Record | The Cult of Saints

Greek inscription from Sillyon (Pamphylia, southern Asia Minor) on a sarcophagus found near the acropolis, indicating the original place of burial of *Tribimios (martyr of Sillyon, S00428), dedicated by a local bishop. Later 4th to 6th c.

Evidence ID

E00706

Type of Evidence

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

ἔνθα ἐτέθη πρῶτον ὁ ἅγιος Τριβίμι<ο>ς.
ἅγιοι μάρτυρες, πρεσβεύσαται ὑπὲρ ἀφέ-
σεως τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου.
εὐχὴ Πολυεύκτου
ἐπισκόπου

'St. Tribimios was formerly deposited here. Holy martyrs, intercede for the remission of my sins. Prayer of the bishop Polyeuktos'.

Text: Brixhe, Hodot 1988, no. 14B. Trans. P. Nowakowski.

Cult Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - sarcophagus/coffin

Non Liturgical Activity

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Relics

Bodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Noted absence of relics

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

An inscription on a sarcophagus made of white marble. It was found on the slope near the acropolis in Sillyon (Pamphylia, southern Asia Minor). The lid was reused and originally came from the tomb of a certain Eumelos, son of Dionysios (2nd cent.). Sides of the sarcophagus are decorated with crosses and a tabula ansata.

Discussion

The inscription says that the sarcophagus had been the original grave of the martyr before his relics were moved. The relics could have been transferred to a nearby martyr shrine. The bishop who moved the relics asks some anonymous martyrs for intercession for remission of his sins.

A passage from Passio Antiquior SS. Sergii et Bacchi (ch. 30, ed. I. van de Gheyn, see EXXXXX) shows that original tombs of martyrs attracted pilgrims because they were regarded as places where miracles were very likely to happen: πολλὰ δὲ σημεῖα καὶ ἰάσεις ἐπιτελοῦνται πανταχοῦ μὲν ὅπου ἐστὶν ἅγιον αὐτοῦ λείψανον, μάλιστα δὲ ἐν τῷ μνήματι ἔνθα ἔκειτο τὸ πρότερον ('Many signs and healings happen in the place where his holy body is deposited, especially at the memorial where it had been buried earlier', trans. P. Nowakowski). We can trace similar beliefs also in a much popular text, which is the Life of St. Hilarion of Gaza by Jerome (ch. 33, ed. A.A.R. Bastiaensen): Cernas usque hodie miram inter Palaestinos et Cyprios contentionem, his corpus Hilarionis, illis spiritum se habere certantibus. Et tamen in utrisque locis magna quotidie signa fiunt, sed magis in hortulo Cypri, forsitan quia plus illum locum dilexerit/'Even at the present day one may see a strange dispute between the people of Palestine and the Cypriotes, the one contending that they have the body (corpus), the other the spirit (spiritus) of Hilarion. And yet in both places great miracles (signa) are wrought daily, but to a greater extent in the garden of Cyprus, perhaps because that spot was dearest to him' (trans. W.H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W.G. Martley), see: E00694. Hilarion was originally buried in a secret tomb on Cyprus, but his body was later moved to Gaza.

There is no reliable way to date this inscription, though the movement of relics is very unlikely to have occurred before the later 4th century.

Bibliography

Edition:
Brixhe, C., Hodot, R., L'Asie Mineure du Nord au Sud (Nancy: Presses Universitaires, 1988), no. 14B.

Further reading:
Destephen, S., Prosopographie du Diocese d'Asie (325-641) (Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 3, Paris: Association des amis du centre d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 2008), Polyeuktos.

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), p. 91.

Reference works:
Bulletin épigraphique (1990), 921.

Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 356

Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 38, 1440

Record Created By

Pawel Nowakowski

Date of Entry

06/10/2015

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00060	Martyrs, unnamed or name lost		Certain
S00428	Tribimios, martyr of Sillyon in Pamphylia	Τριβίμι<ο>ς	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00706 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00706

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world

Greek inscription from Sillyon (Pamphylia, southern Asia Minor) on a sarcophagus found near the acropolis, indicating the original place of burial of *Tribimios (martyr of Sillyon, S00428), dedicated by a local bishop. Later 4th to 6th c.

E00706

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - sarcophagus/coffin

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Bodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Noted absence of relics

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

06/10/2015

Greek inscription from Sillyon (Pamphylia, southern Asia Minor) on a sarcophagus found near the acropolis, indicating the original place of burial of *Tribimios (martyr of Sillyon, S00428), dedicated by a local bishop. Later 4th to 6th c.

E00706

Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)

Inscriptions - Funerary inscriptions

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave Burial site of a saint - sarcophagus/coffin

Prayer/supplication/invocation

Bodily relic - entire body Transfer, translation and deposition of relics Noted absence of relics

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

Discussion

Bibliography

Pawel Nowakowski

06/10/2015

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - sarcophagus/coffin

Bodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Noted absence of relics