The Presbyters Project

99.

The text starts by sketching of the sources of the conflict between Nestorius and Eutyches. Then it recalls the condemnation of Eutyches by Flavianus in Constantinople in AD 448.

6. offenditur imperator et apud Ephesum ciuitatem mandat synodum congregari. adsunt fere trecenti sexaginta episcopi principibus Dioscoro Alexandrino episcopo, Iuuenali Hierosolymitano, Thalassio Caesariensi, Eustathio Berytensi, Eusebio Ancyritano, Basilio Isauro. interfuerunt etiam uicarii ab apostolica sede directi Iulius Puteolanus episcopus, Hilarus archidiaconus urbis, quia presbyter Renatus in Adelo insula morte praeuentus est. adfuit etiam Dulcitius notarius ecclesiae.

(ed. Guenther 1895: 441-442)

99.

The text starts by sketching the sources of the conflict between Nestorius and Eutyches. Then it recalls condemnation of Eutyches by Flavianus in Constantinople in AD 448.

6. The emperor was displeased and ordered the gathering of a synod in the city of Ephesus. Almost 360 bishops were present, among whom the most important were Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria; Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem; Thalassius, bishop of Caesarea; Eustathius, bishop of Berytus; Eusebius, bishop of Ancyra; and Basilius, bishop of Isauria. Also, the delegates sent by the Apostolic See were present – Julius, bishop of Puteoli, Hilary, archdeacon of the City, while the presbyter Renatus died before the council on the island of Delos. Also the notary of the Church, Dulcitus was present [...]

(summary and trans. M. Szada)

Discussion:

For a possible explanation for the naming of the island of Delos Adelus see Günther 1894: 146-147.

Place of event:

Region

Rome
East

City

Rome
Ephesus
Delos

About the source:

Title: Gesta de nomine Acacii, Collectio Avellana
Origin: Rome (Rome)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Gesta de nomine Acacii is a short historiographical work relating the events of the Acacian schism (484–519). It was long attributed to Pope Gelasius, but Eduard Schwarz proved that it is an anonymous work, first commissioned by Pope Felix III (II) in 489 for the senator Andromachus before his embassy to the East in 489. Between 489 and 492/493 the text was revisioned and extended. Additions appear in two versions of the text – in the not-abridged version (Collectio Avellana 99, 1–3 and 30–31) and in the epitome (Epitome gestorum de nomine Acacii 14, ed. Guenther 1895: 795). Possibly the extended redaction of the text was commissioned by Gelasius in order to provide information for the embassy of Flavius Anicius Probus Faustus Junior Niger in AD 492/493 (see Moreau 2015: 41).

Collectio Avellana is a collection containing 244 letters issued by emperors, imperial magistrates and popes. The earliest item is dated to AD 367, the latest to AD 553. Hence, the compilator worked most probably in the second half of the sixth century. Two hundred documents of the Collectio are not known from any other collection. The editor of the Collectio, Günther noticed that it can be divided into five thematic parts (Günther 1896: 3-96; Steinacker 1902: 14–15; Blaudeau 2013: 4):

1) Nos. 1–40 are an independent collection making use of the records of the prefecture of the city of Rome concerning two episcopal elections;

2) Nos. 41–50 are derived from the records of the bishopric in Carthage, and consist of the letters of Innocentius I and Zosimus;

3) Nos. 51–55 are the late letters of Leo I not known from any other source, regarding the exile of Bishop Timothy II of Alexandria;

4) Nos. 56–104 are the group of letters from the pontificates of Simplicius, Gelasius, Symmachus, John, Agapet, and Vigilius;

5) Nos. 105–243 are the letters from the records of Hormisdas.

The modern name of the collection is derived from the codex Vaticanus Latinus 4961 copied in the monastery Sancti Crucis in fonte Avellana that was considered the oldest by the brothers Ballerini who edited the Collectio in 1787.

Edition:

O. Guenther ed., Epistolae Imperatorum Pontificum Aliorum Inde ab a. CCCLXVII usque DLIII datae Avellana Quae Dicitur Collectio, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 35/1, 35/2, Prague, Vienna, and Leipzig 1895

Bibliography:

P. Blaudeau, "Un point de contact entre collectio Avellana et collectio Thessalonicensis?”, Millennium Yearbook / Millenium Jahrbuch 10 (2013), 1–12.

O. Guenther, Avellana-Studien, Wien 1896.

O. Guenther, "Zu den Gesta de nomine Acacii”, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 3 (1894), 146–149.

D. Moreau, "Les actes pontificaux comme sources des historiens et des chroniqueurs de l'Antiquité tardive", in: L'historiographie tardo-antique et la transmission des savoirs, ed. P. van Nuffelen, P. Blaudeau, Millenium-Studien 55, Berlin, Boston 2015, 23-54.

H. Steinacker, "Ueber das älteste päpstliche Registerwesen”, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 23 (1902), 1–49.

Categories:

Travel and change of residence

PR718.

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

PR718.

Ecclesiastical administration - Participation in councils and ecclesiastical courts

PR718.

Ecclesiastical administration - Ecclesiastical envoy

PR718.

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

PR718.

Further ecclesiastical career - None

PR718.

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER1565, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=1565