The Roman Martyrs: Introduction, Translations, and Commentary(Oxford Early Christian Studies)

The Roman Martyrs contains translations of forty Latin passiones of saints who were martyred in Rome or its near environs, during the period before the 'peace of the Church' (c. 312). Some of the Roman martyrs are universally known-SS. Agnes, Sebastian or Laurence, for example-but others are scarcely recognized outside the ecclesiastical landscape of Rome itself. Each of the translated passiones is accompanied by an individual introduction and commentary; the translations are preceded by an Introduction which describes the principal features of this little-known genre of Christian literature, and are followed by five Appendices which present translated texts which are essential for understanding the cult of Roman martyrs.This volume offers the first collection of the Roman passiones martyrum translated into a modern language. They were mostly composed during the period 425-675, by anonymous authors who were presumably clerics of the Roman churches or cemeteries which housed the martyrs' remains. It is clear that they were composed in response to the explosion of pilgrim traffic to martyrial shrines from the late fourth century onwards, at a time when authentic records (protocols) of their trials and executions had long since vanished, and the authors of the passiones were obliged to imagine the circumstances in which martyrs were tried and executed. The passiones are works of fiction; and because they abound in ludicrous errors of chronology, they have been largely ignored by historians of the early Church. Although they cannot be used as evidence for the original martyrdoms, they nevertheless allow a fascinating glimpse of the concerns which animated Christians during the period in question: for example, the preservation of virginity, or the ever-present threat posed by pagan practices. As certain aspects of Roman life will have changed little between the second century and the fifth, the passiones shed valuable light on many aspects of Roman society, not least the nature of a trial before an urban prefect, and the horrendous tortures which were a central feature of such trials. The passiones are an indispensable resource for understanding the topography of late antique Rome and its environs, as they characteristically contain detailed reference to the places where the martyrs were tried, executed, and buried.

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Map 1. The intra-urban churches dedicated to Roman martyrs Map 2. Suburban cemeteries housing shrines to Roman martyrs Introduction TEXTS AND COMMENTARIES I. St Felicitas and her seven sons II. SS. Anastasia, Chrysogonus and companions III. St Sebastian and companions IV. St Caecilia and companions V. Pope Clement VI. SS. Sixtus, Laurence, and Hippolytus (passio vetus) VII. Pope Cornelius VIII. SS. Nereus and Achilleus and companions IX. SS. Eugenia, Protus and Hyacinthus X. SS. Chrysanthus and Daria XI. St Susanna XII. Pope Callistus XIII. St Eusebius the priest XIV. Pope Felix II XV. SS. Pudentiana and Praxedis XVI. SS. Polychronius and Parmenius, Abdon and Sennes, Pope Sixtus II, Laurence, and Hippolytus XVII. SS. Agnes and Emerentiana XVIII. SS. Gallicanus, John and Paul XIX. SS. Processus and Martinianus XX. Pope Marcellus and companions XXI. SS. Primus and Felicianus XXII. SS. Marius and Martha XXIII. SS. Marcellinus and Peter XXIV. The Four Crowned Martyrs XXV. St Pancratius XXVI. Pope Stephen XXVII. SS. Gordianus and Epimachus XXVIII. The Greek Martyrs XXIX. SS. Eusebius and Pontianus XXX. Pope Urban XXXI. SS. Rufina and Secunda XXXII. SS. Alexander, Eventius and Theodulus XXXIII. SS. Calogerus and Parthenius XXXIV. SS. Serapia and Sabina XXXV. SS. Felix and Adauctus XXXVI. SS. Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix XXXVII. St Symphorosa and her seven sons XXXVIII. St Pigmenius XXXIX. St Getulius XL. St Basilides Appendix I: THE DEPOSITIO MARTYRVM (A.D. 354) Appendix II: THE EPIGRAMMATA OF DAMASUS Appendix III: ROMAN MARTYRS IN THE MARTYROLOGIVM Appendix IV: SEVENTH-CENTURY PILGRIM ITINERARIES TO ROMAN CHURCHES AND CEMETERIES Appendix V: THE COMMEMORATION OF ROMAN MARTYRS IN EARLY ROMAN LITURGICAL BOOKS Glossary Bibliography

About the Author :
Michael Lapidge is Professor Emeritus of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. His publications include Hilduin of Saint-Denis (Brill, 2017) and Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England Up to 1100 (University of Toronto Press, 2016). He is the co-editor of The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England (Wiley Blackwell, 2013).

Review :
Lapidge has made an inestimable contribution to Early Church studies. The work captures the ecclesiastical ethos at the time of the passions, both in Christian values and the counter-values of paganism... the collection of information about each martyr, source and hagiography is unparalleled. Most important, the author provides martyrdom accounts in English of the hagiography still dominating the landscape of ecclesiastical Rome. Lapidge's book about the passiones is outstanding. Lapidge's contribution is, on its own terms, nothing short of a magnum opus. It is an indispensable reference work for those in classics and late antique studies, as well as those curious about the way that martyrdom is crafted in peacetime literature.