ON ST. SOPHRONIAN AND COMPANIONS: SOPHRONIAN, MARTYR OF CARTHAGE, AND THE MARTYRS AMARANTUS OR AMARANTA, QUINTUS, AND LUCIUS,
PERHAPS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.
CRITICAL SYLLOGE
Remembrance from the Hieronymian martyrologies.
Sophronian, martyr of Carthage. (S.)
Amarantus or Amaranta, martyr. (S.)
Quintus, martyr. (S.)
Lucius, martyr. (S.)
By V. D. B.
Already at the day immediately preceding there was met in the Usuard of Greven at Carthage the feast of St. Suffrasianus; St. Sophronian, martyr of Carthage, who, we noted among the things passed over, was taken by an error of one day from today's Hieronymian lists, in which the same corruption of the name occurs in many places. In the Lucca codices of Fiorentini, namely, one reads: And at Carthage St. Suffronisianus; in the greater Corbie codex of d'Achery: At Carthage St. Suffonisaenus; in the Echternach codex of St. Willibrord or the Antwerp one: At Carthage Fofronius; in the Reichenau codex of Solier: And at Carthage Sofronius; and finally in the Barberini supplement of the Martyrology of Bede: At Carthage St. Suffratianus. From this into the Martyrology of the African church, which Morcelli collected from every side Africa Christiana, vol. II, p. 373, he brought in here at the present day this commemoration: At Carthage St. Suffronius, M. But Suffronius has no form of a Latin or Greek name, although in the testament of St. Remigius, archbishop of Reims Acta SS., vol. 1 of October, p. 167, one reads Suffronia the colona, and among the old bishops of Mainz there is reviewed a Suffronius Werner, der Mainzer Dom, vol. I, p. 368; for these are variations of the name Sophronia or Sophronius, introduced through the Gallic dialect. Much more twisted from the true form are the names Suffrasianus, Suffratianus, Suffronisianus, Suffronisaenus and Fofronius. Sofronius or Sophronius is a good form; but since in most codices the very common ending -anus is present, this it seems cannot be neglected: and therefore we have not hesitated to write St. Sophronian at the head. Of the deeds of this saint nothing at all is known to us. Although he suffered and was venerated at Carthage, his name is absent from the calendar of Carthage edited by Mabillon Analecta, p. 163 and following, folio edition. The foreign word indicates that he was a slave or freedman.
[2] and the holy martyrs Amarantus and With the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude interposed, the following are then added in the Lucca Hieronymian calendar: Lucius, known only from the Hieronymian lists. Of Amarantus, Quintus and Lucius; where the greater Corbie codex puts Justus before Lucius. The Antwerp or Echternach codex goes on thus: At Carthage Amaranta, Quintus and Lucius; the Augsburg codex of Solier, omitting Sophronian, in this manner: Amantius, Marina, Quintus, Lucius; very close to these the Labbe codex: Amarantus, Mariana, Quintus, Lucius. In these it is manifest that Marina or Mariana belongs to the Antiochene group of which I spoke above. Amantius, on account of its singularity, seems able to be neglected. For the same reason there is no need to take account of the Carthaginian palaestra, marked in the Antwerp codex and wrongly carried over from St. Sophronian to this group. There remain Amarantus or Amaranta, Quintus and Lucius; about whom it can be asked whether they are the same who are reviewed on the 29th day of October, namely Sts. Hyacinth, Quintus, Lucius or Lucinius and Felician. The name of Hyacinth certainly was very ill treated by the copyists, inasmuch as they changed it into Sanecintus, Sacinthus, Sancinctus, into Sacus and Notus and finally Sacinatus. But however corrupted these forms may be, it appears that they have come from Hyacinth. Amarantus, however, is an altogether different name, not common indeed, yet not rare, and having nothing in common with Hyacinth. Add that Felician, who is part of the Hyacinthian group, is never intruded among the companions of St. Amarantus: which would certainly have happened, if the same group had come forth on two days.