i^AS IV. H. ANDERDON ^i t\^^ ^^oiogir^i ^ PRINCETON. N.J. ^^^- -"r.. %. BS 2410 .A6 1884 Anderdon, W. H. 1816-1890. Fasti apostolici FASTI APOSTOLICI. ROEHAMPTON : PRINTED BY JAMES STANLEY, FASTI APOSTOLICI: JUL -^^1914 CHRONOLOGICAL SURVEY V >,. ^ OF THE Years between the Ascension of our Lord and the Martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul. W. H. ANDERDON PKIEST OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. SECOND THOUSAND [Enlarged), Quid potissimum hoc factum sit die \_seH anno], noverit Ipse qui fecit : nos tamen credere, nee dubitare debemus, quicquid illud est, factum esse pro nobis." S. Maximus, Horn. I. in Epiph. LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., i PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 1884. The destruction of the greater part of the first edition by a calamitous fire has called for this second and enlarged one much earlier than was due. It is committed to the press under a sense of the uncertain tenure of life ; whereas greater delay for more careful remodelling might have been demanded by the extent no less than the intricacy and partial uncertainty of the subject. INTRODUCTION. " Differences of opinion have existed, from the earliest times, rerardinor the dates of the birth and death of Christ."^ S. Jerome says : " Di versa quidem fertur opinio in mundo, et pro traditionum varietate sententia est diversa."- These differences range within an area of seven years : from the year of Rome 747 to 754 for our Lord's Nativity, with, of course, a corresponding oscillation for the date of His Sacred Passion, thirty-three years after. (i) "The latest researches," says Alzog, "seem to give the weight of authority to the year 747." This, as will be seen below, is the A^tmis Vulgaris, or common reckoning of Baronius, who is followed by a Lapide. They, however, with so many other writers of authority, assign the true date as being five years later. Four additional authors, quoted by Alzog,^ concur for this year ; one of them, Sepp, " on rather inofenious than convincinq; combinations." 1 Alzog, History of the Church, vol. i. p. 140. He quotes Fabricius, Bibliograph. Aiitiqiiar. c. vii. § ix. p. 18, Hamb. 1716, and Hunter's Star of the Wise Men^ Copenhagen, 1827. - Serm. de Nativitate. 3 P. 139, note. VI FASTI APOSTOLICI. (2) Kcplcr, \vho wrote three distinct treatises on the chronology of the Nativity, decides for the year u.c. 748, (3) According to Tillemont, the reasons seem unanswer- able which fix the death of Herod ("the Great") to the year 750 ; therefore our Lord's birth must have been at least four years before the common era : viz., the end of the year of Augustus' twelfth consulate, the fortieth year after the death of Julius Csesar, the twenty-seventh after the batde of Actium, the 749th of the foundation of Rome, the fourth of the 193rd Olympiad, and the 4000th of the creation of the world, according to Usher. He adds : " C'est I'opinion qui est suivie aujourdhui par presque toutes les personnes habiles :" and places F. N orris on the list {Nofes S7ir la Vie de J. C). This is also the opinion of Fr. Garrucci, Storia dclla Arte Crist iana, Prato, 1872, vol. i. lib. vii. sec. i. A Lapide, though in his Chronotaxis he follows Baronius for the year 752, yet in his Commentary on S. Ltike (ii. i, 2), says of the opinion for 749 : " Ita Chronicon Weingartense, et nonnulli recentiores insignes chronologi. Hiec sententia valde convenit cum historiis sacris et profanis." This same year 749 is advocated, almost as these sheets are going to press, by Prof. Sattler of Munich, on independent grounds, and chiefly on the authority of three coins struck in the reign of Herod Antipas, the genuineness of which is acknowledged by numismatic writers. (The argument, however, is not given in the serial from which this statement is extracted). INTRODUCTION. vii (4) Sulpicius Severus^ gives a.u. 750, which is the first year of the 194th Olympiad, the fortieth of the reig'ii of Augustus, and corresponds with v,.c. 4, of the ordinary reckoning. This is supported by the arguments of Wieseler,'^ w^ho seems to have estabhshed that the fifteenth year of Tiberius^ included the two years in which Augustus and Tiberius reigned conjointly. Now, Augustus died, a u. 767. If, then, the fifteen years begin in 765, they end in 780. In that year, S. John's preaching would begin, followed soon after by that of our Lord, who then era^ incipicns quasi annomm triginta? This gives 750 for His Nativity. This opinion is strengthened by calculations made as to the appearance of the Star mentioned,^ and especially by the fact that, except in the year 733 u.c, for a long time both before and after the coming of Christ, the Pasch did not fall on a Thursday. Now, according to the commonly received opinion, our Lord celebrated His Last Supper when He had exactly completed the thirty-third year of His life; which brings us back to the year 750.° This is also the calculation of Father Gordon. 10 (5) Cassiodorus, S. Irenseus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian, followed by Darras, give a.u. 751, B.C. (vulg.) 3, ■* Hist. Sacr. ii. 39, quoted in Clinton's Fasti Hdlmici, vol. iii. p. 262. " Chronological Survey of the Four Gospels, YizxafaViX^. 1843. '^ S. Luke iii. i, 2. '' S. Luke iii. 23. ^ S. Matt. ii. 2, 7, 9, 10. ^ See Alzog. Jit sup. p. 140. ^" Opus Chronologicuni, &.c., Col. Agripp. 1614. Vni FASTI APOSTOLIC!. ann. August! 41. Clement ^^ gives it as one hundred and ninety-four years before the death of Commodus, who was slain, December 31, a.d. 192, thus placing the Nativity to the common (vulg.) B.C. 3. He adds, that it was the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Augustus, reckoning from the Battle of Actium, which is generally assigned to B.C. 31. This, again, brings the Nativity to the same date. (6) Eusebius,^- S. Epiphanius,^^ Photius,^^ Zonaras,^^ and Orosius,^^ place it in the year u.c. 752. Eusebius says : "This was the forty- second year of the reign of Augustus, and the twenty-eighth after the defeat and death of Antony and Cleopatra " — a reckoning which, like that of Josephus, counts the years of Augustus from the death of Julius Ceesar. S. Epiphanius expressly assigns it to the forty-second year of Augustus, which falls in the ordinary B.C. 2, and u.c. 752. He is supported in this by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a very ancient record, whatever may be the degree of authority assigned to it by later criticism. Its words are: "A.D. i. Octavianus reigned fifty-six years ; and in the forty-second year of his reign, Christ was born." Baronius, followed by a Lapide, gives u.c. 785 for the Crucifixion, which refers back to 752 for the Nativity. This is also the calculation of 11 Strotnaia, i. p. 340. »2 Hist. Ecd. i. 5. ^^ De Hcrrcs. 1. i. p. 48, ct alibi. In five places, altogether, of his works, quoted by Clinton, tit sup. " Cod. 259, p. 1405. 1^ X. p. 544 D. ^^ vi. 22, vii. 2, 3. INTRODUCTION. IX F. Riess, S.J. (lately deceased), who, in his Geburtsjahr Christi, gives u.c. 752 for the Nativity, though he places the Passion in 786. Henschenius, Emm. Schelstraate, and F. Hon. a S. Maria {De Reg. et Usu Criseos, t. iii. diss, i), give the same year. See other authorities quoted by the Bollandist G. C, July 15, " De Divisione Apostolorum." (7) Tertullian^^ says : "In the forty-first year of the reign of Augustus, reckoning from the death of Ceesar,^^ Christ was born." He adds, that Augustus lived fifteen years after the Nativity. If so, the Nativity was u.c. 753, the Anniis Vtdgaris. If Tertullian dated it forty-one years after the death of Julius Caesar, it ought to be referred to B.C. 3, of the common reckoning, as was said above. (8) Dionysius Exiguus, a Roman Abbot, writing about the middle of the sixth century (530), "by an independent computation . . arrived at the year 754."^^ This is also the opinion of Bellarmine {De Scriptoribtis Ecclesiasticis, p. 618). Yet it would appear certainly too late. For Josephus assigns the death of Herod to the spring of 750 or 751. Now, it is plain from S. Matthew's Gospel,-*^ that Herod was alive when our Lord was born, though he is believed to have died soon after. It is difficult then to see how this does not disprove the correctness of any year after the two dates just mentioned (750 or 751). " Adv. Jud. c. 8. ^^ The MSS. appear to read "Cleopatra ;" but Clinton proposes this emendation. ^^ Alzog. A Lapide, however (in Luc. ii. i). 2» S. Matt. ii. 16. X FASTI Al'OSTOLICI. /// dubiis libcrtas. Among these various theories, most of them resting on arguments to which considerable weight is due, the reader must determine his choice."-^ None of the calculations militate, on the whole, against the sequence of years as given in the following pages ; so that the scale may be adjusted according to the year which shall seem to have the preponderance of proof If the year 750 is adopted for the Nativity, the expression 8ieTia<; irXr^pwdeLcrr^'i (Acts xxiv. 27 ; " Fasti," pp. 86, 87) may be taken to indicate a two years' imprisonment of S. Paul at Caesarea, instead of referring to the end of the second year of Nero's reign : and still the martyrdom of the Apostles will fall in a.u, 69, and the thirteenth of Nero. The " Fasti," here given, follow the computation of Baronius, the " Chronotaxis " of a Lapide, and the other authors given above for this year, viz., u.c. 752 for the Nativity, and therefore u.c. 78 5 (or 'j^6) for the first year of the Church's life. A work of great importance and interest will be constantly referred to in the notes to these pages : the Series Episco- ponun Ecclesicc CaiJwliccv, etc. edidit P. Pius B. Gams, O.S.B. Ratisb. 1873. Though in form very terse, as the -^ " H.-ie sententiae singula: suas habeat conjecturas, suas quoque difficultates. Ouare in re tarn ancipiti nil certo definiri potest. Lector ex his eligat quani volet '' (A Lap. tit stfp.). He assigns the greater probabilitj', however, to the years 749 750, or 751, though in his •' Chronotaxis" he gives 752. They who desire to see how wide and perplexed is the field of inquiry, may consult the tabular statement of thirty-two different theories, given in Ur. Meyer's " Critical Commentary on the New Testament," prefixed to the Acts of the Apostles. Gott. 1856, INTRODUCTION. XI nature and great extent of the subject demanded, the book is full of valuable notices of persons and places, and has tended to confirm more than one ancient account that might otherwise have been rejected by the hypercritical as an unauthorized tradition. Among non-Catholic works, the following have been chiefly used on points of criticism and history : Mr. Lewin's Life and Epistles of S. Paid ; Messrs. Conybeare and Howson's w^ork, bearing the same title ; the Rev. J. H. Blunt's Annotated Bible ; Dean Alford's Annotated Greek Testament; Dr. Jacobson's notes in the lately published Explanatory and Critical Commentary ; and various articles in the learned and generally fair Dictionary of the Bible, edited by Dr. W. Smith in 1863. Of the Dean of Chester's contribution to New Testament criticism I will say, ayL<^oiv <\>i\oLv ovroiv, oaiov Trponixav Tifv a\i]d6iavr^ The remembrance of our travels together in Greece, forty years ago, privileges me to refer to him by that title ; while our great diversities of view, shown by the very interesting and scholarly book in which he has borne a full share, constrain me to remember the second clause of the Stagirite's sentence. It is difficult, not to say impossible, for a writer in that position, with the fairest intentions, really to apprehend either the Apostle or his inspired historian. A new era in Anglican commentary on the Scriptures may be said to open with the Annotated Bible, already -- Arist. Eth. Nicom. lib. i. c. 3, sub init. XII lASTI ArOSTOLICr. referred to, and published at the beginning- of last year. It must be hailed as a sign of hope, that in a solid and learned exposition, intended, moreover, for family as well as private use, a writer of name should have the courage to discard the old traditionary misinterpretations of many important passages. Sucli a work will doubtless prove, to the souls of men of good will, iraiSaycoydf; ek Xpiarov, Till from Uethabra northward, heavenly Truth With gradual steps, winning her difficult way, Transfer their rude Faith, perfected and pure. Feast of SS, Simon and Jmic, iSSj. CONTENTS. First Year. u.C. 785. Tiberii 18 Second Year. a.d. 35 (Vulg. 30). Tiberii 19 Third Year. A.D. 36 (Vulg. 31). Tiberii 20 Fourth Year. A.D. 37 (Vulg. 32). Tiberii 21 Fifth Year. A.D. 38 (Vulg. 33). Tiberii 22 Sixth Year. A.D. 39 (Vulg. 34). Caligulae I Seventh Year. A.D. 40 (Vulg. 35). Caligulae 2 Eighth Year. A.D. 41 (Vulg. 36). Caligulae 3 Ninth Year. A.D. 42 (Vulg. 37). Caligulae 4 Tenth Year. A.D. 43 (Vulg. 38). Claudii i Eleventh Year. A.D. 44 (Vulg. 39). Claudii 2 Twelfth Year. A.D. 45 (Vulg. 40). Claudii 3 Thirteenth Year. A.D. 46 (Vulg. 41). Claudii 4 Fourteenth Year. a.d. 47 (Vulg. 42). Claudii 5 Fifteenth Year. A.D. 48 (Vulg. 43). Claudii 6 . Sixteenth Year. a.d. 49 (Vulg. 44). Claudii 7 Seventeenth Year. A.D. 50 (Vulg. 45). Claudii 8 Eighteenth Year. A.D. 51 (Vulg. 46). Claudii 9 Nineteenth Year. A.D. 52 (Vulg. 47). Claudii 10 Twentieth Year. A.D, 53 (Vulg. 48). Claudii 11 Twenty-First Year. a.d. 54 (Vulg. 49). Claudii 12 Twenty-Second Year. A.D. 55 (Vulg. 50). Claudii 13 I 12 21 24 28 31 34 36 37 40 41 44 49 52 53 54 57 58 65 69 71 72 CONTENTS. Twenty-Third Year. A.D. 56 (Vulg. 51). Claudii 14 Twenty-Fourth Year. A.D. 57 (Viilg. 52). Ncronis i Twenty-Fifth Year. A.D. 58 (Vulg. 53). Neronis 2 Twenty-Sixth Year. A.D. 59 (Vnlg. 54). Neronis 3 Twenty-Seventh Year. a.d. 60 (Vulg. 155). Neronis 4 Twenty-Eighth Year. A.D. 61 (Vulg. 56). Neronis 5 Twenty-Ninth Year. a.d. 62 (Vulg. 57). Neronis 6 Thirtieth Year. A.D. 63 (Vulg. 58). Neronis 7 Thirty-First Year. A.D. 64 (Vulg. 59). Neronis 8 Thirty-Second Year. a.d. 65 (Vulg. 60). Neronis 9 Thirty-Third Year. A.D. 66 (Vulg. 61). Neronis 10 Thirty-Fourth Year. A.D. 67 (Vulg. 62). Neronis 11 Thirty-Fifth Year. A.D. 68 (Vulg. 63). Neronis 12 Thirty-Si.\th Year. a.d. 69 (Vulg. 64). Neronis 13 APPENDIX. A. Difficulties in Ancient Chronology . B. Our Lord's Appearances after His Resurrection C. The Locality of the Ascension D. I^Lixims attributed to S. Matthias . E. Tarsus .... F. Dispersion of the Apostles . G. General Toleration of Religions in Rome H. Abgar, King of Edessa in Mesopotamia 1. The Roman Arms in Britain J. Cyprus .... K. S. Thecla .... L. Slowness of the Decay of Paganism M. Personal Appearance of SS. Peter and Paul N. The Epistle ascribed to S. Barnabas CONTENTS O. S. Dionysiiis the Areopagite P. Temple of Diana at Ephesus Q. Herod's Temple, and the Tower Antonia R. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin . S. Wealth and Importance of Asia Minor T. Primitive Christianity in Britain V. Apollonius of Tyana W. Was S. Thomas in Mexico ? X. Construction of the Roman Catacombs Y. The Vatican Cemetery A. A. The Colosseum B.B. Later Years of Saint John . Z. Translation of the Head of S. Andrew from Greece to Rome XV page 152 159 160 161 164 166 170 173 178 179 183 The numerals in brackets, following those assigned to A.D. in each year, denote the Annus Vulgaris, or common reckoning. FASTI APOSTOLICI. FIRST YEAR. A.U.C. 785. TIBERII 18. A.D. 34 (S.V. 29)/ the 8th of the kalends of April (March 25),^ in the year of the World 3984,^ 2327 years after the Flood, 2035 after the call of Abraham, 1530 after the Exodus from Egypt, 105 1 after the building of Solomon's temple, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad, 785 years after the foundation of Rome, 625 after the Babylonian captivity, 487 after the beginning of the Seventy Weeks (in the middle of the last week), in the i8th year of the reign of Tiberius,* and between the fourth and fifth year of the governorship of Pontius Pilate,'' Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest, Saviour and Redeemer of the world. Antitype of all types and figures, Substance of the foreshadowings of the law, 1 The numbers here given are, with April 2, the eve of the Jewish Pasch on one exception, taken from the " Chrono- the 14th of Nisan, for the Last Supper, taxis" prefixed by C. a Lapide to his Agony, and Betrayal, and therefore April commentary on the Acts; without fur- 3 for the Passion, and April 5 for the ther remark than is in.pHed in the Resurrection. The Roman Martyrology, Introduction to the Fasti. A.D. 34 however, celebrates the death of S. means the thirty-third year of our Dismas, the good thief, on March 25. Lord's life, phis three months over. '^ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says : On the whole subject of the diffi- " Being from the beginning of the world culty of fixing ancient dates, see Ap- about five thousand two hundred and pendix A. twenty-six years." This is not far from 2 Tillemont {Vie de N. S. /. C.) says the reckoning of the Roman Martyro- that this is the tradition of the Latin logy, which gives 5199 years from the Church, and quotes the BoUandists {ad Creation to the Nativity (See Intro- 25 Mart.) to the same eflect ; adding duction). that the Greeks commemorate the Cru- * That is, of his joint reign with cifixion on the 23rd of the month, "et Augustus (See Introduction), d'autres en d'autres jours." Father Riess ^ He had succeeded Valerius Gratus, {Das GebiirtsjaJn- Chrisfi, p. 177), gives about four years previously. B 2 IWSTI Al'OSTOLICl : 1-IRST YEAR. Object of prophecy, "the Desired of all nations," was crucified on Calvary, " for us men and for our salvation," on the same day on which, thirty-four years before, lie was Incarnate by the Holy Ghost in the most pure womb of His ever-blessed and ever-virgin Mother. The third day, He rose again, according to the Scriptures,''' and appeared, from time to time," to His Apostles^ and disciples, "to whom He showed Himself alive after His Passion, by many proofs,^ for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the Kingdom of God." His most pubHc manifestation of Himself was on a mountain in Galilee, probably Tabor, to which He invited^'^ His disciples; being "seen by more than five hundred brethren at once."^^ During these interviews with His chosen Apostles, the "founda- tion" stones^- of His Church, He was employed in giving laws and ordinances for its government, instituting the Sacraments, and appointing the mode of their administration. These great Forty Days being ended, "eating together with them"^^ for the last time, He "commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,"^* the Baptism by the Holy Ghost, which they were to receive not many days afterwards. He then "led them out as far as Bethania,"^^ and from thence (doubtless with S. Lazarus and his sisters) to the Mount of Olives,^*^ on the summit of which He blessed them for the last time, *^ Oseevi.3; S.Matt.xii.40; iCor.xv.4. ceal itself in the Passion, now appears, " Appendix B. and manifests itself in such marvellous *" The list of the Apostles here Riven wise in His most holy Resurrection, by by S. Luke (c. i. 13), corresponds with its true and most holy effects" (S. Ign. that in the gospels of SS. Matthew and Excrc. Spir. hebdom. 4. contempl. i). Mark, together with his own gospel; ^'^ S. Matt, xxviii. 7, 16; S. Markxvi. 7. except that S. Luke in both places calls ^' i Cor. xv. 6. S. Thaddaus, or Lcbba:us, "Judas the i-Eph.ii.20. Compare S. Matt. xvi. 18, brother of James," and Simon of Cana in i Tim. iii. 15. Galilee, "Simon Zclotes." Thaddaius and '^ Contrast S. Luke xxiv. 30, 39—43, Lebba;us are expounded as meaning and Apoc. ii. 7, with Judges xiii. 16, Cordatiis (egregic cordatus homo). S. Tobias xii. 19. Bartholomew is supposed to be the '* Acts i. 2. Nathanael of S. John i. 45 — 51. '•'' S. Luke xxiv. 50. » "His Deity, which seemed to con- ^^ Appendix C. A.D. 34 (29). A.U.C. 785. TIBERII 1 8. and " while they looked on, He was raised up,^^ and a cloud received Him out of their sight," ^^ on His Ascension into Heaven. During the ten days' interval between the Ascension and Pente- cost, while they waited and prayed in an upper room in Jerusalem,^^ S. Peter,^^ in the presence of the Blessed Virgin, of our Lord's "brethren" or kinsfolk, and disciples, in all about one hundred and twenty persons, proposed the election of some one of those who had accompanied Jesus from His Baptism onwards, to fill the place in the college of the Apostles, left vacant by the traitor Judas. Thus Cephas, who had been ordained to "confirm his brethren," 21 takes the lead from the first, on this as all other important occasions. After prayer, lots w^ere cast,^- and S. Matthias ^^ was chosen in preference to S. Joseph (Barsabas) the Just,-* brother to S. James the Less, son of SS. Alphaeus and Mary, who was sister to the Blessed Virgin. Ten days after the Ascension, on the completion of the seven weeks after the Pasch, on the fiftieth-^ day, or Pentecost, on which day, according to tradition, the law had been given from Mount ^'' By His own Divine will and power. Non angeli adminiculo, sed propria virtute subnixus (S. Bern. De Grad. Huinil. c. i). ^^ Acts i. 9. ^9 Probably the "large upper room" of the Last Supper. The supposition that it was one of the chambers belong- ing to the Temple is held to be less likely, says Kuinoel. Baronius takes it to have been the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (cf. c. xii. 12). ^^ " Loquitur ille Petrus, super quem aedificanda fuerat ecclesia " (S. Cypr. Ep. Ixix. ad PiJptain, p. 265). ^^ S. Luke xxii. 32. 22 Prov. xvi. 33, S. Jerome {in Jonam, c. i), SS. Chrysost. and Bede (/;/ Acf. i. 26), S. Aug. {Serin, de S. Matth.), and S. Thomas (sec. ix. 95, art. i), consider this to have belonged rather to the Mosaic dispensation ; and contrast the election of the seven deacons after the Day of Pentecost (c. vi. 3—6), On the legitimate use of lots by Christians, see S. Aug. Epist. 119, 180; S. Greg. in cap. xiv. r. Reg. -■' His name is not inserted in the Canon of the Mass before the consecra- tion, as not having been of the original Twelve. S. Paul's name however is always joined with that of S. Peter (Lorinus). For two spiritual maxims attributed to S. Matthias by Clement of Alexandria, see Appendix D. "* S. Matt, xxvii. 56. Dorotheus says he became Bishop of Eleutheropolis in Palestine. The Rom. Mai-tyrol. com- memorates him among the Saints, July 20. Eusebius, E. H. i. 12, iii. 30, says he was one of the Seventy, and quotes Papias as recording, that he drank of a deadly poison without re- ceiving harm. Cf. S. Mark xvi. 18. 2-^ Levit. xxiii. 15, 16; Num. xxviii. 26 ; Deut. xvi. 9, 10. 4 lASTI ATOSTOLICI : KIRST YKAU. Sinai, tlic promised Paraclete descended'-'* on the Blessed Virgin-^ and the Apostles and disciples. Whit-Sunday thenceforth became a feast in memorial of the promulgation of the new law of love and grace, " not of the letter, but of the spirit," and of the " first- fruits of the Spirit,-** not merely of the produce of Canaan ; the Feast of Weeks thus merging into the Christian Pentecost, as the Pasch had vanished into Easter.--' The miraculous gift of tongues, imparted by the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, who then began to inspire the Church, and to teach it all truth,^" enabled the faithful to proclaim the Gospel to the multitudes of Israelite descent, at that time assembled in Jerusalem. These had come to keep the Pentecost, from the various places of their dispersion amongst distant nations.'^^ They had come, moreover, in greater numbers than usual, owing to the prophecies^- which pointed to this particular time for the advent of the Messias. The faithful at once began to announce " the wonderful works of God " in all those various languages ; or, speaking their own Syro-Chaldaic, it was miraculously translated into the language of each hearer."^ The -0 The common opinion is that they record its fulfilment, after his Ascen- thcn all received the grace of the Sacra- sion. ment of Confirmation, without the visible -■' Cf. Heb. viii. 13. sign attached to it in all other cases. ^^ S. John xvi. 13. This effusion of the Holy Spirit was ^^ Acts ii. 5— 11. Cf. Philo's Legatio bestowed in the church at the third ad Caiiim (xvi.) for an account of the hour of tlie day, or nine in the morning, dispersion of the Jewish race into all and is therefore perpetually commemo- lands. It had taken place at two very rated by the Church in the hymn for the different epochs ; the Babylonian capti- Office of Tierce — vity by Nabuchodonosor, and the ruin , . . . of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Nunc Sancte nob,s Sp.ntus ^^^^^^ ^^.j^^,^ ^j^^ j ^^^.^ ^ ^^ ^ themselves Unuin Tatri cum hilio, etc. . 1 . .1 at j • i throughout the Macedonian dominions ; 2^ Cf. Albert. Magn. MariaU', c. 155; thus filtering into the third great Empire S Antonin. Hist. p. i, tit. vi. c. 2, § i. (Dan. vii. and viii.), as they had into the ** Rom. viii. 23. This Book of the first and second, and afterwards into the Acts has been called "The Gospel of fourth. the Holy Ghost," as exhibiting the •''- Gen. xlix. 10 ; Dan. ix. 25. Cf. Suet. Divine work of the Third Person, the Vesp. c. iv. sequel of the Incarnation and Passion ^■' The former supposition seems the of the Second. S. Luke quotes at the more probable, from Acts ii. 4. Compare outset the promise of the Paraclete S. Mark xvi. 17, S. Thomas {Su?/ima), made by our Lord before His Passion S. Greg. Naz. S. Paul afterwards re- (S. John xvi. 1—7) and proceeds to ceived the same gifts (i Cor. xiv. 18, 19). A.D. 34 (29). A.U.C. 785. TIBERII 1 8. Blessed Virgin^^ was the precentor of this "sound as of many- waters;" being filled yet more with the Holy Ghost by this acces- sion of grace : even as, when the Eternal Word was incarnate in her womb, she had intoned the Mag7iificat — at once a hymn of praise, an announcement of the Gospel of her Divine Son, and a pro- phecy. Others, perhaps Scribes and Pharisees, far from being converted by the miracle, or by the word of life, imputed the holy enthusiasm of these disciples of the truth to drunkenness.^- But S. Peter stood up,^^ as the Moses of the New Covenant,^* promulgating " the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus," not as from Sinai, but from Sion.^'* The multitude, smitten with compunction^*^ at his words, asked what they should do } S. Peter answered, by preaching to them penance "^ S. Irenteus, ad H ceres, iii. x. {al. xi.) speaks of the Blessed Virgin as pro- phesying for the whole Church in her Magnificat. On which Feuardentius comments : " Nihil insolens est, quod donum simul ac exercitium prophetandi B. DeiparjE hoc loco tribuat Irenaeus ; cum omnibus modis sanctitate et dono- rum Dei copia superaverit ; Aloysi sororem, Deboram, Judith, Elizabethan!, Annam, et Philippi quatuor filias ; qui- bus in populo Dei prophetare datum fuit. Deinde, Angelus affirmans eam gratia pleiiain, et inter oinnes niuliercs betie- dictain, hoc quoque donum Dei haud- quaquam ei defuisse satis indicat. Ad- de quod in sancta Pentecoste sacro caetui intererat, in quem Spiritu Sancto abunde effuso repleti sunt omnes divinis Illius charismatibus; utpote donis lingua- rum, interpretationis sermonum, sani- tatum, prophetice, sapientias, fortitudinis, ac ca^teris c^uas per Apostolum (i Cor. xii.) numerantur." If the Blessed Virgin is mentioned almost last on the list of those who received the gift of Pentecost, a pious tradition asserts that it was at her own special instance to St. Luke that it should be so. Cf. S. Bern. Seniio de verb. Apoc. Signum magnum. "'"- Cf. Gen.xix. 14, i Kings i. 12 — 16, Psalm Ixviii. 13, Wisdom v. 4, Ezech. XX. 49, Eph. v. 18, 19, 1 S. Pet. iv.^4- "•^ " In primatu modestiam servans, et reverentiam condiscipulis exhibens" {Lo7'in.). It was because S. Augustine of Canterbury failed to do this, or saw- good reason not to do it, that the British bishops charged him with pride at the Second Synod of Aust (Beda, Hist. ii. 2). ^* Unum baptisma, et unus Spiritus Sanctus, et una Ecclesia a Christo Domino super Petrum origin e unitatis et ratione fundata (S. Cypr. Ep. Ixxi. ad (2nint. p. 273). S. Peter is sometimes represented, in the ancient glass vessels found in the Catacombs, as Moses strik- ing the rock, with the word Petrus over his head ; indicating that his position in the New Covenant is analogous to that of the great lawgiver in the Old. Cf. I Cor. X. 2—4, II. See Garucci, HArte Cristiajia, and all other writers on the Catacombs, from Bosio to RR. MM. Northcote and Brownlow. ^^ Mich. iv. 2 ; Heb. xii. 18 — 29. ^° Thus fulfilling the prophecy, Zach. xii. 10. 6 I'ASTI ATOSTOLICI : IIRST VKAR. and baptism. About three thousand souls were baptized, and thus added to the Church. " They were persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of the Bread/'" and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul : many wonders also and signs were done by the Apostles in Jerusalem." SS. Peter and John " went up into the temple, at the ninth hour of prayer." Seeing a man, lame from his birth, asking alms in the gate, S. Peter healed him,^^ and announced to the multitude who witnessed the miracle, the Name of Jesus. Whereupon, the priests, oflRcials, and Sadducees, took them into custody for examination the next day. Meanwhile, five thousand additional converts were made. Before the Sanhedrim, S. Peter delivered an Apologia for the faith. The two Apostles were charged to desist from preaching, and dismissed. Their narration to the Church of all that had passed, increased the fervour of the disciples, and the Holy Spirit manifested the Divine approval by miracle.'''^ The disciples' faith and charity induced them, and notably S. Barnabas, to throw all their possessions into a common stock. The miracles wrought by the Apostles,'*^ as well as the lives of these primitive Christians, struck and overawed the unbelievers, and moved "such as should be saved" to present themselves for admission into the Church. Amid this generous self-sacrifice, Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, ^" Cf. S. Luke xxii. 19, xxiv. 30, 35, detail with which the Evangelist nar- 1 Cor. X. 16, 17. Observe the force of rated events he had not personally wit- the article : h Koivuvla ttj K\o(ret tov aprov, nessed. £.j^. of the Apologia and mar- Kol ToTr Trpo6. TIBERII 19. 1 5 vert that part of Britain subject to Lucius, whose British name was Lleivr Mazvr (Great Light.)^^ S. Cleophas,^^ one of the two disciples with whom our Lord walked to Emmaus on Easter Day, was martyred by the Jews in the same house in which he, with the other disciple, had constrained Him to break bread with them.^^ "All," or the greater part, of the Christians in Jerusalem, "were dispersed ^'^ throughout Judsea and Samaria." ^^ Thus, "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church," ^^ and persecution spread the Gospel. Their number is conjectured by Baronius to have amounted to fifteen thousand. Others of them were probably those first disciples of the faith, and clients of Mary, who came to Mount Carmel ; and, finding there some remnants of the ancient school of *'the sons of the prophets," established by SS. Elias and Eliseus, joined their community, and laid the foundation of the Carmelite Order. These dispersed Christians^*' went to Damascus, preached the Gospel there, and thence " as far as Phoenice and Cyprus and " Usher and Stillingfleet have no Just, and of S. Simeon the second bishop difficulty about S. Lucius, though it is of Jerusalem (Cf. A D. 63, S. Matt. x. 3, strange that they do not see how the S. Mark iii. 18, S. Luke vi. 15, Acts i. 13). mission to S. Eleutherius tells against S. Jerome considers them to be distinct their theory of that independence of the {Epitaph. Paitlce ad Eiistoch.). Alphseus Holy See, which they claim for the was also the name of the father of ancient British Church. Lucius Dexter, S. Matthew (S. Mark ii. 14). a cotemporary of S. Jerome, assigns this ^'' He is commemorated in the Ro/iian expulsion of S. Lazarus and his com- Marty t'ology, on September 25. panions to A.D. 48. But it is scarcely ^'' li(:(fis6.p-r\cTav — scattered, like precious probable that persons so well known seeds of the word of God (S. Athan. for their relations with our Lord (S. John Horn, de Fennentd). xi. 19, 31, 45, 46, xii. 9-1 1 ), and therefore ^^ Cf. S. Matt. x. 23. so obnoxious to Jewish hate, should ^^ Tertullian, Apologcf. c. 50. " Non have remained unmolested, while others, minuitur persecutionibus Ecclesia, sed simply His disciples, were put to death. augetur ; et semper Dominicus agar ^■^ It is not certain whether this is the segete ditiori vestitur, dum grana, quae same person as Cleophas, or Alpheus singula cadunt, multiplicata nascuntur (two names that are identical, but with (S. Leo, Serm. I. De App. Pet. et a different pronunciation), who was Paulo). husband of Mary, the sister of the ^'^ Among them, Ananias, (see Acts Blessed Virgin, and father of SS. James ix. and a.d. 36 infra), says Baronius (the Less), Jude, Joseph Barsabas the (Mart. Rom.). l6 FASTI APOSTOLICI : SECOND YEAR. Antioch;"-^ in which last city the Gospel finally took such hold, that the Antiochcnc disciples were the first who were known as "Christians."-- It was to these Christians of "the dispersion" that SS. Peter and James afterwards addressed their Catholic Epistles j-^ so called, because written to the Church at large, not to Christians of any special locality. Some of them came into Europe,-'* of whom a portion more than probably found their way to Rome. Andronicus and Junia^ may have been of that number. More than five hundred took ship from Cyprus, and arrived at New Carthage {CartJiagend) in Spain. They spread through the country, preaching the Gospel ; the effect of which was, that many of the inhabitants afterwards came in pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to confer with the Ever-blessed Mother of God. The chief of these were chosen by S. James the Greater, and made bishops of the principal Spanish cities. Some authors (and among them, it would seem. Pope Calixtus II.) suppose that S. James himself went at this time into Spain.-^ S. Luke,'-^^ indeed, expressly says that the Apostles were not dispersed with the rest : but he may be speaking only of the majority. The Apostles remained in Jerusalem, lest the enemies -' Acts xi. 19. which there would seem no reason, if he " Acts xi. 26. This, however, was had not been venerated in that country chiefly brought about afterwards, by the during his life. Alzog is therefore not preaching of SS. Paul and Barnabas, to be taken beyond the strict terms of and by the establishment in Antioch of his proposition, when he says : " There S. Peter's first See. is no positive proof, either that S. Paul 23 I S. Peter i. i ; S. James i. i. Hence preached the Gospel in Spain, or that it would appear that the greater portion the Apostle S. James, the son of Ze- of them had not returned to Juda:a, even bedce, to whose reputed tomb in Con- as late as a.d. 45. They remained as postella the piety of the Spaniards (!) fjifroiKoi in the countries in which they led them to make pilgrimages in after had been dispersed. years, was ever in that country." He -* Luc. Uext. Chro7i. refers to Natalis Alex. H. E. saec. i, -^ Rom. xvi. 7. dissert. 15, on SS. Paul and James : but 2° Calixtus 11. (ZzV/.y?/<7.rA;/?V.)ordains the m«''^'^'s of the whole passage is evi- that 5. Non. Oct. should be kept as the dent, translation of the Apostle's relics from '" Acts viii. i. Jerusalem to Gallicia (Compostella) ; for A.D. 35 (30). A.U.C. 786. TIBERII 1 9. 17 of the Church should triumph over its dispersion ; and also that they themselves might take counsel of the Regina Apostolorum. "Saul made havoc of the Church, entering in from house to house, and dragging away men and women, committed them to prison." 28 "Many of the Saints" he "shut up in prison, having received authority of the chief priests ; and when they were put to death, [he] brought the sentence ; and oftentimes punishing them in every synagogue, [he] compelled them to blaspheme."-^ Among those who went down to Samaria was S. Philip ; not the Apostle, but one of the seven deacons. By his preaching and miracles, he aroused the public attention, and caused great joy in that city,^*' by the glad tidings of which he showed himself so powerful a mes- senger. Great numbers believed, and were baptized. Thus S. Philip was perhaps the first apostolic teacher who passed beyond the boundary of Judaism, and preached to the Gentiles.^^ The Samaritans had hitherto been deluded by one Simon, a magician, whom they believed, on his assertion, to have Divine power.^2 He claimed to be God, who created the world by His angels. This man was, or pretended to be,^^ converted by S. Philip, 2* Acts viii. 3. ritans as the Father, to the Jews as -^ Acts xxvi. 10, II. the Son, and among the Gentiles as the ^0 Probably the ancient capital, at Holy Ghost. S. Ignatius (^Ep. ad Trail.) that time called Sebaste ; though the calls Simon Magus "the first-born of Acts speak of it as " the city of Satan," the name by which S. Polycarp Samaria." It had lately been rebuilt, called Marcion (S. Jerome, Catal. Vir. with great magnificence, by Herod the Illustr. c. xvii.). "At first the disciple, Great. Sychar (S. John iv. 5) had also and afterwards the master, of Dositheus, received a Greek name. It was then [he] was the founder of a strange and Neapolis, and is still Nablous. inconsistent syncretic system of theurgy, ^1 Contrast Acts xi. 19. This state- derived from the philosophy of the Jew ment is confirmed by S. Justin, Apol. Philo, and which became quite popular i. 26, Tertull. Apol. 13, and others. in Samaria, his native country. , . The ^2 Justin Martyr, himself a native of prevailing superstition at Rome had Samaria, has left an account of Simon's prepared the minds of the people for the doctrines ; and we gather additional reception of his doctrine ; and when he details from SS. Irenteus and Hippo- went thither later in his career, his lytus. The former {Prcef. ad lib. ii.) theurgical art met with great favour" says that he claimed to combine in (Alzog, vol. i. p. 220). himself the three Persons of the Most ^^ See the Fathers quoted by k Lapide Holy Trinity ; appearing to the Sama- in loc. C i8 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : SECOND YEAR. and was baptized, perhaps to obtain miraculous powers, and so to increase the strength of his delusions. When tidings of these conversions reached the Apostles in Jeru- salem, they asked S. Petcr^^ to take on him the mission of going to confirm the Samaritan converts. Thus he who was especially the Apostle of Israel, had the happiness of imparting the Holy Ghost to those whom the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat^^ had torn from the unity of the Israelite Church. S. John went down with the Prince of the Apostles.^'' On their prayer for the neophytes, the ^* " The Apostles . . sent to them Peter and John" (Acts viii. 14). "Petrum Apostoli mittunt, non imperio, sed fra- terna charitalc ac impulsione, lit multi fratres mittunt quandoque majorem," &c. (Cajet. a/>. C. a L. in loc). " Hinc eccle- siarum consuetudo obtiniiit, ut ad eos, qui longc in minoribus urbibus a presby- tero et diacono baptizati sunt, episcopus ad invocationem Spiritus Sancti manum impositurus excurrat" (S. Hieron. Dial, adv. Luci/.). ^^ 3 Kings xii. 26, &c. 38 See S. Mark vi. 7 ; Acts xiii. 2. This is the last mention of S. John in the Acts. He was probably absent from Jerusalem at S. Paul's visit, three years after that Apostle's conversion (Gal. i. 19) : but eleven years later, S. Paul found him there, with SS. Peter and James (Gal. ii. 9), who all confirmed S. Paul's mission to the Gentiles. S.John was at the Council of Jerusalem (Clem. Alex. ap. Euseb. Hist. 2, i), and remained in or near the city for some time; though preaching in other places. Parthia is said to have been one great sphere of his after labours. S. Augustine some- times quotes S. John's first Epistle as " his Epistle to the Parthians." There is also a tradition of his having planted the Christian faith in the Persian Gulf, between the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates. After the martyrdom of S. James the Less, all the Apostles then living (according to Eusebius, H. E. lib. iii. c. ii. p. 105), and therefore S. John among them, came from diverse places to Jerusalem, and chose, in council, S. Simeon to be bishop of the vacant See. It seems to have been after the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin that S. John came to Asia Minor, residing at Ephesus, with the charge of the Seven Churches. He certainly had not come thither when S. Paul, a.d. 57, left S. Timotheus as bishop of that city. S. Irena:us {Hcrres. lib. iii. c. 3) tells us that he did not settle there till after the death of SS. Peter and Paul. S. Timo- theus held the See for forty years, until his own martyrdom, A.D. 97. Mean- while, in the general persecution under Domitian, A.D. 95, S. John was appre- hended by the Proconsul of Asia, and sent to Rome, where he was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, but miracu- lously preserved unhurt. He was then banished to Patmos, one of the Sporades in the /Egean, where he wrote his Apocalypse. Thence, on the death of Domitian, he was liberated by the clement Nerva, went to Ephesus, and found that S. Timotheus, whom he had addressed as "the angel of Church of Ephesus" (Apoc. ii. i — 7), had been martyred. The Apostle died there, in the third year of Trajan, A.D. 98, at the age of ninety-four. The modern name of the Turkish town, standing near the site of Ephesus, is Ayasaluk, which is said to be a corruption of 'O fi^ios Qio\6yos {Agiaseolog.). A.D. 35 (so)- A.U.C. 786. TIBERII 19. I9 Holy Spirit descended upon them ; probably by visible and miracu- lous sign ; for Simon Magus, struck by what he saw, offered money to the Apostles to give him also this power ;^'' thus committing a sin which is named after him, simony.^^ S. Peter, severely rebuking him for it, exhorted him to repentance. Simon submitted out- wardly ; perhaps fearing the fate of Ananias and Sapphira, But when the Apostles had returned to Jerusalem, he continued to seduce many of the Samaritans from the faith.^^ S. Clement^^ adds that S. Peter afterwards met and confuted him at Caesarea, whence the arch-heretic fled to Italy, and, later, presented himself at the Court of Nero. His magical arts produced him great honour in Rome; so that, according to Eusebius,^^ a statue was raised to him in the Insula Tiberina, with the inscription, Simoni Deo Sancto^'^ When S. Peter came to Rome, Simon, by his pretensions, incidentally caused the martyrdom of the Apostle, and probably of his com- panion, S. Paul.*^ After his mission to Samaria, S. Peter, according to the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle, "established [his] episcopal See in the city of Antioch."^* S. Philip, having concluded his mission in Samaria, was admon- ished by an angel to go southward in the direction of Gaza.^^ On ^'' Bellarmine {De Notis Eccl. iv. 13) *' See below, ad a.d. 59, note. believes that Simon wished to purchase ** This is, however, against the testi- the bishopric of Samaria, and thus to mony of Eusebius, who assigns this enrich himself by selling the gifts of the event to A.D. 38. Whichever date is Holy Spirit, as well as buying them. adopted, it is certain that S. Peter's 2^ It may be said that Balaam, Esau, apostolic life, like that of S. Paul, had Giezi, and Jason (2 Mach. iv. 8), com- "no fixed abode" (i Cor. iv. ii), but mitted the same, or a similar sin. was greatly employed in circuits (Acts 2^ S. Irenaeus, Hcer. lib. i. c. 20. ix. 22) during his Antiochene episcopate,, *•> Cotistitut. lib. vi. c. 7. as afterwards in his Roman (Cf. ad A.D.. *^ Hist. lib. ii. c. 13. 39, s.f 44, note 6, and 68). He may *^ S. Justin {Apolog. i. 26). This probably have been absent when SS.. inscription has received another and Paul and Barnabas went down to perhaps a more probable interpretation, Antioch, and laboured there (Cf. S» as referring to Seno Sanctus, the Sabine Chrysostom, quoted ad a.d. 37, note). Hercules. Alzog, however, declares for *^ If the expression, "this is desert" its reference to Simon Magus (vol. i, p. (Acts viii. 26), refers to Gaza, it may 221, note). mean that the city had been utterly 20 FASTI APOSTOLICI : SECOND YEAF. the road, he met with one whom he was destined to convert — the prime minister and treasurer of Candace,''^ Queen of ^Ethiopia, or Abyssinia ; probably a proselyte to Judaism, He was returning home in his chariot, after paying his devotions in Jerusalem, and reading in a MS. of Isaias^^ a prophecy concerning our Lord."^ This text S. Philip expounded, converted him, and baptized him in water by the road-side. Then "the Spirit of the Lord took away Philip," and " he was found at Azotus " (Ashdod),*'' where he preached the Gospel, as also in all places between that and Caesarea,^° {Stratojiis Tun-is), the seat of the Roman praetor. Meanwhile, his convert "went on his way rejoicing;" and, on his return to ^Ethiopia, became the Apostle of that country. He is said to have received S. Matthew on his Ethiopian mission. destroyed by Alexander the Great after his capture of Tyre. But it refers, pro- bably, to the road, as being a rnore unfrequented one. There is a tradition (discountenanced, however, by Moreri) that S. Philemon, to whom S. Paul wrote his Epistle, became Bishop of Gaza, and was martyred there, with his wife Appia. See below, A.D. 60. •"^ The name of a line of Queens of Meroii (Plin. A\il. Hist. vi. 29), the present Abyssinia and Nubia. Eusebius says the country was still governed by female Sovereigns in the fourth century. The Queen of Saba reigned over the same country. *^ In the Septuagint version, which was in use throughout Egypt. ^s Isaias Uii. 7, 8. ^^ About sixty miles W. from Jeru- salem, nearly midway between Gaza and Joppa. It was besieged for twenty-nine years by Psammetichus (Herodot. II. 157). Its destruction, foretold by Jer. XXV. 20, Amos i. 8, Soph. ii. 4, Zech. ix. 6, was wrought by the Machabees, 1. v. 68, X. 77-S5,xi. 4. It was rebuilt by Gabinius, B.C. 55 (Joseph, xiv. 5, 3), and was one of the cities bequeathed by Herod the Great to his sister Salome, ibid. xvi. 8-1. ^0 Not Caesarea Philippi, on the spurs of the Libanus (see below, ad Ann. iv.), but on the sea-coast, about half way between Joppa and Dora (Joseph. B. y. i. 21, 5), some thirty miles from either. Here Herod Agrippa was struck by an angel for his pride, and perished miser- ably (Acts xii. 23). Here Cornelius was baptized by S. Peter (Acts x. i, &c.). From this port St. Paul sailed to Tarsus (Acts ix. 30) and landed here, after his second missionary journey (xviii. 22). Brought hither, bound from Jerusalem, he pleaded before King Agrippa, then again before Festus the governor, ap- pealed to Ceesar, and was put on board ship for his voyage to Rome (xxiii. seq.). Here S. Philip had his home, and lived with his four daughters, prophetesses (xxi. 8, 9), until, twenty years after, " he received under his roof in that city one who, like himself, had travelled in obedience to the Divine command, 'preaching in all the cities'" (Acts xxvi. 8). Father Gams (p. 443) makes S. Philip the first Bishop of Tralles (Evanthia), and his successor Poly- bius to have been Bishop there, when S. Ignatius wrote his epistle to the Trallians. A.D. 35 (30). A.U.C. 786. TIBERII I9. 21 Dorotheus and Nicephorus add that he preached the Gospel in Arabia Felix, Taprobana, and Erythra, that he suffered martyrdom in some of those regions, and that his tomb continued to be fre- quented for the many miracles wrought there. In Rome, Sejanus, the sanguinary favourite of Tiberius, after many crimes, had finally been tried and put to death. The Emperor now, from his retirement at Capreae, orders the execution of many of the fallen man's followers, and thus inaugurates a Reign of Terror^^ in the City. Probably before now, Herod Agrippa, son of Aristobulus and Berenice, and grandson of Herod the Great, who had been brought up at Rome with Claudius and Drusus, was, after many vicissitudes,^^ thrown into a Roman prison by Tiberius for an unguarded speech, and so remained during that Emperor's lifetime. THIRD YEAR. A.D. 36 (31). A.U.C. J^J. TIBERII 20. Saul, unsated with the blood of S. Stephen, and of the other Christians in whose death^ he had co-operated, was "still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord." His fiery persecution having dispersed so many of the disciples from Jerusalem, he turned his misguided zeal against those in the provinces. " Being yet more mad against them, [he] per- secuted them even unto foreign cities." ^ To assail them with all authority, he "went to the High Priest, and asked of him letters* SI Tacit. AufiaL iii. 4, 5. Seut. in ^ The high priest and Sanhedrim pro- Tiber. bably had the power continued to them^ s2 Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 7. which had expressly been granted by- Augustus to Herod, to order the arrest ^ Acts xxii. 19, 20 ; xxvi. 9-1 1. of persons even out of Judaea (Josephus,. 2 As he afterwards confessed, Acts i. 24, 2). The fact of Saul being en- xxvi. II. trusted with this mission is said by 22 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : THIRD YLAR. to Damascus,* to the synagogues ; that if he found any men and •women of this way/' he might bring them bound to Jerusalem."*^ When near the end of his journey/ he is suddenly struck down "by a bright hght from Heaven, and converted by the glorious appearance as well as the voice^ of our Lord, who declares to him that, in persecuting the Church, he was persecuting its Divine Author. "And he, trembling and astonished, said: Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? " Our Lord bids him go" into Damascus, where the Divine will should be made known to him. Led by the hand into the city, blind and penitent, he " was there three days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink," Meanwhile, a vision is granted to Ananias, a Christian^" at Damas- cus, who is bidden to go to a street named Straight/^ and seek out Vitringa to evidence that he had taken the degree of Rabbi. He was certainly a member of the Sanhedrim, and may have sat among them, though without a vote, when our Lord was brought before the Council (Cf. 2 Cor. v. 16). * For a history of Damascus, probably the oldest existing city in the world, see Gen. xiv. 15, XV. 2 ; 2 Kings viii. 6 ; 3 Kings xi. 24, &c. ; 4 Kings x. 32 ; Amos i. 3, 4 ; 4 Kings xii. 17, 18, xiii. 3, 22, 25, xiv. 28, XV. 37, xvi. 5-9 ; Is. viii. 4, ix. 11, X. 9, xvii. I ; 4 Kings xxiv. 2 ; Jer. xxxv. II. ^ Compare, for this use of the word. Acts xiii. ID, xviii. 25, 26, xxii. 4, xxiv. 22 ; S. Matt. xxii. 16 ; 2 S. Peter ii. 2 ; Isaias xl. 3, &c. &c. •^ S. Paul's former cruelties and perse- cuting spirit are frequently referred to, in his own Epistles as well as in the narrative of his companion, S. Luke, ■while the Apostle was "preaching the faith which once he impugned." It may be believed that his unconverted errors are thus largely dwelt on in the Acts at S. Paul's own especial request, as the fall of S. Peter is more fully narrated by his disciple S. Mark than by the other Evangelists (Acts viii. 3, ix. 12, 13, 14, xxii. 4, 5, 19, 20, xxvi. 9-1 1, 14-15, Gal. i. 13, Phil. iii. 6, i Tim. i. 13), '' It would occupy from fiv'c to six days ; being, by any one of the several roads, one hundred and thirty to one hundred and fifty miles. * Cf. Acts ix. 7, 17, 27, xxvi, 16; i Cor. XV. 8. ^ Cf. 4 Kings V. 10—14 ; S. Luke xvii. 14 ; S. John ix. 7. 1" S. Augustine believes him to have been a priest, or even a bishop. The Greeks give him a place in their calendar, Oct. I, as bishop of Damascus, and martyr. " In contradistinction to the gene- rality of streets in Eastern cities, whose windings, as well as narrowness, are partly accounted for by the necessity of securing shade. See the reasoning of Tacitus, {Afi/tal. xv. 43,) on the difference in the modes of building at Rome, before and after the fire. A writer of our day says the same of modern Cairo. " For that climate, the old system of narrow streets, and exclu- sion of too much sunshine, together with the old plan of Eastern building, were best suited to the climate, place, and people" (M. Edwin de Leon, Egypt A.D. S^ (31). A.U.C. 787. TIBERII 20. 23 "one named Saul, of Tarsus." Ananias, to whom the coming of Saul, and its purpose, were known, seemed at first fearful to under- take this. Like Moses and Jeremias, when their mission was declared to them, he was disposed to excuse himself He is reassured ; the former persecutor is now a changed man — " Behold, he prayeth." He is to be no ordinary instrument in promoting the Divine glory : "This man is to Me a vessel of election, to carry My Name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." ^^ And he will be prepared to do it, at whatever cost :^^ "I will show him how great things he must suffer for My Name's sake." Ananias then seeks out Saul, announces to him the message he had received, and lays hands on him^* in blessing. "Immediately there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received his sight ; and rising up, he was baptized." The future Apostle straightway ^^ " preached Jesus in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God," to the astonishment of all hearers, and the confusion of the obstinate Jews; "preaching the faith which once he impugned."^*' Saul then went into Arabia,^^ and again returned to Damascus, ^^ spending between those two places about three years. The Reign of Terror continues in Rome. Even the consuls are under its Khedives). " Straight Street " the Church?" (S. Aug. Qticest. Evang. is still the principal street in Damas- iii. ii. n. 40). cus. ^^ Probably to Auranitis, or Tracho- 12 Acts ix. 15, 16. nitis. S. Jerome, and Lorinus, in Acts " Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 23-28. ix., believe that S. Paul went to Jeru- " See S. Mark xvi. 17, 18. salem not long after his conversion, to ^° Gal. i. 23. Cf. Acts xxvi. 19, 20. avoid the Jews' conspiracy against his 1° S. Jerome {in Lncif. c. 3, p. 138, life, but not at that time to confer with c.) says that he then received the Holy S. Peter: which is all he denies (Galat. i. Spirit by the means of Ananias, which 17). Baronius, however, more probably strengthens the opinion of the latter refers the "many days" to his sojourn having been a bishop. " Paul, on hear- in Arabia and return to Damascus ; in ing the voice of the Lord, . . was never- all, three years. He says that the theless sent to Ananias, that by the Apostle's first visit to Jerusalem as a priesthood established in the Church, he believer was that mentioned in Acts ix. might receive the sacrament of the doc- 26, C. h. Lap. gives reasons in support trine of faith. . . Not that the Lord is of the former opinion, but it appears to unable to do all things by Himself; for be contradicted by the texts referred to, who but He does these things even in ** Gal. i. 17. 24 FASTI APOSTOLICI: FOURTH YEAR. executed, immediately after celebrating with solemnity the com- mencement of the 2 1st year of the Emperor's reign. Great indignation is excited in Jerusalem against Pilate, who had seized upon the treasures in the Temple, to defray the cost of an aqueduct ; besides committing other arbitrary acts.^'-* FOURTH YEAR. A.D. 37 (32). A.U.C. 788. TIBERII 21.^ S. Peter, executing his charge to rule and guide the whole flock, "passed through, visiting all"^ the Churches. At Lydda,^ he healed the bed-ridden Eneas^ of his eight years' palsy, and at Joppa^ raised again to life a charitable Christian woman narAcd Tabitha (Dorcas). While S. Peter was staying at Joppa, a pious centurion of the ^^ See below, ad. A.D. 38. ^ Some place the death of Tiberius in this year, March 16. ^ Acts ix. 22. Compare also Zach. i. 10, II. "* A city on the coast, in the great maritime plain of Sharon, between J oppa and Jerusalem. It is mentioned in the Old Testament as Lod (l Paral. viii. 12 ; Nehem. xi. 34). For a time it was named Uiospolis. I'elagius here answered for his heresy before a council of bishops, who acquitted him. " Ilia miserabilis synodus Diospolitana " (S. Jerome). William of Tyre (twelfth century) says that in his time was to be seen there "the glorious tomb of the eminent martyr, S. Gcorge,"in whose honour the Emperor Justinian erected a church with much devotion ; the martyr having been born in Lydda. This account is confirmed by Adrichomius. * " In the power of the same Holy Spirit, Peter also, who stood foremost of the Apostles, and the Key-bearer of the Kingdom of Heaven, healed yEneas the paralytic in the Name of Christ" (S. Cyr. Jerus. Catech. xviii. n. 27). '•> Joppa (Jaffa), said by tradition to have been built by Japhet, is the port of Jerusalem ; the place to which Hiram, King of Tyre, floated down the cedar and other beams hewn by his subjects, and cut for the building of Solomon's Temple (2 Paralip. ii. 16). It was alsa the port where Jonas took ship to flee to Tarsus in Ciiicia (Jonas i. 3). Ves- pasian levelled it with the ground, and built a fort there, upon which a new city arose. Both Cicsarea and Joppa were fortified by S. Louis. A.D. 37 (32). A.U.C. 788. TIBERII 21. 25 "Italian"^ cohort, stationed at Caesarea/ was favoured by a manifest vision, after noontide, instructing him to send for the Apostle, and learn from him the word of Hfe. When his messengers drew near to Joppa, about noon of the next day,^ S. Peter also had a vision, " Probably the Sixth, surnamed Co- hors Ferrata. Dio mentions this cohort as having been quartered by Augustus in Judaea. Cornelius must have been a Roman and a pagan, though " not far from the Kingdom of God." The cohort was called "the Italian," as being com- posed of men who had been levied, not in the foreign provinces, but in the mother country (see Flanagan's Manual of British and Irish History, p. 13). "The youth of Britain, forming at least twenty-six cohorts, were not allowed to serve in their own country, but were scattered over foreign lands ; while the youth of those lands were transported to Britain, or to some other distant region. Such was the invariable policy of Rome. In the ranks of the legions, none but Roman citizens could serve ; all others, whether provincials or bar- barians, were enrolled among the auxi- liaries." "' Not " Caesarea of Philip," (S. Matt. xvi. 13), which was near the sources of the Jordan, at the foot of Mount Li- banus. Philip the tetrarch enlarged it, and called it Caesarea, in honour of Tiberius. It was also called "of Philip," after himself. Here our Lord, at this most northern point of His journeyings, healed the woman afflicted with ha;mor- rage, according to Kusebius, who says {Hist. vii. 18) that he had seen the miracle represented on a sculpture be- fore the door of her house. The Sire de Joinville {Hist, dc S. Lojiis, § 570) calls it Bdlinas, and says that the Jordan flows from two fountains which meet near the city, and give their name to the river "ou Diex fu bauptiziez." The Caesarea here mentioned (Acts x. i) was the coast city of that name ; one of the most strongly fortified places in Roman Judaea, and one of the largest towns in Palestine. It was the seat of the Roman Procurators, and called by Tacitus {Hist. h- 79) "Judaeae caput." It was named in honour of Augustus ; having before, in Strabo's time, been only a fort {Stra- tonis titrris). Between the time of Strabo and of Tacitus, the mere tower had been enlarged into a city by Herod the Great, with the utmost care and expense. He spent ten years on the work, and he gave it the full name, Ccesarea Sebaste (see Joseph. Antiq. xv. 9. Cf. xvi. 5, §. 5. Bell. Jud. i. 21). " Constant feuds took place here between the Jews and Greeks; and an outbreak of this kind was one of the first incidents of the great war. Vespasian [who was declared Emperor at Caesarea] . . made it a Roman colony, called it by his name, and gave it the Jus Italiann." In consequence of this opening of the door of salvation to the Gentiles, Caesarea became the metropolitan Church, with Jerusalem as one of its suffragans {Concil. Niccen. can. 7, S. Hieron, Ep. 61, ad Painmach. Act. Porphyrii Episcopi Gazensis). S. Cor- nelius was consecrated by S. Peter as first bishop of the See {Rom. Martyrol. Feb. 2 ; S. Clem. Constitut. vii. 47). It was afterwards the diocese of Eusebius the Church historian, in the time of Con- stantine. But in 553 Pope Vigilius, in the Council of Constantinople, exercising his supreme authority over all Sees, erected the Holy City into a patriarchate (Baronius). * The distance was about thirty Roman miles. See note 36 ad ann. 35. 26 FASTI ArOSTOLlCI : FOURTH YFAR. from whicli he understood that the Gentiles as well as the Jews were called to salvation. lie therefore went with them, and found Cornelius, with his friends and kindred, awaiting him. While he was declaring to them the Gospel, the Holy Ghost descended on all who heard him, and thus convinced the Jews who were present, that the Church was to know no distinction established by circum- cision or race. They were all baptized, and the Apostle stayed with them some days. According to one account, the Twelve departed about this time for their respective spheres of Apostolate,^ as it had been made known to them. The common tradition says, they united to com- pose^^ the SymboP^ called after them, as the rule and touchstone of their teaching, and of the orthodox faith throughout the world. This "Apostles' Creed" would have been sufficient for all times, had "the multitude of believers" still "had but one heart and one soul." ^2 But when " men arose, speaking perverse things," ^^ the Church was compelled to enlarge her Symbol by fresh definitions, strengthening the bulwarks at the point of attack. S. Peter, in his universal visitation of the Churches, came to ' The writer named Pseudo-Dexter, afterwards written down ; probably about quoted by the Bollandists (July 15) says the close of the first century: when, this dispersion of the Apostles took owing to the increasing number of here- place on the last day of June, A.D. 34, sies, and the necessity of openly deny- about forty-eight days after the coming ing them, it had been extended to a of the Holy Ghost. See Appendix F. considerable length" (Alzog, vol. i. p. ^° Natal Alex. Hisf. Ecd. Sac. i, diss, 234, note). 12, Rufinus, Expos. Syinb. App., Bol- " The word Sy^/SoAo;/ is applied to the land. Acta SS. ad 15 Jul. Meyers, De Creed in each of its two senses ; as a ^W(^. Trev. 1 849. I. L. Selvagio, ^w/Z^r. watchword by which soldiers recognise Christ. \.\^^. II, c. ii,&c. Alzog, how- each other, and as a united result to ever, or his translators, agree with Tille- which each person of a number con- mont in discrediting the tradition. "But, tributes his portion. S. Clem. Episf, though not the actual composition of the ad Jacob., S. Aug. Scnii. 125 De Temp., Apostles, there can be no doubt that it item. 115 et 181 ; Leo Papa, ^/iVA 13 rt^ is substantially the same Symbolum Pnlch. ti Serm. i\i de Pass. Dam. Fidei as that which they agreed should '^ Acts iv. 32. serve them as a guide in their work of ^^ Acts xx. 30. Sub ipsis paucis verbis conversion. It may be taken for granted in symbolo constitutis plerique hasretici that a short Symbol of Faith was in venena sua occultarc conati sunt (S.Aug, early times taught to the faithful, and in lib. d4 Sytnb. c. i.). A.D. n (32). A.U.C. 'jZZ. TIBERII 21. 27 Antioch/^ the metropolis of Syria, and there set up his Pontifical See.^^ Eusebius (Chyon) says that he did so in the last year of Tiberius.^*^ This event is omitted by S. Luke, together with many other things he passes by.^^ There was great confluence of Jews to the place, and many of the dispersed Christians also had fled thither.^^ S. Peter occupied his Antiochene See for seven years, viz., until the second year of Claudius, A.D. 44, when he transferred his See, with all its authority and supremacy, to Rome. While at Antioch, how- ever, he constantly "passed through, visiting all," as before. It seems to have been at Antioch that S. Johanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward,^^ closed a holy life."*' The Gospel having now been proclaimed to the Gentiles, S. James the Greater, the son of Zebedee and brother of S. John, is said to have gone into Spain ; and seems to have been absent, there and elsewhere, about seven years. Aretas, King of Arabia, father-in-law to Herod Antipas, makes war upon him, to avenge the desertion of his daughter for Herodias.^^ " Built by Seleucus Nicator, who Wouter's Hist Eccl. Compend. t. i. p. named it after his father Antiochus. 25, note. Its excellent situation, besides its being i" The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle assigns the seat of the Syrian princes, attracted it to A.D. 35. See above, p. 19. so large a population, that four conti- " Cf. S. John xx. 25. '^Axon.Martyrol. guous cities were successively built here, Rom. in Sept. 23. surrounded by one wall : hence it was ^^ Acts xi. 19. called Tetrapolis. Its after-importance " S. Luke viii. 3, xxiv. lo. as a Christian city caused that name to 20 j^om. Mart. May 24. be changed into Theopolis. The present -^ Herodias (S. Matt. xiv. 3, S. Mark poor remains are called Antakieh. vi. 17 — 22, S. Luke iii. 19) was daughter 1^ " This is one privilege of this our of Aristobulus : thus grand-daughter of city (Antioch), that it had for its first Herod of Great, sister of Agrippa, teacher the leader of the Apostles. For (afterwards King of Judsea), and niece it was fitting that that city which was as well as wife to Philip, who is called crowned before the rest of the world Herod by Josephus {Atitiq. 1. xviii. c. 7). with the Christian name, should receive His mother was Mariamne, daughter of as its shepherd the first of the Apostles. Simon the high-priest. He is not to be But after having had him as our teacher, confounded (Tillem. in S. Jo. B. art. we did not retain him, but surrendered vi.) with his brother Philip the Tetrarch, him to regal Rome." S. Chrysostom, whose mother was a Cleopatra ofjeru- t. iii. horn. ii. in Itiscr. Act. n. 6. See salem. the catena of authorities quoted in FASTI APOSTOLICI : FIFTH YEAR. This domestic war proved disastrous for Antipas, who was at length defeated. The Jews recognised in his calamity a just retribution for the death of S. John Baptist.-- FIFTH YEAR. A.D. 38 (33). A.U.C. 789. TIBERII 22. S. Peter, coming to Jerusalem on one of his Apostolic circuits, is assailed^ by some Judaising Christians, at the instigation (says S. Epiphanius) of Cerinthus^ — the second heresiarch in order after Simon Magus — for having communicated with the Gentiles. The Apostle, therefore, details the miraculous signs attending the con- version of Cornelius ; to the joy and thankfulness of the " men of good will " among those present. Pontius Pilate, after ten years of office,^ is deprived of his governorship, and degraded by Lucius Vitellius, the Prefect of Syria, who sends him to Rome, to answer to charges of ambition, rapacity, and cruelty, made against him by the Jews.* Caiaphas, -- S. Chrysost. in Act. hom. xxvi. ; government of the Jewish nation, and Tillemont, in S. Jo. Bapt. ait. vii. s.f. remained therein ten successive years, See note ad a.d. 39. ahnost until the death of Tiberius" (S. liede). ^ Acts xi. 2. •• This cruelty had been the indis- 2 Hceres. 28. Cerinthus is also said criminate massacre of the Samaritans to have taken part in the attack on S. assembled at Mount Gerizim, to whom Paul, Acts xxi. 27, 28. an impostor had promised 10 show 2 Pilate was the sixth procurator or certain sacred treasures, buried there, governor of Judaea, and succeeded as he alleged, by Moses. For Pilate's Valerius Gratus. He had held the rapacity, see ad a.d. 36, j.y^ Soon after office for ten years, from 780 to 790, his disgrace, Vitellius proceeded with says Goschler. His condemnation of much solemnity to Jemsalcm, and de- our Lord fell rather before the middle posed also Caiaphas, who had been of that period. " Pilate was sent in the high-priest for twenty years, twelfth year of Tiberius to assume the A.D. 38 (33)- A.U.C. 789. TIBERII 22. 29 the high-priest,^ is likewise deposed by Vitellius, and commits suicide.^ Annas, his father-in-law, also had a miserable deathJ While those who had condemned our Lord were thus overtaken by the vengeance of Heaven, His Divine character so impressed Tiberius,^ that he desired to have Him numbered among the deities worshipped in Rome ; and was only withheld from his purpose by the opposition of the Sen'ate. He thereupon issued a decree, threatening with death all who should accuse the Christians on account of their religion.^ S. James the Greater sends, or afterwards brings back with him from Spain, seven of the principal Spanish converts for consecration by S. Peter: they return to found dioceses in their native country. ^° In this year, 5. MattJiezv probably wrote his Gospel, if not before.^^ * "When John began his preaching, both Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests ; but Annas held the office that year, Caiaphas the same year in which our Lord suffered on the Cross. Three others had meanwhile held the office ; but these two, as having special reference to our Lord's Passion, are mentioned by the Evangehst. For at that period of violence and intrigue, the ordinances of the law being no longer in force, the honour of the high priest's office was never bestowed on merit or high birth, but the affairs of the priesthood were managed by the Roman power. For Josephus relates, that Valerius Gratus, when Annas was thrust out of the priesthood, appointed Ismael high-priest, the son of Baphas ; but, rejecting him not long after, substi- tuted Eleazar the son of the high-priest Ananias. After the space of one year, he expelled him also from the office, and gave the administration of the high-priest to one Simon, the son of Caiaphas, who held it no more than a year, and had Joseph, whose name also was Caiaphas, for his successor" (S. Bede). * S. Clement, Constitut. lib. viii. c. i. Anglo-Saxon Citron. "^ Nicephorus, lib. ii. c. x. ** Probably from the relation made to him by Pilate. The "Acts of Pilate," or report sent by him to Tiberius are, in their present form, generally rejected. Yet many of the Fathers (S. Justin, Apolog. i. 35, TertuU. Apolog. 5 and 21, Euseb. H. E. ii. 2, cf. Bolland. Acta SS. Feb. 5,) mention genuine Acts, which may afterwards have been interpolated and corrupted (Wouter's Co7iipend. Hist. Eccl. V. i. p. 17). Septimius Severus afterwards placed a bust of our Lord in his private oratory, together with those of Moses and Socrates. " Tertull. Apolog. ; Eusebius, Chron. lib. ii. c. 2. They both mention the letter which Pilate is said to have written to Tiberius, giving an account of the miracles of our Lord, and of His Resurrection. ^" Pope Innocent {Epist. de Decent^ declares that Spain first received the faith from Rome. He may refer to those parts not evangelized by S. James. S. Isidore {Offic. Eccles. i. 1 5) says their liturgy was ordained by S. Peter him- self. Cf. itifra, ad A.D. 68. 1^ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers it to A.D. 40, at least for the commence- ment of the writing. 30 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : FIFTH YEAR. It was certainly composed before the dispersion of the Apostles, for S. Bartholomew took a copy of it into India, and left it there. It was written in Hebrew^- (Syro-Chaldaic^^), to satisfy the desire of the converts in Palestine : but translated into an authentic Greek version during the time of the Apostles. Beginning, as he does, with the human genealogy of our Lord, S. Matthew is represented among the four Evangelists by "the face of a man." ^* In spite of the universal toleration existing in Rome,^^ Tiberius, before his death, had " suppressed the dangerous power of the Druids in Gaul ; but the priests themselves, their gods, and their altars, sub- sisted in peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism."^* This degree of anti-Keltic persecution in Gaul was afterwards continued by Claudius, ^2 " Matthew produced his Gospel, written among the Hebrews in their own dialect, whilst Peter and Paul pro- claimed the Gospel and founded the Church at Rome" (S. Irena;us, apud Euseb. 1. V. c. 8). The original Hebrew version was discovered in the reign of the Emperor Zeno, by revelation of S. Matthew, together with the body of S. Barnabas (Raron. Martyrol. Sep. 2i). •' This dialect of Hebrew, called also the Aramxan, dates from the Baby- lonish captivity, and became the ver- nacular of Palestine, for the use of the Jews and Jewish converts of that country. Papias, S. Irena:us, Origen, S. Epiphanius, and the early Fathers in general, witness to S. Matthew hav- ing written his Gospel in it. This has been disputed, on insufficient grounds. Others have supposed that S. Matthew wrote a Gospel, both in Aramaean and in Greek. A Syro-Chaldaic Gospel, often called "the Gospel according to the Hebrews," existed in the time of S. Jerome among the Nazarenes and Ebionites, by whom it had been cor- rupted ; this was probably the reason why S. Matthew's Hebrew text was superseded by the Greek version, and lost at an early period (Ornsby). S. Matthew quotes from the Old Testa- ment according to the Septuagist. See Corn, h Lap. in Acts. xxvi. 31. " Ezech. i. 10 ; Apoc. iv. 7. The Apostle was martyred in ^Ethiopia, where he converted S. Iphigeneia {Marty 7-ol. Sep. 21). ^•^ Appendix G. ^^ Gibbon, vol. i. pp. 51, 52, ed. 1815. He quotes Suetonius, iti Claud, and Pliny, N. H. xxx. r. A.D. 39 (34)- A.U.C. 79^. TIBERII 23— C. CAL. I. 3 1 SIXTH YEAR. A.D. 39 (34). A.U.C. 790. C. CALIGULA I. Tiberius dies, April 12, set. y8. The Senate excludes from the succession his grandson, Tiberius Gemellus, and raises to the purple Caius Caligula, son of Germanicus.^ Nero is born at the close of the year. Lucius Vitellius is recalled from the governorship of Syria, and Petronius^ sent in his place. Caligula delivers Herod Agrippa I., the son of Aristobulus, and grandson of Herod the Great, from the prison into which Tiberius had thrown him. He adorns him with a gold chain of equal weight with the iron chain he had been loaded with, and makes him King of the tetrarchy of Philip, i.e. Batanaea, Trachonitis, and Auranitis,^ and of the tetrarchy of Abiline, which had been held by Lysanias. His brother Herod is made King of Chalcis. Pilate arrives in Rome, accused and disgraced, to find, in the other world, " what is truth " — the question he had not waited to hear answered in this.* Condemned by the new Emperor Caligula to perpetual punishment at Vienne in Gaul, he is reduced to such misery and destitution that he dies by his own hand.^ His wife, to ' Caligula was fifteen years old at our "jesting" on the part of the Governor, Lord's Nativity, and was therefore now who was evidently much struck by the about forty-nine. demeanour of the Divine Sufferer, and - Cf. infra A.D. 42, note 7. would have released Him, could he also ' Joseph. Antiq. xviii. 6. 10. have continued to be Caesar's friend * That Pilate's guilt consisted, among (S. John xix. 12). Pilate was, however, other particulars, in neglecting the bitterly opposed to the Pharisees ; re- opportunity of learning the truth, given garding them as the great enemies of him by our Lord, is unquestionable. the Roman power : this may the more But Lord Bacon seems to deal rather have disposed him to take part with our hardly with him in saying : " What is Lord. truth ? says Jesting Pilate, and would ^ Eusebius, Ado, and Cassiodorus in not stay for an answer" {Essay I.) Chron. Josephus, lib. xviii. c. 5. The There is no symptom of mockery or Anglo-Saxon Chronicle assigns Pilate's 32 FASTI APOSTOLICI : SIXTH YEAR whom is assigned the name Procla," was a " devout " proselyte of the gate ;^ she afterwards became a Christian, and is honoured among the Saints.^ Saul, now about three years after he first went into Arabia, preaches the Gospel in Damascus, and is therefore sought for by the Jews, and by the cthnarch or "governor of the nation" under King Arctas,^ to put him to death. The gates being watched day and night, he is let down in a basket by the disciples,^*' and escapes to Jerusalem, whither he goes to see S. Peter,^^ and remains fifteen days. The only other Apostle then in Jerusalem seems to have been S. James the Less, who had been consecrated by S. Peter to be Bishop of the Holy City. Most of the disciples in Jerusalem hesitated to admit the recent convert among them, having known, •what Ananias also had heard,^^ "how much evil he had done the Saints in Jerusalem." But Barnabas, once his fellow-disciple under suicide to the previous year. A few miles from Vienne is the Moftt dii Dcse- spoir, from whose precipitous height he threw himself, according to local tradi- tion, A.D. 37. The popular belief that the Mont Filai in Switzerland was the scene of Pilate's exile and miserable wanderings, has arisen from a mere similarity of names. It is Mons Pileatus, the Capped Mountain, from its summit being so often hid in clouds. The Anglo- Saxon Chronicle assigns Pilate's suicide to the previous year. " Evang. Apocr. Nicodem. c. ii. 5" eeocre/Srjs, Cf. ActS xiii. 16, 43, 50 ; xvii. 4. 8 Calmet, Dictionn. s. v. Procla, » Aretas was the name of a dynasty of kings, like Ptolemy, and others. They ruled in Petra, the mercantile metro- polis of Stony Arabia, until Petra be- came a Roman province in the reign of Trajan. The Aretas of the text was father-in-law to Herod Antipas. A mis- understanding between them had been aggravated into war by Herod's deser- tion of his wife for Herodias. (See above, ad A.D. 37.) Tiberius had ordered Vitellius, Governor of Syria, to aid Herod : but the expedition was stayed by the Emperor's death. Caligula re- versed his predecessor's policy ; and, while he judged and banished Antipas, on the latter going to Rome (see next year), he probably assigned Damascus to Aretas. Or, the Petr:can king may have seized it, during the confusion arising from the change of government in Rome (Wieseler, vol. i. p. 89). In either case, one of the first acts of the new King, or his representative, was the persecution of S. Paul. ^^ 1 Cor. xi. 33, 33. 1^ Galat. i. 18. " For if the foundation of the Church was placed on Peter, as is said in the Gospel, Paul, to whom all things had been revealed, knew that he ought to sec Peter, as him to whom so great authority had been given by Christ ; not that he might learn anything from him" (Victorinus, apud Mail, Script, Vet. Nov. Collect, t. iii.). ^''- Acts i.\. 13. A.D. 39 (34). A.U.C. 790. TIBERII 23. 33 Gamaliel, already known as a great benefactor to the Church's poor,^^ " took him, and brought him to the Apostles, and told them how he had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken to him." Saul then begins to preach with great boldness, both to native Jews, and to Jews coming from Greece, (therefore called "Greeks"),^^ or proselytes; " but they sought to kill him. Which when the brethren had known, they brought him down to Caesarea (Stratonis), and sent him away" to his native Tarsus. Here Saul seems to have remained for two years, until afterwards sought by S. Barnabas. This is S. Paul's first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion. During it, and while he was praying in the Temple, he was favoured with a Divine communication, made to him in ecstasy, that bade him depart from Jerusalem, and go to the Gentiles afar off. Long afterwards, he detailed this^^ to the tumultuous crowd of Jews in the Temple ; and they " went about to kill him " for his words. " Now the Church had peace throughout all Judaea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and was edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the consolation of the Holy Ghost." ^" During the seven years of S. Peter's See at Antioch, he preached to the Jews dispersed throughout all those parts in the East, to which he afterwards wrote his First General or Catholic Epistle.^'' He is the only one of the Apostles whom the Gospel mentions as having been married ^^ before his -vocation. Certain of the fathers and historians add S. Philip ^^ and some others, as being so.^'' Clement 1^ Acts iv. 36, 37. Eusebius, Epi- De Afono^.n.8,p. ^2g). For the martyr- phanius, S. Bede, and others, assert dom of S. Peter's wife, see ad a.d. 68. that S.Barnabas was one of the seventy- i'' The daughters of S. Philip the two disciples of our Lord. Apostle are not to be confounded with ^* Acts ix. 29. those of his namesake, the deacon (Cf. 1^ Acts xxii. 17 — 21. ad A.D. 35, note 50). Baronius quotes 1^ Acts ix. 31. S. Jerome (in Joh. 1. i. c. 14) to show ^'' I S. Peter i. i. The assertion in the their identity. But that Father is only text is made by Eusebius. saying that no text in Scripture speaks 18 " By the mention of his father-in- of any married Apostle except S. Peter ; law, I find Peter the only [Apostle] and he cites a passage of Polycrates, married. By the Church, which, built bishop of Ephesus at the end' of the on him, was about to confer every second, century (see Eusebius, H. E. degree of her order on monogamists, I 1. iii. c. 31 and v. x. 24), mentioning presume him a monogamist" (Tertull. two of the Apostle's daughters who re- D 34 FASTI APOSTOLIC!: SEVENTH YEAR. of Alexandria, SS. Jerome and Kpiphanius expressly affirm that from the time of their entrance on the Apostolate, they lived a life of holy celibacy. Caligula, recovering from an illness, changes the character of moderation, with which his reign had begun, for unheard-of licence and cruelty. He now leads his troops through Gaul, more as an Imperial progress than a campaign. SEVENTH YEAR. A.D. 40 (35). A.U.C. 791. C. CALIG. 2. Retribution^ still follows those who had caused the Passion of our Lord, or persecuted His disciples. Herod Agrippa, appointed by Caligula the last Jewish King of Jerusalem, returning from Rome to Judaea byway of Alexandria, was insulted- by the pagan Alex- andrians, even as his own subjects, the Jews, had mocked the Saviour. Herod Antipas, Agrippa's uncle, the Tetrarch of Galilee mained virgins, and were buried with virgo, virginem sanctimoniam commen- him at Hierapolis. Consult Tillemont, dantem : Virgo (inquit) cogitat quae i7i S. Phil, et not. Domini sunt," &c. {Serin, ad Novit. 20 Clement of Alexandria {Strom, iii. pars tertia, p. 109). p. 448 b.) and Eusebius after him (//. E. iii. c. 30) believe that S. Paul was ^ Lactantius, De Mortibtis Persecu- married. Origen reports opinion as torntn, shows that all those who per- being much divided on the point {in secuted the Christians met with an Ron. 1. V. i. pp. 459-6), and leaves it un- unhappy death. "His list of such begins decided. Tertullian {De Mo7iog. c. iii. with Tiberius ; but the remark was pp. 674-6), S. Epiphanius, {Hco-. 58) and verified by many examples before his especially S. Jerome {Ep. 22) assert him time " (Alzog). to have been converted as a virgin. - "II fut traitd par les paiens d'Alex- S. Chrysostom {in toe.) says that the andrie avec les mcmcs indignitces en la Apostle's words (Phil. iv. 3) prove noth- personnc d'un nommc Carabas,mais non ing against this. Theodoret quotes avec la nicme cruaute" (Tillemont, vY/j/. I Cor. vii. 7, 8, as proving the point. r/i? A'.^'.y.C'.art.xvii.). He is commenting Thomas h. Kempis cannot be cited as a on our Lord's coronation with the crown critical commentator on Scripture ; but of thorns ; but the expressions are vague, he reports the feeling of his day (writing as applied to Agrippa. Josephus gives in 1441 or 1456) when he says : "Audi more distinct particulars {Antiq. xix. 8). A.D. 40 (35). A.U.C. 791. C. CALIG. 2. 35 — who had clothed our Lord with a robe of mockery and sent Him back to Pilate— now, envious of Agrippa's kingship, and urged by the ambitious Herodias, goes to Rome, to seek his fortune. But Agrippa, aware of his design, anticipates it by a rapid journey to Rome, and there institutes a charge against Antipas, of having, plotted with Sejanus against Tiberius, and of treasonable corres- pondence with Artoban, King of the Parthians, Antipas is found guilty, deprived of his tetrarchate and possessions, and banished for life to Lyons.^ Herodias shares his exile.'^ There they both languished in misery, and died. His tetrarchate is given to Agrippa. S. Mark, the future Evangelist, a convert of S. Peter's,^ was likely to have been at this time with the Apostle at Antioch, and to have gone with him afterwards to Rome. S. Bede, quoting his Acts, affirms that he was of the race of Aaron. S. Epiphanius'^ names him as one of the seventy-two disciples, and says that he, with others,, forsook our Lord in consequence of His eucharistic doctrine,"^ but was converted again by S. Peter after our Lord's resurrection. S. Apollinaris also, the future Bishop of Ravenna, had come with S. Peter to Antioch, and afterwards went with him to the Eternal City.^ Caligula enacts his childish comedy of a pretended conquest of Britain, at least of the British Channel, known afterwards as " the Saxon shore." He assembles the army that had been levied for the German war, at Gesoriacum (Boulogne), commands the soldiers to gather sea-shells, and returns to Rome, to give himself the honours. of a triumph.^ Intoxicated with this, he determines that his name and image- shall be adored throughout the Empire, and thus brings down the Divine vengeance on " the whole world " in the shape of famine.^° ^ Or perhaps Lugdunum Convena- ^ i S. Pet. v. 13. See the passage rum, at the foot of the Pyrenees. quoted from S. Leo ad A.D. 51, note. Eusebius {H. E. i. 2) says Vienne, « //(Z-rfj-. 51, c. 5. confounding Antipas with Archelaus. ' S. John vi. 66. Josephus says, he died in Spain {B. J. ^ Brev. Rom. in Jul. 23. ii. 9, § 6). ^ Suet. /;/ Calig. 46, 47 ; Dio, Ux. 754,. * Of her own free-will (Riess, Das Lingard, v. i. pp. 23, 24. Geburtsjahr Christi, p. 180). " Cf. note 7 ad a.d. 42. 36 FASTI APOSTOLICI : EIGHTH YEAR. EIGHTH YEAR. A.D. 41 (^6). A.U.C. 792. C. CALK]. 3. EUSEBIUS, with Baronius, and Theophylact, assign to this year the writing of S. Matthcivs Gospel} S. Ircncxus, however, makes it subsequent to A.D, 60, "while Peter and Paul were preaching and founding the Church in Rome,"- a passage which creates no small difficulty. The Evangelist " was a person much devoted to heavenly contemplation, and led an austere Hfe."^ Venantius Fortunatus relates that he suffered martyrdom at Nadabar, a city in [Parthia]. His relics were long ago brought into the West. Pope Gregory VH., in a letter to the Bishop of Salerno, in 1080, testifies that they were then kept in a church which bore his name in that city. They still remain in the same place."* S. Matthew's symbol among the four Evangelists is an Angel, having "the face of a man,"^ inasmuch as he begins his Gospel with our Lord's genealogy, according to the flesh. Continuing the same mystical application of the vision of Ezechiel, S. Mark is symbolized by a lion, because he quotes, at the outset, " a voice of one crying in the desert ; " S. Luke, by an ox for sacrifice, because he begins by mentioning the Jewish priesthood. S. John's symbol is the eagle, ^ See, however, the reasons given nein. See the whole of that subHme above (a.d. 38) for beheving it to have passage. Cf. S. Iren. ill. 8. S. Hieron. been written previously. It is unlikely in Ezech. c. i. S. Dion. Areop. GzV. //zVr. that S. Matthew would remain in Jeru- li. i, 2, 13, 14. Ecclcs.Hicr. c. 4. "Ad salcm on the dispersion of the rest of idem pertinent ii non inclegantes Sedulii the Apostles ; and impossible that he presbyteri versus, quibus Christum ita should depart for the scene of his alloquitur ; labours in Persia and Parthia before Hoc Matthajus agcns, homincm generaliter writing it— because S.Bartholomew took implct, with him a copy to India. Marcus ut alta frcmit vox per deserta leonis, 2 ]-l ,}■ iii I ' Jura sacerdotii Lucas tenet ore juvenci, _ ., '^ ■,, ■ '., r> T • "Alore volans aquilas verbo petit astra Johannes. See Clem. Alex. P(rdagog. 1. c. 2. Quatuor hi proceres una Te voce canentes, * Alban Butler, in Sept. 21. Tempora ceu totidem latum sparguntur in ^ S. Aug. Tract, xxxvi. /;/ Johan- orbem." (Varior-.'^nnot. inlib. iii. S. Irencei.) A.D. 42 (37). A.U.C. 793. C. CALIG. 4. 37 forasmuch as he is "a preacher of sublime things, and with fixed gaze contemplates the light internal, yea, eternal." Flavius Dexter*^ asserts that "in the forty-first year of Christ, being the third of Caligula's reign, S. James, returning out of Spain, visited Gaul, Britain, and the towns of the Veneti, where he preached the Gospel ; and so came back to Jerusalem, to consult with the Blessed Virgin and Peter about matters of very great weight and importance." NINTH YEAR. A.D. 42 (37). A.U.C. 793. C. CALIG. 4. The persecution that arose on S. Stephen's martyrdom still produces fruit by the dissemination of the Gospel. Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Cyrene were thus evangelized. In Antioch,^ especially, "the hand of the Lord was with " the messengers of good things ; " and a great number, believing, was converted to the Lord. And the tidings came to the ears of the Church that was at Jerusalem, concerning these things ; and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch. Who, when he was come . . exhorted them all with purpose of heart to continue in the Lord. For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith. And a great multitude was added to the Lord. And Barnabas went to Tarsus, to seek Saul,"- once his fellow-disciple in Judaism under Gamaliel, now to be his fellow-Apostle in preaching the Faith. Saul had returned to Tarsus, his native place, after his 6 Chronic, ad ann. 41. reckoned the population in his day at two hundred thousand, half of whom ^ Once the capital of the Greek kings were Christians (Horn, in S. Ignat. § 4, of Syria, now the residence of the Pro- Horn, in S. Matt. 86 or 87). consul, to whom the Procurator of Judcea ^ Acts xi. 21 — 25. S. Paul's mental was subordinate. Josephus (i>V//. y«<^. culture at Tarsus, a seat of philosophical iii. ii. 4) reckoned it the third city in the education, would qualify him for deal- Roman Empire ; S. Jerome placed it ing with the task now assigned to him at next after Rome and Alexandria. S. Antioch. Chrysostom, who was born there, TASTI ArOSTOI.ICI : NINTH YEAR. fifteen days' visit to S, Peter in Jerusalem. He now went with S. Barnabas to Antiocli, where tlicy laboured abundantly, gathered •disciples round them, and " taught a great multitude : so that at Antioch the disciples were first named Christians."^ In this year, some of the faithful who had the gift of prophecy* •came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. " One of them, named Agabus,'' rising up, signified by the Spirit that there should be a ■great famine over the whole world, which came to pass"° in the second year of the Emperor Claudius,'' who began to reign very soon ^ Acts xi. 26. In .S. Justin Martyr's day, it was the custom of the Jews to repeat a curse against Christians whenever they assembled in their synagogues (Just. M. adv. Trypli. xcvi.). This is confirmed by S. Jerome (on Is. v. 8). Cf. Acts xxvi. 28, for its use twenty-eight years later than this date: also i S. Pet. iv. 16. TertuUian complained of the detestation in which the name was held. Julian would fain have revived the use of the term "Galihxans" as a substitute. Lucian \Philopatris) speaks of S. Paul as " the Galihean who had trodden upon the air up to the third heaven." The Gentiles, whether by mistake or from derision, frequently pronounced the name '• Chrestian," and named our Lord Chrestus (Cf. ad a.d. 51, note i). Hence TertuUian takes occasion to plead for the faith, as that of good and innocent men (xpvf"rhi). " If your hatred attaches itself to the nnme, how can a name be guilty ? what charge can be laid against a title .'' unless the sound of a name has in it anything barbarous, ill-omened, abusive, or contrary to modesty: whereas "• Christian,' as far as the interpretation goes, is derived from 'unction.' Even when you pronounce it incorrectly — for you do not accurately know even our name — ' Chrestian ' is derived from sweetness, or goodwill. Thus, even a harmless name is hated in men them- selves harmless. . . Before you hate the name, you ought first to gain a know- ledge of the sect from its Author, or of the Author from the secN But, as the case stands, you neglect acquaintance and inquiry alike, and catch hold of a name, make war on a name : the very sound of it prejudges and condemns sect and Founder, both being ecjually unknown." See this and similar passages from the early Fathers in Corn, a Lap, z'n loco. For the use of the term by heathen writers, see Tacit. Aiuial. xv. 44. Plin. Epist. cix. ad Trajan. * Prophecy being one of the endow- ments of the true Church, as one of the gifts {gratis datce) of the Holy Ghost. I Cor. xiv. passim. ^ Commemorated among the Saints under February 12. Mariyrol. Roi/i. ^ Acts xi. 28. " Roman historians mention four great famines in the reign of Claudius : viz., in his second, fourth, tenth, and eleventh years. Cf. Euseb. H.E. ii. 8, 1 2, and Chron. Eusebius {Chron) and Orosius (vii. 6) in recording this famine, add that Helena, Queen of the Adiabeni, who seems to have been converted to the faith, contributed large supplies in aid of the Christians in Judaea. This chastisement throughout the Empire (oAtj t] oiKovfiivrf) was probably sent to avenge an universally accepted sin of idolatry ; Caligula had caused himself to be everywhere adored by the Gentiles as a god, and superior even to Jupiter. A.D. 42 {2>y). A.U.C. 793. C. CALIG. 4. 39 after the prophecy. This determined the faithful in Antioch to make a collection, " every man according to his ability," for those in Judaea, without waiting for the famine to begin. Thus they evidenced the bond of charity and mutual help that was ever to unite those who professed the new and sacred name of " Christian." These alms were sent to "the ancients,""^ or priests, and deacons in Jerusalem, "by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. This is S. Paul's second visit to Jerusalem. He does not mention it in his Epistle to the Galatians^. When his mission thither was accomplished, he returned with S. Barnabas to Antioch. Caligula begins to persecute the Jews ; and thus becomes the unconscious instrument of Divine vengeance on those who had cried out against the Son of God : " His Blood be upon us, and upon our children."^*' He designed to have his statue placed in the Temple, and to receive the adoration of the Jews. Philo (Judzeus) is thereupon sent with others to the Emperor, to deprecate this profanation. The Emperor gives them an interview at Puteoli in the autumn, at the end of his progress through Gaul. Finally, he drives them from his presence with contempt and mockery. Philo has narrated this event in an express treatise, his Legatio ad Caiiun, He had intended to change the image this time (according to one account) of Jupiter Olympius into his own; had dispersed on their several missions, assumed the title of Jupiter Latialis, ^ His object in writing that epistle and had caused temples to be erected was to show that he had received the in his own honour, in which costly Gospel by immediate revelation (c i. sacrifices were offered to him every day. 12). It was therefore only to his pur- The Jews resisted his intended profana- pose to mention such visits to Jeru- tion of the Temple — the setting up of salem as would bring him in contact his image in the Holy Place, Petronius, with the other Apostles. A visit in by the Emperor's order, brought a strong which he did not find them there body of troops from Antioch towards was foreign to the end for which he Jerusalem, to enforce it ; but the Jews wrote, and might be passed over. In showed so much zeal for their law, and fact, he only mentions two of his five for the sanctity of the Temple, that he visits (Gal. i. 18 ii.), namely, the first, desisted ; and was only saved by Call- and probably the third or fourth. Wiese- gula's death from feeling the Emperor's ler argues for the fourth, Conybeare and vengeance on this disobedience to orders Howson for the third. (Joseph. Hist. ii. 10). i» S. IMatt. xxvii. 25. ' Acts xi. 30. The Apostles had by 40 FASTI Al'OSTOLICI : TE.NTH YEAR, TENTH YEAR. A.D. 43 (38). A.U.C. 794. CLAUDII I. In the beginning of this year, Caligula is slain by the Praetorian guards, in the fourth year of his reign, and twenty-ninth of his age. He is succeeded by his uncle Claudius, son of Drusus Nero, and nephew of Livia Augusta. The new Emperor establishes^ Herod Agrippa in his kingdom of Juda:a, and adds to it Samaria and the rest of Palestine. His dominions thus equalled those of his grandfather, Herod the"Great."^ S. Thaddaeus^ is said to havebeen sent by the Apostle S. Thomas* to Edessa, to King Abagar, or Abgar,'' to convert his kingdom, together with the King himself, to the Faith. According to the records kept in the Church of Edessa, Abgar had written to our ^ Apparently in reward for Agrippa's having taken part on his behalf, and against the Senate, while the nomination to the Empire was pending. - Joscphiis, Antiq. xix. v. i. 2 Euseb. (/■/. E. i. 13, in Jin) says, this was not the Apostle S. Jude, but one of the seventy-two disciples, who preached in Syria. But S. Jerome (in Matt. X.) seems to think otherwise, and is followed by most Western writers. The Apostle, S. Jude, or Thaddicus (called Lebba;us in S. Matt. x. 10, according to some MSS.), preached in Judaea, Galilee, Samaria, Iduniica, Arabia, Syria, and Mesopotamia (Ni- ceph. ii. 40), and is said to have been martyred at IJcrytus. S. Bernard re- ceived relics of this Apostle, sent to him from Jerusalem. (}ams {Scries, p. 437) after naming S. Thomas, gives " ^laris 7't7 Agis {titerqite) soc. S. Thaddaci." * So says Moses of Khoren, an Armenian historian of the sixth century (Goschler, art. Abgar.). S. Thomas' own connection with Edessa seems undoubted. His relics, or a portion of them, were preserved there in the fourth century, and held in great veneration. The Roman Mar tyro logy {]u\y 3) records their translation thither from the place of his martyrdom, Calamina, which is perhaps Mcliapor, in India. They were afterwards translated to Ortona in Italy, (iams, 7ii Slip, gives S. Thomas as first Bishop of Edessa, in the sense of being its Apostle. ^ It was a name hereditary among the kings of Osroene, a province of Mesopotamia, in which Edessa was situated. The king in question was surnamcd Uchamo, or the Black, appa- rently from his leprosy. This detail is given by the Syrian patriarch, Uionysius Telmaris, in the eighth century (Asse- mani, Bibl. Orient. Clement, t. i. p. 420). A.D. 44 (39)- A.U.C. 795. CLAUDII 2. 41 Lord, during His lifetime, inviting Him into his kingdom, with a view of being healed by Him of a leprous malady with which he was afflicted. Our Lord is said to have replied by a letter,*^ long preserved in the archives of Edessa. ELEVENTH YEAR. A.D. 44 (39). A.U.C. 795. CLAUDII 2, Before SS. Barnabas and Saul had reached Jerusalem with the alms collected at Antioch,^ S. James the Greater,^ returning from Spain to Jerusalem, converts, among others, Hermogenes the ma- " The terms of this letter were : " Blessed art thou, Abgar, for believing in Me without having seen Me. For it is written of Me, that they who shall have seen Me would not believe in Me ; and that they who shall not have seen Me would believe, and so have life. As to thy request, that I should come and see thee, this is to acquaint thee that I must here fulfil all things for which I am sent, and then return to Him who sent Me. But when I am departed, I will send one of My disciples to thee, that he may heal thee of thy disorder, and give life to thee, and to them that are with thee." Eusebius {Joe. citat. atin. praced.) expressly declares that he transcribed this letter, and the whole account, from the public records of the city of Edessa. S. Ephrem, who was a deacon in that place, and who pro- bably never saw the history of Eusebius, gives his independent testimony, and quotes the epistle as being universally received. He is supported by Procopius, Evagrius, S. John Damascene, and many others ; and, in later days, by Baronius, Mamachi, Assemani, Grabe, and Tillemont. Bellarmine, it must be added, with others, take the negative side (Rutter's Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 473). For a very full list of apocry- phal books, both of the Old and New Testament, in which this Epistle to Abgar is included, see Goschler, art. Apocryphes. On the whole subject, see Appendix H. ^ An article on S. Jacques le Majeur, in Goschler, denies the possibility of the events recorded in Actsxii. i — 24 having occurred in the short space of time be- tween the two Apostles' journey to Jerusalem and their return to Antioch (v. 25). But (i) it is not said that they made no pause or detour on their way ; much apostolical work may have been omitted by S. Luke, who passes by so many other events. (2) The famine predicted by Agabus only "came to pass under Claudius," and the collection of alms may have been going on for some time before the first symptom of it. (3) S. James' mission into Spain need not have occupied so long a time as to disprove the assertion in the text. ^ The son of Zebedee. He is called "James the brother of John" (Acts xii. 2), to distinguish him from the bishop of Jerusalem. 42 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : KLEVENTII YEAR. gician. The Apostle is then seized by " Herod the King," (Agrippa),^ and martyred by the sword,* just before the azymes. Herod, gaining much popularity thereby,^ seeks to improve it by imprisoning S. Petcr,^ intending to bring him forth to the people when the festival was overJ The chief of the Apostles is delivered by an Angel, and goes through Ca^sarca, Berytus, Sidon, Tripolis, and so to Laodicca, Cappadocia, and other places, preaching the Gospel, and ordaining bishops and priests. Besides S. Mark the future Evangelist, he was accompanied by SS. Rufus, Pancratius, and Marcian, who became bishops respectively of Capua, Taormina, and Syracuse.^ Also by S. Apollinaris, afterwards Bishop of Ravenna, ^ S. Luke's accuracy is shown by his describing this persecutor as " Herod the King." For no period of time for thirty years before, or ever afterwards, was there a king reigning in Jerusalem. The early part of Agrippa's life was obscurely past in Rome ; then he was raised high in imperial favour; afterwards imprisoned by Tiberius, and now (see the preceding year) exalted to a kingdom by Claudius. He was son of Aristobulus, and grandson of Herod "the Great," who sought our Lord's life in Beth- lehem. Agrippa's uncle, Herod Antipas, had beheaded S. John Baptist. It was before his son, Agrippa the Younger, that S. Paul pleaded (Acts xxvi.}. * Acts xii. 2. Decapitation was reckoned by the Jews the most igno- minious of their four forms of capital punishment ; and was especially inflicted on those who drew away the people to any strange worship. In Rome, on the contrary, any other mode of execution was held to be more infamous. See below, ad .v.D. 69. S. James converted his executioner, as did S. Alban after- wards, in the time of Diocletian. Sub- sequently, the Apostle's relics were translated to Compostelia, which becarne thenceforward one of the great pil- grimage-places for the whole Church ; and S. James himself became Patron Saint of Spain {Brcv. Rom. July 25). ^ The attitude of the Jews towards the Church was now always hostile. See (besides numerous passages in the Acts themselves) Rom. xv, 31, 2 Cor. xi. 24, I Thess. ii. 13 — 16. A hundred years later, when S. Polycarp was about to be burned in the amphitheatre at Smyrna, the Jews were especially active in collecting faggots {Martyriuni Polyc. xiii.). Joscphus {Aniiq. xix. 7. 3,) men- tions Agrippa's great desire to obtain popularity. •^ Probably the only other Apostle remaining in Jerusalem. See Acts xii. 1 7. " During the feast, he could not be put to death. Cf S. John xviii. 28. *" Act. Martyr, ciuoted by Gerbert, Rome Chrctictinc, v. i. 12. Gams, /;/ voce., who, however, mentions S. Priscus (Sop. i) before S. Rufus, as bishop of Capua. ]'2ither on this or a subsequent occasion, the ship which carried S. Peter from Naples was driven by contrary winds to Pisa : or at this time, accord- ing to another account, he passed some days in tlie town of Atina, near the Pontine marshes, in the house of his fellow-countryman, S. Mark of Galilee, its first bishop {Act. S. .Ifarci Ep. Atin. Gerbert, tit sap.). For the foundation A.D. 44 (39). A.U.C. 795. CLAUDII 2. 43 and S. Martial, whom S. Peter sent into Gaul. He staid for some time in Naples, and founded a Church there. His journey terminates, before the end of this year,^ in Rome; henceforth to be his See, and the metropolis of the Christian world. The Apostle's first stay in Rome is said to have lasted some five years.^*^ Britain had revolted, under Caractacus^^ and his brother Togi- dumnus, sons of Cassebelan ; and the treaties made with Julius Caesar had been broken. Claudius conducts an expedition, and lands in Britain with a numerous and veteran army. In a pitched battle, won chiefly by the valour of the German auxiliaries, Togidumnus was slain.^2 The Emperor penetrated to Camalodunum (Maiden, or Colchester), received a mere local submission ; then, after sixteen days' stay in the island, returned to Rome, and was decreed a triumph. ^■■^ The Roman forces remaining in Britain were divided of the Church in Aquileia, see Zaccaria, Raccolta, &c. vol. v. dissert i and 2. ^ "After his episcopate in the Church of Antioch, and his preaching to the dispersed of the circumcision, [Simon Peter] goes to Rome in the second year of Claudius, to overthrow Simon Magus; and there he held the sacerdotal chair for twenty-five years, down to the last, that is the fourteenth, year of Nero. Buried at Rome in the Vatican, near the Via Triumphalis, he is honoured by the veneration of the whole City" (S. Jerome, in Catal. Script or. Ecclesiast. c. i.). Lactantius does not mention this first coming of S'. Peter to Rome (see below, ad A.D. 68), but only the second, saying that he came to Rome in the reign of Nero, who put him and S. Paul to death {De Morf. Persec. n. 2). ^^ He baptized in a crypt known as the CcEnicterimii Ostrianum, probably in the Jews' quarter, beyond the Tiber. His chair existed there in the time of S. Gregory the Great. For an interesting account of this cemetery, as well as of that of Priscilla, on the A^ia Salaria Nova, said to have been dug in the property of the Pudens family, see Northcote and Brownlow, Roma Sottc- ra7tea, i. pp. 115 — 120. ^^ The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says, ad A.D. 46, "This year, Claudius, second of the Roman kings (!), sought the island of Britain, and brought under his power the greater part of the island ; and also subjected the Orkney islands to the dominion of the Romans. This war he effected in the fourth year of his reign, and in the same year was the great famine in Syria." Appendix I. 12 D'lo '[<\\c:x\\s.,apudXiphii. Lingard, however, supposes him identical with the Cogidunus whom somic, again, have identified with Caractacus {Hist. Engl. V. i. p. 27). 13 Tacit. Ann. xii. 31, 38. A cotem- porary poet pronounced that Claudius had united two worlds, and brought the ocean within the limits of the Empire : At nunc oceanus gcminos interluit orbcs ; Pars est imperii : terminus ante fuit. (Ex Catalect. Scalig. ap. Caind. lix.). Florus, a poet in the reign of Hadrian, was less complimentary to his Imperial master on the hardships the Emperor 44 FASTI ArOSTOLICI: TWELFTH YKAR. between Aulus Plautius, the legate, and Vespasian, afterwards Em- peror. Plautius was the husband of Pomponia Gra;cina.^* S. Paul, now returned to Antioch, is prepared for his Apostolatc among the Gentiles by being rapt even to the Third Heaven, caught up into Paradise, where he " heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter." ^^ TWELFTH YEAR. A.D. 45 (40). A.U.C. 796. CLAUDII 3. The famine begins in Rome. The Emperor, to give employment, builds the port of Ostia. Suetonius^ says that Claudius was sur- rounded by starving crowds in the Forum, who so assailed him with reproaches, and morsels of bread thrown at him, that he escaped by a postern door, and did his utmost to collect provisions from every quarter, winter though it was. S. Peter establishes his Cathedra, or See, in Rome, Januar}' 18, at first in the Jews' quarter, beyond the Tiber ; afterwards in the house^ of the Senator, Ouintus Cornelius Pudens, whose wife, Priscilla, gave her name to the family cemetery on the Salarian Way. They were both probably converts of the Apostle. This senator's son, endured in our island. He wrote to ^ Viia Claud, c. xviii. Tacit. Attn. him : xii. 43. Ego nolo Caesar esse, -^ The house of Pudens was afterwards Ambulare per Hritannos. consecrated as a church by S. Pius I., bcyth.cas pat. prumas. ^^^ ^^,^^^j ^f^^^. 3 Pudentiana, who To which Hadrian repHed : probably died shortly before. See note 9 Ego nolo Floras esse, below. The two first Popes after S. Peter, Ambulare per tabernas, viz., SS. Linus and Cletus, were conse- Latitare per popinas, crated in this house by the Prince of the Culices pati rotundos. Apostles. It stands— or rather, the " See below, a.d. 57. church built on the spot — near the hxht- 1* 2 Cor. xii. 1—4. rian basilica, commonly called Sa. Maria Maggiore. A.D. 45 (40). A.U.C. 796. CLAUDII 3. 45 the younger Pudens,^ married Claudia, a British maiden, the daughter, according to some, of Caractacus (Caradoc), who was himself in Rome at the time. Others make Claudia daughter of Togidumnus.* She was named after the Emperor, who had liberated Caractacus when the British chief was brought before him. Her surname was Rufina,^ perhaps from having been brought up under the Christian care of a great Roman and Christian lady, Pomponia Grsecina,*^ who was connected with the house of the Rufi. The younger Pudens, and Claudia, are mentioned by S. Paul as being in Rome towards the end of his life. Martial, in two epigrams,^ celebrates Claudia's British origin, her proficiency in Greek and Roman literature, and the esteem in which she was held in Rome. Pudens and Claudia had four children, S. Novatus, S. Timotheus, a priest,^ and SS. Puden- tiana and Praxedes. The house of the elder Pudens was made a church, with the titidus of " Pastor." ^ On the wooden altar, now preserved in S. John Lateran, S. Peter said his Mass. His see at Antioch was filled by ^ " Who, having by the Apostle's Tiands put on Christ in baptism, pre- served the robe of his innocence un- spotted, even to the crowning point of his life" {Rom. MartyroL). He is mentioned by S. Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 21. Fr. Cressy seems to confuse between father and son by making the two 'vives, Priscilla and Claudia, identical {Ch. Hist. Brit. iii. 12). The names of father and son were, indeed, the same ; Quintus Corne- lius. * It is at least a probable opinion, that Caractacus, Cogidunus, and Togi- dumnus, were all the same person. See note 12 of the preceding year. '" Cressy {Ch. Hist. iv. 7) supposes her to have been named Rufina, " from her husband Rufus," but without giving any authority. This would make her union with the younger Pudens a second marriage; of which there is no indication. It could hardly, at all events, have been after her conversion ; the feeling in pri- mitive times against second marriages being so decided. Cf. sup. ad A.D. 39, note 18. ^ See below, ad A.D. 57. '^ Martial {Epigr. ii. 54, iv. 13). ^ Rom. MartyroL June 20. Cressy's Ch. Hist, of Britain., iii. 12, 13, 15. ^ Pastor was a priest, the special friend of Pudens' and Claudia's four children. While S. Timotheus was preaching the Gospel to his British kinsfolk, S. Pastor wrote him a letter, detailing the death of his brother Novatus, and asking his wishes respect- ing the property left by the deceased. This was after the death of S. Puden- tiana, and in the pontificate of S. Pius I. See the letter, in Cressy, pp. 43, 44. Pastor afterwards interred S. Praxedes in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Salarian Way, where S. Pudentiana was already buried {Brev. Rom. in Jul. xxi.). 46 FASTI APOSTOLICI: TWELFTH YEAR. S. Evodius,^" who was consecrated by the Apostle/^ and who among his first episcopal acts must have consecrated S. Paul. The most general opinion assigns to this year the dispersion of the Apostles for their several spheres of mission beyond the bounds of Juda,>a, Samaria, and Syria.^' S. Paul receives, at Antioch, his distinct mission from the Holy Spirit to evangelize the Gentiles,^^ and is therefore consecrated a bishop, and goes forth with S. Barnabas, who also received his special call to the same sphere of action. This is S. Paul's First Apostolic Journey. The other " prophets and doctors " left at Antioch, who had been offering, together with them, the Holy Sacrifice," with fastings, were Simon, surnamed Niger, Lucius of Cyrene (afterwards, according to S. Bede and others, bishop of that place),^^ and Manahen,^^^ foster- brother of that Herod Antipas, who had mocked our Lord, and beheaded S. John Baptist. SS. Paul and Barnabas took with them, as a temporal coadjutor, John, surnamed Mark, the son of Mary, a disciple, in whose house in Jerusalem many^^ were assembled during S. Peter's incarceration,^^ 1" Eusebius {Chron.). He held the Sacrifice of the New Law on the altar see twenty-six years, and was succeeded (Cf. Heb. xiii. lo). by the great martyr, S. Ignatius, the ^^ S. Lucius, however, is claimed by friend of S. Polycarp, and who is said to Johannes Avcntinus, antiquita/uvi jioii have been the child whom our Lord scs^nis investigator {Variot: Annot. in took in His arms (S. Mark ix. 35, 36, lib. i. 6". Irenai,^. 42), as the Apostle of S. Matt, xviii. 2, S. Luke ix. 47), and Vindelicia and Rha^tia. He is there indicated to His disciples as a type of also called S. Paul's cousin. The same those who should enter the Kingdom of author speaks of S. Mark (apparently Heaven. John Mark) as evangelizing Noricum; " 'Ensth. Chron. S. Crescens, Moguntia or Mayence; and ^- See Appendix F. "a certain Clement," Metz. The archives *^ Acts xiii. 2 ; cf. Galat. ii. 9 ; I Tim. of Treves and Cologne record that SS. ii. 7 ; 2 Tim. i. 11. Maternus, Eucherius, and Valerius were " hiiTovpyovvTwv T

a/>L), reprobated by the frepiodoi, he leaves it doubtful which S. Jerome {De Scr/p/or. Ecclcs. in Luca), of his supposed f;icts of her life may be and authoritatively rejected by Pope taken as trustworthy. The devotion to Gelasius. This has tended to throw her must have flourished in Germany in discredit on the real facts of her con- the seventeenth century : Schiller gives version by S. Paul, and her after- the name to the heroine in his trilogy sufferings for the faith. See a note by of Wallenstein. The cathedral ofTar- Baronius, Martyrol. Rom. in Sep. 23 ; ragona in Spain was dedicated under Cornel, a Lap. in Act. xiv. ; and the the invocation of S. Thecla (Gams, in Bollandists, in Sep. 23. The author of voc). this apocryphal narrative, who was an ^ Rom. xvi. 12. Asiatic priest, was thereupon deposed * Roman Martyrology^ Nov. 20. from the ministry by S. John. See '-^ Acts xiv. 5,6. A.D. 48 (43). A.U.C. 799. CLAUDII 6. 53 FIFTEENTH YEAR. A.D. 48 (43). A.U.C. 799. CLAUDII 6. S. Paul's cure of a man at Lystra, lame from his birth/ made the multitude cry out:- "The gods are come down to us, in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter ;2 but Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker." Sacrifice was about to be offered to them : the people were scarcely restrained from it by the Apostles' protestation, and announcement of the Gospel of their Master. Some of the Jews, however, who had persecuted them in Antioch and Iconium, came to Lystra, "and persuading the multitude, and stoning Paul,* drew him out of the city, thinking him to be dead. But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and entered into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe."^ case (2 Cor. x. i, 10). But S. Paul's ready eloquence gained for him the supposition that he was Mercury, the anda-ToXos, or " messenger of the gods." It was an unconscious witness to a higher truth (Cf. Niceph. //zjV. Ecd. ii. 37)- * Compare Acts xxviii. 4-6 for an opposite revulsion of popular feeling, in the "barbarous people" of Melita, who first took S. Paul for a murderer, and then for a deity. He refers (2 Cor. xi. 25) to the stoning mentioned in the text. ^ Acts xiv. 19. That is, he walked a distance of at least twenty miles, after the stoning (almost to death) of the day before. This could not have been, except by distinct miracle. Some have supposed that he had actually died ; others, that the rapture into Paradise and the third heaven (2 Cor. xii.) took place at this time. S. Paul, when at Lystra, could have gone by a short and ^ Compare S. Luke's description of the miracle at the Beautiful Gate (Note 18 ad A.D. 34). 2 In their native tongue, which may have been spoken by S. Paul miracu- lously (Cf I Cor. xiv. 18). ^ Jupiter was especially worshipped at Lystra, and had a temple before the city gates (v. 12). It was to these very regions in the interior of Asia Minor that Jupiter, accompanied by Hermes (Mer- cury) was supposed to have descended, to be the guest of Baucis and Philemon (Ovid, Me/a/fi. viu. 611 seq.). The Lyca- onians probably spoke (v, 10) a bar- barous dialect of Greek, mingled with their own native Semitic. S. Barnabas, perhaps the elder of the two Apostles, had probably something venerable and majestic in his appearance (as S. Chry- sostom supposes, Horn, xxx.), while S. Paul could quote at least unfriendly allegations to the contrary, in his own 54 FASTI APOSTOLICI : SIXTEENTH YEAR. Not, however, without having made some disciples, of whom his future companion, S. Timothy, was chief.'^ Having preached the Gospel in Derbe, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of their converts, and ordaining for them priests in every church. Thence, through the Pisidian mountains, they came back to the plain of Pamphylia, more thoroughly evangelized Perga, and went on to Attalia,'^ about sixteen miles to the west, on the same coast. Ventidius Cumanus succeeds Tiberius Alexander as Governor of Judaea and Samaria. Herod, King of Chalcis, brother of Agrippa, dies. His kingdom is given to his nephew, Agrippa H. SIXTEENTH YEAR. A.D. 49 (44). A.U.C. 800. CLAUDII 7. Rome begins the celebration of the eight hundredth anniversary of the City's foundation, which now opens on the twenty-first of April, with Ludi ScEcidm-cs, and (probably) a Carmen Sccculare} S. Paul, having now completed five years in his First Apostolic easy journey to his own home, by the given epoch. The first were held by famous pass called the Cilician Gates ; ordinance of Val. Publicola, to avert a but he turns away, and back again plague which coincided with the expul- (uTreo-Tpe'ij/ar, xiw 2o) to rcsume his apos- sion of the Tarc[uins, U.C. 245, B.C. 509. tolic labours in another direction. See The second celeljration was U.C. 305, the S. Luke ix. 57—62. third, u.C. 505, the fourth, u.C. 608. ^ Cf.xvi. I, 2 ; I Tim. i. 2 ; 2 Tim. i. 2; Augustus celebrated the fifth, U.C. 737, iii. 10, II. B.C. 16. [It was for this feast that Horace ^ A newer sea-port than Perga, built composed his Caiiiicii Scccula7-ei\ Clau- by Attalus Philadelphus, King of Per- dius ordained their repetition in u.C 800, gamus (B.C. 159 — 138), and called after to square the celebration with the centu- him. ries of the City ; but Domitian regulated his ordinance on that of Augustus, and ^ In spite of their name and original proclaimed the games one hundred and i ntention, the Ludi Sceculares were not three years after his, viz., u.C. 840, B.c 86. celebrated exactly at the expiration of a Suetonius records that this caused some A.D. 49 (44). A.U.C. 800, CLAUDir J. 55 journey, returns with S. Barnabas to the Syrian Antioch.^ There, having assembled the Church, they related what great things God had done with thein, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And there they abode no little time with the disciples ;"^ that is, says Baronius, for two years, A.D. 49 and 50. The visit to Jerusalem for the Council is included in this period. Vespasian conducts the British campaign with great vigour, and obtains frequent victories. Twenty cities in Britain are reduced, together with the Isle of Wight* mockery among the people ; the terms of Claudius' proclamation having been, that " all should come as spectators of games which they had never seen before, and would never see again." They were continued under Septimius Severus and Caracalla, and lastly under the Emperor Philip, in the thousandth year of Rome, A.D. 247. The Christian Emperors for- bade them (See Appendix L). The games were ordered solemnly, and in much detail, in the Sibylline books. According to the exposition of the Ouindecimvirs, who had the privi- lege of reading them, they were to be celebrated every no years (Moreri, in voc. Jeiix Seciilaires). - A non-Catholic writer, Bishop Jacob- son, says here: "This Antioch was the Mother Church of Gentile Christendom." He had used the same expression on Acts xiii. I, adding that it took the place of Jerusalem; without, however, advert- ing to the fact that it had been the See of S. Peter. ^ Acts xiv. 25—27. ■* He is said to have fought no less than thirty battles, before he could sub- due the Belgas in the south of Britain, and the islanders of Vectis (Wight), "quam Britones insulam Guicd aut Gtcith, quod Latine divortium dici potest" {Nenniics), i.e., from its separa- tion from the mainland ; the same meaning as Britain and British. " Names like these, signifying a separated people, were very common among the Celtae in general. They appear even in the name of the island, Britain [hence brittle — brittan, Saxon — Johusoii]. And the name of Fict or Pict in our own country, being common to the Caledonians and the Irish, must have been derived from some separation that was equally common to both : their disjunction,, namely, from the tribes of the Roman Britons, and their position without the pale of the Roman British Empire (Whitaker, ///j/. of Craven, ii. 209 — 11). The Belgie occupied a large portion of the island of Britain. " Britannia^ mari- tima pars ab iis incolitur qui pr£ed^ ac belli inferendi causa exBelgistransierant: qui omnes fere iis nominibus civitatum appellantur quibus orti ex civitatibus eo- pervenerunt" (Cassar, Bell. Gall. v. 12). The Belga; first landed in Britain about 350 B.C., and took possession of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, and Devon. The dislodged Britons crossed over to Ireland {Er or ler (west) In (island). Other colonies of expelled Britons fol- lowed, about 250 years after the first, from Surrey, Middlesex, and Essex. These incorporated themselves into a body, called by the Britons the Scuites (Scots), i.e.. Wanderers, or Refugees (Whitaker's Hist, of Craven, ii. 232, 233). A parallel denomination is that of the Flemings, qit. d. Flyman, i.e. forban- nitus, and their country, Fleanderland, Flanders (De Lettenhove, Hist, de 56 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : SIXTKIiNTII YEAR. Plautius, meanwhile, found a still more arduous field among the Cassii'* and Silures." This year is assigned by some as the date at which S. Mansuetus, a British convert and disciple of S. Peter/ was by him consecrated to the sec of Toul (Tullum) in Lorraine, the metropolis of the Leuci. He uas of noble birth among the Caledonians, and had gone to Rome, either with Adminius or Baricus, or accompanying Caractacus. An ancient Gallican Martyrology mentions him on the 3rd of Sep- tember, and relates that he turned the hearts of the pagans among whom he came, by raising to life the son of the governor of the city. He died after an episcopate of nearly forty years.^ Flaiidrc, Introd.). At the time when Agricola was making his way northward, a body of the Uamnii, originally from Valentia, Valence, or rather, Valen- ciennes, who had previously crossed into Ireland from Galloway or Cantire, were driven out by some disturbances, and had re-crossed to Britain, where they were permitted to remain {Ibid.), — and " marched " on the west with the Damnonii, or men of Devon. They were connected with the Firbolgs (Viri Belga;) in Ireland. The Roman name of Winchester was Vcnta Belgarum (Milner, Hist, of Winchester). s The name of this tribe has survived historically in that of Cassibclan. It extended, says Lingard (vol. i. p. 10), together with the Dobuni, "along the left bank of the Thames, from the Severn to the Trinobantes," who were " on the eastern coast of the island, between the Thames and the Stour," their capital being London. ^ "Across the arm of the sea, now called the Bristol Channel, the most powerful was the tribe of the Silures " (Lingard, ut sup.). Silchester {Siliirum Castra) in Hampshire, remains as a very perfect specimen of a Roman town, as far as the circuit of walls may claim the title ; and in that respect vies with the square enclosure-walls of Richborough {Ruiupicr) near Ramsgate, and Burgh Castle {GarianonuJii), in Suffolk. '^ The Bollandists, however, seem to prove that the Saint of this name could not have consecrated the church at Toul earlier than the time of Constantine. They assert that he flourished in the reign of that Emperor and of his sons, and died about the year 375. S. Gerard, Bishop of Toul, translated his relics in 971, and founded the rich monastery which bears his name. See the autho- rities given by Butler, in Sep. 4. Gams {lit sup.), gives, as the first bishop of Toul {Tullum), "S. Mansuetus (Mansuy) Scotus," as having been consecrated in 338, and dying in 375; which corres- ponds in all particulars with the Bol- landist writer. * Cressy's Church. Hist. pp. 12, 13. Another Briton, afterwards consecrated to a Gallic see, was S. Marcellus, of whom the Eui^lish Marty ro I. (Sep. 4) says, that " he gathered into a flock the remainder of those who had been con- verted by S. Joseph of Arimatha^a and his companions; confirming them in the same faith." After apostolic labours in Britain, he was consecrated bishop of the united sees of Tongres and Treves, during the pontificate of S. Pius I., and the last years of the reign of Antoninus Pius. His martyrdom took place in A.D. 50 (45). A.U.C. 801. CLAUDII 8. 57 SEVENTEENTH YEAR. A.D. 50 (45). A.U.C. 801. CLAUDII 8. While SS. Paul and Barnabas are labouring in the work of the Gospel at Antioch, S. Peter, in Rome, lays the foundations of that Church whose faith should be "spoken of in the whole world." ^ He consecrates bishops, and sends apostolic labourers to gather-in and feed the flock in various parts. Among these were S. Romulus, whom the Apostle sent to Fiesoli ; S. Prosdocimus, whom he conse- crated the first Bishop of Padua; S. Clateas, Bishop of Brixen, martyred under Nero ; and perhaps S. Patrobas, made Bishop of Naples, or Puteoli.^ Among his spiritual children was S. Plautilla,^ and probably S. Hermas,* reputed author of the "Pastor." S. Apollinaris was probably consecrated to the See of Ravenna nine or ten years later. Ostorius Scapula succeeds Aulus Plautius in the command of Britain. "The reduced tribes were gradually moulded into the form of a Roman province; and when the Iceni dared to refuse the yoke, their rebellion was severely punished, and a colony of veterans was planted at Camalodunum to insure their obedience."^ Caradoc (Caractacus) and bis Silures being defeated at Caer-Caradoc in Shropshire, he was betrayed to the Romans by his step-mother, Cartismandua, Queen of the Brigantes. Caradoc and his family were the reign of Marcus Aurelius (Cressy, S. Patrobas is mentioned in the text pp. 42, 43). He was the first known more doubtfully, because he may have martyr of British birth : the honour of been afterwards converted by S. Paul being proto- martyr in Britain being (Rom. xvi. 14). reserved for S. Alban, during the perse- ^ Rom. Martyrol. May 20. cution under Diocletian, the first that * Ibid. May 9. S. Hernias, according visited this island. to Blondel, or S. Hermas and the apolo- gist Papias, says Dodwell, composed ^ Rom. i. 8. at least a portion of what are known as 2 Ron. Martyrol. for July 6, Novem- the " Sibylline books." ber 7, July 23, June 4, November 4. ^ Lingard, v. i. p. 25. 58 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : KIGIITEENTII VKAK. sent in chains to Romc,^ but he Claudius, and afterwards, perhaps, part of Britain." was restored to liberty by invested with authority over a EIGHTEENTH YEAR. A.D. 51 (46). A.U.C. 802. CLAUDII 9. Claudius expels from Rome all who were of the Jewish race;^ on account, says Suetonius, of their frequent tumult with the Christians." This edict included all Christians of the Jewish race, as Aquila and his wife Priscilla ; who therefore retired to Corinth, where they met with S. Paul the following year. S. Mark departs for Alexandria, having been consecrated its first bishop by S. Peter.^ ^ Tacit. Agric. 14. " "The supposition is confirmed by the similarity of the two names, and is little affected by the unsupported asser- tion of Dio, that Togidumnus had fallen at^ Caer-Caradoc. Whatever was the case, history speaks no more of the heroic brothers" (Flanagan's Manual of British and Irish History, p. 10). * Acts .wiii. 2, Thus " repressing for the moment," according to Tacitus {Aiinal. XV. 44), the exitiabilis siipcr- stitio of Christianity, or at least freeing the City from it (Cf. ad ann 66, infra, note). - " In consequence of seditions, that had for their instigator one Chrestus" (Suet. Claud, xxv.). The Name of our Lord was frequently thus pronounced and written by the Pagans ; whether by error, or as a play on the word {xpvo-rhs) as implying that His followers, "the Chreestians" were, as the modern phrase goes, '"good poor creatures," or rather, simpletons. Pliny {Epist. cix. ad TraJ.), Lucian (Jn Philop.). Brotier, how^cver, in his edition of Tacitus (AW. ad Annal. XV. 44), interprets this passage of Sueto- nius as referring, not to our Divine Lord, but to a Jew named Chrestos, the author of a sedition in Rome {impulsore direst d). The name, he says, was not an uncommon one, both among Greeks and Romans (crj7//;v7. note 3, ad .A.D. 42.) '•' .S. Leo writes to Dioscorus, Bishop of Alexandria : "As the most blessed Peter received the Apostolic primacy from the Lord, and the Roman Church continues in his ordinances, it is criminal to believe that his holy disciple, Mark, who was the first that governed the Church of Alexandria, formed decrees by other rules of his own traditions ; for doubtless the spirit of the disciple and of his master was from the same source of grace ; nor could the ordained transmit anything beside what he re- ceived from who ordained him" (S. Leo Papa ad Diosconnu Epist. Alex- andra. Thcodorct wrote: "This man (Dioscorus) brings forward at every turn that his is tlie throne of Mark ; yet he knows well, that the great city of Antioch has the throne of Peter, who was both the teacher of Mark, and the first and A.D. 51 (46). A.U.C. 802. CLAUDII 9. 59 S. Peter also left Rome, and returned to Jerusalem, where he presided at the First General Council, on the question, how far Christians were to observe the Jewish law. For some judaizing disciples had gone down from Judrea to Antioch, and asserted the necessity of such observance. " And when Paul and Barnabas had no small contest with them, they determined'^ that Paul and Barnabas, and certain of the other side, should go up to the Apostles^ and priests to Jerusalem, about this question." ° The only Apostles now in the Holy City were probably SS. Peter, James, and John." This was S. Paul's third visit to Jerusalem,^ fourteen years after his conversion, as seems the most probable opinion. "And the Apostles," SS. Peter, Paul, John, and James the Less, "and ancients, assembled to consider of this matter," under the presidency of S. Peter, who, after much discussion, reminded the Council of the special mission he had received from the first, that by his mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel, and believe. "Now, therefore," he exhorted, "why tempt you God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.^*"^ The Council then listened to the report given by SS. Paul and Barnabas, of the wonders which " God had wrought among the Gentiles by them." S. James, Bishop coryphaeus of the choir of the Apostles" " Acts xv. i, 2. S. Paul took S.Titus (t. iv. Ep. 86 ad Flavia,i.). with huTi to Jerusalem (Gal. ii. i). * S. Paul says (Gal. ii. 2) that he went '' Gal. ii. 9, Baronius /;/ loc. up to Jerusalem by revelation. * For the two previous ones, see Acts ■^ Theodoret, of the Greek Church, ix. 26, xi. 30, and for the two subsequent writing in the fifth century to S. Leo, ones, xviii. 22, and xxi. 17. This present says : " If Paul, that herald of the visit, on occasion of the Council, is truth, that trumpet of the Holy Ghost, referred to by S. Paul (Gal. ii. i), as repaired to Peter, to bring from him an being after an interval of fourteen years explanation to those of Antioch, who from his first visit (Acts ix. 26), which were disputing concerning questions of he had mentioned seven verses before ; the law ; with much greater reason do or, as others say, from his conversion, we hasten to your Apostolic throne, to The years are to be reckoned inclu- receive from you a cure for the wounds sively, by the Jewish method, and may of the Churches. For it pertains to you thus be really thirteen, or even twelve, to hold the primacy in all things" {Eptst. The passage, however, is not free from iv. 13). difficulty. ^ Acts xv. 10. 6o FASTI ArOSTOLICI : KIGIITEENTII VLAR. of Jerusalem, also gave his judgment on the side of liberation from Jewish observances. Finally, the Council sent a letter " to the brethren of the Gentiles that are at Antioch, and in Syria, and Cilicia, greeting." It was sent by SS. Paul, Barnabas, Judas Bar- sabas, and Silas or Silvanus.^° The Jewish law was declared no longer binding : observance of the moral law, and abstinence from eating blood ^^ and from things sacrificed to idols, sufficed. "It hath seemed good," was the expression of the infallible Church, " to the Holy Ghost and to us,^^ to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things." The Apostolic envoys returned to Antioch, "and gathering together the multitude, delivered the epistle : which, when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation," or exhortation. Judas Barsabas then returned to Jerusalem ; but S. Silas remained in Antioch, with SS. Paul and Barnabas. Shortly after this, S. Peter also visited Antioch, his former See. Acting on the decision of the late Council, he ate with the converted Gentiles ; but on the arrival of some convert Jews from Jerusalem, he withdrew again from that act of communion, for fear of shocking these Jewish neophytes. His example influenced S. Barnabas and the other Jewish converts at Antioch ;^'^ and he was publicly repre- hended by S. Paul.^* 10 The two last-named were gifted ^* " The weakness of the Galatians with prophecy (Acts xv. 32), as the forces him [S. Paul] to state not only others appear to have been. Silas was a that the other Apostles had not aided Roman citizen (xvi. 37). him in anything, and that he had not 1' Tertull. {A/>o/. ix.) vindicates the been less than they, but that he had Christians from the charge of Thyestian corrected something in Peter, who was banquets, by saying that they abstained the Prince of the Apostles " (Sedulius, altogether even from the blood of ani- Collect, in Ep. ad Gal. c. 2, Bibl. Max. mals. The same prohibition was con- 6"J>'. PF. t. vi. p. 557). St. Peter's fault tinued, Canon. Apost. Ixiii., Concil. (if, indeed, he was the " Cephas " whom Gangr. ii. (a.d. 370), 2 Concil. Trail. S. Paul reproved), was one of indecision Constantin. Ixvii. (a.u. 691). in conduct, and no more aftected his 1- Acts XV. 28. Compare S. Luke infallibility than the conduct of Pope X. 16, I Thess. iv. 11, 13. Hence the Honorius afterwards (cf. Y^s\\\xs in loc). usual form of a Concihar decree: "Ha^c " Convcrsationis fuit vitium, non pra:di- sancta synodus, in Spiritu Sancto legi- cationis ; non enim dc pnisdicatione, time congregata, decernit, etc." sed de conversatione notabatur a Paulo " Gal. ii. 13. ob inconstantiam victijs, quem variabat A.D, 51 (46). A.U.C. 802. CLAUDII 9. 61 SS. PauP^ and Barnabas now finally separated.^'' The latter took with him his nephew, John Mark (who seems to have accompanied them again from Jerusalem to Antioch), and went to his native Cyprus.^" He is said to have passed into Italy, evangelized Liguria, and established the Church in Milan.^^ Finally, he returned to Cyprus, and gained his crown by a glorious martyrdom.^^ pro qualitate personarum " (Tertull. C. Ma7xioii. lib. 4). On the whole subject, and (i) whether the Cephas here reproved was S. Peter, (2) how far the reproof can be adduced in diminution of the authority of the Prince of the Apostles, see a tripartite volume printed at Venice, containing {a) QiicstioHC difatto, se il Ccfa riprcso da S. Paolo, etc., by Girol. Costantini, 1763 ; ib) Harduin, Cepham a Paulo reprchcnsiini Petravi non esse; {c) a translation, both in Latin and in Italian, of a Dissertation of Calmet's, prefixed to S. Paul to the Galatians, 1755. "Both these Apostles received keys from the Lord ; the latter (S. Paul) of knowledge, the former of power ; Peter dispenses the riches of immortality, Paul bestows the treasures of knowledge. They there- fore tower above all the rest of the Apostles, and excel them by a kind of special prerogative. But which of the two is to be preferred before the other, is uncertain ; for 1 think them equal in merits, for they are equal in their passion, &c." (S. Maximus, Bishop of Turin, Horn. v. In natal. BB. App. P. et P. t. \'i., Bibl. Maxim. SS. PP. p. 36). The holy writer is not comparing them as to supremacy of jurisdiction, but as to sanctity, merits, and infused knowledge. For the contrast of the two Apostles in personal appearance, see Appendix M. 1^ Some have supposed S. Paul to have been at his native Tarsus, at the beginning both of his second and third Apostolic journeys. ^•^ On the question of taking with them John Mark, who had left them before. " Paulus severior, Barnabas clementior " (S. Jerome, adv. Pelag. ii. 6. See S. Chrys. Horn, xxxiv. i). This event was providential, for the wider diffusion of the w'ord of life. So S. Chrysostom says that our Lord, by His words to S. Peter (S. John xxi. 22), intended to repress his affectionate wish to remain near the beloved disciple. " For since they [the Apostles] were to be charged with the care of the habitable globe, it was not expedient that they should remain any longer together, which would have been a great loss to the world " (Hom. 35 in JoJia)in. ci?-ca 7ned.). So here. " Id factum est nutu Dei, ut sepa- rati diversis et pluribus evangelizarent, ait S. Chrysostomus" (C. a Lap. in loc). ^" John Mark, notwithstanding his fonner conduct (xiii. 13, cf. xv. 37-39), was afterwards received into favour by S. Paul (Col. iv. 10; 2 Tim. iv. 11), who also recommended him to the faithful in Colosse, and approved of him as " useful " to him " for the ministry." ^^ This, says Baronius, is attested by distinct tradition, the ecclesiastical archives of Milan, and the testimony of several writers. ^3 Rom. Mart. June 4. The bishop Anthemius found his body at Salamis, by the Apostle's own supernatural indi- cation, in the time of the Emperor Zeno, A.D. 485, with a copy of the Gospel of S. Matthew, transcribed by himself. Baronius gives an account of the trans- lation of the relics. The successor of S. Barnabas in the see of Salamis (afterwards Constantia) was S. Aristion, one of the seventy disciples ; then 62 FASTI APOSTOLICl : lilGIlTEKNTlI YEAR. Meanwhile, S. Paul commences his Second Apostoh'c Journey. Taking with him S. Silas, he "went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the Churches, commanding them to keep the precepts of the Apostles and ancients." -^ They came to Derbe and Lystra, in one of which cities S. Paul seems to have found again his former convert, Timothy,-^ who was a native of Lystra. He was the son of a devout woman, Eunice, herself, as also her mother, Lois,'^- a convert from Judaism. The Apostle chose S. Timotheus as a fellow-labourer; circumcised him, to conciliate the Jews, who knew his father to be a Gentile ; then passed with his three companions through Phrygia,-^ perhaps visiting Colossae ; and through the Galatai, Keltas, or Gauls,-* probably making for Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus! But the Divine Spirit indicating another direction, they passed through Mysia, and went down to Troas,^^ where S. Paul had a vision,'"^^ assuring him that God had called him to preach the Gospel in Macedonia. Thus he was now to pass from the East into Europe,^'^ where his final triumph awaited him. At this point, he took S. Luke also with him,-*^ probably at once on S. Luke's conversion-^ from paganism. S. Heraclius succeeded ; then, after but afterwards occupied by Gauls. Gclasius, came S. Epiphanius, conse- During his sojourn in Galatia, S. Paul crated a.d. 403. On the Epistle ascribed was visited by sickness (Gal. iv. 13, 14), to S. Barnabas, see Appendix N. -'' The coast city in Mysia, opposite -" Acts xv. 40, 41. Especially the the S.E. extremity of Tenedos. Julius decrees of the recent Council of Jeru- Caesar had thought of making it the salem. capital of his Empire. Constantine -> I Tim. I, 2 ; 2 Tim. i, 2 ; Cf. iii. 10, began building there, before he decided II. During the interval between S. Paul's on Byzantium. two visits to Lystra, S. Timothy had ^^ Acts xvi. 9. It partly resembled won a good report from the Churches that by which S. Patrick was directed both of Lystra and Iconium (Acts xvi. 2) to evangelize Ireland. His being still uncircumcised was no -" Infra, ad A. 11. 57, note, stumbling-block, in places where the -^ W'clearn this, simply from S. Luke's Gentile element largely prevailed. sclf-forgclting and unobtrusive change -"- 2 Tim. i. 5. of the third into the first person plural : -•' Multitudes of the Jews were settled compare Acts xvi. 8, with v. 11. here in the time of the Machabees. ''■'■* It is uncertain at what time S. Luke Two thousand families of Babylonian had the privilege of making the portrait Jews settled in the country (Jost, of the Blessed Virgin, which Niccphorus Geschic/it, Sec, i. 349). more than once {H/s/. vi. 16, xiv. 2 (?) -^ Originally inhabited by Phrygians, affirms to have been venerated in Con- A.D. 51 (46). A.U.C. 802. CLAUDII 9. 63 Sailing from Troas, they came to the island of Samothracia, and thence to Neapolis and Philippi. At this latter place, I.ydia,^*' a native of Thyatira,^^ was converted, and an evil spirit of divination was cast out^- of a damsel, whose masters, enraged at losing the gains she had brought, denounced them to the magistrates.^^ These caused SS. Paul and Silas^* to be severely scourged,^^ and cast into prison. Their feet were " made fast in the stocks." ^^ At midnight, while they were engaged in prayer and praise, an earthquake opened the prison doors : the gaoler and all his house were thereby converted. The two Apostolic sufferers declared their privilege as Roman citizens,^" which made the magistrates fear the consequences of their ill-treatment ; "and coming, they besought them; and bringing them out, they desired them to depart out of the city." Rejoining, therefore, their other companions, SS. Timotheus and Luke,^^ they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica.^^ stanlinople down to the time of S. Pul- cheria, together with those of SS. Peter and Paul, which were hkewise from the pencil of the Evangelist. ^° She was perhaps the "sincere com- panion," whom the Apostle exhorted (Phil. iv. 3), to help the women who had aided him in his work. Others suppose Epaphroditus, who may have been exhorted to help Lydia. ^^ Thus, though they were " forbidden to preach the word in Asia," their first convert in Philippi was an Asiatic. Lydia would doubtless carry the Gospel home to Thyatira, which became one of the Seven Churches of Asia (Apoc. ii. ^- Perhaps the first time when S. Paul had exercised his power over evil spirits. 33 (TTpaTriynl, a military command, as Philippi was a Roman Coloiiia. -^■* SS. Timotheus and Luke seem not to have been present ; they had probably remained in the house of Lydia, to instruct any who came to them (cf. xvi. 40). 3^ The Apostle refers to this "shame- ful treatment '' in writing afterwards to his Thessalonian converts (i Thess. ii. I, 2). It was one of the three occasions when he was " beaten with rods," z>., those of the lictors (2 Cor. xi. 25). •■^" Psalm civ. 18. "Nihil crus sentit in nervo, quum animus in caelo est." Tertull. ad Martyres^ c. 2, vol. i. p. 623. 3" Cf. Cicero, if. F^rr. v. 62, 63 , 66. Pro Rabirio, 3. ""^ S. Luke (contracted from Lucanus, as Silas from Silvanus), " the most dear physician" (Coloss. iv. 14 ; cf 2 Tim. iv. 11), was certainly with S. Paul at Troas, and went with him to Philippi ; for he uses, for the first time, the first person plural in describing what took place in those cities. Thenceforward, again, " he drops the style of an eye-witness and resumes that of a historian," until Acts XX. 4-6, when, seven years after, he once more accompanied S. Paul from Philippi to Troas, and so continued with him on his voyage to Rome, where he appears to have been long the Apostle's support in his persecutions (2 Tim. iv. 11). Eusebius, H. /T., iii. 4, and S. Jerome, 64 FASTI ArOSTOLlCI : EIGHTEENTH YEAR. Here they converted many ; and thus stirred up the hatred of the Jews, who tumultuously besieged the house of Jason,*'' where the Apostles were staying. SS. Paul and Silas, however, escaped by night to Beroea, and preached in the synagogue ; finding the Jews there more earnest^^ in listening, and searching the Old Testament to try this new doctrine by what they knew to be Divine revelation. The unbelieving Jews from Thcssalonica soon "came thither also, stirring up and troubling the multitude.^- And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul, to go unto the sea, but Silas and Timotheus remained there." They were soon enjoined by the Apostle to come to him at Athens, whither he had preceded them. Eventually, however, he sent S. Timothy, and probably S. Silas, from Athens'*^ to Thcssalonica again,"*^ and was not rejoined by them until he had reached Corinth.''' De Script. Ecd. 7, say that he was a native of Antioch. 3'' It was at this time the capital of the province of Macedonia, which from an imperial had become a senatorial province. Cassander gave it the name on rebuilding it, in honour of his wife Thessalonica, sister of Alexander the Great (Strabo, lib. vii. 10). ■•^ Perhaps an Hellenistic Jew, whose original name Josue was thus gra^cised. Cf. I Mac. viii. 17 ; 2 Mac. ii. 23. He may have been that kinsman of S. Paul, mentioned by him, Rom. xvi. 21. He is said to have become Bishop of Tarsus. *i (vyeveffTfpoi (Acts xvii. ii), more free from narrow Jewish prejudice, more really desirous of arriving at the truth. It need hardly be pointed out that this often-quoted text affords no ground for the boasted " right of private judgment" n//cr the faith has been sufficiently pro- pounded. The Berocans used the law and the prophets to find " Him of Whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote," and to test the new doctrine, then first proclaimed, by what the true Church of a former day had pro- pounded as Divine revelation. ••- This would have reminded S. Paul of his own former conduct (Cf. Acts xiv. 19 with xxvi. 11). '' " In order to understand the [Athe- nian] localities mentioned in the sacred narrative, it may be observed that four hills of moderate height rise within the walls of the city. Of these, one to the N.E. is the celebrated Acropolis, or citadel, being a square craggy rock, about one hundred and fifty feet high. Immediately to the W. of the Acropolis is a second hill of irregular form, but inferior height, called the Areopagus. To the S.W. rises a third hill, the Pnyx, on which the assemblies of the citizens were held ; and to the S. of the latter is a fourth hill, known as the Musa^um. The agora, or ' market-place,' where S. Paul disputed daily, was situated in the valley," partly inclosed by these four hills. ^' I Thess. iii. i, ^■' Acts xviii. 5. A.D. 52 (47)- A.U.C. 803. CLAUDII 65 NINETEENTH YEAR. A.D, 52 (47). A.U.C. 803. CLAUDII lO. While S. Paul awaited them at Athens, "his spirit was stirred within him, seeing the city wholly given to idolatry.^ He disputed, therefore, in the synagogue with the Jews and with them that served God, and in the agora every day with them that were there." The attention thus roused among the populace reached to the philosophers, the Epicureans^ and Stoics f who, conceiving from his mention of Anastasis (Resurrection) as well as of our Lord, that he was " a setter forth of new gods,"^ invited him to plead his cause before the highest tribunal, the Areopagus. Here, facing the Parthenon, and the colossal ^ Pliny says, there were three thousand statues of gods worshipped in Athens at this time; reckoning only those which stood in public places. Pausanias {A idea, xvii. 24) says, there was no place where so many were to be seen. Petronius {Sat. xvii.) declares that it was easier to find gods than men in Athens. Xeno- phon, De Repub. Aih., p. 699, says that the city was " one altar, one smoke of incense and sacrifice, one holocaust to the gods." Josephus also {co?ii?-a Apio7i. i. 12) calls the Athenians roxis eua-e^eard- Tovs Twv 'EW-fivcoy. ^ From Greece, the Epicurean doc- trines had very naturally penetrated to Rome. " The rich and polite Italians, who had almost universally embraced the philosophy of Epicurus, enjoyed the present blessings of ease and tranquillity, and suffered not the pleasing dream to be interrupted by the memory of their old tumultuous freedom" (Gibbon, vol. i. c. ii. p. 96). The "Garden" of Epicurus became a term to designate his followers, like the " Porch " of Zeno (Juvenal, Sat. xiii. 72, xiv. 319). Cf. Middleton's Lt/e of Cicero (sec. vii.). Epicurus left this garden to his school, on condition that philosophy should always be taught there, and that they should make an annual commemoration of himself 3 " The Stoa Pcecile, or " Painted Cloister" (Porch) gave its name to one of those sects who encountered the Apostle in the Agora. It was decorated with pictures of the legendary wars of the Athenians, of their victories over their fellow-Greeks, and of the more glorious struggle at Marathon. Origi- nally the meeting-place of the poets, it became the school where Zeno met his pupils, and founded the system of stern philosophy which found adherents both among Greeks and Romans, for many generations." * It was one of the charges on which Socrates had been put to death ; Kaivh. SaLiJ.6vta il(x Acts xviii. 8. i3 o Thess. i. 4. "^ I Cor. i. 14-16. ^' 2 Cor. i. i. ^ 2 Thess. iii. 2. ^^ Tacitus, Ann. xv. 73. Dion Cassius, ^ See I Thess. v. i — 10. Ixii. 25, says that GalHo died in the ^'^ Cf. Hob. i. I ; S. James v. 7—9; year 65. Seneca says that his brother, 2 S. Peter iii. 3, 4 ; 1 S. John ii. 18. It when in Achaia, took a sea-voyage to has ever been the constant expectation recover from an attack of fever {non of the Church ; as might be shown by corporis sed loci moi-bum, Sen. Ep. civ.). innumerable passages of Fathers and Seneca had returned from exile by the holy writers, especially S. Gregory the year 49, and had the youthful Nero Great. placed under his tuition. The procon- ^' 2 Thess. ii. 2 ; cf. iii. 17. His signa- sulate of Gallio, therefore, would be of ture was to authenticate the genuineness later date, and was probably obtained of his Epistle, in contrast with the forged by the influence of Seneca with the one. ^'- Rom. xvi. i. Emperor. A.D. 54 (49)- A-U.C. 805. CLAUDII 12. 71 Gallio's coming into the province, the Jews, hoping for a favourable turn from his known facility of disposition, " rose up against Paul^ and brought him to the judgment-seat." But the Proconsul refused to determine a matter so foreign to his jurisdiction,^^ and drove them away: whereupon, in their fury, they took Sosthenes,^'' the ruler of the synagogue, probably as being too favourable to the Apostle, and beat him before the tribunal.^^ The storm dying out, S. Paul remained in Corinth, zealously labouring " yet many days," i.e., till he had spent altogether a year and a half there (or more, according to S. Chrysostom). All the success that our Lord had promised him in vision^'' was abundantly given him. At length, determining to return to Syria, he went down with his companions to Cenchrese, the port of Corinth, and there shaved his head, in token that a Nazarite vow, which he had taken for a time, was expired.-*^ Nero marries Claudia, daughter of the Emperor Claudius, who' had adopted him as his successor. TWENTY-FIRST YEAR. A.D. 54 (49). A.U.C. 805. CLAUDII 12. S. Paul, now on his way to Jerusalem, sails towards Asia Minor, through the Icarian, a part of the .^gjean. Sea. Accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla, he came to Ephesus,^ and ^° He was acting in the spirit of a rescript of the Emperor Claudius, which inculcated universal toleration (Joseph. Aniig. XIX. vi. 3). ^^ See below, ad A.D. 57. 1' S. Chrysostom states that S. Paul also was beaten by the Jews. Sosthenes had already followed the example of Crispus, his predecessor in office, in receiving the faith, or did so now. S. Paul seems to have taken him with him to Ephesus (i Cor. i. i). The Greek Menology makes him Bishop of Colo- phon. The Roman Martyrology com- memorates him, November 28, as being converted, and severely beaten before the Proconsul. I'* Acts xviii. 9, 10. 2" Afterwards he took another vow,, which was completed by the time he arrived in Jerusalem, when he went ta offer his sacrifice of purification in the Temple (Acts xxi. 23—27). 1 One of the "Eyes of Asia" (Plin. Nat. Hist. V. 31); Smyrna being the other : so called, alike from the beauty and the advantageousness of their 72 P^ASTI APO.STOLICI : TWENTV-FIRST YEAR. left thcni there. During his stay, he held a discussion- with the Jev/s of Ephesus in their synagogue, which so much concih'ated them, that " they desired him that he would tarry a longer time." He could only promise to return to them, "God willing;" for he hastened towards Jerusalem, perhaps to accomplish a vow : and so went on through the coasts and islands of the yEga^an, to Cos and Cnidus,^ then across the open sea, by Rhodes and Cyprus, to Ca^sarea. This had become the military capital of Judaea, since the death of Herod Agrippa ; and was now under the procuratorate of Felix. Probably the Apostle arrived in Jerusalem too late for the festival.* He therefore "saluted the Church, and so came down to Antioch.^ And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, confirming all the disciples" whom he had brought to the faith at his previous visits ; as, in Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and the Pisidian Antioch. His other object seems to have been a collection for the Christian poor in Judaea.'' S. Silas probably remained behind in Jerusalem, where he was "a chief man among the brethren."'^ S. Timotheus still accompanied S. Paul, as probably did S. Titus.^ Meanwhile, Aquila and Priscilla, in Ephesus, met with Apollonius, or Apollo, a Jew born in Alexandria, "an eloquent man, one mighty in the Scriptures." He, "being fervent in spirit, spoke and taught diligently the things that are of Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John." He began to speak boldly in the synagogue ; and, coming under the notice of Aquila and his wife, was instructed by them** position. In a contrary sense, Pericles ^ See i Cor. xvi. i — 4 ; 2 Cor. viii. denounced the hostile ..^gina as "the ix. ; Rom. xv. 25, 26 ; Acts xxiv. 17. eye-sore" (?i? il/i?;'/. PersecutoriDii. estabUshed therein your Hohness, emit- - Theodoret says of the two Apostles: ting the rays of orthodoxy" (T. iv. Ep. "Their thrice-blessed and divine twin ad Lco)i. q.^\\\). star rose indeed in tlie East, but had ^' Rom. i. 10,11,15. He had a vision the setting of its existence, by choice, in afterwards, which showed it was the the West, and thence even now illumines Divine Will, xxiii. 1 1. A.D. 57 (52). A.U.C. 808. NERONIS I. 77 Not meeting with the reception he expected, he passed to Cyprus, thence to Ionia, and stayed at Ephesus ; where he drew the whole place after him by his prophecies and " lying wonders." It would seem that, before leaving Ephesus, S. Paul returned for a short time to Corinth.* His visit was probably for the purpose of reforming abuses in Christian morals ; many in that Church having reverted to the evil living for which Corinth had long been notorious. This painful^ visit produced too little effect ; his mildness was mis- taken for weakness : news came to him, on his return to Ephesus, that the evil was still increasing. He then wrote an epistle,^ which is not extant, commanding the faithful to withdraw from every professing Christian of evil life. Soon after, the Apostle sent Timotheus^ and Erastus before him into Macedonia, probably with a view to the same collection of alms. Timotheus, and perhaps Erastus also, went by way of Corinth,^ of which city Erastus seems to have been treasurer ; ^ or at least they made for Corinth after executing their charge in Macedonia. Timo- theus returned to Ephesus before S. Paul's departure thence. The Apostle now, in conjunction with " Sosthenes a brother," ^^ * 2 Cor. viii., ix. It seems uncertain when he first became ^ Wieseler, Chronol. pp. 232 — 341. a companion to S. Paul on his mission. " See I Cor. v. 9. Some have supposed him to have been '' S. Luke is silent regarding S. Timo- already converted when he was beaten theus from the date of his labours at before the tribunal of Gallio ; others Corinth (a.d. 53) to this point ; but it make him one of the seventy-two dis- cannot be doubted that he was all the ciples (S. Luke x. i, 17). This second while in faithful zealous attendance on opinion is against the statement of the the Apostle. Roman Martyrology, which, commemo- ^ See the affectionate expressions rating him on the 28th November, which the Apostle uses regarding him says : " At Corinth, the birthday of (i Cor. iv. 17), implying to the Corin- S. Sosthenes, S. Paul's disciple, whom thians that he had sent S. Timotheus to [that Apostle] mentions in his Epistle to them at great cost to his own feelings. the Corinthians. From being ruler of ^ Mentioned Rom. xvi. 23, and 2 Tim. the synagogue, he was converted to iv. 20. Christ ; and, suffering grievous wounds ^^ The Apostle joins the name of before Gallio the pro-consul, consecrated Sosthenes with his own, as likely to the first-fruits of his faith by so noble a have weight with the Corinthians, commencement." The Greek Menology among whom he had formerly been makes him bishop of Colophon, and ruler of the synagogue (Acts xviii. 17). keeps his feast on the 7th December. 78 FASTI APOSTOLICI: TWENTY-FOURTH YEAR. wrote from Ephcsus his First (canonical) Epistle to the Corinthians,^^ sending it by Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who had brought their letter to him.^' " At that time, there arose no small disturbance ;" a tumult raised by the silversmiths^^ of Ephesus, headed by one Demetrius, who per- ceived that the spread of the Gospel would interfere with their trade of making shrines for "Diana of the Ephesians."^* The town clerk,^^ however, allays it by a moderate speech, appealing to their good sense, and exculpating the Apostles. It is not this commotion to which S. Paul refers when^*^ he writes to the Corinthians that he had fought with beasts at Ephesus ; for the tumult occurred after he wrote that first Epistle. There is evidence^^ however, that he had indeed, like his convert S. Thecla, been exposed to wild beasts in the amphitheatre.^^ On the return of S. Timotheus to Ephesus, the Apostle ordained him bishop of that place :^^ then, having assembled and exhorted the disciples, he departed to Troas, hoping to find Titus there,-*' but failing to do so, pursued his way to Macedonia.-^ Probably, Tychicus " Excluding that which is not extant. OtaTpov. As in the amphitheatre, the 12 I Cor. xvi. 17, 18. moritmi were beheld by spectators, ^3 Among them, it is said, but on some from lower tiers of seats, some doubtful authority, was Alexander the from higher, so the combats and suffer- coppcrsmith (2 Tim. iv. 14 ; i Tim. i. 20). ings of the Apostles, who "died daily," He may have been the man of that were beheld, with very different eyes, name who was "put forward" by the from heaven, earth, and hell. Jews (Acts XX. 33), to defend their cause ■'^ Thus, the description given by him before the assembly in the theatre. to the Hebrews (c. xi. 34) of the triumphs i'' Sec Appendix P. of faith was realized in his own person 1^ rpa/i^areus, probably one of the in this as in so many other particulars, three chief Asiarchs, who kept the ^" i Tim. i, 3; iii. 15; vi. 20 ; 2 Tim. official register of the victors in the i. 6, 14 ; iii. 14 ; iv. 5. After many games. Others make it a municipal labours and conflicts for the Faith, he office under the Roman local authority. rebuked the Ephesians for their sacri- 1" I Cor. XV. 32. fices to Diana, and was stoned by them, ^"^ See Corn. h. Lap. in Acts xix. 40. a.d. 97. Rom. Mariyj-ol. January 24. The testimony of Nicephorus is distinct See above, a.d. 35, note 36. and circumstantial, given from the '^ 2 Cor. ii. 18. ancient Acts of S. Paul, that were ^^ S. Luke relates this journey into cited by Origen with approval, Peri- Macedonia too briefly to allude to the arch. I, 2. Cf. i Cor. iv. 9, where the afflictions endured there by the Apostle Apostle calls himself imdai'dTtos and (2 Cor. vii. 5). A.D. 57 (52). A.U.C. 808. NERONIS I. 79 and Trophimus, both of Ephesus, accompanied him." From Mace- donia,"^ he wrote his First Epistle to S. Tiniot/mis, instructing him in the duties of his episcopate at Ephesus, S. Titus now came to him from Corinth,-^ with an improved account of the state of things there. -^ "When he had gone over those parts, and had exhorted them with many words, he came into Greece,-*' that is, Achaia, which included the south of Macedonia. After three months, to avoid a conspiracy of the Jews, he returned to Phihppi, whence he wrote his Second (canonical) Epistle to the Corinthians, sending it by Titus and two others,-" probably SS. Silas and Luke, or perhaps Apollo, who were empowered to make collections for the faithful in Jerusalem. C. a Lapide and Baronius place in this year a voyage of S. Paul to Crete, and his ordination of S. Titus as bishop of that island. More recent authors assign it to a later date, after the Apostle's first imprisonment at Rome. Felix with great energy puts down the bandits who were infesting Judaea ;^^ and especially captures Eleazar, a noted chief of them. Pomponia Graicina, daughter of a consul,-^ and a relative of Cicero's friend Pomponius Atticus, is accused before the family council of abandoning the religion of the Empire, and embracing a foreign superstition.^*' She is acquitted by her husband, Aulus ^- Among his companions was Gains, insignis fccniina — a person of distin- or Caius, of Derbe, supposed to be the guished qualities. The name Grascina same to whom S. John afterwards wrote may imply an unusual cultivation of his Third Epistle. Greek literature and philosophy. She ^^ The Roman Breviary says it was seems to have been a Christian for some written from Laodicea. time. Tacitus says that for forty years ^^ 2 Cor. vii. 6, 7. after her friend and relative, Julia the 25 2Cor. vii. 5 — 16. daughter of Drusus, had been put to 28 Acts XX. 2. death by Claudius and Messalina, she -'^ 2 Cor. viii. 16, 18, 22. was noted for her absence from all ^^ He had, however, previously coun- joyous festivals, and for her mournful tenanced these sicarii, and encouraged deportment ; and Rome admired this their presence in Jerusalem. See end bold protest against Imperial tyranny. of the preceding year. Much of this conduct was perhaps dic- '^'^ See an interesting article in the tated by the necessity of keeping away Z>;/MV^ /^£■77V■r^' for October, 1874, p. 314. from heathen rites. Claudia, daughter ^" Supcfstitiotiis externa rea, says of Caractacus, afterwards wife to the Tacitus {Afi7i. xiii. 32), who calls her younger Pudens (2 Tim. iv. 21), was 80 FASTI APOSTOLICI : TWEXTV-FOURTII YEAR. Plautius,^^ the conqueror of Britain under Claudius ; and is henceforth able to practise the Christian religion unmolested. She afterwards converted T. Flavins Sabinus, the elder brother of Vespasian, and gave him her daughter Plautia in marriage. Plautia became mother to T. Flavins Clemens, afterwards martyred under Domitian, and to Plautilla, mother of S. Flavia Domitilla. S. Flavia was educated by her uncle Clemens, and martyred in the island of Pontia, at the same time with her two chamberlains, SS. Nereus and Achilleus, by whose exhortation she had consecrated herself to the Lord. About this time, Suetonius Paulinus, "a general of consummate skill and distinguished reputation,"-^- takes the command in Britain ; succeeding Aulus Didius and Veranius, who had successively occu- pied that post. / apparently consigned to her tutelage in Rome, and thus gained her own conversion (Lewin, Life and Epistles of S. Paul, vol. ii. 392, etc.). 21 The pedigree stand thus : AULUS PlAUTIUS, = POMPONIA GR.^i- I CINA Plautia, = T. Flavius Sabinus, bro- ther of Vespasian ; son of T. Flavius Petro, (Suet, in Vesp. i). T. Flavius Plautilla, Sabinus, put to death under Do- mitian. niece toVes- pasian, cou- sin to Titus and Domi- tian. T. Flavius Clemens, martyred under Do- mitian, du- ring his consulate. Flavia Domitilla, educated by her uncle T. F. Clemens; consecrated herself by the exhortation of SS. Nereus and Achilleus ; afterwards banished to the island of Pontia, and martyred. Dio, Hist. Rom. lib. 67, mentions that Domitian slew these his near relations, on an accusation of impiety, together with many others who had fallen into Jewish \i.e. Christian] ways. He seems mistaken, however, in making T. Fl. Clemens husband instead of uncle to Fl. Domitilla. ■'^ Lingard, vol. i. p. 28. Hume, how- ever, implies that the success due to his military skill was marred by excessive severity, which not long afterwards pro- cured his recal. " Nero soon after [the suicide of Boadicea] recalled Suetonius from a government, where, by suffering and inflicting so many severities, he was judged improper for composing the angry and alarmed minds of the inhabi- tants. After some interval, Cerealis received the command from Vespasian, and by his bravery propagated the terror of the Roman arms. Julius Frontinus succeeded Cerealis both in authority and in reputation. But the general who finally established the dominion of the Romans in this island, was Julius Agricola," etc. {Hist. Engl. vol. i. p. 9). A.D. 58 (53). A.U.C. S09. NERONIS 2. 8 1 TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR. AD. 58 (53). A.U.C. 809. NERONIS 2, From Philippi, apparently, S. Paul came to Nicopolis/ intending there to winter. From this place, according to some, he wrote his Second Epistle to the Corinthians ; giving reasons for not .being able to fulfil his intention, expressed in the former Epistle, of coming to them. He mentions the oppositions and afflictions he had sus- tained in Asia, Macedonia, and other places ; these are omitted by S. Luke, as not having occurred during his presence with the Apostle. The holy Evangelist was probably at Corinth. About this time, however, S. Paul seems to have penetrated into the mountainous interior of Macedonia, and thence to have crossed to the shores of the Adriatic, and "round about as far as unto Illyricum." - In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, he had told them^ of his proximate coming to visit them. This promise he now seems to have fulfilled ; and from Cenchreai, the port of Corinth, he probably wrote his Epistle to the Romans^ whom he had always intended^ to visit on his return from Jerusalem. ^ See Tit. iii. 12. It was not the city and to send on before him Zenas the of that name inThrace,as S. Chrysostom lawyer, and Apollo (Tit. iii. 13). supposes, but, according to S. Jerome, ^ Rom. xv. 19. Nicopolis in Epirus, built by Augustus, ^ 2 Cor. xii. 14 ; xiii. i, 10. and so called (" City of Victory ") in * It was sent to Rome by Phoebe, a commemoration of his victory over deaconess of the Corinthian Church, Antony at Actium, a promontory in the who was proceeding thither on some neighbourhood. It was afterwards the business (Romans xvi. i). The fact that birth-place of Pope S. Eleutherius. St. Peter is neither saluted nor men- C. k Lapide, who places in the pre- tioned in the Epistle to the Romans, ceding year the Apostle's visit to Crete, has been urged by non-Catholic writers, and the consecration of S. Titus as But (i) S. Peter may have been, to Bishop of that island, supposes S. Paul S. Paul's knowledge, absent on one of to have written to him at this time from his apostolic circuits ; (2) another and NicopoUs, urging him to come to him, private epistle (like that to S. Timothy) G 82 FASTI ArOSTOLICI: TWENTY-FIFTH YLAR. Though S. Peter himself may have been at that time absent from Rome, yet the faith he had planted there was, even thus early, " spoken of in the whole world." ^ On arriving at Corinth, S. Paul received from Ephesus the news that some of his Galatian converts were in danger of relapsing into Judaism. He therefore wrote his Epistle to the Galatians, which, after conveying the Apostolic salutation, begins abruptly and severely,^ pointing out that any one so relapsing would lose all the benefit of his Gospel privileges. The similarity in style and topics of the two Epistles, to the Romans, and to the Galatians, would of itself indicate that they were written nearly at the same time, and under circum- stances similarly affecting the inspired writer.^ S. Paul now held his judgment on those who had disturbed the Corinthian Church,^ and excommunicated the worst offenders. He remained three months at Corinth, as his head-quarters, completing the collection for the Christians of Palestine, on which he had been so long engaged. This was entrusted to treasurers approved^*' by the faithful in Corinth, who were to accompany S. Paul with it to Jerusalem. may have been sent to him by the same messenger, and have rendered super- fluous a distinct salutation when S. Paul was addressing the Roman Church at large ; (3) he does not salute S. James in his Epistle to the Hebrews, nor S. Timothy in that to the Ephesians : and such omission was in accordance with his usual practice (see Dr. Lardner's Hist, of the Apostles and Evangelists, c. xiii.). Of those who are saluted in the Epistle, or whose salutations the Apostle conveys, Sosipater is commemo- rated in the Martyrology, March 25, Asyncritus and others, April 8th ; Ouartus, who became Bishop of Berj'- tus, November 3rd ; Philologus, Bishop of Sinope, November 4th ; Patrobas, on the same day, who became Bishop of Naples or Puteoli ; Rufus, Bishop of Thebes, November 21. * Rom. i. 10, XV. 23—28. •^ Rom. i. 8. "The solidity of that faith which is commended in the Prince of the Apostles is perpetual ; and as what Peter believed in Christ is perma- nent, so what Christ instituted in Peter is permanent " (S. Leo, Serm. iii. Dc Natal. Ord. c. 2—4, p. 11— 13). " This severe tone, however, soon gives place to the most affectionate and even maternal solicitude (c. iv. 19, 20) — ^QiXov aWd^ai ttjv (pwvriv fxou. " A mother changes her voice ; sometimes intreat- ing, sometimes reproaching, sometimes lamenting, as affection suggests " (Ornsby). ** Except that in the one he had to remind and to rebuke, in the other merely to instruct and exhort. ^ For the form and procedure of this, compare i Cor. v. 5. 1" I Cor. xvi. 3. A.D. 58 (53)- A.U.C. 809. NERONIS 2. 8^ On his way to Judaea, he made a detour to Philippi, in order to confirm those in that city whom he had brought to the faith. His companions were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus of Beroea, Arls- tarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gains of Derbe,^^ Timotheus and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.^- These he sent before him to Troas, but retained S. Luke/^ whom he had left at Phih'ppt seven years before, and who once more became the companion of his journeys, labours, and perils, to the end. After Easter, the Apostle and S. Luke (the " we " of the remainder of the narrative in the Acts) made a five days' voyage to Troas, and stayed there seven days, during which S. Paul raised Eutychus from the dead. The further points of their voyage towards Jerusalem were Assos,^* Mitylene,^^ Chios, Samos, Miletus. Here the ship was detained long enough to enable S. Paul to send for the clergy of Ephesus^*' to come to him. He would not now delay by visiting them ; " for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to keep the day of Pentecost at Jerusalem." The Holy Spirit probably urged him to hasten to the City, to visit the Ever-Blessed Mother of God, and to commend to her his approaching trials and imprisonment, before her own sacred death. ^^ So described, to distinguish him in it ; hence the term sarcophagus was from Gaius of Macedonia, ch. xix. 29. primarily applied to coffins hewn out ^- Trophimus was an Ephesian, Acts of it, and thereafter more generally. xxi. 29. 15 Mitylene pulchra, Hon Ep. xi. 17. 1^ See Acts XX. 5, where the Evangelist Compare Od. i. vii. i. resumes the first person plural in his 1° His own disciple S. Timotheus, of narrative, and maintains it to the end. course, foremost among them, as their It has been suggested that S. Luke's Bishop : with the Bishops, or " Angels "' calling as a physician may have caused (Apoc. i. 20, ii. iii.) of others of the- him frequent alternations of residence Seven Churches of Asia. So afterwardS' between Philippi and Troas (compare S. Ignatius of Antioch, on his way to Acts xvi. 10, &c.), and so have made martyrdom in Rome, found several at him familiar with those coasts. Perhaps Smyrna with his friend S. Polycarp,. he hired the ship, which seems to have Bishop of the place. S. Iren^eus (iii.. been at S. Paul's disposal (See V. 1 7j. 14, 2), says: "In Mileto convocatis " Celebrated for its granite tombs, episcopis et prcsbyteris, qui erant ab' of the lapis Assius, Pliny, A''. H. ii. 95, Epheso et a reliquis proximis civita- xxxvi. ly. This stone had the property tibus." The distance from Miletus to- of consuming the flesh of those buried Ephesus was about twenty-five miles. 84 FASTI APOSTOLICI : TWENTV-FIFTII YEAR. and glorious Assumption, which is assigned, by a very probable opinion, to this year. When the Hphcsian clergy were come to S. Paul at Miletus, he delivered to them a solemn and tender charge on their responsibili- ties : announcing that they should meet no more on earth ; though all he knew of his own future, and that by repeated revelation/' was that bonds and afflictions awaited him at Jerusalem. "And there was much weeping among them all ; and falling on the neck of Paul, they kissed him ; being grieved most of all for the word which he had said, that they should see his face no more. And they brought him on his way to the ship." Thence they sailed to Cos,^*^ Rhodes, and Patara,^^ where they found a ship ready to sail for Tyre,-° with a cargo of merchandise. Sighting Cyprus,-^ they steered south-east, and so arrived at Tyre, where they stayed some days with disciples.^'^ Thence they pro- ceeded along the coast of Palestine to Ptolemais^^ ^nd Caesarea. At Cjesarea, they stayed with S. Philip the deacon,^'' who " had four daughters virgins,-^ who did prophesy." Another prophet here joined them, Agabus, who had formerly predicted the famine ; he " See Acts xx. 23; xxi. 4, 10, 11. 46 and 51, notes, and F. Gams, there Compare Rom. xv. 31. quoted). '* It has been well remarked, that -^ Probably converts made on the Cos would have a special interest for dispersion from Jerusalem that followed S. Luke, S. Paul's companion, as being the martyrdom of S. Stephen, Acts xi. the birth-place of Hippocrates the 19. S. Paul himself would doubtless physician, and of Apellcs the painter. have visited Tyre (which lay on the It had a famous temple of /Escula- great Roman road from Antioch to plus. Jerusalem) when he went up to the J'-* Where was a temple and oracle of Council, Acts xv. 3. Apollo. Herod, i. 182. Hon Od. iii. 4. ^^ The modern S. Jean D'Acre. It " Patareus Apollo." had been rebuilt, 'not long before the -f' Three hundred and fifty miles time of the Machabees by one of the across the open sea. Ptolemies, and re-named after himself. 21 Ai/a(^o^eVTes tV KuTrpor, Acts xxi. 3. The Original name was Accho, Judges S. Paul, at the sight of the island, must i. 31. have had many memories of his first -^ See Acts viii. 40. missionary voyage thither, twelve years '^'' Euseb. E. H. iii. 31, quotes earlier before, in company with S. Barnabas, writers as saying that they lived to old who probably was there at the moment age in Hierapolis, and that the tomb of (cf. A.D. 51), having been consecrated to two of them, with S. Philip himself, was the see of Salamis a.d. 57 (Cf. ad .\.D. to be seen there. See above, ad A.D. 39. A.D. 58 (53). A.U.C. 809. NERONIS 2. 85 now foretold to the Apostle the bonds of which S. Paul had himself spoken at Miletus, and that the Jews should deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.-" Arriving in Jerusalem, about Pentecost,"" "the brethren received us gladly : and the day following, Paul went in Vvith us unto James, and all the ancients were assembled ; whom when he had saluted, he related what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry." At the suggestion of S. James, he undertook the vow of a Nazarite, to conciliate the converted Jews in things indifferent ; but going into the Temple for its fulfilment, was set upon by some fanatical Jews as the " man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place." -^ The Apostle was in instant danger of his life ; when Claudius Lysias, the commandant of the garrison in the fortress Antonia,-^ came with sufficient force to compel them to release him. As he was being carried into the castle, in the midst of tumult, he obtained Lysias' permission to address the 26 This was fulfilled by S. Paul being brought back a prisoner to that very city, a fortnight afterwards, in custody of Roman soldiers, and accused by his own nation, who wished to destroy him. -" See Acts xx. 16. -^ Compare vi. 13, for the same accu- sation made against S. Stephen. It must have come strongly into the mind of the Apostle, as he was thus making reparation for his former persecuting acts. -^ Contiguous to the Temple, on the north-west, and almost forming part of it, but raised high above it, and con- nected with the Temple buildings by a flight of stone steps. It had been built by the Asmonean princes, and called Baris ; then rebuilt by the first Herod, and named after Mark Antony, Joseph. B. J. i. 4, 5. Within its walls were barracks for at least a thousand soldiers. These covered galleries, or "cloisters" are often mentioned by Josephus {^Bell. Jiid. lib. ii. xv. 6, xvi. 5, xvii. I ; lib. iv. ix. 12 ; Atitiq. xv. ii. 3, 5). The stairs were broken down, and so the communication between the temple and Antonia cut off, by the Jews, in their revolt against Florus {Ibid.). The ex- ternal aspect of Jerusalem, and of its fortifications, is graphically described by Tacitus, //zV/.v. 11 (compare 2 Kings V. 9, 3 Kings xi. 17, i Paral. xi. 4 — 8, 2 Paral. iii. i, Lam. v. 18, Zach. viii. 3, 2 Esdr. iv. and 5, 15, 16). " Urbem, arduam situ, opera molesque firmave- rant, quibus vel plana satis muniretur. Nam duos colles, immensum editos, claudebant muri per artem obliqui, aut introrsus sinuati, ut latera oppugnantium ad ictus patescerent. Extrema rupis, abrupta ; et turres, ubi mons juvisset, in sexaginta pedes ; inter devexa, in cente- nos vicenosque attoUebantur ; mira specie, ac procul intuentibus pares. Alia intus maenia, regime circumjecta ; con- spicuoque fastigio turris Antonia, in honorem M. Antonii ab Herode appel- latur." See Appendix Q. 86 FASTI APOSTOLICI : TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR. Jews ; Avho heard him with patience till he announced his mission to the Gentiles, when the commotion was renewed with greater violence. Lysias then commanded him to be examined by scourging and torture. He now again, as at Philippi, asserted his privilege as a Roman citizen, and so escaped the indignity.^^ The next day, Lysias called a Sanhedrim, under the presidency of Ananias^^ the liigh-priest, "and bringing forth Paul; he set him before them." By declaring himself a Pharisee, and that the real question was a future resurrection, S. Paul divided the assembly, diverting the con- tention from himself to the Sadducees. Claudius Lysias had him safely conveyed into the fortress, where the Apostle was again^^ favoured by a vision of our Lord at night, saying: "Be constant; for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome." Next day, more than forty Jews conspired by oath not to eat or drink till they had assassinated him : but it was discovered by the Apostle's nephew, who informed Lysias. S. Paul was therefore sent by night, under escort of two hundred legionaries, seventy horsemen, and two hundred light-armed troops, by a forced march towards Cnesarea, for judgment before Antonius Claudius Felix, Governor of Judaea and Samaria.^^ Halting at 30 The commandant had made him- destruction of Jerusalem, a period of self liable to punishment, not only for 107 years, there had been twenty-eight preparing to scourge a Roman citizen, high-priests: a state of confusion and but for having bound him ( Valcr. Max. secular interference which denoted, iv. I, Cic. in Vcrr. v. 54). says Eusebius (//.£". i. 6), that the old •"'' "Son of Nebedttus. He had been priesthood was about to give place to •sent in chains to Rome, by Ouadratus, the new. prefect of Syria, to answer to Claudius ^- Compare, for other instances, Acts for his conduct ; but was enabled to xviii. 9, 10 ; xxvii. 24. 'Come off successfully, and returned to ^^ He had been appointed through the Jerusalem " (Ornsby, in Act. xxiii. 2). influence of his brother Pallas, who had S. Paul was unacquainted with him by arranged the marriage between Claudius sight (Acts xxiii. 5), having been little and Agrippina, Nero's mother ; thus in Jerusalem since his conversion, more procuring the accession of Nero, who than twenty years previously. More- afterwards made Felix Governor of all over, since the death of Herod, there Juda:a, including Samaria, Galilee, and had been a great number of high-priests, Pcrita. At the same time, Agrippa II. the office being no longer held for life, had a large accession of territoiy from nor by legitimate succession (Jos. y^/z/zV. the Emperor (Joseph. Bell. Jiid. ii. XV. 2, XX. 18). From Herod to the xiii. 2). Felix retained his office for ten A.D. 5S (53). A.U.C. 809. NERONIS 2. 8/ Antipatris,^* the foot-soldiers returned to Jerusalem, while the horse- men pushed on with the Apostle to Caesarea. In a few days, Ananias the High Priest, and others, with Ter- tullus an orator, came down to accuse him. The Apostle defended himself; and P'elix deferred judgment till the arrival of Lysias. Meanwhile, he assigned him quarters, with a centurion, and permitted his friends to have access to him. Felix afterwards, with his wife Drusilla, a Jewess, gave the Apostle another audience ; in which S. Paul filled him with a salutary dread by treating of justice and chastity, and of the judgment to come f^ but Felix put off the con- sideration of these things to " a convenient time," which seems never to have been given to him. Domitius Corbulo, who had greatly distinguished himself in Germany and in the East, is made Governor of Syria. Fortius Festus^*^ arrives at Caesarea to replace Felix in the governorship of Judaea and Samaria, at the end of the second year of Nero.^'' After three days, he goes to Jerusalem, but refuses the years (say some ; at least for six. Cf. rebuilt by Herod, who called it Anti- sup. A.D. 52). On his recal, he only patris, after his father Antipater (Ant. escaped punishment for mal-adminis- xiii. 15, i, xvi. 5, 2, B. J", i. 21, 9). Its tration, through his brother's influence modern name is Kafr-Sabaj but it (Joseph. Antiq. xx. 7, 9). They had both scarcely exists, except that the name been slaves, but liberated by Claudius. identifies the position. " Felix per omnem sa?vitiam et libidi- ^i Tacitus gives Felix the character of nem jus regium servili ingenio exercuit" a cruel, unjust, and immoral man {Ann. (Tacit. Hist. 1. v. 9, 6). " Pallas, ce vil xii. 541, Hist. v. 9, 6). ministre de Claude, dont I'opulence ^^ Neither Tacitus nor Suetonius men- avait scandahse la corruption meme de tion him. He continued with great Rome ; ce qui n'avait pas empeche le energy his predecessor's operations senat de lui voter les honneurs d'un against robbers (Joseph. Antiq. xx. viii. mausolee " (Gerbet, Rome C/irc'tienne, 10, i?^?//. ///^/. lib. ii. xiv. i), but he died vol. i. p. 205). Felix had two successive within two years of assuming office, and wives named Drusilla (see Acts xxiv. was succeeded by Albinus, as he, again, 24), one, the grand-daughter of Antony by Gessius Florus. Cf. ad A.D. 68. and Cleopatra, the other, a daughter of '■^~ This seems, chronologically, the Herod Agrippa I., and wife of Azizus, most probable interpretation of Sierias King of Emesa, whom Felix had per- iT\7]poi6(i(T7]s ; though many modern com- suaded this second Drusilla to leave. mentators follow S. Bede, Onuphrius, Their son Agrippa perished in the and others, in supposing S. Paul to destruction of Pompeii (Joseph, ut sup.). have been imprisoned for two full years ^ Originally named Capharsaba ; in Csesarea, If this was so, he would 88 FASTI ArOSTOLlCI : TWENTV-FIFTII YEAR. Jews in the City to allow S. Paul to be brought from Cassarea ; the Apostle thus escapes their second plot against his life. Eight or ten days after, Festus returns to Ca^sarea, and, having had the Apostle brought before him, determines to send S. Paul to Rome, on his own appcal,^^ to Ccxsar. Ilcrod Agrippa II. .^'^ with his sister Berenice,^° came to salute Festus, who requested him, as a Jew, to have been in bonds for Christ during^ four years altogether in his Apostolic course. The Greek certainly appears to favour this latter view. Baronius, Lori- nus, and Scaliger suppose him to have been apprehended in the second year of Nero, and sent to Rome towards the end of that year (compare Acts xxvii. 9). The following reasons appear to favour this opinion, (i) It is difficult to suppose that S. Luke, who seems to have been master of his own actions, should either have left the Apostle in his imprison- ment, or, remaining still with him, should have had no event to record during those two years. Especially when this silence is contrasted with the minute details of the after voyage, and the graphic account he has given of the commencement of S. Paul's imprison- ment in Rome. (2) The injustices and cruelties of Felix in administering the prefecture of Judfea had reached such a height, that it seems unlikely that those intluential Jews, who proceeded to Rome on his disgrace, to accuse him before Nero (Joseph, y:/;///!/. xx. 7) should have waited for two whole years without some movement for his dismissal. (3) Neither Festus in his answer to the Jews in Jerusalem and his address to Agrippa, nor S. Paul in his pleadings, make any allusion to so long a detention. (4) Felix, in his interviews " often times " with his prisoner, would have given S. Paul an opportunity of putting in his appeal to Caesar, of which it seems very unlikely that he should not have availed himself within two years :— eager as he must have been, to bear witness to the truth in the Eternal City ; compare Acts xix. 21 ; xxiii. 11. If we suppose the "two full years" to begin with the prefecture of Felix in Juda>a, to which he was appointed by Claudius towards the close of that Emperor's reign, a second and concurrent reason is afforded for S. Luke's expression, 5i€Ti'as ■K\rjpw&iiffi)s. On the other hand, if we take the words to indicate a two years' imprisonment, the date of our Lord's Nativity will be thrown back to U.C. 750 (see Intro- duction, p. vii.). "- Our Lord had already made known to S. Paul (Acts xix. 21, xxiii. 11) His Will that the Apostle should bear witness to Him in Rome : this doubtless moved S. Paul to appeal to Caesar. ■''' Agrippa II. lived chiefly in Jeru- salem ; though Claudius had assigned to him his dominion in the N. W. of Galilee, with Ca;sarea Philippi for its capital. His royalty at this time was only titular, and by courtesy. See note i ad D. 43, supra. Though descended from a race of persecutors, Agrippa the Younger appears to have been mild and equitable ; which may account for the tone observable in S. Paul's address to him, c. xxvi. 2, 3, 26, 27. ■*" The same name as Veronica. She v>'as also elder sister to Urusilla, the wife of Felix. She had been first married to Herod, King of Chalcis, brother to H. Agrippa I. and therefore her own uncle. After his death, she became the wife of Polemon, King of Cilicia, but soon left him (Joseph. Aiitiq. XX. 7, 3) and lived chiefly with her brother. After the destruction of Jeru- A.D. 58 (53). A.U.C. 809. NERONIS 2. 89 hear his fellow-countryman.'*^ This he did, with attention, until the Apostle proclaimed the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord, and the calline of the Gentiles ; when Festus broke with a loud voice, whether of derision, astonishment, or impatience, affirming him to be mad. Agrippa seems also to have scoffed at him ;^^ but both his judges agreed that their prisoner had done nothing worthy of death, or even of imprisonment ; and that only his appeal to Cffisar prevented his release. S. Paul, therefore, with S. Luke,*^ Aristarchus^^ of Thessalonica, and other prisoners, was put on board a ship of Adrumetum,^° and sailed to Sidon, thence " under "^'' Cyprus, and so by the Apostle's native Cilicia, and Pamphylia, to Myra.'*^ They made Cape Salmone, the eastern extremity of Crete, and got to Thalassa. The fair season being now past,"*^ the Apostle warned Julius the centurion,^'-* who had salem, she went to live in Rome, where Titus wished to make her Empress (Suet. Tit. vii. Dion. Cassius, Ixvi. 15). The identity of the names Berenice and Veronica disposes of the shallow objec- tion brought against the legend of S. Veronica's handkerchief, used on the way to Calvary ; as though that name were a mere barbarous compound of vera and ilKuv. '^^ Thus fulfilling our Lord's words : S. I^Iatt. X. 18, S. Mark xiii. 9, S. Luke xxi. 12, Acts ix. 15. Also see Psalm cxviii. 46, 161. ^- As the Athenians had done before, Acts xvii. 32. ^3 Acts xxvi. 28. Compare i S. Peter iv. 16. The pi-nbable meaning of Agrippa's words is : "You are peisuad- ing yourself {irdQus) that I can so easily, or in so short a time (tV dKiyqi) be made a Christian ; but, no — not so fast." Or, iv oAiyoj [\6yoj], " This is a very short speech by which to persuade me, or any one, to become a Christian." *^ It is not clear whether S. Luke went as a prisoner like the rest. *'^ See Acts xix. 29, xx. 4, Col. iv. 10. ■*" A sea-port of Africa Proper : Adra- mytium was a sea-port of Mysia. It is, however, doubtful which of the two is here meant. "*" This is, along the N. W. coast of the island, the ship being driven by contrary winds, south of its direct course. *'^ The Vulgate has Lystra ; but that is in Lycaonia, some ninety Roman miles from the coast ; whereas Myra is a maritime city of Lycia. It lay about fifty miles south-west of Attaleia, whence S. Paul took ship on returning from his first missionary journey (Acts xiv. 25). The churches of many sea-port towns (Liverpool among the rest) are dedi- cated under the invocation of S. Nicolas of Myra, the great Bishop of that see in the fourth century. According to the apocryphal " Circuits of SS. Paul and Thecla" (see Appendix K.) it was to Myra that S. Thecla proceeded, to pro- cure another interview with the Apostle. *'■' " Sailing now was dangerous, be- cause the fast was now past" (Acts xxvii. 9). This was the fast on the loth of the month Tisri, which answers to our September and October. The 90 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR. them in charge, that it would be well to winter there. I lis counsel being neglected, they set out again, and encountered a tempest, - which after driving them up and down for fourteen days, wrecked them^^ on the island of Melita.^- The inhabitants''^ received them with hospitality, which was exchanged for even idolatrous veneration on S. Paul being miraculously preserved from harm when attacked by a viper.^^ The Apostle healed the father of Publius,^^ the chief man of the Melitenes."^^ This year, probably, soon after S. Paul's arrival in Jerusalem,^'' died the Ever-Blessed Mother of God, and was assumed into Heaven, in the seventy-second or seventy-fourth year of her age.''^ weather after this would become un- settled (Ornsby). ^ Probably Julius Priscus, afterwards Prefect of the Prxtorian Guard under Vitellius. ^1 Probably in the bay still called " St. Paul's Bay," N.W. of Valetta. '^'^ Malta was in the hands of the Carthaginians from ii.C. 402 to B.C. 242, was taken by the Romans during the Second Punic War, and formed at this time part of the province of Sicily (Cic. in Ven: iv. 18). Some, however, have supposed S. Paul's shipwreck to have been on the island of Melita on the Illyrian coast. See four dissertations in the fourth vol. of Zaccaria {Raccolta di Disscrtazzoiii, &.C.). ^^ They were of Punic origin, and to this day retain traces of their African descent.' Twice, S. Luke calls them fidpfiapoi (Acts xxviii. i, 4). A recent letter in the Tz'mes (Feb. 5. 1883) gives an interesting description of the mono- lithic Phccnician remains in the island. The .Saracen occupation in the middle ages accounts for the Arabic element in the Maltese language, which so far pre- dominates, that the peasants of Malta and of Barbary are able to understand each other. ■'■* Here, as in previous instances, the expressions used by S. Luke show his medical knowledge (Cf. sup. Acts iii. 7 ; ix. 18). ^■' Fr. Gams {Series, p. 947) says, circa A.D. 61, " S. Publius primus Meli- tensium episcopus fuisse perhibetur." ^•^ An official title, given to the gover- nor of the island under the proconsul of Sicily. It has been found in local inscriptions. ^'^ He had hastened to keep the Pentecost at Jerusalem (Acts xx. 16), and therefore had sufficient time before the Assumption to venerate the Queen of Apostles : perhaps he was miracu- lously brought from prison to share that privilege, of which all the surviving Apostles were partakers. ^* See especially the remarkable pas- sage in S. Dion. Areopag. De Divin. Noininib. c. 3, with the comment on it in Father Halloix's life of the Saint, c. vi. (vol. ii. p. 747, ed. Migne). Choisy {Hist, de VEglise, par. 1703, t. i.), has declared his opinion that the Blessed Virgin departed this life at Ephesus. Natalis Alexander, Tillemont and Bailly, think this probable. Trombelli, in his life of her (tom. iii. diss. 35, qua:st. 3), thinks it more probable that it took place at Jerusalem, and that her tomb, shown in the valley of Josaphat, is authentic. See also the fourth Disserta- tion given by Zaccaria {Raccolta, v. viii.), A.D. 59 (54). A.U.C. 810. NERONIS 3. 9I Baronius holds that vS". Luke wrote his Gospel^'^ this year. But it seems more probable that he wrote it during the interval^*' when he was not with the Apostle, but living at Troas or Philippi/'^ TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR. A.D. 59 (54). A.U.C. 8rO. NERONIS 3. The "Mother "whom our Lord from the Cross had committed to His beloved disciple/ being now in Heaven, and no longer needing his care, S. John probably comes to Ephesus, " there to continue and extend the work begun by S. Paul."^ He would watch with equal vigilance over the Churches of Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. After three months' stay in Malta, S. Paul, still in bonds, sailed to Syracuse, thence to Rhegium, and finally to Puteoli.^ Here they quitted the ship ; and after seven da3's went to Rome by land, a distance of some hundred and twenty-five miles ; partly along the Appian Way, "the Queen of Roads."* The disciples came out to meet him, in two successive companies ; one advancing as far as quoting in the same sense Baronius, tion as being unanimous as to the event. Ven. P. Canisius, " E cent' altri prima, The date, however, is uncertain. e dopo di lore." Appendix R. ^ Originally called Dica^archia, ac- ^'^ It was afterwards much corrupted cording to Jesephus {Vit. 3), who landed by the Marcionites, to whom S. Irenjeus here after his shipwreck. In the Acts of alludes {Hares, iii. i), as claiming to be S. Ignatius' martyrdom, fifty years after "emendatores Apostolorum" (cf. Tertul- S. Paul's landing, it is said, that on his lian, c. Mardou. 1. ii. Epiph. H Rom. x\\ 24, 28. may perhaps indicate a visit to this ^ S. Clem, ad Cor. Passing through island from the Prince of the Apostles. Gaul on his way, the Apostle is said to See note 6 ad a.d. 44 supra. have left Crescens as bishop of Vienne ; ^^ " The work of twenty years was in his own namesake, Paul, at Narbonne ; a moment undone. Far and wide, every and Trophimus at Aries. Theodoret vestige of modern civilization was takes " Galatia " (2 Tim. iv. 10) to mean trodden into the soil. At this day, the ■"Gaul" (Introd. in Ep. ad Galat). S. workmen who dig through the founda- Epiphanius says the same (//(T/rj. L. i.). tions of the Norman and the Saxon Several ancient martyrologies state that London, strike beneath them on the S. Crescens founded the sees of Vienne traces of two distinct Roman cities, and Mentz. Cf. Gams, (pp. 653, 4). between which lies a mass of charred " Phil. iv. 3. and broken rubbish, attesting the con- ** Theodoret, P/iilothcus, xxvi. 881. flagration of the terrible Boadicea" ■" Ultimos orbis Britannos," Horat. (Dr. Merivale, History of the Romans Carm. i, 35, 29. under the Empire, vol. iv. pp. 258, 9 Rom. XV. 28. The Cathedral of 259). A.D. 6l (56). A.U.C. 812. NERONIS 5. 99 gains a victory, in which the Britons lose eighty thousand, including women and children. Boadicea, in despair, commits suicide, Nero soon afterwards recalled Suetonius ; apparently as having been unfortunate, no less than severe.^^ His successor, Cerealis, was not appointed before the accession of Vespasian. S. Luke, departing from Rome, preached the Gospel in various places. S. Epiphanius^- mentions Dalmatia,^^ Gaul, Italy, and Mace- donia. GEcumenius makes him return to the East, and thence pro- ceed to Lybia, evangelizing Thebes, and dying there at a great age. S. Gregory Nazianzen and others assert him to have been martyred : Nicephorus says, he was suspended from the branches of an olive tree. His tomb is said to exist at Ephesus.^"* At Cassarea, sanguinary conflicts take place between the Jews and Syrians. This particular outbreak (among many which were constantly occurring) may be reckoned as " one of the first incidents in the [Jewish] war." This year, Nero puts an end to the life of his mother Agrippina. Servile rejoicings, accompanied perhaps by the opening of the prisons, take place in Rome, on the Emperor's safety being thus secured. This may probably account for S. Paul's liberation, and that of S. Peter, supposing him also to have been imprisoned. 1^ See Hume, quoted above, ad a.d. is said to have been consecrated by him 57, note 32. the fii-st bishop of Salona. The see 1- Hares, li. He also says that was afterwards removed to Spalatro. Crescens, S. Paul's disciple, laboured Gams, Scries, p. 419 ; who, however, in Gaul (not Galatia) 2 Tim. iv. 10. places S. Hermes between SS. Titus S. Isidore of Seville adds S. Philip as and Domnius : so that S. Titus must an evangelical labourer in the same have consecrated them both in suc- province {De Vit. ct Mart. SS. c. 74). cession. 1' S. Paul, however, had sent S. Titus " Mr. Wood, Discoveries at Ephesus, thither (2 Tim. iv. 10), and he is honoured gives a bas-relief, which affords a pre- in that country as its Apostle and prin- sumption of its being part of the holy cipal patron (F. Farlet, S.J. Illyria Evangelist's tomb, pp. 56 — 59. Sacra, t. i. p. 355). S. Domnius (May 7) lOO FASTI ArOSTOLICI : TWENTV-NINTII YEAR. TWENTY-NINTH YEAR. A.D. 62 (57). A.U.C. 813. NERONIS 6. Festus, Governor of Judsea, dies. Nero appoints Albinus as his successor ; who, however, only departs for his province the following year. During the interregnum, King Agrippa deposes Joseph the High Priest, and gives the office to Ananus, or Annas, the Younger, an intolerant Sadducee. In the next year,^ before the arrival of Albinus, and while the governorship is practically vacant, he causes the mar- tyrdom of S. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, together with the death of others, probably Christians. In this year, the city of Laodicea- was overthrown by an earth- quake, but promptly rebuilt by its citizens.^ Its wealth and prosperity had already caused, or certainly did afterwards cause, relaxation and tepidity in the Church there.* Eusebius {Chronic) places the earth- quake four years later, and adds that Hierapolis and Colossae were involved in the calamity. 1 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle assigns the martyrdom of S. James to this year. - Tacit. Aimal. xiv. 27. This is con- firmed by Orosius, vii. 7. That part of the valley of the Ma^ander in which Laodicea was built, (hence one of its former names, Rhoas), was subject to earthquakes. A previous one had oc- curred in the reign of Augustus (Strabo, 578). " In subsequent times, it became a city of eminence, the see of a bishop, and a meeting-place of Councils. It is often mentioned by the Byzantine writers. The Mahommedan invaders destroyed it, and it is now a scene of utter desolation." Its present Turkish name is Eski-Hissar. 3 .See Appendix S. Gibbon adds, in a note to the passage there given, regard- ing the eleven cities of Asia mentioned by Tacitus : " I have taken some pains in consulting and comparing modern travellers, with regard to the fate of those eleven cities of Asia. Seven or eight are totally destroyed — Hypa^pe, Tralles, Laodicea, Ilium, Halicarnassus, Miletus, Ephesus, and we may add Sardis. Of the remaining three, Per- gamus is a struggling village of two or three thousand inhabitants ; Magnesia, under the name of Guzel-hissar, a town of some consequence ; and Smyrna, a great city, peopled by an hundred thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the Franks have maintained com- merce, the Turks have ruined the arts " {DecliJie and Fall, vol. i. c. ii. p. 80, ed. 1815). * Apoc. iii. 14, &:c. A.D. 6^ (58). A.U.C. 814. NERONIS /. lOI THIRTIETH YEAR. A.D. 6^ (58). A.U.C. 814. NERONIS /. S. James the Just, son of Alpheus, is martyred, after having occupied the See of Jerusalem^ twenty-nine years. By order of Ananus, on the feast of the Pasch, S. James was taken up to a pinnacle of the Temple, under plea that by virtue of the con- sideration he enjoyed with the people, he should persuade them to renounce Christ. On his confessing our Lord, he was cast down thence, and despatched with stones and with a club, while praying for his enemies in our Lord's own words. The holy Apostle had been a Nazarite from his birth. So great was the veneration for his sanctity, even by the Jews, that he was permitted once every year to enter the Holy of Holies, a privilege otherwise reserved to the high priest. When he appeared in public, multitudes^ crowded round him, to touch the hem of his garment. By his assiduous prayer, his knees, and S. Chrysostom^ adds, his forehead, through frequent prostrations, had grown hard, like the skin of a camel. Josephus* records that this act of violence was much reprobated by the more moderate Jews, as both unjust and unlawful,^ and adds that Agrippa deposed Ananus from the high priesthood for being guilty of it. Besides his Epistle, written to the dispersed of the Twelve Tribes, 5. James is said to have left the Liturgy, or Mass, that goes by his name.*' 1 Pope Nicolas I. says, those Churches * Atttiq. xx. 9, i. S. James was buried are to be accounted patriarchal in which near the Temple, where his tomb still it can be proved that an Apostle had existed in the time of Hadrian. his See (Lorinus in Act. i. 13. Cf. ad ^ Cf. S. John xviii. 31. A.D. 37, note 6). "Its authenticity is established by the 2 S.Jerome in Gal. i. 19, Epiph. //izr. citations made from it by S. Cyril of XXX. 2. Jerusalem in his iMystagogica, 5. It is 3 Horn. V. in Matt. Southey makes cited by the Council of Trullo, can. 32, a scoffer call Thalaba " a camel-knee'd but may have been added to by a later prayermonger. hand. 102 FASTI APOSTOLICI : THIRTY-FIRST YEAR. Eusebius^ says that, upon the Martyrdom of S, James, all the Apostles who were still alive, came from their divers missions to Jerusalem, assembled in council, and chose, as S. James' successor, his brother S. Simeon, or Simon, son of Cleophas. He was afterwards crucified, in his one hundred and twentieth year, A.D. 107, having held the see about forty-three years. This year, probably,^ S. Lazarus was martyred, whether at Mar- seilles,^ as bishop of the place, or in Cyprus^*' is uncertain. Tigellinus is made prefect of the Praetorium in Rome. Nero repudiates Claudia, and marries Poppaea, who is said to have been disposed towards Judaism. Through her influence, Josephus, who was then in Rome, obtains the liberation of the Jewish priests, whom Festus had sent thither as prisoners. THIRTY-FIRST YEAR. A.D. 64 (59). A.U.C. 815. NERONIS 8. S. Jerome^ assigns to this year the martyrdom of S. Mark the Evangelist, the first bishop of Alexandria. The fact of his martyrdom is attested by the ancient Roman Martyrology and Greek Menology. He was seized by the Gentiles, while celebrating on the Lord's Day ; dragged through rough places during two days, with a rope round his neck, and so went to his reward on the 25th of April. Philo- and Josephus^ have left a description of the Essenes, Es- sseans, or Jessaeans, of Alexandria, and of their ascetic lives. They aimed at monastic perfection, possessed nothing of their own, gave ^ Cf. supra ad a.d. 35, note 28. ^^ His tomb was shown at Cytia in * S. Epiphanius (c. 34, p. 652) says that island. that S. Lazarus was thirty years old when he died and was raised again by ^ De Scripiofib. Eccles. in Marcum. our Lord, and that he lived for thirty ^ jr)^ y^^ Coiitemplativa, sive De years afterwards. Siipplicibus j also his writing entitled, ^ Cf. sup. ad A.D. 35. Quod omnis probtcs sit liber. 3 Bell.Jud. ii. 8 ; 2, 13. A.D. 64 (59)- A.U.C. 815. NERONIS 8. 103 away their goods to the poor, spent their time in prayer and psalmody, in hearing instruction, or manual labour ; and lived in great continence. Writers of very opposite schools* have asserted the identity of these with S. Mark's disciples, the primitive Alex- andrian Christians. This year is also assigned as the probable date of the martyrdom of SS. Simon and Jude, in Persia.^ Gildas^ says, the first dawn of the light of the Gospel appeared in Britain, about the eighth year of Nero.^ The Emperor begins at Naples to exhibit himself as a public singer, as a prelude to appearing afterwards in the same character at Rome.^ * Freethinkers, and other non-Catho- lics, especially in Germany, endeavour thence to prove that Christianity had a merely human origin ; and many Fathers and early writers of the Church, to show that the monastic system was coeval with the Faith. Cassian asserts this {Ifistt'f. Coejiob. ii. 5), and Corn. h. Lap. in Act. V. 2. See the authorities given by the latter, for the primitive character of the vows of Religion. Besides these writers, Eusebius, ^. E, (lib. ii. c. 16, 17), Baronius {ad anti. 64), Serrarius {De Trib. Jiidaor. Sectts), and Bacchinius {De Origine Hierarchies EccL), may be quoted for the Christian character of those who are described by Philo ; while Valesius {Afinotai. in Euseb. lib. cit.), Cotelerius {Monuvt. EccL Grcecce. t. i., p. 789), Pagi {Criiica, ad afui. 62), and Mamachi {Origines et Antiq. Christ), suppose them a Jewish sect. ° Moreri, in voc. Apotre. c Script. Hist. Brit. § 6, t. i. ed. Gale, p. 3. Persecution seems never to have reached these distant shores until the reign of Diocletian, when it sent to Heaven the British proto-martyr S. Alban, with the numerous converts made by his instructor S. Amphibalus, in Wales. S. Bede, in his account of S. Alban's martyrdom, adds, " At the same time suffered Aaron and Julius, citizens of Chester, and many more of both sexes in sundry places " (b. i. c. vi. s./.). Gildas makes them citizens of Carlisle ; others call them inhabitants of the Roman town of Caerleon upon Usk, from which Adelphius, one of three British bishops, went to be present at the Council of Aries, in 314, The other two were Eborius of York, and Resti- tutus of London. ^ See Appendix T. This date would allow both S. Peter and S. Paul to have visited the island. Tertullian {Adv. Jicd. c. vii. p. 189, ed. Rig) had said,, before S. Gildas, Britannoruin inaccesscc Romafiis loca, Christo vero subdita. * Tacit, y^;//;. XV. 33. On the character of Nero, his acts, his extravagant con- duct, and lavish expenditure, the first part of Dr. Merivale's seventh volume,, Hist. Sec. (ut sup.) is well worth reading.. 104 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : THIRTY-SECOND YEAR. THIRTY-SECOND YEAR. A.D. 65 (60). A.U.C. 816. NERONIS 9. Four years before the Jewish war, and nearly eight before the final siege of Jerusalem, Almighty God would have the approaching calamities publicly announced. Josephus records : " While the City was in profoundest peace, and in the greatest wealth, one Josue (Jesus), the son of Ananus, a plebeian and peasant, came on a festival day, and at once began to cry : 'A voice from the East, a voice from the West, a voice from the four winds, a voice to Jerusalem and to the Temple, a voice to the bridegroom and to the bride, a voice to the people ! ' By day and by night he thus cried out, going incessantly through the streets of the City. He was brought before the magistrates, and was scourged, even to the bone ; yet he made no entreaty, nor shed a tear ; but bowing himself to the utmost, at every stroke he responded, with a lament- able voice: 'Woe, woe to Jerusalem!' Up to the time when the war began, he was never seen to consort or speak with any ; but he daily and mournfully repeated, as if pondering some form of prayer : * Woe, woe to Jerusalem ! ' Though punished every day, he cursed none, neither did he bless those who offered him food ; the only answer he returned to any one, was that lamentable prophecy. It was especially on festival days that he so cried out ; and, continuing this for seven years and five months, his voice grew none the hoarser, nor did he fail through weariness, until the time of the siege ; then, his predictions being verified, he came to his end. For, going round once again upon the walls, he cried out, with a very loud voice, 'Woe, woe to the City, and to the Temple, and to the people ;' and, adding finally, 'Woe, woe to myself!' a stone cast from an engine slew him on the spot, and released his still-lamenting soul."^ 1 Joseph. Bell. Jiid. lib. v. 11 and 12. A.D. 66 (6l). A.U.C. 817. NERONIS lO. 105 S. Paul about this time sends S. Titus to preach in Dalmatia.^ S. Titus is said to have consecrated S. Domnius as first bishop of Salona,^ which was then the Metropolis. S. Matthias suffers martyrdom in Colchis, having preached the Gospel in Cappadocia and on the shores of the Caspian See : residing chiefly near the port Issus.* THIRTY-THIRD YEAR. A.D. 66 (61). A.U.C. 817. NERONIS 10. Nero, apparently in order to create a new City, to be called by his name, is asserted to have set fire to Rome.^ The conflagration raged continuously for six days, or more.^ Of the fourteen Regions of the City, four alone remained intact ; three were burnt to the ground ; in the other seven, only a few poor dwellings were left standing, half-consumed. The most ancient fanes,^ the temple of Vesta, the pe^iates of the Roman people, the wealth accumulated by so many triumphs, the treasures of art brought from Greece, all 2 2 Tim. iv. 10. He is honoured in that country as its principal patron (F. Farlat, SJ. Illyria Sacra, t. i. p. 355). ^ Gams, however {Series, p. 419), makes S. Hermes immediately succeed S. Titus. * The Greek Menologies, quoted by Alban Butler, Feb. 24. * The fire broke out after a sumptuous banquet given to Nero by Tigellinus in his yfemilian Gardens ; and the favourite shared with his imperial master the odium of the act (Tacit, nt infra). This serves to point Juvenal's allusion to the Christian martyrs, given below {Pone Tigelliman, &c.). The minister would be as anxious as the Emperor to shift the accusation from himself to the Christians. 2 From July 16 to 22. Riess, Gebiirts- jahr. Chrisii. 3 Tacitus enumerates " the great altar and shrine "which Evander the Arca- dian is said to have dedicated in the presence of Hercules ; the temple of Jupiter Stator ; the votive offering to Romulus ; the ancient palace of Numa, near the temple of Vesta (cf. Hor. Od. I. ii. 15, 16), and on the slope of the Palatine, &c. &c. In the temple of Vesta was preserved the sacred fire, tended by the vestals, which was pro- bably lost in the conflagration. Com- pare (though in a very different sense) 2 Mach. i. 18—36. io6 FASTI APOSTOLICI : THIRTY-THIRD YEAR. perished. Suetonius/ Dion,^ and Tacitus,'' unite in charging the conflagration upon the Emperor. To avert from himself the popular indignation, Nero accused the Christians as the authors of this crime.^ " Their death-agonies were aggravated by sport and mockery ; they were wrapped in the skins of wild beasts, and torn to death by dogs ; or fastened on crosses ; or set on fire, and burnt by way of lamps lit up at night, when daylight failed :"^ wrapped in garments that had been steeped in combustibles, while they were kept motionless by pointed stakes that transfixed their throats. In this condition, they were stationed * In Neron. c. 38. ^ Ibid. ^ This writer, with whom the Christian religion is exitialis superstitio, is yet candid enough to abstain from direct accusation of its disciples in this matter. ^ "To quash the rumour [of his guilt], Nero charged it on those men, already- hated for their crimes, whom the common people called Christians ; and on them he inflicted the most exquisite tortures. This name was derived from one Chris- tus, who had been punished with death by the governor Pontius Pilate, in the reign of Tiberius. The deadly super- stition, repressed for the moment, broke out again, not only through Judaea, where the evil had its rise, but also in the City [Rome],whitherall that is either atrocious or shameful congregates, and obtains notoriety. Accordingly, those only were first apprehended who avowed them- selves [Christians] ; then, on their information, a vast number was con- victed, not so much on the charge of the conflagration, as for [their] hatred of the human race." Hand perindc in cri?>iine incendii quain odio humani generis convic/i sunt" (Tacit. An?tal. XV. 44). It must be supposed that the "informers" of whom Tacitus here speaks, were Jews apprehended as Christians, by a confusion that was not uncommon, both then and afterwards (Cf. ad A.D. 51). Some of them, more- over, might have been apostates, who thus purchased for themselves an immu- nity from threatened tortures. * Tacit. {Ann. tit sup.) Compare with the pagan historian's description of the torments to which the primitive Christians were subject, the terms in which Fathers of the Church spoke of them at a later period. S. Gregory Nyssen. says : " The mere preparatives for execution were enough to shake one with all horror. There were swords, fire, wild beasts, trenches and pits; those instruments, too, whereby the limbs were extended and racked ; the heated iron chairs, the upright posts at which, while the sufferers stood in full tension, their' bodies were torn by dreadful pointed teeth : and numberless other things which they invented, giving exquisite torture to the body in a variety of ways. The sole anxiety of those invested with such offices was, lest any one of them should be outdone by the rest in excess of barbarity. Neither pity for infants, nor respect to grey hairs, nor reverence for virtue, came into their embittered minds ; no consideration for natural timidity could exempt even the weaker sex from the same perils. There was one savage law for all, and administered to all alike " ( Vita S. Greg. Thaum. t. iii. p. 568, ed. Paris, 1638). A.D. 66 (6i). A.U.C. 8 1 7. NERONIS 10. 107 to niuminate Nero's gardens and circus.^ while he drove his chariot by Zu^^lo^^^^^^^ f orrible fires.- Juvenal describes the. tortures, in well-known lines ;'' Portray the favourite ? you'll burn, among Those living torches, men on flame-v»ho stand Reeking, each throat impal'd ; then, d.tchward drawn, Score in the sand broad trails of charred limbs. Seneca'^ probably refers to their suffering, when he cotjitnemorates arng th'e tortuL inflicted d"™^ . N-^/^'^"' ""Pf .Tthe hps stake that passed up through the ""^st, and came forth at the ip and also garments steeped in, or woven w.th "'"bu t.ble mate al^ An epistle probably apocryphal, is extant, purportmg to be from Sentca to S Paul on the subject of the conflagration. It was known fo S Terotne-and is mentioned by S. Augustine;" who, however, couU hIrdTy have believed it authentic, since he elsewhere- asserts that Seneca never mentions the Christians. 9 Elagabalus afterwards designed to enlarge this circus, to admit of elephant races, the animals to be harnessed tour abreast. See Appendix Y. 10 Tacitus {iii sup.). He adds : 1 he populace, with their usual levity, turned to compassion for the sufferers, justly odious though they were held to be ; as feeling that they were punished, not lor their actual guilt, nor for the common weal, but to glut the ferocity of a single tyrant." Dr. Merivale adds : 1 nis horrid sacrifice, so deeply impressive to the minds of sixty generations of Chris- tians, ruffled then for a moment the feelings of Roman society, and excited perhaps in the heart of the historian, impassive as he constrains himself to appear, more pity, more wonder, more reflection, at least, than he has deigned to intimate. But a few days passed ; and when the people looked again around them, they beheld the recon- struction of their smoking City com- mencing with extraordinary vigour, &c." {Hist. vol. vi. pp. 352, 353)- , 11 PoneTigellinum; tseda lucebis in lua, Qua stantes ardent, qui fixo gutture "" fumant, j j -^ Et latum media sulcum deducis arena. (Sat. 1. 1 55, etc.) 12 Epist. xiv. " Adactum per medium hominem, qui per os emergat, st.pitem et tunicam alimentis ignium illitam et ^" ^'^De Scriptor. Ecdesiast. in Senccam. 1* EMst xiv. " It is hardly necessary to refef to the pretended letters between S. Paul and Seneca. Besides the evidence from style, some of the dates they contain are quite sufficient to con- demn them as clumsy forgeries. They are mentioned, but with no expression of beUef in their genuineness, ^Y Jerome and Augustine. See Jones 0« /^e Canon, it 80" (Merivale, Hist. vol. vi. p. 457, note). ^ . . ^ 15 De Civit. Dei. xi. 6. io8 FASTI APOSTOLICI : THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR. Gessius Florus is made Procurator of Judaea, in place of Albinus, and commences a mal-administration^" of oppression and cruelty, that soon brings on the revolt of the Jews. Cestius Gallus, prefect of Syria/^ seems to have been more lenient. THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR. A.D. ^-J (62). A.U.C. 818. NERONIS II. The persecution assumes more formal proportions, and seems to have extended to the provinces.^ Nero publishes edicts against the Christians. The names of some few among the sufferers are pre- served in the Roman Martyrology, together with an un-named com- pany (June 24) : but an immense number remain unknown, through the destruction of the Acts of their martyrdom by Diocletian, SS. Gervasius and Protasius, the proto-martyrs of Milan,^ seem now to have suffered, shortly before SS. Nazarius and Celsus, of the same city. S. Aristarchus^ had been made Bishop of Thessalonica, but was S. Paul's fellow-prisoner at Rome, and suffered martyrdom there before him.* S. Paul, before his last return to Rome, revisits Asia and Mace- ^^ Joseph, Antiq. xviii. I. s. f. xx. i. Bell. Jud. II. xiv. &c. ^'^ For a complete list of the pro- consuls of Syria, from Oiiintus Didius, I3.C. 30, to C. L. Mucianus, who suc- ceeded Cestius Gallus, A.D. 63, see Dr. Merivale, Hist. vol. vii. p. 19, quoting Zumpt. ^ Father Gruter reports an inscription found in Lusitania, commemorating the extinction by Nero of robbers in those parts, and also of "the enemies of the human race" {hiscriptiows ^hiliqucr, p. 283). It runs thus : " To Claudius Nero Caesar Augustus, Pont. Max., for having cleared the province of robbers, and of those who oppressed the human race with a new superstition." The inscrip- tion, however, has been rejected by critics. 2 Surius, Sept. 12, Tillemont. S.Am- brose {Epist. 54, p. 316) says these Saints suffered when the Church in Milan was still barren of martyrs. Their relics were found, and translated, by S. Am- brose in the year 3S6, as those of SS. Nazarius and Celsus in 395 (S. Aug. Confess, tit. ix. c. 7 ; S. Ambrose, Epist. 54, in contradistinction to Epist. 53, which is rejected as spurious). 3 Col. iv. 10. * Roman Martyrology, August 4, A.D. 6/ (62). A.U.C. 8l8. NERONIS II. 109 donia, goes to Crete, where he " leaves " S. Titus as its first bishop,^ and places S. Timotheus in his see at Ephesus f intending to return thither/ though " all Asia was turned away from him."^ Thence he may have gone to Colossae,^ Laodicea,^*' and Hiera- polis,^^ to which places this was perhaps his first visit.^^ Probably, the last Churches he visited were those of Macedonia,^^ intending to spend the winter in Nicopolis.^* From Macedonia, according to one theory, the Apostle wrote his First Epistle to S. Timotheus}^ and that to 6". Titus ; sending it probably by Apollonius (Apollo) and Zenas,^^ He then returned to Troas.^'' Meanwhile, S. Peter is said to have preached both in the East and in the West, and to have spent some time in Britain.^^ 5 Tit. i. 5. ^ I Tim. i. 3. "^ I Tim. iii. 14. 8 2 Tim. i. 15. " Philem. 22. i» Col. ii. I. ^1 Col. iv. 13. • 12 Cf. supra ad A.D. 55. 13 Phil. ii. 24. 1* Tit. iii. 12. Nicopolis, called also Cassiopsea, was a city in Epirus, built by Augustus to commemorate his vic- tory at the neighbouring promontory of Actium, u.C. 723, B.C. 31. Hence its name, " City of Victory." " Scribit Apostolus de Nicopoli, quae in Actiaco littore sita," &c. (S. Jerome, Proccni. ix. 195). Another city of the same name, in Lesser Armenia, was built by Pompey, who had vanquished Mithridates near the spot. Emmaus was also called by that name (Moreri, r'« verb. Nicopolis). 1^ The Apostle's warning to S. Timo- theus of coming heresies (i Tim. iv. 1—3) was in consequence of a special revela- tion made to him (Du Pin, H. E. i. 168), and was abundantly fulfilled, during the two succeeding centuries, by the heresies of the Encratites, Marcionites, and Manichaeans (Cf. S. Chrys. Ho?n. xii. in I Tim. tnit.). For the expression " the last times," cf. Is. ii. 2, Mich. iv. i, S. Matt. XX. 6, Acts ii. 17, 2 Tim. iii, i, Heb. i. 2, I S. Pet. i. 20, 2 S. Pet. iii. 3, I S. John ii. 18, S. Jude 18. 1" See Tit. iii. 13. S. Jerome, in loc, says that Apollonius was going to Corinth, of which place he was bishop. Others make him bishop of Dyrrachium, or of Colossse. 1^ 2 Tim. iv. 18. 1* Simeon Metaphrastes, a Greek author of " Lives of the Saints," who belongs probably to the tenth century, quotes Eusebius, perhaps from one of those many works of his which S.Jerome tells us are lost, to the effect that S. Peter spent twelve years in the East, and passed twenty at Rome, in Britain, and other cities in the West (See Cressy's Church History, p. 14). The same author adds : "S. Peter came out of the East to Rome, from whence . . he passed into Britain ; in which island having made a long abode, and converted to the faith of Christ several nations of unknown names, he had a vision of angels, which said to him : ' Peter, the time of thy dissolution is at hand, and it is necessary that thou go to Rome, where thou must 10 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : TIIIRTY-FIFTII YEAR. A conspiracy of many of the Roman nobles against the Emperor's life, headed by Piso, is discovered. Nero's former preceptor, Anna^us Seneca,^'' is involved in it, and suffers death, together with the philosopher's nephew, the poet Lucan. Among the victims also is riaulius Lateranus,-" of consular rank ; owner of that palace and basilica on the Ca:lian Hill, afterwards given by Constantine to S. Silvester, which became "the Mother and Mistress of all churches," and the seat of the fivc-^ Lateran Councils, in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fifteenth centuries. THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR. A.D. 68 {6}). A.U.C. 819. NERONIS 12. SS. Peter and Paul return missions. S. Paul had probably had gone thence to Ephesus, to suftcr the death of the Cross, and so receive the reward of righteousness.' Having received this revelation, he glorified God, giving thanks for the same ; and he continued certain days among the Britons, during which he enlightened many more with the word of grace. Having constituted churches, and ordained bishops, priests, and deacons, in the twelfth year of the Emperor Nero he returned to Rome" (Cf. 2 S. Peter i. 14). 1^ Seneca's wealth, notwithstanding his Stoic principles, was immense. One account states that the insurrection in Britain under Boadicea was partly owing to his vexatious prosecutions of British chieftains, who had borrowed of him ten millions of drachmas (about ^^480,000) to pay the levies exacted of them (Lingard, ///si. Engl. vol. i. p. 29). I line iisura vorax, rapidumque in tempore foenus, Hinc concussa fides, et multis utile bellum. Lucan, quoted by Bacon in his Essay ^ Du Pin, //. E. vol. i. p. 170. to Rome, each from his distant spent the winter in Nicopolis, and find S. Timotheus there.^ He had (XV.) "Of Seditions and Troubles." '• High as the great philosopher [Seneca] strained the principles of virtue in liis sublimest exhortations, he often acknow- ledged, in descending to a lower level, that for his own part he aspired only to be not the worst among bad men " (see Senec. Epist. 75, De Vita Beata, 17). " He preached, he owned, more rigidly than he practised" (Merivale, //ist. Sec. vol. vi. 281). 2° He was put to death with circum- stances of great ignominy, and in such haste that he was not permitted to embi-ace his children (Tacit. An/!, xv. 60). Suetonius (in A^er. c. 37) says that all the victims were despatched an hour after the conspiracy was discovered. The dignified way in which Lateranus met his death (Tacit, /oc- cit.) accords with the character given of him by Arrian, in Epictct. i. i. '^ Eleven Councils altogether have been held in the Lateran. A.D. 6S (6^). A.U.C. 819. NERONIS 12. Ill been accompanied by Tropliimus, who remained in Ephesus, out of health ; while the Apostle proceeded to Troas, and thence, perhaps, straight to Rome. SS. Peter and Paul were drawn to the Eternal City by Divine Providence, to succour the afflicted Church.^ They came thither by inspiration, says S. Athanasius f the Holy Spirit having revealed to them that Rome was to be the scene of their sufferings. The persecution is in some measure diminished, or diverted, by the recent conspiracy, and the punishment of the victims ;* so that the Apostles are able partly to build up the Church's ruins, and to reconcile those who may have lapsed. It was perhaps during the second presence of the Apostles in Rome, that they sent missionary bishops into Spain. The seven following are enumerated : S. Torquatus, Bishop of Guadix (Acci), S. Secundus, of Abula {Avila), S. Indaletius, of Urci, S. Ctesiphon, of Bergii ( Verja), S. Csecilius, of Eliberis {Elvira Granada), S. Esitius (Hesychius), of Carcasae {Cazoria), and S. Euphrasius of Illiturgi and other places.^ S. Peter writes his Second Epistle to the converted from among the Jews ; warning them against the heretical doctrines and corrupt practices of various false teachers, especially the Nicolaitans.*^ The - "De illis Ecclesije apicibus, immo Euphrasius, whom SS. Peter and Paul oculis, qui omnem loqueiidi superant sent as missionaries to Spain" (Alzog, facultatem, nihil diversum, nihil debe- I. i. p. 242, quoting Gams, p. 3 and 98, mus sentire discretum, quia illos et quern vid). electio pares, et labor similes, et finis " Apoc. ii. 6. See above, ad ann. i, fecit squales" (S. Leo, Sam. I. dc SS. They soon adopted the name Gnostic, Pet. et Paul). as pretending to an exterior and exclu- ^ Apol. De Fnga Sua, § 121, 127, sive yvuxTis, or knowledge (i Tim. vi. 20). * No one seems to have been found S. John's first Epistle, passion, and his to charge the Christians with this crime. use of the term yvSia-is. S. Paul also It was reserved for later persecution to warns his disciple against the avneiaeis cloak itself under a political pretext. tiis ^iv^wvvfj.ov yudxrews. "Some think the ^ " Historians of the third century Apostle here designates the Gnostics, make mention of the churches of Leon, Tliey were not, however, as yet so Astorga, Ctesaraugusta, Tarragona, and named, though their heresies had begun others, which the Mozarabic liturgy and to show themselves ; and heretics in Spanish writers affirm were founded by general may be more probably under- the seven bishops, Torquatus, Ctesiphon, stood" (Ornsby). It was chiefly against Secundus, Indaletius, Hesychius, and the Gnostics that S. Irena;us directed 112 FASTI APOSTOLICI: THIRTY-FIFTH YEAR. Apostle is followed in his line of argument, and often in his very- words and sentences, by S.Jjidc (or Thaddaeus)^ brother of S. James the Less, who seems to have written his Catholic Epistle soon after S. Peter's martyrdom, and therefore in the Pontificate of S. Linus.^ S. Peter announces^ that his life was near its close, and that our Lord had made this known to him by direct communication. S. Peter's wife is said by Clement of Alexandria^° to have suffered martyrdom before the Apostle. He met her on the way to her suffering, and exhorted and encouraged her, saying: "Remember thou the Lord." The virgin Aurelia Petronilla, whose name occurs in Christian antiquity, was almost certainly his spiritual daughter," as the Apostle calls S. Mark his " son." She lived a consecrated life, died a holy death in Rome, and is named in the Roman Martyr- ology. May 31. Simon Magus, whom S. Peter had already discomfited at Samaria and at Caesarea,^^ was now in Rome, and held in great favour by Nero, because of his wonder-workings. He once more opposed the Apostle, while he flattered the Emperor,^^ who was greatly addicted to magic, and had gathered its professors from all parts of the world. Simon, to support the pretensions he had made,^* of being "some great one," and " the power of God, which is called great," announced his five books, entitled (in the Latin nomcn Aureha, found on her sarco- version, the Greek title being lost), phagus, associates her with a noble " Detectionis et eversionis falso cogno- Roman family. " The name Petro was minatas agnitionis, seu contra haereses." no stranger to the family of Domitilla ; '' Cf. ad A.D. 43, note 2, It has been for Titus Flavius Petro was the father of inferred from v. 17 of S. Jude's Epistle the first T. F. Sabinus ; and if Petronilla that it was written after the greater part was descended from this Petro, as she of the Apostles had died. Of S. Jude's may have been on her mother's side, it is own death nothing certain is known. at once accounted for how she found ** Wouter's Hist. Eccl. Compe?id. vol. her place of burial on the property of i. p. 56. her relative Domitilla " (Northcote and ^ 2 S. Peter i. 13, 14. Compare S. John Brownlow, Roma Sotteranea, i. 122). xxi. 18, 19. See the pedigree, ad ann. 57, note. 1" Strom, lib. vii. 11. ^'■^ See above, ad ann. 2. ^1 Baronius (ad ann. 69) points out ^^ Plin. N. H. xxx. c. 2. This passion that her name is derived, not from for magical arts divided with music the Petrus, but from Petronius, as Priscilla Emperor's devotion, from Priscus, &c. Moreover, her pre- ^^ Acts viii. 9, 10. A.D. 6S (6^). A.U.C. 819. NERONIS 12. 113 that he would ascend through the air to Heaven,^^ and thence procure all benefits to his votaries. The spectacle took place in presence of an immense concourse, and his magical power enabled him to rise to a certain height ; but by S. Peter's prayers^*' he fell, broke his limbs, and perished miserably.^'' On which, Nero, enraged,^^ caused S. Peter,i9 together with S. Paul,^^ to be thrust into the Tullian, or Mamertine, prison,^^ where they were kept nine months, from the beginning of October in this year, till the end of June in the next. Nero proceeds to Achaia, to superintend the cutting through the isthmus of Corinth, and takes Vespasian with him. He leaves the government of Rome to the freedman, Helius. The martyrdom of the Apostles is delayed till his return. Before his departure, he commands all philosophers to leave Rome ; Apollonius of Tyana-^ among the number, who accordingly sets out for Spain. 15 Another account says, he promised to fly from the Capitol to the Aventine, if S. Peter would follow. A former pre- tender had made the same attempt, had fallen in the crowded theatre, and sprinkled the Emperor himself with his blood (Suet. Nero, c. 19). 1^ S. Cyr. Jerus. {Catech vi. n. 15) says it was by the united prayers of SS. Peter and Paul. 1'' For the crowd of authorities, sacred and profane, in attestation of this, see Baronius, in hoc ann. F. Waterworth's England and Rome, pp. 1 3 — 1 8. 1* Lactantius, however, ascribes the martyrdom of the Apostles to Nero's anger at the miracles wrought by S. Peter, and the " great multitude of con- versions that resulted from his preach- ing" {De Morte Persecutor, c. ii. p. 523). Probably both motives combined. Cf. ad A.D. 59, s./. 19 « Peter, v/ho was set above the Apostles, after being often seized, im- prisoned, and ignominiously treated, at length was crucified at Rome" (S. Pet. Alexandr. m Canon IX. Galland. t. iv. p. 98.) 2"^ On the probably cause of S. Paul's I imprisonment and martyrdom, see above, A.D. 59, note 24. 21 On the proofs for this, and for the genuineness of the chains shown in the church of S. Peter ad Vincula, in Rome, see the monograph of the Abbate Mon- socrate, De Caien. S. Petri Diss. Romse, 1750, and Cancellieri, Notizie del Care. Tull. c. xiv. The very ancient chapel in the Tower of London is dedicated, not inappropriately, under the same title of St. Peter's Chains. 22 It had been a prophecy of Apollo- nius of Tyana, when at Corinth : " This tongue of land will be cut through ; or, rather, it will not." The words were taken to be fulfilled by the commence- ment of the undertaking by Nero, and its being left incomplete at his death (Suet. Nero, c. 19). But the event might easily have been foreseen ; the distance between the two gulfs of the " bimaris Corinthus" would have made the scheme appear an impossible one, without a greater expense of money and labour than the Senate would have been likely to grant. A Roman Emperor was not, after all, an autocratic Xerxes. See Appendix V. 114 FASTI ArOSTOLICI : TIIIRTV-FIFTII YEAR. When the Jews assemble at Jerusalem for the Azymes and the Pasch, various prodigies occur, in token of the approaching calamities and destruction of the City. At nine in the evening, there shone round the altar and the Temple, a light as strong as that of mid-day, which lasted for half-an-hour. The eastern gate of the Temple, which was of brass, so heavy that twenty men could hardly move it, with iron bars, and bolts entering deeply into the monolith threshold, was found open, and was closed by the " Captain of the Temple " and his assistants, with difficulty. A few days after the Pasch, before sunset, in various parts of the country were seen chariots and armed troops, now in the air, now traversing the streets, and surrounding the City. Finally, on the feast of Pentecost, the priests who enter the Temple for the functions of the solemnity, hear a Voice that exclaims, " Let us depart hence."-^ The events denoted by these signs follow imme- diately ; for. This year, the seventeenth of King Agrippa, the Jews, driven to desperation by the exactions and tyranny of the Procurator, Gessius Florus, rise against the garrison, and massacre all the Romans in the city. Cestius Callus, the Governor of Syria, comes with a numerous army, devastates the towns that lie on his way to Jerusalem, and invests the City in the month of October. Thus, at the same time when the two Apostles are imprisoned in Rome for the Faith, Jeru- salem, " that slew the prophets," and rejected our Lord, enters on her period of unexampled calamity. The siege, however, is at first conducted with slackness ; so that the Christians, led by their bishop, S. Simeon, were enabled to escape,-^ and retire beyond the Jordan to -3 Joseph. Dc Bell. Jud. ii. 12, Tacit. Mamertine dungeon in distant Rome, Hist, V. 13. The pagan historian adds through whom the true glory and free- that while some few (?) were moved by dom of " the Israel of God" (Gal. vi. 15, these prodigies to fear, "pluribus per- 16) was to be especially wrought, suasio inerat, antiquis sacerdotum literis ^^ See S. Matt. xxiv. 15, etc. S. Epi- contineri, eo ipso tempore fore, 'ut phanius (//tz-rtx 29, et Z>6' i7/^«j-//;7j 30) valesceret Oriens, profectique Juda:a says, they were warned by an angel to rerum potirentur.'" It is very suggestive, escape, inasmuch as the City was that while the Jews were thus relying on doomed to destruction. "When the their ancient books of prophecy for the city was rebuilt, the Christians who had temporal restoration of Israel, two men gone forth from it before its destruction, were at that moment lying in the returned again, accompanied by Simeon A.D. 68 (6s). A.U.C. 819. NERONIS 12. 15 Pella in Decapolis. The heresies of the Nazarenes, the Ebionites, and others, are said to have originated among those who remained in that city.-^ Eusebius-^ says that the episcopal chair of S. James had been preserved to his own times ; so that it must have been saved with other holy relics and dedicated objects. Remarkable coincidences of names, traditions, and evident rem- nants of Christianity, have induced a belief in several authors, that about this time S. Thomas was evangelizing portions of Mexico, Peru, and Yucatan.-^ If so, it was probably before his recorded labours in CEthiopia, or in the Indian peninsula; in which latter region he suffered martyrdom by thrusts of a lance, and where his tomb is still shown, at Meliapor. their bishop. The thirteen bishops who, between this time and the reign of Hadrian, successively followed Simeon, were of Jewish birth, and the commu- nities over which they presided con- tinued to observe (?) the Mosaic law. [Cf. Acts xxi. 18 — 30]. But, when the notorious Bar Cochba {i.e., " Son of the Star" —Numb. xxiv. 17), calling himself the Messias . . had excited the Jews to rebellion in the reign of Hadrian, the whole of Palestine was laid waste, and the community of Christian Jews in Jerusalem driven out of the City." (Miin- ter : The Jewish War tinder Trajan and Hadrian, Lps. 1821.) The exiles took refuge with the Christians of pagan descent living at -.^lia Capitolina, a city in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, built by and named after ^lius Hadrianus, and of which Mark, a man of gentile birth, was bishop. The Church of Ceesarea (Stratonis) in Palestine, was still more important than that of ^lia ; [cf. ad A.D. 37, note 7, s.f.] but the Church of Antioch, of which S. Peter and Evodius had been bishops, and to which a fresh glory had been added by the martyrdom of S. Ignatius (a.d. 107 or 114), was always regarded as the most influential Church of the East" (Alzog. t. i. p. 237). -^ Tillemont in S. Sim. Hegesippus asserts that before the death of S. Simeon, who lived to see the beginning of the second century (till a.d. 107) and the time of Trajan, no heretic ventured to leach errors publicly. But see Apoc. ii. 6, 15. 20 Hist. vii. 14. 27 Appendix W. ''John III., King of Portugal, ordered the body of S. Thomas to be sought for in an old ruinous chapel which stood over his tomb without the walls of Meliapor. By digging there in 1523, a very deep vault in form of a chapel was discovered, in which were found the bones of the Saint, with a part of the lance with which he was slain, and a vial tinged with his blood. The body of the Apostle was put in a chest of porcelain, varnished and adorned with silver. . The Portuguese built a new town about, this church, which is called S. Thomas's. . Many of the Christians of S. Thomas . . continue in the Nesto- rian errors, and in obedience of the Nestorian patriarch of Mosul" (Alb. Butl. in Dec. 21). Il6 FASTI ArOSTOLICI: TIIIRTY-SIXTII YEAR. THIRTY-SIXTH YEAR. A.D. 69 (64). A.U.C. 820. NERONIS 1 3. Vespasian is sent by Nero from Achaia into Judaea, to allay the rebellion ; superseding Domitius Corbulo, who is summoned to return and meet the Emperor, probably at Corinth. At Cenchreae, Corbulo is met by a command from his imperial master, to kill him- self.i Vespasian sends his son Titus to Alexandria, to bring thence the fifth and the tenth legions to the seat of war ; while he himself crosses the Hellespont into Syria, and there concentrates the Roman forces, together with a considerable number of auxiliaries from the neigh- bouring kings.^ Nero returns from Achaia,^ with great pomp and triumph : * but his cruelties and extravagances have made him intolerable to the Senate and people of Rome. Twenty days earlier, as it seems, than the martyrdom of the holy Apostles, S. Peter and S. Paul, (which was probably by his orders), on the ninth'' of June, and on the same day on which, six years before, he had put to death his wife Octavia, Nero commits suicide, to avoid death at the hands of soldiers sent by the Senate. The government of the city is left in the hands of Tigellinus 1 "Without murmur or remonstrance, arrival of Galba, who was chosen as he plunged a sword into his heart, ex- his successor. Fleury interprets S. claiming, as he struck the blow: 'Rightly Clement as meaning that Nero was served ! '" (Dion, Ixiii. 17 : iraluv e\ey(y, still in Achaia {//. E. ii. xxx.). Nero's ei|(os. Merivalc, vol. iii. p. 31.) death was certainly in June of this year, 2 Josephus, De Bell. Jud. iii. r, 3. and must therefore have very nearly ■^ S. Clement, however (i Cor. v.), says coincided with that of the Apostles. of S. Paul, that he " suffered martyrdom * Sueton. in Ner. c. 25. under the prefects," viz., Sabinus and ^ Vitx\v?\z, Hist, of the Rofnans under Tigellinus, who had charge of affairs the Efnpirc, vol. vii. p. 48. Fleury says after the suicide of Nero, until the the same. A.D. 69 (64). A.U.C. 820. NERONIS 13. II7 and Nymphidius Sabinus,^ under whose regency the holy Apostles suffered, on one and the same day, their glorious martyrdom^ During their imprisonment, they had converted their gaolers, SS. Processus and Martinianus, together with forty-seven other soldiers of the guard ; these were all afterwards martyred.^ For their baptism, a fountain sprang up miraculously in the lower Mamertine Prison, which flows to this day. S. Paul is supposed, by those who adopt the later of two dates, to have recently written his Second Epistle to Timothejis? That S. Paul's second imprisonment in Rome was the date of this Epistle, seems probable from the mention of Demas having forsaken The faithful had earnestly implored S. Peter to endeavour to preserve his life for his flock. Yielding to their importunity, he left the prison by night, and went as far as the gate of the City, where he had a vision of our Lord entering in ; and, to his question : " Lord, whither goest Thou ? " answering : " I am going again to be crucified." ^^ On which answer, the Apostle returned to his prison, to await his martyrdom.^- ® Others give the names Helius Cae- ficed " {Ibid. 6, 8j. In contrast with sarianus and Polycletus. See Hefele's S. Peter, who had a foreknowledge of Note to the fifth chapter of the first the proximate "laying away of his taber- Epistle of S. Clement to the Corinth- nacle" (2 S. Pet. i. 13, 15), either by our ians, in his edition of the Patres Apos- Lord's previous words to him (S. John tolici. See also the preceding year. xxi. 19), or by some later revelation. '■ Prudentius {Peristeph. hymn. 12), The expression in 2 Tim. iv. 11 seems and S. Augustine {Serin, de Sand. 28) inconsistent with S. Paul's being then in seem to have thought the martyrdoms prison with S. Peter, and presents one took place in successive years ; but of the difficulties in determining the Baronius brings an overwhelming list date of that epistle, of writers to the contrary, besides the ^** C. iv. 9. Cf. sup. ad A.D. 59. Ro7na?i Martyrology, the Greek Meno- ^1 S. Ambrose, in Auxent. De Basil, logy, and the Acts of their Passion, TVb?^ 7>sosL Orat. in Princ. App. L v. Acta S. LinL The same miracle attended the mart>Tdom of S. Martina ^Ribi.uUtuira in Jan. 30}. A.D. 69 (64). A.U.C. 820. XEROXIS 1 3. 119 on her property on the Ostian Way.-"^ S. Paul's age is said to have been that of our Lord ; he was therefore martyred in his sixty-ninth year. S. Stephen, his former victim, had preceded him to his "crown of hfe " by more than half the Apostle's lifetime.-^ S. Peter, as a Jew, was taken across the Tiber to the Jews' quarter,— and there crucified, on the Janiculum Hill. The spot is sometimes called the Vatican, these two hills being contiguous, and not very distinct. He petitioned to be crucified with his head down- wards, as not worthy to suffer like his Lord. The Acts of S. Linus assert, that S. Peter's body was prepared for burial with aromatic spices, by Marcellus the presbyter. It was interred in a small cata- comb^ or cemetery-^ on the slope of the Vatican ^^ Hill, near the -"' So Caiu5, who visited Rome in the time of S. Zephyrinus, says to Proclus, the Cataphngian, in his disputation with him : " I can show you the trophies of the Apostles ; for if you will go to the Vatican, or to the Ostian Way, you will find the trophies of those who laid the foundation of this [the Roman] Church" {Apud Eiiseb. lib. iL c 25). ^ See Gen. xlLx. 27, and S. Augus- tine's application of the prophecy to S. Paul, who was of the tribe of Ben- jamin. Se-nti. xiv. De Sanctis, j Brev. Rom. in Jan. 25, iL NocL *^ In the time of Augustus, the Trans- tiberine quarter had teen occupied by Jews, who were for the most part freed- men. They had been expelled by Qaudius, but returned after his death (C£ ad A.D. 51, and 57). "The Jews residing in Rome undoubtedly formed a considerable community at the time of the death of Christ ; for, although the date of their expulsion by Claudius cannot be strictly determined i?;, it is clear from that e\-ent that they had already excited the jealousy of the Imperial government That the Gospel had pre\iously been made known to some at least among them, may be inferred firom the fact that Aquila and Priscilla at once joined S. Paul at Corinth. The Roman Jews inhabited the right bank of the Tiber, or what is now termed the Transteverine quarter of the City ; and they appear to have had a verj- early catacomb of their own, in the Monte Verde, contiguous to their place of abode. This catacomb was visited by Bosio in the beginning of the seventeenth centur)'," &c. ("The Roman Catacombs," Edinb. Review, Jan. 1859, p. 102). ^ Known always, in later times, as S. Peter's " Confession," the spot made sacred by the relics of one who had witnessed a good confession, as a naprlp for the truth. S. Zoe {Martyrol. Rom. July 5) was apprehended while praying here, as was S. Tranquilhnus (Ibid. July 6), at that of S. Paul The place where a martyr's body was laid, was also frequently called his 7ne7noria, and sometimes his "trophy." The word " catacomb " is one of debased Latinity, apparently corrupted from the strange compound, Kara, t umbos. S. Gregorys the Great, in a sermon preached at the tmmoria of SS. Nereus and Achi Ileus, says : " Sancti isti, ad quorum tumbam consistimus," etc. (S. Greg. Horn. 28). These subterraneans have furnished a I20 FASTI ArOSTOLICI: THIRTV-SIXTH YEAR, Gardens and circus of Ncro,-'^ the scene of so many previous martyr- doms, where the "living torches, men on fire,"-^ had stood, to Hght up the scene of the Emperor's diversions. Nero died in the thirty-first year of his age, and fourteenth of his reign. The family of Caesar Augustus became extinct by his death, and gave place to the P^lavian. S. Augustine reckons Nero as chief on the list of wicked Emperors. Many of the Christians held him to be Antichrist, and believed he was to reappear at the end of the world.^^ The disorders in the Empire consequent on Nero's death, the threatening attitude of the Galatai and Celtae, the prospect of an insurrection of the Jews "of the dispersion" beyond the Euphrates, arc enumerated by Josephus,-^ as chief causes that revived the hopes of emancipation in those Jews who dwelt in the Holy Land, and in Jerusalem. noble thought to a French writer : " La rehgion, comma son Divin Auteur, devait passer quelques jours au sein de la terra pour en sortir plus radieuse encore. Les persecutions, les catacombes et le martyre, trois mots qui rappellent les commencements et la gloire de I'Eglise!" {Cathedralcs de France, par Bourassd, p. 401). Appendix X. -* Koifj.r)T-npiov, " sleeping-place," was an essentially Christian word (see S. John xi. II — 13, Acts vii. 59, i Cor. vii. 39, XV. 20, I Thess. iv. 12, 13, 2 S. Pet. iii. 4), and took the place of " columba- rium," the pagan term which implies that the bodies of the dead had been reduced to ashes, and deposited in small urns within the pigeon-holes of a family vault. ("The heathen expression was situs, positus, or coinpositus ; the Chris- tian term, dcpositus, deposiiio, implying a different shade of meaning "). -•'• Appendix Y. -" The circus must have been coin- cident, or nearly so, with the sweep of the double colonnade round the Piazza of S. Peter's. Its enlargement was afterwards contemplated, according to some accounts, by Elagabalus. -'' Taeda lucebis in ilia, Sec. (Cf. ad A.D. 66 supra). 2S " The idea that Nero still survived, and the expectation of his return to power, continued long to linger among [the Romans]. More than one pre- tender arose to claim his empire ; and twenty years later, a false Nero was protected by the Parthians. This popu- lar anticipation was the foundation, perhaps, of the common persuasion of the Christians, when the death of the prince was no longer questioned, that he should revisit the earth in the char- acter of Antichrist ; and both Romans and Christians seem to have combined in believing that the East, and possibly that Jerusalem itself, would be the scene of his reappearance (Sueton. Nei'o, 40, cf. 56; and Tacit. Hist. ii. 8). There will be different opinions whether this idea sprang originally from the Christians or the Romans ; probably it was the result of a common feeling, reacting from one to the other" (Meri- vale, Hist, of the Romans under the E?npire, vol. vii. p. 50). '» Joseph. De Bell. Jud. Praef. 2. A.D. 69 (64). A.U.C. 820. NERONIS 1 3. 121 Vespasian, having heard of the revolt of Vindex in Gaul, deter- mines to push on to Jerusalem, and there finish the war. He concentrates his forces at Caesarea for that purpose ; when the news reaches him of Nero's death. Hereupon, Titus, accompanied by- Herod Agrippa H., sets sail for Rome, to ask directions from Galba about the Jewish campaign. On the coast of Achaia, they learn that the new Emperor also had been slain, after a reign of seven months and seven days. Agrippa proceeds, nevertheless, on his voyage ; but Titus returns with all speed to Vespasian at Caesarea.^*' The army at Caesarea proclaims Vespasian, Emperor. To secure the purple, he sends Titus to Alexandria, on the ist of July, with commission to receive the oaths of the two legions there. Vespasian pushes on to Antioch, whence he despatches Mutianus, Proconsul of Syria, to Rome, with an army. S. Titus, returning from his Apostolate in Dalmatia, goes to his Cretan diocese, and probably resided chiefly at Gortyna,^^ where he was finally buried, aet. 94.^^ S. Andrew, brother of the Prince of the Apostles, who first brought him to our Lord,^^ suffered later than S. Peter, though the time is uncertain. Some refer it to the reign of Domitian. His crucifixion took place at Patrae, in Achaia, under the Proconsul .^geas,^* and is described in an Epistle of the Achaian clergy,^^ which was publicly read in the churches.^*^ ^^ De Bell. Jiid. book iv. c. ix. sacrifice to the idols. He answered : 21 About six miles from the spurs of " I sacrifice every day to Almighty God Mount Ida. — the One and True — not the flesh of ^^ His body was preserved with great bulls, nor the blood of goats, but the veneration in the Cathedral ; his head Spotless Lamb on the altar ; whose was conveyed to Venice, where it was Flesh when all the multitude of believers venerated in S. Mark's. His successor hath eaten, the Lamb who has been was S. Philip {Marlyrol. Rotn. Apr. 11). sacrificed remaineth whole, and liveth The See was afterwards removed to still." For an account of the translation Candia. The island was not taken by of the Apostle's head from Patras to the Turks till 1669 {Oriens Christ, ii. Rome, see Appendix Z. 257, &c. iii. 908, &c. Fl. Coener, Creta ^^ This encyclical epistle, addressed Sacra, t. i. et ii.). " to all the Churches in the East and 33 S. John i. 40 — 42. West, in the North and South, estab- 34 When brought before ^geas, the lished in the Name of Christ," concludes Apostle was bidden, as was usual, to with the words : " These things were 122 FASTI Al'OSTOLICI : TIIIRTV-SIXTII YEAR. S. Peter was succeeded in the Supreme Pontificate by S. Linus,^^ whom he had previously ordained his coadjutor^^ (together with S. Cletus) to supply his place during his absences from Rome. S. Linus had a Pontificate of eleven years, and was martyred in the ninth year of Vespasian, being succeeded by S. Cletus ; he, again, by S. Clement, and he, by S. Anacletus, S. Philip the Apostle survived at least until A.u. 8i, and perhaps some time after.^'^ Vespasian, in Juda:a, executes his task of repression with great done in the province of Achaia, in the city of Patras, the day before the Calends of December, where even now [his] benefits are dispensed, to the glory and praise of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Another version gives : "In the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom," &c. ^^ His body, as we learn from the Achaian epistle, was taken down by a devout lady of senatorian rank, named Maximilla, embalmed, and laid in the most honourable place at her disposal. "Maximilla Christo amabilis, tulit corpus Apostoli, Optimo loco cum aromatibus sepelivit." She was following in this respect the example of the two SS. Lucina, and of others, who devoted special places on their estates to the burial of martyrs. Many of these were afterwards transferred to the catacombs. The expression, ajvinatibns sepelivit, is supposed by De Rossi to have a techni- cal force, equivalent to saying, " buried with the honours due to a Saint " (Sec F. MuUooly's 6". Clement, &c. p. xv. note). 37 « Peter first filled that one sole Chair (Cathedram unicam), which is the first of the [Church's] gifts ; to him succeeded Linus ; to Linus, Clement ; to Clement, Anacletus," i&c. (S. Optatus Milev. De Schism. Donat. 1. ii. n. 2 — 4). 2* Johannes Papa III. Epist. adEpisc. Germ, and Leo II. Epist. {apud Marian, Scot, in Clem.) affirm this. S. Epiph. {Ha^res. 27) and Ruffinus {Prcef. lib. Recognita add, that S. Clement also was ordained by S. Peter himself, but declined the Episcopate until the two coadjutors had succeeded in turn. He is known to have been martyred in the third year of Trajan. His ordination by S. Peter is also affirmed by Tertul- lian {De Pra:scr. Haret. n. 32). Not only by many of the Fathers, but in the Sacred Canon of the Mass, S. Linus is named first, S. Clement third. The second was S. Cletus, the fourth S. Ana- cletus, though these two have been frequently confounded ; e.g. by Fleury {H. E. ii. xxvi.). Tertullian is mistaken in placing S. Clement /(7//;-//i, viz., after S. Anacletus. S. Irenxus, in a well- known passage {Adv. Hccrcs. iii. 3, 2, 3), reckons S. Peter's three successors as Linus, Anacletus, Clement ; apparently taking Anacletus for Cletus. ^'J Tillemont, t. i. pt. iii. p. 956. This very cautious, perhaps over-cautious, writer rejects as false the accounts which make S. Philip die at the age of eighty- seven, under Domitian or Trajan. He even doubts whether the holy Apostle was a martyr, though the Roman Bre- viary expressly affirms that he was at once crucified and stoned to death at Hierapolis in Phrygia. But Tillemont may be entitled the Niebuhr of sacred and ecclesiastical history. A.D. 69 (64). A.U.C. 820. NERONIS 1 3. 123 vigour and cruelty.^'^ In Galilee, one hundred thousand Jews perish, and forty thousand captives are led away, or sold into slavery.*^ Many of these were afterwards compelled to build the Colos- seum''- in Rome. A great massacre of the Samaritans takes place at Mount Gerizim,^^ by Cerealis, commander of the Fifth Legion. On their refusal of his terms, he fell upon them and slew them all ; being eleven thousand six hundred men.'** Josephus, the Jewish leader and subsequent historian, is taken prisoner on the capture of Jotapata, the siege of which he has minutely described.*^ ■**^ Though a good prince, by com- parison with others who preceded and followed him, and therefore the only- one of the Twelve Caesars who died a natural death, or was succeeded by his son, Vespasian seems to have been severe to the Christians as well as to the Jews. The Roma Siibterranea (of Bosio ?) quoted by Rohrbacher, Hist, de PEgltse, vol. i. p. 663, gives an inscrip- tion from a slab found in the Cata- combs : " Christ hath given thee all things, and thou dost reply by the death of Gaudentius. Thus, O cruel Ves- pasian, dost thou show thy gratitude : but Christ hath prepared for him another sphere (theatrum) in Heaven." ''I Tacitus reports the number of those who were afterwards besieged in Jeru- salem itself, as six hundred thousand {Hist. V. 13). Josephus gives the total number slain during the whole war, as 1,356.460, and of prisoners, 101,700, ■*^ So called, it is said, from a colossal statue of Nero, that stood there. Gibbon, however, perhaps with greater probabi- lity, derives the name simply from the vast dimensions of the building. See Appendix AA. The immense grottoes, existing beneath the Passionist convent of SS. John and Paul on the Cffilian, were "hewn perhaps by the Jewish prisoners of Titus, who were employed in the excavation of the materials used in the erection of the Coliseum" {Edinb. Rev. ut supra. Thus, after a period of fifteen hundred years, the once chosen people had to serve under task-masters more cruel, and in a harder toil, than in their ancient Egyptian bondage. The Christians became involved in a similar fate. Thus, under Trajan, S. Clement, Pope, was banished to the Crimea, and shared with his flock the labour of hewing marble from the quarries there. '•3 Deut. xi. 29, xxvii. 12 ; Jos, viii. 33; Jud. ix. 7 ; Cf. ad a.d. 38, note 4. " Joseph. De Bell. Jud. iii. vii. ^5 De Bell. Jud. iii, vii. Under his leadership, the place made a resistance of twenty-seven days. It was perhaps in consequence of his literary ability, as well as his military skill, that his life was spared, and that he was taken into favour by Titus, whom he thenceforward accompanied on the Jewish expedition. In this capacity, he constantly employed his influence with his countrymen to yield to the Roman power. Josephus assumed the preenomen Flavius, in homage to the Emperor, and spent the remainder of his life in Rome, engaged in literary pursuits. Whiston gives A.D. 75, or thereabouts, for the publica- tion of the first book, " The Jewish War," when Josephus was thirty-eight 124 FASTI APOSTOLIC! : TIIIRTV-SIXTII YEAR. This is tlic first great instalment of the destruction predicted by our Lord, which cuhninatcd in the siege and capture of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and dispersion of the once-chosen people, "because they knew not the time of their visitation."*'' Thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam,*^ uttered fourteen hundred years before: "They shall come in galleys from Italy, and shall waste the Hebrews." More than four centuries were still to run, before the fulfilment of the last clause of it — "And at the last they themselves also shall perish " — when, in 476, the Roman Empire, which may be said to have begun with Augustus, perished with Augustulus. *^ S. John, who survived the rest of the Apostles by many years, is said by S. Irenaeus to have resided at Ephesus after the martyrdom of SS. Peter and Paul, and to have written his Gospel there. He is probably about this time returning from his missions to the Parthians, and those on the shores of the Persian Gulf. His residence in Ephesus was either commenced, or resumed, after his " martyrdom of will " outside the Latin Gate of Rome, his banishment to Patmos,*'^ and the martyrdom of S. Timotheus, a.d. 97. While S. Timothy remained in his local diocese of Ephesus, the Beloved Disciple would seem to have had "the solicitude of all the Churches" of Asia Minor.50 SS. Polycarp, Ignatius, and Pacian, were instructed by S. John : the first named of the three being made Bishop of Smyrna by years of age, and eighteen years later, memory of their Apostle and his stay A.D. 93, or the 13th of Domitian, for among them, and dwell with pleasure that of his " Antiquities." on the story of his exile and the circum- *" St. Luke xix. 44. stances that preceded it'" (Alzogjvol. L " Numb. xxiv. 24. p. 227). ** See Apoc. i. 9 ; Euseb. J7. E. iii. ^'^ After a duration of 522 years, says 18, 20; Tertull. De Prccscrip. c. 36; Procopius, reckoning from the victory of Epiphan. Hares, i. 33. "Von Schubert, Julius Cassar at Pharsalia. In that year, Travels in the East, Erlang. 1838, sq. 476, Odoacer, chief of the Heruli, think- vol. iii. pp. 427, seq., writes : 'Even at ing, with great reason, that the title of this day, all the inhabitants of Patmos Emperor had fallen into vile esteem, are Christians ; a fact which reflects abolished it, and banished Augustulus great credit on them, when compared to the promontory of Misenum. with other Christian communities ; and '•'^ See Clement of Alexandria, quoted they still cherish with filial love the in Appendix BB. A.D. 69 (64). A.U.C. 820. NERONIS 1 3. 125 the Apostle himself. He was afterwards martyred by fire in the amphitheatre of that city, together with twelve brethren brought in chains from Philadelphia, A.D. 169, the ninth of Marcus Aurelius.^^ S. Polycarp, "the Angel of the Church of Smyrna" is addressed in the Apocalypse;^^ as is also S. Timothy, "the Angel of the Church of Ephesus," who is reproved for some apparent want^^ of zeal in his office.^^ S. Polycarp, who " was taught by the Apostles, and conversed with many of those who had seen our Lord,"^^ has transmitted, through his own disciple, S. Irenaeus,^*^ an engaging account of the demeanour and teaching of loved." the Disciple whom Jesus ''^ See the encyclical letter of the Church in Smyrna, primarily addressed to the faithful at Philomelium, in Phrygia. ^' C. ii. 8, &c. ^3 /dtW. ii. I, &c. ^* "It seems that S. Timothy, who had now been Bishop of Ephesus for forty years — [consecrated by S. Paul, A.D. 52 of the common reckoning, martyred in 97] — had grown somewhat lukewarm in preaching the word of God, and in labouring for the conversion of the Ephesians ; as seeing that both the Jews, and the Gentile worshippers of * Diana of the Ephesians,' obstinately withstood him. Hence, partly from discouragement and tepidity, partly from the suggestion of human prudence . . he had slackened in some degree his first ardour in preaching the Gospel ; and this in him was a venial, though not a mortal sin. For prelates often sin more through remissness, which comes upon them under guise of prudence, than by imprudence under guise of zeal. Yet either of these is a fault ; and both are here reproved by Christ — the former in the Bishop of Ephesus, the latter in the Bishop of Thyatira " (Corn, a Lap. m Apoc. ii. I — 5). ^° S. Irenasus {Hcer. iii. 3, 4). He had conversed, among others, with S. Philip the Apostle, and that for some time (Tillemont, t. i. p. 384). S. Polycarp was not converted till A.D. 80 ; the Apostle therefore must have lived to a great age. Theodoret and Eusebius assign "the two Phrygias"as the sphere of his Apostolate. The latter {H.E. lib. iii. c. 31) quotes Polycrates to the effect that he was buried at Hierapolis in Phrygia (Cf. sup. ad A.D. 39, note 19), " which city was indebted to his rehcs for its preservation by continual miracles; as is averred by the author of the sermon on the Twelve Apostles, attributed to S.^Chrysostom. . His body is said to be in the church of SS. Philip and James in Rome, which was dedicated to God under their name, in 560. The Emperor Theodosius, in a vision, received from S. John the Evangelist, and S. Philip, the assurance of victory over the tyrant Eugenius, . in 394, as Theodoret (lib. v. c. 24) relates " (Alban Butler). s" See Appendix BB. APPENDIX. A {p. I). DIFFICULTIES IN ANCIENT CHRONOLOGY. The doubt attaching to any particular year is increased by possible diflerences in reckoning its commencement. Five points especially are here to be considered, (i) The divergence between the Roman or Julian^ reckoning, i.e., the commencement of January, and the Jewish paschal date, which began the year with Nisan,- a month answering to our March, and so with the original Roman new-year, the Greek Xanthicus, and the Egyptian Pharmuth. (2) Errors which might arise from the seemingly irrational method of reckon- ing backward by the kalends of the Roman month, in which the days of each month are denoted from a point midway in the succeeding; so that the omission or faulty transcription of the word kal. in any MS. might substitute one month for another, and thus, in questions between December and January, render even the year doubtful. {3) The variations between the lunar and solar month ; and again, between these and months reckoned from harvests and the fruits of the earth. (4) The insertion of the intercalary month in the Jewish calendar, about every third year. (5) The fact that the Jews had a sacred and a secular commencement for their year : the Paschal, in the middle of Nisan, and that for ordinary business, and for the calculation of the Jubilee (Levit. xxv. 9, 10), which fell in the seventh month, or Tisri, corresponding with September. " La maniere de compter par kalendes, nones, et ides, que les remains observoient, est si contraire a la notre, qui approche bien plus de la nature et de la raison, que les sgavans memes s'y trompent quelquefois, h. cause que le calcul remain se fait en retrogradant, et en donnant le nom du mois qui * Solinus Polyhist. De Diebus bito'cal. c. l. * Exod. xii. 2. 128 FASTI APOSTOLICI. suit ^ la moiti^ des jours du mois precedent. C'est pourquoi le P. Labbe dans son histoire chronologique, avertit que pour entendre les dates qui se trouvent dans les historiens, ct autres auteurs latins . . le plus sflr est d'avoir recours ^ un calendrier Julien ou Gregorien " (Moreri, iti voc. Kalende. Taken from Aubriot, Nouvcau prhicipe de compter les calendcs, &c.). " Les premiers Chretiens se scrvirent aussi, dans la division des tems, des manieres des romains, h, la puissance desquels ils etoient soumis, \ la reserve des coutumes qui . . se ressentoient de I'idolatrie. Ils garderent done les memes noms des mois, la meme quantite de leurs jours, la meme distribution de ces jours en Kalendes, Nones, et Ides," &c. (Id. in voc. Kalendrier). "The identification of the Jewish months with our own cannot be effected with precision, on account of the variations that must inevitably exist between the lunar and the solar month ; each of the former ranging over portions of two of the latter. It must therefore be understood that the following remarks apply to the general identity on an average of years. . . At present, Nisan answers to March, but in early times it coincided with April ; for the barley harvest, the firstfruits of which were to be presented on the 15th of that month (Lev. xxiii. 10) does not take place even in the warm district about Jericho until the middle of April, and in the upland districts not before the end of that month (Robinson's Researches, i. 551 ; iii, 102, 145). To the same effect Josephus {Atitiq. ii. 14, § 6) synchronizes Nisan with the Egyptian Pharmuth, which commenced on the 27th of March (Wilkinson, /. c.) and with the Iklacedonian Xanthicus, which answers generally to the early part of April, though considerable variation occurs in the local calendars as to its place (comp. Ideler, i. 435, 442). He further informs us (iii. 10, § 5) that the Passover took place when the sun was in Aries, which it does not enter until near the end of March " (Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, art. " Month." See also the article " Year," by the same hand). B {p. 2). OUR lord's appearances after his resurrection. On Easter Day. (i) To His Ever-Blessed Mother. S. Ambrose, lib. De Virgin, s. init S. Anselm, De Excellentia Virginis, lib. vi. Rupert, Divin. Offic. vii. 25. S. Bonaventure, Vita Christ i, c. 87. "Estque hie APPENDIX. 129 communis Doctorum et fidelium sensus," C. a Lap. in Matt. xxviii. 10. ''Primo, apparuit Virgini Marice; quod licet non dicatur in Scriptura, habetur pro dicto, cum dicat Eum appa- ruisse tam multis aliis ; quia Scriptura supponit nos habere in- tellectum, sicut scriptum est: Adhuc et vos sine intellcctu estisV S. Ignat. Exere. Spirit, p. 245, ed. 1S76. (2) To S. Mary Magdalene, at the Sepulchre. S. Mark xvi. 9, S. John XX. 16. (3) To her, in company with the other holy women, as they were returning from the sepulchre to Jerusalem. S. Matt, xxviii. 9. (4) To S. Peter. S. Luke xxiv. 34 ; i Cor, xv. 5. (5) To the two disciples (S. Cleophas, and perhaps Simeon or NathanaeP) going to Emmaus ; S. Luke xxiv. 13 — 35. (6) To the " Eleven " in Jerusalem ; so called, as constituting the College of the Apostles, (S. Matt, xxviii. 16; S. Mark xvi. 14; S. Luke xxiv. 9, ^T) '> Acts i. 26, and especially ii. 14), though S. Thomas was absent : — as there may be a meeting of triumviri or septemviri, without the presence of every member (Corn, a Lap.' in S. Luke xxiv. t^i). Cf. S. Aug. De Consensu Ezmi- gelist. iii. 25. This seems to be the appearance mentioned, S. Mark xvi 14 ; though Maldonatus supposes it to have been that on the octave day of the Resurrection, when S. Thomas was with the rest. S. Cleophas and the other disciple were also present, S. Luke xxiv. 33 — 36 : and others also, v. 33. II. After Easter Day. (7) On the octave day, to the Eleven, including S. Thomas (S. John XX. 26 — 29). He then renewed the manifestation of the spiritual qualities (i Cor. xv. 44 — 49) of His Risen Body; passing, by the gift of subtility, through the closed doors (v. 26; cf. v. 19), as He had passed through the stone laid at the mouth of the sepulchre.2 See the authorities quoted by Corn. ^ Lap. in Matt, xxviii. 2. ^ S. Ambrose supposes his name to be Amaon, derived from Emmaus. Origen, Comtiunt. in Johaiin. s. init. calls him Simeon. S. Epiphanius, H^er. xxiii. says, Nathanael (S. John i. 45—51) ; Theophylact, S. Gregory (Prref. in Job. c. ii.) and others, suppose him to have been S. Luke, which seems the least probable opinion (Cf. S. Luke i. 2, 3). - "Quomodo de sepulchre exire non posset, qui ex incorruptis matris visceribus salva virginitate processit ? Fefellit custodes, exilivit de sepulchre, apparuit discipulis januis non apertis : inde clausus exiit, hue exclusus intravit " (S. Aug. Serin. 138 De Tevip.). 130 FASTI APOSTOLICI. (8) To seven Apostles and disciples (S. John xxi. i, Szc), as they were fishing in the Sea of Galilee, or of Tiberias. These were, SS. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John the sons of Zebedce, and two others. Then occurred the miraculous draught of fishes, the threefold penance of S. Peter, and the thrice repeated committal of the universal Church into his hands. S. John (v. 14) speaks of it as "the third time that Jesus was manifested to His disciples, after He was risen from the dead ;" i.e., the third time when He appeared to any number of them together. (9) "To more than five hundred brethren at once," (i Cor. xv. 6) on a mountain in Galilee, supposed to be Mount Tabor,^ the scene of His former transfiguration (S. Matt. xvii. i, &c. ; S. Mark ix. I, &c. ; S. Luke ix. 28, Szc). This was by His own especial appointment and command (S. Matt. xxvi. 32; xxviii. 7, 16; S. Mark xiv. 2S ; xvi. 7; cf. Acts i. 11). Many of these wit- nesses were still living in the first year of Nero, a.d. 57, when S. Paul wrote his First Epistle to the Corinthians (c. xv. v. 6). (10) To S. James the Less, son of Alphoeus or Cleophas, and of Mary (S. Matt, xxvii. 56; S. Mark xv. 40), sister to the Blessed Virgin. This is mentioned, i Cor. xv. 7. S. Jerome, {jDe Scriptor. Ecclcs. in Jacobiim) adds some details regarding this appearance, taken from the apocryphal " Gospel according to the Hebrews," but without in any way approving them : to the effect that, whereas S. James had remained fasting from the time of the Crucifixion, our risen Lord appeared to him, took bread, blessed it, and gave it to him, saying : " My brother, eat thy bread ; for the Son of man has risen from the dead." (11) "To all the Apostles" (i Cor. xv. 7) and disciples, when "He led them out as far as Bethania" (S. Luke xxiv. 50), probably that S. Lazarus and his sisters might join their company, and proceed with them to the Mount of Olives. There, " they who were come together" {Acts i. 6), asked Him, about the resto- ration of the kingdom of Israel : but He promised them " the 2 Tliis manifestation on Tabor might be in further fulfihnent of the promise (S. Matt. xvi. 28 ; S. Mark viii. 39 ; S. Luke viii. 27), the first reference of which was to the Transfiguration. APPENDIX. 131 power of the Holy Ghost," to extend His true Catholic kingdom "even to the uttermost part of the earth" {Ibid.) " While they looked on," " lifting up His hands, He blessed them : and . . while He blessed them" "He was raised up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight," and He " was carried up to Heaven" (S. Luke xxiv. 51), with the same glory, apparently^ with which He shall come again to judgment, (compare Acts i. II with S. Matt. xxv. 31, S. Luke ix. 26, Apoc. i. 7). (12) Other personal appearances of our Lord, more or fewer, are included under the general announcement, Acts i. 3, that " He showed Himself alive after His Passion, to the Apostles whom' He had chosen . . for forty days appearing to them, and speaking of the Kingdom of God;" instructing them in the glory and happiness of the Church triumphant, and the insti- tution and ordinances of the Church militant ; the authority of prelates, the functions of holy Orders, the number, matter, form,. and rites of the holy Sacraments, and all other "Apostolical traditions." III. After His Ascensio7i. (13) To S. Stephen the Protomartyr, as he stood before the Council (Acts vii. 55). His sight was supernaturally strengthened to pierce through the intermediate Heavens into the Empyrean, where he " saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the Right Hand of God. And he said : Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the Right Hand of God." Cf. Corn, a Lap. in loc. (14) To Saul the Pharisee and persecutor, on the road to Damascus,, and near the city ; which caused his immediate conversion) (Acts ix. I — 22; xxii. 3 — 21; xxvi. 9 — 20; i Cor. xv. 8 — 10;; Gal. i. 13 — 27; Eph. iii. i — 8; Phil. iii. 4 — 14; i Tim. i, 12— 16). In this and the following appearance, our Divine Lord caused His sacred risen Body to bilocate ; inasmuch as, once ascended to Heaven, He departed no more thence (Acts iii. 21),, nor intermitted His perpetual session at the Right Hand of the Father (Symbol. App, et Nicsen.) in the Empyrean, and yet 132 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. appeared to Saul in the air above him. Even so does He multilocate in the Holy Eucharist, and enable the bodies of His Saints to bilocate also. (15) To S. Peter, on the eve of the Apostle's crucifixion, at the spot in Rome named Domuie, quo vadisl See "Fasti," p. 117, with the authorities there quoted. These personal Divine appearances are to be distinguished from visions and ecstasies with which He favoured S. Paul (Acts xviii. 9, 10, xxii. 18, xxiii, 11). The celebrated description of our Lord by Josephus may be here intro- duced ; though he inserts it in his Antiquities, with no very accurate chronology, after the sedition of the Jews against Pilate, which Whiston assigns to a.d. 27. "About this time lived Jesus, a man of wisdom, if He may be called man. For He wrought mighty works ; a teacher of such as willingly received the truth. He drew many to Himself, both of Jews and Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the instance of the principal men among us, had condemned Him to the cross, they who loved Him at the first, did not forsake Him. For He appeared to them alive again, the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from Himself, is not extinct at this day." Aitiiq. xviii. 3, 3. C (/. 2). THE LOCALITY OF THE ASCENSION. " Concerning the place of our Lord's Ascension, the aforesaid author [Adamnan, De Locis Sanciis\ writes thus : " ' Mount Olivet is equal in height to Mount Sion, but exceeds it in breadth and length. . . On the very top of it, where our Lord ascended into Heaven, is a large round church, having about it three vaulted porches. For the inner house was not to be vaulted and covered, because of the passage of our Lord's Body; but it has an altar on the east side, covered with a narrow roof. In the middle of it are to be seen the last prints of our Lord's Feet, the sky appearing open above, where He ascended ; and though the ArPENDIX. 133 earth is daily carried away by believers, yet still it remains as before, and retains the same impression of the Feet. In the western part of the same church are eight windows ; and eight lamps, hanging opposite to them by cords, cast their light through the glass as far as Jerusalem ; this light is said to strike the hearts of beholders with a certain joy and humility. Every year, on the day of the Ascension, when Mass is ended, a strong blast of wind is said to come down, and to cast to the ground all that are in the church." (S. Bede's Eccles. Hist. lib. v. c. 17.) D {p. 3). MAXIMS ATTRIBUTED TO SAINT MATTHIAS. Clement of Alexandria {Sh-oni. lib. ii. c. 9), says : " The beginning of truth is ©av/xdaac ra Trpajfiara, as Plato says in his Thecetetus ; and as Matthias exhorts in his "Traditions" — @avfida-ov to, irapovTU — laying down this as the first step to subsequent knowledge." On this, Petavius comments : " Oav/xdcraL is not only to admire, but also to learn, and become the disciple of. The Apostle would have us conduct ourselves in this visible universe, as in a school of divine contemplation. S. Antony was accustomed to say that this world is a great book, in which the attributes of its Author are written in beautiful characters, as by the hand of a skilful scribe. The author of the Epistle to Demetrias, attributed to S. Ambrose, says : " The heavens and the earth, in their beauty, furnish as it were so many pages, lying ever open to the inspection of all, and unceasingly proclaiming their Author : a proclamation in harmony with [following upon the lines of] the teaching of doctors and the eloquent utterance of the Scriptures." Facundus, Bishop of Hermianum, says, in his twelfth book : " As words are given us, to signify things, so Almighty God, to whose power all is subject, and whose wisdom knows how, in marvellous ways, to harmonize even the voluntary movements of His creatures so as fitly to conduce to the purpose of instruction, gives expression, by their acts, to whatsoever lesson He will." Thus also S. Augustine : " As, when we examine some beautiful manuscript, we should not feel content with praising the skill of the writer, how uniform he has made the letters, how even, how shapely, unless we could also read what he has signified thereby ; so, he who merely gazes on God's works, is delighted 134 FASTI APOSTOLICI. with their beauty, ancP thus admires the Divine Artificer; but he who under- stands [them] is as thougli lie read tliem." "This is ©av/xd^eip ra irapovra', not to be an idle spectator and .admirer of what we see, but a docile and intelligent disciple " (Petav. T/ieol. Dogma f. t. iii; Dc Officio VI. Diei: p. 221). . ^"-^ Id. Strom, lib. iii. c. 4 : " Matthias is reported to have taught thus : ' We must fight against the flesh, and treat it hardly (maltreat, 'Kapayjpr)(T6aL) by no means yielding to it for intemperate pleasure : but increase the [growth of the] soul by faith and knowledge.'"^ E {/. 10). TARSUS. Tarsus, the metropolis of Cilicia, was rightly described by S. Paul as "no mean city" (he was ovk. aai'^fiov 7roXe&)9 7ro\iTT]<;, Acts xxi. 39). "Even in the flourishing period of Greek history, it was a city of some considerable consequence (Xen. Anab. i. 2, § 23). After Alexander's conquests had swept this way (Quint. Curt. iii. 5), and the Seleucid kingdom was established at Antioch, Tarsus usually belonged to that kingdom, though for a time it was under the Ptolemies. In the civil wars of Rome, it took Caesar's side ; and, on the occasion of a visit from him, had its name changed to Juliopolis (Cses. Bell. Alex. 66, Dion Cass, xlvii. 26)." Tarsus suffered severely in the contest between Octavius and Antony on the one side, and Brutus and Cassius on the other. Compelled to submit (B.C. 43) to the latter, most of its inhabitants were sold into slavery. But on the triumph of the former at Philippi, a general edict restored them to their liberty; and Augustus made it a "free city," or miinicipium, a higher title than that of colonia. It was not from this, however, that S. Paul derived his Roman citizenship, though Fleury asserts it {H. E. i. Ivii.). It is to be remarked that the opposition to S. Stephen, and subsequent persecution, arose from the libe/'ii/ii, or freedmen, and men of Cilicia (Acts v. 9), which would tend to draw Saul into it, besides his personal hatred against Christianity. ^ Cf. Rom. xiii. 14; i Cor. ix. 26, 27; Gal. v. 16, 17. APPENDIX. 135 Tarsus became one of the three great universities of the Pagan world, and Strabo (xiv. 5) ranks it even above Alexandria and Athens. It was here, then, that S. Paul gained his early acquaintance with Greek as well as Hebrew literature. See Acts xvii. 28, where he quotes from Aratus and Cleanthes; I Cor. XV. :^:^, from Menander, Tit. i. 12, from Epimenides. His after and more important studies were pursued in Jerusalem, under Gamaliel (Acts xxii. 3), who, beside his profound knowledge of the Jewish law, is said to have had a great acquaintance with general literature. The similarity of thought and phrase in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in the writings of Philo has been observed ; as also the points of resemblance between the Apostle's language and that of Seneca. " The education of S. Paul was that of a Roman gentleman and a Jewish rabbi ; his father being thus provi- dentially guided to prepare his son in a strikingly appropriate manner for his future work, and qualifying him to address with equal effect an audience of well-informed Hebrews, or one of polished Athenians." The Tharsis of the Old Testament (Gen. x. 4, I. Paralip. i. 7, Is. ii. 16, Jon. i. 3, iv. 2, &c., &c.) is probably Tartessus in Spain, a city and emporium of the Phoenicians, and is not to be confounded with Tarsus. Though it is not stated in the Acts, there seems little doubt that S. Paul, who returned to his native place after his conversion (Acts ix. 30), visited it again both on his Second and Third Apostolic journeys (Acts xv. 40). Tarsus was the birth-place of the learned and vigorous monk, Theodore, whom Pope Vitalian, in 668, made Archbishop of Canterbury, and primate of the Anglo-Saxon province. He held the Councils of Hereford in 673, of Hatfield in 680, and of Twyford in 684 ; and it was mainly to him that the parochial division of England is said to be due. He also brought into the island great wealth (for those times) of Greek and Latin MSS. F (/. 26). DISPERSION OF THE APOSTLES. I. — It is highly probable that the Apostles, having preached, especially to ** the lost sheep of the house of Israel " (S. Matt. x. 6, xv. 24) throughout Judaea, Samaria, and as far as Antioch, assembled at Jerusalem, before proceeding on their several missions to the ends of the earth. S. Justin Martyr writes to Antoninus : " Twelve men went forth from Jerusalem 136 FASTI APOSTOLICI. throughout the world ; and tlicse, unlearned and without eloquence : but in the power of God they proclaimed to the whole human race that they were sent by Christ to teach all men the word of God." Rufinus {Comvicnt. in Symb. init.) and Hincmar {Episf. adv. Ep. Laudun.) assert that, before separating, they composed the Syinlwhnn — so called from each contributing an article. This was to be the watchword of the faith, a touchstone by which the teaching of the Eccksia docens, and the belief of the Ecdesia disccns, were to be always tested. Baronius defends the common opinion, that each Apostle contributed his several article to this creed. Tillemont, on no sufficient ground, controverts it. The Symbol was not written, but handed down by tradition ; among other reasons, to preserve the disciplina arcani. " Idcirco hasc non scribi chartis atque membranis, sed cordibus retineri tradiderunt, ut certum esset, neminem h?ec ex lectione, qu?e interdum pervenire etiam ad infideles solet, sed ex Apostolorum traditione didicisse " (Ruf. ut sup.). Socrates {H. E. i. 19) asserts that the Apostles decided their respective provinces by lot. This is strenuously opposed by Baronius {ad aivi. 44) ; but it may be admitted in the sense of Acts i. 22 — 26 ; though Baronius quotes with much force Acts viii. 26, xiii. 2—4. Cf. Is. xxxiv. 17, and Hieron, /// loc. The fifteenth of July {Id. Julii) is the day on which the Feast of " the Division of the Apostles" has been kept from early times. It is mentioned, as on tliat day, in the appendix to the Martyrology of Ado, found in Rosweyd, and also by Usuard ; these imply that the feast was observed at least before the twelfth century. In France, its observance probably dates long before the ancient breviary printed in 1509 for the dioceses of Auxerre, Verdun, and Besan^on, which gives the feast for the same date, July 15. A missal printed for the diocese of Liege, and a breviary for that of Tongres, both also of 1509, give the following collect for the feast : " O God, Who didst foreordain the division of 'i'hy Apostles to take place on this day, that the dispersion of the Gentiles should be called as a Church in one and the same grace of faith ; grant us to merit the pardon of our sins by their intercession, by whose preaching of the truth we have attained to the knowledge of Thy Name. Through our Lord." Later breviaries might be quoted to the same effect, as in use in Isola, Mechlin, Antwerp, Poland, Silesia, and Denmark. II. The date of this dispersion. — Baronius {Anual. ad arm. 44, n. 13) confesses that, after long research, he had been unable to find any safe guide on this point, either among Greek or Latin authors. APPENDIX. 137 (i) Some Spanish writers, especially Sanctius {Comment, in Act.), are of opinion that it took place immediately after the Pentecostal gift had been bestowed on the Apostles. This opinion rests mainly on apocryphal and ill-founded testimonies, e.g., that of the so-named Pseudo Dexter {Chron. ad A.D. 34). It seems, moreover, directly opposed to Acts viii. i, 14, 25. (2) Others, resting on the authority of a certain Melito, bishop of Sardis, assign it to the second year after our Lord's Ascension. This, however, is refuted by S. Bede {Retract, in Act. viii. t. 6), and by Baronius. (3) A more probable opinion would have it to have been before S. Paul's visit to Jerusalem, which took place three years after his conversion. Compare Gal. i. 18, 19. But the rest of the Apostles may, during S. Paul's brief visit, have been evangelizing places comparatively near Jerusalem (Cf. Acts viii. 14, 25), and the notice of this might well be omitted by S. Luke, who chiefly directs attention to the actions of S. Peter, as afterwards to those of S. Paul. It is certain that the Apostles were still in Judaea when S. Peter baptized Cornelius and others in Csesarea (Cf. Acts xi. i — 18). S. Chrysostom (Hom. 70 in Matt, xxii.) says that "the Apostles preached first to the Jews, and remained a long time in Judsa, being beaten and scourged ; and finally, being expelled by them, went forth to the Gentiles." The holy doctor extends, indeed, this period to a date much too late, asserting (Hom. 25 in Act.) that they remained in Jerusalem until S. Paul's arrival in Rome. (4) Some, again, place the dispersion as late as after the Council of Jerusalem, which was held in the i8th or 19th year after our Lord's Ascension. This error has arisen from a misapprehension of Acts xv. 4, 6 ; whereas, it would appear from Gal. ii. 9 that only SS. Peter, James the Less, and John were in Jerusalem when SS. Paul and Barnabas arrived there. The " Apostolical Constitutions," indeed, assert that all the Twelve were inspired to assemble at this Council from their various regions ; but this document, if not altogether apocryphal, as Baronius, Bellarmine, and others hold, is at least corrupt and interpolated. S. James the Greater was at that time already martyred. (5) The true opinion, according to Henschenius and the Bollandist {ad Jul. 15), supported by Usuard, who quotes S. Bede, and by Peter de Natalibus, seems to be, that the Apostles dispersed in a.d. 40 {vulg.), i.e., the twelfth year after our Lord's Ascension. Then S. Peter went to Rome, and S. James the Greater to Spain; both returning, of course, to Jerusalem, for the events narrated. Acts xii. i — 24. Clement of Alexandria {Strom, lib. vi.) 138 FASTI APOSTOLICI. represents S. Peter as reporting our Lord's command to tlic Apostles, not to " go forth into the whole world " beyond the limits of Palestine, until during twelve years they had given the Jews every chance of conversion. Tillemont records that he had been unable to discover this passage, which is, however, contained both in the Greek and Latin of three several editions. Corn, k Lapide appears also to be in error, in saying (ad Act. xii.) that Pope Gelasius had classed this work of Clement of Alexandria among apocryphal and interpolated writings. That condemnation refers to another writer of the same name and place. S. Jerome twice {E/>. 83 al. 84 ad Magn., and Lib. de Scriptor. Ecd. c. 38) bears testimony in favour of this work of Clement's. Apollonius also, an ecclesiastical writer of the same age, mentioned by Eusebius {H. E. 1. v. c. 18) as writing against the Cataphrygians, endorses it. (6) The dispersion of the holy Apostles must certainly have been before S. Mark wrote his Gospel, i.e., before the end of the twelfth year after the Ascension. See S. Mark xvi. 20. Unless the iravTaxov of that text be taken to refer to their preaching throughout Juda;a and Syria, which seems an inadequate interpretation. G (/. 30). GENERAL TOLERATION OF RELIGIONS IN ROME. "The various modes of worship w^hich prevailed in the Roman world, were all considered by the people as equally true, by the philosophers as equally false, and by the magistrate as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. The superstition of the people was not embittered by any mixture of theological rancour ; nor was it confined by the chains of any speculative system. The devout poly- theist, though fondly attached to his national rites, admitted, with implicit faith, the different religions of the earth. The thin texture of the pagan mythology was interwoven witli various but not discordant materials. . . The deities of a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed, in peace, their local and respective influence; nor could the Roman who deprecated the wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who presented his offering to the beneficent genius of the Nile. . . Such was the mild spirit of antiquity, that the nations were less attentive to the difterence than to the resemblance of their religious worship. The Greek, the Roman, and the barbarian, as they APPENDIX. 139 met before their respective altars, easily persuaded themselves that under various names, and with various ceremonies, they adored the same deities. The elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful and almost a regular form to the polytheism of the ancient world. . . Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed in the age of the Antonines, both the interests of the priests and the credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. In their writings and conversation, the philosophers of antiquity asserted the independent dignity of reason ; but they resigned their actions to the com- mands of law and custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and indulgence, the various errors of the vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of the gods, and sometimes, condescending to act a part on the theatre of superstition, they concealed the sentiments of an atheist under the sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely inclined to wrangle about their respective modes of faith, or of worship. It was indifferent to them what shape the folly of the multitude might choose to assume; and they approached, with the same inward contempt, and the same outward reverence, the altars of the Lybian, the Olympian, or the Capitoline Jupiter. . . It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of persecution could introduce itself into the Roman councils. The magistrates could not be actuated by a blind though honest bigotr}^, since the magistrates were themselves philosophers ; and the school of Athens had given laws to the Senate. They could not be impelled by ambition or avarice ; as the temporal and ecclesiastical powers were united in the same hands. The pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators ; and the office of supreme pontiff was constantly exercised by the Emperors themselves. They knew and valued the advantages of religion, as it is connected with civil government. They encouraged the public festivals, which humanize the manners of the people. They managed the arts of divination, as a convenient instrument of policy; and they respected, as the firmest bond of society, the useful persuasion, that either in this or in a future life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by the avenging gods (Polyb. vi. 53, 54). Juvenal, Sat. xiii., laments that in his time this apprehension had lost much of its effect. But whilst they acknowledged the general advantages of religion, they were convinced that the various modes of worship contributed alike to the same salutary purposes ; and that in every country, the form of superstition, which had received the sanction of time and experience, was the best adapted to the climate, and to its inhabitants." {Gibbon's Decline atid Fall, vol. i. c. 2. pp. 46 — 51). I40 FASTI ArOSTOLICT. Tliis specious and grandiloquent writer liere intends to contrast the con- temptuous indifferentism of pagan Rome with the "earnest contending for the faitli " disi)layed by tlie primitive martyrs : and, of course, in disparage- ment of the latter. A truth, recognized as infallible in virtue of the Divine veracity, is alone incapable of admixture or compromise with error, of eclecti- cism or syncretism ; and is therefore, so far, intolerant. Marcus Aurelius is said to have intended to place a bust of our Lord side by side with that of Socrates in his philosophical Pantheon ; but Christianity was unable to do as much for the Athenian sage. It would have been equalizing a part with the whole, and tentative opinion with truth. Hence the reproach against the Gospel in every age, alike from pagans and modern freethinkers, as narrowly contending for the whole, when a portion would sufifice : NTjirtoi, ouK "laacnv oacf ttKIov 'i]fj.iav iravros. H (A 40). ABGAR, KING OF EDESSA IN MESOPOTAMIA. l.—T/ie History. Abgar, Acbar, Agbar, Abagar, or Augar, was the name or rather title of several Arabian Kings of Osroene, reigning in Edessa : the third form of the name is the most probable, as signifying " Very powerful " in Arabic. One of these Abgares, by treachery, had caused the defeat of Crassus, in his expedition against the Parthians, B.C. 52 (Plutarch /« Crasso; Sext. Ruf. iti Brei'iario; Dio, lib. 40; Appian. in Parthic; Procop. Bell. Persic, lib. 2). Three others of the name had reigned before him who was surnamed Uc/iaffW, or the " Black," from the leprous disease under which he suffered (Dionys. Telmaris, a Syrian patriarch of the eighth century, quoted by Assemani, Biblioth. Orient, t. i. p. 402). He is, says Moreri, perhaps the same who is called Abia by Josephus, and without doubt the same whom Procopius men- tions as having been received into great favour by Augustus, and retained at his Court. It must have been after his return to Edessa, at least twenty years later than his sojourn in Rome (for Augustus died a.d. 13), that Abgar Uchamo wrote this Epistle to our Lord : " Abgar, King of Edessa, to Jesus the Saviour full of goodness, who hath appeared in Jerusalem, APPENDIX. 141 " I have heard the report of those wondrous things and admirable cures which Thou dost work ; healing the sick without herbs or medicines. It is reported that Thou restorest sight to the blind, makest the lame and the maimed to walk upright, cleansest the lepers, puttest to flight demons and evil spirits, givest health to such as had sicknesses long and incurable, and restorest the dead to life. Hearing such things of Thee, I believe that Thou art God, who hast willed to come down from Heaven ; or the Son of God, who dost work these wonderful things. Therefore have I been bold to write Thee this letter, and to intreat Thee with my whole heart to deign to come and see me, to heal me of pains that grievously afflict me. I have heard that the Jews persecute Thee, and murmur against Thy miracles, and seek to kill Thee. Here I have a city fair and commodious, though it be little ; it will furnish sufficient of all Thou needest." The reported answer of our Lord to this epistle is given above {Fasfi, P- ii)- Moreri {Didionnaire, Szc, art. "Abgare) thus gives the sequel of the narration, and then proceeds to criticize it : " Abgare ne fut pas long-temps sans voir I'accomplissement de la promesse que Jesus-Christ lui avoit faite. Saint Thomas lui envoya Saint Thade'e, non celui des douze-apotres, qui est aussi appelle Jude, mais I'un des septante disciples. Des qu'il fut arrive a Edesse, il se logea chez un particulier nomme Tobie, ou sa reputation eclata bientot, par un si grand nombre de miracles, qu'elle parvint jusqu' aux oreilles du roi, qui lui demanda s'il etoit le disciple promis. Thadee lui repondit que oiii, et lui dit qu'il venoit pour recompenser la foi que ce prince avoit eue en Jesus-Christ; a quoi le roi rdpliqua dans les premiers mouvemens de son zele, qu'il croyoil telle- ment an Sauveur, que sans les Romains il eut voulu tailler en pieces les Juifs qui I'avoient crucifie. Apres cette profession de foi, saint Thadee guerit le prince, en lui imposant les mains ; et ce miracle, aussi bien que les autres qu'il opera disposa tellement les habitants d'Edesse a recevoir la doctrine de Jesus-Christ, qu'ils I'embrasserent des qu'elle leur eut ete an- nonce'e par saint Thadee, et qu'ils la retinrent depuis tres constamment. " Voila les principales circonstances de la conversion d' Abgare, qu' Eusebe de Cesarde dit etre tirees des archives de I'eglise d'Edesse, et dont il a cru devoir enrichir son histoire ecclesiastique. " Quoique I'autorite d'Eusebe soit d'un grand poids, et que saint Ephrem ait regu cette histoire apres lui, en quoi ils ont ete suivis par le comte Darius 142 FASTI APOSTOLIC!. dans line cpitre a saint Augustin, par Theodore Studitc, dans une autre au pape Pascal, par Cedrcne, Procope, S. Jean de Damas, Evagre, et par le pape Adrien dans une ^pitre ^ Charlemagne ; quelqucs modernes n'ont pas laisse d'attaquer la reponse de Jesus-Christ a Abgare, et I'histoire de sa conversion. Tels sont Casaubon, auquel Gretser h. repondu; et apres lui le pere Alexandre et M. du Pin, que M. de Tillemont a refute's. " L'flutorite d'Eusebe n'est pas h considerer sur cette histoire, car il est visible qu'il ne rapporte ce fait que sur la foi de quelques archives pretendues de I'Eglise d'Edesse; on fgait combien ces sortes de monumens sont sujets h. caution dans des histoires de cette nature. II est visible que ce qui est dit dans la lettre attribuee h. Jesus-Christ, est une allusion aux paroles de Jesus-Christ h. saint Thomas : Heuraix ccitx qui ji'ofit point vft, et qui ont crii; et il n'y a rien de semblable dans les deux passages d'Isaie cites par M. de Tillemont ; au contraire il y est marque que ceux qui ne connoissoient pas le Seigneur, et qui ne le cherchaient pas, I'ont vu et I'ont trouve. La reforme de M. de Tillemont de la date de Tan 340 n'est fondee sur aucune autorite, et le texte d'Eusebe porte expressement 340. Ce ne pent etre que pour accorder cette histoire avec I'evangile, que les traducteurs ont change 340 en 43. Quelque bon chronologiste qu'ait ete Eusebe, il se peut faire qu'il n'ait pas fait d'attention a I'anachronisme du memoire qui lui avoit €\.6 fourni. Ce que Ton fait ecrire par Abgare a Jesus-Christ sur le simple recit qu'on lui avait fait des miracles de Jesus-Christ : ' Je suis persuade que vous etres Dieu on Fils de Dieu,' marque visiblement qu c'est un Chretien qui fait parler Abgare ^ peu pres comme il parlerait lui meme; et il n'y a point d'apparence qu'un prince qui n'avoit point la connaissance du vrai Dieu, ait eu ces sentiments, et se soit servi de ces expressions. Quelque zele que put avoir Abgare quand Thadee le vint trouver, on ne peut nier qu'il n'y ait beaucoup d'affectation dans les paroles qu'on lui met en bouche, et qu'elles ne soient plutot de I'invention d'un conteur de fables, que I'expression naturalle d'un prince." This last argument may well raise a smile. It is that of a man living in Paris before the middle of the last century, when the splendour of the throne and court of the Grand Monarque had introduced into men's minds far different ideas of the " natural expression of a prince " from what would prevail in a small city of Mesopotamia, eighteen hundred years ago. The reported words of Abgar are at least congenial with those of Clovis, who, on hearing a sermon upon the Passion, drew his sword, and cried : *• Where then was I, and my brave Franks?" APPENDIX. H3 The writer in Wetzer and Welte's Ejicydopedie (Fr. transl.) in verb. Abgar, is equally unfavourable to the truth of the tradition. Pope Gelasius, in a synod held in Rome in 494, declared both Abgar's epistle and our Lord's answer apocryphal ; i.e. not to be placed on the Canon of Scripture. It has always been an argument strongly urged against the genuineness of the latter, that any written word of our Lord would have been included in the Canon. Wouters {Disseriat. in Selecta Hist. Eccl. Capita) having placed side by side the arguments for and against, comes to the conclusion : "Ejusmodi sunt in hac re, de qua disputamus, auctorum gravissimorum a se invicem dissentientium argumenta, ut dirimi controversia non posse videatur. Pr^ecipuos utriusque sententiae patronos atque principaliores eorum rationes indicavimus, ut quisquis, illis mature ponderatis, seligat earn opinio- nem quse sibi verisimilior apparebit. Pace eorum qui aliter sentiant, dixerim, me magis posterioris [sc. negativae] quam prioris sententiae monumentis et rationibus moveri." I (/. 43). THE ROMAN ARMS IN BRITAIN. "The only accession which the Roman Empire received, during the first century of the Christian era, was the province of Britain. In this single instance, the successors of Caesar and Augustus were persuaded to follow the example of the former, rather than the precept of the latter. The proximity of its situation to the coast of Gaul seemed to invite their arms ; the pleasing though doubtful intelligence of a pearl-fishery attracted their avarice ; and, as Britain was viewed in the light of a distinct and insulated world, the conquest scarcely formed any exception to the general system of continental measures. After a war of about forty years, undertaken by the most stupid, maintained by the most dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the Emperors, Claudius, Nero, and Domitian, the far greater part of the island submitted to the Roman yoke. The various tribes of Britons possessed valour without conduct, and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms with savage fierceness ; they laid them down, or turned them against each other, with wild inconstancy ; and while they fought singly, they were successively subdued. Neither the fortitude of Caractacus, nor 144 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. the despair of Boadlcea, nor the fanaticism of the Druids, could avert tlie slavery of their country, or resist the steady progress of the imperial generals, who maintained the national glory when the throne was disgraced by the weakest or the most vicious of mankind. At the very time when Domitian, confined to his palace, felt the terrors which he inspired, his legions, under the command of the virtuous Agricola, defeated the collected force of the Caledonians at the foot of the Grampian hills ; and his fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and dangerous navigation, displayed the Roman arms round every part of the island" {Gibbotis Decline and Fall, c. i. pp. 5, 6). J (/• 49)- Cicero {Tiisc. Qncesf. V. 37, and more fully De Oratore II. xlvi. 193) and Horace {Oil. I. vii. 21) report the legend that Salamis in Cyprus was founded by Teucer, when expelled by his father Telamon from the Greek island of that name, for not avenging the death of his nephew Ajax. Porto Costanzo seems to have been the same as Famagosta (Arsinoe). It was the only real port in the island ; other havens being merely open roadsteads. Richard Cxiir de Lion, returning from the Crusades, transferred the metropolitan see from Salamis (Constantia) to Nicosia ; at the same time giving the sovereignty of Cyprus to the family of Lusignan, in exchange for that of Jerusalem, which they had lost. This was in 1191. In 12 18, the Greek archbishop was made subject to the Latin metropolitan, and so remained, until Cyprus was taken by the Turks in 15 71, after an eleven months' siege of Famagosta, where they lost eighty thousand men. Then, the conquered Venetians quitting the island, the Greeks, under Turkish auspices, elected their own schismatic metropolitan. Cyprus had been inde- pendent of the Patriarch of Antioch from a.d. 431, probably in honour of S. Barnabas (cf. ad a.d. d^, note i). Gams, Scries Episcop. {id sup.) pp. 438, 439. Thomassinus, De Not', et Vet. Eccl. discipl. I. i. c. 60, ?i.g. asserts that the Latin metropolitan of Cyprus was the first who, in 152 1, used the style " Apostolicse Sedis gratia;" but it had been in use by every bishop from the twelfth century, except in some few cases, where it had been prohibited by the temporal power. APPENDIX. 145 K {/. 52). SAINT THECLA. The spurious character of the "TrepioSot Paitli et Thechz" is evident at first sight. This undoubtedly ancient work abounded in extravagant fables and fictions, which were quoted, very early, against the discipline of the Church. Tertullian {De Bapt. ii. 17) gives its history. It was composed by a priest in Asia, desirous, with a zeal not according to knowledge, to glorify the Apostle S. Paul by writing a romance with the great Apostle as its principal figure. He was tried for this offence (by S. John himself, adds S. Jerome, Catal. c. 7), and deposed from the priesthood. Pope Gelasius, in a well-known decree, numbers the work among the apocryphal writings of the New Testament. It is now lost. Grabe, in his Spicilegium, gives a Greek treatise entitled : " The martyrdom of the holy and glorious protomartyr and apostle Thecla," printed from a MS. in the Bodleian Library. This, say the Bollandists, is not the ireplohoL, though apparently founded on it. In the fifth century, Basil, bishop of Seleucia, wrote a history of S. Thecla, drawing his materials chiefly from the vrepLoSot: as did also the "Acts "of Simeon Metaphrastes, and Nicetas David "the Paphlagonian " in his pane- gyric of the Saint (Combefis, Aiidicarium, p. 445). The most authoritative testimony to the genuine acts of S. Thecla's life is, undoubtedly, the Church's Office in assisting the dying. For the lex oraridi and the lex credendi are so intimately allied as to be really identical. In that Office, after rehearsing some of the chief deliverances granted to holy persons, and recorded in the Sacred Scriptures, the priest is instructed to pray : " As Thou didst deliver the most blessed Thecla, Thy virgin and martyr, from three most dreadful torments, so vouchsafe to deliver the soul of this Thy servant," &c. A sermon, attributed to 8. Chrysostom, but probably only coeval with him, enumerates these three conflicts as being fought with pleasures, the wild beasts, and fire. The Roman Marty rology for September 23 enumerates two out of the three great torments which S. Thecla's faith enabled her to evercome : " At Iconium in Lystra [the birthday] of S. Thecla, virgin and martyr, who, having been brought to the faith by S. Paul, in the days of the Emperor Nero, overcame fire and the wild beasts in confessing Christ ; and, having K 146 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. been victorious in numerous conflicts for the instruction of many, came to Scleucia, and there rested in peace : — whom the holy Fathers have celebrated with highest praise." Baronius, in his edition of the Martyrology, appends to this a long note, showing that S. Thecla not being mentioned in the Acts does not militate against the genuineness of her history; inasmuch as many things are omitted by S. Luke, even of those which more immediately related to S. Paul. He quotes a notice of the Saint from S. Gregory of Nyssa's fourteenth Homily on the Canticles (c. v. 13). After stating that myrrh in the Scriptures signifies death, or mortification, S. Gregory proceeds : " Their lips distil myrrh who are pure, and whose virtues possess a certain fragrance ; they whose lips distil a myrrh that fully replenishes the souls of those who receive it. This myrrh is the contempt of the material corporeal life, when all that men are zealous for, here below, becomes powerless and dead, by reason of the desire of supernal goods. Even such myrrh did Paul of old time pour from his lips, mingled with the pure lily of holy chastity, into the attentive ears of the holy virgin Thecla : and the virginal Thecla, having received into her noble soul those limpid droppings, mortified and slew [in herself] the outer man, and extinguished every fleshly thought and desire. In consequence of that excellent doctrine, dead became her youth, dead that beauty which met the eye ; deadened each corporeal sense — while there lived in her only that word, whereby the whole world had died to her, and the virgin herself had died to the world." A more ancient authority, S. Epiphanius, says that (excepting the name of the Ever-blessed Virgin), S. Thecla ranks with Elias and S. John Baptist, those votaries of perpetual virginity, among the most illustrious of virgins {Hccr. 78, and 79, 5). S. Gregory Nazianzen, in his first oration against Julian, thus rebukes him : " Hast thou no fear of the victims who have been slain for Christ ? dost thou not dread those great athletes, as John, Peter, Paul, James, Stephen, Luke, Andrew, Thecla . . who contended against fire, the sword, and wild beasts, and human tyrants ; against ills at hand, and threatened ills — and that, with cheerful soul, as though in others' bodies, yea, as though released from the body ? " S. Ambrose, in three places (lib. 2, De Virg. ad Simplician. and Epist. iii. 25, ed. Rom. ad Vercell. Eccles.) commemorates her being exposed to the lions, who fawned and licked her feet ; and in his treatise. Ad Lapsam Virginem c. 3, asks : " How wilt thou appear before Mary, Thecla, and Agnes, and the spotless choir of purity?" APPENDIX. 147 Finally, S.Jerome {Chron. ad ann. 377) says that Melania, a noble matron, went to Jerusalem, and there acquired such repute for sanctity, that the name Thecla was bestowed upon her. L (/. 55). SLOWNESS OF THE DECAY OF PAGANISM. An article in the Dublin Review for August, 1843, most probably from the pen of Cardinal Wiseman, quotes Dr. Miley's Ro7ne mider Paganism and the Popes, to refute the error of imagining " that with the triumph of Constan- tine, the downfall of Paganism followed without a struggle." " It is well nigh a century since the triumph of the Labarum, and still Rome wears the aspect of a pagan city. One hundred and fifty-two temples, and one hundred and eighty smaller shrines or chapels, are still sacred to the heathen gods, and used for their public worship. Above all, still towers the Capitol, with its fifty temples, bearing the titles of the dii majores and of the deities and heroes tutelary of Rome, and of the Empire — the temples of Jove, of Juno, and Minerva ; of Mars, Janus, and Romulus ; of Caesar, and of Victory. " Nor was it alone the ancient legalized religion of Numa that was still upheld ; Rome had become the rallying point, a city of refuge, for everything that was pagan in the whole Empire : there was no form of superstition that had fallen into contempt or been banished from other quarters, that did not flourish there, and celebrate its rites with publicity. ^ The prefect of the City, who wielded a sovereign authority in the absence of the Emperors, was invariably a pagan. The nobility, with very few exceptions, were devoted to paganism to the last ; and for the rabble, . . its sanguinary shows had lost nothing of their fascination. "Fifteen Pontiffs exercised their supreme jurisdiction [over] all things consecrated to the service of the gods. Fifteen augurs observed the face of the heavens, and took the omens by which the State was to be governed, from the flight of birds. Fifteen sages guarded the Sibylline books, and in junctures of public peril and perplexity gave utterance to the oracles which they contained." 1 Compare Tacit. Annul, xv. 44, who adverts to the fact in order to account for the introduction of the Christian faith into the City. 1 48 TASTI APOSTOLICI. He goes llirougli an account of the various other observations of pagan Rome, still continued after the conversion of tlie Empire. Then the reviewer proceeds : " l"'or many a year did Rome cling to the old superstition, with which all her usages and institutions were associated. The edict of Milan gave nothing to Christianity, beyond the toleration which, in common with all other religions, it was permitted to enjoy. Ten 'years after the publication of this edict, while Constantino still threw his shield over the Church, an attempt was made at Rome to compel all, even Christians, to- join in the public sacrifices. Even the Emperor incurred the hatred of the people, by refusing to sacrifice at the Capitol with his troops. And, indeed, the pagan historian Zosimus attributes the removal of the seat of Empire to Byzantium, to the desire of freeing himself from the unpopularity which, at Rome, still attached to the profession of the Christian name. " The transfer of the seat of the Empire confirmed the Pagan character of Rome, which became emphatically the pagan, as Byzantium was the Christian, capital of the Empire. The accession of Julian, for a time, gave power to the party thus obstinately wedded to the old superstition, and, even after his overthrow, the Senate still retained the same character. When Gratian refused to be invested with the sacerdotal robe of pontifex, the Senate threatened to transfer their allegiance to his rival Maximus; at the inauguration of Tertullus as consul under Attalus, all the pagan ceremonial was rigidly observed ; when Alaric hung over the doomed city, a public edict commanded that the offended gods should be appeased by sacrifice in the Capitol. Many of the festivals continued for a long time to be regularly kept up ; and [the worst of them] all, the Lupercatia, was not abolished till the end of the fifth century, under Pope Gelasius. " Meanwhile, the fatal hour of Rome was drawing nigh," &c. It is not surprising, after these extracts, to reflect that the barbarous and sanguinary shows of the gladiators in the amphitheatres of the Empire, also lasted into the fifth century; until they terminated in the self-sacrifice of the hermit S. Almachus or Telemachus, on New-Year's day in the year 404. APPENDIX. 149 M (/. 61). PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF SS. PETER AND PAUL. Conybeare and Howson, quoting from Malalas {C/iroiiogr. x. p. 257, ed. Bonn., and Nicephorus H. E. ii. 3), and summing up the representations ot early artists, report as follows : " S. Paul is set before us as having the strongly marked and prominent features of a Jew, yet not without some of the finer lines indicative of Greek thought. His stature was diminutive, and his body disfigured by some lame- ness or distortion (?), which may have provoked the contemptuous expressions of his enemies (2 Cor. x. i, 10: of. Acts xiv. 11). His beard was long and thin. His head was bald. The characteristics of his face were, a transparent complexion, which visibly betrayed the quick changes of his feelings, a bright grey eye under thickly overhanging united eyebrows, a cheerful and winning expression of countenance, which invited the approach and inspired the confidence of strangers. It would be natural to infer, from his continual journeys and manual labours, that he was possessed of great strength of constitution. But men of delicate health have often gone through the greatest exertions ;i and his own words on more than one occasion show that he suffered much from bodily infirmity. " S. Peter is represented to us as a man of larger and stronger form, as his character was harsher (?) and more abrupt. The quick impulses of his soul revealed themselves in the flashes of a dark eye. The complexion of his face was pale and sallow : and the short hair, which is described as entirely grey at the time of his death, curled black and thick around his temples and his chin, when the two Apostles stood together at Antioch, twenty years before their martyrdom." In accordance with these notices, S. Paul is described in the Acta Paidl et ThedcB as [jiLKpo<^ tm fiejedei, 'v/rtXo? rrjv Ke(j)a\r]v, a.'yKvko^ ral<; Kvi'-jfiaL<;, crvpo(})pv^. eiTippivo'^, ')(^dpiro'i irXt^pr]^ (Grabe, p. 95); and so the TaXi\alo<; 69 rpiTov ovpavov akpa ^aWjaa^ in Lucian's " Philopatris " is said to have been dva(pa\avTla ^^d found in the catacombs. Yet these remarkably continue the catena of proof. Speaking of a bronze medal of the two Apostles extracted by Boldetti from the catacomb of Domitilla, Messrs. Northcote and Brownlow speak as follows, in their Rofna Sotterranea: "The portraits on this bronze are very lifelike and natural, bearing a strong impress of individual character. One of the heads is covered with short curly hair, the beard clipped short and also curled, the features some- what rough and commonplace. The features of the other are more noble, graceful, and strongly marked ; the head is bald, and the beard is thick and long. This valuable medal confirms the tradition preserved by Nicephorus- of the personal appearance of the two Apostles ; the first being that of S. Peter, and the latter that of S. Paul ; and, as we have said, these characteristics are in the main retained in most of the glasses, excepting a few which are of very inferior execution" {Roma Sott. ii. pp. 310, 311). - See also S.Jerome, Comment, in Ep. ad Galat. i. 18. It is a curious coincidence, that in the apocr}'phal Acts of the Apostles, edited by Tischendorf, it is said of Dioscorus the shipmaster, who had followed S. Paul to Rome, and was mistaken for the Apostle, and beheaded in his stead, that he was bald : /col aurbs h.va.(pa\a.vT)i$ inrdpxoiv (p. 4, AVw. Soi/. ut sup). APPENDIX. 151 N {p. 62). THE EPISTLE ASCRIBED TO S. BARNABAS. All the ancient Church writers, together with those of the Middle Ages, undoubtingly received this Epistle as the genuine production of S. Barnabas. Clement of Alexandria, in no fewer than seven places of his StrotJiata, attri- butes it to him. Origen mentions it in four places : and we may add the testimonies of S. Justin martyr, Tertullian, SS. Ireneeus and Ignatius, and the author of "Pastor." Eusebius, though {H. E. iii. 25, 4) he calls it spurious^ appears only to mean that it was among the avTike^oiieva, subject to doubtfulness and dispute. S. Jerome's testimony is distinct. " Barnabas of Cyprus, who is also Joseph the Levite, [and] ordained, together with Paul, an Apostle of the Gentiles, wrote a single epistle [on matters] pertaining to the edification of the Church, which is read among the apocryphal writings" {Catal. c. 6). He speaks of it again with commendation {Ibid. 5, 9). Also in his commentary on Ezechiel, xliii. 1 9. Once more, in his treatise -De Nomin. Hebr. he places it after the books of the New Testament, apparently as an ecclesiastical writing, which might be read in the churches after the Scriptures. A little before S. Jerome's day, the first part of this epistle had been translated into Latin by an unknown hand : and in the middle of the fourth century, the whole was transcribed at the end of the canonical Scriptures, in the codex of the Sinaitic Bible. Notwithstanding this catena of authorities, Hefele, and his editor and continuator, a professor of Tubingen, whose name may be latinized into Timoratus, or Timor, denies the authenticity of this epistle, assigning it to some Christian writer of Alexandria, at the end of the first century. He says : (i). It is not S. Barnabas: because {a) the author says expressly that Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed when he wrote ; which could hardly have been during the Apostle's lifetime : {b) he says (ix. 6), that all the Syrians practised circumcision; whereas Josephus {Antiq. viii. 10, 3) declares that, at that time, the Jews were the only people in Palestine who- observed the rite — a circumstance which could not have been unknown tO' S. Barnabas during his long residence at Antioch : {c) he asserts (c. xvi.) a terrestrial millennium, and besides, "pronounces so unworthy a judgment of the old law, that he could hardly be supposed to be a companion of S. Paul " (see chapters ii. ix. x. xiv. xv). __ . , 152 FASTI ArOSTOLICr. (2). It is a writer of Alexandria; as is shown by the allegorical interpre- tation of the Old Testament, according to the method of that school, and by the cordial reception the epistle met with from the Alexandrians. (3). Its date is the end of the first century; from its mention (c. iv.) of the prophecy of Daniel (c. vii. 24) as though it were then on the point of its accomplishment in the eleventh King: this would be Domitian, reckoning Augustus as the first. The critic, however, adds that the majority of recent authors assign the epistle to the beginning of the second century. " Many writings, not enumerated in the Canon of the New Testament, said to have been written by the Apostles, and containing many references to them, Jiave come to light since their day. They are evidently based on rumour ; and, by a species of fraiis pia, ascribed to the Apostles, that they might acquire a greater influence and a more extended circulation. The so-called Canoncs (85) Constitutioues (libri viii.) and Symbolum Apostolorutn have each a specific value. The first two works were evidently written, probably in Syria, between the second and the fourth century, and contain important information relative to the constitution, worship, and discipline of the Church. Cf. Tillemont, t. ii. pp. 164 — 166; Natal. Alex. H. E. ssec. i, diss. 18, t. iv. p. 407, seq." (Alzog. t. i. p. 234.) O (/. 68). S. DIONVSIUS THE AREOPAGITE. Few questions regarding writers of Christian antiquity have been agitated with greater learning on either side, than the two following : (i). Was S. Dionysius the Areopagite, (S. Paul's convert, Acts xvii. 34, and ■consecrated by him bishop of Athens,) the same who was sent by S. Clement, Pope, into Gaul in the first century, established his see at Paris, and suffered martyrdom with his companions, SS. Rusticus and Eleutherius, on the Mons Martyrutn near that city? For the affirmative appear, the abbot Hildainus, in his Arcopagiiica ; Germ. Millet, a Benedictine monk of S. Denis, who wrote especially against Father Sirmond's objections to the work of Hilduin, and asserted the imme- morial tradition of the Church of Paris (Par. 1642); Father Halloix, S.J. of Liege, in his Illiistrium Ecdesice Orienialis Scriptoncm, qui Primo a Christo ScBCulo vixcrunt, Vitce et Doni7iiaita (DnOiC'i, 1633 — 1636); Father Corderius, S.J. APFENDIX. 153 in his edition of the works of S. Dionysius the Areopagite, 1634; Father Martin Delrio, S.J. in his Vijidicice Areopagdicce, against Scaliger (Antw. 1608); Father Lansellius, S.J. in his edition of the Saint's works (Gravel. 1615), and Natahs Alexander, O.S.D., who has summarized all the arguments on the subject in his Selcda Historice Ecdesiasticce Capita, ssec. ii. disput. xv. Venantius Fortunatus, to whom Father Halloix gives the character of a very accurate writer, thus speaks in his hymn on the Saint : Clemente Roma prresule Ab Urbe missus adfuit : Verbi superni seminis Ut fructus esset Gallioe. For the negative side : Father Sirmond {znde supra) in an express disser- tation, In qua Dionysii Parisiensis d Dionysil Areopagitce discrlmcn staid it ur (Par. 1 641); Joh. Launoy, Doctor of the Sorbonne, described by Bossuet as "both a semi-Pelagian and a Jansenist," De duobus Dionysiis (Par. 1642): also, Albert Mire', in his Belgian Annals; Petavius, /// suis Theologids Dog- matibus, et alibi, with several others. (2). Are the works commonly attributed to S. Dionysius the Areopagite, really his? Bellarmine, Be Scriptoribiis Ecdesiasticis, ad Ann. (p. 27), after excluding from the Saint's genuine works a supposed epistle to S. Paul, which "ab omnibus merito relicta {qu. rejecta) est," says of the rest, both the mystical treatises and the epistles, "De casteris operibus viri docti et Catholici nihil dubitant. Soli hgeretici Lutherani, et quidam scioli, Erasmus, Valla, et pauci alii opera sua numerata negant esse Si. Di. Areopag." The proofs he adduces are: (i) A citation from the "Celestial Hierarchy," by S. Gregory the Great {Homil. in Evafig. xxxiv. 12) who calls the author "antiquus et venerabilis Pater ;"i (2) S. Martin, Pope and martyr, in a Council at Rome, also quoted these works as genuine ; (3) as also did Pope S. Agatho, in an epistle to Constantine Pogonatus ; (4) and Pope Nicolas I., writing to the Emperor Michael. Moreover, (5) so did the Sixth General Council, Act iv. and the Seventh, Act ii. S. Maximus the monk, S. Thomas, and others, have written commentaries on these books, as being the authentic writings of the Saint whose name they bear. The apparent reason (continues Bellarmine) of 1 Migne's reprint of the Benedictine edition of S. Gregory, however, points out that the holy Pope and Doctor expresses some doubtfulness, in the words ''/ertur Dionysius Areopagita dicere." This uncertainty could not fall on the works themselves, which were already in every one's hands ; but on their authenticity. 154 FASTI APOSTOLICI. S. Gregory the Great being the first writer to quote them, was, that, Hke so many other treatises, they had lain hid, and were only discovered in his day. Corderius, in his Prolegomena, gives a long list of passages quoted by S. Thomas from S. Dionysius ; and concludes by saying : Ex his aliisque locis quoe me eftugerunt, facile patet Angelicum Doctorem totam fere doctrinam theologicam ex purissimis Dionysii fontibus hausisse : cum vix ulla sit periodus e qua non ipse tanquam apis argumentosa theologicum succum extraxerit, et in Summam, veluti quoddam alveare, pluribus qucestioni- bus articulisque, ceu cellulis, theologica melle servando, distinctum redegerit." The affirmative and negative sides of this question are respectively main- tained by the authors above enumerated, whose arguments will be found summarized by Natalis Alexander (/// sup.) Dissert. XXI. To those who have asserted it, must be added Father B. De Rubeis, O.P. in a Dissertation against Lequien ; and John de Chaumont, in a treatise translated from the French, and printed in Migne's edition. But especially, there are two affirmative decrees of the Theological Faculty of Paris; one, at the conclusion of its censure of Luther, and a second, still more explicit, in the later censure which it directed against Erasmus. These two assertions certainly seem to give a very considerable preponderance to the affirmative side. They who deny or doubt the authenticity of the mystical works in question (viz. De Divinis Noyriinibus, De Coelesti aiqiie Ecdesiastica Hierarchia, De Mystica Theologia, &c.), attribute them to an ancient author of the same name, of the end of the fourth or beginning of the fifth century. P (A 78). TEMPLE OF DIANA AT EPHESUS. This temple of Diana was reckoned as one of the Seven Wonders of the world. It was the third edifice ; the second having been burnt by Eratrostratus on the night when Alexander the Great was born, B.C. 356, It was the largest Greek temple ever built: measuring three hundred and forty-two feet in length, by one hundred and sixty-three feet in width. Gibbon says it was four hundred and twenty-five feet in length, meaning perhaps the exterior. The workmen were employed on it for two centuries. It was said to have contained one hundred and twenty-eight Ionic columns of precious jasper, each sixty feet high, and each the gift of a king. Eight of these, of green APPENDIX. 155 jasper, are in the church of S. Sophia in Constantinople ; and two more in the Cathedral at Pisa. The altar of Diana at Ephesus was adorned with master-pieces of sculpture by Praxiteles ; while Apelles was employed on the paintings. About one hundred large marble columns adorned the exterior. Each of the Greek cities sent its donation towards the building. The image worshipped in it, supposed to have "fallen down from Jupiter" (Acts xix. 35), was of cedar-wood, very rudely carved, but overlaid with gold, having its face covered with vermilion (Pausan. Cor. ii. 2). Cf. Wisdom xiii. 13, 14; XV. 4. This temple was destroyed by the Goths, in their third naval invasion, about a.d. 250. Gibbon adds to his description, that the length of the temple was no more than two thirds of that of S. Peter's ; and that " in the other dimensions, it was still more inferior to that sublime production of modern architecture. The spreading arms of a Christian cross require a much greater breadth than the oblong temples of the pagans ; and the boldest artists of antiquity would have been startled at the proposal of raising in the air a dome of the size and proportions of the Pantheon" {Decline, &c. vol. i. c. x. P- 433)- Col. Leake says that the very site of this once-famous temple cannot now be ascertained. The theatre at Ephesus, also, the scene of the disturb- ance, is said to have been the largest of the ancient world. Q (/. 85). herod's temple, and the tower antonia. The following passage from Josephus is so illustrative of Acts xxi. 30 — 40, as well as of other passages in the New Testament, that it is here inserted, notwithstanding its length. The translation is that of Whiston. " Herod took away the old foundations, and laid others, and erected the temple upon them ; being in length a hundred cubits, and in height twenty additional cubits, which (twenty) upon the sinking of their foundations, fell down; and this part it was, that we resolved to raise again in the days of Nero. Now the Temple was built of stones that were white and strong, and each of their length was twenty-five cubits, their height was eight, and their breadth about twelve ; and the whole structure, as also the structure of the royal cloister, was on each side much lower, but the middle was much higher, till they were visible to those that dwelt in the country for a great many furlongs, but chiefly to such as lived over against them, and those that 15^5 FASTI AI'OSTOLICI. approached to them. The Temple had doors also at the entrance, and lintels over them, of the same height with the temple itself. They were adorned with embroidered veils with their flowers of purple, and pillars interwoven : and over these, but under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches hanging down from a great height, the largeness and fine workmanship of which was a surprising sight to the spectators, to see what vast materials there were, and with what great skill the workmanship was done. He also encompassed the entire Temple with very large cloisters, contriving them to be in a due proportion thereto ; and he laid out larger sums of money upon them than had been done before him, till it seemed that no one else had so greatly adorned the Temple as he had done. There was a large wall to both the cloisters, which wall was itself the most prodigious work that was ever heard of by man. The hill was a rocky ascent, that declined by degrees towards the east parts of the city, till it came to an elevated level. This hill it was which Solomon, who was the first of our kings by Divine revelation, encompassed with a wall ; it was of excellent workmanship upwards and round the top of it. He also built a wall below, beginning at the bottom, which was encompassed by a deep valley ; and at the south side he laid rocks together, and bound them one to another with lead, and included some of the inner parts, till it proceeded to a great height, and till both the largeness of the square edifice, and its altitude, were immense, and till the vastness of the stones in the front were plainly visible on the outside, yet so that the inward parts were fastened together with iron, and preserved the joints immoveable for all future times. When this work [for the foundation] was done in this manner, and joined together as part of the hill itself to the very top of it, he wrought it all up into one outward surface, and filled up the hollow places which were about the wall, and made it a level on the external upper surface, and a smooth level also. This hill was walled all round, and in compass four furlongs, [the distance of] each angle containing in length a furlong : but within this wall and on the very top of all, there ran another wall of stone also, having, on the east quarter, a double cloister of the same length with the wall ; in the midst of which was the Temple itself. This cloister looked to the gates of the Temple ; and it had been adorned by many kings in former times : and round about the entire Temple were fixed the spoils taken from barbarous nations ; all these had been dedicated to the Temple by Herod, with the addition of those he had taken from the Arabians. APPENDIX. 157 '' Now on the north side [of the Temple] was built a citadel, whose walls were square and strong, and of extraordinary firmness. This citadel was built by the kings of the Asamonean race, who were also high-priests before Herod ; and they called it the Tower, in which were reposited the vestments of the high-priest, which the high priest only put on at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. These vestments King Herod kept in that place; and after his death they were under the power of the Romans, until the time of Tiberius Caesar ; under whose reign Vitellius, the president of Syria, when he once came to Jerusalem, and had been most magnificently received by the multi- tude, had a mind to make them some requital for the kindness they had showed him ; so, upon their petition to have those holy vestments in their own power, he wrote about them to Tiberius Caesar, who granted his request : and thus their power over the sacerdotal vestments continued with the Jews till the death of King Agrippa ; but after that, Cassius Longinus, who was president of Syria, and Cuspius Fadus, who was procurator of Judea, enjoined the Jews to reposit those vestments in the tower of Antonia, for that they ought to have them in their power, as they formerly had. However, the Jews sent ambassadors to Claudius Caesar, to intercede with him for them; upon whose coming. King Agrippa junior, being then at Rome, asked for and obtained the power over them from the Emperor, who gave command to Vitellius, who was then commander in Syria, to give it them accordingly. Before that time, they were kept under the seal of the high-priest, and of the treasurers of the Temple ; which treasurers, the day before a festival, went up to the Roman captain of the temple-guards, and viewed their own seal, and received the vestments ; and again, when the festival was over, they brought it to the same place, and showed the captain of the temple-guards their seal, which corresponded with his seal, and reposited them there. And that these things were so, the afflictions that happened to us afterward [about them] are sufficient evidence. But for the tower itself, when Herod the King of the Jews had fortified it more firmly than before, in order to secure and guard the Temple, he gratified Antonius, who was his friend and the Roman ruler, and then gave it the name of the Tower of Antonia. " Now in the western quarters of the enclosure of the Temple there were four gates. The first led to the King's palace, and went to a passage over the intermediate valley; two more led to the suburbs of the City; and the last led to the other City, where the road descended down into the valley by a great 158 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. number of steps, and thence up again by the ascent ; for the City lay over against the Temple in the manner of a theatre, and was encompassed with a deep valley along the entire south quarter; but the fourth front of the Temple, which was southward, had indeed itself gates in its middle, as also it had the royal cloisters, with three walks which reached in length from the east valley unto that on the west, for it was impossible it should reach any farther : and this cloister deserves to be mentioned better than any other under the sun ; for while the valley was very deep, and its bottom could not be seen, if you looked from above into the depth, this farther vastly high elevation of the cloister stood upon that height, insomuch that if any one looked down from the top of the battlements, or down both those altitudes, he would be giddy, while his sight could not reach to such an immense depth. This cloister had pillars that stood in four rows, over against the other all along ; for the fourth row was interwoven into the wall, which [also was built of stone] ; and the thickness of each pillar was such, that three men might, with their arms extended, fathom it round, and join their hands again, while its length was twenty-seven feet, with a double spiral at its basis ; and the number of all the pillars [in that court] was a hundred and sixty-two. Their chapiters were made with sculptures after the Corinthian order, and caused an amazement [to the spectators], by reason of the grandeur of the whole. These four rows of pillars included three intervals for walking in the middle of this cloister; two of which walks were made parallel to each other, and were contrived after the same manner; the breadth of each of them was thirty feet, the length was a furlong, and the height fifty feet : but the breadth of the middle part of the cloister was one and a half of the other, and the height was double, for it was much higher than those on each side ; but the roofs were adorned with deep sculptures in wood, representing many sorts of figures : the middle was much higher than the rest, and the wall of the front was adorned with beams, resting upon pillars, that were interwoven into it : and that front was all of polished stone, insomuch that its fineness, to such as had not seen it, was incredible, and to such as had seen it, was greatly amazing. Thus was the first enclosure. In the midst of which, and not far from it, was the second, to be gone up to by a few steps : this was encompassed by a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription, which forbade any foreigner to go in under pain of death. Now this inner enclosure had on its southern and northern quarters three gates (equally) distant one from another ; but on the east quarter, towards the sun rising, there was one large gate, through which APPENDIX. . 159 such as were pure came in, together with their wives, but the temple farther inward in that gate was not allowed to the women ; but still more inward was there a third (court) of the temple, whereinto it was not lawful for any but the priests alone to enter. The temple itself was within this; and before that temple was the altar, upon which we offer our sacrifices and burnt- offerings to God. Into none of these three did King Herod enter; for he was forbidden, because he was not a priest. However, he took care of the cloisters, and the outer enclosures, and these he built in eight years " (Joseph. Antiq. XV. 11. 3 — 5. See this description vividly summarized in Milman's History of t/ie /ezvs, pp. 14 — 24). R (/. 90). ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. See Suarez, T/ieoL p. iii. q. 37, a. 4, disput. 21 ; Thomassinus, Tmctat. de Festis, 1. ii. c. 20; Benedict XIV. De Festis D.N.J.C. et B.M.V. pt. ii. ; Baron. Annal. ad ann. 48, et Annot. in Martyrol. XV. August. Wouters says: "Quamvis de corporea Mariae assumptione sileant Patres priomm Ecclesis SKCulorum, piam tamen de ea sententiam jam inde a saeculo VI. in utraque Ecclesia grseca et latina, fuisse receptam et deinceps constanter traditam, testantur Patres mediae et sequentis aetatis, graeci et latini. Accedit utriusque Ecclesias praxis, in qua jam inde ab annis 1200 et amplius festum Assumptionis celebratur. Accedit communis omnium insignium theologorum doctrina. Accedunt etiam rationes congruentia. His aliisque credibilitatis motivis persuasus omnis catholicus orbis corpoream B, V. Mariae assumptionem amplexus est" {Hist. Eccl. CompeJid. vol i. p. 41). S. Epiphanius, considering the singular excellency of the Ever-Blessed Virgin, and the silence of the Sacred Scriptures, did not venture to define whether she died and was buried, or was preserved from death (Zfer. 78). Baronius declares that the Catholic Church admits no doubtfulness as to her decease : " Sed quam novit humanae naturae consortem, humanam pariter moriendi necessitatem expertam affirmat " {Ad Ann. 48). The feast of the Assumption is celebrated with great solemnity both in the East and West. Some doctors have given it the name of '' the great feast " of our Blessed Lady. Its institution dates from the sixth century : a period that witnessed a great increase of devotion to the Mother of God, in l6o FASTI APOSTOLIC r. consequence of the solemn condemnation of the Nestorian heresy by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Thomassinus (/// sup.) says that after that Council, the mind of the Church turned towards the mystery of the Assump- tion, and that the festival was instituted in memory of the Ephesine decree which saluted Mary as QeoroKo^;. Pope Sergius, who was elected in 68 7, ordained that the solemn processions which on the feasts of the Annunciation and Nativity of our Lady used to issue forth from the church of S. Adrian and proceed with the chanting of the litanies to the Liberian basilica (the church of Santa Maria Maggiore), should be held in like manner on the feast of the Assumption. The festival must therefore have been instituted before his time. For some time, it was celebrated on the i8th of January. The Emperor jNIaurice obtained the translation of it [probably for Constantinople] to the 15 th of August; which was afterwards adopted by the whole Church (Niceph. lib. xvii. c, 28 ; Baron. Mariyrol. August 15 ; Mabillon, Liturg. Gall. lib. ii. ; Martene, De Antiq. Ecdes. Discipl. t. iii. c. t^t^^ ". 28). The festival was preceded by a fast. Nicolas I. mentions it, and affirms its observance to have been long observed before his time : quae jejunia sancta Romana suscepit antiquitus et tenet Ecclesia (Labbe, Concilia, t. viii.). In some parts of the East, this fast was held from the beginning of August, and only intermitted during the six days of the celebration of the Trans- figuration (Assemani, Biblioth. Orient, t. ii.). The octave was instituted by Leo IV. about the year 847, but was not extended to the whole Church until a later period (Sigibert, ad Ann. 847 ; Benedict XIV. De Festis B.M. V. c. viii. § 5 ; Moroni, Dizionario Storico- Ecclesiast. in voc.). S (/. 100). WEALTH AND IMPORTANCE OF ASIA MINOR. " The provinces of the East present the contrast of Roman magnificence with Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity, scattered over cultivated fields, and ascribed by ignorance to the power of' magic, scarcely afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under the reign of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred populous cities [Joseph. B.J. ii. 16 ; Philostrat. /;/ Vit. Soph. ii. p. 548, ed. Olear.), enriched with all the gifts of nature, and adorned with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities APPENDIX. l6l of Asia had once disputed the honour of dedicating a temple to Tiberius, and their respective merits were examined by the Senate {Tacit. Ann. iv. 55). Four of them were immediately rejected, as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose splendour is still displayed in its ruins. Laodicea collected a very considerable revenue from its flocks of sheep, cele- brated for the fineness of their wool ; and had received, a little before the contest, a legacy of above four thousand pounds, by the testament of a generous citizen. If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must have been the wealth of those cities whose claim appeared preferable, and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia?" (Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. i. c. ii. p. 80, ed. 1815). T (/. 103). PRIMinVE CHRISTIANITY IN BRITAIN. Lingard, in the cold and cautious spirit which was perhaps natural to him, or adopted also to gain credence for more important facts in an unpopular cause, would seem to relegate to the reign of fable the testimonies adduced in the foregoing pages, for the presence of Apostles in our island. "At the distance of so many ages," he says, " it is impossible to discover by whom Christianity was first preached in the island. Some writers have ascribed that province to S. Peter ; others have preferred the rival claim of S. Paul : but both opinions, improbable as they are in themselves, rest on the most slender evidence ; on testimonies, which are many of them irrelevant, all ambiguous and unsatisfactory." ^ One circumstance is specially to be observed, in estimating the scattered notices that have come down to us, and the amount of probability they furnish. This is, the general destruction of ecclesiastical documents during three successive periods : — viz. the persecution of Diocletian, the subsequent invasion of Picts and Scots, and the occupation of the greater part of Britain by the heathen Saxons. We may learn the state of things in the island from the piteous "Groans of the Britons," — the embassy they sent to Rome in their distress, to petition for the return of those legions which Honorius had been compelled to withdraw. " On the one hand, the barbarians chase us 1 History of England, vol. i. pp. 51, 52, ed. 1S49. l62 FASTI ArOSTOIJCI. into the sea; on the other, tlie sea casts us back on the barbarians; we have only the cruel alternative left us, to perish by the sword or by the waves."- Under such circumstances, the wonder surely is, not that documents and even traditions are so few, but that any have come down to us. (i.) The traditionary coming of S. Joseph of Arimathrea to Avalon, or Iniswitryn, afterwards Glastonbury, has been the subject of much controversy among Catholic and non-Catholic writers.^ (a) The narrative is of imme- morial antiquity, (d) The place, in itself unattractive and marshy, had always been esteemed the fo/is et origo totius religionis in Britaiuiia. (r) The small church built there, afterwards named by the Saxons the " ealde cirche," has always been reported as built by S. Joseph and his companions, though consecrated supernaturally. {d) No rival claim has ever been advanced, nor any other name reported as founder of the sacred place : it is aid Joseph aiit nuUus. {e) S. Marcellus, a primitive British Christian, mentioned in the English Martyrology (September 4), is there said to have "gathered into a flock the remainder of those who had been converted by S. Joseph of Arima- thaea and his companions, confirming them in the same faith " (see Fasti ad A.D. 51, note 3). (/) S. Elwan, one of the two legates sent to Rome by King Lucius, to beg of S. Eleutherius missioners to convert his people, was one of the hermits of Avalon, who had succeeded to the original twelve ; and his first visit, on returning to the island Avith his companion S. Medwin, bringing with them SS. Fugatius and Damianus from Rome, was to the spot. They petitioned Lucius to renew in their favour the original grant made by Arviragus. {g) The twelve " hides " of Glastonbury, which remained always in possession of the monastery, as the original donation of Arviragus to S. Joseph and his eleven companions, afford surely a strong corroborative proof (//) In 530, S. David, bishop of Menevia, with seven of his suffragans, came out of Wales to Glastonbury, added to the buildings, and offered a valuable gem,* always known thenceforward as " the great sapphire/' which remained among the treasures of the house until its spoliation by Henry VIII. who had the stone set in a thumb-ring for himself. (/) On the arrival of 2 S. Gildas, De Excidio Brilaimicr, quoted by S. Bede, Hist. Ecc. I. 13. See Hume, vol. i. p. 14. 3 For the tradition, see Baronius, ad ann. 35. Parsons, De Trihis Aiiglia Conversiotiibits, Alford, Ann. Eccl. Brit, ad ann. 53, "aliosque coniplures Britannicos archteologos," says Selvagio, Antiq. Christian. Instiintiones, lib. i. c. 4. p. 29. * It is stated to have been "a super-altar;" rather, perhaps a large gem placed there — and to have been of very great value. It occurs in the list of valuables delivered to the King, May 15, ann. xxxi. See Dugdale, Monasticon, in Glast. Append, n. 140. APPENDIX. 163 S. Augustine from Rome, one of his first measures, after his mission was estabhshed, was to erect the house at Glastonbury into a more regularly con- stituted society. {J) Ina, king of the West Saxons, is the first on a list of crowned heads, bishops and nobles, who became benefactors to the abbey, rehearsing the aforesaid reasons for its especial sanctity. Their names, charters, and benefactions, fill many pages in Dugdale. {k) After the sack of so many places in England by the Danes, King Edmund raises it again from its ruins. (/) Under S. Dunstan, it becomes a Benedictine abbey, of such repute that the heads of the chief Benedictine houses in England were chosen from it. (;;/) William the Conqueror, on taking possession of the kingdom, vi'sis et cognitis cha?iis ecdesice Glastoju'ce, grants to it certain lands in perpetuity. («) Thenceforward, as also before, it took a precedence among the other religious houses in the country, on the ground of its being the first in point of time, and of the miraculous consecration always assigned to it. {0) At the Council of Pisa in 1409, of Constance in 141 7, of Siena in 1424, and of Basle in 1434, the English ambassadors claimed precedence over the French by appealing to the Glastonbury tradition, as against the French claim, which rested on S. Dionysius the Areopagite. (2.) Tertullian expressly says that Christianity was introduced very early into Britain. Britanmnim inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vera suhdiia. Euse- bius {DeJiionstmtio Evangelica, lib. iv.) says, that while some preached the Name of our Lord in Persia, others crossed the ocean to those islands that are named British. S. Chrysostom {Orat. Quod Chrishis Dens, t. i. p. 575), says that the action of the Church had extended " even beyond our habitable world here," viz. " to the British isles, which are beyond this sea, and in the very Ocean itself" Cf De Incompreh. Dei Nat. ii. 4. They are all speaking of the labours of the Apostles themselves. Cf. S. Clem, Rom. i C07: n. 5, quoted in Fasti, ad aim. 44 and 61 : where observe the probability of SS. Peter and Paul having evangelized our island. As to S. Paul's coming, add the statement of Theodoret, i?i Tim. iv. : '' Quando appellatione usus Romana Festo missus est, defensione audita fuit absolutus, et in Hispaniam profectus est, et ad alias gentes excurrens eis doctrine lucem attulit." Also, Venantius Fortunatus, in the sixth century, says of the Apostle of the Gentiles : Transiit Oceanum, vel qua facit insula portum, Quasque Britannus habet terras, quasque ultima Thule. (Lib. iii. De Vita S. Martini.) (3.) Nicephonis states that S. Simon Zelotes brought the doctrine of the Gospel " to the western ocean, and the British islands." l64 FASTI APOSTOLICI. V(A 113). ArOLLONlUS OF TYANA. I. A writer {in h. iiom.) in Goschler's French translation of the Diet. Encycl. de la Thcol. CatJioUque gives an account of this remarkable pseudo-prophet, freed from much of the romance thrown around him by Philostratus, and others. " From his first biographer, Flavins Philostratus, to Dr. Bauer ^ of Tubingen, we have but vague information on his doctrine, life, and writings. Leaving xiside the fabulous in these accounts, we may with tolerable certainty lay down the following particulars as the real history of this pretended wonder- worker. "Apollonius, a cotemporary of Christ, travelled extensively both in the East and West, especially in India. After making himself acquainted with most of the philosophical systems of the day, he finally embraced the neo- pythagorean ; foreseeing, as he safely might, that during a period of such empiric uncertainty and intellectual commotion, the fantastic character of that abnormal teaching would secure to him the favour of the many. A man formed by study, and with the power of calculation, his vivid imagination ■enabled him to make forecasts which passed for oracles, and effect cures that were reputed miracles ; while his life, always austere, presented such a contrast to the all-absorbing sensuality of the time, as to gain him confidence and repute among his cotemporaries. " During his travels, he contrived to interest in his favour the priests of the most celebrated temples, and of the most famous oracles. From Greece he went to the island of Crete, and thence to Rome in the time of Nero ; this has caused him to be confounded with Simon Magus. Perceiving that his credit was on the wane, he left Rome," whither he afterwards returned, to clear himself of having taken part in a conspiracy against Domitian. He there spoke out with boldness, says the legend ; he was thrown into prison, and suddenly disappeared. Accounts of the place, the time and mode of his death, greatly vary. Anyhow, he seems to have attained the age of at least eighty years ; some say, of an hundred and seventeen. Philostratus derived the particulars he gives us, in his eight books on the life of Apollonius, ' In his work entitled Christ and Apollonius of Tyana. - But see ad A,D. 68 for the motive of his departure from the City. APPENDIX. 165 from notes written by Julia, wife of the emperor Alexander Severus ; these, consequently, were only put together in the third century. ApoUonius united with the neo-pythagorean doctrine, astrology, wonder-workings, magic, and necromancy. According to Dio Cassius, the emperor Caracalla placed him among the gods, and dedicated a temple to him. Alexander Severus also admitted him among his household deities, Abraham, Orpheus, and Christ. The eight books of Philostratus are full of manifest fables, and have no pretensions to discrimination ; his whole history is simply a parody of the life of our Lord, and of His gospel. This is evidenced, for example, by the miraculous birth, the reform of the world, the miracles wrought, the demons expelled, the ascension into heaven : all which are attributed to this pretended thawnaiurgus. Before [Philostratus], Hierocles of Nicomedia in Bithynia, as early as the days of Diocletian, had used against our Lord the legends con- cerning ApoUonius, and had drawn upon himself a refutation from Eusebius of Cffisarea. Some ten writings have been attributed to ApoUonius, none of which have as yet been shown to be genuine." IL " Charles Blount, who lived in the seventeenth 'century . , translated the life of the celebrated impostor, ApoUonius of Tyana, written by Philo- stratus, and added to his translation a quantity of notes, mostly taken from the manuscripts of Lord Herbert,^ a notorious Deist in his day. The only tendency of these notes was to ruin religion, and bring the Sacred Scriptures into contempt ; not by reasons gravely and seriously adduced, but almost always by profane raillery and petty quibbles. This impious book, printed in London in 1680, \yas only condemned in 1693. In that same year 1693, the author published a treatise entitled Reason's Doubts, together with some other works of the same kind. The same year, he had a tragical end. He had become attached to his brother's widow, and maintained that it would not be incestuous to marry her ; in proof of which, he composed a treatise. But, rendered desperate at seeing no prospect of gaining the consent of the Anglican Church to this, he committed suicide " (Moreri's Grand Didionnairey in voc. Blount, quoting Bayle's Critical Dictionary, in the notes on ApoUonius of Tyana. ^ Lord Herbert of Cherbury. 1 66 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. III. " In order to counteract the influence exercised by the simple yet won- derful and prepossessing life of Jesus, Flavius Philostratus, a neo-Pythagorean, opposed to it the life of the philosoi)hcr, Apollonius of Tyana, a theosophist and sorcerer, who lived in the first century. Apollonius, though he seems — by embracing an ascetic life, and professing voluntary celibacy, according to the philosophy and discipline of Pythagoras — to rise superior to paganism, is nevertheless in every sense thoroughly imbued with its spirit. He is repre- sented as a man of great piety and of unknown origin, a benefactor and teacher of mankind, a worker of wonders, a prophet, and the restorer of paganism. Many incidents of his life bear a striking similarity to those in the life of Jesus, and are evidently borrowed from the gospels [added in a note]. Dr. Rieckher'* . . has also shown that the biography written by Philo- stratus, in eight volumes, is a travesty on the Hfe of Christ and on the New Testament gospels, fabricated under the influence of Julia, wife of the emperor Alexander Severus. In this way, the surprising parallelism of Apollonius' birth, the plan of his improvement of the world, his miracles, expulsion of demons, ascension into heaven, &c., are explained" (Alzog, Utiiv. Church Hist, vol. i. pp. 290, 291 : Cincinn, 1874). W(/. 115). WAS SAINT THOMAS IN MEXICO? This opinion, starding at first from its novelty, is ably maintained, in the face of however great improbabilities, by the writer of a short article in the New York Catholic World, for December, i8Sx. It is here partly given, partly summarized. I. Remains of an ancic7it Christianity in the South A?nerican continent. The localities chiefly specified are. Lower California, Cozumel about Yutacan, Nicaragua, and Peru. The authors quoted are, Prescott, History of Mexico, Veytia, Ancient History of Mexico, and Father Gleason, History of the Catholic Church in California. * Studies of the Clergy of IVurtzbiirg, yea?- 1847, in refutation of Dr. T'.auer'.s Christ and Apollonius of Tyana: Tub. 1832. APPENDIX. 167 The Spanish discoverers of the country found among the Aztecs many rehgious observances, strikingly resembUng the rites of the Church. (i.) An extensive cultus of the Cross; a certain temple was called "The Temple of the Holy Cross," and was considered to be the oldest place of worship in the country. (11.) Monastic establishments for both men and women, the inmates of which lived in great purity and austerity, passing their days in fasting, prayer, psalmody, and tending a perpetual sacred fire ; vowed to their life, and living under obedience. (iij). A solonii baptism by immersion, at which a name was given to the baptized. " It was considered as a new disposition to become good, the means of escaping damnation, and of gaining an imperishable glory." This sacred ablution was called by the people "a new birth," by means of which they hoped to gain the kingdom of Heaven, and to wash away the sins they had carried since their mother's womb. " I pray," said the baptismal formula, " that these heavenly waters may destroy, and separate from thee, all the evil of sin which has been given to thee before the beginning of the world ; foras- much as we are all under its power, being all the sons of Calchiritlycuc." (iv.) Auricular confession. " Not less worthy of remark," says Veytia, '' was the custom they had established [in the Mexican dominions] of con- fessing their sins to the priests, relating all that they considered as faults, and accepting the penance which was imposed." " It is worthy of notice," observes Prescott, " that the priests administered the rites of confession and absolution. The secrets of the confessional were looked upon as inviolable." (v.) The consecration of bread and wine. Father Sahagun says : "Exactly at the same time at which we celebrate the Pasch, the Mexicans celebrated theirs, after a fast of forty days, during which they abstained from flesh-meat , . A public penance preceded the celebration of the feast. . . The water was blessed solemnly, as we Catholics are accustomed to do on Holy Saturday." " Nothing is better known," says Veytia, " than that the offerings are made of bread and wine— that is, bread from flour without fermentation, and that what was drunk was wine." He also relates that the Mexicans celebrated a solemn feast in honour of the god of wheat, by forming the body of that god into the shape of a human countenance, with a pedestal made of flour unleavened, mixed with certain herbs. Having baked it, on the day of the feast they carried it in procession. Around the statue of this deity they placed a great quantity of particles of the same composition, which being 1 68 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. blessed by all the priests wiih certain formulas and ceremonies, they believed to be changed into the flesh of that god. At the end of the ceremony, the bread was distributed to the people. All, children and adults, men and women, rich and poor, came to it, receiving with great veneration, humility, and tears, saying that they were eating the flesh of their god. (vi.) The stale of souls in the other world. Torquemada, Prescott, and Father Gleason concur in representing the Mexican belief to be in great measure in harmony with the teaching of the Catholic Church. II. rrobability that S. Thomas 7c>as the Apostle of those regio)is. This minor premiss, it must be said, appears to rest upon much weaker grounds than the primitive Christianity evidenced above. It is chiefly supported on the coincidence, a remarkable one, no doubt, that the traditional evangelizer of these countries had a name (Quetzalcohuatl) which in one dialect found there — the Nahuatl — signifies "the illustrious or glorious Twin." The "Twin" {i.e., Didymus), seems to have been the name by which this great and holy personage has always been remembered throughout the extensive sphere of his ministrations. Thus, wlien persecuted by an apostate king, Huemac, he retired from Nahuatl to Cholula, and thence passed into Yucatan and the neighbouring islands, which latter are known as " The islands where the Twin hid himself." He is said to have been "a white man, with a flowing beard, a large mantle adorned with crosses spread over his shoulders, with his head uncovered, his feet bare, and carrying a staff in his hand." He came from the north, some years after a great solar eclipse and a terrific earthquake, which seem to have coincided pretty nearly with the prodigies occurring at the Crucifixion. "According to the universal tradition of the country, he was a holy and venerable man, who taught the people an admirable doctrine : the abolition of incontinence and the love of virtue, the worship of an only God, the mysteries of the Holy Trinity, the incarnation of the Son of God, His birth of a virgin and His death upon a cross, the practice of confession, the annual fast of forty days, religious continence, with all the religious observances mentioned above. Some Catholic historians have pronounced Quetzalcohuatl an impostor, because the Spaniards found in Mexico his name mixed with some idolatrous customs. But this judgment, in our opinion, is too severe. There is nothing strange that in the lapse of many centuries his doctrine might have been adulterated and confounded amidst idolatrous APPENDIX. 169 practices. It is rather to be wondered at, that so many true dogmas have been preserved. We must remark also that these traditions were not confined to Mexico alone, but were greatly spread over all that part of the two American continents where his name became known, and which it is probable he visited ; in which places both the man, and the doctrine which he taught, preserved a most admirable sameness. " In the national histories of Mexico it was alifirmed that Quetzalcohuatl had promised that his followers, also wliUe meii, would come to that country, and would venerate the Cross. Shortly before the arrival of Cortez, there existed throughout the empire of Mexico a common belief that the time had come, when ' the followers of Quetzalcohuatl should arrive in the country.' " Sahagun, who wrote at the time of the Conquest . . assures us, that at the arrival of the Spaniards on the coast, the natives went out to meet them in canoes, and prostrated themselves before them, believing that the god Quetzalcohuatl, along with his followers, whom they expected every day, had come to visit them. Boturini says that the year ceacatl was the one announced by Quetzalcohuatl, and that in that very year the Spaniards landed in Mexico." III. It is an instance of the uncertainty of opinion, that after the above very remarkable facts, or from unacquaintance with the authors detailing them, Moreri, publishing in 1725 his learned and generally accurate Grand Dic- tion?iaire, should write thus {in voc. Apotre) : " Entre toutes ces missions apostoliques, il n'est point parle de I'Amerique, qui est le nouveau monde ; et il n'y a point d'apparence, que si les Apotres ou leurs disciples y avoient annoncee I'evangile, les auteurs n'en eussent rien dit. Les historiens qui ont ecrit de la decouverte de ce pays par les Espagnols, assurent qu'ils n'y trouverent aucun vestige de la religion Chretienne, comme les Portugais en avoient trouve dans les Indes Orientales." He cites Godeau, Hist, de VEglise, lib. i. On the facilities existing in early times for penetrating to the great Western continent, and the possibility of the lost Atlantis as a stepping-stone on the way, see an interesting article in the Dublin Ra'ietu for November, 1841, on " The successive Discoveries of America." [/O FASTI APOSTOLICI. X(A 119). CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROMAN CATACOMBS. The following passages from the Edinburgh Rcvinu for January, 1859, are so accurate in archroological details, and written in so fair a spirit, as to deserve reproduction, "The first condition to be considered in the structure of the subterranean cemeteries, is the nature of the rock in which they are perforated. Recent geological observations on the soil of the Agro Romano, and the site of Rome itself, have determined the fact that the vast amphitheatre destined to witness so many of the greatest events in human history, and the most violent revolutions of political power, was itself formed by the action of volcanic fire, commencing before the Sabine or the Latin hills had risen above the plain, before the Tiber and the Anio had found their way to the sea. These igneous rocks bear indisputable traces of the different periods at which they were projected to the earth's surface, and still retain an entirely distinct character. The earliest of the series, which is found in the more immediate vicinity of Rome, consists of a red volcanic tufa ; and it is suffi- ciently hard to be employed — as it has constantly been employed from the earliest ages — in the buildings of the city. The massive blocks of the Cloaca IMaxima, of the Tabularium of the Capitol, and of the recently discovered wall of Romulus which encircles the base of the Palatine, attest the durability of this tufa Hi/wide, as it is termed by the Romans ; and geology traces its origin to the action of submarine craters, every vestige of which has dis- appeared. At a far later period, fresh currents of lava, mingled with ashes and pumice, forced their way over the plain, and these proceeded from the comparatively modern craters still visible in the Alban hills ; but this sub- stance is far less compact than the primitive tufa ; it is distinguished by the name of tufa granolare, and though it has just consistency enough to retain the form given to it by the excavators, it cannot be hewn or extracted in blocks ; and in the lower strata it degenerates into the friable volcanic ashes known ^% pozzolaiia, which have been extensively used in all ages for mortar or Roman cement. "The history of these volcanic formations has a direct bearing on the structure of the Catacombs. They arc never hewn in the tufa Uihoidc or APPENDIX. 171 more compact tufa, though tliat stone was largely quarried by the old Romans for building purposes. " The Christian architects carefully avoided these massive strata ; and we believe it is ascertained that all the known catacombs are driven exclusively along the courses of the tufa granolare. With equal care these subterranean engineers avoided the layers of pozzolana, which would have rendered their work insecure, and in which no permanent rock tomb could have been constructed. Thus we arrive at the curious fact, that in making the Cata- combs, the excavators carefully avoided the strata of hard stone and the strata of soft stone, used respectively for building and for mortar, and selected that course of medium hardness which was best adapted to their peculiar purpose. The Romans, no doubt, had their arcnarice; and probably we are to under- stand by that term, the sand-pits from which pozzolana was dug. Cicero mentions {Orat. pro Chientio) that the young patrician Asinius had been enticed into these dark abodes, and murdered ; and when Nero, in the last frightful night of his life, took refuge in the villa of his freedman Phaon, between the Nomentane and Salarian roads, he was advised to hide himself in the adjacent sand-pit ; but he vowed he would not go alive underground, and remained trembling beneath the wall. But these arenaricz were totally unlike the Christian cemeteries, and the comparison may be the more easily made, as in some instances, as at S. Agnese, the shaft which gave admission to the Catacombs has been sunk from the floor of one of the Pagan excavations above ; so that on the higher level the broad and lofty quarry still remains, with such supports as were necessary to sustain the vault, whilst beneath, in a lower stratum, the Christians gradually formed one of the most extensive cemeteries known to exist in the vicinity of Rome. Possibly this contrivance served more effectually to mask the entrance to the lower passages, by con- cealing them altogether from external observation ; whilst it afforded an easy means of removing the broken stuff from the deepest excavations. In the Roman arenarm there are no vestiges of tombs, and not the slightest indica- tion that they were ever used for purposes of sepulture. In the Christian Catacombs not a yard seems to have been excavated except for the purpose of making tombs : they line the walls throughout, as close to one another as the berths in the side of a ship, only divided by an intervening shelf of rock. Each tomb appears to have been made exactly of the proper size for the body which was to occupy it. Myriads are to be found adapted for infants only. In some instances they were enlarged to contain two bodies, the tomb being 1/2 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. then called a hisomuin ; or even more — husband and wife, or other members of one Christian family. Every grave was closed, when filled, with tiles or with a marble slab. In one of the Catacombs visited by Padre Marchi, he found the gallery of Christian tombs abruptly terminated by a wall. On further examination, it was discovered that the fossores, or excavators, had come upon a sunken pagan colunilniriuin, such as was used for sepulture by the Roman families. The Christians instantly closed the gallery and walled it up, leaving the columhariuju outside : a remarkable proof of their repugnance to suffer the presence of the unconverted heathen in their cemeteries. "There is no evidence that the Romans ever regarded this mode of sepulture with any feelings but those of abhorrence and contempt. To use the vituperative language applied by Horace to the site of Maecenas' palace on the Esquiline, where, by the way, there is no catacomb — Hue priiis angustis ejecta cadavera cellis Conservus vili portanda locabat in area. Hoc niisercE plebi stabat commune sepulchrum. ^^The pulicoli, into which the carrion of the Roman slaves might be flung, had not the slightest analogy with the decorous, careful, and expensive pro- visions made by the early Christians for the conservation of their dead. Throughout the whole extent of the Christian cemeteries, no trace has been found of any admixture of the pagan population. Every inscription, however humble, attests the Christian faith of him who was "deposited" — to use the peculiar and appropriate expression — within that narrow cell. The curt or desponding tone of the heathen mortuary inscription disappears. The Christian "sleeps," and sleeps "in peace." No badge of slavery or of freedom is to be seen amongst his fellows ; for, in the sublime language which S. Paul himself had addressed to these very Romans, ' the creature also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God.' " It is impossible to survey the half-obliterated memorials of this extinct race of men, and to compare them with the remains of Pagan Rome, without feeling that every broken fragment of a grave, every pinch of human dust and ashes scattered round, belongs altogether to a different faith, a different era of the world's history ; and that Imperial Rome had no hand in the mysterious structures which thus encompassed her walls, except when she peopled them with the victims of persecution." The sources from which the above extracts derive their facts are, of APPENDIX. 173 course, the standard works of Bosio, Boldetti, Arringlii, de Rossi, and Garucci ; to which the late Padre Marchi has added his vakiable contribution. The history and exploration of " Subterranean Rome " form a subject of the greatest interest, as well as of very wide extent. It is given, with very careful detail, in Northcote and Brownlow's Roma Sotterranea ; a work which cannot be too strongly recommended to the reader. Y (/. III). THE VATICAN CEMETERY. This small cemetery on the Vatican has for centuries become the most celebrated spot in the world, except the Sacred Places themselves. It possesses the following successive stages of interest : (i.) After the martyrdom of the holy Apostles, the body of S. Peter was brought down from the Janiculum, the place of his crucifixion, which is now occupied by the small church of San Pietro in Montorio, and was carried to the neighbouring hill of the Vatican. This hill, mentioned by Horace {Od. i. 20, 8), was then probably a wooded slope, looking down on the Tiber, which was crossed by the Milvian bridge, two or three miles below. It was also in the immediate neighbourhood of the gardens and circus of Nero, where, under the same persecution that had sent the Apostles to heaven, so many Christians preceded or followed them by the agonizing death of fire (see ad A.D. 66, 67, 69). Meanwhile, S. Paul's body was laid by S. Lucina in her cemetery on the Ostian Way, near the place where he was decapitated {Ad Aquas Salvias). (2.) Later on, when tidings of the double martyrdom had reached the East, some Oriental, probably Israelite, Christians, appear to have set out for Rome, with the intention of appropriating the holy relics for their native country. Unable to persuade the Roman Christians to resign their treasure, they succeeded in exhuming them secretly, each from the separate place of burial, and set out on their return, along the Appian Way, making for Brun- dusium, as their nearest route homewards. They had reached the second milestone, not far beyond the point where roads leading from the Vatican and from the cemetery of S. Lucina would unite. Here they were delayed by a tempest : and meanwhile the Romans, having discovered the theft, pursued 174 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. them, recovered the sacred bodies, and placed tliem for tlie time in a deserted building, of pagan construction, near the spot. These focts have several distinct attestations. a. S. Damasus, Pope, in the fifth century. Anastasius, the Byzantine historian, says of him, that " he built a platonia, where the bodies of the Apostles, SS. Peter and Paul, lay, and embellished it with verses." Another reading gives : " He built a basilica /;/ catacianbis, where the bodies of S. Peter and S. Paul lay, in which he adorned with verses the platonia where the holy bodies reposed." Platonia, placoma, or placoion, is interpreted by Baronius {His.t. ad Ann. 384) to mean " a church-pavement ornately laid with slabs of marble in various designs."^ The verses of S. Damasus are as follows: Hie habitasse prius sanctos cognoscere debes, Nomina quisque Petri pariter Paulique requiris. Discipulos Oriens misit, quod sponte fatemur ; Sanguinis ob meritum, Cliristum per astra secuti, ^tlierios peliere sinus, rcgnaquc pioruni : Roma tamen potius meruit defenderc civcs ; Hcec Damasus vestras referat nova sidera laudcs. b. S. Gregory the Great wrote in the year 594 to the Empress Constantina, in answer to her request that he would send her some relic of S. Paul, for the church then recently completed in the imperial palace at Constantinople. He declines the request, alleging that attempts made in the time of his predecessor to translate the bodies of the Apostles, as also that of S. Laurence, had been followed by signal tokens of the Divine displeasure. The relics of the Saints, he continues, which it was then the custom of the Roman Church to bestow, consisted of silken or linen cloths {brandea"^), which had been let down through an aperture, to touch their tombs. These were care- fully preserved in churches; "and thereby as mighty works are there wrought, 1 Cassiodorus, Vanar. iii. 9. Compare AidSa-rpuros, or "the Pavement," S. John xix. 13. - '■^ Brandcum, nom usite dans les auteurs de la basse latinite, pour signifier un lincciiil. dc soic OH de lift, dont on enveloppoit les corps des saints et leurs reliques. On donnoit le meme nom aux linges que Ton faisoit toucher aux reliques des saints. Du tems de saint Gregoire le Grand, qui tenoit le siege"de Rome I'an 600, et avant lui, on ne touchoit point aux corps des saints ; et au lieu de leurs os, on se contentoit d'envoyer dans une boite un morceau de ce drap ou de ce corporal. Le pape saint Gregoire parle de cette coutume, et ajoiite qu'on la croyoit par tradition du tems du pape saint Leon, vers I'an 450. Quelques Grecs ayant doute si Ton devoit tenir ces reliques pour bonnes, ce saint pontife, pour les convaincrc, se fit apporter des ciseaux, et coupa en leur presence un de ces brandcum, c'est- a-dire, une de ces pieces de drap, d'ou il sortit du sang, comme si c'eiit ete le corps du menie saint {Greg. Turon. de Gloria Cotif. c. 37 ; Pet. Damian, Epist. 1. iv ; Bede, Hist. Augl. i. 3 ; Du Cange, Glossar.; Moreri, Diet. i7i zvrl>). APPENDIX. 175 as if their very bodies had been transported thither." He then goes on to give an account of the theft of the Orientals, and the recovery of the Apostles' relics, almost in the words given above.^ c. In the Acts af the martyrdom of S. Quirinus, \\\q. platouia of S. Damasus is mentioned as " the basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, where they lay for some time . . in the place which is called "Ad catacumbas." From this spot, with its title of debased and mongrel latinity,^ all the Roman cemeteries were, in process of time, denominated catacombs. d. In the portico of the ancient basilica of S. Peter's were two remarkable paintings, delineated in Bosio's Roma Si/bferranea ; one of them representing the Orientals surprised in their flight by the Roman Christians, and compelled to restore the sacred bodies ; the other, the solemn extraction of the relics from their temporary resting-place by S. Linus and the Roman clergy. (3.) In this " deserted building on the Appian Way," the Apostles' relics remained for a year and seven months : a duration assigned to their stay there, by a very ancient account of the martyrdom, which Mabillon says was read in the French churches on their festival, before the time of Charlemagne. It is corroborated by a MS. of the fourteenth century, in the collection of De Rossi, which adds, that when suitable places of sepulture had been pre- pared for them, they were reverently interred [of course, by S. Linus], S. Peter's body on the Vatican, and that of S. Paul by the second milestone on the Ostian Way:^ "where their benefits are dispensed to those who ask with perseverance, to the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever." S. Linus himself, who was martyred, A.D, 76, is expressly s^rud, in his Acts, to have been interred "on the Vatican hill, near the body of S. Peter the Apostle."^ The Liber Pontificalis, or " S. Greg. Epist. IV. 30. Compare Cardinal S. Borgia's Vaticana Confessio, p. ix. ^ Originally, perhaps, Kara, iiimbas, the word employed by S. Gregory in a sermon preached in the basilica of SS. Nereus and Achilleus : — "Sancti isti, ad quorum tumbam consistimus" (Horn. 28). Or, cumha from cumbo, with an analogous meaning to Koi/xyirripiov. ^ "From S. Peter's on the Vatican, the mind passes naturally to the resting-place of the Apostle of the Gentiles on the other side of the river and of Rome. But here, too, the hill has been cut away to make room for the magnificent basilica of S. Paul exi>-a 7miros ; and hence the greater part of the catacomb of Lucina (or of Commodilla, for both these names occur in ancient records) has been destroyed, and what galleries yet remain are so choked with earth and ruins of various kinds, as to be almost impassable. . . Boldetti read within this catacomb the most ancient inscription with a consular date that has come down to us" (Northcote and Brownlow's Roma Sottcrraiiea, i. p. 1 14). ^ " Early in the seventeenth century. Urban VIII. made extensive excavations round the ' confession ' of S. Peter, in the course of which, several marble sarcophagi came to light. . . Another, as we learn from an eye-witness (Torrigio, La Sacre Grotte Vaticane, p. 61), was 176 l-ASTI APOSTOLICI. Catalogue of the Popes, agrees with an ancient list of their burial-places appended to Vignoli's edition, in saying that eleven out of the fifteen" first Pontiffs were buried "on the Vatican, near the body of S. Peter." It also states that S. Anacletus built the sepulchral monument — construxit inevioriam — of blessed Peter, by whom he had been ordained priest; "and the other burial-places where the bishops might be laid." (4.) The relics of the Prince of the Apostles, thus re-interred on the Vatican, continued long undisturbed in the small cemetery, which thence became, to the infant Church, a place of resort for private devotion, for celebrating the Adorable Sacrifice, and for holding the "stations;" especially, it would seem, the Saturday vigil of the Four Seasons.^ The proximity of Nero's gardens and circus, in which so many Christians had been martyred, must already have increased the number of martyrs' bodies interred round the tomb of the Apostle.'-* (5.) In the year 218, under the pontificate of S. Callistus, a freak of the emperor Elagabulus occasioned a fresh removal. Not content with the dimensions of Nero's circus, which was only adapted to horse-races, he determined to witness a race of elephants, harnessed four abreast : and gave orders that the circus should be enlarged.^" The workmen encroached on the slope of the Vatican hill; and, after demolishing some pagan tombs within the line drawn for the new work, approached S. Peter's cemetery. S. Callis- tus, fearing a profanation of the Apostle's tomb, transported the body back to the spot Ad catacinnhas, near which he had made or enlarged a cemetery inscribed with the single word LINUS, a name of extremely rare occurrence on Christian monuments ; and, considering where it was found, it does not seem rash to believe with De Rossi that this was the sepulchre of the immediate successor of S. Peter, of whom we read : Sepullus est jiixta corpus Bead PctrV (Northcote and Brownlow, ut sup.). ^ The list given, however, seems only to include nine, from S. Linus to S. Victor. It excludes, of course, S. Clement, plunged into the sea and entombed miraculously in Cher- sonesus ; and .S. Alexander, whose remains, gathered immediately after his martyrdom by a pious Roman lady, were buried in her estate on the Via Nomentana. 8 "Let us fast the Wednesday and Friday; and on Saturday, let us keep our vigil by Blessed Peter" (S. Leo, Serm. Vll. De Jejun. 7 vicns). " A stone is still preserved in the subterranean church in .S. Peter's, once called by the pagans the accursed, and by the Christians the holy, stone. The inscription over it is: buper isto lapide multa corpora sanctorum martyrio cccsa sunt. 1" Onophr. Panvinus, Dc Septem. Urbis Eccles. p. 34 ; Papebrocke, Acta Saint, t. v. p. 436; P^aronius, Ad Ann. 221, discredits this account of the second translation of the relics, and quotes against it the passage of S. Gregoiy, quoted above. The only satisfactory way of reconciling the two statements, seems to be that of Padre Marchi, which is here followed. APPENDIX. 177 afterwards called by his name. Here S. Peter's body reposed, for the second time, during forty years ; and the bodies of sixteen of the early Pontiffs were also deposited around him. The Index Vaticanus (ed. Vignoli) and the Liber Pontificalis enumerate them, from S. Anicetus to S. Dionysius, inclusive. The place is a crypt of semicircular form, to which a passage in S. Sebastian's Beyond the Walls opens. An ancient solid altar is in the centre, and the Pontiffs repose in rude arcisolia, or arched recesses, pierced in the surround- ing walls. The altar covers a square vault, ten or twelve feet below the pavement, divided into two compartments, and Hned with Parian marble to the height of three or four feet. An ancient fresco painting was traceable, representing our Lord with S. Peter on His right, S. Paul on the left, and the rest of the Apostles less distinctly delineated. Opposite to the altar once stood the pontifical chair, in which S. Stephen I. was martyred : this, sprinkled with his blood, was buried with him, as his Acts relate.^^ It was removed to Pisa, by Cosmo III. of Tuscany. (6.) After forty years, i.e. a.d. 258, S. Sixtus II. transported the body of S. Peter to the Vatican once more. The crypt Ad Cataaimbas, however, from which the sixty Christian cemeteries around Rome received the generic name of catacombs, remained a place of concealment as well as of devotion for the Pontiffs and the faithful, while persecution lasted. " In those ceme- teries," says De Rossi, " to which history or tradition assigns an apostolic origin, I see, in the light of the most searching archaeological criticism, the cradle alike of Christian underground sepulchres, of Christian art, and of Christian inscriptions. There I find memorials of persons who appear to belong to the times of the Flavii and of Trajan ; and lastly, I discover the exact dates of those times." Besides the martyrdom of S. Stephen I., just mentioned, S. Sixtus II. himself was seized here as he was celebrating the Holy Mysteries, and slain with five of his deacons. S. Caius, Pope, escaped the emissaries of Diocletian for eight years, by hiding "in the Catacombs," probably at or near this spot. S. Urban was concealed here, when S. Caecilia sent Valerian to him for baptism. " Go," she said to him, to the third mile- stone^^ from the City, on the way which is called the Appian ; thou wilt there find the poor. , Give them a benediction, saying, ' Ctecilia hath sent me to you, that you may show me the holy aged man Urban,'" &c. " " Sepelicrunt corpus ejus cum ipsa sede sanguine ejus aspersa, in eadem ciypta, in loco qui dicitur coemeterium Callisti" [Acta S. Slcph.), Tlie very same detail attended the martyrdom of S, Sixtus II. M 178 FASTI APOSTOLICI. (7.) On the conversion of Constantine, S. Silvester, aided by the Emperor's zeal and munificence, erected the earliest basilica on the spot, a.d. 323, placing the high altar over the place where S. Peter's body rested. A small aperture, somewhat after the model of the crypt on the Appian Way, enabled the suppliant to look down and pray above the relics, and also to let down the brandea to touch the Apostle's tomb, in the manner described by S. Gregory (§ (2) b). The first Pope buried in the new church was S. Leo the Great, in 461 ; who thus had the same marks of devotion given on Ember Saturdays to his tomb, which he had inculcated for that of the Apostles (cf. (4) supra). This holy Pontiff had previously built a monastery near the basilica of S. Peter, and had appointed special custodians for " the tombs of the Apostles;" probably, therefore, for the spot where S. Paul was buried on the Ostian Way, Ad Aquas Salvias, as well as for the Vatican. These officers were named aebicu/arii, a title of analagous meaning to the word cemetery — KOLinjT-qpLov — or sleeping place (on this term, see ad A.D. 69, sub 1/ied.). (8.) The crypt Ad Catacumbas must have continued to be a place of pious resort and devotion to the faithful, long after the bodies of the Apostles had been withdrawn thence : it was a constant memorial of the days of persecu- tion, and sixteen of the early Popes still remained in the arcisolia round the Apostles' tomb. This excited the zeal of S. Damasus to adorn the crypt with marble slabs and verses, and thus convert it into Vi platonia {sup. (i) a). The same Pope restored the adjoining church of S. Sebastian, enriched it with a marble colonnade, and sumptuously adorned the tombs of other martyrs, specially those of SS. Chrysanthus and Daria, SS. Felix and Adauctus, and SS. Protus and Hyacinthus. AA (/. 123). THE COLOSSEUM. " Posterity admires, and will long admire, the awful remains of the amphi- theatre of Titus, which so well deserved the epithet of colossal. It was a building of an elliptical figure, 564 feet in length, and 467 in breadth, founded on fourscore arches, and rising with four successive orders of archi- tecture, to the height of 140 feet. The outside of the edifice was encrusted with marble, and decorated with statues. The slopes of the vast concave, APPENDIX. 179 which formed the inside, were filled and surrounded with sixty or eighty rows of seats of marble, likewise covered with cushions, and capable of receiving with ease above fourscore thousand spectators. Sixty-four vomitories (for by that name the doors were very aptly distinguished) poured forth the immense multitude ; and the entrances, passages, and staircases w^ere contrived with such exquisite skill, that each person, whether of the senatorial, the equestrian, or the plebeian order, arrived at his destined place without trouble or confusion. Nothing was omitted which, in any respect, could be subservient to the con- venience and pleasure of the spectators. They were protected from the sun and rain by an ample canopy, occasionally drawn over their heads. The air was continually refreshed by the playing of fountains, and profusely impreg- nated by the grateful scent of aromatics. In the centre of the edifice, the arena^ was strewed with the finest sand, and successively assumed the most different forms. At one time, it seemed to rise out of the earth, like the garden of the Hesperides, and was afterwards broken into the rocks and caverns of Thrace. The subterraneous pipes conveyed an inexhaustible supply of water ; and what had just before appeared a level plain might be suddenly converted into a wide lake, covered wdth armed vessels, and re- plenished with the monsters of the deep. . . We read, on various occasions, that the whole furniture of the amphitheatre consisted either of silver, or qf gold, or of amber. The nets designed as a defence against the wild beasts were of gold wire; the porticoes were gilded, and the belt or circle which divided the several ranks of spectators from each other, was studded with ft beautiful mosaic of precious stones" {Decline and Fall, vol. ii. c. xii, pp. 103 — 105)- BB (/. 125). LATER YEARS OF SAINT JOHN. I. Saint Irenosus, from his see of Lyons, wrote an epistle to Florinus, of which a precious fragment remains. Florinus and Valentinus had both been his fellow-disciples under S. Polycarp. They both afterwards fell into the Gnostic heresy ; Florinus going so far into those errors, as to affirm that God ^ Gibbon adds the words, "or stage,'' which is surely a strange misnomer, by way of explanation. 180 FASTI ArOSTOLICI. is the author of sin. The following passage is extant from S. Irenecus' letter to him : " These doctrines, Florinus, (to speak gently, and to spare thee), are not those of sound opinion ; they are out of harmony with the Church, and cast their disciples into the extreme of impiety; not even heretics outside the Church have ever ventured to utter them ; the priests who were before us, who con- sorted with the Apostles themselves, have not delivered such to thee. For I saw thee, when I was still a boy with Polycarp, in Lower Asia, while thou heldest a brilliant position at the Emperor's court, and wert aiming at his favour. What occurred at that time, I remember better than more recent events ; for our boyish impressions grow with the mind's growth, and become one with it : so that I could describe the very spot where the blessed Polycarp sat and discoursed ; how he moved out and in, from place to place ; his rule of life and personal appearance, the discourses he made to the people, and how he related his converse with John and with others who had seen the Lord : how he recorded their words, and what he had heard from them concerning the Lord, His miracles and His teaching : how Polycarp had received from those eye-witnesses, details of the life of the Word, and narrated everything in accordance with the Scriptures. All this, by the mercy of God that was upon me, I diligently hearkened to, laying it up for remembrance, not on paper, but in my heart ; and by God's grace I ever ruminate upon it in detail. And I can testify before God, that if that blessed and apostolic presbyter had heard anything like [thy doctrines], he would have cried out and stopped his ears, and would have said, as he was wont to do : ' O good God, to what times hast Thou reserved me, that I should endure this !' and he would have fled from the place where he was sitting or standing when he heard such words. This may be proved, moreover, by the epistles which he sent, both to the neighbouring Churches, to confirm them, and to certain brethren, to admonish and exhort them."^ IL The attributes of the Beloved Disciple are so beautiful and engnging, that any authentic incident in his life must nteds be of great interest. One special anecdote is preserved for us by Clement of Alexandria,^ who writes in the second century. It belongs to the latter days of S. John's life, and reveals ^ S. Irenreus, Fragm. p. 1227, ed. Migne. \ Clem, Alex. Serni. xlii. Quis dircs. APPENDIX. l8l to us him to whom was committed, as a "daily anxiety, the sohcitude"^ of the Seven Chuvches of Asia, and the neighbourhood, mailing his apostolic rounds, "as he passed through, visiting all."'* We see, also, his daily anxiety and solicitude not only spread over the mass of the faithful, but individualized on particular persons, as on Caius, on the lady Electa,^ and on the youth who forms the subject of this narrative. " Hear now §. tale," writes Clement ; " or rather, not a tale, but a true narration, handed down and preserved, concerning the Apostle S. John. Upon the death of the tyrant [Domitian], he returned from the island of Patmos to Ephesus ; and, on their invitation, visited the neighbouring regions. On coming to a certain city, the name of which is by some reported, he refreshed in manifold ways the spirit of the brethren. Finally, observing a youth of noble bearing, engaging countenance, and ardent spirit, he turned to the bishop of the place, and said : ' With all earnestness, in the presence of the Church, and of Christ, who is witness to the trust, I commend this youth to your care.' The bishop made every promise ; and John, after having again pressed this charge upon him, and conjured him duly to fulfil it, set out on his return to Ephesus. The priest"^ took the youth, thus com- mitted to him, unto his own home. He expended much pains upon him ; he instructed him, restrained him from evil, treated him with all kindness, and at length baptized him. Afterv/ards, however, he relaxed somewhat of tliat extreme spiritual care and guardianship of the young man ; as having set upon him the seal of the Lord, which Avould be his ample safeguard But evil soon followed this premature liberty ; for some idle and dissolute com- panions, of the young man's own age, already far advanced in evil, took advantage of it to corrupt him. " First, they enticed him by repeated clandestine banquetings. Then they sallied forth at night, for plunder and highway robbery ; taking him with them on these nocturnal expeditions. At length, they persuade him to unite with them, and to participate in things even worse. He, too, by degrees, became inured to iniquity ; and, having started aside from the right track, like a powerful, hardmouthed steed, seizing the bit with his teeth, was hurried by the energy of his character, all the more veheraenily, down the abyss. At ^ 2 Cor. xi. 2S. ■* Acts ix. 32. ^ 2 and 3 S. John. •' That is, the Bishop. The terms were interchanged in primitive times, though it is more frequent to find the priest called cpiscof>tts, than vice versa. The episcopate is in truth, the fulness of the priesthood. 1 82 FASTI APOSTOLIC I. length, convinced that he had lost all hope of Divine salvation, he formed designs of no common wickedness ; and, being given over to perdition, thought to perpetrate some great enormity, and so to bring on his own head the same fate as his companions. He therefore gathered and attached himself to a band of robbers, of whom he became foremost and leader; the most violent, fierce, and bloodthirsty of them all. " Some time after, John was sent for to this city, on some urgent occasion. After setting in order what he had undertaken his journey for, he said : 'Now, bishop, restore to me the pledge which I, together with our Lord, intrusted to your charge, in presence of the Church over which you preside.' At first, the bishop was astonished at these words ; imagining some false accusation laid to his charge, of having detained monies which he had never received. While, on the one hand, he could not persuade himself that he had what he had not, so, on the other hand, he could not disbelieve John. On this, the latter said: 'I claim again that youth, and the soul of our brother!' The old man, with a sigh, and shedding many tears, exclaimed: 'He is dead!' ' How ? ' said John : ' what death did he die ? ' ' He is dead to God,' was the answer; 'for he has turned out ill, a reprobate, and in one word, a robber. Now, instead of frequenting the Church, he frequents the mountain, with a band of robbers like himself.' On this, the Apostle, rending his garments, with groans, and smiting his head, exclaimed: 'An excellent guardian have 1 left, of a brother's soul ! Let me at once have a horse, and let some one be my guide ! ' He then rode straightway from the Church, even as he was, and made all speed upon his journey. On arriving at the place, he was cap- tured by those who occupied the outposts for the robber-band. He neither sought to escape, nor used any intreaty; but cried aloud: 'For this am I come; lead me to your chief.' He, meanwhile, was waiting for his captive, ready armed. When he recognized John approaching him, he was so over- whelmed with confusion, that he immediately took to flight. But John hastened after him, with all speed, forgetful of his age; and cried out: 'Why dost thou fly from me, my son — unarmed, and aged, as I am ? Have com- passion on me, my son : — fear not !' Thou mayest still hope for life. I will render an account for thee to Christ. If needful, I will most willingly bear thy death, as the Lord bore ours : I will give my life for thine. Stay ! Believe ! Christ hath sent me.' " On hearing this, the young robber at first stood still, and cast his eyes on the ground. He flung away his weapons ; he trembled, and wept bitterly. APPENDIX. 183 Then, as the aged man drew near, he embraced him, and, pleading for himself as best he might, with many groanings he was baptized in his tears,^ hiding all the while his right hand. Then the Apostle, pledging and assuring him, that on his knees he had obtained pardon for him through the Saviour, and kissing that right hand that had been cleansed through repentance, brought him back to the Church. Thenceforward, deprecating the Divine wrath by frequent supplications, and also wrestling for him by continual fasts which they observed together, comforting moreover his soul with frequent discourses, he desisted not (it is said) until he had restored him to the Church ; thus affording in his example a great testimony to the new birth, and a trophy of the resurrection as an object of hope." Z (/. 121). TRANSLATION OF THE HEAD OF SAINT ANDREW THE APOSTLE FROM GREECE TO ROME. "Thomas Paleologus, king of the Peloponnesus,^ had bestowed [this sacred relic] on Pope Pius II., to preserve it from the invasion of the Turks. It had been first deposited at Ancona, then in the citadel of Narni. The Pope sent thither the Greek Cardinal Bessarion, with two other Cardinals, to accompany the relic to Rome, and to arrange for its receiving all due honour on the transit. The Cardinals returned to Ponte MoUe on the 13th of April, 1462, which was Palm Sunday; and the relic was temporarily placed in the tower which defended the entrance of the bridge. Next day, the Pontiff came forth in cavalcade by the Flaminian Gate, accompanied by the Sacred College, the ambassadors, and the Roman princes. All places adjacent to the road, the fields and vineyards, were covered with spectators ; the crowd was so great, that the Pope directed the Cardinals and prelates to dismount, and follow him on foot, having first robed themselves in sacred vestments. He bore a palm in his hand; the Cardinals and prelates carried those they had received from the Pope the day before ; all the other ecclesiastics bore '' Not meaning, of course, that he received the sacrament of Baptism again, which is impossible ; but tliat his tears of sincere repentance, through the merits of our Lord's Most Precious Blood, washed his soul, as a preparation for the ecclesiastical penance he would receive at the hands of the Apostle, who " brought him back to the Church." ^ S. Andrew, it will be remembered, was crucified at Patras in Achaia. 1 84 FASTI APOSTOLICI. each his palm, and this long suite of bishops and priests walked with slow step, two and two ; every mitre and ornament being of white, and looking all tlie whiter upon the green meadow-land. The procession took its way towards a platform that had been coustructed near the bridge [Ponte Mollc], having two flights of stairs, with gentle and easy steps ; one towards the Tiber, the other towards the City. While the Pope ascended the nearest, Cardinal Bessarion and the two other Cardinals came by the other one, carrying the shrine that contained the relic, which he placed on an altar, amid the sound of sacred chants. There was a reverential silence, while the keys of the shrine were presented to the Pontiff. After he had verified the seils, it was opened, and Cardinal Bessarion, taking the head of the Apostle in his hands, gave it, weeping, to the Pope, who also wept. » But the Holy Father would not at first touch the relic; he placed himself on his knees before the altar. His head was bowed ; his countenance pale with emotion ; and with a trembling voice he thus spoke:" The noble and touching address of the Pope is then given in full from the authority quoted. It was a reverential welcome offered to S. Andrew, on the entrance of the great relic into the City consecrated by the martyrdom of his brother, the Chief of the Apostles. Upon that head had visibly descended the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Pious Christians under- take a pilgrimage as far as to Jerusalem, to venerate the sacred spots where the feet of the Saviour had rested ; here is the place where the Holy Ghost had reposed ; the throne of the Divinity. The eyes that here once occupied their places, had often seen the Word manifest in the flesh ; that mouth had often spoken to Him ; those cheeks, it is not to be doubted, had often received His Divine Kiss; this head is a glorious tabernacle, in which abo'Se charity, piety, gentleness, and all spiritual consolation. Divine Apostle, we are transported with joy and triumph at thy coming; for assuredly thou thyself dost indeed come, accompanying this relic, and, with it, art now entering the City. The Turks are hateful, as the enemies of our religion ; yet not wholly so, since they are the cause of thy coming among us, &c. (Gerbet, Rome Chretienne, vol. i. p. 55, &c.) 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