ON ST. ANASTASIUS OR ATTALUS, MARTYR,
AT SALONA IN DALMATIA,
UNDER AURELIAN.
HISTORICO-CRITICAL SYLLOGE.
The ancient cultus of this Saint, the arena and time of his martyrdom, the distinction of that Martyr from another of the same name, and the most probable translation of his relics.
Anastasius or Attalus, M., at Salona in Dalmatia (St.)
BY G. C.
Francesco Maria Fiorentini, on the XXVI day of August, brings forward certain copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology This holy Martyr, in which this holy Martyr is commemorated on the XII of the Kalends of September, that is, on the XXVI day of August. But today in the old Corbie transcript he is announced in these words: XII Kal. Sept. In the city of Salona, the birthday of St. Anastasius the martyr. The Little or Old Roman Martyrology, which our Rosweyde published, has on the same day these few words: At Salona, of Anastasius the martyr. But who this St. Anastasius was is more clearly explained by Ado in his Martyrology on the same day in this manner: In the city of Salona, the birthday of Anastasius the martyr; who, when he saw St. Agapitus confessing Christ the more bravely amid torments, cried out: "Great is God, and there is none other beside him." Now he was a soldier, a cornicularius. To whom the governor said: "As I see, thou hast been seduced." Concerning him the governor reported to the emperor Aurelian; who presently orders him to perish; and thus, having been made a martyr, he passed to the Lord.
[2] In the Acts of St. Agapitus, which we illustrated on the XVIII day of August, who by some is called Attalus, that soldier, the cornicularius, is commonly called Attalus, although in other copies he is named Anastasius, as we noted in volume 3 of August, page 537, in the Annotations. Hence Maurolycus and Galesinius distinguish Attalus from Anastasius, and on this day announce the first at Rome, the second at Salona. We do not dare to multiply Saints without evident arguments. What if that cornicularius bore two names, as Peter de Natalibus, bishop of Equilio, to be cited below, seems to intimate? From the earlier Acts of St. Agapitus we there conjectured that perhaps the St. Anastasius of today, after a public profession of the Christian faith, departed from Italy into Dalmatia, in order to avoid the impending storm of persecution, and was afterwards slain for the faith by the heathen at Salona. Whatever be the case with this conjecture of ours, Usuard also places him at Salona in this way: In the city of Salona, of St. Anastasius the martyr, who for the confession of the name of Christ, by the order of the emperor Aurelius, was put to death. You see that here no mention is made of the Acts of St. Agapitus, and that instead of the emperor Aurelian, Aurelius is assigned.
[3] Nevertheless today's Roman Martyrology follows in the footsteps of Ado, by others he is called Anastasius the cornicularius, and at the same time sets forth its announcement thus from Usuard: At Salona, of St. Anastasius the cornicularius, who, when he saw the blessed Agapitus steadfastly enduring torments, was converted to the faith, and, being put to death for the confession of the name of Christ by the order of the emperor Aurelian, passed a martyr to the Lord. The most eminent Baronius on this day, in his notes on the Roman Martyrology, explains the appellation cornicularius thus: But as to what concerns the name cornicularius: there were in the camp service horsemen of a noble order, serving with the corniculum, which was a military ornament, from which they were called cornicularii. Then the most eminent Cardinal confirms this explanation of the name from Livy, Pliny, and other authors. The Glossary of Du Cange, at the word cornicularius, will also suggest various significations of this name, if anyone should wish to consult it. For the rest, from these announcements of the ancient Martyrologies the immemorial veneration of this holy Martyr is abundantly established, which nevertheless will receive strength also from what is presently to be said.
[4] he suffered at Salona in Dalmatia, But as regards the arena of his martyrdom, that everywhere Salona in Dalmatia is designated — besides which we know of no other — can be gathered from Giovanni Lucio, who in the Dalmatian Inscriptions, page 67, appended to his Work on the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia, on the occasion of Bernard, prelate of Salona or rather of Spalato, advises that the following are to be added: He consecrated the altar of St. Anastasius, as is evident from the inscription carved on the silver head of that same Saint, which is as follows: IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST 1210, IN THE XIII INDICTION, IN THE TIME OF THE LORD POPE INNOCENT III, AND OF ANDREW KING OF HUNGARY, AND OF THE LORD BERNARD THE ARCHBISHOP, AND OF COUNT DOMALDUS, ON THE X OF THE KALENDS OF JUNE, THIS WORK WAS MADE, AND THE ALTAR CONSECRATED TO THE HONOR OF GOD AND OF SAINT ANASTASIUS, IN WHICH HIS BODY RESTS, WHOSE HEAD THIS IS. Understand this of the city of Spalato, to which the relics of St. Anastasius were translated after the destruction of Salona and long before this inscription, as at the end of this Sylloge we shall report from an old writer.
[5] not under the emperor Diocletian, Thomas, archdeacon of Spalato, who departed this life in the year of Christ 1268, in the Salonitan History, chapter 3, treating of the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian, in which he asserts that St. Domnio was crowned with martyrdom, subjoins the following concerning our holy Martyr of today, unless I am mistaken: At the same time Anastasius of Aquileia underwent martyrdom for the name of Christ at Salona. But if St. Anastasius suffered under the emperor Aurelius or Aurelian, as Ado and Usuard testify, how can his martyrdom be deferred as far as the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian? Maurolycus nevertheless seems to follow this opinion of Thomas the archdeacon, when on the XXVI day of August he announces the same Martyr in this manner: At Salona in Dalmatia, under Diocletian, of St. Anastasius the martyr, drowned in the sea, concerning whom above on the twelfth of the Kalends, namely of September, that is, on the XXI day of August.
[6] But that Martyrologist fights with himself, since on that very XXI day of August, or under Alexander, as some will have it; to which the reader is here referred, he places the same Martyr under the emperor Aurelius thus: In the city of Salona, of St. Anastasius the martyr, under the emperor Aurelius. How therefore did that same Martyr obtain the laurel of martyrdom under both Diocletian and Aurelius? Galesinius, however, assigns another emperor, when on this day in his Martyrology he announces St. Anastasius thus: At Salona, of St. Anastasius the martyr, who, under the emperor Alexander, having been tortured in various ways, was at last slain for the glory of Christ. Then Galesinius, at folio 151 in his notes, gives the reason for this announcement of his thus: Equilinus writes that he was crowned with martyrdom at Rome, not at Salona. But Usuard, Ado, and the rest affirm that it was at Salona, namely under the emperor Aurelian. We have written "under the emperor Alexander" solely on the authority of the Martyrology which is reported to have been corrected by Pope Paul IV.
[7] But at least Peter of Equilio placed this holy Martyr under the emperor Aurelian, but under the reign of Aurelian, as Ado hands down. when in book 7 of his Catalogue, chapter 88, he abridged his deeds from the Acts of St. Agapitus in this manner: Anastasius or Attalus the martyr suffered under Aurelian Augustus and the governor Antiochus at Rome. He, being a cornicularius, had Agapitus the martyr in custody by command of the governor; and hearing from him words of life he was almost converted. But when Agapitus had been hung up head downward, and, smoke being made beneath, had thus been left for four days, as was said above in his passion on the XV of the Kalends of September, and after four days Anastasius, going thither, had found him loosed, walking and singing psalms, he wholly embraced the faith of Christ and was baptized. And when he had announced to the governor all these things which he had seen, and had steadfastly confessed Christ, he was beheaded by the order of Aurelian on the XII of the Kalends of September. We at the beginning of this Sylloge assigned in the margin the martyrdom of today's St. Anastasius to the reign of Aurelian, following in this matter Ado and Peter of Equilio, who probably found that name of the emperor in more ancient monuments.
[8] Perhaps this diversity of arena and of time, which is found among various authors, takes its origin from the error Some have confused him with another of the same name, by which certain Martyrologists confused two Martyrs of the same name: for in the Roman Martyrology, at the VII day of September, a certain Anastasius, martyr, is placed at Aquileia, and the most eminent Baronius there in his notes advises the following concerning him: He was a fuller, and for the merit of his faith was enrolled in the number of the martyrs; and this from ancient manuscripts, in Molanus, in the additions to Usuard on this day. Galesinius on the same day makes mention of that Martyr, and assigns to him the same arena of martyrdom in these words: At Aquileia, of St. Anastasius the martyr; he, born of the lowest stock, ennobled by the confession of the faith, bore off the illustrious crown of martyrdom. But Peter of Equilio, in the Catalogue, book 7, chapter 124, writes that this same St. Anastasius the fuller suffered at Salona, as is plain from the beginning of the Acts, which runs thus: Anastasius the martyr suffered in Salona, a city of Dalmatia, under the persecution of the emperor Diocletian. He, sprung from the city of Aquileia, while he practiced the trade of a fuller, distributed to the poor whatever he could obtain from it, apart from a frugal daily sustenance. At length, animated by the love of martyrdom, he came to the city of the Salonitans, etc. Peter of Equilio is favored by the above-praised Thomas, archdeacon of Spalato, when he surnames St. Anastasius "of Aquileia," and asserts that the same was crowned with martyrdom at Salona.
[9] and the Dalmatians themselves seem to be ignorant, I doubt whether the Dalmatians themselves know with sufficient distinctness St. Anastasius the martyr, who is venerated among them from time immemorial, unless perhaps they claim two of the same name for themselves: for Spon, in his Itinerary of the East, little volume 1, page 82, testifies that among the ruins of the city of Salona there was shown to him the tomb of St. Anastasius, a prelate, who was said to have had his see there. But this opinion of the Dalmatians suits neither St. Anastasius the cornicularius nor the fuller, since neither is reported in the ancient monuments to have been a bishop. Moreover the body of St. Anastasius, whose tomb was shown to Spon in the last century among the ruins of Salona, was already some centuries ago, after the ruin of Salona, translated to the city of Spalato, and there thenceforth rested, as we indicated above and shall repeat below.
[10] which St. Anastasius they venerate, I likewise do not know whether the Greeks in the Menology of Sirletus, on the XXV day of October and the V of December, celebrate two Saints Anastasius, or the same one twice, or another martyr: for they express neither the place of the contest nor the condition of their athlete. It could nevertheless easily be that the St. Anastasius whose Acts are reported in the Sirletian Menology at the V day of December is the same as he whom the Roman Martyrology commemorates on the VII day of September. Wherefore at the said VII day of September it will be necessary to discuss more accurately the Acts of St. Anastasius the fuller, and from Peter of Equilio to narrate his deeds, and to compare them with the Sirletian Menology or the Menæa of the Greeks. We meanwhile adhere to Ado, the most ancient of all, when on today's day he announces in the city of Salona the martyrdom of St. Anastasius the cornicularius, who in the Passion of St. Agapitus was converted to the Christian faith, and whom we judge to be distinct from the other St. Anastasius of Aquileia.
[11] and whose sacred relics they possess, Now something remains to be said concerning the translation of the relics of St. Anastasius buried in Dalmatia, which the aforesaid Thomas, archdeacon of Spalato, narrates in the Salonitan History, chapter 12, or in Giovanni Lucio's Work on the Kingdom of Dalmatia and Croatia, page 120, in these words: At the same time the reverend prelate (namely John I, prelate of Salona, who flourished in the seventh century) began to treat with the citizens that the body of blessed Domnius the pontiff, which had remained at Salona, should be raised, and, being translated, should be placed in the church which had lately been dedicated; and it pleased all greatly. Having therefore looked out for a favorable turn of the times, when they might conveniently attempt this, they went off to Salona, and entering the basilica of the bishop's residence they found everything confused and scattered; for that place was filled with ruined roofs, and the heaped-up ashes of fires had already put forth brambles and shrubs, so that although some still survived who knew the place, nevertheless, because his tomb had lain hidden beneath the underground vaults, it could not easily be discerned whence the body of blessed Domnius should be taken.
[12] which were translated from Salona to Spalato, But digging up the earth and uncovering the place, they raised the chest which first appeared; and fearing lest perchance they should be hindered by the Slavs, with great speed they carried it down to Spalato; and opening it, they found not the body of blessed Domnius, but the body of blessed Anastasius the martyr. Straightway therefore, returning to Salona on the following day, they dug up from the same place the sarcophagus of blessed Domnius, and transferring it with the utmost haste to Spalato, with exceeding devotion they placed the precious pledges of both martyrs in the aforenamed church of the Mother of God, where by the Lord's gift they rest to this day. Constantine Porphyrogenitus also, in his lucubration On Administering the Empire, addressed to his son Romanus, chapter 29, testifies that in his own time, that is, in the tenth century, St. Anastasius rested in the city of Spalato, which he himself calls Aspalathus. Hence it follows that those Dalmatians erred who, after the middle of the last century, showed to Spon among the Salonitan ruins the tomb of St. Anastasius, if by this showing they meant to indicate that the body of that Saint was still deposited there.
[13] But if anyone should contend that another St. Anastasius, a prelate, rests there, let him remember that by the most learned Dalmatian Giovanni Lucio, in his notes on the Salonitan History of Thomas archdeacon of Spalato, although more probably it is today's Saint whom they venerate. where that writer in chapter 3 briefly treats of St. Anastasius the Salonitan martyr, there is cited at page 469 the announcement of today's Roman Martyrology, and accordingly only St. Anastasius the cornicularius is assigned to Salona in Dalmatia. These are the chief things which we have been able to gather concerning today's St. Anastasius the martyr. But if the curious reader should require in this Sylloge certain more definite matters concerning this holy Martyr, we shall await them from the learned men of Dalmatia.