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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


The Greek Martyrdom of *Loukillianos (martyr of Byzantion, S01764) and his companions, is written, probably in Constantinople, and probably in Late Antiquity.

Evidence ID

E06125

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Accounts of martyrdom

Martyrdom of Lucillianus (BHG 998y)

Brief summary:

In Nicomedia under Aurelian, a comes Silvanos learns about a pagan priest, Loukillianos, who has repented and become a Christian. Egged on by the philosopher Krispos, he puts Loukillianos and his four children companions, Klaudios, Hypatios, Paulos and Dionysios through trials in Nicomedia and, after moving to Chalcedon, condemns them to death and executes them in the city of Byzantion on 3 June, where their relics are buried by pious men.


Text: Delehaye 1912, 187-192.
Summary: N. Kälviäinen.

Cult Places

Burial site of a saint - unspecified
Place of martyrdom of a saint

Rejection, Condemnation, Sceptisism

Acceptance/rejection of saints from other religious groupings

Miracles

Miracle at martyrdom and death
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)

Relics

Bodily relic - unspecified

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Pagans
Children
Officials
Torturers/Executioners

Source

The ‘epic’ Martyrdom of Loukillianos (BHG 998y) is currently known to be preserved in 7 manuscripts (9th-14th c.), of which two were used by Delehaye in his edition:
http://pinakes.irht.cnrs.fr/notices/oeuvre/16732/

This text is an early Greek martyrdom account bearing some or all of the hallmarks of the 'epic' subgenre (
Martyrdoms characterised by a relative detachment from historical reality and often including extravagant, even fantastical, elements; see H. Delehaye, Les Passions des martyres et les genres littéraires, Brussels, 1966 (2nd ed.), 171-226). Without any specific grounds for a more concrete dating, this and many other similar texts can only generally be attributed to somewhere around the 5th to 8th centuries.

It was supposed by Delehaye 1912, 234 that the martyrdom of Paula (surviving as BHG 2361) originally formed a part of the
Martyrdom of Loukillianos and his companions and was later detached from it to form a separate Martyrdom. However, later F. Halkin (in Inédits Byzantins d'Ochrida, Candie et Moscou (Subsidia hagiographica 38; Brussels 1963), 57-59) argued convincingly for the reverse case being true: that Paula's martyrdom was instead later attached, as a supplement of sorts, to that of Loukillianos, to which it did not originally belong.


Discussion

Despite almost all of the action taking place in Nicomedia, the fact that the sentence is passed in Chalcedon and the execution is carried out in Byzantion (the city that later became Constantinople), shows that the text was most likely composed for the needs of a cult based in Constantinople, where the martyrs' bodies are said to have been buried.

The
comes Silvanos (governor of Bithynia in 270/275? see PLRE I, 840 no.1), of uncertain historicity, appears as an antagonist also in the Martyrdom of *Thyrsos and his companions (martyrs of Bithynia, E06222). The philosopher Krispos (PLRE I, 232 no. 2) is likewise unknown from other sources. It is possible that the function of Nicomedia is simply to provide credibility or weight to the account, since that city, unlike Constantinople, was famous for its numerous martyrs under Diocletian and his successors. Alternatively, as suggested by Berger 2013, 171-172, it could be that this was a cult transferred to Constantinople from Nicomedia (possibly through Chalcedon), and the new shrine attempted to present the martyr as local.


Bibliography

Text:
Delehaye, H., “Saints de Thrace et de Mésie,” Analecta Bollandiana 31 (1912), 187-192.

Further reading:
Berger, A., "Mokios und Konstantin der Große. Zu den Anfängen des Märtyrerkults in Konstantinopel," in: V.A. Leontaritou, K.A. Bourdara, and E. Sp. Papagianni (eds.), Ἀντικήνσωρ. Τιμητικὸς τόμος Σ.Ν. Τρωιάνου γιὰ τὰ ὀγδοηκοστὰ γενέθλιά του (Athens, 2013), 171-172.


Record Created By

Nikolaos Kälviäinen

Date of Entry

17/08/2018

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S01764Loukillianos, martyr of Byzantion, and companionsΛουκιλλιανός, Κλαύδιος, Ὑπάτιος, Παῦλος, ΔιονύσιοςCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Nikolaos Kälviäinen, Cult of Saints, E06125 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06125