E04492: Evagrius Scholasticus in his Ecclesiastical History mentions the transfer of the relics of *Ignatios (bishop and martyr of Antioch, S00649) to the former pagan shrine of Tyche in Antioch, under Theodosius II (r. 408-450); a yearly festival is held on the anniversary of this transfer. Such transfers as an honour for the martyrs is said to have originated from Julian’s unwitting translation of *Babylas (bishop and martyr of Antioch, S00061) from Daphne to Antioch in 362. Written in Greek at Antioch (Syria), 593/594

Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, 1.16.

16. Τότε καὶ Ἰγνάτιος ὁ θεσπέσιος, ὡς Ἰωάννῃ τῷ ῥήτορι σὺν ἑτέροις ἱστόρηται, ἐπειδή γε ὡς ἐβούλετο τάφον τὰς τῶν θηρίων ἐσχηκὼς γαστέρας ἐν τῷ τῆς Ῥώμης ἀμφιθεάτρῳ, καὶ διὰ τῶν ὑπολειφθέντων ἁδροτέρων ὀστῶν, ἃ πρὸς τὴν Ἀντιόχου ἀπεκομίσθη, ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ κοιμητηρίῳ, μετατίθεται πολλοῖς ὕστερον χρόνοις, ὑποθεμένου τοῦ παναγάθου θεοῦ Θεοδοσίῳ τὸν Θεοφόρον μείζοσι τιμῆσαι τιμαῖς, ἱερόν τε πάλαι τοῖς δαίμοσιν ἀνειμένον—Τυχαῖον τοῖς ἐπιχωρίοις ὠνόμαστο—τῷ ἀθλοφόρῳ μάρτυρι ἀναθεῖναι· καὶ σηκὸς εὐαγὴς καὶ τέμενος ἅγιον τῷ Ἰγνατίῳ τὸ πάλαι Τυχαῖον γέγονε, τῶν ἱερῶν αὐτοῦ λειψάνων μετὰ πομπῆς ἱερᾶς ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν ἐπ’ ὀχήματος ἐνεχθέντων καὶ κατὰ τὸ τέμενος τεθέντων. Ὅθεν καὶ δημοτελὴς ἑορτὴ καὶ πάνδημος εὐφροσύνη μέχρις ἡμῶν τελεῖται, πρὸς τὸ μεγαλοπρεπέστερον τοῦ ἱεράρχου Γρηγορίου ταύτην ἐξάραντος. Γέγονε δὲ ταὐτὰ ἐκεῖθεν ἔνθεν, τοῦ θεοῦ τὰς ὁσίας τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ τιμῶντος μνήμας. Ἰουλιανὸς μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἀλιτήριος, ἡ θεοστυγὴς τυραννίς, ἄκων καὶ μαστιζόμενος, ἐπειδὴ μὴ ὁ Δαφναῖος Ἀπόλλων, ὁ φωνὴν καὶ προφητείαν τὴν Κασταλίαν ἔχων, ἀνελεῖν τι ἠδύνατο τῷ βασιλεῖ χρηστηριαζομένῳ, Βαβύλα τοῦ ἁγίου παντοίως ἐκ γειτόνων ἐπιστομίζοντος, τιμᾷ μεταθέσει τὸν ἅγιον, ὅτε καὶ νεὼς αὐτῷ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως παμμεγέθης ἀνίστατο, ὁ καὶ μέχρις ἡμῶν σωζόμενος, ἵνα λοιπὸν οἱ δαίμονες ἐπ’ ἀδείας τὰ οἰκεῖα δρῷεν, ὥς φασιν Ἰουλιανῷ φθῆναι τούτους ἐπαγγείλασθαι. Τοῦτο δ’ ἄρα ἦν τὸ οἰκονομούμενον παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος θεοῦ, ὡς ἂν καὶ τῶν μεμαρτυρηκότων ἡ δύναμις ἔκδηλος ᾖ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος τὰ εὐαγῆ λείψανα ἐν εὐαγεῖ μετενεχθεῖεν χώρῳ, καλλίστῳ τεμένει τιμώμενα.

'16. At that time, also the divine Ignatios (as has been recounted by John the rhetor [Chrysostom] and others, he had obtained for a tomb the bellies of the beasts in the amphitheatre of Rome, precisely as he had wished) was after many years transferred by means of his remaining bulkier bones (these had been brought to Antioch to the so-called Cemetery [Koimeterion]). For the perfectly good God commanded Theodosios to honour the Theophoros [Ignatios] with greater honours and to dedicate to the victorious martyr a shrine formerly devoted to the demons – the locals called it Tychaion. Thus the old Tychaion became a pure shrine and sacred sanctuary consecrated to Ignatios whose holy remains were brought into the city on a carriage in sacred procession and placed at the shrine. Hence a public festival and popular feast is kept down to our times, which the hierarch Gregory [Patriarch of Antioch] raised to greater solemnity. All these things were the result of various causes, as God honoured the holy memories of His saints. Indeed, the godless Julian, that tyrant hated by God, unwittingly and under coercion honoured the holy Babylas with a translation (because Apollo of Daphne, who had the Castalian spring as his voice and prophecy, could not answer the emperor’s request for an oracle, since the saint was closing his mouth from nearby) and, at that time indeed, an enormous church was built for him outside the city, which is preserved down to our days (Julian’s purpose, it is said, was that the demons might be free to do their business, as they had managed to promise him). This, then, was the plan of the Saviour God, so that both the power of those who had been martyred might become manifest and the undefiled remains of the holy martyr might be transferred to an undefiled place, and be honoured with a splendid shrine.’

Text: Bidez, Parmentier 2011.
Translation: E. Rizos.