Record | The Cult of Saints

A fragmentary papyrus document from Ravenna (north-east Italy) includes among its subscribers two witnesses connected to (and/or living near) a foundation dedicated to Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), and a foundation dedicated to Agnes (virgin and martyr of Rome, S00097) respectively. Written in Latin in Ravenna, 575/91.

Evidence ID

E08420

Type of Evidence

Documentary texts - Charter or diploma

Documentary texts - Sale document

Late antique original manuscripts - Papyrus sheet

Tjäder P. 36 (excerpt)

[...] Notitia testium:
Eusebius, ad(iutor) scr(i)n(ii) can(onum), qui manet ad Sanctum Stefanum.
Florentinus, ex pr(ae)p(osit)o pistor(um), qui manet ad S(an)c(t)a Agnite.
Oderit, fil(ius) q(uon)d(am) Boherde.
Probus, ex pr(i)m(icerio) nomencolator(um).
Petrus, collictar(ius), ante custodia charcer(is).

'... Notice of witnesses:
Eusebius, assistant of the chancery of the canons, who resides at Saint Stephen.
Florentinus, of the provost of the bakers, who resides at Saint Agnes.
Oderit, son of the late Boherde.
Probus, of the primicerius of the nomenculatores.
Peter, money-changer, before the garrison of the prison.'

Text: Tjäder 1955-82: ii. 112-9.
Translation: B. Savill

Cult Places

Cult building - unspecified

Places Named after Saint

Other

Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Officials

Source

Thirty-eight papyrus documents (plus a further four of less certain provenance) dating from the years 445 to c. 700 survive today from the archives of the church of Ravenna. Most were produced in the city, although some appear to have come to Ravenna via interested parties after originally being issued at other centres (e.g. Faenza, Syracuse, Nepi). An exceptionally rare witness to late antique documentary culture, the Ravenna papyri constitute the single largest corpus of Latin papyri documents still extant, although the collection is now dispersed between a number of libraries across Europe and North America. The standard modern edition is Tjäder 1955-82. We have included in our database the eight documents from this corpus which provide evidence for saints' cults before c. 700.

This papyrus, a document of sale (1150 x 0310 mm), is now Vatican City, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, Pap. lat. 12.

Discussion

For the church of Stephen, whose foundation-inscription (by Bishop Maximian) is recorded by Agnellus, see E05812; and for the church of Agnes, see E05782.

Bibliography

Edition
Die nichtliterarischen lateinischen Papyri Italiens aus der Zeit 445-700, ed. J.-O. Tjäder, 2 vols (Lund and Stockholm, 1955-82).

Record Created By

Benjamin Savill

Date of Entry

04/03/2023

Related Saint Records

ID	Name	Name in Source	Identity
S00030	Stephen, the First Martyr	Stefanus	Certain
S00097	Agnes, virgin and martyr of Rome	Agnes	Certain

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Benjamin Savill, Cult of Saints, E08420 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E08420

The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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