Procopius of Caesarea, in his Wars, describes the location of the basilica of *Paul (the Apostle, S00008) outside the walls of Rome (San Paolo fuori le mura) and mentions that both it and the basilica of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) on the Vatican were respected by the Goths during their operations at Rome during the war of 536-552 Written in Greek at Constantinople c. 551.
E08147
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Procopius
Procopius, Wars 6.4.9-10
Ἔστι δέ τις νεὼς Παύλου τοῦ ἀποστόλου, Ῥώμης τοῦ περιβόλου τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα σταδίους ἀπέχων, ὅ τε ποταμὸς αὐτὸν παραρρεῖ Τίβερις. ἐνταῦθα ὀχύρωμα μὲν οὐδαμῆ ἐστι, στοὰ δέ τις ἄχρι ἐς τὸν νεὼν διήκουσα ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἄλλαι τε πολλαὶ οἰκοδομίαι ἀμφ᾿ αὐτὸν οὖσαι οὐκ εὐέφοδον ποιοῦσι τὸν χῶρον. ἔστι δέ τις καὶ αἰδὼς πρὸς ταῦτα δὴ τὰ ἱερὰ τοῖς Γότθοις. ἐς οὐδέτερον γοῦν τοῖν ἀποστόλοιν νεὼν παρὰ πάντα τὸν τοῦ πολέμου καιρὸν ἄχαρί τι πρὸς αὐτῶν γέγονεν, ἀλλὰ πάντα τῇδε τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν, ᾗπερ εἰώθει, ἐξοσιοῦσθαι ξυμβέβηκεν
'Now there is a certain church of the Apostle Paul, fourteen stades distant from the fortifications of Rome, and the Tiber River flows beside it. In that place there is no fortification, but a colonnade extends all the way from the city to the church, and many other buildings which are round about it render the place not easy of access. But the Goths show a certain degree of actual respect for sanctuaries such as this. And indeed during the whole time of the war no harm came to either church of the two Apostles at their hands, but all the rites were performed in them by the priests in the usual manner.'
Text and translation: Dewing 1919, 320-321 (translation modified).
Cult building - independent (church)
Cult building - secondary installation (fountain, pilgrims’ hostel)
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesForeigners (including Barbarians)
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
Procopius gives this description of the extramural basilica of St Paul (San Paolo fuori le mura) in the course of an account of operations by Belisarius in the area during the Gothic siege of Rome in 537-8. The basilica complex was situated at the traditional site of Paul's martyrdom, between the River Tiber and the via Ostiensis (the main road leading south from Rome), about 2.5 km (Procopius' 'fourteen stades') from the city walls. The general topography of the site is known from other sources (see in particular E06134), but Procopius provides the earliest surviving reference to the colonnade which connected the basilica with the Porta Sancti Pauli (Porta S.Paolo, the former Porta Ostiensis). There is no firm evidence as to the date of the colonnade's construction (Brandenburg 2006, 178).Procopius then notes that the Goths respected the extramural basilicas of St Paul and of St Peter on the Vatican ('either church of the two Apostles'), and that neither of them had been damaged or had its worship disrupted during the war.
For general discussion of the basilica complex in this period, see Brandenburg 2006; Camerlenghi 2018, esp. 45-49.
Bibliography
Text and translation:Dewing, H.B., Procopius, vol. 3 (Loeb Classical Library; New York and London, 1919).
Further reading:
Brandenburg, H., "S. Pauli basilica, coemeterium, balneum, porticus," in: A. La Regina (ed.), Lexicon topographicum urbis Romae – Suburbium, vol. 4 (Rome: Quasar, 2006), 169-179.
Camerlenghi, N., St. Paul's Outside the Walls: A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).
David Lambert
22/11/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Παὐλος | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Certain |
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