Optatus, bishop of Milevis (Numidia, central North Africa), in his polemical treatise Against Parmenianus, writes that Donatist circumcelliones killed by the Roman army in the mid-fourth century were commemorated by altars and tables (mensae); their burial in churches, however, was prevented by the Donatist episcopate. Written in Latin, probably in Milevis, 364/c. 384.
E01755
Literary - Other
Optatus of Milevis, Against Parmenianus 3.4.6-7
Optatus explains circumstances in which a number of Donatists were killed by the Roman army in the 340s or 350s, trying to convince the readers that the massacre was provoked by those who finally fell victim to it.
Tunc Taurinus ad eorum litteras ire militem iussit armatum per nundinas ubi circumcellionum furor uagari consueuerat. In loco Octauensi occisi sunt plurimi et detruncati sunt multi quorum corpora usque in hodiernum per dealbatas aras aut mensas potuerunt numerari. Ex quorum numero cum aliqui in basilicis sepeliri coepissent, Clarus presbyter in loco Subbullensi ab episcopo suo coactus est ut insepultam faceret sepulturam. Vnde proditum est mandatum fuisse fieri quod factum est quando nec sepultura in domo Dei exhiberi concessa est.
'Then Taurinus, in response to their letters, ordered an armed military force to proceed through all the market-towns, where the madness of the circumcellions was wont to rove. In the locus Octaviensis hosts were killed and many decapitated, whose bodies could be numbered up to this day by whitewashed altars and tables. When the burial of some of this number had commenced in basilicas, Clarus the presbyter in the locus Subbulensis was compelled by his bishop to undo the burial. This revealed that what had happened had been ordered to happen, since it was forbidden even to give them burial in the house of God.'
Text: Labrousse 1995, 40.
Translation: Edwards 1997, 69, lightly modified.
Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Altar
Rejection, Condemnation, SceptisismAcceptance/rejection of saints from other religious groupings
Uncertainty/scepticism/rejection of a saint
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Source
Optatus was the bishop of Milevis, a little town in Numidia. He wrote his treatise probably shortly after the death of the emperor Julian (363), since he mentions this event and says that the great persecution ended about sixty years ago (in Africa it ended in 305). It is quite probable, however, that he re-edited his work after 384, because at one point he refers to Siricius (elected in 384) as bishop of Rome. Only this (hypothetical) second edition survived. The treatise's original title is unknown. Jerome says that it was directed against Parmenianus, the Donatist bishop of Carthage. Be this as it may, it is important to remember that it is a highly polemical text and the image of Donatists, which it presents, should not be taken at face value.Discussion
The exact dating of these events is uncertain, but they took place either in the 340s or at the beginning of the next decade (Alexander 1998).The graves of these Donatist fanatics (circumcelliones) massacred by the army were apparently marked by altars (arae) and tables (mensae), that Optatus himself appears to have seen, which implies a degree of cult. However, at least one Donatist bishop is said to have opposed their burial in church.
Bibliography
Edition and French translation:Labrousse, M., Optat de Milève, Traité contre les Donatistes. (Sources Chrétiennes 412-413; Paris 1995-6).
English Translation:
Edwards, M.J., Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists (Translated Texts for Historians 27; Liverpool, 1997).
Further reading:
Alexander, J., "Count Taurinus and the Persecutors of Donatism," Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 2 (1998), 247–267.
Robert Wiśniewski
27/06/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00060 | Martyrs, unnamed or name lost | Certain |
|---|
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