ON ST. ROMANUS THE SOLDIER, MARTYR,
AT ROME.
In the year 258.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
His cult from the sacred Calendars, his Acts, the Saint confused with another, his public veneration, his body.
Romanus the soldier, Martyr, at Rome (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR J. P.
This Martyr, both from the Acts of St. Laurence and from elsewhere most well known, is thus simply noted in the Hieronymian Martyrologies published by Florentinius, The announcements from the sacred Calendars, on this day: The birthday of holy Romanus. The Little Roman Martyrology adds the place and the office: At Rome, of Romanus the soldier. Ado has more: On the same day (the ninth of August), at Rome, of holy Romanus the soldier, who, pricked in conscience at the confession of St. Laurence, asked to be baptized by him; and soon, by the order of Decius, he was brought forth with cudgels and beheaded. Usuard transcribes Ado. Rabanus and Notker record similar things. The metrical Hagiologist Wandelbert sings thus of him:
Romanus, martyr and soldier, shines forth on the fifth.
The Roman Martyrology, which we use today, agrees nearly with Ado, when it reports these words: At Rome, of holy Romanus the soldier, who, pricked in conscience at the confession of blessed Laurence, asked to be baptized by him; and soon, being brought forth and beaten with cudgels, was at the last beheaded. Where Decius does not appear, and rightly; as I shall presently say in its place.
[2] His Acts, together with the deeds of very many other holy Martyrs, are read intermingled with the Acts of St. Laurence in Surius; In what the Acts are to be corrected. from which below we shall skim a fragment concerning our Champion. For Decius, under whom the Saint is wrongly said to have consummated his martyrdom, must be substituted the emperor Valerian, from what was said at the VI day of this month in the Commentary prefixed to the Acts of St. Sixtus II, §7, number 69, and from what is further to be said in the Commentary on St. Laurence, on the X day of the same month, §4, number 36. Whence it follows that the contest of St. Romanus must be linked to the same year as the triumph of those two Martyrs, namely 258 of the common era, according to those things which the fragment brought forward will presently narrate concerning his baptism.
[3] Charles Bartholomew Piazza in his sacred Hemerology of Christian and heathen Rome weaves in on this day St. Romanus the soldier, Piazza, recording this Martyr, and likewise a small compendium of his martyrdom; but he wrongly adds that the mother of the holy Champion, a woman of Christian fortitude, rejoiced altogether at this, and sang the Psalm Credidi; concerning whom Prudentius, snatched into a venerable astonishment, is said to have sung about that heroic deed:
… Then the executioner strikes The little neck with the sword; the woman, taught to chant, Was singing the hymn of the Davidic song, Precious in the sight of God is the death of his Saint.
Which author also, Piazza affirms, admiring the constancy of the holy Martyr as he intrepidly preached to the people from the platform of the rack, subjoined:
Hear, all of you; from afar I cry and proclaim, Loftier, I send forth my voice from the platform.
[4] But that hemerologist commits more than one delusion. For Prudentius, in the hymn which with me is the tenth of the Περὶ στεφάνων, or On the Crowns, and from which those verses are excerpted, commits more than one delusion. treats of St. Romanus, the martyr of Antioch, who is as different as the whole heaven from our namesake the Soldier. Ruinart, among the sincere and select Acts of the Martyrs, from book 2 of Eusebius of Cæsarea on the Resurrection etc. (which book Sirmond published, and which is found among the various Works collected by him, volume 1 from column 39 of the Venice edition of the year 1728) — Ruinart, I say, narrates his deeds thence from page 379 of the Paris edition, marked with the year of Christ 303. But the martyrdom of the Little Boy, who suffered with St. Romanus, he reports from the hymn of Prudentius from page 382. Of both the Roman Martyrology treats on the XVIII day of November in these words, contracted by me into a compendium: At Antioch, the birthday of St. Romanus the martyr, who in the time of the emperor Galerius … is crowned with a famous martyrdom. There suffered also before him a little boy, named Barula, who … when he had answered that one must believe in the one God whom the Christians worship, being beaten with stripes, was ordered to be beheaded. On the aforesaid day, accordingly, that Romanus will be given by our successors, and then it will be possible to examine whether he be one, or two of the same name: concerning which matter meanwhile the notes of the Roman Martyrology may be consulted, and the admonition of Ruinart at page 379. Into another error besides, and a rather gross one, Piazza has stumbled, when he ineptly attributes to the mother of today's Romanus, soldier and martyr, the words of the mother of the praised Little Boy, by which she addresses him in Prudentius. Concerning her there is certainly nothing in the fragment of the Acts which we shall give below. But that matter is evident, if anyone inspect the hymn of Prudentius. For thus he there, and very pathetically:
The executioner demanded the boy; the mother gave him, Nor did she linger in weeping: only one kiss She pressed upon him: Farewell, farewell, sweetest one. And when, blessed, you shall have entered the kingdoms of Christ, Remember your mother, she said, and be my patron in exile. She spoke: then, while the striker smites The little neck, etc.
[5] His public veneration, and his relics. But now let us consider what things are to be noted concerning the public veneration of our Champion, and his relics. The aforesaid Piazza affirms that the feast of our St. Romanus is celebrated in various places at Rome: namely, at St. Laurence outside the walls, where he records that there is also a vessel which is exposed, and in which he together with many others was baptized by St. Laurence; and that likewise there once stood near by a most ancient church, dedicated by the first Christians in his honor in the place where his sacred body was buried: at St. Laurence in Fonte in Montibus, where is the font used for his baptism, and the very place in which he received it: at St. Catherine de Funariis, where is a part of his body, and a part at St. Laurence in Lucina, as also relics at St. Anne de Funariis. Thus he; which I leave to the author's credit. Tamayo, after weaving this holy Soldier into his Spanish Martyrology on this day, as one who, being converted to the faith, had the blessed Spanish Levite for his spiritual parent, adds liberally enough: He turned upon himself the inward cult of all Spain. He treats of the churches at Toledo, and elsewhere, in the notes in the same place. The Catholic Church prescribes the yearly commemoration of the Saint to her sacred ministers on this day in the Roman Breviary, as is known. But what of the place in which his sacred body is said to rest, the men of Lucca and of Ferrara claiming it for themselves?
[6] On the side of the men of Lucca stands Florentinius in his notes at the IX of August, The men of Lucca claim the Saint's body where he writes thus: The body of this holy Romanus has from most ancient time been venerated at Lucca in Tuscia, a notable church being dedicated to his name, and it being deposited in the high altar. Galesinius calls him Bomanus, not Romanus, and narrates from a written book, the Annals of the monk Hartiman, and the records of the church of Lucca, that he merited to be crowned at Rome under Julian; and affirms in his Martyrology that he was afterwards carried to that city. From what records he received this, I confess I do not know. This one thing I know, as we shall show, God favoring, in the diptychs of the church of Lucca, that from immemorial time, and for eight hundred years past, Romanus the soldier, the companion of St. Laurence going before him in the passion, has been venerated in that city and in his own church. That there were several martyrs under the name of Romanus who completed their contest at Rome, we grant, and we know that the same holy Soldier is venerated also in several places, whether from some part of his relics, or from likeness of name … But no other than the one already named has been venerated at Lucca from most ancient time.
[7] Cæsar Franciotti in the History of miraculous images etc., page 47 and following, treats of our Saint, for themselves; and records these things concerning the present argument: namely, that there are two opinions concerning the Pontiff who gave that body to the men of Lucca, some attributing that gift to Pope Eutychian, others to Felix the first of this name: then, for that same sacred pledge, he names the Supplement of the Chronicles, book 8, which may be consulted by the reader at page 170 of the Brescia edition. Finally he brings forward this ancient memorial, as he calls it, of the translation: Here is the body of St. Romanus the martyr, baptized by B. Laurence, and it was translated from the old church to this new church by the bishop of Lucca, A. D. 1281, on the Kalends of November. In Ughelli, Italia sacra volume 1, column 881, among the bishops of Lucca is noted Brother Peter Angelellius of Lucca, of the Order of Preachers … successor to Paganellus … in the year 1272; to whom is substituted Paganellus the second of this name … elected 1275 … He died 1300. Which things do not cohere with those which Franciotti has, who reports that that translation was made by the praised Peter Angelellius in the year 1281. But whatever be the case concerning the possession of that sacred deposit, which the men of Lucca would have to be with them under the name of St. Romanus the martyr who is venerated on this day, let it be permitted us to wish for more ancient testimonies for that matter.
[8] Marcus Antonius Guarini, in the historical Compendium of the churches etc. of the city and diocese of Ferrara, book 4, which the men of Ferrara also page 197, records these things concerning the St. Romanus of the men of Ferrara, which we render thus into Latin: In it (namely, the church of St. Romanus) is preserved with great veneration the body of St. Romanus, Martyr, which was formerly given by Innocent II to Cardinal Griffoni of the title of St. Pudentiana, and bishop of Ferrara (in the year 1143), who deposited it there in a marble sepulchre in a leaden chest (after he had previously shown it to the people), to which he also added a plate likewise of lead, with the following inscription engraved on it: Here rests the body of holy Romanus the martyr, which is between the two laurels on the Labican Way, at the third milestone from the City. This holy body was also shown to the people by B. Albert Pandoni of Brescia, bishop of Ferrara (in the year 1260), as also did Peter Boiardi, at the request of the marquess Nicholas III, the head being kept outside; which afterwards, from the pious affection of the said Marquess, was placed in a great silver reliquary. For the contemplation of duke Hercules I it was likewise publicly exhibited, while John Borgia, Cardinal of St. Susanna, presided over the see of Ferrara (in the year 1496), a magnificent and well-ordered procession being instituted for this end: in which the canons of the cathedral church bore the chest in which it lay; while the Duke, the Lord Sigismund his brother, the Lord Alfonso the firstborn of the said Duke, the Lord Francis Gonzaga, and other great lords bore the canopy. Which done, it was placed above the high altar in a marble depository, supported by four columns: where it remained until the XXIX of August: at which time it came about that it was placed in the chapel on the right at the exit of the choir (in the year 1574).
[9] say is deposited with them But afterwards, by those who ply their trade in silken webs and small wares (so we render the Italian drappieri and merciari), the high altar being built entirely of marble, and the said chapel being adorned with paintings which represented the martyrdom of the said Saint by the hand of Sebastian de' Filippi, and also with other ornaments
being furnished, it was translated into it by John Fontana our bishop, with a solemn procession, going round through the marketplace, on the III day of May (in the year 1607), sacred to the Finding of the Cross: where it is guarded with greater dignity. Thus Guarini, with those notes of the years placed in the margin which we have woven into his narration. In Ciacconius, in the Lives of the Roman Pontiffs and of the Cardinals, volume 1, column 991, in the aforesaid Griffoni, these words are read: To whom, when Innocent II had given as a gift the body of St. Romanus, he carried it to Ferrara, and laid it beneath a marble sepulchre in a church consecrated to the same Saint. Thus there, most briefly.
[10] believe. But although it is not expressly stated above that the Romanus, Martyr, whom the men of Ferrara venerate, is the namesake Soldier of today, yet in our Ms. which contains the Italian fragment rendered by us above into Latin from Guarini, and subscribed with the name of our Andreas Lazarus, some other things are appended, from which it is clear that the men of Ferrara attribute to themselves no other Romanus than today's. For it is had from the same place that the merchants or craftsmen of silken webs and of small wares chose him of old for their protector; and that although he is not the common patron of the city, yet the whole city celebrates his festal day on the IX of August, on which the memory of his death recurs; that on such a day, by ancient custom, he who holds the chief place of the aforesaid trades (commonly il massaro dell' arte) is wont to distribute to the other merchants certain little cakes as it were of round shape (commonly called foccacine), which consist of flour, honey, sugar, and spices; and on which is seen stamped St. Romanus sitting on a horse, and clad in military habit, with this inscription running round in capital letters: S. Romanus our protector. But just as it shall not rest with us that these men of Ferrara should continue in their pious persuasion, so it lies upon them to prove that that body which they possess is of this Martyr, and not of another drawn out of the Roman catacombs; especially for this reason, because in the inscription reported above in Guarini it was said, the body of St. Romanus the martyr, which is between the two laurels on the Labican Way; whereas today's Romanus, Martyr and soldier, in the Martyrdom presently to be given, is said to have been buried in the Veranus field (which is on the Tiburtine Way) in the cemetery of B. Cyriaca, as may be seen in Aringhi, volume 2 of Subterranean Rome, book 4, chapter 16. Then, since the same inscription of which we have just spoken marks the body of St. Romanus the martyr without the title of soldier, why and whence do the men of Ferrara venerate their St. Romanus with that title?
[11] There remains some small but singular notice concerning a matter Some singular observance in Gaul toward the holy Martyr. which is observed in honor of St. Romanus the martyr in a certain place of Gaul. Claude Castellan, in letters given from Montaumer near Crécy of the Brie people (commonly Crescy en Brie) on the XXII day of October in the year 1685 to our Papebroch, testifies that in the place whose name is la Ferté-Gaucher (it is called Firmitas Galtherii in the territory of Meaux in Adrien de Valois, Notitia Galliarum, page 194) flesh is eaten on the vigil of St. Laurence, and a fast is kept on the VII of August, and that from immemorial time; because the parish church is distinguished with the title of St. Romanus the martyr.
THE MARTYRDOM
From the Acts of St. Laurence in Surius at the X day of August.
Romanus the soldier, Martyr, at Rome (S.)
At the same hour (in which St. Laurence amid his torments was praying to God) one of the soldiers, Romanus by name, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, being moved by the words of blessed Laurence, and said to him: I see standing before you a most beautiful man with a linen cloth, wiping your limbs. Wherefore I adjure you by Christ, who has sent his angel to you, that you not abandon me. Then Decius, stirred by fury and grief, said to Valerian: We are overcome by magic art; and he ordered blessed Laurence to be loosed from the platform and lifted up. Further, Romanus, bringing a pitcher with water, was watching for an opportunity of offering it to blessed Laurence. And Decius began to seethe in mind, and commanded blessed Laurence to be given back to Hippolytus only in the palace. Then Romanus approached, and offering the water, cast himself at the feet of B. Laurence, and asked with tears that he might be baptized. And receiving the water, he blessed it, and baptized him. Decius, hearing this, willed that Romanus should be brought to him with cudgels. Who, when he came into the sight of Decius, even without being questioned, cried out with a loud voice: I am a Christian; and, at Decius's bidding, he received in the same hour the sentence of death. And being led outside the walls of the Salarian gate, he was beheaded on the V of the Ides of August. And Justin b the priest came by night, and gathering up his body buried it in a crypt in the Veranus field.