The Paschal Chronicle records the martyrdom of three martyrs of Nicomedia in 303: Dorotheos and Gorgonios (S00242), and Bishop Anthimos (S00124). The entry includes an otherwise unknown quotation from Loukianos/Lucian of Antioch on the martyrdom of Anthimos. Written in Greek at Constantinople, c. 630.
E07952
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Pascal Chronicle
Paschal Chronicle, s.a. 303
Τῷ αὐτῷ ἔτει πολλοὶ μὲν πανταχόσε, καθὼς ἔφαμεν, διαθλήσαντες ἐτελειώθησαν· οὐδὲν δὲ ἧττον καὶ κατὰ τὴv Nικομηδέων πόλιν, ἐν ᾗ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐποιεῖτο τὰς διατριβάς, τότε Δωρόθεος καὶ Γοργόνιος σὺv ἑτέροις ἅμα πλείοσι τῆς βασιλικῆς ὑπηρεσίας οὖσιν ἐτελειώθησαν, καὶ χορὸς ἅμα πολὺς μαρτύρων ἀνεδείχθη. οὐ μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ καὶ Ἄνθιμος τῆς αὐτῆς Νικομηδέων ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπος τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθεὶς ἐτελειώθη· ἕτεροι δὲ πυρί, πλείονες δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἐῤῥίπτοντο, οὐκ εὐτονοὐντων τῶν δημίων εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀπειρότατον πλῆθος ἐξαρκεῖν. περὶ τούτου τοῦ ἀπείρου πλήθους τῶν μαρτυρησάντων Λουκιανὸς πρεσβύτερος Ἀντιοχεῦσι γράφων ἐδήλου, Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς χορὁς ἅπας ὁμοῦ μαρτύρων. εὐαγγελίζομαι δὲ ὑμᾶς ὡς Ἄνθιμος ὁ πάπας τῷ τοῦ μαρτυρίου δρόμῳ ἐτελειώθη. καὶ τὰ μὲν Nικομήδειαν ταῦτα καὶ τούτων ἔτι πλείονα.
'In the same year many men everywhere, as we have said, met their end after resolutely contending; and no less too at the Nicomedian city, in which the emperor was residing, Dorotheus and Gorgonius met their end at that time, together with many others from the imperial retinue, and a great choir of martyrs was manifested together. And not long afterwards Anthimus too, bishop of the same Nicomedian church was beheaded and met his end; others perished by fire and more indeed were cast into the sea, since the executioners were not adequate to suffice for such a very great innumerable throng. Concerning this innumerable throng of martyrs the presbyter Lucian, writing to the Antiochenes, declared, "The whole choir of martyrs jointly sends you greetings. I bring you good news that Father Anthimus has met his end in the race of martyrdom." And as regards Nicomedia these things happened, and yet more than these.'
Text: Dindorf 1832, 515-516.
Translation: Whitby and Whitby 1989, 5.
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Officials
Source
The Chronicon Paschale (paschal or Easter chronicle) is a chronicle compiled at Constantinople in the first half of the 7th century. It covers events from the creation of the world up to the anonymous author's own time. The Chronicle probably concluded with the year 630 (see Whitby and Whitby 1989, xi), though the surviving text breaks off slightly earlier, in the entry for 628. The traditional name for the Chronicle originates from its introductory section, which discusses methods for calculating the date of Easter. The Chronicle survives thanks to a single manuscript, Vatican, Gr. 1941 (10th c.), on which all other surviving manuscripts depend. The only critical edition remains that of Ludwig Dindorf (1832).The chronicler uses multiple chronological systems to date events: Olympiads, consular years, indictions, and years from the Ascension, as well as using Roman, Greek, and sometimes Egyptian dates (see Whitby and Whitby 1989, x). Numerous literary sources are utilised for the period before the author's own time, including well-known historical sources such as Eusebius and John Malalas. We have not included entries for material in the Paschal Chronicle which simply reproduces material in earlier sources already entered in our database.
Discussion
This account of the martyrdoms of Dorotheos, Gorgonios and Anthimos at Nicomedia in 303, at the opening of the Great Persecution, largely parallels the account in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 8.6.5-7 (E00316). However, the quotation from Loukianos/Lucian of Antioch (S00151) does not appear in Eusebius, nor does it survive anywhere except in the Paschal Chronicle. It is suggested by Whitby and Whitby (1989, 5-6, n. 16) that the quotation may have come to the chronicler via the now fragmentary Arian church historian Philostorgius.Bibliography
Edition:Dindorf, L., Chronicon Paschale (Bonn, 1832).
Translation:
Whitby, M., and Whitby, M., Chronicon Paschale 284-628 AD (Translated Texts for Historians 7; Liverpool, 1989).
David Lambert
08/08/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00124 | Anthimos, bishop and martyr of Nicomedia | Ἄνθιμος | Certain | S00242 | Dorotheos and Gorgonios, martyrs of Nicomedia | Δωρόθεος Γοργόνιος | Certain |
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