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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, 00:00 authored by dlambert
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.'

Text: Mommsen 1894. Translation: Croke 1995.

History

Evidence ID

E03592

Saint Name

Stephen, the First Martyr : S00030

Saint Name in Source

Stephanus

Related Saint Records

Type of Evidence

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).

Usage metrics

    Evidence - The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

    Categories

    Keywords

    S00030History

    Licence

    CC0

    Exports

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