ON THE HOLY ROMAN MARTYRS
CALEPODIUS THE PRESBYTER, PALMATIUS THE CONSUL AND XLII OTHERS, SIMPLICIUS THE SENATOR AND LXVIII OTHERS, FELIX AND BLANDA THE SPOUSES.
IN THE YEAR 222.
PrefaceCalepodius the Presbyter, Roman Martyr (St.)
Palmatius the Consul, Roman Martyr (St.)
XLII Others, Roman Martyrs — Simplicius the Senator, Roman Martyr (St.)
LXVIII Others, Roman Martyrs — Felix, a spouse, Roman Martyr (St.)
Blanda, a spouse, Roman Martyr (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR G.H.
The history of the martyrdom of these athletes is contained in the very ancient Acts of the martyrdom of S. Callistus or Calixtus the Roman Pontiff, which are handed down to have been written by the Roman Notaries, in exactly the same manner, the Acts of SS. Urban & Callistus written by Notaries, in which the Acts of the Martyrdom of S. Urban the Pope, his successor, which are illustrated on the XXV of May, are also said to have been written by the Notaries of the Roman Church. There flourished at that time S. Anterus, afterward Roman Pontiff, who diligently sought out the deeds of the Martyrs from the Notaries, & laid them up in the church; so that for that very reason in the Preface to the ancient Catalogues of the Roman Pontiffs, published by us before the first volume of April, we judged that the former part of the first Catalogue seemed to have been collected by him as far as the said Urban the Pope, & by others afterward supplied. Why then should we not also reckon that the Acts of these two Pontiffs were written by one & the same Anterus & laid up in the church?
[2] From his Acts, The things which pertain to S. Callistus, we have from very ancient MSS.: the Treves MS. of S. Maximinus, the St.-Omer MS. of the Cathedral church, the Marchiennes MS. near Douai, the Louvain MS. of S. Martin submitted by Lord Vlimerius, as also others from the CL. V. Puteanus received, besides our two illustrious ancient codices. They were also published two hundred years ago by Joninus Mombritius, & then in the collection of the Lives of the Saints printed at Cologne & Louvain in the year 1483 & two years after, the elogia of these Martyrs taken thence. & afterward, but with the phrasing here & there corrected, by Laurentius Surius. From these Acts about SS. Calepodius, Palmatius, Simplicius composed illustrious elogia the Venerable Bede, in the genuine Martyrology published by us before the second volume of March, Rabanus, Ado, Usuard, Notker, & other later Martyrologists, which may be seen among them. In their place we give the greater part from the Acts of S. Calixtus the Pope, because this pertains to these Martyrs: & the history of the Passion which is here given. to which we add the things which in the present Roman Martyrology are contained in these words: At Rome of B. Calepodius the Presbyter & Martyr, whom the Emperor Alexander caused to be slain with the sword, & his body to be dragged through the city, & to be cast into the Tiber: which being found Callistus the Pope buried. There was also beheaded Palmatius the Consul, with his wife & sons & forty-two others of both sexes from his household: Simplicius also the Senator, with his wife & sixty-eight of his household: likewise also Felix with his wife Blanda: whose heads were hung up through the various gates of the City as an example to the Christians. These things there.
[3] It is said below in the Acts that S. Calepodius was slain on the day of the Kalends of May, on which day also SS. Calepodius, Palmatius & companions are inscribed in the MS. Martyrology of Carolus Strozzi the Florentine Senator, & are named by Grevenus & Canisius. But S. Palmatius was on the sixth of the Ides of May buried in the cemetery of the same Calepodius: the cemetery of S. Calepodius, & it is added in Ado & others, at the third mile from the City. Of the cemetery of Calepodius treats Aringhus in book 2 of volume 1 of Rome subterranean chapter 12, where he doubts whether B. Calepodius first built it or certainly restored it; or rather whether it was merely distinguished by his name, because his sacred body was buried there; in that S. Julius the Senator & S. Antonius, slain under the Emperor Commodus, on the XIX & XXII of August, are reported to be buried in the cemetery of Calepodius. Commodus indeed was deprived of life about thirty years before S. Calepodius was crowned with martyrdom, & in the Acts Calepodius is called an aged Presbyter: yet he could as a young man have built that which a contemporary author called his cemetery. The place there in num. 7 Aringhus describes, & toward the end has these things: What in this cemetery is singular, a perpetual vein of crystalline water flows thence, which under the bitter times of the persecutions the holy Martyrs, not only for drinking, but also for imparting the saving laver of Baptism, to those who were being led over to the faith, once used, it is fitting to believe. Then in num. 8 about the translation of the body of S. Calepodius & of others he has these things: But the bodies of the most blessed Martyrs, Callistus & Julius the Pontiffs, thence the body translated to the church of S. Maria across the Tiber. & also of Calepodius the Presbyter, which once here, as we said, had been laid, were afterward honorably translated to the title of the same Callistus, namely into the church of S. Maria across the Tiber, where to this very day the images of the same, expressed in mosaic work, in the greater apse of the church are looked up to.
[4] We illustrated the Acts of S. Julius the Pope on the XII day of April, where we said, the bodies of these Saints by Innocent II, in the XII century of Christ, were placed under the greatest altar & adorned with a marble cover. The mosaic work of the same Innocent II, which Aringhus mentions, since it is covered with the soot of antiquity, in a place receiving little light, is with difficulty discerned; & it is in danger of perishing before this church too, with the same majesty with which several other Roman churches now shine & gleam, be reformed; I judged it worth the trouble to take care that its delineation, as accurate as the malign light & the voracity of time allow, be received by a skilled hand, & engraved in copper.
But since the form of our work does not admit so long an image, as may be commensurate with the whole semicircle of that apse where its image among the Saints: with a carving of proportionate length; we have so divided into two the one order of Saints which is there, that the throne of Christ embracing the Mother of God, together with the attendants on this side Peter & on that side Calixtus, are left in the upper order; but the lower order let them occupy, on this side Laurentius & Innocent, who on one side attend Calixtus; on that side,
who fill the other side after Peter, Cornelius, Julius & Calepodius. His Life moreover at Rome itself in the year 1661 in the aforesaid Church of S. Maria across the Tiber from MS. proper Offices; but from the greater Acts contracted we found it: but toward the end it was thus held, that the body afterward was carried away to the church of S. Maria across the Tiber, & under the greater altar was laid up. The same Pancirolius confirms in the Treasury of the city, adding that some of his Relics are in the church of S. Maria in the Campus Martius & in some church of S. Paul the Apostle.
[5] his relics elsewhere: The other Martyrs reported above were also buried in the cemetery of Calepodius, the same Pancirolius judges; because by an equal contest they had gained the palm of consummated Martyrdom. But the Relics of S. Palmatius King Charles brought into his castle Karlstein, where under the same castle in honor of the same Saint he founded a parish church. So the Martyrology of the Church of Prague written two hundred years ago. In the Diary of the Relics of Prague it is said, of S. Palmatius the Roman Martyr a part of the arm, which the Emperor Charles IV had brought from Rome in the year 1355. his companions' at Prague, Coimbra, Bologna That the head of S. Palmatius has long been preserved at Coimbra in the church of the Holy Cross of the Canons Regular, Cardosus relates in the Lusitanian Hagiology. But that some Relics of S. Simplicius the Senator are preserved at Bologna in the church of S. Paul of the Barnabites, & of the Nuns of the name Jesus Maria in the street Galleria, relates in Bologna surveyed Masinus.
ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM
Written by the Roman Notaries.
Calepodius the Presbyter, Roman Martyr (St.)
Palmatius the Consul, Roman Martyr (St.)
XLII Others, Roman Martyrs — Simplicius the Senator, Roman Martyr (St.)
LXVIII Others, Roman Martyrs — Felix, a spouse, Roman Martyr (St.)
Blanda, a spouse, Roman Martyr (St.)
BHL Number: 1523
By the Roman Notaries.
[1] In the times a of Macrinus & Alexander, by a divine conflagration b was burned up part of the Capitol on the Meridian side, a public conflagration & some struck by lightning, & within the temple of Jupiter the left hand of gold fell, & was melted. But there came the soothsayers & priests to Alexander, saying that with sacrifices & odors their gods should be appeased. This being heard, Alexander ordered their petition to be done. And while they were sacrificing, suddenly, the sky being serene, in the morning of the day of Jove, by a divine thunderbolt died four priests of the idols, & the altar of Jove was burned up by the conflagration: & there became a day dark, so that all the Roman people fled forth outside the walls. And while the people was dispersed in flight, they came across the Tiber into the city to the temple a multitude of Christians chanting: among whom was Calixtus the Bishop with his Clergy. But hearing this one of the d Consuls, by name Palmatius, a multitude of Christians gathered in a certain place, S. Palmatius, still a heathen, imputes it to the Christians announced to Alexander, saying: Great Prince, this sign therefore has been made, because the city grows foul. If therefore it shall be purified, we shall rejoice together at the glory of your eminence, & the Republic will shine. Alexander said: Let it be purified. Yet declare to us, what is this purification? Palmatius answered: That there be no profane ones. Alexander said: Who are the profane? Palmatius answered: The Christians. Alexander said: I commanded once & again, that wheresoever they were found they should be punished, or should offer to the immortal gods libations. Palmatius answered, saying: By your splendor I heard, when I was sad because of the sign which was made, how with songs & incantations in a certain place there cried out in the region across the Tiber a multitude of Christians: whence it is no wonder, if this cause made this sign.
[2] Alexander said to him: Take power, that wheresoever you find them, you may drag them to sacrifice, to appease the Gods: or certainly with exquisite torments afflict them. Then Palmatius, having received power, a multitude of soldiers being collected, came across the Tiber, to seize S. Calepodius he sends soldiers, who being blinded, where was gathered the multitude of Christians with B. Calixtus, among whom was Calepodius the aged Presbyter: & coming into a certain upper room, ten soldiers entered: & when all had entered; these ten soldiers were suddenly made blind. Calepodius the aged Presbyter answered & said: My sons, whom do you seek? But they were crying out, saying: Kindle for us lamps, because this place has become dark before us. But Calepodius the Presbyter said: God who sees all things, He has blinded your eyes. Then groping they went down blinded. But when Palmatius had seen these things, terrified with fear, fleeing he announced all things to Alexander. On the same day therefore Alexander ordered the soldiers, who had been made blind, to be led into his sight. And when he had recognized the soldiers, he began to cry out: O best citizens! see the magic art. Palmatius answered, & said: If by the magic art this was done, where are the powers of our gods? Let therefore your piety order them to be brought & immolated to the gods, lest the Republic perish because of their incantations. And Alexander commanded that there be immolated to Mercury, he takes care that sacrifices be offered to Mercury: & that he should learn the responses. But there went forth a command to all the common people, that all to the Capitol should hasten from the city of Rome; so that those who were found in their dwellings on the day of Mercury, all should be slain; & a herald being sent it was thus declared, that all the common people on the day of Mercury without delay to the Capitol with the Prince should assemble: but whoever did not hasten, let him know that he was to be punished with death. The aforesaid day occurring all the Roman people to the Capitol hastened. Palmatius also with all his household came to the Capitol with swine & calves.
[3] And e it came to pass that while in the slaughter of the cattle the blood was poured out, & the priests chanted with songs; terrified by the voice of a virgin, a virgin of the temple, by name Juliana, seized by a demon, was crying out, saying: The God of Callixtus, He is the living & true God: He is indignant at the pollutions of your Republic, & will crush f your mortal kingdom, because you do not adore the truth. Hearing this Palmatius, alone ran to B. Calixtus in the region across the Tiber in the city of the Ravennates; & cast himself headlong, he hastens to S. Callistus to be baptized. & entered into the house where was gathered the multitude of Christians: & fell at the feet of B. Calixtus, saying: I have known Jesus Christ to be the true God, whom the demons confessed today: by Him I adjure you, that you free me from the worship of demons & stones: the Bishop said to him: Do not deride the truth by erring. Palmatius answered with tears, saying: Lord, I do not deride: because I have known, in the blindness of the soldiers, & in the response of the virgin, that my Lord is your Christ. Calepodius the elder answered & said to the blessed Bishop: Most blessed Father, to one asking baptism do not deny it. At the same time he enjoined a fast on him for one day, & catechized him: & the water brought from the spring of the well, which was in the same house, he blessed: & Palmatius being set down in h a basin, S. Calixtus the Bishop said to him: Do you believe with all your heart in God the Father almighty, maker of things visible & invisible? Palmatius answered: I believe. And he said to him: And in Jesus Christ His son? And again he answered: I believe. And he said to him: And in the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh. with 42 others of his household: And Palmatius cried out with a great voice with tears: I believe, Lord. the Lord Jesus Christ, the true light, who illumined me. And he baptized also all the household of Palmatius, & his wife & sons, & of both sexes to the number of forty-two. From the same day Palmatius began to disburse all his substance to the poor Christians, searching out regions & crypts, that wheresoever he might find either in custody or hidden Christians, from his substance he might minister food or clothing.
[4] But after k thirty-two days, Palmatius is sought by Alexander; bound before Alexander. to whom it was announced that he is a Christian, & persuades others. Then Alexander ordered him to be presented. Who when he had been seized by a certain Torquatus the Tribune, & sent into the l custody of the Mamertine; after three days Torquatus indicated to Alexander, that Palmatius was committed to custody. Then Alexander rejoicing ordered him to be presented to him. And bound with chains Palmatius enters before Alexander. Whom when he had seen, he ordered him to be loosed, & said to him: Have you become so mad, O Palmatius, that you forsake the gods, & seek & worship a dead man? Palmatius was silent. Alexander said to him: Speak confidently: do not fear. Palmatius answered, saying: If you give license, we speak the truth. Alexander said to him: Except the injury of the gods, speak. Palmatius said to him: Best Prince, if you observe, they are not gods, but they are the making of mortal men. he professes the faith: Now indeed let your gentleness know, who ought to be worshipped: those who are made or fabricated by mortals, what kind they are, do you judge. But I, unhappy, beseech your splendor: say to your god that he may speak, & when I shall have asked let him answer: & when this is done, I do not forsake your gods, whom you call them. Alexander said to him: And how from your cradle did you adore these, & now do you leave them? Palmatius answered: I did as one unhappy: but now I have known what is true, concerning which matter I beseech the Lord Jesus Christ, that He may pardon me, he is handed over to S. Simplicius the Senator, because ignorant I sinned. At the same hour smiling Alexander handed him over to a certain Simplicius the Senator, saying: Have him with you without any fear: & with soft words recall him to the worship of the gods: for the Republic has such a man as necessary. Palmatius being received, Simplicius the Senator clothed him with noble garments brought, & led him into his house. Which Simplicius commanded his wife, & the elders of his house, that all the house of Simplicius he should have in his power. Then Palmatius giving himself to fasts & prayers of vigils, did not cease with tears to pray to God the Father almighty, & Jesus Christ His son, that he might do penance for his error.
[5] But there came to him a certain one Felix by name, whose wife lay sick four years in bed, he cast himself at the feet of Palmatius, saying: Confessor of our Lord Jesus Christ, entreat for your handmaid my wife Blanda, that she may be freed from the bed of sorrow: & I will receive baptism with her; because it is long that she is held by the paralytic disease, & now our substance has failed. Then Palmatius, the wife of Simplicius being present, fell to the ground, he heals the paralytic; & with tears began to pray with Felix, saying: Lord God, who didst illumine m thy servant, give me the eternal light Jesus Christ: save thy handmaid Blanda, & relieve her of the bed of sorrow:
that all may know, that thou art the Creator of all things. SS. Felix & Blanda baptized At the same hour came Blanda running with her own feet to the house of Simplicius the Senator, saying: Baptize me in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who held my hand & raised me up. Then Felix began to urge B. Palmatius that she be baptized. At the same hour B. Palmatius sent to S. Calixtus the Bishop: & coming he baptized Felix with his wife Blanda. Seeing this Simplicius, & S. Simplicius with his family, fell at the feet of Calixtus saying, that with all his house he might be baptized. Then B. Calixtus the Bishop confidently said: Let the Lord gather the wheat into His barn; & he catechized all the house of Simplicius, & his wife & sons & his family, souls of both sexes about sixty- eight. B. Calepodius the Presbyter filled with joy, began to cry out in the house of Simplicius… Glory to thee Lord Jesus Christ, who from darkness deignest to lead to light thy creature, & to free from error: do with thy servants according to thy mercy. they are beheaded: This hearing Alexander, that a multitude of men had received baptism through B. Calixtus the Bishop; he sent an army of soldiers, & seized all who baptism had received: whom he commanded to undergo the sentence of capital punishment, & through the various gates of the city of Rome their heads to be hung up, as an example to the Christians.
[6] But he also seized B. Calipodius, whom n he caused to be slain with the sword, The body of B. Calepodius is buried in his cemetery. & the body to be dragged through the city on the day of the Kalends of May: whose body he caused to be cast into the Tiber before the o Lycaonian island. In those same days fled B. Calixtus with his ten Clerics, & hid himself in the house of a certain Pontianus by night, asking the fishermen to seek the body of B. Calepodius the Presbyter. Which being found, lifting it from the river, they reported to B. Calixtus the Bishop. Then he was filled with joy. Which holy body being received he embalmed with aromatics & linen cloths, & with hymns, & buried him in the cemetery of the same, on the sixth of the Ides of May [p] … When Calixtus the Bishop was being macerated in custody, B. Calepodius coming to him by night through a vision, consoled him saying: Be firm, Father, because thy crown is now perfected, that thou mayest receive the reward for me.
ANNOTATIONS.
in the year 217, Antoninus Caracalla being slain on the 8th day of April, Macrinus succeeded, after a year & two months of Empire himself also slain. Then in the said year 217, S. Zephyrinus the Pope dying on the 26th of August, S. Callistus the Pope succeeded. In whose time, the said Macrinus being replaced, Heliogabalus lived until the 10th of March, of the year 222; & to him succeeded M. Aurelius Alexander, who before, having been declared Cæsar, directed all things: under the beginning of whose Empire these Martyrs were slain.
that the transtiberine region was attributed by Augustus to the soldiers of the Ravenna fleet, which thence was called the city of the Ravennates, as also the temple, & the meritorious tavern, where now is the church of S. Maria. Consult what we noted at the Catalogues of the Supreme Pontiffs before volume I of April.
It came to pass that while the swine's & calf's blood was being poured out, & the priests & virgins reveled through the temple of the demon, one of them, by name Juliana, seized began to cry out.
in the Life of S. Silvester, gave a basin of silver for baptism, weighing twenty pounds.
p. The rest about S. Calixtus here omitted, will be illustrated on the 14th day of October.
ON THE HOLY ROMAN MARTYRS
GORDIANUS AND EPIMACHUS. LIKEWISE PRIMULUS, AND MAJOR OR MEDON THE CONFESSOR.
IN THE YEAR 362.
PrefaceGordianus, Roman Martyr (St.)
Epimachus, Roman Martyr (St.)
Primulus, Roman Confessor (St.)
Major or Medon, Roman Confessor (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR G. H.
The Acts of the Martyrdom of S. Gordianus extant everywhere in very many MS. Passionals, even of all which we could see most ancient, & such were by Claudius Puteanus once communicated, as also described from the MSS. Treves of S. Maximinus, The Acts of the Martyrdom from MSS. of St.-Omer of the Cathedral Church, of Münster of Bernandus Rottendorf, & two other codices ours, which especially we used after we had collated them with a triple codex of the Queen of Sweden numbers 13, 81 & 482. Aringhus book 4 of Rome subterranean chapter 3 several MSS. alleges. By type once published the same in Joninus Mombritius, likewise in the Legend of Cologne & Louvain in the year 14 83 & two years after printed: such also referred to this X of May Laurentius Surius, having prefaced that the diction in favor of the reader somewhat had been polished: but we prefer in the genuine style them to bring forth. In which lest offend the reader, him Baronius in his to the Roman Martyrology Notes admonishes, under Julian absent. those slaughterhouses, which at Rome on the Christians to be exercised were wont in the times of Julian they say, not by Julian himself, but by Apronianus the Prefect of the City instituted … & their Martyrdoms rather under Julian than before Julian at Rome were enacted. For him after he obtained the Empire, at Rome at some time to have been, by no of the approved ancient authors testimony to be affirmed. While therefore here nearly about Julian it is treated as if at Rome present, you know not to be these Acts of the first authority: but at a notable after the deed done time collected by someone, who as to the words, freely on either side in the judgment held between Januarius the Presbyter & Gordianus still a heathen, & the Prefect of the city rather than the Emperor's Vicar, & again between the same now a Christian & his successor Clementianus, seems to have followed the Notarial Acts; & in these a more certain faith to them can be given, though not the most certain.
[2] About S. Epimachus's martyrdom nothing elsewhere is read, but here also nothing except in the end: for after it was said, that On the way, which the Latin is called, not far from the city of Rome, but as a milestone more or less one, there they laid him (Gordianus namely) in a crypt on the sixth of the Ides of May, where already long before S. Epimachus they had buried; is added, In which also place the benefits of them & virtues flourish even to the present day. In the MS. Utrecht of S. Salvator, where the same Acts are contained but contracted, toward the end these things are read: At length by his household by night is seized Gordianus, & with B. Epimachus, whose is also today the feast, whom long before the aforesaid Julian had caused to be slain, he is buried. The Greeks both venerate on the day 9 of May, & in the Menology of Basil the Emperor these things are read: The Martyrs of Christ Epimachus & Gordianus were from great & ancient Rome. The cult among the Greeks 9 May. But when Christ they professed, apprehended by the idolaters they were, & to the region's Governor handed over: by him ordered they were Christ to deny & to idols to sacrifice. But because they did not consent, atrociously they were beaten: then on woods hung, & with iron claws torn. But afterward from the woods to descend they were compelled & into prison thrust, a fixed for them time, in which if they repented, they could live. But they themselves in prison detained, never to God prayers to offer & to Him thanks to give ceased. Wherefore worthy held they were on account of Him martyrdom to sustain: accordingly after some days again from prison led out, & to manifold tortures subjected, with a sword at last with the head struck they were. These things in the said Basil the Emperor's Menology: to which similar, but contracted, are had in the illustrious Synaxary MS. Parisian of the College of the Society of Jesus, & in the Menæa MS. of Milan of the Ambrosian library & of Turin of the Duke of Savoy. From which this elogium formed Sirletus in his Menology: The Contest of the holy Martyrs Epimachus & Gordianus, who since they were from the great city Rome, were detained. And when they were compelled by the Governor to the gods to immolate & to idols to sacrifice, the nefarious deed they refused: & for that very thing very many torments undergoing, with an axe they were struck. These things the Greeks. Whether therefore some time before Gordianus was Epimachus crowned, as the Latin Acts seem to have, we leave undecided, on account of the things which soon will be said.
[3] The Latins both refer to this X of May, & the most ancient of the Hieronymian Martyrology apograph the Epternac thus the day inaugurates: VI Ides. At Rome the passion of Gordianus. by the Latins are added Medon or Major, At Rome of Epimachus & Midon Confessors. The Way Latin to the hundred halls of Quartus & Quintus. About these two separately we treat. The Corbey of the same Martyrology apograph thus begins: VI Ides of May, At Rome the Latin way, in the cemetery of the same the birthday of Gordianus, Julius. In the cemetery of Prætextatus at Rome the birthday of S. Epimachus & of Major the Confessor, Quartus & Quintus. In the apograph of Lucca these things are had: VI Ides of May at Rome the Latin way in the cemetery of the same the birthday of S. Gordianus: & in the cemetery of Prætextatus at Rome the birthday of S. Efiniacus & Major, Corus, Quartus & Quintus. Which the same are had in
the apograph Blumian, but toward the end is written of S. Epimachus & of Major the Confessor. In the MSS. Reichenau near Constance & Rheinau in Helvetia these things are handed down: At Rome of Gordianus & Epimachus & Major: for which Midon is read in Grevenus. The MSS. Augsburg of S. Udalric & Parisian of Labbé; At Rome of Gordianus & Epimachus. Which two, the arena Rome omitted, also are joined in the Casinensian MS. But in the other Casinensian MS. & the Roman of the Duke of Altemps, the eve or IX of May, on which the Greeks them venerate, are referred at Rome Gordianus & Epimachus. In the alleged apographs of the Hieronymian Martyrology & the Vatican of S. Peter, is celebrated the memory, At Rome of Gordianus & Primolus, & Primolas. or Primulus or Promolus: & without the arena of Gordianus & Prinolus in the MSS. Augsburg & Parisian: of Primulus alone in the Reichenau: What therefore? Whether in the place of Epimachus was intruded the name of Primolus? Or indeed Gordianus & Primolus are others to be reckoned, & from these diverse Gordianus & Epimachus? Nothing of these to affirm do we dare: & accordingly Primolus, as distinct, in the title we have placed, with S. Major or Midon the Confessor, perhaps in prison extinguished. We omit Julia in a single MS. added, & perhaps from the following day, when Julius the Martyr is referred.
[4] But let us return to the arena of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus, whom hitherto at Rome ascribed we have found: Whether at Rome they suffered? & so jointly in the Calendars inserted, that together companions of the martyrdom to have been they seem. Moreover in S. Gregory the Great in the book of the Sacraments three prayers are extant in the Mass to be recited, & hitherto in the Missal & Breviary are retained. Usuard with this them elogium adorns: At Rome the Latin way the birthday of the holy Martyrs Gordianus & Epimachus. Of whom the former for the confession of Christ's name, in the time of Julian, long with leaden scourges is beaten & at the last is beheaded. Rabanus very much from the Acts describes with these words, Where already long before S. Epimachus they had buried. Or, as in Ado is read: Where already long before the body of the blessed Martyr Epimachus had been buried. Whether more by Ado was added it can be doubted: for with the said words ends his elogium in an old MS. of the Church of the Morini, which at Ypres in the Cathedral Church is kept. Nothing also more have Notker & Peter de Natalibus book 4 chapter 129, who are wont Ado to describe. Aloysius Lipomanus volume 4 on the Lives of the Saints page 167 writes the Life of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus by Ado collected, & with the cited before words it he ends. But in the Martyrology of Ado, published by Mosander & Rosweidus, & in various MSS. these things are subjoined: This Epimachus at Alexandria, whether S. Epimachus at Alexandria? with his colleague Alexander, much time both in chains & in the tortures of prison tortured, when in frequent & diverse punishments worn out he had persisted in the faith, by fires at the last is consumed: then his Relics to Rome were brought. But above among the Greeks are said SS. Epimachus & Gordianus beheaded, ὕστερον τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀπετμήθησαν. Whether therefore SS. Epimachus & Alexander are others to be reckoned Martyrs? Bede in the genuine Martyrology only these things has: VI Ides the Birthday of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus. But in the Martyrology under his name supposititious, the same from Ado cited are published, & are found in a single MS. codex ours in the Life of these Martyrs, but not very ancient. In the ancient Roman Breviaries, from two hundred years & thereafter long printed, the elogium of these Martyrs from Ado taken ends without mention of Alexandria. But in the Breviary, by command of Pius V published, a Lesson one about these Martyrs is prescribed: in which is read the body of S. Gordianus buried in the same crypt, into which the Relics of B. Epimachus the Martyr translated had been from Alexandria, where he long on account of Christ's confession bound in prison, at the last burned, with martyrdom was crowned. Which the same hitherto are recited, also inserted in the present Martyrology Roman, & it everywhere the more recent follow. Meanwhile they do not cohere with the beginning of Ado, which such is: At Rome the Latin way in the cemetery of the same SS. Gordianus & Epimachus, whom Julian the apostate among many Christians to the public custodies committed. Aringhus book 4 of Rome subterranean chapter 3 writes the sacred S. Epimachus's body, whether also it is venerated 11 March, first according to the Greeks' Menology, on the day XI of the month of March, to Constantinople with becoming honor translated to have been: this however only in the Index of the Menology by Sirletus collected is read; in the very text omitted. But the Greeks in the printed Menæa celebrate on the said XI of March, the memory of the Relics of S. Epimachus the Martyr to Constantinople brought, with a distich added with an allusion to the holy city honored with S. Epimachus's body. Another solemnity is at Constantinople of four Martyrs on the day VI of July, & 6 July? when so is read in the MS. Greek Synaxary Claromontane: Of the holy Martyrs Apollonius, Alexander, Epimachus & Onesimus, whose celebrity is held in the Hexacionium, or at the six columns. Georgius Codinus on the Origins Constantinopolitan page 39 asserts; the pomerium of the city Constantinopolitan by Constantine the great extended even to the Exacionium, above the Hexacionium called. Here therefore recur Epimachus & Alexander, above as colleagues held. But whether from these not be diverse the Epimachus at Alexandria suffering, who, while the Acts further are wanting, can certainly determine? These rather to learned men to be proposed we judged, by whom if more certain things be brought forth, with a grateful affection of mind we will receive, about to give them on the day VI of July, or where occasion shall be offered. The feast of these Martyrs at Rome to be celebrated in the church of S. Laurence in Lucina, where their Relics are kept, asserts Piazza in the Sanctuary Roman.
ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM
From very ancient various MS. codices.
Gordianus, Roman Martyr (St.)
Epimachus, Roman Martyr (St.)
Primulus, Roman Confessor (St.)
Major or Medon, Roman Confessor (St.)
BHL Number: 3612
FROM MSS.
[1] In the times of Julian the most impious Emperor, were divulged many Christians. And when these things had heard the most impious Julian, with wrath full, he ordered them to be held, & into public custody to be sent. There was moreover among them a certain Christian, S. Januarius the Presb. examines Gordianus the Vicar of Julian the Emp. by name Januarius, an old Presbyter. But after the third day the most impious Julian the Emperor sent, & called to him Gordianus his Vicar, & ordered him that Januarius the Presbyter from his audience he should interrogate. Then Gordianus the Vicar ordered to himself, as had charged him the King, Januarius the Presbyter led out of prison to be presented: to whom thus he said; Who are you called, or of what nation yourself to be you show, most happy b orator, declare to us. Answered S. Januarius the Presbyter, & said: If indeed the citizen to learn you wish, an Antiochene I am: but if the nation, from Christian parents Why us with many verbosities to deceive do you compel? Now therefore hear me, & choose for yourself of two one answer. Either sacrifice to the immortal gods, & be a friend of the most unconquered Prince our Julian; or certainly receive the sentence of nefarious c crimes. Answered moreover S. Januarius the Presbyter, & said to Gordianus: If you to me consent, I indeed myself desire to my God to offer a sacrifice of placation; yet whatever to me you say or promise, for my sins I said, for my sins, not for justice. Answered Gordianus & said to him: If for your sins all punishments you merit, pour to the gods libations, that so you may merit from us for their expiation to be saved. Answered therefore S. Januarius the Presbyter & said: I indeed in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ always saved I was, & as I believe, always saved I shall be, moreover also others saved e I have made through the reception of His baptism f, who desire to be saved. For you if you had wisdom, with whole heart indeed you would seek Him, & you would covet that you should find rest for your soul after so great a tempest, & you would have abiding life eternal.
[2] Then Gordianus the Vicar ordered him in house his own under guard committed to be held. by him in the faith he is instructed Whom inspiring the Lord by night calling together, he asserted that him he wished with his words to delight. To whom S. Januarius the Presbyter said: Son, do not lose your time, but rather do penance for the bodies of the Saints whom you have slain; & be baptized, that you may be able to find rest everlasting g, & in the fire eternal not be burned. Gordianus the Vicar, with these words compunct, said: And how secure shall I be, if washed I have been, that I escape torments eternal. Answered S. Januarius the Presbyter & said: I to you promise in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, that if with whole heart you shall believe & baptized you shall have been, of all your crimes will be wiped away the filth, so that you immaculate to the Lord Jesus Christ may offer. Gordianus the Vicar said: Give me the measure of believing. S. Januarius the Presbyter said: That you confess in the name of the Father & the Son & the Holy Spirit one Deity, & doing penance you show yourself to have sinned. Then Gordianus the Vicar with tears entered to his wife, by name Marina, with Marina his wife, & narrated to her all the admonitions of S. Januarius the Presbyter. Then his wife in that very hour of the night, holding the hand of her husband, they came together to S. Januarius the Presbyter: & falling to the ground they cast themselves at his feet asking him that they be baptized by him, crying out themselves to have sinned & saying to him: Redeem us from our sins. To these answered S. Januarius the Presbyter, saying to them: See whether with whole heart you believe, or lest some veil in hidden things you hold, because I know you by the Emperor to be honored. Answered Marina & said: One likeness of Jove given by the Emperor we have laid up, on account of which the holy Martyrs are tortured: but what shall we do about it now? Yet I will divulge to my Lord the way through which also we may merit to obtain the crown of life, when melted down by us it shall have been. But at the same hour introduced Marina B. Januarius the Presbyter into her bedroom, & the idol of Jove cast out & showed him the image of Jove of bronze gilded, & a tripod of bronze. Which image with the altar grasping B. Januarius, a fire being kindled he melted down & cast into a sewer, & so with great joy catechized Gordianus, he is baptized with 53 others. with Marina his wife, & their family of both sexes in number fifty-three; whom also with h their Lords he baptized.
[3] At the same also time, after days fourteen, sent to Gordianus the Vicar Julian the most impious Caesar his Tribune, by name Clementianus, saying to him: Go & see whether he has declined to sacrifice to the great God Jove Januarius the Presbyter: he professes the Christian faith:
or if he has not persuaded him, then under a herald's voice in the forum of Trajan with clubs let him be beaten. And was done this which had charged the Emperor to Clementianus. Answering moreover Gordianus, said to Clementianus: O Clementianus, if you knew to be the Lord Jesus Christ, both the threats & terrors of a mortal man not would you fear: but rather you would see life eternal, just as also I have seen now prepared for me. For the Priest holy I will honor, & now not injure: whom I seeing his feet do not disdain to kiss, through whom also saved I have been. Then Clementianus going to the palace crying out said, the chief magus Januarius, who the Vicar Gordianus turned away by his magic arts. And when he entered to the Emperor Julian, he said to him; Januarius, whom your piety on account of his genius of letters praised, this one we have known a magus to be: who also has subverted your Vicar Gordianus, with all his house & wife, whom also he has baptized, & the gods of our Republic melted by fire into a mass has hidden. Then Julian the most impious Emperor, with wrath full, ordered by inscriptions to be condemned S. Januarius the Presbyter & B. Gordianus: he is shut in prison: to whom also a successor he gave Clementianus in his place to be Vicar. Him indeed B. Gordianus he charged to the public custody to be committed: his wife moreover Marina in a certain villa, which is called l At-the-Salvian-Waters, in the service of rustics to be oppressed. But afterward he ordered, that Gordianus under the judgment of Clementianus should be heard.
[4] he is set before Clementianus, At the same time charged Clementianus in the temple of Tellus for himself a tribunal to be prepared, & bound with chains B. Gordianus before him to be presented. Whom Clementianus thus interrogates, saying: Gordianus, so have you despised the precepts of the Prince our ever Augustus, who you honored & with dignity adorned the office, that also you with magic arts against the Republic & the safety of the most unconquered Prince our the gods melted down & hid? Answered B. Gordianus, & said to him: I rather for the safety of the Republic did this. For if I had all idols by hand made, I would break them & melt down. For whom do you say to be adored rather, whether him who made, or him who is fashioned? I indeed Him adore who made all things. Clementianus the Vicar said: And who is it who made all things? B. Gordianus said: Christ the son of God living. Clementianus the Vicar said: If He made all things, why by the prince of the republic Lord Julian ever Augustus was He cast out? B. Gordianus said to him: Rather Julian by God was cast out, who God did not fear, but adores idols of demons, with whom about to perish he is. Then Clementianus the Vicar said to Gordianus: Sacrifice to the immortal gods: but if not, I will make you with the head to be struck. B. Gordianus said: Never to you well be it, with leaden scourges he is beaten. wretch, nor to your Prince Julian, who in darkness is condemned. Then with anger moved Clementianus ordered him with leaden scourges to be beaten, & when long was beaten B. Gordianus, he cried out saying: Thanks to thee I give, Lord God my Jesus Christ.
[5] These things hearing the impious Clementianus ordered him with the head to be cut off there, before the temple in Tellus. he is beheaded, Whose body he ordered again before the temple of Pallas to be cast, in the place above said, that it not be buried for days five, but to the dogs be left. But when there came the dogs, m a barking & a howling they sent forth, & did not dare to touch, but rather guarded him. Then one of his household with other Christians in the nocturnal silence came, & seized the venerable body of the holy Martyr Gordianus: & coming into the way, which the Latin is called, he is buried with S. Epimachus not far from the city of Rome, but as a milestone more or less one, there they laid him in a crypt, on the sixth of the Ides of May, where already long before holy Epimachus they had buried. In which also place the benefits of them & virtues flourish even to the present day, to the praise & glory of our Lord Jesus Christ: to whom is honor & glory, together with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
is from the Capene gate, from which not far S. Paul the Apostle with the head was struck, & in his honor a temple & monastery by posterity erected, which then SS. Vincent's & Anastasius's was called, as often has been said, & must be said at the Life of S. Paul.
APPENDIX
The church & cemetery of these Martyrs at Rome. The sacred pledges brought to the churches of Kempten, Weingarten, Prague & Prüm.
Gordianus, Roman Martyr (St.)
Epimachus, Roman Martyr (St.)
Primulus, Roman Confessor (St.)
Major or Medon, Roman Confessor (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR G. H.
[1] The cemetery of S. Gordianus The Gordian cemetery outside the Latin gate described Peter Manlius, in the Catalogue of cemeteries of the City in Paul Aringhus, book 4 of Rome subterranean chapter 3. A name to it from S. Gordianus the Martyr given sufficiently openly intimate the ancient of the Hieronymian Martyrology apographs, the Corbey, Lucca, & Blumian with these words: At Rome the Latin way, in the cemetery of the same, the birthday of Gordianus: & in the cemetery of Prætextatus at Rome the birthday of S. Epimachus. But Ado thus joined: At Rome the Latin way, in the cemetery of the same, the birthday of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus. But when it is said in the cemetery of the same, & not of the same ones, it is referred to S. Gordianus: whom there, as the Acts have, after death they laid, where already long before S. Epimachus they had buried. Notker thus speaks: Gordianus's body they laid in a crypt in the cemetery of Prætextatus, where already long before the body of the blessed Martyr Epimachus had been buried. It seems therefore the cemetery of Gordianus contiguous to have been to the cemetery of Prætextatus, although that to the Latin way, this to the Appian is attributed: which most excellently is confirmed on the XXV of August in the Acts of S. Nemesius the Deacon, & his church & Epimachus's, whom with the head to be cut off they ordered between the way Appian & Latin. There once a basilica of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus constructed, by Adrian the Pope first anew to have been renovated, writes Anastasius the Librarian in his Life. The words below in the Acts of SS. Quartus & Quintus we explain.
[2] But of that Pontiff in the third year, of Christ 774, the bodies of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus the Martyrs from Rome into Alamannia to have been brought writes in his Chronicle Hermann the Lame. the bodies in the year 774 brought to the Church of Kempten, These the Life of B. Hildegard the Queen by us on the XXX of April illustrated num. 2 more clearly explains with these words: Among those monasteries, of which she that most blessed foundress was, the Kempten house more especially she loved, which both with riches she heaped & with honors exalted… Whence also Andegarius, the first of the same cenobium Elect… to Rome with herself she led, & … from Pope Adrian to be consecrated obtained. Then with the precious bodies of the holy Martyrs Gordianus & Epimachus endowed the Queen, with joyfulness returned & glory; the more indeed glorious & joyful the more devoutly, because so glorious she carried back a burden, & because by her prayers Pope Adrian deigning to come to Kempten, newly by him constructed dedicated the monastery, in honor indeed of the holy Mother of God Mary, & of the holy Martyrs Gordianus & Epimachus, whose bodies there even to the present day rest, & with divine offices are cultivated. These things more at length are read in the said Life, which the Author from an old MS. renewed in the year 14 72. The Dedication of the Kempten church, by a Legate Pontifical probably made, to the Pontiff himself against the verisimilitude attributing, as there we noted. But about the Relics Bucelinus in the Sacrarium Benedictine at this X of May these things writes: Of these the sacred bodies are kept in the cenobium of Kempten, Some bones in the church of Weingarten, & notable parts in that of Weingarten. The same Bucelinus part 2 of Germany sacred, recounting the Relics in the monastery of Weingarten kept, asserts, to be notable portions of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus. Charles IV the Emperor, & in the Cathedral of Prague: by an epistle to all of the kingdom of Bohemia the estates in the year 1354 given & by Thomas John Pessina in the Metropolitan of Prague published testifies page 434 himself in the monastery of Kempten to have obtained relics of the bones of Gordianus & Epimachus the Martyrs. In the Diary of the Relics of the Church of Prague are said to be fragments four. In the MS. Martyrology of Prague the same are confirmed, & the Ecclesiastical Office under the semidouble rite in the whole diocese is recited.
[3] There is a certain MS. Chronicle of the monastery of Prüm in the diocese of Treves, the author Servatius Ottlerus there a cenobite: from which John Gamansius by himself described to us has transmitted the following: The Abbot Gregory in peace buried, by lineage & virtue illustrious & in religion notable Lord Gerardus, of the most noble & most ancient stock of the Counts of Vienne, the Prelacy & principate of the Church of Prüm received in order the twenty-ninth. This man frugal, with glory at once & advantage of the house of God is known to have presided, of piety a cultivator & propagator chief. And among the rest of his strenuousness's works this surely greatest ought to be esteemed, that with a new foundation of the lower Prüm a church of God & of Christ's handmaids a cenobium he constructed: & in the lower Prüm which certainly by day & night of religious women the Lord praising a dwelling providently with earthly possessions, for the supplement of corporeal necessity, from the substance & heritage of the holy Savior, he augmented: & that very sacred church of the holy Martyrs Gordianus & Epimachus with sacred bodies he honored, exalted, sanctified. Over which sacred & new of Christ family he set first his kinswoman, Sophia by name: who to God consecrated a Virgin the office enjoined on her of a most devout Mother well fulfilling, of virtue & sanctity to posterity left most illustrious vestiges. Of this therefore foundation the reason that more certainly may be expressed & more truly believed in its tenor the testament of her it pleases here to append.
[4] In the name of the holy & undivided Trinity. I Gerardus, by Divine favoring mercy, of the holy Prüm Church the humble minister, to all of Christ the faithful, as future as present, greeting which is in Christ Jesus. by Gerardus the Abbot of Prüm founded What to the honor of God & the usefulness of those serving God piously by us & rationally has been done, to the memory of letters to commend worthy we have judged; in so far as through this both the deed done its necessary to itself of firmness strength in the present may obtain, & all of calumniating occasion in the future may rest.
For since certain it is, brief to be & momentary of the present life the state, since here we have not an abiding city; it befits us with works good vigilantly to toil, that to the heavenly fatherland & city eternally abiding to come we may be able. It pleased therefore our discretion, those serving God, of whatever they be of order, with charity not feigned to love, & with the necessity of temporal things, in as much as we can, God helping to sustain. Hence it is that a certain noble woman, by the line of consanguinity to us nearest, in habit, vow & conversation honest a nun, Sophia by name, an Abbess called & consecrated, into our parts with few Sisters to her subject coming, kindly we received. Who having left her kinsmen & the land of her nation, into a land to her & to her own somewhat alien, in peace & quiet all the days of her life God to serve most devoutly desiring, to our & our friends' providence, protection, counsel, & help humbly herself submitted. We indeed so devout of mind her considering the desire, & immutable in the sex frail purpose admiring; a situation to her will sufficiently congruous, near a chapel of a certain court, which the lower Prüm is called, & that very chapel ours with its appendages entirely, & the benefice & allod of a certain man ours, by heirs legitimate into our hands voluntarily designated, by the counsel of our faithful to her perpetually we gave. She indeed three Virgins very small, of the already said benefice & allod heirs, with her wonted piety to herself joined: whom with a maternal of love affection, under regular discipline of her order, to serve God to instruct zealously she took care. We therefore of the same handmaid of Christ at the good beginnings rejoicing together, with the aforesaid place two Mother Churches, namely Merinche & Romeschem with their daughters, to the aforesaid Abbess & to those who after her are to be, by perpetual right to be possessed we delivered; saved through all things & untouched the right, which to the Prebend of the Prüm monks from the ancient constitution to pertain is known, & of any service, which to the Abbot of either church is owed. Of the rest whatever the Abbess for her advantage thence shall be able to ordain, his sister Adelheid helping. to her & to her cenobium's uses shall accrue: nonetheless also the shrubs, which are in the hill, which is called Comerworst, to her we have granted, so that six denarii yearly thence she pay. A place also for a mill to be constructed suitable to her we have granted: which when it shall have been built, five maldra of rye thence through the several years to the Abbot she shall render. Of the rest my sister Adelheid, Countess of Molbach, a venerable widow, of the allod which from her great-grandfather, grandfather & father legitimately she had possessed, our part, namely the little villa which Noverode is called, with all its appendages, bondmen, fields, meadows & woods (except the enfeoffed) for the safety of her soul, & of her husband & children & of all her successors, to the honor of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus, to serve God & the glorious Virgin Mary & the holy Martyrs Gordianus & Epimachus, in perpetuity most devoutly to the same place gave: & me & my successors of the holy Prüm Church Abbots, Advocates & Defenders by the authority & grace of almighty God solemnly instituted. Moreover of the tithes in Neukirchen four modii of wheat, six modii of rye, twenty modii of oats to the nuns in that same chapel the Lord serving, on the several years before the Natal day of our Lord Jesus Christ, without all impediment to be paid firmly & very devoutly she instituted. a confirmation before their altar made, We therefore, with the aforesaid Countess & several honest men, before the altar of the aforesaid Martyrs coming under the stole, with the bond of anathema we confirmed, that to no ever of men these things to change or to infringe be lawful, but ratified & unshaken in perpetuity may remain. But if anyone this our of the institution confirmation to violate, to change or to infringe presume or attempt, perpetually anathema be he, & the anger & indignation of the most blessed Virgin Mary may he incur, & the inevitable of her son our Lord Jesus Christ vengeance eternally may he feel, unless humbly & timely he repent. Of the many assisting of certain ones the names in testimony to be written we caused. Gerardus of the Church of holy Salvator Dean, Bertramus Custodian, Cuno Cantor, Bertholdus Provost of the church of S. Mary, Hermann Dean, Theodoricus Scholastic, Bertramus Custodian, & several of the Church ministerials. These things were done & with the seal of holy Salvator, ours also & of the Countess marked, in the year 1190. in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1190 Indiction VII, Epact XII, reigning Lord Henry the glorious Emperor Frederick's son happily. Upon the articles also of the same foundation other of consent & confirmation copies are had, namely of John the Archbishop of Treves, the Archdeacon, & of the whole Chapter of the same Church; & likewise of the Supreme Pontiffs Celestine & Honorius: which for prolixity's avoiding sake here to be omitted we judged. Hitherto Olerus. Mentions this Parthenon at the said year 1190 Christopher Browerus book 15 of the Annals of Treves, & asserts the pledges of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus the Martyrs from the basilica of Salvator to the new Virgins' temple to be brought were: & them to this brought writes Bucelinus in Gerardus the XXIX Abbot of Prüm's elogium. But we judge them by the Kempten ones received, & to have been some of these Martyrs' more notable bones, & so to be said the bodies of them at Prüm to be.
ON SS. QUARTUS AND QUINTUS
ROMAN MARTYRS DEPOSITED AT CAPUA.
CommentaryQuartus, Roman Martyr, deposited at Capua (St.)
Quintus, Roman Martyr, deposited at Capua (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR G. H.
That ancient among the Romans existed the memory of SS. Quartus & Quintus the Martyrs, we gather from their cemetery, in the century of Christ eighth renovated, about which Anastasius the Librarian in the Life of Hadrian the Pope first these things writes: The cemetery. In like manner also the Basilica of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus, or the cemetery of the same Church of Simplicius & Servilianus, & of Quartus & Quintus the Martyrs, & of B. Sophia, together with the cemetery of S. Tertullinus, outside the Latin gate anew he renovated. These things there. The Acts of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus, suffering under Julian the Apostate, already this X of May we have given: but of SS. Simplicius, others Sulpitius, & Servilianus, who under Trajan crowned were, the Passion we illustrated on the day XX of April. About S. Tertullinus, who under Valerian a Martyr died, must be treated on the day IV of August. Blessed Sophia judges Aringhus of Rome subterranean book 4 chapter 4, not to be of the holy three daughters Virgins & Martyrs the mother most celebrated, whose body with the daughters' bodies is said to be buried together, & whose memory is recalled on the XXX of September; but of the same name a Virgin & Martyr, whose afterward the body into the title of Equitius by Sergius II to transfer it happened. In the most ancient of the Martyrology Hieronymian apograph the Epternac, at this day, when it had been treated of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus, soon is subjoined: The Latin way to the Hundred-halls of Quartus & Quintus. the cult ancient. The said Martyrology described Usuard & Ado, both with these words: Likewise at Rome the Latin way to the Hundred-halls, the birthday of SS. Quartus & Quintus. These followed the rest of the Martyrologists: from whom we gather these in the said place for the Christian faith's confession to have been with martyrdom crowned, & their venerable bodies there a place of burial to have obtained: which once an estate had been of SS. Simplicius & Servilianus, but afterward a name had received from some noble or imperial edifice, that the Hundred-halls it was called: but then SS. Quartus & Quintus & B. Sophia's bodies had received, as a common to all cemetery, above which, after Julian's slaying, a noble of SS. Gordianus & Epimachus arose church, & from all a common received appellation. But at what time or by what kind of martyrdom they ended their life plainly to lie hidden we judge.
[2] Whether Bishops of Capua, or Confessors Another is the sense of the Church of Capua, in whose Breviary, which we have in the year 1489 printed, on the day IX of March, is prescribed in the Calendar, in red character, a solemn feast, under the double rite, of Quartus & Quintus, Bishops of Capua: & this is prescribed a Prayer. Be propitious, we beseech Lord, to us thy servants, through these holy Confessors & Pontiffs Quartus & Quintus, who in the present rest church, the glorious merits, that by their pious intercession from all things always we may be protected adverse. The Gospel for the Lessons at Matins is recited according to Luke, Let your loins be girt, with the ordinary homily of S. Gregory the Pope. Meanwhile the rest are prescribed, as in the feast of SS. Tiburtius, Valerian & Maximus the Martyrs: & namely the Chapter The just shall stand in great constancy. or Martyrs? The Hymn at first Vespers & at Matins, Of the Saints the merits illustrious joys: at Lauds & second Vespers, King glorious of the Martyrs: & so consequently from the Office of Martyrs in the Paschal time. Michael the Monk in the Sanctuary of Capua published four Calendars, & in the third & fourth of these these things are read, Of the holy Confessors Quartus & Quintus. The same Michael the Monk recounts from page 213 the Bishops of Capua, among whom the sixth & seventh by him are placed S. Quartus Bishop & Martyr, & S. Quintus Bishop & Martyr: & he adds: We follow the Cardinal de S. Severina, who on account of the authority of the Breviary these did not omit. These indeed others are to be reckoned from those, about whom in the month of May the Roman Martyrology: in which at this day X these things are read: Likewise at Rome the Latin way to the Hundred-halls, the birthday of the holy Martyrs Quartus & Quintus: whose bodies to Capua were translated. Ferdinand Ughellus volume 6 of Italy sacred, when about S. Aristæus, the fifth Capuan Bishop, he had treated, these things subjoins: After this the same Monk SS. Quartus & Quintus the Martyrs, or rather Martyrs not Pontiffs whose festal day in the Roman Martyrology X of May is celebrated, Capuan Bishops to have been relates from an old Breviary. But since Baronius to Capua the bodies of SS. Quartus & Quintus translated asserts, & nothing about the Episcopal dignity has, it seems to be asserted, not Bishops but Martyrs to have been, since also the Cardinal Bellarmine them from his Catalogue has expunged. These things Ughellus. The same refers as Martyrs Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, & adds them in the new of that Church Tables not to be named Bishops. Nay in the cited above Breviary, just as they are called Confessors, & yet are venerated with the Office of Martyrs; so could be added the name of Bishops.
[3] The same Michael the Monk page 35, But indeed, he says, Quartus & Quintus, to the Roman ascribed Martyrology, were Clerics of Capua, Martyrs suffering at Rome on the Latin way: nor that gratuitously we assert. In a chapel, which now is called of S. Francis, Their altar & under it the bodies: was an ancient altar, which was called of SS. Quartus & Quintus. Wished the chapel's Patron, permitting the Archbishop Cæsar Costa, that with marbles, & with marble of SS. Francis, Quartus & Quintus statues to adorn it: therefore the ancient altar demolished was, & was found under it a loculus two containing bodies, with an inscription, which on account of antiquity's mold whole was not read: but what could be read so has: where they are called Clerics: the bodies of the holy Clerics of Capua here placed are.
Which words the Archbishop Costa, in the lower base of the new altar there erected, to be sculptured only wished. Come now let us join with the firm tradition the inscription, & about the Clericate of SS. Quartus & Quintus we shall not doubt. There is added that in the church of S. Priscus their images, among other many most ancient, in mosaic are beheld. They are images joined with countenance very youthful, with head shorn, as now to mendicants to be shorn the custom is: they have in hand a crown: certainly with a crown to have been Martyrs it argues. The Archbishop Cæsar Costa, when to the church of S. Priscus for recreation's sake he had turned aside, the most holy Sacrament adored, those images visited; & reading the inscribed names, & this proves the Mosaic old with hand raised to me turned, See, he said, Martyrs with crowns. The tonsure what, unless to have been Clerics it shows? And the faces those as if boyish, among other of the holy Ecclesiastics images, either of old men, or of men, or of youths, that not in a lesser order constituted they were to doubt will it allow? But if Capuan Clerics, for what cause suffering at Rome? Hence I myself gather, SS. Quartus & Quintus to have been men in the city Capua chief, & sprung from a noble lineage. Were wont the Prefects of provinces, the more noble by lineage Christians apprehended to Rome to dispatch. Baronius year 104. So to be judged it is to have happened to SS. Quartus & Quintus: namely apprehended they on account of the Christian faith's confession, dispatched to Rome, & there by the Emperor (whoever he was) with the head struck, & their bodies at last to Capua, their fatherland, restored.
[4] These things for his singular toward Capua his fatherland affection Michael the Monk. Who in the second part of his Sanctuary, about to treat of the Saints who have images in the church of S. Priscus after page 132, exhibits the dome or cupola of that church, where Saints sixteen are represented in Mosaic or tessellated work, in the act of offering crowns, which they hold with either hand; so that in the middle, in the church of S. Priscus. with countenances to one another turned & eyes to heaven raised, are beheld on this side S. Peter the Apostle, on that side S. Priscus the Bishop, of stature virile, of countenance senile & bearded; but between them under the outstretched of the same arms, stand boys two, by half smaller than they, with above written names, on this side S. Quartus, on that side S. Quintus, plainly such, as above are described by the words of Costa the Bishop; yet so that S. Quintus in body & age somewhat greater seems, than S. Quartus.
[5] An excellent altogether of venerable antiquity monument that is, & which engraved in copper here I wished to give to be beheld. But when for that end doubts certain I had proposed in the year 1677 to R. P. Antonius Auria, of the Capuan then College the Rector; sent he to the village of S. Priscus a Priest industrious, who the very images accurately should inspect, & Michael the Monk's facsimile, how aptly it was expressed, should consider. But from his answer it was understood, little accurately formed to be that facsimile: wherefore the work that to be deferred I judged, until a more accurate other be obtained delineation, according to the form by me submitted, which of use can be for the natal day of S. Priscus himself the I of September.
[6] Moreover that SS. Quartus & Quintus were from Capua sprung, with difficulty you would beat out from those three letters Cap. For what if Capite plexos (beheaded) they signify? But let us grant Capuans to indicate: whether therefore will it follow, that they from Capua to martyrdom to Rome were sent? I do not judge. They could also such have been to the Roman Clergy ascribed already before by some of the Roman Pontiffs, & in his ministry familiar to have lived; that even thereby more illustrious their martyrdom was; but they are referred after Gordianus & Epimachus in the Martyrology of SS. Jerome, either because with them they suffered under Julian; or rather because, they themselves making the Title of the church, & therefore first to be named, of burial a place lent, long before suffering on the same day, but in the reckoning of popular cult later. The bodies of SS. Sulpitius & Servilianus on the Latin way once laid to have been above we said: & them by Hadrian the Pontiff's grace & help translated to have been into Germany, to the monastery Ellwangen, the cult at Ellwangen. now a Church Collegiate, from the old of the said place tradition was said at their natal day XX of April. In the same Ellwangen church, under the rite double of the second class, this X of May, are venerated also as Patrons SS. Quartus & Quintus: about whom besides a Prayer proper all things are taken from the Common of Martyrs; & this to be done on account of their notable Relics there deposited to conjecture, once to us wrote Christopher Striborius of our Society a Priest.