Abercius funeral stele
Hierapolis was a Hellenistic Greek city built in Phrygia in southwestern Anatolia (present-day Turkey). It was famous for its hot springs, and as the birthplace of the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. Its extensive remains are adjacent to modern Pamukkale in Turkey were added as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.
In the year 60, during the rule of Nero, a severe earthquake left the city completely in ruins. Afterwards, the city was rebuilt in the Roman style with imperial financial support. It was during this period that the city attained its present form. Hierapolis became one of the most prominent cities in the Roman Empire in the fields of the arts, philosophy, and trade
Ruins of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Pamukkale), present-day Turkey
Abercius Marcellus (in Greek Abìrkios Markèllos) lived toward the end of the 2nd century CE and was the bishop of Hierapolis. He is venerated as a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. The tradition surrounding this saint is so legendary that his very existence was long doubted.
The story of his life was written only in the 4th century by the Byzantine hagiographer Metaphrastes, which is two centuries after Abercius's death around 200 CE.
Abercius Marcellus, Bishop of Hierapolis. Miniature from the Menologium of Basil II
His Life recounts that, after an edict was issued by Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus ordering sacrifices to be made everywhere, Abercius, prompted by a vision, went at night to the temple of Apollo and with a large staff shattered everything inside. As the city stirred in unrest, he began preaching to the faithful in the Forum. When a furious crowd of pagans arrived, he healed some demon-possessed individuals in front of them, thus calming them and even converting many to baptism. His fame spread to neighboring provinces; he restored sight to the mother of a prominent citizen, Eussenianus, a friend of the emperor, and freed many others from demonic possession. The demon, in retaliation, took possession of the emperor's daughter, declaring that only Abercius of Hierapolis could expel him. Marcus Aurelius wrote to Eussenianus asking him to send Abercius to him. Abercius departed from Adalia, arrived at Porto Romano, and presented himself to the empress (as Marcus Aurelius was in the field against the barbarians). He had the emperor's daughter brought to the hippodrome, where he solemnly expelled the demon. As punishment for making him undertake the journey, he commanded the demon to take up a heavy marble altar located there and carry it to Hierapolis near the southern gate. As a favor from the empress, he requested the construction of baths near Hierapolis, and before returning home, he toured Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor, bringing blessings everywhere. He lived a few more years and wrote a book; upon receiving a premonition of his approaching death, he prepared his tomb and composed an epitaph to be inscribed upon it, on that same altar he had brought from Rome. Another Abercius was chosen to succeed him, and he consecrated him himself.
To reconstruct the story and fill in its gaps, so many legendary elements were added to the actual events that, eventually, historians regarded Abercius as little more than a fictional figure. Only Halloix (Illustrium scriptorum ecclesiae orientalis vitae, vol. II, Douai 1630, p. 137) and, with greater scholarship, Pitra (Spicilegium Solesmense, vol. III, Paris 1856, p. 352) defended his essential authenticity.
From the legendary account, we know he was an indefatigable preacher and a miracle worker; that he traveled to Rome, Magna Graecia, Syria, Asia Minor, and Mesopotamia. He died, reportedly imprisoned under Emperor Marcus Aurelius. He is credited with an Epistle to Marcus Aurelius, cited by Cardinal Cesare Baronio, and a Book of Discipline.
Abercius’ stele preserved at the Pio Cristiano Museum in Rome
In 1882, near the ancient city of Hierapolis, the Scottish archaeologist William M. Ramsay (the first professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford) discovered an ancient Greek inscription on a pillar located in front of the grand mosque in Kelendre. This inscription was exactly the beginning and end of Bishop Abercius' epitaph and was part of a 216 CE sepulchral altar for an Alexandros, son of Antonios.
The following year, in 1883, Ramsay found two more fragments from the central part of Abercius’ original epitaph, embedded in the walls of ancient baths in the same location, almost matching word-for-word with the legendary text.
Cast of the memorial stone of Abercius exhibited at the Museum of Roman Civilization in Rome
The inscription is preserved for about one-third, but it was originally carved in three sections, totaling 22 lines. It has been almost entirely reconstructed thanks to Alexandros's inscription (covering lines 1-3 and 20-22) and numerous handwritten manuscripts that preserved a Greek Life of Abercius.
The epitaph is the spiritual testament of Abercius, summarizing his entire Christian faith experience through metaphors and symbolic expressions dense with doctrinal meaning.
It is one of the oldest known Christian epigraphic documents and one of the most valuable for the history of Christianity, as it attests to its spread and certain dogmatic and liturgical characteristics dating no later than 216. The “Abercius memorial stone” is a stele that was part of his funerary monument, bearing a Greek text commissioned by the bishop. The epitaph — called by historians “the queen of Christian inscriptions” — contains Abercius's spiritual testament. In it, the author summarizes his Christian faith experience, using language shaped by the discipline of secrecy, employing metaphors and expressions that only Christians could understand, thus avoiding mockery and persecution.
The epitaph refers to the Christian practices of baptism and the Eucharist. Its cryptic language, reserved for believers “initiated” into the faith, describes the bishop as a disciple of Christ (“of the chaste Shepherd”), who sent him to Rome (“a queen clothed in golden robes”) to meet the local community of baptized believers (“the people with the splendid seal”); on his journeys, Abercius had “Paul as a traveling companion,” and he always ate “pure fish” with wine and bread, the quintessential symbols of the Eucharist.
Also, in 193, according to Eusebius, a mystical-language inscription was dedicated to him. These symbols align with early Christian art depictions: the holy shepherd tending lambs on the mountains, the people bearing the radiant seal (baptism), seen by Abercius in Rome, and the personified Faith offering fish, bread, and wine as nourishment, etc.
This prestigious artifact was presented to Pope Leo XIII in 1892 on the occasion of his jubilee, and it is now preserved in the Pio Christian Museum, while Alexandros's inscription is housed in the Archaeological Museums of Istanbul.
Last update: October 28, 2024
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