Scillitan Martyrs
At Carthage the proconsul Vigellius Saturninus had twelve Christians from the town of Scillium beheaded after they confessed their faith and would not swear by the emperor’s genius. The record of their trial is the earliest dated document of the Latin Church and the first to mention a Latin Bible.
- Date
- 17 July 180exact dateDate in the Julian calendar
- Place
- Carthagetoday: Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia · Africa
- Participants
- Roman Empire, Publius Vigellius Saturninus
- Threads
- Africa (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs; Acta Martyrum Scillitanorum; Passio Sanctorum Scillitanorum; Сциллитанские мученики
The hearing took place on 17 July 180, a few months after the death of Marcus Aurelius, in the first year of Commodus’ sole reign. Twelve Christians, seven men and five women, were condemned by Publius Vigellius Saturninus, proconsul of Africa; the record of the hearing names six of them, with Speratus as spokesman. Urged to swear by the genius of the emperor, Speratus replied that he did not know “the empire of this world”; he declared himself a Christian, the others agreed with him, and they declined the thirty days’ delay offered to think it over. Asked what was in their case, Speratus answered: “Books and epistles of Paul, a just man.” They were sentenced to death by the sword.
Where Scillium lay is not known. The short Latin record of the hearing, the Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs, is one of the oldest testimonies to the Church in Roman Africa. Tertullian later named Vigellius Saturninus as the first governor there to “draw the sword” against the Christians.
Connections
Related events
- Martyrs of Lyon177 · Western and Central Europepersecutions of Christians in Gaul (177) and Africa (180)
- Tertullian’s Apologeticus197 · Africain To Scapula (3.4) Tertullian names the proconsul who condemned the Scillitan Martyrs as the first to draw the sword against the Christians of Africa
Same participants
- Marcomannic Wars166–180 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire
- Murder of Commodus and the Year of the Five Emperors31 December 192 – June 193 · Western and Central Europevia Roman Empire
Same place
- Antonine Baths of Carthagebetween 145 and 146 – 162 · Africa
- Apuleius’ Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass)150s … 180s · Africa
- Vandal conquest of Roman AfricaMay 429 – 442 · Africa
- Vandalic WarJune 533 – March 534 · Africa
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Western and Central Europe
- Marcomannic Wars166–180
- Antonine Plague165–180
Eastern Europe
- The Goths settle in Oiumc. 180 – c. 230
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Middle East and Egypt
- Reign of Vologases IV147–191
Central and Northern Asia
- Tanshihuai’s Xianbei confederationc. 156 – 181
South Asia
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Gold pendant copying a coin of Antoninus Pius at Óc Eobetween 152 and 600
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
- Late Basketmaker II erac. 50 – c. 500
Latin America
- Preclassic Maya collapse: El Mirador is abandonedc. 100 – c. 250
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Scillitan Martyrs
- Wikipedia (English): Publius Vigellius Saturninus
- Wikipedia (Russian): Сцилитанские мученики
- The Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. IX)
- Musurillo H. The Acts of the Christian Martyrs. — Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972.
- Wikidata: Q488248