Augustine of Hippo, in his treatise On the Care of the Dead, mentions the story of the burning of the bodies of the *Martyrs of Lyon (S00316), which he read in Rufinus' Latin translation of Eusebius of Caesarea's Ecclesiastical History. Written in Latin in Hippo Regius (Numidia, central North Africa), 420/422.
Evidence ID
E01168
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other
Major author/Major anonymous work
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine, On the Care of the Dead 6.8
Legimus in ecclesiastica historia, quam graece scripsit Eusebius et in latinam linguam uertit Rufinus, martyrum corpora in Gallia canibus exposita canumque reliquias atque ossa mortuorum usque ad extremam consumptionem ignibus concremata eosdem que cineres fluuio Rhodano, ne quid ad memoriam qualemcumque relinqueretur, inspersos.
'We read in the Ecclesiastical History which Eusebius wrote in Greek, and Rufinus turned into the Latin tongue, of martyr's bodies in Gaul exposed to dogs, and how the leavings of those dogs and bones of the dead were, even to uttermost consumption, by fire burned up; and the ashes of the same scattered on the river Rhone, lest anything should be left for any sort whatever as a memorial (ad memoriam).'
Text: Zycha 1900.
Translation: Browne 1887.
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismBodily relic - bones and teeth
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Destruction/hostile attempts to prevent veneration of relics
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
RelicsBodily relic - bones and teeth
Bodily relic - corporeal ashes/dust
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesPagans
Source
Augustine of Hippo was born in 354 in the north African city of Thagaste. He received an education in rhetoric at Carthage, and after a period teaching there moved to Rome, and then in 384 to a public professorship of rhetoric in Milan. In these early years of adulthood Augustine was a Manichaean, but then got disillusioned with this religion, and in Milan in 386, largely under the influence of Ambrose, bishop of the city, he converted to Christianity, and was baptised by Ambrose in 387. Returning to Africa in 388, he was ordained a priest in 391 at Hippo Regius (in the province of Numidia), and rapidly acquired a reputation as a preacher. In 395 he became bishop of Hippo, which he remained until his death in 430. Details of his early life were recorded by Augustine himself in his Confessions, and shortly after his death a pupil and long-time friend, Possidius, wrote his Life, focused on Augustine as an effective Christian writer, polemicist and bishop (E00073).Amongst his many writings, the most informative on the cult of saints are his numerous Sermons, the City of God, and a treatise On the Care of the Dead. The Sermons tell us which saints (primarily African, but with some from abroad) received attention in Hippo, Carthage and elsewhere, and provide occasional details of miracles and cult practices. The City of God records the distribution, and subsequent miracles, of the relics of saint Stephen, after they arrived in Africa from Palestine in around 420. On the Care of the Dead, discusses the possible advantages of burial ad sanctos (in other words, close to a saint), and theorises on the link between the saints who dwell in heaven and their corporeal remains buried in their graves. In these works, and others, Augustine reveals his own particular beliefs about the saints, their relics and their miracles.
Augustine wrote the treatise On the Care of the Dead in 420/422, in response to a letter in which Paulinus of Nola asked whether burials ad sanctos bring any profit to the dead. The response was nuanced. If Augustine rejected any direct advantage for such interments and argued that even the total lack of burial cannot affect directly the posthumous fate of the soul, he acknowledged that the practice can bring consolation to the living and indirectly help the dead for whom people visiting the graves of saints will pray.
Discussion
This passage shows no more than that Augustine was familiar with the episode from Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, translated by Rufinus at the beginning of the 5th century and that he did not know yet the story of the discovery of the relics of the Martyrs of Lyon, which is attested by Gregory of Tours (see E00548).Bibliography
Edition:Zycha, J. De cura pro mortuis gerenda (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 41; Vienna: Tempsky, 1900), 619-660.
English translation:
Browne, H., On the Care of the Dead (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 3; Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887).
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
29/02/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00316 | Martyrs of Lyon | Certain |
|---|
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Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01168 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01168