Victor of Vita, in his History of the Vandal Persecution (1.9), states that the Vandals, after their conquest in 439 of Carthage (central North Africa), confiscated for use by the Arian church the city's Basilica Maiorum, in which the bodies of *Perpetua and Felicitas (martyrs of Carthage, S00009) were buried, and the church dedicated to the *Scillitan Martyrs (martyrs in Carthage from Scillium, S00913). Written in Latin, probably in Carthage, 484/489.
Evidence ID
E01969
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Major author/Major anonymous work
Victor of Vita, History of the Vandal Persecution
Victor of Vita, Book I.9:
Et, ut de necessariis loquar, basilicam Maiorum, ubi corpora sanctarum martyrum Perpetuae atque Felicitatis sepulta sunt, Celerinae uel Scilitanorum et alias quas non destruxerant, suae religioni licentia tyrannica mancipaverunt.
'To speak only of the most noteworthy things, in their tyrannical presumption they delivered over to their religion the Basilica Maiorum where the bodies of Sts Perpetua and Felicitas are buried, the basilica of Celerina and of Scillitani, and the others which they had not destroyed.'
Text: Lancel 2002, 100-101.
Translation: Moorhead 1992, 6.
Cult PlacesMonarchs and their family
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityAppropriation of older cult sites
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Heretics
Foreigners (including Barbarians)
Source
Victor was probably a presbyter at Carthage when he wrote the History of the Vandal Persecution, in 484 or shortly thereafter; he was certainly a churchman and he was very well informed of events and documents in the provincial capital.His work gives an account of the Vandal invasion of Africa (429-39) under king Geiseric, but focuses primarily on the sufferings of the Nicene church in Africa during the reign of Huneric (477-84). Victor was an eyewitness of some of the events which he describes (e.g. E01981).
The work is dedicated to an unnamed churchman, probably Bishop Eugenius of Carthage, who features prominently (and very favourably) in the work, even effecting, with due humility, the cure of a man's blindness (E08294, 2.47-51).
Victor names many martyrs and confessors who died or suffered under Vandal persecution. For a few of these, there is evidence from other sources that some cult developed around them, and these we have treated as individual 'saints': Eugenius of Carthage (S00034); Laetus, bishop and martyr of Nepte (S02837); Seven monastic brothers martyred at Carthage (S02936); and some confessors who had their tongues cut out but were still able to speak (S01481). The other martyrs and confessors we have grouped together on three evidence cards, covering: the reign of Geiseric (E08293; S03007); the reign of Huneric before 484 (E08294; S03008): and the persecution of 484 (E08295; S03009).
Discussion
For these basilicas see: Lancel 2002, 276-7.It is uncertain whether Victor's reference to a church (or churches) Celerinae uel Scilitanorum is to one church or to two, since Victor uses vel both in the sense of 'or', and in the sense of 'and': so he could be referring to two churches (of Celerina and of the Scillitan Martyrs), or to one which had alternative names. Nor is it known whether Celerina was the builder of the church, or a saint to whom it was dedicated (possibly *Celerina, martyr of Carthage, S03073, whom Cyprian names in his Letter 39, E08493).
Bibliography
Editions:Lancel, S. (ed.), Histoire de la persécution vandale en Afrique suivie de la passion des sept martyrs et du Registre des provinces et des cités d'Afrique (Paris: Belle Lettres, 2002).
Petschenig, M. (ed.), Victoris episcopi Vitensis Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae (Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 7; Wien 1881).
Halm, K. (ed.), Victor Vitensis. Historia persecutionis Africanae Provinciae (Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Auctores antiquissimi 3,1; Hanover 1879), 1-58.
Translation:
Moorhead, J. (trans.), Victor of Vita: History of Vandal Persecution (Translated Texts for Historians 10; Liverpool: Liverpool Univeristy Press, 1992).
Record Created By
Robert Wiśniewski
Date of Entry
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00009 | Perpetua, Felicitas and their companions, martyrs of Carthage | Perpetua, Felicitas | Certain | S00913 | Scillitan Martyrs, martyrs in Carthage from Scillium | Scillitani | Certain | S03073 | Celerina, Laurentius and Egnatius, martyrs of Carthage | Celerina | Uncertain |
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Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Robert Wiśniewski, Cult of Saints, E01969 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01969