The Presbyters Project

Book 22

8. [...] Vit ibi uir in ordine suo primarius, nomine Martialis, aeuo iam grauis et multum abhorrens a religione christiana.

When he fell ill, his son-in-law, a Christian, prayed for him at the shrine of St Stephen, took some flowers from the altar and put them on the head of Martialis, who was sleeping.

Et ecce ante diluculum clamat, ut ad episcopum curreretur qui mecum forte tunc erat apud Hipponem. Cum ergo eum audisset absentem, uenire presbyteros postulauit. Venerunt, credere se dixit, admirantibus atque gaudentibus omnibus baptizatus est. . [...]

(ed. Dombart - Kalb 1955, 822)

Book 22

8. [...] In the same place [in Calama] there lived a man of the first rank in his order, named Martialis, already heavy with age and extremaly hostile to the Christian religion.

When he fell ill, his son-in-law, a Christian, prayed for him at the shrine (memoria) of St Stephen, took some flowers from the altar and put them on the head of Martialis, who was sleeping.

And behold, just before dawn Martialis shouted out to run and get the bishop, who happened to be with me in Hippo at the time. When he heard that the bishop was away, he asked the presbyters to come. They came; Martialis announced that he believed, and to everyone's amazement and joy he was baptized.. [...]

(trans. W. Babcock, slightly altered)

Discussion:

The relics of St Stephen arrived in Africa in ca 417/418, whereas Augustine finished writing "The City of God" in 426/427, so the events described here must have happened between these dates.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Calama

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: The City of God, De civitate Dei, On The City of God
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

“The City of God” was meant by Augustine to provide the Christians with the arguments against the accusations, raised especially after the sack of Rome in AD 410, that their religion was inferior to the pagan cults that protected the Roman state in a better way. The first ten books are a critique of the Roman religion and philosophy. The next twelve discuss the relation between the eternal City of God and the Earthly City.

Augustine probably started writing this work in AD 412. The books appeared gradually. Book 10 was finished by 417, and the whole work by 426/427.

The last book deals with the eternal happiness of the saints and explains the resurrection of the body, hence numerous miracle stories are contained here.

Edition:

B. Dombart, A. Kalb edd., Sancti Aurelii Augustini De Civitate Dei libri XI-XXII, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 48, Turnhout 1955.

Translation:

Saint Augustine, The City of God XI-XXII, trans. W. Babcock, New York 2013.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Ritual activity - Baptism and instructing catechumens

Relation with - Noble

Relation with - Pagan

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER892, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=892