many other precarious assumptions of the same kind, only in the later and the least entitled to credit*. On * Clemens Romanus, Epistola ad Corinthios Prima, i. 5: λάβωμεν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἡμῶν τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς ἀποστόλους. Πέτρος διὰ ζῆλον ἄδικον οὐχ ἵνα οὐδὲ δύο, ἀλλὰ πλείονας, ὑπέμεινεν πόνους, καὶ οὕτω μαρτυρήσας ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὸν ὀφειλόμενον τόπον τῆς δόξης. διὰ ζῆλον ὁ Παῦλος ὑπομονῆς βραβεῖον ἀπέσχεν, ἑπτάκις δεσμὰ φορέσας, ῥαβδευθείς, λιθασθεὶς, κῆρυξ γενόμενος ἔν τε τῇ ἀνατολῇ καὶ ἐν τῇ δύσει, τὸ γενναῖον τῆς πίστεως αὐ τοῦ κλέος ἔλαβεν, δικαιοσύνην διδάξας ὅλον τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ τέρμα τῆς δύσεως ἐλθὼν, καὶ μαρτυρήσας ἐπὶ τῶν ἡγουμένων, οὕτως ἀπηλλάγη τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἅγιον τόπον ἐπορεύθη, ὑπομονῆς γενόμενος μέγιστος ὑπογραμμός. The natural inference from this passage, is not only that Peter and Paul did not suffer together, but that Peter suffered before Paul. Dionysius bishop of Corinth, (Eusebius, E. H. ii. 25. 68. Α. Β: Syncellus, i. 645. 1.3-9,) bears witness to the fact of these two apostles' suffering κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρόν; as well as to their visiting Corinth and Rome, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρόν. But he says nothing of their suffering on the same day, and in the same year. Gaius or Caius the presbyter, (apud Eusebium, E.H. ii. 25. 67, 68: Syncellum, i. 644, 645.) éyw δὲ τὰ τρόπαια τῶν ἀποστόλων ἔχω δεῖξαι. ἐὰν γὰρ θελήσῃς ἀπελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν Βατικανὸν, ἢ ἐπὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν Ωστίαν, εὑρήσεις τὰ τρόπαια των ταύτην ἱδρυσαμένων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν 4. Petrus Alexandrinus, (apud Reliquias Sacras, iii. 332. 12:) οὕτως ὁ πρόκριτος τῶν ἀποστόλων Πέτρος... ἐν Ῥώμῃ ἐσταυρώθη. ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ περιβόητος Παῦλος ἐν τῇ αὐτ τῇ πόλει καὶ αὐτὸς μαχαίρᾳ τὴν κε φαλὴν ἀπεκείρατο. Clemens Alexandrinus, ii. 898. 1. 7. Stromatum vii. 17, attests the fact of the death of the apostles, and in particular of St. Paul, ἐπὶ Νέρωνος. ii. 869. 21. 4 In the Codex Apocryphus of Fabricius, p. 440. Apostolica Historia, i. cap. 20. St. Peter's history is thus summed up: Cujus corpus Marcellus, unus ex discipulis ejus, nullius exspectans sententiam, propriis manibus de cruce deposuit, et pretiosissimis aromatibus conditum in suo ipsius sarcophago collocavit, in loco qui dicitur Vaticanus, juxta viam triumphalem, ubi totius orbis veneratione celebratur in pace which last words seem to have been borrowed from Jerome's De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, i. or Jerome's from them: Sepultus Romæ in Vaticano, juxta viam triumphalem, totius orbis veneratione celebratur. In like manner, St. Paul's: Ibid. 455. ii. 8 : Cujus corpus Lucina, Christi famula, secundo ab urbe milliario, via Hostiensi, in proprio prædio differtum aromatibus sepelivit. passus est autem iii. Kalendas Julias, duobus jam a passione Petri elapsis annis. Ĉf. the Peregrinatio Pauli, apud Ecumenium, i. 193. Α. The site of the tomb of St. Peter, and of the church afterwards erected to his memory, according to Frocopius, De Bello Gotthico, i. 19. A. D. 537, was on the via Aurelia, near the Aurelian gate. Cf. Ibid. 22. Hard by was the mausoleum of Hadrian, minutely described, ibid. 22, and commanding the bridge leading to St. Peter's church, iii. 36. 434. 1. 1821. In Procopius' time the gate was called St. Peter's : and in like manner, the gate leading to Ostia, near which was the tomb and the church of St. Paul, (Ibid. ii. 4,) was called St. Paul's. It appears, Ibid. 4, that this church was fourteen stades, or a mile and an half, distant from the city: and that both this by the Ostian gate, and St. Peter's by the Aurelian, were without the city, a στοὰ or covered way, conducting from the city to either of them. these accounts, unless more unexceptionable testimony can be produced in its favour, we need not hesitate, if Stromatum vii. 11, he relates the following anecdote in reference to the death of St. Peter: φασὶ γοῦν τὸν μακάριον Πέτρον, θεασάμενον τὴν αὑτοῦ γυναῖκα ἀγομένην τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον, ἡσθῆναι μὲν τῆς κλήσεως χάριν, καὶ τῆς εἰς οἶκον ἀνακομιδῆς ἐπιφωνῆσαι δὲ εὖ μάλα προτρεπτικῶς τε καὶ παρακλητικῶς, ἐξ ὀνόματος προσειπόντα μέμνησο auτη Tоû Kupiov. Cf. Eusebius, iii. 1. 71. A. B: 30. 102. A. B. Ambrose also, Operum ii. 866. F— 867. B. Sermo Contra Auxentium, §. 13, supplies another traditionary anecdote in relation to the circumstances which more remotely preceded that event; more especially our Lord's reputed appearance to him as he was quitting or preparing to quit Rome: the original of which tradition was contained in the third Book of Hegesippus. Still there is here no mention of St. Paul. Tertullian, i. 193: Contra Marcionem, iv. 5: Videamus...quid etiam Romani de proximo sonent: quibus evangelium et Petrus et Paulus sanguine quoque suo signatum reliquerunt. ii. 28: De Præscriptionibus Hæreticorum, 24: Bene quod Petrus Paulo et in martyrio adæquatur. ii. 46: Ibid. cap. 36: De Romana Ecclesia: Felix ecclesia, cui totam doctrinam apostoli cum sanguine suo profuderunt: ubi Petrus passioni Dominicæ adæquatur: ubi Paulus Johannis exitu coronatur: ubi apostolus Johannes, postea quam in oleum igneum demersus nihil passus est, in insulam relegatur. ii. 387: Contra Gnosticos, 15: Vitas Cæsarum legimus: orientem fidem Romæ primus Nero cruentavit. tunc Petrus ab altero cingitur, cum cruci adstringitur. tunc Paulus civitatis Romanæ consequitur nativitatem, cum illic martyrii renascitur generositate. iv. 188: De Baptismo, 4: Nec quicquam refert inter eos quos Joannes in Jordane, et quos Petrus in Tiberi tinxit. v. 16: Apologeticus, 5 Consulite commentarios vestros. illic reperietis primum Neronem in hanc sectam tum maxime Romæ orientem Cæsariano gladio ferocisse. sed tali dedicatore damnationis nostræ etiam gloriamur. v. 60: Apologeticus, 21: Discipuli quoque diffusi per orbem... Romæ postremo per Neronis sævitiam sanguinem Christianum semina verunt. Hippolytus, περὶ τῶν ιβ'. ἀποσTÓλov, Operum ii. 30, 31, and Origen, Selecta in Genesim, tom. iii, Operum ii. 24. B, (Cf. Eusebius, E. H. iii. 1,) both bear witness to the fact of Peter and Paul's suffering under Nero respectively; but they are silent as to their suffering together. Vide also the abstract prefixed to Ecumenius in Novum Testamentum. Lactantius, Divinæ Institutiones, iv. 21. 380, speaks of the death of Peter and Paul under Nero in conjunction, and of both before the Jewish war; but does not say that they suffered in the same year: Itaque post illorum obitum, cum eos Nero interemisset, Judæorum nomen et gentem Vespasianus extinxit, fecitque omnia quæ illi futura prædixerant. The author De Mortibus Per the nature of the case requires, to call this tradition into question. The year in which St. Peter and St. secutorum, cap. ii. p. 845, having spoken of the diffusion of the Gospel Per omnes provincias et civitates, down to the beginning of the reign of Nero, as he implies, without obstruction or molestation, adds; Cumque jam Nero imperaret, Petrus Romam advenit, et editis quibusdam miraculis, quæ virtute ipsius Dei, data sibi ab eo potestate, faciebat, convertit multos ad justitiam, Deoque templum fidele ac stabile collocavit. qua re ad Neronem delata ... primus omnium persecutus Dei servos, Petrum cruci adfixit, et Paulum interfecit. Chrysostom repeatedly attests the fact of Paul's and Peter's suffering at Rome, the former by being beheaded, the latter, crucified, and that with his head downwards. A tradition, indeed, of very regular occurrence with respect to the mode of his death in particular. See Eusebius, E. Ĥ. iii. 1: Demonstratio Evangelica, iii. 5. 116. C: Hieronymus, De SS. Ecclesiasticis, i. Operum iv. 101. ad principium: Ambrose; i. 626. A. De Interpellatione Job, i. i. §. 2o. Operum ii. 494. C. De Laudibus Pauli Apostoli Hom. iv. he estimates the length of St. Paul's ministry at not quite 30 years. Operum viii. 10. D. Spuria, in Petrum et Paulum, cap. 2, Paul is supposed to serve God 35 years, and die at 68; a statement which is very probably not genuine. Ibid. the martyrdom of both is placed on the same day, June 29. Operum i. 48. D. E. De Vita Monastica lib. i. cap. 3, the death of St. Paul is attributed to the anger of Nero; because he had converted a concubine of his, with whom he was accustomed to have intercourse ov κατὰ φύσιν, and had reclaimed her from the practice of this enormity or as Ecumenius, in Nov. Test. ii. 281. D. in 2 ad Tim. iv. 16, reports, because he had converted his butler. This last authority, Commentarius in Nov. Test. i. 187. D— 188. C. closes the Commentary on the Acts, by specifying sundry dates from the Chronicon of Eusebius, (Cf. the Peregrinatio Pauli subjoined, 193. B-195. D,) viz. that St. Paul was called in the nineteenth of Tiberius, the year after the Passion; that the length of his ministry was 35 years; and that he suffered in the thirty-sixth year after the Passion, the thirteenth of Nero, &c. Neither here is any mention made of Peter. The Martyrium prefixed to Ecumenius places the martyrdom of St. Paul at Rome, under Nero, June 29, A. D. 66, U. C. 819. Vide vol. iii. 632. Theophylact, iii. 172. E. In Acta Apost. xxv. 15 : ἐτέχθη μὲν γὰρ ὁ Κύριος, καθὼς οἱ χρόνοι δηλοῦσιν, Crucifixion with the head downwards was one among the other modes of inflicting that punishment. Seneca, ad Marciam, xx. 3: Video istic cruces non unius quidem generis, sed aliter ab aliis fabricatas. capite quidam conversos in terram suspendere, alii per obscœna stipitem egerunt, alii brachia patibulo explicu erunt. Paul most probably suffered, whether conjointly or separately, must be otherwise determined. I. If it is reasonable to suppose that neither of ἐπὶ Αὐγούστου Καίσαρος· ἀπέθανε δὲ μετὰ λβ'. ἔτη ἐπὶ Τιβερίου Αὐγού στον. ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ἀπέθανεν ἐπὶ Νέρωνος, μετὰ λβ'. ἔτος τοῦ θανάτου TOù Kupiov. Theophylact places the passion U. C. 784: therefore he places the death of St. Paul U. C. 816. Sulpicius, Sacra Historia, ii. 41. §. 10, supposes Paul and Peter both to suffer in the persecution under Nero, and apparently about the same time; but says nothing of their suffering at the same time, or on the same day. Zonaras, i. 570. A. xi. 13, tells us that there were always two opinions respecting the deaths of Peter and Paul; one of which placed them both on the same day in the same year, the other on the same day, but in different years. So likewise Theodore Metochita, Historia Romana, p. 78. Prudentius was one who entertained this latter opinion. Operum i. 283. Tеρì σтеþávшv xii. 3. Festus Apostolici nobis redit hic dies triumphi, | Pauli atque Petri nobilis cruore. Unus utrumque dies, pleno tamen innovatus anno, | Vidit superba morte laureatum. 11. Prima Petrum rapuit sententia legibus Neronis, | Pendere jussum præminente ligno. | 21. Ut teres orbis iter flexi rota percucurrit anni, | Diemque eumdem sol reduxit ortus; | Evomit in jugulum Pauli Nero fervidum furorem, | Jubet feriri gentium magistrum. So likewise Augustin, iii. pars iia. 8. C: De Consensu Evan gelistarum, i. 16: Et occurrit eis Petrus et Paulus, credo quod pluribus locis simul eos cum illo (Jesu scilicet Christo) pictos viderent, quia merita Petri et Pauli etiam propter eumdem passionis diem celebrius solemniter Roma commendat. And it appears from his Sermo de Sanctis, 28, that he supposed this to be the same day in different years. Accident has frequently brought to pass as remarkable coincidences. Timoleon's great victories were all gained on his birthday, Thargelion 23 or 24: Cornelius Nepos, Timoleon, 5: Plutarch, Camillus, 19. Ovid and his brother were born on the same day in successive years: Tristium, iv. x. 9-12. Rutilius and Didius were both defeated and killed on the same day in successive years: Ovid, Fasti, vi. 563-568. Lucullus defeated Tigranes on the same day in one year, on which the Cimbri had defeated and killed Cæpio in another: Plutarch, Lucullus, 27: Apophthegmata, Operum vi. 764: Camillus, 19. Cyprian bishop of Carthage, and Cornelius bishop of Rome, both suffered martyrdom on the same day in different years, the 18th Kalends of October: Jerome De SS. Ecclesiasticis, Ixvii. Operum iv. pars ii. 119. A lcollection of such coincidences is given in Ælian, Variæ Historiæ, ii. 25. Compare also Plutarch, Camillus, 19: Diodorus Sic. xiii. 108: Plutarch, Symposiaca, viii. 1. Operum viii. 859. et sqq. them suffered before the persecution of Christianity, in the reign of Nero, was first set on foot; and if it is still more certain that both of them suffered sometime in the reign of Nero; the extreme limits within which the martyrdom of each must be comprehended will be U. C. 817, in the tenth of Nero on the one hand, and U. C. 821, in the fourteenth on the other. They could neither of them suffer before the nineteenth of July in the former year 9, when the city of Rome was set on fire, nor after the ninth of June in the latter, which was the day of the death of Nero. The persecution of the Christians at Rome was certainly begun in consequence of that fire; but when once begun, it seems to have been continued independent of it. Suetonius attests the fact of the persecution of Christianity under Nero, as well as Tacitus; but with no allusion to the charge or suspicion of their having set fire to the city: Afflicti suppliciis Christiani, genus hominum superstitionis novæ ac maleficæ: and the same thing is true of the implicit testimony of Juvenalt, Pone Tigellinum-tæda lucebis in illa, Qua stantes ardent, qui fixo gutture fumant, And we have seen from the language of several of the contemporary Epistles", that persecutions against Christianity were going on, more or less generally, in the provinces, before the commencement of this at Rome. II. It is an ancient tradition that St. Paul, after his conversion, preached the gospel five and thirty years, until the time of his death". But if the date of that conversion was, as we placed it, U. C. 790, it is impossible that this statement should hold good of St. q Tacitus, Annales, xv. 41. u Dissertation ii. vol. i. 160. 168. t Sat. i. 155. r Ibid. 38-44. s Nero, 16. |