Evidence ID
E03601
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle
VII. Theodosii XVII et Festi
[...]
Eudocia uxor Theodosii principis ab Hierosolymis urbem regiam remeavit, beatissimi Stephani primi martyris reliquias quae in basilica sancti Laurentii positae venerantur, secum deferens.
'7th indiction, consulship of Theodosius (17th) and Festus [= 439]
[...]
Eudocia, the wife of the emperor Theodosius, returned from Jerusalem to the imperial city, bringing with her relics of the most blessed Stephen, the first martyr, which were placed in the basilica of St. Laurence, where they are venerated.'
Text: Mommsen 1894.
Translation: Croke 1995, lightly modified.
Cult PlacesTransfer, translation and deposition of relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Cult building - independent (church)
RelicsTransfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Women
Source
Marcellinus (PLRE II, 'Marcellinus 9') was an imperial official at Constantinople under the emperors Anastasius, Justin, and Justinian. The epithet Comes ('Count') is his official rank. He came originally from the province of Dardania in the western Balkans, and wrote in Latin.Marcellinus' Chronicle was a continuation of the chronicle of Jerome, covering events from the 370s to 518. It was subsequently updated to 534 by Marcellinus himself, and to 548 by an anonymous continuator. Marcellinus dates events by indictions (the fifteen-year tax cycle used in the later Roman empire) and by the consuls of each year.
Discussion
Eudocia, the wife of Theodosius II, went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 438-439, during which she founded a church dedicated to Stephen at Jerusalem (see E04493). According to Marcellinus, the relics that she brought back with her to Constantinople were deposited in the church of St Laurence, where they were still venerated in his own day. In a subsequent entry in the chronicle (E03598), he says that this church was completed in 453, so presumably the deposition took place at its foundation. He is not specific as to the precise nature of the relics.Bibliography
Edition:Mommsen, T., Marcellini v.c. comitis Chronicon, in: Chronica minora saec. IV V VI VII (II) (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 11; Berlin, 1894), 60-108
English translation and commentary:
Croke, B., The Chronicle of Marcellinus: Text and Commentary (Byzantina Australiensia 7; Sydney, 1995).
Further reading:
Croke, B., Count Marcellinus and His Chronicle (Oxford, 2001).
Record Created By
David Lambert
Date of Entry
16/07/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00030 | Stephen, the First Martyr | Stephanus | Certain | S00037 | Laurence/Laurentius, deacon and martyr of Rome | Laurentius | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E03601 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E03601