George Syncellus, Chronographic Selection 637.6-637.18
created: This entry is taken from Chronographic Selection 637.6-637.18 written by George
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
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https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/355

Καισαρείας τῆς Παλαιστίνης

, and

Caesarea Palestinae

are directly attested at George Syncellus, Chronographic Selection 637.6-637.18. This passage was written ca. 808-815 C.E. possibly in Constantinople. George Syncellus (“cellmate”), whose career spanned the late 8th to very early 9th centuries, was a Palestinian monk before his appointment as the assistant to Tarasius, Patriarch of Contantinople. Apparently facing hostility from the emperor Nicephorus I, he retired to monastic solitude in ca. 808, where he devoted himself to writing his Chronographic Selection (Ἐκλογὴ Χρονογραφίας). This work was a universal history in the form of a synchronic tabulation by year, following the chronographic models of the Late Antique Near East and Egypt that were rooted in the works of Sextus Julius Africanus and Eusebius of Caesarea. In his entry under the Year of the World 5553 (53 C.E.), George summarized Jewish affairs, including Paul’s two appearances before Nero in Rome, the second upon delivery from Caesarea by the governor Festus.

Σημειωτέον ἐκ τῶν ἀποστολικῶν ῥητῶν ὅτι δεύτερον ὁ θεῖος Παῦλος παρέστη τῷ Καίσαρι ἐν Ῥώμῃ. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὁ Νέρων ἠπιώτερόν πως διακείμενος κατὰ τοῦ Χριστιανῶν δόγματος, ἀκούσας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπολογίαν ἀπέλυσεν, οἰκονομοῦντος τοῦ πνεύματος τελειωθῆναι τοῖς πᾶσι δι’ αὐτοῦ τὸ κήρυγμα, ὡς αὐτός φησιν ἐν τῇ πρὸς Τιμόθεον βʹ ἐπιστολῇ, ὅτε δὴ καὶ τὸν Λουκᾶν γράφει συνεῖναι, ὃς τὰς τῶν ἀποστόλων πράξεις εἰς ταύτην περιέγραψε τὴν πρώτην ἀπολογίαν τοῦ Παύλου ἐλθεῖν, καὶ συνῆν αὐτῷ, ὡς ἔοικε, σιωπήσας τὸν περὶ τοῦ μαρτυρίου αὐτοῦ λόγον, καθ’ ὃν οὐ παρῆν, δηλονότι τὸ δεύτερον τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου ἐξ οἰκείας αἰτήσεως ἀναπεμφθέντος ἀπὸ Καισαρείας τῆς Παλαιστίνης ὑπὸ Φίστου πρὸς Νέρωνα καὶ τὸ δεύτερον παραστάντος αὐτῷ καὶ τελειωθέντος τῷ δι’ αἵματος μαρτυρίῳ.

[Ed. Dindorf 1829 [cited by page-line]] [Minor corr. J. L. Rife with ref. to Mosshammer 1984]

It must be noted from the reports of the apostle that the divine Paul appeared before Caesar a second time in Rome. The first time Nero, somewhat more temperate in his attitude to Christian doctrine, heard his defense and released him. For the Spirit had arranged that the preaching to all people should be accomplished through him, as he himself states in the Second Epistle to Timothy. Indeed, he writes that Luke was with him, whose Acts of the Apostles covers the period extending to Paul’s first defense. And Luke, so it seems, was with him. But he has no account to offer of Paul’s martyrdom, at which he was not present. This obviously took place when the blessed Paul at this own request was sent up a second time to Nero by Festus from Caesarea Palestinae, and, after appearing before him a second time, was perfected by martyrdom through blood.

[Adapted from Adler and Tuffin 2002 with ref. to Dindorf 1829]

Works Cited

[...] 637.6-637.18
[...] 487-488

Additional Bibliography

[...] 410.14-410.25

[Acts 27:1-5

II Timothy

Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos, Church History 2.29-30]

[Rome]

[Luke, evangelist

Nero, emperor

Paul, apostle

Porcius Festus, governor

Timothy, early Christian]

[Christian Bible

Christianity

Government and Law

Martyrdom

Roman History

Travel]