E03592: Marcellinus Comes, in his Chronicle, written in Latin in Constantinople, 518/534, records the discovery of the body of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030) by the priest Lucianus in 415.
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posted on 2017-08-23, 00:00authored bydlambert
Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle
XIII. Honorii X et Theodosius VI [...] Lucianus presbyter vir sanctus, cui revelavit deus his consulibus locum sepulchri et reliquiarum corporis sancti Stephani primi martyris, scripsit ipsam relationem Graeco sermone ad omnium ecclesiarum personam.
'13th indiction, consulship of Honorius (10th) and Theodosius (6th) [= 415] [...] The priest Lucianus, a holy man to whom God revealed in this consulship the location of the tomb and the bodily remains of St. Stephen the first martyr, wrote the account itself in Greek to all the churches.'
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Language
Latin
Evidence not before
515
Evidence not after
535
Activity not before
415
Activity not after
415
Place of Evidence - Region
Constantinople and region
Place of Evidence - City, village, etc
Constantinople
Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)
Constantinople
Constantinople
Κωνσταντινούπολις
Konstantinoupolis
Constantinopolis
Constantinople
Istanbul
Cult activities - Places
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Cult activities - Non Liturgical Practices and Customs
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Cult Activities - Relics
Bodily relic - entire body
Raising of relics
Discovering, finding, invention and gathering of relics
Source
Marcellinus (PLRE II, 'Marcellinus 9') was an imperial official at Constantinople under the emperors Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian. The epithet Comes ('Count') is his official rank. He came originally from the province of Dardania in the western Balkans, and wrote in Latin.
Marcellinus' Chronicle was a continuation of the chronicle of Jerome, covering events from the 370s to 518. It was subsequently updated to 534 by Marcellinus himself, and to 548 by an anonymous continuator. Marcellinus dates events by indictions (the fifteen-year tax cycle used in the later Roman empire) and by the consuls of each year.
Discussion
Marcellinus' entry is based on Gennadius, De viris illustribus 47 on Lucianus (E06063). The entry follows Gennadius almost word for word, with the exception of giving the precise date, which Marcellinus may have discovered from Lucianus' own account (see E07605, E02344) or from another chronicle or historical work (Croke 1995, 71).
Bibliography
Edition:
Mommsen, T., Marcellini v.c. comitis Chronicon, in: Chronica minora saec. IV V VI VII (II) (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11; Berlin, 1894), 60-108
English translation and commentary:
Croke, B., The Chronicle of Marcellinus: Text and Commentary (Byzantina Australiensia 7; Sydney, 1995).
Further reading:
Croke, B., Count Marcellinus and His Chronicle (Oxford, 2001).