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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


The Paschal Chronicle records that in 356 and 357 the remains of *Timothy (disciple of Paul, S00466), *Luke (the Evangelist, S00442), and *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288) were translated to Constantinople. Written in Greek at Constantinople, c. 630.

Evidence ID

E07986

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Paschal Chronicle, s.a. 356, 357

Ἰνδ. ιδ'. ιθ'. ὑπ. Κωνσταντίου Αὐγούστου τὸ ι' καὶ Ἰουλιαvοῦ Καίσαρος.
Ἐπὶ τούτων τῶν ὑπάτων, μηνὶ πανέμῳ α', Τιμοθέου τοῦ ἁγίου μαθητοῦ γενομένου Παύλου τοῦ αποστόλου, ἐπισκόπου τε πρώτου χειροτονηθέντος ἐv Ἐφέσῳ τῆς Ἀσίας, τὰ λείψανα ἠνέχθη ἐv Κωνσταντινουπόλει σὺv πάσῃ τιμῇ, καὶ ἀπετέθη εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους Ἀποστόλους ὑποκάτω τῆς ἁγίας τραπέζης.

Ἰνδ. ιε'. κ'. ὑπ. Κωνσταντίου Αὐγούστου τὸ ια' καὶ Ἰουλιαvοῦ Καίσαρος τὸ β'.
Ἐπὶ τούτων τῶν ὑπάτων, μηνὶ δύστρῳ γ' ἠνέχθη ἐv Κωνσταντινουπόλει τὰ λείψανα τῶν ἁγίων Λουκᾶ καὶ Ἀνδρέου τῶv ἀποστόλων σπουδῇ Κωνσταντίου τοῦ Αὐγούστου μετὰ σπουδῆς καὶ θεοσεβείας ψαλμῳδίας τε καὶ ὑμνολογίας, καὶ ἀπετέθη εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους Ἀποστόλους.


'Indiction 14, year 19, the 10th consulship of Constantius Augustus and that of Julian Caesar.
In the time of these consuls, on day 1 in the month Panemus [July], the remains of Timothy who had been the holy disciple of Paul the apostle and first bishop elected at Ephesus in Asia, were brought to Constantinople with all honour, and laid to rest in the Holy Apostles beneath the holy altar.

Indiction 15, year 20, the 11th consulship of Constantius Augustus and the 2nd of Julian Caesar.
In the time of these consuls, on day 3 in the month Dystrus [March], the remains of the holy apostles Luke and Andrew were brought to Constantinople through the zeal of Constantius the Augustus, with zeal and piety, amidst psalmody and hymnody, and were laid to rest in the Holy Apostles.'


Text: Dindorf 1832, 542.
Translation: Whitby and Whitby 1989, 33.

Liturgical Activities

Chant and religious singing

Cult Places

Cult building - independent (church)

Relics

Bodily relic - entire body
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Monarchs and their family

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

The translation of the remains of Timothy, Luke, and Andrew to the church of the Holy Apostles in 356/7 is widely recorded (e.g. E04569, E05132). Whitby and Whitby 1989, 33, n. 101, note that the admiring comments in the entry about the piety of the emperor Constantius suggest that the chronicler used an Arian source, which was probably also used by the Arian ecclesiastical historian Philostorgius (for his account of the event, see E04195). For the church of the Holy Apostles, see Janin 1969, 41-50.


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).


Record Created By

David Lambert

Date of Entry

04/09/2020

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00288Andrew, the ApostleἈνδρέαςCertain
S00442Luke, the EvangelistΛουκᾶςCertain
S00466Timothy, the disciple of Paul the ApostleΤιμόθεοςCertain
S02422All Apostlesοἱ ἁγίοι ἀποστόλοιCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E07986 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E07986