over John, without causing a turmoil at the city of Antioch. When that man received the letter, he invited John to come out of the city to the shrines of the martyrs, near the gate called Romanesia. He put him in a public conveyance, and handed him over to the eunuch sent by Eutropios, and the commander’s guard. Having being transferred like that, he was ordained bishop of the Church of Constantinople.’

Text: Malingrey and Leclercq 1988.
Translation: E. Rizos.

History

Evidence ID

E02725

Saint Name

Martyrs, unnamed or name lost : S00060

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Martyrs_unnamed_or_name_lost/13729267

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Language

Greek

Evidence not before

408

Evidence not after

410

Activity not before

397

Activity not after

397

Place of Evidence - Region

Egypt and Cyrenaica

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Aswan

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Aswan Hermopolis ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ Ashmunein Hermopolis

Major author/Major anonymous work

Palladius of Helenopolis

Cult activities - Places

Martyr shrine (martyrion, bet sāhedwātā, etc.)

Source

The Historical Dialogue of Palladios, bishop of Helenopolis, with Theodoros, deacon of Rome, on the Life and Conduct of the blessed John, bishop of Constantinople, called Chrysostom (‘the Golden Mouth’) survives in a single manuscript of the eleventh century (Laurentianus IX.14). There are two critical editions of the text, using different numerations (Coleman-Norton 1928; Malingrey and Leclercq 1988). The identification of the author of our text with Palladios of Helenopolis, author of the Lausiac History, was doubted in the past, but is now accepted as certain. Born in 364 in Galatia in Asia Minor, Palladios joined monastic communities of Palestine and Egypt. In Egypt, he was associated with the Origenist disciples of Evagrios of Pontus. In c. 399, he left for Constantinople where he became closely associated with John Chrysostom. By AD 400, the latter ordained him as bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia. Palladios stood by his new protector throughout John’s conflict with Pope Theophilos of Alexandria (401-404) over the affair of the Tall Brothers, former associates of Palladios from Egypt. One year after John’s exile in 404, Palladios visited Rome in order to plead on John’s behalf with Pope Innocent I (401-411). One year later (406), he was exiled to Syene (Aswan), where he received the news of John’s death in Pontus (407) and wrote the Historical Dialogue (in 408 or shortly later). The Historical Dialogue is one of our main sources of biographical information on Chrysostom and some of his close associates, like Olympias. Its explicitly political and polemical character, however, makes this a special piece of hagiography. Written in 408 or shortly later, amidst the defeat of Chrysostom’s party and under the frustration caused by his recent death, this resentful book portrays its hero as a holy man surrounded by holy ascetics, and dying as a martyr, while demonising his enemies as deranged and vile men acting under the inspiration of the devil for the detriment of the Church. The work has the form of a dialogue between an anonymous eastern bishop and a deacon of Rome named Theodoros, purportedly taking place in Rome. Although the bishop is identified with Palladios in the title, and the setting is perhaps inspired by Palladios’ own visit to Rome in 405, the text is clearly not the actual record of a real meeting. The two discussants are fictitious protagonists of an imaginary visit to Rome by a representative of Chrysostom’s party, who clears John and his associates from all the accusations and rumours circulating about them, denounces Theophilos and his followers, lists those who sided with each of the two parties, and enumerates all those who were exiled or wronged for their support to John – including Palladios himself. The ultimate purpose of the book is to plead with the Church of Rome and Pope Innocent I (401-411) to break their communion with Theophilos and the bishops of the East, until an Ecumenical Council is convoked on the matter – presented as a statement of Theodoros in 20.429-439). The structure of the text is as follows: 1–4. Prologue and subject of the purported dialogue. Historical context of the conflict in the East. 5–11. The Life of John Chrysostom. 12–19. Defence of John and his closest associates (16.174-17 focusing on the deaconess Olympias and the Egyptian ascetics Ammonios, Hierax, Isaak, and Isaak). 20. Enumeration of the exiled followers of John (including the author himself), and of the bishops siding with Theophilos in Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine. Conclusion.

Discussion

This passage is of interest for its reference to a shrine of martyrs near the Romanesian Gate of Antioch, where John secretly met the comes Orientis, in order to be taken off to Constantinople for his ordination as bishop. On the shrine of the Romanesian Gate, see E02297.

Bibliography

Text: Coleman-Norton, P.R., Palladii Dialogus de Vita S. Joannis Chrysostomi (Cambridge, 1928). Malingrey, A.-M., and Leclercq, P., Palladios: Dialogue sur la vie de Jean Chrysostome (Sources Chretiennes 341; Paris, 1988), with French translation. Translations: Barnes, T. D., and Bevan, G.A., The Funerary Speech for John Chrysostom (Translated Texts for Historians 60; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2013). Meyer, R.T., Palladius: Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom (Ancient Christian Writers 45; New York: Newman Press, 1984). Moore, H., The Dialogue of Palladius concerning the Life of Chrysostom (London and New York, 1921). Schläpfer, L., Das Leben des heiligen Johannes Chrysostomus (Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1966) (German). Further reading: Kelly, J.N.D., Golden Mouth: The Story of John Chrysostom. Ascetic, Preacher, Bishop (Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1995). Mayer, W., and Allen, P., The Churches of Syrian Antioch (Late Antique History and Religion 5; Leuven: Peeters, 2012, 94-95.

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Keywords

S00060 History

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