The so-called Barbarus Scaligeri, a Latin translation of a lost Greek chronography dating from the 6th c., refers to the martyrdom of *Peter (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247) and many other Christians in Alexandria by the emperor Diocletian, misdating it to the year 302.
Evidence ID
E07179
Type of Evidence
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Barbarus Scaligeri 196-7
Constantino et Maximo novorum Caesarum quarto
Hisdem consulibus venit Diocletianus in Alexandria et ecclesias exterminavit et multi martyrizaverunt, in quibus et beatus Petrus episcopus Alexandrinus capite truncatus est: martyrizavit VII kl. Decem.
'[Consulship of] the Caesars Constantine and Maximus the Younger for the fourth time [sic: actually Constantius and Maximianus the Younger (i.e. Galerius) = 302]
Under the same consuls Diocletian came to Alexandria and wiped out the churches and martyred many, among whom the blessed bishop Peter of Alexandria was also decapitated: he was martyred on the 7th day before the Kalends of December [25 November].'
Text: Mommsen 1892, 290.
Translation: David Lambert.
Festivals
Saint’s feast
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
The Barbarus Scaligeri, also known as the Excerpta latina barbari (literally, 'Scaliger's barbarian' and 'Latin excerpts of a barbarian'), is a Latin translation of a late-antique Greek chronographical compilation. Its modern titles originate from the opinions of its first modern editor, Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609), who was contemptuous of what he regarded as the author's very bad Latin and incompetent translation from Greek. Some contemporary scholars have suggested using a less prejudicial title: thus R.W. Burgess refers to it as the Chronographia Scaligeriana (Burgess 2013, 2-3 and passim). The text survives in a single manuscript: Paris, BnF, Lat. 4884 (digitised: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84790083). This was dated by 19th c. editors such as Mommsen to the 7th or early 8th century, but the most recent assessment is that it was copied in the 770s or 780s at the monastery of Corbie in northern Francia (Burgess 2013, 20-21). The manuscript is probably contemporaneous with the translation (Burgess 2013, 6, and for discussion of the translator's possible background, ibid. 21-27).The Barbarus Scaligeri as a whole is a compilation of texts, including biblical genealogies, lists of monarchs, and geographical information. Among its contents is a list of consuls, which occasionally includes notes of historical events, including several relating to saints. Burgess identifies the Greek original of this as dating from about the 530s (Burgess 2013, 18-19, 42). A number of entries are based on a now lost local chronicle from Alexandria in Egypt (Burgess 2013, 3, 14-15); this was either the same text as the Alexandrian chronicle used by Theophanes (see e.g. E08006), or a closely related one. The Greek original used by the translator was illustrated, and the manuscript leaves spaces for illustrations to be added; however, this never happened.
Discussion
This reference to the martyrdom of Peter, bishop of Alexandria, during the Great Persecution, correctly gives the day of his martyrdom (25 November) but not the year (actually 311).Bibliography
Edition:Mommsen, T., in Chronice Minora I (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores antiquissimi 9; Berlin, 1892), 290-298.
Further reading:
Burgess, R.W., "The Date, Purpose, and Historical Context of the Original Greek and the Latin Translation of the So-Called Excerpta latina barbari," Traditio 68 (2013), 1-56.
Record Created By
David Lambert
Date of Entry
23/12/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00247 | Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, and companion martyrs | Petrus | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E07179 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07179