Julian the Apostate in Byzantine Culture by Stefano Trovato;

Author:Stefano Trovato; [Trovato;, Stefano]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781032017471
Publisher: TaylorFrancis
Published: 2022-05-12T00:00:00+00:00

Severus also disputes the existence of a Bishop of Rome named Eusebius, reported to have ordained Cyriacus bishop, since the pope at the time was Sylvester, who was succeeded by Julius. Moreover, Severus notes that the canons would not have allowed Cyriacus’ episcopal ordination.24

In addition to Severus, Alexander the Monk wrote – probably in Justinian’s reign25 – a logos historikos, partly as a polemical attack on the legend of Cyriacus.26 Alexander rejects any narrative about the finding of the Cross that mentions a Bishop of Jerusalem other than Macarius.27 This polemic would appear to have left its mark in Byzantine cultural milieus:28 in the whole vast corpus of Byzantine hymnography, the only canon in honour of Cyriacus seems to be a Greek-Italian codex,29 which confirms the different reception of the saint in Western Europe. However, some hagiographical Greek texts bear witness to the circulation of the legend of Cyriacus in the Byzantine world, albeit to a limited extent, as is the case with one life of Constantine (BHG 365n, known as the Halkin Vita or Patmos Vita).30 The legend of the Inventio crucis and martyrdom of Cyriacus is succinctly summed up at the end of the Narratio de cruce (BHG 412).31 Furthermore, a fanciful Greek passion (BHG 219)32 is connected to the tradition about Cyriacus.33 The protagonist is St Barbarus,34 who distinguishes himself in the war against the Franks through his Christian faith, but then – like many other Christian saints – falls victim to a persecution edict issued by Julian before his journey “to the land of the Franks”.35 Barbarus claims to have been baptised by Cyriacus, which is to say Judas Cyriacus, the Bishop of Jerusalem from the third version of the legend of the True Cross: Julian promptly replies that he has punished Cyriacus.36 The author of the passion thus assumes that his readers are familiar with the passion of Cyriacus, a saint who is presented as the baptiser of Barbarus for the purpose of ennobling the latter. Other similarities with the legend of Cyriacus are to be found in the presence of snake-charmers37 and the definition of the emperor as the “devil’s son and enemy of all justice”.38 The author does not mention the emperor’s apostasy, although he may have been either directly or indirectly familiar with Gregory of Nazianzus’ invectives.39 Besides, the figure of Julian does not differ here in any significant way from that of other persecutors. Likewise, as in many epic passions, the tale ends with the saint’s beheading after various miracles.40

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