Mark the Deacon, Life of Porphyry 11-12

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/480

Context

Mark, a native of Asia, was a calligrapher in Jerusalem who joined Porphyry of Gaza as his companion and agent from 395 to 420 C.E. During that time Porphyry, originally from a wealthy family in Thessalonica, was appointed bishop of Gaza by John the archbishop at Caesarea, and Mark became a deacon in his church, later writing an account of the holy man’s career from his privileged perspective. The hagiography, an important historical document in its own right but not unproblematic, paints a vivid picture of the open and destructive conflict between the pagan (“idolators,” “idolomaniacs”) and Christian residents of Gaza, as well as the interaction between the metropolitan and the other Palestinian sees. In this passage, John, the archbishop of Caesarea, received an embassy in late winter of 395 C.E. from the Christians at Gaza, who sought guidance on who would be their next bishop and defender against the energetic pagans. With the assistance of Praÿlius the bishop of Jerusalem, John invited Porphyry for an interview at Caesarea.

Text

(11) … Πολλῆς οὖν συγχύσεως γινομένης καὶ μηδενὸς εἰς ἔργον προβαίνοντος, τέλος συνέδοξεν πέντε τῶν κληρικῶν καὶ τοσούτους τῶν λαϊκῶν τῶν ἐμφανῶν ἐξελθεῖν πρὸς τὸν μητροπολίτην ἀρχιερέα καὶ αἰτῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐπίσκοπον, ὃν δἂν ἀποκαλύψῃ αὐτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. (12) Ἦν δὲ ὁ τὴν ἀρχιερωσύνην τὸ τηνικαῦτα ἐγκεχειρισμένος Ἰωάννης, ἀνὴρ καὶ οὗτος δόκιμος καὶ πάσῃ ἀρετῇ κεκοσμημένος. Ὡς οὖν παρεγένοντο πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ Γαζαῖοι, παρεκάλουν αὐτὸν δοῦναι αὐτοῖς ἱερέα δυνατὸν ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ ἀντιτάξασθαι τοῖς εἰδωλολάτραις. Ἀκούσας δὲ εὐθέως ἐκήρυξε νηστείαν, καὶ μετὰ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἀπεκάλυψεν αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος περὶ τοῦ ἀοιδίμου Πορφυρίου, καὶ γράφει ἐπιστολὴν τῷ μνημονευθέντι ὁσίῳ Πραϋλίῳ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Ἱεροσολύμων τὸν μακάριον Πορφύριον πέμψαι πρὸς αὐτὸν χάριν ζητήματός τινος τῆς γραφῆς ὀφείλοντος ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐπιλυθῆναι· ἦν γὰρ ἱκανὸς ὁ μακάριος πᾶν νομιζόμενον εἶναι δυσχερὲς τῶν τῆς θείας γραφῆς ἐπιλῦσαι, τοῦτο δὲ εἶχεν ἀπὸ χαρίσματος πνεύματος ἁγίου. Καὶ πιστεύσας τοῖς γράμμασι τοῦ μακαρίου Ἰωάννου ὁ θεοφιλὴς Πραΰλιος τοῦτον ἀπέλυσεν, παραγγείλας αὐτῷ περαιτέρω ἑπτὰ ἡμερῶν μὴ χρονίσαι.1

Textual Note

Ed. Haupt 1895 and Grégoire and Kugener 1930

Translation

(11) … And so there was a great confusion (at Gaza over who would succeed Aineias as bishop) and noone was stepping forward for the job. Finally it was jointly decided that five clerics and as many leading lay-persons would go forth to the metropolitan bishop [at Caesarea] and request from him a bishop, whomever the Holy Spirit might reveal to him. (12) The one who held this high priesthood was John, a man both possessing a good reputation and decorated with all virtue. And so when the Gazaeans came to him [at Caesarea], they asked him to grant them a holy man who was capable of combatting the idolatry in both action and voice. He listened and immediately preached fasting, and after three days the Lord delivered to him a revelation concerning the celebrated Porphry. (John) wrote a letter to the already mentioned holy Praÿlius, bishop of Jerusalem, to send Porphyry to him on account of a certain question about Scripture that needed to be solved by him. For the blessed man was skilled at solving any questions about Holy Scripture that was considered difficult, and he possessed this power by the grace of the Holy Spirit. The loved-by-God Praÿlius, having put his faith in the letter of the blessed John, released (Porphyry), instructing him not to spend more than seven days (on the trip to Caesarea).2

Translation Note

Trans. J. L. Rife with ref. to Hill 1913, Grégoire and Kugener 1930, and Hübner 2013

Discussion Note

This passage contains an historical error: the events described here occurred when John II was bishop of Jerusalem (386-417 C.E.), not Praÿlius (417-422 C.E.).

Works Cited

1 Mark the Deacon, Marci Diaconi Vita Porphyrii, episcopi gazensis, ed. Moriz Haupt and Societatis philologae Bonnensis sodales (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1895), ch: 11-12, p: 11-13.
2 Mark the Deacon, The Life of Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, trans. George Francis Hill (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), p: 17-18.

Additional Bibliography

Mark the Deacon, Marc le diacre, vie de Porphyre, èvêque de Gaza, ed. Henri Grégoire and M. A. Kugener, Collection byzantine (Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1930), ch: 11-12, p: 11-12.
Mark the Deacon, Vita Sancti Porphyrii = Leben des heiligen Porphyrius, trans. Adelheid Hübner, Fontes Christiani (Freiburg am Breisgau: Herder, 2013), p: 112-115.

How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Mark the Deacon, Life of Porphyry 11-12,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/480.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Mark the Deacon, Life of Porphyry 11-12.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/480.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Mark the Deacon, Life of Porphyry 11-12

Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:

Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Mark the Deacon, Life of Porphyry 11-12”
Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Mark the Deacon, Life of Porphyry 11-12”

Additional Credit:

Testimonium edited by Joseph L. Rife
TEI record created by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium translated by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium transcribed by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium identified by Joseph L. Rife
Editorial review by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium edited by Joseph L. Rife
TEI record created by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium translated by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium transcribed by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonium identified by Joseph L. Rife
Editorial review by Joseph L. Rife

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