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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Name

Pionios, presbyter and martyr of Smyrna

Saint ID

S00031

Number in BH

G 1546-1547

Reported Death Not Before

150

Reported Death Not After

260

Gender
Male
Type of Saint
Martyrs, Lesser clergy
Related Evidence Records
IDTitle
E00014Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Ecclesiastical History (4.15), mentions as his source-texts martyrdom accounts of the martyrs of Smyrna, including *Polykarpos/Polycarp (bishop and martyr, S00004), *Metrodoros (Marcionite priest and martyr, S00047), and *Pionios (presbyter and martyr, S00031), and of the martyrs of Pergamon, *Karpos, Papylos and Agathonike (S00051); all in western Asia Minor. He also mentions a collection of martyrdom accounts (now lost) that he himself had compiled. Written in Greek in Palestine, 311/325.
E00054The epilogue of the Greek Martyrdom of *Polycarp/Polykarpos (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004) outlines the transmission history of the text. The last copyist, a certain Pionios, claims that the saint revealed the text to him in a vision. 3rd/4th century addition to the 2nd/3rd century Martyrdom of Polycarp. Written in Smyrna (western Asia Minor).
E00096Τhe Greek Martyrdom of *Pionios (presbyter and martyr of Smyrna, S00031) recounts how Pionios and his companions were arrested on the feast day of *Polycarp (bishop and martyr of Smyrna, S00004) and tried in Smyrna (western Asia Minor) in 250. Pionios was burned alive, and after martyrdom, his body looked like that of an athlete, while his face shone with supernatural grace. Written in the late 3rd century, presumably in Smyrna.
E00139Eusebius of Caesarea, in various passages in his Ecclesiastical History, refers to a collection of early martyrdom accounts he compiled, probably in the 290s or 300s; with references to *Pionios (martyr of Smyrna, S00031), *Karpos, Papylos, and Agathonike (martyrs of Pergamon, S00051), the *Martyrs of Lyon (S00316), and *Apollonios (martyr of Rome, S00106). Written in Greek in Palestine, in 311/325.
E00145Τhe Greek Martyrdom of *Pionios (presbyter and martyr of Smyrna, S00031) recounts how the Marcionite presbyter *Metrodoros (S00047) was martyred together with Pionios in Smyrna (western Asia Minor) in 250. Written presumably in Smyrna, in the 3rd c.
E03048The early seventh-century Georgian version of the Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on 8 March *Pionios (presbyter and martyr of Smyrna, S00031).
E03671The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th century, based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Jerusalem, commemorates on 7 March *Arkadios and Nestor (bishops and martyrs of Cyprus, S01378), *Pionios (presbyter and martyr in Smyrna, S00031), and, as a later addition, Bishop Theophylaktos of Antioch, confessor under the iconoclast emperor Leo V the Armenian (813-820).
E03672The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th century, based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Jerusalem, commemorates on 8 March *Pionios (presbyter and martyr of Smyrna, S00031), Paulos, bishop and confessor during Iconoclasm, *Arkadios and Nestor (bishops and martyrs of Cyprus, S01378).
E03675The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th century, based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Jerusalem, commemorates on 11 March *Sophronios (bishop of Jerusalem, ob. 638, S01384) and *Pionios (presbyter and martyr of Smyrna, S00031).
E06318Fragmentary Greek inscription, from Sikyon (near Corinth), with a calendar of saints' feast days, such as that of *Afra (martyr of Augsburg, S01797), *Apphianos (martyr of Caesarea of Palestine, S00159), *Andrew (the Apostle, S00288), *Antipas (presumably the bishop and martyr of Pergamon, S01816), *Antoninus (martyr of Alexandria, S00327), *Christophoros (martyr of Pamphylia, S00616), *Demetrios and four companions (unspecified, S02464), *Epimachus (martyr of Rome, S00295), *Glykeria (martyr of Perinthus-Heraclea in Thrace, S00018), *Gordiοs (presumably the soldier and martyr of Caesarea of Cappadocia, S00114), *Kodratos and his companions (Anectus, Paulus, Dionysius, Cyprianus and Crescens, martyrs of Corinth, S02368), *Laurence/Laurentius (deacon and martyr of Rome, S00037), *Pionios (presbyter and martyr of Smyrna, $S00031), *Theodosia from Tyre (martyr of Palestine, $S00161), *Victor or Victorinus (martyr of Corinth, $S01927) and other saints or martyrs whose names are lost. Found at Sikyon near Corinth (north-eastern Peloponnese). Probably 5th c.