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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Procopius of Caesarea, in his Wars, describes how a section of the walls of Rome was believed to be protected miraculously by *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) in his account of the Gothic siege of Rome in 537-538. Written in Greek at Constantinople c. 551.

Evidence ID

E08144

Type of Evidence

Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)

Major author/Major anonymous work

Procopius

Procopius, Wars 5.23.3-8

ταύτης δὲ μεταξὺ τῆς πύλης καὶ τῆς ἐν δεξιᾷ ἐχομένης πυλίδος, ἣ Πιγκιανὴ ὀνομάζεται, μοῖρά τις τοῦ περιβόλου δίχα τὸ παλαιὸν ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου διαιρεθεῖσα, οὐκ ἐξ ἐδάφους μέντοι, ἀλλ᾿ ὅσον ἐκ μήκους τοῦ ἡμίσεος, οὐκ ἔπεσε μὲν οὐδὲ ἄλλως διεφθάρη, ἐκλίθη δὲ οὕτως ἐφ᾿ ἑκάτερα, ὡς τὸ μὲν ἐκτὸς τοῦ ἄλλου τείχους, τὸ δὲ ἐντὸς φαίνεσθαι. καὶ ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ Περίβολον Διερρωγότα Ῥωμαῖοι τῇ σφετέρᾳ γλώσσῃ ἐκ παλαιοῦ καλοῦσι τὸν χῶρον. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ μέρος καθελεῖν τε καὶ ἀνοικοδομήσασθαι Βελισάριον κατ᾿ ἀρχὰς ἐγχειροῦντα ἐκώλυον Ῥωμαῖοι, Πέτρον σφίσι τὸν ἀπόστολον ὑποσχέσθαι ἰσχυριζόμενοι αὑτῷ μελήσειν τοῦ ἐνταῦθα φυλακτηρίου. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν ἀπόστολον σέβονται Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ τεθήπασι πάντων μάλιστα. ἀπέβη τε αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα ἐν τῷδε τῷ χωρίῳ ᾗ διενοοῦντο καὶ προσεδόκων. οὐδὲ γὰρ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ἐς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον καθ᾿ ὃν Γότθοι Ῥώμην ἐπολιόρκουν, οὔτε πολεμίων τις δύναμις ἐνταῦθα ἀφίκετο οὔτε τινὰ ταραχὴν γενέσθαι ξυνέβη. καὶ ἐθαυμάζομέν γε ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐς μνήμην ἡμετέραν ἢ τῶν πολεμίων αὕτη τοῦ περιβόλου ἡ μοῖρα παρὰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ἦλθεν, οὔτε τειχομαχούντων οὔτε νύκτωρ ἐπιβουλευόντων τῷ τείχει, οἷα πολλὰ ἐνεχείρησαν. διὸ δὴ οὐδὲ ὕστερόν τις ἀνοικοδομήσασθαι τοῦτο ἐτόλμησεν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐς ἡμέραν τήνδε οὕτω τὸ ἐκείνῃ διῄρηται τεῖχος. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὧδέ πη ἔσχεν.

'And between this gate [the Flaminian] and the small gate next on the right, which is called the Pincian, a certain portion of the wall had split open of its own accord in ancient times, not clear to the ground, however, but about half way down, but still it had not fallen or been otherwise destroyed, though it leaned so to either side that one part of it appeared outside the rest of the wall and the other inside. And from this circumstance the Romans from ancient times have called the place “Broken Wall” in their own tongue. But when Belisarius in the beginning undertook to tear down this portion and rebuild it, the Romans prevented him, declaring that the Apostle Peter had promised them that he would care for the guarding of the wall there. This Apostle is reverenced by the Romans and held in awe above all others. And the outcome of events at this place was in all respects what the Romans contemplated and expected. For neither on that day nor throughout the whole time during which the Goths were besieging Rome did any hostile force come to that place, nor did any disturbance occur there. And we marvelled indeed that it never occurred to us nor to the enemy to remember this portion of the fortifications during the whole time, either while they were making their assaults or carrying out their designs against the wall by night; and yet many such attempts were made. It was for this reason, in fact, that at a later time also no one ventured to rebuild this part of the defences, but up to the present day the wall there is split open in this way.'


Text and translation: Dewing 1919, 218-221.

Non Liturgical Activity

Saint as patron - of a community

Miracles

Miraculous protection - of communities, towns, armies
Miraculous interventions in war

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Crowds
Soldiers

Source

Procopius of Caesarea, (c. 500 – c. 560/561 AD) was a soldier and historian from the Roman province of Palaestina Prima. He accompanied the Roman general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian (527-565). He wrote the Secret History, the Wars (or Histories), and On Buildings.

The
History of the Wars was written in the early 540s, updated by around 550. With its focus on military affairs, it contains only occasional references to the cult of saints.


Discussion

The 'Broken Wall' described by Procopius, now known as the Muro Torto or 'Bent Wall', was a structure dating from the late Roman Republic, originally constructed as a retaining wall on a hillside (Coarelli 2007, 19, 235). It was incorporated into the Aurelian Walls when they were built in the 3rd century. The wall still stands, essentially as Procopius described it, on the present-day Viale del Muro Torto.


Bibliography

Text and translation:
Dewing, H.B., Procopius, vol. 3 (Loeb Classical Library; New York and London, 1919).

Further reading:
Coarelli, F., Rome and Environs: An Archaeological Guide, trans. J.J. Clauss and D.P. Harmon (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007).


Record Created By

David Lambert

Date of Entry

22/11/2021

Related Saint Records
IDNameName in SourceIdentity
S00036Peter, the ApostleΠἐτροςCertain


Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E08144 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08144