Jerome, in his On illustrious men, states that *Ignatios (bishop of Antioch and martyr of Rome, S00649) was sent to Rome for martyrdom in the times of the emperor Trajan and that his body lies outside the city-walls of Antioch (Syria). Written in Latin in Bethlehem (Palestine), 392/393.
E04498
Literary - Other
Jerome of Stridon
Jerome, On Illustrious Men (De viris inlustribus) 16
Ignatius, antiochenae ecclesiae tertius post Petrum apostolum episcopus, persecutionem commouente Traiano, damnatus ad bestias, Romam uinctus mittitur.
'Ignatius, third bishop of the church of Antioch after Peter the apostle, condemned to the wild beasts during the persecution of Trajan, was sent bound to Rome.'
There follows a short presentation of Ignatius' letters.
Passus est anno undecimo Traiani. Reliquiae corporis eius in Antiochia iacent extra portam daphniticam in cimiterio.
'He was put to death the eleventh year of Trajan and the remains of his body lie in Antioch outside the Daphnitic gate in the cemetery.'
Text: Richardson 1896, 17-18. Translation: Richardson 1892. Summary: Robert Wiśniewski.
Burial site of a saint - unspecified
RelicsBodily relic - unspecified
Source
Jerome wrote this collection of very short biographies of 135 Christian authors in 392/393, at the beginning of his stay in Bethlehem. He knew Antioch in which, or close to which, he spent a few years during his first stay in the East in the 370s.Amongst the authors commemorated were several who suffered martyrdom (which Jerome records at the end of their biographies) and others (such as Eusebius of Vercelli and Hilary of Poitiers) who would later attract cult, but Jerome's purpose in writing De viris inlustribus was to show how many learned men there had been, and still were within the Christian church (he closes with a rather longer biography of himself!), rather than to encourage saintly cult. We have therefore only created database entries from the De viris inlustribus in the very few cases (such as this one) where Jerome happens to provide information that sheds significant light on the cult of a saint.
Discussion
The transfer of the relics of Ignatios from Rome to Antioch, and their deposition there, is attested for the first time in a sermon of John Chrysostom, preached at Antioch in the 380s or 390s (E02261). This was later described in his Church History by Evagrius of Antioch, according to whom the relics were deposited by the emperor Theodosius in the former shrine of Tyche (E04492).Bibliography
Text:Richardson, E.C., De viris inlustribus (Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Altchristlichen Literatur, vol. 14/1a, Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1896), 1-56.
Translation:
Richardson, E.C., On Illustrious Men (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 3, Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892). Revised and edited by K. Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm>.
Robert Wiśniewski
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00649 | Ignatios, bishop of Antioch and martyr of Rome | Ignatius | Certain |
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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, E04498 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E04498