The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

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

Name

Ioulianos and Basilissa, martyrs of Antinoopolis

Saint ID

S01341

Number in BH

BHG 970, 971

Reported Death Not Before

305

Reported Death Not After

311

Gender

Male
Female

Type of Saint

Martyrs, Virgins, Groups and pairs of saints, Married but sexually abstinent, Monastic founders

Related Evidence Records

ID	Title
E00164	Greek Calendar of Church Services to be performed at different churches in Oxyrhynchus (Middle Egypt) from the end of October to the end of March of the years 535–536, providing information on the names of many churches, and on the saints’ days celebrated in the city.
E02685	Braulio, bishop of Zaragoza, in his Life of *Aemilianus (ascetic of Berceo/Cogolla, ob. 570s, S00578), presents the saint as an ascetic and miracle worker. Written in Latin in Zaragoza (north-east Hispania), 631/646.
E04589	The 6th/7th c. recension of the Latin Martyrologium Hieronymianum, as transmitted in 8th c. manuscripts, records the feasts of a number of saints on 6 January.
E05169	The Latin Calendar of Sinai records the feasts of saints through the year, followed by a list of the apostles to various regions of Christianity. Written possibly in North Africa, possibly in the 7th/8th c.; preserved in a manuscript, probably of the 9th c., in St Catherine's monastery, Sinai. Basic Entry.
E05253	Latin Orationale of the Old Hispanic Liturgy of the 7th c. (Orationale Visigothicum), with prayers used on the feasts of saints in January and February: Iulianus/Ioulianos and Basilissa (martyrs of Antinoopolis, S01341), the Innocents (children killed on the orders of Herod, S00268), Fructuosus, Auguris and Eulogius (bishop and his two deacons, martyrs of Tarragona, S00496), Vincent (deacon and martyr of Zaragoza and Valentia, S00290), the Chair of *Peter the Apostle (S00036).
E05304	John Moschus, in his Spiritual Meadow (146), recounts how *Ioulianos (probably either the martyr of Antinoopolis, S01341, or the martyr of Cilicia, buried at Antioch or in Egypt, S00305) appeared to the Patriarch Eulogios of Alexandria in the guise of an archdeacon Ioulianos, which made Eulogios realise that the martyr wished him to rebuild his dilapidated church in Alexandria. Written in Greek, probably in Rome, in the 620s or 630s.
E06570	Aldhelm, in his prose On Virginity, names *Iulianus/Ioulianos (martyr of Antinoopolis with his wife Basilissa, S01341), as an exemplary virgin. Written in Latin in southern Britain, for the nuns at the monastery at Barking (south-east Britain), c. 675/686.
E06571	Hymn in honour of *Iulianus/Ioulianos and Basilissa (martyrs of Antinoopolis, but here of Antioch, S01341) composed in Latin in Spain possibly in the 7th century.
E06659	Aldhelm's verse On Virginity lists a range of saints as exemplary virgins, with some variations to the list found in the earlier prose version of the same treatise. Written in Latin in southern Britain, for the nuns at the monastery at Barking (south-east Britain), c. 675/710. Overview entry
E06680	Hymn in honour of *Iulianus/Ioulianos and Basilissa (martyrs of Antinoopolis, but here of Antioch, S01341) composed in Latin in Spain possibly in the 7th c.
E06770	Cyril of Scythopolis composes the Life of Theognios (ascetic and bishop in Palestine, ob. c. 522, S01506), recounting his life as a miracle working ascetic. He mentions a shrine and monastery of Ioulianos (possibly the martyr of Emesa, S01259; or the martyr of Cilicia, buried at Antioch or in Egypt, S00305; or the martyr of Antinoopolis, S01341) at Jerusalem. He also mentions an extensive biography of the saint, which has not survived. Written in Greek in Palestine, 555/557.
E07135	The Greek Life and Martyrdom of *Ioulianos and Basilissa (martyrs of Antinoopolis, S01341) recounts the celibate marriage of its heroes, and the martyrdom of Ioulianos alongside several companions; it mentions the establishment of their shrine at the great church of Antinoopolis, and their feasts on 21 June and on Epiphany Day (6 January). Written in Antinoopolis (Middle Egypt), probably in the 6th c.
E08331	Latin votive inscription for Julian (martyr of Brioude, S00035) or Ioulianos (martyr of Antinoopolis, S01341), discovered in Barcelona (north-east Hispania). Probably 7th c.