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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


The De Locis Sanctis, a guide to the graves of the martyrs around Rome, lists those on the via Aurelia, west of the city. Written in Latin in Rome, 642/683.

Evidence ID

E06982

Type of Evidence

Literary - Pilgrim accounts and itineraries

Major author/Major anonymous work

Lists of Shrines in Rome

On the Holy Places of the Martyrs which are outside the City of Rome (De locis sanctis martyrum quae sunt foris civitatis Romae), via Aurelia

Inde haud procul in sinistra manu iuxta uiam Aureliam sanctus Processus, sanctus Marcianus, sanctus Pancratius, sanctus Paulinus, sanctus Arthemius, sanctus Felix, sanctus Calistus, sanctus Calopus cum multis sepulti iacent.

'Not far from there [i.e.
the via Cornelia], on the left-hand side by the via Aurelia lie buried saint Processus, saint Martinianus, saint Pancratius, saint Paulinus, saint Arthemius, saint Felix, saint Calistus, saint Calepodius, with many others.'

Text:
Valentini and Zucchetti 1942, 107. Translation: P. Polcar.

[*Processus and Martinianus, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Aurelia, S00556; *Pancratius, martyr of Rome, S00307; *Arthemius and Paulina, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via Aurelia, S00552; *Felix I, bishop and martyr of Rome, S00200; *Callixtus, bishop and martyr of Rome, S00145; *Calepodius, priest and martyr of Rome, S01411]

Cult Places

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Burial site of a saint - cemetery/catacomb

Non Liturgical Activity

Pilgrimage
Visiting graves and shrines

Relics

Bodily relic - entire body

Source

The graves of the martyrs of Rome are quite exceptional in two respects: for the overwhelming number of saints whose names are recorded; and for the level of detail we have on where their bodies were venerated - in the many Martyrdoms surviving from Rome (incomparably more than from any other city), in uniquely rich epigraphic evidence, and in a narrative history, the Liber Pontificalis, that records in loving detail papal improvements to the saintly graves and churches of the city. From the century between circa 590 and 690, we even have four long lists of venerated graves, which were compiled entirely independently of each other: one (the Monza papyrus, E06788) is a catalogue of holy oil collected at these graves, but the other three, the Notitia Ecclesiarum (E07900), the De Locis Sanctis (E07901) and the Itinerarium Malmesburiense (E07883), are 'itineraries' - in other words texts that introduce their readers to the graves by taking them on a journey through the burial churches and cemeteries that ringed the city. They are often described as pilgrim-guides, which was certainly one of their functions, though they could also serve to introduced the saints of Rome to distant readers.

The
De locis sanctis martyrum quae sunt foris civitatis Romae ('On the holy places of the martyrs which are outside the city of Rome'), is exactly what its title claims: it is a guide to the suburban cemeteries of the city, listing the various saints who could be visited there (the vast majority of whom were martyrs). Like all the itineraries, it proceeds road by road, beginning with the via Cornelia and St Peter's, continuing anticlockwise round the city, and closing with the via Flaminia. Unlike the Notitia Ecclesiarum, which directly addresses the reader in the second person singular ('Then you go ...' etc.), the De Locis (in common with the Itinerarium), uses the impersonal 'By this road is ...' etc.

In all the manuscripts of the
De Locis, the journey around the city is immediately followed by a short text (E07001) entitled Istae vero ecclesiae intus Romae habentur ('These churches, however, are within Rome'), which lists 21 churches within the Aurelianic walls. This text may or may not have been by the same author as the De Locis.

In terms of its dating, the
De Locis must have been written before 683, because it lists the graves of Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix on the via Portuensis (E06988), and these martyrs were removed from there and translated into the city by Pope Leo II in 682/683 (E01678). The date after which it must have been written is slightly less certain: unquestionably it was after Honorius I (625-638) built his church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, since this must be the church 'of wondrous beauty' that is described on the via Nomentana (E06997); and it is very likely that it also post-dates the rebuilding by Pope Theodore I (642-649) of the church of Saint Valentinus on the via Flaminia (E01629), described in our text as 'wondrously decorated' (E07000).

The earliest manuscript of this text (Vienna National Library Ms 795), datable to the last years of the eighth century, includes some brief interpolated passages (some of which derive from the
Notitia Ecclesiarum). These are included, but clearly marked as interpolations, in all the editions of the De Locis, and in the text which we offer.

(Bryan Ward-Perkins)


Discussion

For the saints listed here, see the very similar list in the more-or-less contemporary Notitia Ecclesiarum (E00689). Here in the De Locis Sanctis, there is no attempt to specify the individual churches and cemeteries in which these different saints lay.

Bibliography

Edition:
Glorie, F. (ed.), De locis sanctis martyrum quae sunt foris civitatis Romae, in Itineraria et alia geographica (Corpus Christianorum, series Latina 175; Turnhout: Brepols, 1965), 315-321. [Reproduces Valentini and Zucchetti's text.]

Valentini, R. and Zucchetti, G. (ed.),
Codice topografico della città di Roma (Istituto storico italiano - Fonti per la storia d'Italia; Roma 1942), vol. 2, 106-118.

(Partial) Translation:
Lapidge, M., The Roman Martyrs. Introduction, Translations, and Commentary (Oxford Early Christian Studies; Oxford: Oxford University Press 2018), 662-664. [Translates most of the text, but omits parts that are not relevant to the martyrdom accounts that he includes in his collection.]


Record Created By

Philip Polcar

Date of Entry

22/5/2020

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00145Callixtus, bishop and martyr of RomeCalistusCertain
S00200Felix I, bishop and martyr of RomeFelixCertain
S00307Pancratius, martyr of RomePancratiusCertain
S00552Arthemius, Paulina and Candida, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via AureliaArthemius, PaulinusCertain
S00556Processus and Martinianus, martyrs of Rome, buried on the via AureliaProcessus, MarcianusCertain
S01411Calepodius, priest and martyr of RomeCalopusCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Philip Polcar, Cult of Saints, E06982 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06982