ON SS. CALENDIO AND THEOPHILUS, MARTYRS OF NICOMEDIA,
CRITICAL SYLLOGE.
Calendio, martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia. (S.)
Theophilus, martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia. (S.)
BY V. D. B.
§ Sole. The origin and nature of the Hieronymian Martyrology. The names of SS. Calendio and Theophilus wrongly mixed with other names of saints in the sacred calendars.
[The Hieronymian Martyrology, put together after the middle of the eighth century in Gaul from an Italian compilation with two or more sets of excerpts added to it,] How laborious a business it is to treat of the martyrs who, because they have become known from the lists commonly called Hieronymian, are themselves everywhere commonly called Hieronymian, there is no need for me to warn readers who have spent some little time in our Work. Some light came in the year 1866, when William Wright published the Syriac Martyrology, written in Greek in the fourth or fifth century, but turned into Syriac and increased at the end with the names of some Syrian, Persian and other Eastern saints, and copied in the year 412. Yet neither this Martyrology itself nor its Latin version lighted the way for the arranger of the Hieronymian Martyrology, but another, similar Syriac Martyrology, or a Latin version of it, which contained many more names and did not always agree with the former in fixing the feast days. We have spoken of this matter at St. Thraseas at the 27th day of October. New light was brought when, in reviewing volume II of the Roma subterranea of the most learned Chevalier de Rossi, I saw that the character of the Hieronymian Martyrology is this: that two compilations were made, one in Italy, the other in Gaul. The former, or Italian, was gathered after the middle of the fifth century, partly from calendars, that is, from that Syriac Martyrology or from a Latin translation of it, from the Indices of Furius Philocalus and other Roman calendars, from the African and Italian calendars and the like, and partly from the Passions of the martyrs and other historical books.
From this compilation an excerpt was then made by a very unskilled man, who omitted most of the place-names and wrote only part of the names of the saints; but whose negligence appears chiefly in this, that he often transferred the memorials of the saints from one day to neighbouring ones. This wretched excerpt was followed by another copyist, no good one, who added new blemishes to the earlier and took away other names. These three books came in the later eighth century into Gaul, where there existed other collections similar to the Ottoboni ones, published by Giorgi after the Martyrology of Ado; to which books the Gellone Martyrology, brought to light by d'Achery, and the Augsburg and Labbe ones, printed by the labours of Sollerius, come close. So when a Gallic cleric had these codices in his possession, he composed from them after the year 752 a new Martyrology, repeating and mixing all the names; so that, unless he plainly saw that the memorials were the same, he doubled or tripled them, not only on neighbouring days but often on the same days, generally setting down in the first place the Italian Compilation, in the second the later or worse excerpts, and in the third the earlier or less bad excerpts. Hence the Gallican Compilation, which we today call by the common name Hieronymian Martyrology, comprises the Italian Compilation and the excerpts: to which are added memorials copied partly from a Gallican Martyrology of the seventh or eighth century, partly from Passions of martyrs and other books. And most of these things we detect in St. Calendio and his companion, as in a hundred other places.
[2] Thus in the Syriac Martyrology of Wright there occurs at this day at Nicomedia the memorial of the confessor Klidium; according to the Syriac Martyrology, it presents St. Calendio today whose true name the most learned editor suspects to be Cledonius, as if there had been written [ ]; but the first or Italian compiler of the Hieronymian Martyrology, or whoever supplied him with the translation from the Syriac, read [ ], and wrote in Latin Calendio. I did doubt a very little whether it might not be St. Claudian, martyr of Nicomedia, celebrated with St. Victor on the 6th of March: but I easily withdrew from this opinion, since it rests on no authority: for in Syriac too Claudian is written [ ]. Then, although it must be admitted that the name Calendio is unusual among the Greeks, since it is found neither in the new Thesaurus Graecus of Stephanus nor in Pape's Lexicon of Greek names W. Pape, Wörterbuch der Griechischen Eigennamen., it is nevertheless not foreign to Christian usage; for in the Hieronymian Martyrology there occur several saints Calendio, African, Spanish and Sardinian, and indeed Calandio, bishop of Antioch, subscribed the Synod of Ephesus, another, of Halicarnassus, that of Chalcedon, and a third the Roman Synod of the year 503. And what of the fact that in the cemetery of Pontianus Boldetti Osservazioni sopra i cimeteri di Roma, page 490. found this inscription:
KALENDIVS FIL. E. E. ANN. VI IN P. Kalendius, son, ... aged 6 years, in peace.
[3] with several other names; In the companions the difficulty is far greater. In the Bern Hieronymian Martyrology (which the distinguished Giovanni Battista de Rossi Roma sotterranea, volume II, page XII. has greatly praised, and a copy of which, transcribed by his own hand, was most munificently given to us by the learned William Arndt, then an associate in editing the Monumenta Germaniae), we read at the 30th day of October: At Nicomedia, of Januarius, Calendio, Marcian, Maximus, Germanus, Mark, Theophilus, Eusebius: likewise in the greater Corbie manuscript, published by d'Achery Spicilegium, De la Barre edition, volume II, page 20., we read at the present day: At Nicomedia, of Januarius, Calendio, Martial, Germanus, Mark, Theophilus, Eusebius; with which the Lucca manuscript of Fiorentini fully agrees; but the Echternach or Antwerp manuscript departs from it somewhat, in this way: At Nicomedia, the birthday of Januarius, Calendinus, Marsian, Germanus, Mark, Theophilus. And in Comsa, of Maximus, Eusebius. In the breviaries the band of companions appears at first sight much greater. In the lesser Gellone manuscript, published by d'Achery, these words are read Ibid., page 35.: Nicomedia, of Januarius, Calendio, Mark, Germanus, Martial, Peter, Anticus, Marcian, Saturninus; and the same in the Augsburg and Labbe manuscripts of Sollerius, except that in the Augsburg Caticus and in the Labbe Atticus is written, better, in place of Anticus. The Auxerre manuscript of St. Germanus has this Martène, Thesaurus Anecdotorum, volume III, column 1561.: At Nicomedia, of Januarius, Calendio, Mark, Germanus; but the lesser Corbie manuscript ascribes Januarius alone to Nicomedia. In the Reichenau manuscript we read: At Nicomedia, of Januarius, Calendinus. The Auctaria of Bede, published by Papebroch before volume II of March, in part mention the same saints: the Vatican and the St. Cyriacus manuscripts announce only Januarius and Martial; the Barberini Calendio, Martial, Theophilus; the Tournai and Liessies Calendio, Martial, Germanus; while the Arras and Tournai assign Theophilus and Eusebius to Africa. But at the following day in the larger Hieronymian lists, because of the omission of the place of combat, St. Calendio seems to occur among the African martyrs, taken from the later Italian Excerpts; and a little lower, according to the earlier Excerpts, is read: At Nicomedia, of Philip and Calendio.
[4] of whom St. Theophilus alone is legitimate. Of these you may safely strike out St. Germanus, since he is none other than the bishop of Capua, whose feast is kept today. Nor do the words in Comsa, of Maximus belong here, since they designate St. Maximus, the martyr of Cumae. Mark too is to be set aside; for, being absent from the Italian Compilation, he is omitted in both Excerpts; indeed he seems to have been fashioned out of St. Marcellus the centurion, celebrated today in many calendars, and inserted by the Gallic composer. Januarius and Martial too seem to me to be struck out, since they are to be reckoned none other than Januarius and Marcian, martyrs of Antioch, who are also praised today in the Hieronymian lists. And indeed that Januarius, who stands there as a kind of standard-bearer, holds the first place neither in the Syriac Martyrology nor at the following day in the Excerpts; on the contrary, he does not appear. Then, in place of Martial, Marsian is read in the Echternach copy, so that the names of the Antiochene pair are present. Therefore, since in the earlier and the later Excerpts Calendio and Theophilus, martyrs of Nicomedia, had been transferred to the following day, and Januarius with Marcian, the place of their combat omitted, came in the first place, they were easily mixed by the Gallic compiler with the martyrs of Nicomedia: for the Antiochenes are not otherwise duplicated on this day or the following one in the Gallican Compilation. Eusebius, who in the larger codices comes at the end of the Nicomedian band, seems not to have been admitted into the Italian Compilation, nor is he mentioned in the Excerpts: he was merely added by the Gallic compiler; that Eusebius indeed is truly a martyr of Nicomedia, but not a companion of SS. Calendio and Theophilus, having suffered martyrdom separately, and being commemorated alone on this day and the following. Certainly in a very ancient Calendar, once written in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland, then augmented at Stavelot in Belgium and at last brought to light by Martène Amplissima Collectio, volume VI, column 677., this is read today: Of Eusebius, martyr; and in the Verdun one Ibid., column 685.: Of St. Theonestus, martyr. Of Eusebius, martyr. Better, however, did Florus, who had the Acts of St. Eusebius before his eyes, add to Bede this at the following day, that is, the 31st of October: At Nicomedia the passion of St.
Eusebius: who in the time of the emperor Maximian, under the governor Maxentius, completed his martyrdom by the cutting off of his head. At the same day Greven and Molanus, in the Auctaria of Usuard, mention Eusebius, martyr, whose deeds are extant. Several copies of his Passion are at our disposal; one of which was published in the Bollandist Work at the 30th day of May. Peter and Atticus are not martyrs of Nicomedia, and belong to another band. Saturninus is the bishop of Toulouse, whose translation is recorded today in several calendars. Besides St. Calendio there thus remains only St. Theophilus, neglected in the later Excerpts, changed in the earlier ones at the 31st day of October into Philip, and by Greven in the Auctaria of Usuard at the same day into Philip, a Roman priest. Quite pure is the Ottoboni Martyrology, which, not at the 31st of October but rightly at the 30th, begins thus: At Nicomedia, the birthday of Saints Kalendio and Theophilus. Since in the year 303 the persecution began to rage most of all at Nicomedia, the passion of both holy martyrs might not absurdly be referred to that time. But since Christians were harassed at Nicomedia at other times as well, one must consider how much authority is to be granted to our conjecture.