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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


from its origins to circa AD 700, across the entire Christian world


Theodoret of Cyrrhus in his Ecclesiastical History (4.29) mentions various holy men living under Valens (r. 364-378), most of them covered in greater detail in his Religious History. Written in Greek at Cyrrhus (northern Syria), 444/450.

Evidence ID

E04185

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Major author/Major anonymous work

Theodoret of Cyrrhus

Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Ecclesiastical History, 4.29 (28)

Holy men in Syria under Valens. (Most of these are covered in more detail in Theodoret's
Religious History. The links below are to our database entries for the relevant sections of the Religious History.)

Markianos (S00345), Avitos and Abraham/Abraames, ascetics near Chalcis (all in E00421).

Pouplios (S00353, E00424) and Paulos, both in the region of Zeugma.


Agapetos (E00421), Symeon the Elder (the Stylite, S00343; E00424), and Paulos, all in the region of Apamea.


Akepsimas, in the region of Cyrrhus (S00364, E00433).

Zeugmatios the blind, also in the region of Cyrrhus. He preaches against the Arians, and they burn his hut. The general Traianos has it rebuilt.

Eusebios (ascetic of Teleda, S00351), Marianos (his uncle) and Ammianos (his fellow ascetic) (all in E00423); Palladios (S00354, E00425), Symeon (ascetic near Cyrrhus, S00350; E00422), Abraham/Abraames of Antioch (S00355; E00608).

Petros the Galatian (S00357, E00427), Romanos (S00360, E00429), Zenon (S00361, E00430), and four further ascetics of the region of Antioch: Petros the Egyptian, Severos, Moses and Malchos of Mount Silpius (all in E00432).

Non Liturgical Activity

Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits

Source

Theodoret was born in Antioch in c. 393, where he received a formidable education before joining the monastery of Nikerte near Apamea in 416. In 423, he was consecrated as bishop of Kyrrhos/Cyrrhus. During the theological debates of the time, he emerged as one of the chief exponents of Antiochene Christology. The Second Council of Ephesus (449) deposed him as a supporter of Nestorius, of whom he was indeed a friend. He was restored to his bishopric by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. He is thought to have died in c. 460.

His
Ecclesiastical History was probably written between 444 and 450. It is uncertain whether the author consulted the slightly earlier ecclesiastical histories of Philostorgius, Socrates and Sozomen. He covers roughly the same period as they do, namely the history of the church from 324 to 429.


Discussion

All these figures are mentioned in more detail by Theodoret in his Religious History, except Paulos of Zeugma, Paulos of Apamea, and Zeugmatios the blind ascetic of Cyrrhus. For none of these latter three does Theodoret mention miracles or any cult forming around them.


Bibliography

Text:
Hansen, G.C., Theodoret Kirchengeschichte (Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten Jahrhunderte NF 5; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1997).

Translations:
Blomfield, J., "The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret," in: A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church 3 (Oxford and New York, 1892), 33-159.

Gallico, A.,
Teodoreto di Cirro, Storia ecclesiastica. Introduzione, traduzione e note (Roma: Città nuova, 2000).

Martin, A., et al.,
Theodoret de Cyr. Histoire Ecclesiastique (Sources Chretiennes 501, 530; Pars: Editions du Cerf, 2006, 2009).

Walford, E., "A History of the Church in Five Books, from A.D. 322 to the Death of Theodore of Mopsuestia A.D. 427, by Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus," in:
The Greek Ecclesiastical Historians of the First Six Centuries of the Christian Era (London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1843).

Further reading:
Chesnut, G.F., The First Christian Histories: Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Evagrius (Atlanta: Mercer University, 1986).

Leppin, H.,
Von Constantin dem Grossen zu Theodosius II: Das christliche Kaisertum bei den Kirchenhistorikern Socrates, Sozomenus und Theodoret (Hypomnemata 110; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996).

Treadgold, W.T.,
The Early Byzantine Historians (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 155-164.


Record Created By

Efthymios Rizos

Date of Entry

29/01/2018

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00343Symeon the Elder, stylite of Qal‘at Sim‘ān, ob. 459Certain
S00345Markianos, monk of Syria, ob. c. 380sCertain
S00350Symeon, ascetic near Cyrrhus, ob. c. 390Certain
S00351Eusebios of Teleda, monk of Syria, ob. late 4th c.Certain
S00353Pouplios/Publius, monk of Mesopotamia, mid-4th c.Certain
S00354Palladios, monk of Syria, c. 370s/380sCertain
S00355Abraham, monk of Syria, 2nd half of 4th c.Uncertain
S00357Petros from Galatia, monk of Syria, ob. c. 403Certain
S00360Romanos from Rhosos, monk of Syria, ob. c. 400Certain
S00361Zenon from Pontus, monk of Syria, ob. c. mid-to-late 410sCertain
S00364Akepsimas, monk of Syria, ob. early 5th c.Certain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Efthymios Rizos, Cult of Saints, E04185 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04185