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The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity


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


Name

Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, and companion martyrs

Saint ID

S00247

Number in BH

BHG 1502-1503, BHL 6692-6698

Reported Death Not Before

311

Reported Death Not After

311

Gender
Male
Type of Saint
Martyrs, Bishops
Related Evidence Records
IDTitle
E00318Eusebius of Caesarea, in his Ecclesiastical History (8.13 and 9.6), gives a list of nineteen Christian leaders martyred alongside numerous other Christians in various regions of the East during the tetrarchic persecutions (304-313). Written in Greek in Palestine, 311/325.
E01588The early 5th c. Syriac Martyrology commemorates on 24 November the martyrdom of *Berenikianos (martyr in Kaisareia of Cappadocia, S01114) and of *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247). Preserved in a manuscript written in Edessa (northern Mesopotamia) in 411.
E01743A Coptic list of holy books belonging to the monastery of Apa *Elijah/Elias (probably the Old Testament prophet, S00217) 'on the mountain', presumably at Aphroditopolis/Atfih (Middle Egypt), lists a papyrus manuscript containing the Martyrdom of *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247); list datable to the 7th/8th century.
E02212Fragmentary list in Greek of saints' days, evidently for the month of December, presumably from the area of Hermopolis (Middle Egypt), with entries for *Severos (bishop of Antioch, ob. 538, S00262), *Kopres (martyr of Egypt under Julian, S01190), *Peter (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247), *Gregory the Illuminator (converter of Armenia, S00251), *Horouonchios (saint with cult at Aphrodito and Hermopolis, S01187), *Sarapion, (Egyptian martyr from Panephosi, §S02038), and *Drosis (virgin and martyr of Antioch, S01189), as well as various unnamed martyrs (S00060); datable to the 7th/8th century.
E03113The early seventh-century Georgian version of the Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on 18 April *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247).
E03267The early seventh-century Georgian version of the Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on 7 July *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247).
E03440The early seventh-century Georgian version of the Lectionary of Jerusalem commemorates on 25 November *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, ob. 311, S00247).
E03713The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 18 April *Petros (martyred bishop of Alexandria, S00247), *Christophoros and his companion martyrs, Aquilina and Kallinike (martyrs of Pamphylia, S00616), the *Seven Sleepers of Ephesus (brothers who fell asleep during the persecution of Decius, S00287).
E03937The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 25 November *Peter (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247) and the martyrdom of *Catherine (martyr of Alexandria, S00765).
E03938The Church Calendar of Ioane Zosime, compiled in Georgian in the 10th c., based however on 5th-7th c. prototypes from Palestine, commemorates on 26 November *Peter (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247), *John II (bishop of Jerusalem, ob. 417, S00172) or *John III (bishop of Jerusalem, ob. 524, S00194), *Irenarchos (martyr of Sebasteia, S00623), *Elianos (probably the martyr of Amman, S00889), *Clemens/Clement (bishop of Rome, martyr of the Crimea, S00111).
E04011Sozomen, in his Ecclesiastical History (2.17), reports that a great festival is held in Alexandria on the anniversary of the martyrdom of its bishop *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247). Written in Greek at Constantinople, 439/450.
E04082Coptic funerary inscription of unknown Egyptian provenance, invoking a number of saints, such as Apa *Pshoi (probably the martyr of Egypt, S01245), Apa *Paul (S00089), Apa *Sourous (S01584), Apa *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247), Apa *Biktor (presumably Viktor the martyr of Egypt, son of Romanos, S00749), and Apa *Phobammon (soldier and martyr of Assiut, S00080), datable to the 6th/8th century.
E04938The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 1 September.
E05028The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 23 November.
E05031The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 25 November.
E05032The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 26 November.
E05117Coptic Encomion on *Demetrios (bishop of Alexandria, ob. 232, S01935), attributed to Flavianus, bishop of Ephesos, and presented on his feast day, discussing the saint’s combat against sinful behaviour and the miraculous protection of his and his wife’s body against fire; relating also the story of *Martyria, a native of Antioch who travelled with her two young sons Eutropius and Philopator (martyrs at Antioch, S01936) to Alexandria to have them baptised by *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247); allegedly written in the late 4th or mid 5th century.
E05288John Moschus, in his Spiritual Meadow (73), mentions a monastery near the church of *Peter (probably *Petros, bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247; or possibly the Apostle, S00036), in Alexandria in Egypt. Written in Greek, probably in Rome, in the 620s or 630s.
E05679Bede, in his Martyrology, records the feast on 25 November of *Peter/Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247). Written in Latin at Wearmouth-Jarrow (north-east Britain), 725/731.
E06124The Greek Martyrdom of *Loukianos/Lucian of Antioch (theologian and martyr of Nicomedia and Helenopolis, S00151) recounts the childhood and scholarly career of Loukianos, as well as his arrest and journey to Nicomedia, his imprisonment and eventual death there, together with the miraculous recovery of his relics; the text also mentions a number of other martyrs of the tetrarchic persecution. Survives in a 10th c. metaphrastic redaction of an earlier text, possibly written in the 4th c. or later, possibly in Bithynia.
E06234The Greek Martyrdom of *Petros (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247) recounts the protagonist's last days, his martyrdom and the tumult surrounding his burial in a western suburb of Alexandria. The story also features his successor *Alexandros (bishop of Alexandria, ob. 326/328, S00733) and mentions the four martyred Egyptian bishops commemorated by Eusebius of Caesarea: *Phileas (bishop of Thmuis, martyr of Alexandria, S00125), *Hesychios (S00248), *Pachomios (Pachymios, S00156) and *Theodoros (S02704), as well as several of the preceding archbishops of Alexandria. It also provides details about the martyrium and tomb of *Mark the Evangelist (S00293) in the quarter of Alexandria called ta Boukolou. Written in Alexandria, probably in the 5th century, possibly with later additions by the early 7th century.
E06980The Greek Life of *Isaakios (late 4th/early 5th c. abbot in Constantinople, S02118) recounts the struggles of the anchorite Isaakios who attempted to convert the emperor Valens to orthodoxy, and founded the first monastery of Constantinople under Theodosius I. He died on 26 May 383, and his body was buried by the altar of the shrine (martyrion) of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030) in Isaakios’ monastery. Written in Constantinople in the late 5th century, or later.
E07179The so-called Barbarus Scaligeri, a Latin translation of a lost Greek chronography dating from the 6th c., refers to the martyrdom of *Peter (bishop and martyr of Alexandria, S00247) and many other Christians in Alexandria by the emperor Diocletian, misdating it to the year 302.