The early 5th c. Syriac Martyrology commemorates on 20 April the martyrdom of *Prosdoke and Bernike (mother and daughter, martyrs of Antioch, S01008), and of *Romanos (possibly the deacon of Caesarea, martyred at Antioch, S00120). Preserved in a manuscript written in Edessa (northern Mesopotamia) in 411.
Evidence ID
E01479
Type of Evidence
Liturgical texts - Calendars and martyrologies
Major author/Major anonymous work
Syriac Martyrology of 411
Syriac Martyrology of 411
ܘܒܥܣܪܝܢ ܒܢܝܣܢ ܒܐܢܛܝܟܝܐ ܦܪܘܣܕܘܩܤ ܘܒܪܢܝܩܐ ܘܪܘܡܢܝܘܤ.
'And on the twentieth (day) of Nisan (i.e. April) – at Antioch, Prosdokās, and Beronikē, and Rōmanos.'
Text: Nau 1912, 15.
Translation: Sergey Minov.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Source
The Syriac Martyrology of the year 411 is the earliest liturgical calendar preserved in Syriac. It appears in the manuscript BL Add. 12150. The manuscript's colophon relates that it was produced in the city of Edessa in the year 411. Composed during the last decades of the fourth or the first decade of the fifth century, the Martyrology is divided into the two main sections - the main one, devoted to the Christian martyrs of the Roman empire, and the shorter one, devoted to the Christians executed in the Sasanian empire. The former section is derived from a lost Greek martyrology. For more information, see E00465Syriac text: Wright 1865-1866; Nau 1912, pp. 11-26; Brock and van Rompay 2014, pp. 389-392; English translation: Wright 1865-1866, pp. 423-432; French translation: Nau 1912, pp. 11-26; German translation: Lietzmann 1903, pp. 9-16; Latin translation: Mariani 1956. For general information, see Taylor 2012, pp. 80-81; Schäferdiek 2005.
Discussion
Prosdoke and Bernike are certainly the mother and daughter who suffered martyrdom by drowning themselves. Normally they are accompanied by a second daughter, Domnina.The exact identity of the third martyr, whose name in Syriac is 'Rōmanīōs,' is less certain. In our choice of 'Rōmanos,' we follow the conjecture made by Wright 1865, p. 426; in which case he is likely to be the deacon Romanos of Caesarea, who was martyred in Antioch and who was a major saint (though with no feast in April recorded elsewhere; his principal feast was on 17/18 November). Nau, however, emends the name to 'Dōmnios', believing it to be a version of Domnina, the 'missing' daughter of Prosdoke (Nau 1912, p. 15).
Bibliography
Main editions and translations:Brock, S.P., and van Rompay, L., Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts and Fragments in the Library of Deir al-Surian, Wadi al-Natrun (Egypt) (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 227; Leuven: Peeters, 2014).
Lietzmann, H., Die drei ältesten Martyrologien (Kleine Texte für Theologische Vorlesungen und Übungen 2; Bonn: A. Marcus und E. Weber, 1903).
Mariani, B., Breviarium syriacum seu martyrologium syriacum saec. IV (Rerum ecclesiasticarum documenta, Series minor: Subsidia studiorum 3; Roma: Herder, 1956).
Nau, F., Martyrologes et ménologes orientaux, I–XIII. Un martyrologie et douze ménologes syriaques édités et traduits (Patrologia Orientalis 10.1 [46]; Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1912).
Wright, W., “An Ancient Syriac Martyrology,” Journal of Sacred Literature and Biblical Record NS VIII, 15 (1865), 45-56; 16 (1866), 423-432.
Further reading:
Schäferdiek, K., “Bemerkungen zum Martyrologium Syriacum,” Analecta Bollandiana 123:1 (2005), 5-22.
Taylor, D.G.K., “Hagiographie et liturgie syriaque,” in: A. Binggeli (ed.), L’hagiographie syriaque (Études syriaques 9; Paris: Paul Geuthner, 2012), 77-112.
Record Created By
Sergey Minov
Date of Entry
25/05/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00120 | Romanos, deacon of Caesarea, martyred at Antioch | ܪܘܡܢܘܤ | Uncertain | S01008 | Prosdoke, Bernike and Domnina, mother and two daughters, martyrs of Antioch | ܦܪܘܣܕܘܩܤ ܘܒܪܢܝܩܐ ܘܪܘܡܢܝܘܤ | Certain |
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