The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era (Oxford Early Christian Studies)

432 Pages·2008·0.28 MB·English

by  Alden A. Mosshammer

The8-YearCycleandInventionofEpacts 111
immediatelyafterthefeastofthebaptismofJesus(6January).Demetriusand
his fellow patriarchs ordained that the forty days of fasting should instead
precedethePaschalfast.Afewpageslater(PG111.1007),Eutychiussaysthat
theCouncilofNicaeaapprovedthePaschalcalculationestablishedbyDeme-
triusofAlexandria,‘Gaianus’ofJerusalem,andVictorofRome.
The Coptic calendar of Holy Days (Synaxarium), composed in Arabic in
thetwelfthorthirteenthcenturyfromvariousmoreancientsources(Burme-
ster 1938), supplements this information. On the 12th day of the month of
Babah (9 October), theCopts commemorate the death in theChristianyear
224ofDemetrius,12thPopeofAlexandria.TheChristianerausedhereisthat
ofAnnianusofAlexandria,correspondingtoad9(seeCh.16).Theyear224
thereforecorrespondstoad232andagreeswiththedatesgivenbyEusebius
for the episcopate of Demetrius, ad 189/90–231/2. This entry in the Synax-
arium (pp. 47–8) includes the information that Demetrius invented the
epacts, that he established the Lenten fast of forty days, and that he sent
letters to the bishops of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome. Prior to that time,
according to the entry, Christians had observed the forty days’ fast immedi-
atelyafterEpiphany.
Anothernotice(p.93),withsimilarinformation,appearsatthe10thdayof
the month of Hatur (6 November), commemorating a Council at Rome at
which Victor received a letter from Demetrius and accepted his regulations
forcalculatingthedaysofthefast.Itreadsasfollows:
The reason for this council was that Christians used to celebrate the Feast of the
Baptism,followedonthemorrow,onthe12thofthemonthofTubit(7January),by
thefast.Thentheybrokethefastonthe22ndofMechir(16February).Theyobserved
the feasts of the Passion and the Resurrection some days thereafter. But when Pope
Demetriuswasconsecrated...heestablishedthecalculationbyepactsforregulating
thedatesofthefastandtheResurrection.HesentletterstoVictorofRome,Maximus
ofAntioch,andAgapiusofJerusalem.
The entry goes on to report that when Victor received the letter he
summonedacouncilof14bishopsandanumberofsavants.Atthatmeeting
theyacceptedtheformulaofDemetriusandestablishedthestandardregula-
tionsforfastingandforEaster.
Another version of the tradition appears (p. 244) for the fourth day of
Baramhat(31March),commemoratingacouncilontheislandofBani-Omar.
ThebishopofthatplacehadsentletterstoSerapionofAntioch,Democratus
[sic!]ofRome,DemetriusofAlexandria,andSymmachusofJerusalemonthe
issue of Quartodecimanism. All replied that Easter was to be observed only
on the Sunday following the Passover. The local bishop called a council of
some eighteen bishops at Bani-Omar at which these letters were read. Some
112 PaschalCalculationsinEarlyChristianity
ofthedissidentsagreedtoobserveSunday,otherspersistedintheirwaysand
were excommunicated. Demetriusdecided to try tomediate thedispute.He
calledameetingofastronomers,includingPtolemyofPharos,andwiththeir
help established the reckoning by epacts to determine the day of the Jewish
PassoverandtoWxtheFeastoftheResurrectionontheSundaythereafter.
The Ethiopic tradition, which derives from the Coptic church of Alexan-
dria, also celebrates Demetrius as the founder of the Paschal calculus. Job
Ludolf(1691:438–9,448)publishedthreestanzasofEthiopicpoetrypraising
Demetriusas‘theinventoroftheepacts’:
HailtoDemetrius,whoregulatesabstinencefromdrink,
whoorganizesthefastingfromfoodfortheFiftyDays,
hadhenotbeeninspiredbytheHolySpiritofRevelation,
howcouldheeverhavefoundanddiscovered
thecalculationforperiodsoftimethatiscalled‘epact’?
Hailtoyou,Opriests,toyoubegiventhanksandpraise
thatyoucamediligentlyandwithoutdelay
tothatplaceofgatheringandassembly
wherethecalculationbyepacttaughtbytheHolySpirit
wascommunicatedtoyouthroughthereveredDemetrius.
Hailtoyourhands,ODemetrius,whichwrote
thecalculationoftheepacts,bothpastandfuture...
SeveralmanuscriptsoftheEthiopiccomputisticaltraditionrecentlystudied
by Otto Neugebauer (1979a: 92–3) attribute to Demetrius a ‘Computus’
written in the 26th year of his episcopate and the 206th year since Christ.
TheChristianeraisagainthatofAnnianus,andthe206thyearcorrespondsto
ad214.The26thyearoftheepiscopateofDemetrius,inthechronologythat
Eusebiusgives,wouldalsocorrespondto214.
There are some problems, chronological and historical, with this tradition.
EutychiussaysthatDemetriussentletterstoMaximusofAntiochand‘Gabius’
or‘Agapius’ofJerusalem.AccordingtoEusebius,Demetriusbecamepatriarch
the year before Maximus of Antioch died in 190/191, while Victor became
bishop of Rome in 193/4 and served for ten years.3 If the date in ad 214 for
the‘Computus’ofDemetriushasanyhistoricalbasis,thenneitherMaximusnor
Victor was still in oYce at the time that Demetrius ‘invented the epacts’. The
nameof‘Gabius’or‘Agapius’asbishopofJerusalemisnotconsistentwithwhat
Eusebiusreportsaboutthatchurch.Eusebiussays(HE4.5)thathewasunable
toWndanyevidencefordatesofthebishopsofJerusalem,althoughhehadlists
3 Eusebius,Chronicle,pp.207,209Helm.HereandatHE4.24,themanuscriptshavethe
name‘Maximinus’.Syncellus667.11writes‘Maximus’.
The8-YearCycleandInventionofEpacts 113
ofnamesandsaystheirepiscopatesareknowntohavebeenveryshort.Eusebius
includestwopersonsbythenameof‘Gaius’or‘Gaianus’asbishopsofJerusa-
lem,numberedas22and24inalistofGentilebishopsbeginningwithoneMark
inthetimeoftheemperorHadrian(HE5.12,Chronicle,p.204Helm).Neither
nameappearsinthelistthathegivesfortheperiodofthe190sandfollowing
(Chronicle, p. 209 Helm). He names Narcissus as bishop of Jerusalem, co-
chairman with Theophilus of the conference of bishops who met at Caesarea
todiscusstheEastercontroversies(HE5.25).Inhislistforthe190s,Narcissus
wassucceededbyDios,Germanios, Gordios,andanotherNarcissus. Eusebius
says that Alexander became bishop in ad 212/13, serving as coadjutor with
Narcissus(Chronicle,pp.209,213Helm;cf.HE6.8.4).
The notice for the fourth day of Baramhat names diVerent persons as
occupantsofthevariousseesinthetimeofDemetrius—SerapionatAntioch,
Democratus at Rome, and Symmachus at Jerusalem. According to Eusebius
(Chronicle, pp. 209, 213 Helm), Serapion was indeed a contemporary of
Demetrius, serving at Antioch from 191 to 210. The name of Symmachus
appears in Eusebius’ list for Jerusalem at a much earlier period (Chronicle,
p.204Helm;cf.HE5.12).No‘Democratus’ofRomeisotherwiseknown.Nor
canDemetrius have summoned to ameeting theastronomerClaudius Ptol-
emy,whodiedsometenyearsormorebeforeDemetriusbecamebishop.
In addition to this problem with the names of the bishops, there is the
historicalquestionofwhetheritistruethatDemetriusestablishedtheLenten
fastoffortydays.AccordingtotheCoptictradition,theAlexandrianchurch
had previously observed the 40-day fast after the festival of the baptism of
Jesus in January, thus more directly commemorating the forty days that the
Gospels (Mark 1: 13, Matt. 4: 1, Luke 4: 2) say Jesus spent fasting in the
wilderness after his baptism by John. Demetrius established what became
thestandardWftydaysofLentbytransferringtheforty-dayfasttotheperiod
beforeEasterandaddingittothefastofHolyWeek.
Againstthistradition,thereisevidencetosuggestthatitwasAthanasius,not
Demetrius,whoestablishedtheLentenfast.ApartfromtheCoptictraditionon
Demetrius,thereisnocertainreferencetoa40-dayLentenfastbeforethetimeof
Athanasius.InhislettertoBasilides,DionysiusofAlexandriadiscussesonlythe
fastofHolyWeekandmentionsadiversityofpractices.4
SomeofthePaschallettersofAthanasius,bishopofAlexandriafrom328to
373,havesurvivedinaSyriactranslation(seeCh.9).Attheendofeachletter,
AthanasiusgivesthedatesforthebeginningofthefastandforEasterSunday.
Nowhereinthebodyoftheletteristhereanyindicationoftheyear.Thatand
4 PG10.1277;pp.54–58Bienert.
114 PaschalCalculationsinEarlyChristianity
otherinformationis,however,providedinaheading,whichseemstobethe
workofoneormoreeditors(seeCh.9).
Inseveraloftheseletters,numberedas1,4,5,and14,correspondingtothe
years329,332,333,and342,AthanasiusprescribesafastonlyforHolyWeek,
from Monday to Saturday. Intheletters numbered 2,3, 6,7, 10, 11, 13, and
19,fortheyears330,331,334,335,338,339,341,and347,Athanasiuscallsfor
afastof fortydays,beginning onaMonday, severalweeksbeforeEaster. For
theyear340,whenAthanasiuswasinexileinRome,theusualPaschalletteris
not extant. The collection does preserve a letter to Serapion, one of the
bishops of Egypt, urging him to proclaim the fast of forty days and to
encourage the brethren to observe it, so that the Egyptians will not be alone
among the Christians of the world in failing to fast during this period. The
letterisnumberedas12andthereforeassignedtotheyear340.Rene´-Georges
Coquin (1967) has therefore argued that it was Athanasius who transferred
the40-dayfastfromEpiphany toLent.
Some of the surviving letters seem to have been numbered and dated
incorrectly. It makes sense that the letters providing only for a one-week
fastshouldbegroupedtogetheratthebeginningofAthanasius’patriarchate,
while those that add a 40-day Lenten fast should all be later. Several sets of
years—330, 341 and 352; 331, 342, and 353; 333 and 339; 334 and 345; 335
and 346; 338 and 349—all share the same date for Easter Sunday in the
Alexandrian cycle. It is likely therefore that letter 2 belongs to 341 or 352,
insteadof330,andletter3to342or353,insteadof331.Letters6and7might
belongto345and346,insteadof334and335,andletter10to349,insteadof
338.ThelettertoSerapionprobablybelongsto340or341.IftheLentenfast
was a recent innovation atthat time, thenthe letter for 339would represent
theearliest certain evidencefor that custom inEgypt.Alberto Camplanihas
recentlyarguedthatletters6,7,and10arecorrectlydatedto334,335,and338
andthatitwasthereforein334thatAthanasiusintroducedtheLentenfast.5
In any case, the core of the Coptic tradition—that Demetrius was the
‘inventoroftheepacts’andthathehadaparticularconcernfortheregulation
ofthefast—islikelytobetrue.AccordingtoEusebius(HE5.23),regulationof
the fast was one of the issues under discussion in the time of Demetrius.
TheinventionoftheepactsisthenecessaryWrststeptowardstheconstruction
of a Paschal table. Someone in the early third century must have taken
thatstep,andthereisnoreasontodenythatiswasDemetrius.
TheearliestPaschalcalculuswasprobablyalistofdatesforthe14thdayof
thePassovermoonsuchasthatweWndattributedtotheJewsinthedocument
5 Camplani1993;cf.Camplani1989:171–83,2003:178–9;foragoodbriefsummaryofthe
entireproblemseeBarnes1993:183–91.
The8-YearCycleandInventionofEpacts 115
fromtheCouncilofSardica(seeCh.9).Suchalistisconstructedbystarting
withoneknowndateforthePassoverfullmoonandthensubtractingeleven
days in each successive year. When that subtraction results in a date for the
fullmoonsoearlythatitcannolongerbeconsideredasavernalmoon,when
‘the barley is ripe’ (Exod. 13: 4), one adds 30 days, so that the 14th day of
Nisanadvancesby19daysinrelationtothepreviousyear.
While such a scheme is based on the 11-day annual diVerential between
the sun and the moon, it is not a system of epacts. The method produces
a repeating cycle after 30 years, but 30 Julianyears is not a good Wt between
solar days (10,957.50) and whole lunar months averaging 29½ days
(10,957.50/29.5¼371.44).
Lunar‘epacts’,asthenameimplies,areadditionstothemoon.Inasystem
of epacts, the calculator adds 11 daysto the age of the moon eachyear as of
some date in a solar calendar. Usually that date is either the Wrst day of the
civil calendar or, to simplify calculations, the day before. The epact for the
year,thenumberofadditionstothemoon,becomesthebasisfordetermining
theageofthemoonasofanydateinthesolarcalendar.
WhenDemetrius‘inventedtheepacts’,hediscoveredadeviceforcalculat-
ing the date of 14 Nisan that would producea periodic list after eight years.
WorkingwiththeAlexandriancalendaranditsequalmonthsof30dayseach,
Demetrius decided to number the days of the moon from 1 to 30 and to
express the age of the moon as of some date that would be convenient for
calculating the date of the 14th dayof Nisan. We do not know what date he
chose, but it may very well have been he who adopted what was later the
standard practice of deWning the epact as of the last epagomenal day in the
Alexandriancalendar.
Thenextstepistodecidewhatdateshouldbesetasthelimitbeforewhich
the Paschal full moon cannot fall. In the classical Alexandrian system, that
datewas21March,thevernalequinox.Intheearliestperiod,the14thdayof
themoonwasallowedtoprecedetheequinox,solongasEasterSundayitself
followed the equinox. The rule that Eusebius (HE 7.2 0) attributes to Dio-
nysiusofAlexandriastates,‘nototherwise thanafter thespringequinoxisit
propertoobservethePaschalfeast’.IfinthetimeofDemetriusandDionysius
the equinox was already deWned as of 25 Phamenoth¼21 March, then the
earliestdateforEasteris26Phamenoth¼22March.Theearliestpossibledate
for 14 Nisan would therefore be 19 Phamenoth¼15 March, but the actual
dateinanygivenyear woulddependonthedaysoftheweek.
If Demetrius wanted to construct a list in which the dates of 14 Nisan
wouldbegin torepeat after someperiod, hewouldneedto modify theyear-
to-yearadvanceoftheepactssuchthattheaccumulationequalledamultiple
116 PaschalCalculationsinEarlyChristianity
of30atsomepoint.Theshortestperiodwithinwhichthatwouldbethecase
is eight years—the octae¨teris. After eight years, the epacts total 88 days; and
duringthesameperiodtherearetwoadditionaldaysforleapyear.Thus,one
needonlyaddanadditionallunarday ineachoftwoleapyearstomake the
epactmoveby12,insteadof11,withatotalof90,insteadof88.
Eusebius Wrst associates the use of the octae¨teris with Dionysius of Alex-
andria.Sozomen(7.18)attributestheuseofan8-yearcycletotheMontanists
of Asia Minor. The origins of the Montanist community are approximately
contemporarywiththeepiscopateofDemetrius.EusebiusdatesMontanusto
the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161–80), Epiphanius to the 19th year of
Antoninus Pius (157).6 T. D. Barnes (1970) has argued in favour of the
Eusebian chronology. How early the Montanists might have adopted an
8-yearcycleandfromwhatsourceisdebatable(Strobel1977:178–85).
According to the Ethiopic texts, Demetrius established his method of
calculation beginning from the year corresponding to ad 214. The earliest
extantPaschaltableofanykind—thatattributedtoHippolytus—isbasedon
the 8-year cycle and begins in ad 222, exactly eight years later. The Paschal
table of Hippolytus is a document of the Roman church. It is, however,
writteninGreek.AsMarcelRichardhassuggested(1974:309),theHippoly-
tan table probably represents the adoption in Rome of Demetrius’methods,
adapted to the Roman calendar and to the Roman rules. Under those rules,
according to Victorius of Aquitania (Krusch 1937: 19), Easter must not be
observed before the 16th day of the moon nor after the 22nd. The Romans
also prohibited any observance of Easter Sunday after 21 April, as we know
from a letter of Pope Leo I on the subject.7 As we shall see, the Hippolytan
tableadherestothoserules.
2. THE PASCHALTABLE OF HIPPOLYTUS
Writing of the times of the emperor Alexander Severus (222–35), Eusebius
(HE6.22)saysthatHippolytus,authorofmanyotherworks,composedalso,
intheWrstyearoftheemperorAlexanderSeverus,atreatise‘OnthePascha’,in
whichhesetforthatableofdatesandwrotealistfora16-yearcyclefor the
Pascha.Eusebiuslistsafewofhisotherwritings,including‘OntheSixDays’,
‘AftertheSixDays’,‘AgainstMarcion’,‘OntheSong’,‘OnPartsofEzekiel’,and
‘Against All Heresies’. Until the sixteenth century, this brief comment of
6 Eusebius,HE5.3;Epiphanius,Panarion48.1,2:319Holl.
7 LeotoMarcian,Letter121,PL54.1057;Krusch1884:259.
The8-YearCycleandInventionofEpacts 117
Eusebius and later authors dependent upon himwas all that we knew about
thePaschaltableofHippolytus.
i. The Inscribed Statue
About1550, the headless statue of a seated Wgure was discovered near the
ChurchofSanLorenzofuorileMura,inthesuburbsofRome.8Inscribedin
Greekcharactersonaplinthontherearofthechairisalistofwritings.These
includeawork‘OnthePsalms’,‘OnJohntheEvangelistandtheApocalypse’,a
‘Chronicle to the Greeks’, an ‘Apostolic Tradition’, and a ‘Demonstration of
the dates of Easter in Tabular Form’. On the right side of the chair thereis a
heading above a 16-year table of Paschal full moons. On the left side of the
chair there is a 112-year list of dates for Easter Sunday, under the heading,
‘FirstyearofAlexanderCaesar:theSundaysofthePaschayearbyyear:points
indicate the bissextum.’ The inscriptions belong paleographically to the Wrst
halfofthethirdcentury(Brent1995:3–4).Attheheadofthe16-yeartablethe
inscriptionreads:
In the Wrst year of the Roman emperor Alexander Severus, the 14th of the Paschal
moon fell on Saturday, the Ides of April, during an embolismic month. For the
succeedingyearsitwillbeasindicatedinthetablebelow.Eventsofthepastwereas
noted.OnemustbreakthefastwhenSundaycomes.
AlexanderSeverusbecameemperorinMarchof222.9Modernastronomical
calculations agree that the moonwas full on 13 April of that year. No name
appears on the statue. The inscription led its discoverers to believe that
the16-yeartableisthesamethatEusebiusattributedtoHippolytusandthat
thestatuewasarepresentationofHippolytushimself.Thestatuewassubse-
quentlygivenanidealizedheadandarmsandnowstandsattheentranceofthe
VaticanLibrary.MargheritaGuarducci(1977)hasarguedthattheWgurewasin
fact female, perhaps a representation of Wisdom (Sophia) or speciWcally the
EpicureanphilosopherThemista.
The16-yeartableofPaschalfullmoonscontainedinthisinscription,begin-
ningwiththeWrstyearofAlexanderSeverus,iscertainlythesameasthatwhich
EusebiusattributestoHippolytus. The list of writings on the statue,however,
does not overlap with Eusebius’ list, except for the Paschal table itself. The
identityoftheHippolytustowhomEusebiusattributesa16-yearlistisinfact
amajorproblemonwhichscholarshaveyettoreachagreement(Cerrato2002).
8 For discussion of the discovery and its date, see Brent 1995: 3–50; for the text of the
inscriptions,PG10.875–84;therearephotographicreproductionsinBrent1995.
9 HistoriaAugusta,SeverusAlexander7.1–2.
118 PaschalCalculationsinEarlyChristianity
ii. The Hippolytan Problem
ThenameofHippolytusappearstwice elsewhereintheEcclesiasticalHistory
of Eusebius. Eusebius says (HE 6.20) that during the time of the emperor
Caracalla(198–217)therelivedseverallearnedchurchmen,whoselettersand
otherwritingsEusebiuswasabletoconsultinthelibraryestablishedatAelia
(theformerJerusalem)byAlexander,whohadsucceededNarcissusasbishop
in that city. Among these writings were letters and other compositions by
Beryllus,bishopofBostrainArabia(modernBosrainSyria),andbyHippo-
lytus,the‘president(proestos)ofanotherchurchsomewhere’.Elsewhere(HE
6.46),EusebiussaysthatDionysiusofAlexandriasentalettertotheRoman
church,usingoneHippolytusasacourier.Eusebiusdoesnotquotefromthe
letter nor explicitly state its subject, but he does say that Dionysius wrote
several letters on the subject of repentance for those who had lapsed during
therecentpersecutions.
St Jerome knew little more about Hippolytus than did Eusebius. In his
collection of short biographies, arranged in rough chronological order, Jer-
ome listsHippolytusafter Beryllus andbeforeAlexander (De virisillustribus
61). Jerome gives a more extensive list of the writings of Hippolytus than
Eusebius, including commentaries on the Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Revelation,
Proverbs,andEcclesiastes.
LikeEusebius,Jeromestatesthathewasunabletoascertainofwhatchurch
Hippolytus was the bishop. From as early as the sixth century, however,
Byzantine authors cite a number of exegetical texts as being the work of
‘Hippolytus of Rome’. Leontius of Byzantium (c.550), quotes from a book
on the Oracle of Balaam by Hippolytus ‘bishop and martyr’ (PG 86. 1312).
JohnofDamascus(c.725)quotesfromawork‘OnChristandAnti-Christ’by
‘Hippolytusbishopof Rome’(PG96. 525).Several fragmentsofa commen-
taryontheBookofGenesisareattributedto‘StHippolytusbishopofRome’
(frr.1–4,ed.Achelis).ThepatriarchPhotius,inhiscatalogueofthelibraryat
Constantinopleintheninthcentury,hastwoentriesforHippolytus(Bibl.cod.
121, 202). In the Wrst, he says Hippolytus was a student of Irenaeus and a
contemporary of Origen and was the author of a work ‘Against the 32
Heresies’. In the second, he says Hippolytus was a ‘bishop and martyr’, who
wrote a commentary on Daniel and a book ‘On Christ and Antichrist’.
Substantial portions of the commentaryon Daniel havesurvived, attributed
inthemanuscriptsto‘HippolytusbishopofRome’.
AlistoftheearlybishopsofRomepreservedintheChronographof354does
notincludeanyHippolytusasbishop.Thatlist(Mommsen1892:74–5)does
associateone‘Hippolytusthepresbyter[priest]’withPontianus,whobecame
The8-YearCycleandInventionofEpacts 119
bishopduring the reign of Alexander Severusin the consulship of Pompeia-
nus andPelignianus (ad231).Pontianus andthepresbyter Hippolytus were
deported to Sardinia, in the consulship of Severus and Quintianus (235),
where Pontianus died on 28 September. A calendar of martyrs’ days in the
same work lists for 13 August ‘Hippolytus at the cemetery on the Via
Tiburtina’and‘PontianusatthecemeteryofCallistus’(Mommsen1892:72).
To complicate matters, several Byzantine writers refer to Hippolytus as
bishop, not of Rome, but of Portus. The Chronicon Paschale (c.630) quotes
(12. 22–13. 1) from a composition ‘Against all Heresies’ as the work of
‘Hippolytus the martyr, bishop of a place called Portus near Rome’. George
Syncellus (c.800) gives a list of works (438. 7–16) that he attributes to
‘Hippolytus the holy philosopher, bishop of Portus at Rome’. The list is
similartothatofEusebius,butaddscommentariesonDanielandRevelation.
Elsewhere (381. 23–4), Syncellus includes ‘Hippolytus the holy martyr and
apostle,archbishopofRome’amongthosewhodatedtheNativitytotheyear
5500 or 5501 of the world. Zonaras (c.1100) says that Hippolytus was a
learned manwhowrote manycommentaries and served as bishop of Portus
whenUrbanwasbishopofRome(Epitomehistoriarum,iii.123).Nicephorus
Callistus(c.1300),inhisEcclesiasticalHistory(4.31,PG145.1052),saysthat
‘Hippolytus bishop of Portus at Rome’ Xourished in the time of Alexander
Severus.Hegivesalistofworksfuller thanthatofSyncellus.
Portus was the harbour of Rome during the imperial period, a short
distanceupriverfromOstiaintheTiberdelta.Oneoftheearliestreferences
to Hippolytus of Portus comes from the Latin poet Prudentius (c.400), who
wrote an encomium (Carmen 11) on the Passion of St Hippolytus, whose
shrine on the Via Tiburtina he visited. Although Prudentius does not refer
explicitlytoPortus,hedoessaythatHippolytuswasmartyredataplacenear
themouthoftheTiber(ostiaperTiberina).ExcavationsatPortushaveshown
that there was a church dedicated to Hippolytus the martyr from as early as
the fourth century’ (Brent 1995: 385–6). A sarcophagus bears an inscription
of the ninth century reading: hic requiescit beatus Ypolitus mar<tyr>. The
poemofPrudentiusseemstocombineelementsofseveraldiVerenttraditions.
How many persons named Hippolytus are at the root of these cults and the
traditionsarisingfromthemremainsthesubjectofscholarlydebate.10
Among the works that Eusebius and Jerome attribute to Hippolytus is a
‘Refutationof AllHeresies’. TheauthoroftheChronicon Paschalecitesfroma
book of similar title as being the work of Hippolytus, ‘Bishop of Portus near
Rome’.Nosuchtitleappearsinthelistofworksonthestatue.In1841,Minoides
Mynasdiscoveredat Mt.Athos andtransported toParisa fourteenth-century
10 Do¨llinger1853,pp.28–63intheEnglishtranslation;Cerrato2002:3–13.