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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Galla Placidia describes in two letters her veneration at the altar of *Peter (the Apostle S00036) in Rome. Written in Latin at Rome, c. 449.

Evidence ID

E05485

Type of Evidence

Literary - Letters

Letter from Galla Placidia Augusta to Theodosius II (= Leo the Great, Letter 56)

Summary:

Galla Placidia describes how she was venerating the Apostle Peter at his altar in Rome when Leo stopped her and asked her to intervene with Theodosius to oppose the conclusions of the Council of Ephesus.


Letter from Galla Placidia Augusta to Pulcheria (= Leo the Great, Letter 58)

Galla Placidia describes the same scene again, stating she had travelled to Rome to show devotion to Peter. She encourages Pulcheria to oppose the conclusions of the Council of Ephesus and instead intervene in support of the pope, who sits in the see of Peter, the holder of the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Summary: Frances Trzeciak.

Cult Places

Altar

Non Liturgical Activity

Visiting graves and shrines
Vigils
Ceremonies at burial of a saint

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Ecclesiastics - bishops
Monarchs and their family

Source

Two letters from Galla Placidia to Theodosius II and Pulcheria in 449, transmitted as Letters 56 and 58 of Leo the Great's letter collection.


Discussion

The second council of Ephesus took place in 449. At this council, the delegates absolved Eutyches – an advocate of the docetist theory that the body of Christ was not made of human flesh – from heresy, and deposed Flavian, the bishop of Constantinople. Leo was a strong opponent of Eutyches and supporter of Flavian (see e.g. E05480). He petitioned the imperial family for a second council, which was convened in Chalcedon in 451 (see E05462).


Bibliography

Text:
Leo the Great, Epistolae, Patrologia Latina 54.

Translation:
Lett Feltoe, C., Leo the Great. Gregory the Great (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers 12; New York, 1895).

Further Reading:
Salzman, M.R., "Leo’s Liturgical Topography: Contestations for Space in Fifth-Century Rome,"
Journal of Roman Studies 103 (2013), 208-232.

Thacker, A., "Patrons of Rome: The cult of Sts Peter and Paul at court and in the city in the fourth and fifth centuries,"
Early Medieval Europe 20:4 (2012), 380-406.

Wessel, S.,
Leo the Great and the Spiritual Rebuilding of Rome (Leiden, 2008).


Record Created By

Frances Trzeciak

Date of Entry

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00036Peter, the ApostlePetrusCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Frances Trzeciak, Cult of Saints, E05485 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E05485