THE HISTORY OF EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN

CONTINENTAL CROATIA
(Mirja Jarak)

This introductory text seeksto explicatethe history of Roman Christian communitiesin

a single geographicallylimited region, the continentalsectionof Croatia.Both concepts,
early Christiancommunity and continentalCroatia,require detaileddefinition in this
introductory sectionin order to delineatethe fundamentalframework of research.
Early Christiancommunitiesprimarily correspondto the originalconceptionof the
Church.t Various ethical and theologicalmeaningssubsequentlybecamerelevant.z In terms
of the entirety of classicalsociety,the sameprinciples of formation apply to thesesocieties
as to secularones.This level of significanceis most important as it opensmany historical
questionsrelatedto the formation of individual hierarchicallevels. The early Christian
communitieshad a complicatedhierarchicalstructurethat developedgradually, so that data
about individual functionsillustratethe degreeof organizationalformation in certain
communities.Well-known data about the organizationalformation of the Roman
communitiesin the 3rd century,noted by Euiebius in his history of the Church,3 are often
cited in this context.While the Roman community was entirely organizedby the mid third
century, only the formative phasesof organizationof Christian communitiescan be
hypothesizedfor the region of continentalCroatia. As shall be seen,this appliesnot merely
to northern Croatia,but also to nearly all neighboring regions.
The hierarchicalgradationof offices within the Christian communitiescorrespondsto
the religious hierarcfiicalrank of duties and representsa type of Christian cursushonorum.4
Literary sourcesand epigraphicmonumentscontainbetter representationof the higher
ranks of the religious hierarchy of the Church. The recordsfrom councilsnote bishops
almost exclusively.Priestsand deaconsaccompanyingtheir bishopsto-importantchurch
synodsare mentionedmerely in passingand not specifically by name.) They were only
designatedspecificallywhen they representedparticularly important individuals, asfor
example:"...Pancratiuspresbyter & Hilarius diaconussedisapostolicaelegati..." (= the
priest Pancratiusand the deaconHilarius, papal legates).6The samewas true elsewherein
referenceto condemnationof the Arian bishops'."...Palladius& Secundianusepiscopi
Ariani, cum Attalo quodampresbytero,damnatur." (= the Arian bishopsPalladiusand
Secundianuswere condemnedtogetherwith the priest Attalus). / The exampleof deacon
Felix is also interesting'."Cum Liberius EpiscopusRomanusprojectusfuisset in exilium, ei
substitutusestFelix Diaconus." (= When the RomanbishopLiberius was exiled,he was
replacedby the deaconFelix.).6
Inscriptions,which do not have so exclusivea characteras the record of councilsand
which also offer data about ordinary believersand membersof the early Christian
communities,representsourcesfor the so-called lower church officials. Inscriptionsof^
lectors are the most numerous,and thoseof acolytes,exorcistsand ostiariatesare rarer.v
High ranking officials of the Church are also weil representedin epigraphicmaterial.l0
The samehierarchical structure characteizes the early Christian communities in northern
Croatiain the period of their full development,i.e. after the persecutionsof Diocletian.
Although certainnamesare availablefrom the period of the persecutionand evenfrom the
secondhalf of the 3rd centurythat are evidencefor the existenceof organizedcommunities
headedby bishops,thesedata are insufficient for comprehensionof the integral structureof
the first Christian communities.Although the samenegativeconclusioncan be drawn for
the period after the persecutions,againbecauseofvery scarceand fragmentarydata,it can

FRoM THE INVINCIBLE S UN TO THE SUN OF JUSTICE

nonethelessbe claimed with certaintyfor this later period that the communitiesnoted in the
sourcesas bishoprics containedall necessaryofficials for the successfulactivity of these
communities.
Just as parallelscould be drawn betweenthe generaldevelopmentof the hierarchical
structureof the early Christian communitiesand their developmentin the region of presentday Croatia,similaiparallels shall be pointed out in the following sectionconcemedwith
the congregationsthat createdthe nucleusof the late Roman Christiancommunities.
Generailyipeaking, little is known about ordinary membersof the Church, and this is also
the casein terms oT.thecommunitiesthat existedin the region of northem Croatia. Certain
sectionsfrom the texts about martyrs show the characterof knowledge of the Ptebefp
substratumthat is containedin literary sources.Entire communitieswere occasionally
mentionedin passingin legendsof the Christian martyrs when the sizeof individual
communitiesneededto belndicated. Thus in the very earlyPassio of St Cyprian, which has
greatvalue as a historical source,a large number of believerswas cited: " Post hanc vero
iententiam turbafratrum dicebat: Et nos cum ipso decollemur'" (= After this sentence[was
ll
putr-61, a multitude of brothersspoke:Let us 6e decapitatedwith them.). In the-Passiaof
'St
lustinus the Philosopher,an undeterminednumbeiof Christianswho bury the bodies of
martyrsis mentioned:7'Posthaec quidamfidelesclam illorum corpora sustulerunt,& in
ico'idoneo illa condid.erunt.-"(-'Afterwards certainbelieversstole their bodies and buried
In the Passioof St Florian,which canbe includedamong
themin a suitableplace...).12
approximatenumber of 40 "holy" peopleis mentioned:."E/
an
iourc"s,
Roman
authentic
conprehensisunt sanctoru* nim"ro quadraginta,qui diutissimeconcertanteset multis
tuppltrtit cruciati missisunt in carceiem." (; 4nd holy people were_captured,forty of
thbm. who resistingmany temptationsand sufferingmuch tormentfor a long time, were
in another
thrown into prisonl).l3 Theseholy peoplewere designatedas confessores
sectionof the same'text.14It may be hypothesizedtliat these40 Christiansrepresentedthe
nucleusof the community in Lauriacum.This numericaldatafrom the Passioof St Florian
is particularly valuableas its accuracyand reliabilitytra-sbeenproven entirely
iniependentiy. It has been shown thit the number of 40 saintsexpressesa historical reality.
nuring excavationof the church of St Lawrencein Enns-Lorch, a rgfigyary.w.asdiscovered
r)
with b-onesbelongingto approximatelythe samenumber of people. The find of the
legend.It
alleged
the
of
the
authenticity
reliquary of the L-orJhmartyrs has confirmed
usually are not
in
legends
appearing
figures
rounded
that
such
noted
snoutanonethelessbe
reliableand most frequently have a symbolic significance.The mention of merely a large
number of believersis much more common'
The above cited characteristicsof the sourcesabout martyrs can also be found in the
legendsof our Pannonianmartyrs. Theselegendsalso contain generalmention of Christian
colmmunitiesthat can be comparedto the placesmentionedin certainvery famous
passiones.Data from the passionesof the Pannonianmartyrs mainly allow us merely to
tonclude that Christian communitiesexistedat the transitionfrom the 3rd to the 4th
century.The extent to which the common substratumcan be hypothesizedon the basisof
literary sourcesreferring to the period of developedChristian communitiesremainsan open
question.
'
Three territorial-administrativeunits extendedacrosscontinentalCroatiain the late
Roman period, from the period of Diocletian onwards:PannoniaSavia,PannoniaSecunda
and Dalmatia.The tram"r are listed in this manner inthe Notitia Dignitatum.Ttre I.aterculus
lo
Veronensiscalls the two PannonianprovincesSavensisand Inferior. Theseare in any
caseunimportantterminological differencesotherwisecharacteristicfor sourcesabout the
administrativedivision of the Empire.
Dalmatia encompassedonly a small sectionof the continentalregion, the transitional
areabetweenPannoniaand the Adriatic Sea.This region is not consideredin this work, as
literary sourcesoffer no data about the existenceof early Christian communities.In
contrait, extensivereferencematerial existsfor the two Pannonianprovinc-es,which has
l/
beencoveredin detail in religious, historical and archaeologicalliterature. It is interesting
and
affairs,
secular
data
about
valuable
offers
that this sourcematerial occasionally
not
is
characteristic
This
unib.18
territorial-administrative
the
above
about
specifically
merely of iiterary sourcesfor the religious history of the Pannonianprovinces,but.is also a
generil trait of ciassicalreligious souices,particularly the recordsof councils which

156

Tup Hrsronv oF EARLYCHRrsreN CouvuNITtES tN CoNnnENrel- Cnoerle

show the affiliations of cities (bishoprics)in individual provinces.19Sourcesfor religious

history have thus shown a particularvalue for the study of secularthemes.
Literary sourcescontaindata about four early Croatiancommunitiesin northernCroatia.
Two were locatedwithin the bordersof PannoniaSavia - Siscia andlovia - and two
within the bordersof PannoniaSecunda- Mursa and Cibalae.The religiouscenterto
which both Pannonianprovincesand hencethe above cities were oriented was Sirmium. As
the religious centerof the broaderregion, Sirmium slowly raiseditself during the 4th'
century to the level of an archbishopric.This elevationfrom bishopric to archbishopriccan
be perceivedfrom preservedrecordsof the titles of the bishops of Sirmium, zu but no direct
classicalsourceexiststhat explicitly citesthe period of the establishmentof the Sirmian
archbishopric.The sameis true for the foundation of the neighboring archbishopricsof
Aquileia md Salona.2lIt is important to emphasizethat the territoriesof the religious
dioceses,the archbishoprics,correspondedto the civil administfativeregionsin the late
Roman period. As Joneswrote: "Theprovince of the ecclesiasticalorganisationwas in
origin the administrativeprovince of the empire,and the ecclesiasticalmetropoliswas its
secularcapital."2'zAlthough this quotationrefers to provinces,the samerelationshipis also
implied to have existedbetweenmajor secularand religious territorial-administrative
districts.This would mean that the churchesin both Pannonianprovincesthat arenow in
Hungary (for which there are no datain literary sources),the bishopricsin both Norican
provinces,and in Dalmatia would have been subjectto the archbishopricof Sirmium. In
fact, however, the developmentoccurredin a somewhatdifferent manner,and in one of the
provinces,in Dalmatia, an independentecclesiasticalorganizationdevelopedwith its own
metropolitan.There are no dependabledatafor the religious affiliation of the Norican
provinces.The Norican region found itself betweenthe archbishopricsof Aquileia and
Sirmiurn,,andthus could have beenunder either one or the other metropolitan.It can
nonethelessbe hypothesized,in analogyto secularadministration,that Noricum was under
the jurisdiction of the archbishopricof Sirmium in the secondhalf of the 4th century.The
declineof Sirmium and the increasingrole of Aquileia in the 5th ceqt-ury
- causedNoricum to
be included in the sphereof interestdf the aquiteian archbishopic,.23
One province of the Pannoniandiocesethus had an independentreligious-administrative
development,while the other provinceswere subordinateto the Sirmian archbishopric.If
one asks,for instance,why PannoniaSaviadid not becomean independentarchiepiscopal
region, then the answercan partially be soughtin the small number of cities locatedin that
province (literary sourcesreliably cite only the bishopric of Siscia,while that of Iovia is
hypothetical),and to some extentin the generallyadverseconditions (such as dangerof
barbarianattacks)that negativelyinfluencedthe developmentof the Pannonianregionin the
5th and 6th centuries.Theseobservationscan be said to be basedon the fact that the
Dalmatian metropolitandevelopedonly at the beginning of the 5th century,24thus in the
period when the Sirmian metropolitanceasedto developfurther and when a similar
developmentcould no longer take placein PannoniaSavia.
The closeties of PannoniaSavia and PannoniaSecundaare undeniably apparent:this
was in fact a.uniform geographic,administrative,linguistic and cultural region. Thus
discussionabout the early Christian communitiesin northern Croatia must be relatedto the
developmentof Christian organizationsin the metropolitanto which the entireregion
gravitated.The phenomenonof martyrs in the Roman cities of CroatianPannoniais
comprehensibleif the courseof persecutionin Sirmium is known. Similarly, the later
activities of the Arian bishop of Mursa are understandableonly in the context of the general
developmentof this heresy.Thus, the history of the early Christian communitiesof
northern Croatiawill be treatedin this work as one segment,as one inseparablepart of the
early Christian history of Pannonia.
This work on the "histories" of the early Christian communitiesunderstandablydepends
on the literary sources.Epigraphicmaterialwill be included to a certainextent,while the
archaeologicalmaterial (discussedin the article by B. Migotti) will not be considered,
exceptin someexceptionalcases.The literary sourcescan be divided into thosewith data
about martyrs and thosereferring to the later history of the Christian communities.The
main Roman sourcesfor Christian martyrs in general,and thus for

t57

Fnov rHn lNvrNcret-s SUNTo rHB SUNon JustlcB

martyrsfrom this region, are the Martyrologium Hieronymianum and the Passionesof
individual martyrs. The main sourcesfor later religious history are the actsof the church
councils.
In terms of the existenceof various terms usedfor sourcesdedicatedto martyrs wJn,passiones,legendes,vitae - it is perhapsmost suitableto call the sourcesreferring to
this region passionariesor legends.Acta, or acts,are in fact claimed to have the greatestage
and authenticity,and in a certainmannerare thus given the greatestweight. Passionesor
passionariesare texts with somewhatlessdefined contents;the authenticityof someis very
great,similar to acts,while othersinclude later additions,modifications and supplementsto
the contents.Acta andpassiones,and eventhe later mediaevalvitae or "lives" can
nonethelessall be called legends.This term - legend - is very frequently utilized by the
prominenthagiographerH. Delehaye.The term "life" is most often associatedwith texts
composedlater and having lesshistorical value.
Two main periods in the history of the early Christian communitiescan be
distinguishedon the basisof the main sources:L The beginningsand the period of
persecution,and IL The period of developedearly Christian communities.

I. The beginnings and the period of persecution

From the point of view of the entireEmpire,PannoniaSaviaand Secundaarenot
included amongregions with very early Christianization.b Theseareaswere in fact
Christianizedrelatively late - in the middle and secondhalf of the 3rd century.26At
regions- Dalmatia,
approximatelythe sametime or somewhatearlier,the n_eighboring
northernItaly and Istria - also becameChristianized.z/While the existenceof organized
Christiancommunitiesas early as the beginning of the 3rd century can be hypothesizedfor
the Aquileian region on the bisis of certin sp"Iial additionsto thL formula bi the Creed,28
in Pannonia,asin Dalmatia, the presenceof individual Christianscan be suggested,but no
foundation existsfor a conclusionabout hierarchicallyconstitutedChristian congregations.
Legendaryreportsplacing the establishmentof the first communitiesin the period of the
Apostlesare relevantto the Pannonianregion only insofar as they indicatethe origin of the
first missionariesand the connectionsof the Danubianregion with the Near East and
Greece.
The origins of the Pannonianchurch were describedby the authorsof the first
religious-historical synthesesreferring to this region, but without comprehensionof the
legendarycharacterof thesereports.The work lllyricum sacrum,for instance,mentions
that the Sirmium church had been establishedin the Apostolic period.29A lack, however,
of sourcesfrom the 2nd and 3rd centurieswas noted, as was a gap dividing the supposition
of a lst century bishopric from definite recordsof the period of Diocletian. Although this
fact negatesan Apostolic origin of the Sirmium church, in the period when lllyricurn
sacrumwas being compiled, "stories"about Apostolic origins fostereda certainreputation,
and additionallythe critical evaluationof materialhad not yet advancedto the point that it
would enableclearknowledge of stagesin the processof Christianization.Other early
works also repeatthis samehypothesisabout the Apostlesor their studentsas the founders
of the PannonianChurch, which has beenrejectedin modern literature,althoughthe
possibility of critical examinationof the contentsof theselegendshas not been discarded.
As in the caseof critical evaluationof the legendsof the origins of the Aquileian church,
certainactualhistorical momentshidden within the imaginatively woven storiescan be
perceived.
It must be hypothesizedthat the processof Christianizaion, when it actually
occurredin the 3rd century, was certainly not powerful enoughto encompassa majority of
the population.A large number of peopleprobably remainedfaithful to paganreligions
evenduring the 4th century, particularly in rural milieus. A good exampleof a lengthy
rejectionof Christianity can be found in a region that has already servedas a sourcefor
comparativeconclusions- the region of northernItaly. This time, it must be said, this
refersto the isolatedinterior regions of northernItaly and not the advancedAquileian
region. At the end of the 4th century,in the areacalled Val di Non, three priestswho

158

N CONTINENTAL
Cnoarte
THE HrsroRy oF EARLYCHRrsrrANCOMMUNITIES

attemptedto build a churchwere killed. The populationof this region had beenRomanized
at an early date and cannotbe consideredb'arbarianor uneducated.According to the
archaeologicalmaterial,this region had very developedpaganreligions. At the end of the
4th century, the areawas partially converted, however, the pagan beliefs were evidently still
strongenoughto resist a completeChristianization.Christianity still had not conqueredthe
previousreligion, and the open negationof this religion with the constructionof a church
led to the executionofthe radicalpriests.ru
The above eventis the only exampleof such a radical rejection of Christianity in
northernItaly at the end of the 4th century.No similar casehas been noted for the
Pannonianregion, but elementsthat would have resistedChristianizationto someextent
certainlymust have existedin this area.
In contrastto such considerationsofthe paganrejection ofChristianity, literatureabout
the late Roman periodjustifiably emphasizesthat the appearanceof various orientalcults,
particularly the spreadof Mithraism, 3l in itself establisheda basisin the paganreligions for
the later acceptanceof Christianity. It is known that such cults were extremely widespread
in Pannonia,as is shown by extensivearclrieological finds.32The presenceof Jewish
communities,provenin the samemanner,JJ indicatesthe existenceof further
predispositionsfor the acceptanceof Christianity.
The closenessof the late Roman cults to Christianity leadsus to interpret the well known
passagefrom the Passto of the Four Crowned fSancti Quatnor Coronatifas a seeming
inconsistency.Stonemasonsof Christian belief had no objectionsto carving a statueof the
god Sol, but they refusedto make a statuteof Aesculapius.raObviouslythe worshipof So1,
as a very widespreadlate Roman cult, was not completely alien to the Christianbeliefs of
the craftsmen.
From the abovelines that have touchedon the problems of the beginningsof
Christianity in Pannoniafrom severalviewpoints, the lack of generalinformation on this
topic is cle-arlyevident. As the Slovenianhistorian R. BratoZ slatesin one of his books,35
the origins of Christianity in Sirmium are wrappedin darkness.The first dependabledata
about Pannoniancommunitiesis availableonly from the period of persecution.On the one
hand, it is possibleto composea generallist of the namesof well-known martyrs, and on
the other, it is possibleon the basisof analysesof more extensivesourcesabout the
sufferersto infer certainconclusionsabout the characterof the early Christian
congregationsin Pannonia.Although the number of known martyrs from communitiesthat
existedin the Croatianpart of Pannoniais incomparablylessthan the number of martyrs
from the largestcommunity of Sirmium, an analysisof the sourcesdedicatedto the
congregationsof Sisciaand Cibalaewill show the great importancethat thesesourceshave
within the corpusof preservedtexts, thanks to their data.
In terms of the lists of "authentic"martyrs that have appearedin more recentliterature,it
is necessaryto begin with the main Roman "catalogue",the Martyrologium
Hieronymianum.The infqrmation from this work, with consultationof the commentaryof
Delehaye(where certainobscuresectionsare emended),can be consideredreliable.
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum (further MH in this translation)is especially
valued becauseof its age.It is consideredto have been createdin the mid 5th centuryin the
Aquileian region, whilE the earliestpreservedmanuscriptis from the 7th century.36This
martyrology containsonly the most basic data about Christian martyrs, in contrastto the
legendsof the martyrs. Although it is considereda reliable source,it should be noted that
the Martyrologium Hieronymianum doesnot always offer precisedata. This calendaris
characterizedby certaininadequaciesrelatedto the mannerin which it was written. It has a
markedly compilatory natureas it was uncritically assembledfrom various earliersources.
Thus one of its drawbacksis the frequentrepetition of the namesof the samemartyrs. The
samemartyrs appearseveraltimes, with different dates,and the causesof suchrepetition
are never noted. One exampleis the repeatedmention of the Sirmium martyr Anastasia,
cited severaltimes in the MH (25 December,6 January,8 January).
A secondgreat drawback of the MH deived from its compilation. The origin of
individual martyrs is often incorrectly cited. The true toponyms are often replacedby
distortedor entirely different forms (the namesof distant geographicalregions,for

159

SuNro rHe SUNoF JusrtcE

Fnou rHe INvTNcTBLE

instance).Further, martyrs whose historical identitieshave not been proven are often cited
accordingto unverified legendaryreports.Thus, a seriesof namesof only legendary
significancearerelatedto Sirmium.
Personalnamesalso as a rule appearin distortedforms, just like the above
toponyms.As the MHhas been preservedin various manuscripts,the distortednames
exhibit further variation of the original forms. In the following list of Pannonianmartyrs,
only thosewho are generallyconsideredto be authenticPannonianmartyrs are listed.
Similarly, only thosedatesassessedas being accurateafter critical evaluationof the sources
are noted.
The earliestmartyr from Sirmium was Synerotas.The date of his martyrdom is the
23rd ofFebruary. (It should be understoodthat this is a relative chronologicalorder, as the
text citesmerely the day and month, but not the year. The actualchronologicalorder will be
determinedsubsequentlywith the aid of datafrom other sources.)St Synerotasis
mentionedbriefly in all three main manuscipts (Cod. Bernensis,Cod.Epternacensisand
Sirmium and Pannoniaare mentioned as the sites of his
Cod. Wissenbursensis\.
"
martvrdom.3T
"'^""ffi;ext
daterelatedto the Sirmian martyrs is the 26th of March. This was the date
of the executionof Montanus and his wife Maxima. It is interestingthat one of the longest
eulogiespreservedinthe MH is about the martyr Montanus.There are only ten or so such
extensiveeulogiesin the entire work, and otherwisedata are entirely scarce.This eulogy
about St Montanushas been preservedin only one manuscript(Cod. Bern.). The remaining
two manuscriptsoffer the usual short citations.The eulogy containsa descriptionof the
area,the vocationof the martyr, and information abouthis flight, captureand execution,as
well as the location of his posthumousremains.All three main manuscriptscite Sirmium as
the -placeof his martyrdom.rd
The 6th of April is the date of the martyrdom of St lrenaeus.This martyr appearsin
all three manuscriptswith distortedforms of his name (Bereneus,Hereneus).Two ofthe
manuscriptsalso cite distortedforms of the name of the city - Firmi in placeof Sirmium
- but it is accuratelyrecordedin the third.39 An entire seriesof Pannonianmartyrs are.
listed for the 9th of April. More recentliteraturementionsonly someof them as authentic:
Fortunatus,Donatus,bemetrius and anonymousfemale saints.Their historical actuality is
confirmedby additional facts. For St Donatus,there is a convincinginterpretationby R.
tn iddition to the citation inthe MH, an originalpcssio createdin the Roman
Egger.4O
pJriod
the martyr Donatushas been preserved.This pcsslo comesfrom the local
about
^Gospel
of the Italian town of Cividale (Forum lulii). T\e martyrdom of Donatus,Romulus,
Silvinus; Venustusand Hermogenesis describedin it. The date of executionis different
from that inthe MH. Egger preferredthe datefrom the MH, as he consideredthe different
datingin thepassio to Uettre expressionof a local cult that developedin northernItaly. He
held ihat this other date merely indicateda local churchholiday. In any case,despitethe
incorrectdate,the Passioof St Donatusand othersconfirms the historical reality of the
martyr Donatusfrom the MH . The historical identity of Fortunatus,who also appears.in
rheluIH for the 9th of April, is confirmed by his ties to the martyr Hermogenes,cited_inthe
mentioned Passioof Donatus. Fortunatusand Hermogenesappeartogetherin the MFl for
the23rd of August. This is the sameHermogenescited in the Passioof St Donatus.The
only differencei are againthe dates.If Egger'sdating of the martyrdom of St Donatusand
the other martyrsfrom the Passiois accepted,then the date of Hermogenes'deathwould be
the 9th of April, which was also the day listed for Fortunatus.They are also both
mentionedin relation to the cult of relics. The relics of the Pannonianmartyrs Hermogenes
and Fortunatuswere preservedin a common reliquary in the cathedralat Grado.al Such
closelinkage, preservedlong after the Roman period (the report about the cult of relics
comesfrom the end of the 10th century),indicatesthe common fate of thesemartyrs, who
probably died at the sametime. Hence,the martyr Fortunatus,not mentionedin the Passirt
bf St Donatus,would nonethelessbelong to Donatus'group of martyrs, and certainly
representeda historical individual. Agreementin principle existsin the more recent
lileraturein terms of the origin of the third martyr, St Demetrius.In the commentaryto
MH,42 it is concludedthat Demetriussufferedmartyrdom in Sirmium and that his cult was
later transferredto Thessalonica,the relics being placedin the largestbasilica: "Nostra

160

THr H Isrony or Ennly Cgntsnen CouuuttttlEs

rNCoNIINBNTAL CnoarI,t

coniecturaestDemetriumSirmii martyriumfecisse,undeeiuscultusThessalonicam
delatus
sit,et reliquiaein basilicamaximarepositae.". Therearetwo differentreferencesto Sirmian
femalesaints,but usuallyonly oneis cited(7 femalemaftyrsor virgins), andthis as
re^presenting.a
singlegroupof femalemartyrs.All threemanuscripts
in fact citetwo groups
of femalesaints:this is mostoften explainedasthe carelessrepetiiionof a singleelerient,
whichis a commonoccunencein theMH. In this sense,R. Elger hasnotedtlat the
numberof anonymous
femalemartyrsis inconstantin the variousmanuscripts
of the
work.ar The remainingmartyrsmentionedfor the 9th of April'l+ havebeenbmittedfrom
recentliteratureon this theme.
For t[e end.ofApril (the28th),all threemainmanuscripts
mentionthe Pannonian
martyrsEusebiusandPollio, andeachalsomentionsthe city of Cibalaein distortedform.
This toponymwasexplicatedin earlierliteratureasthe naml of an individual,andanother
Pannonianmartyr wasaddedto the list - Tiballius. Suchan interpretationcanbe foundin
oneof theearliervolumesof themonumental
worksof the Bollandists.45
In oneof thelast
volumesof thesameseries,in commentaries
to theMH,46the erroneous
form thatmislead
thefirst researchers
is corrected.TheMH mentionsonly two saintsfor the 28thof April EusebiusandPollio.An exactcitationfollows:
Cod.Bern.
IIII KL. MAIAS
IN PANNONIA.
Eusebiepi Pollionis
Tuballi.
Cod.Eptern.
IIII k m pannoniaeusebiepi pollionistiballi
Cod. Wissenb.
IIII KL. MAI. IIn -pannoniaeusebiepi
tiballi pollionis47
. The saint'sdayof Quirinusis the4th of June.He is mentionedin all threemanuscripts,
wherehe is connected
to Savariaandnot Siscia.His identityasthebishopof Sisciais found
in olher,fairly numeroussources.The MH notesseveralothernamesandthe city of Rome
underthesamedateandafterthementionof QuirinusandSavaria.It wouldbe morelogical
in termsof the text to relatethe citationof Rometo this groupof martyrs,ratherthantJ
Quirinus.The confusion,however,hasled to a haditionof theremovalof theremainsof
Quirinusto Rome.As the interpretationof the sourcesaboutQuirinuswill be treatedlater
in this-work,_tleproblemshallbe left unresolvedfor the moment.The following quotation
from the MH thusincludesmerelythe first and certainsectionof the text:
Cod.Bern.
PRID.NO.IUN.
IN. SABARIA
ciuitate.pannonig
Quirini.
Cod.Eptern.
Pridienoniun in sabacivi pannonquirini
Cod. Wissenb.
II NON. IUN.
In sabariacivit quiriniaB
The dateof themartyrdgryo{St Sabbatia
is the4th of July.No additionaldata(e.g.
abouther status,mannerof death,etc.)arepreserved.
Severaiothermartyrsfrom Sirilium
arementionedin the samepassage
of theMH. They wereacceptedasauihenticin earlier
literature,whiletheyhavebeenomittedin laterstudies.49
Similarlythedateof .15Julyis citedin all threemainmanuscripts
for severalmartyn
accepted
by earlierstudies,while only two namesarenotedin morerecentworks:
Agrippin-us
andSecundus.
No otherinformationis otherwiseavailablefor thesetwo
martvrs.su
Tire dateof the deathof the Pannonianmartyr Ursicinushasbeenacceptedasthe 15thof
August.This dateis citedin oneGreekpassioind is notedin the calendarof the
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ByzantineChurch.51No such name is listed for that date inthe MH. At various other
dates,however, as many as four martyrs named Ursicinus are noted. The Pannonianmartyr
is in fact listed as the Ravennanmartyr Ursicinus, with a date of the 13th of December.
This is confirmed by observationsin the commentary,52where the supposedRavennan
martyr is said to have been a soldier and martyr from Illyricum who was transformedinto a
Ligurian, a doctor and a martyr from Ravenna: "...mileset martyr lllyricus factus est homo
Ligur, arte medicus,martyrio $avennas.". Hence at leastone entry inthe MH refers to the
Pannonianmartyr Ursicinus.)r
Ttre 29th of August is cited in all three.manuscriptsas the date of the martyrdom of
Basilia,about whosefife nothing is known.54
The so-called FruSkaGora stonemasons[SancfiQuattuor Coronatifare mentionedin
the MH for the Sth of November, and the samedate appearsin the preservedpassio. One
of thesePannonianmartyrs is omitted in the manuscriptsof the MH - Simplicius. It is
interestingthat Simplicius was originally also omitted from the passiodedicatedto the
Pannonianstonemasons,and was recordedin the passio subsequently,at a somewhatlater
date.It is possibleto determinethe approximatedate of this interpolationthrough
comparisonwith the citations inthe MH. As the passio itself is datedvery early, probably
as early as the 4th century, and as it has been determined that the MH oiginated in the mid
5th century,the aboveinterpolation can be assignedto the period after the compilation of
the MH.It must thus be hypothesizedthat the compiler of the martyology, utilizing various
earlier sources,cameinto contactwith the martyrs' actsof the Pannonianstonernasons,in
which the fifth martyr was not yet mentioned.Thus the entry inthe MH was formed
accordingto the original text of the passio.))
The last listed in the calendarof saintsis the Sirmian saint Anastasia.Her
commemorativeday is the 25th of December.In contrastto later legends,which omit her
true provenience,in the manuscriptsof the MH Anastasiais designateda saint martyred in
Sirmium.)o
This concludesthe survey of the MH . The citationshave all been strictly according
to the edition of De Rossi, ignoring all the inegularities that are abundantin the
martyrology. The difficulties faced by the first researchershave thus been outlined; led
astrayby the imperfectionsof the manuscriptsthey occasionallydrew incorrect conclusions
(asin the caseof Tiballi).
For somePannonianmartyrs no additional data exists,while extensivepassionesare
preservedabout others. Those without actsof martyrs are Eusebius,the sevenSirmian
female saints,Fortunatus(omitted from the Passio of Donatus, although he belongsto
Donatus'groupof martyrs),Montanus,Maxima, Sabbatia,Agrippinus,Secundusand
martyrologies)about these
Basilia. Informative articles(mainly commentaryon vari_ous
poorly known martyrs were written by the Bollandists.5i More extensiveliteratureabout
them did not develop due to the lack of sources.In contrast,martyrs with preserved
legendsbecamethe subjectof lively discussion,and greatnumbersof scientific works have
beendevotedto them. The Bollandists also wrote about these,publishing legendsand
critical commentaryto the original tex$.58 Despite certaindeficienciesin the earlier works,
the publicationsof the Bollandistsremain an anthologicalundertakingin a certainmanner.
The analysisof citationsfrom the MH has shown a fairly large number of martyrs
from the region of the Pannonianprovinces.This amount seemspa_rticularlylarge in
comparisonto the numbers of Norican or even Dalmatian martyrs.)e The number of
Pannonianmartyrs would be even greaterif various other lessreliable data, mostly of
legendarycharacter,were accepted.Perhapssomeof this information is in fact dependable,
and the calendarof Pannonianmartyrs could thus be more extensive,as is shown by the
list of S. Ritig.60It must also be suggestedthat victims existedfor whom no written
recordsare preserved,and the list of Pannonianmartyrs should not be considered
absolutelyfinal, although it is acceptableto a great extentbecauseof the argumentationon
which it is based.The namescontainedin this list attestto the stratified ethnic composition
of the PannonianChristian communities.Other than Greek names(such as Synerotas,
Demetrius,Anastasia),there are quite a few Latin names(such as Montanus, Fortunatus,
Donatus,Quirinus).

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THs Htsrony on Eenly CHnrsrreN CorvrlauNmes rN CoNTTNENTaICnoerre.

Connectionswith Judaismare shown by the cognomenSabbatia,which is of Jewish origin.6l The image that can be createdabout the earlier Pannoniancommunitieson the basis
of the preservednamesthus indicatesan early spreadof Christianity among the Latin
population.
The reports in the MH contain only the dies natalis in terms of the datesof martyrdom.
There is no data whatsoeverabout the emperorsor the persecutionsthat they set in action.
In order to achievea more precisedating of the martyrdoms, it is thus necessaryto consult
more extensivelate Roman sources,primarily the legendsabout the Pannonianmartyrs.
The legendsof martyrs, in contrastto data from martyrologies,representa broader
record about the martyrs themselvesand the period in which the martyrdom occurred.The
limitations of theselegendsconsistof their exclusively religious aim, to which the textual
context is subordinated.Legendsthus have limited value as historical sourcesand even
from the point of view of literature. As a rule, the texts of the legendsare extremely
standardized,formed accordingto appropriatedpatternsthat were modified to fit the life
storiesof various martyrs. Thus, in legendsone comes acrossso-called common sections
- contentspresentin almost all passionesthat often correspondevenin terms of the
manner of expression(thus we speakof establishedmannersof expressionof individual
elementsthat createa specialphraseologyin the actsof martyrs). Generalsectionscan be
consideredto include:bzthe dating of the martyrdom, characteristicsof the extentand force
of the persecutions,the reactionof Christiansto the approachingdanger,the descriptionof
the region in which the persecutionoccurred,information about the local persecutors,the
mention of the official paganreligion, emphasisgiven to the opinions of the martyr about
the pagangods, notation of the social statusand occupationof the martyr, data about other
Christiansin the areawhere the main eventsoccurred,a descriptionof torture inflicted,
information about the constancyof the martyr to his faith, admiration of Christian
staunchness,a descriptionof the mannerof execution,a descriptionof the place and
mannerof burial of the remains,the mention of miracles - particularly varioushealings
(somemiraclesare mentionedat the very end of a passio, such as healing relatedto
consecratedgraves,but otherscan also be found in other sectionsofthe texts, such as
miraclesperformed by the future martyr either prior to or during the legal process).63
The legendsabout the Pannonianmartyrs with their stereotypedcontentsexhibit the
above characteristicsof hagiographicliterature.Naturally, there are certaindeviationsin
individual legends,i.e. not all "common" sectionsare always present,and someatypical
datamay appear,which hencehave particularvalue. As an examplewe cite the so-called
common sectionsin the Passionesof St Pollio and St Quirinus:
L o c i c o m m u n e s o f t h eP a s s l o o f S t P o l l i o :
The martyrdom is datedto the reign of the emperorsDiocletian and Maximian:
"...in civitate Cibalitana die quinto Kalendarum Majarum, jubentibus Diocletiano &
'Maximiano Imperatoribas... (...in
"
the city of Cibalae,5 days before the calendsof
May, by order of the emperorsDiocletian and Maximian...) - PassioS. Pollionis,

Itr.

The extent of the prosecutionis describedvery extensively;firstin Sirmium, and then in

Cibalae. The citation of clericsis noted as a generalsign of the scopeof the persecution:
"Probuspraesesimperata sibi persecutione,a clericis sumsitexordium..." (After he
was orderedto carry out the persecutions,the praesesProbusbeganwith the
clerics...)- PassioS.Pollionis.I.
There is no report about the reactionof the Christians.
The descriptionof the region where the persecutionoccurredis fairly exhaustive:
"...ad urbem Cibalitarum pervenisset,de qua ValentinianusChristianissimus
Imperator oriundus essecognoscitur,& in qua superioripersecutioneEusebius
ejus-dem ecclesiaevenerandusantistesmoriendopro Christi nomine, de morte & de
diabolo noscitur triumphasse."(...he cameto the city of Cibalaewhere, asis known,
the most Christian emperorValentinian was born, and where in a previous
persecutionEusebius,the veneratedhead of the church there, dying in Christ'sname,
triumphed over deathand evil.) - Passio S. Pollionis,I.

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FR,oMTHEINvIT.IcIsLeSUNTo rHe SUNor Jusflce

Information about the local prosecutorsis contained in the above cited report about the
extent of the persecution.
fire official pagan religion is cited in general terms:
"...ut non cessetdeos & Principes blasphemare." (...they do not refrain from
oiticizing the gods and rulers.) - PassioS. Pollionis,l.
The martyr considersthe pagangods to be empty idols:
"...deumex ligno & Iapide..."(...godsof wood and stone...)- PassioS. Pollionis,

tr.

The statusof the martyr is cited exactly:

"Probuspraesesdixit: Quod fficum geris?Pullio respondit: Primicerius Lectontm."
(The praesesProbus asked:What office do you hold? Pollio replied: I am the first
lector.) - Passio S. Pollionis,n.
Certain Pannonianmartyrs are cited by name in the Passio of St Pollio: Eusebius (in the
section cited above describing the location of the martyrdom), Montanus and Irenaeus. The
Christian community of Cibalae has the first mention of lectors who addressthe Christian
faithtul.
There is no specialdescriptionof the torture. This can, however, be consideredto be only
deathat the stake.
The martyr's tenacity is clearly emphasizedby his refusal to offer sacrifice to the pagan
gods:
"Ego hocfacturus non sum, quia scriptum est: Sacrifrcansdaemoniis,& non Deo,
eradicabinr." (I will not do that, as it is written: he who sacrificesto demonsand not
to God shall be destroyed.)- PassioS. Pollionis,IIJ.
Admiration is expressedby a desireto realizefurther the vinues of the famous martyrs:
"...deprecamurdivinam potentiam, ut nos eorutn meritisparticipes esseconcedere
dignetur." (...we pray to Almighty God to condescendto let us participatein their
meritoriousacts.)- Passio S. Pollionis,\1.
The-martyrdom itself was described exactly:
"...flammisjussit eum exuri." (...it was orderedthat he be burned lin flames].) PassioS.Pollionis,W.
There is no data about the burial.
There is no mention of miracles.

&)
h\
t/

L o c i c o m m u n e s o f t h eP a s s i o o f S t Q u i r i n u s :
The martyrdom of Quirinus is dated to the reign of Dibcletian and Maximian:
"Per lllyricurn vero Diocletianus sacrilegispraeceptis in Christi populum hostiliter
saeviebat,addito tyrannidi suae Maximinno in regnoparticipe, qui & suam rabiem, &
Diocletiani per omnemlllyricum ostenderet."(Throughoutlllyricum, Diocletian
savagelyattackedthe Christian population with sacrilegiouscommands,adding his
tyranny as a co-ruler with Maximian,.who had exhibited his and Diocletian'swrath
throughout all of Illyricum .). - PassioS. Quirini,I.

1&

THe Hrsronv oRElnLy CHnrsrreNCovrrr,ruNrrxINCoNnNENTAL

CRoen.q,

The martyr's dies natalis was cited at the end of the passio:
"Passltsest beatus Quirinus episcopusSiscianus,martyr Christi, sub die pridie
Nonarum Juniarurn,." (The blessedQuirinus, bishop of Sisciaand martyr of Christ,
was martyred the day before the nonesof June...) - Passio S. Quirini,Y.
The intensity of the persecution was particularly emphasized, as can be seen from the
above.
Quirinus attempted to escapefrom the approaching threat:
"..egressusest a civitate,&fugiens comprehensus
est..." (...heleft the city and was
capturedin his flight...). - PassioS. Quirini,il.
The description of the area in this text is very interesting. Two Pannonian provinces and
their capitalsare mentioned,as well as cities along the Danube, as in the following:
"...ad ripam Danubii ad singulascivitates(ducebanr)... " (...along the banks of the
Danubefrom city to city...) - PassioS. Quirini,[tr.
Information about local persecutionscan be found throughout the entire text, specifically
referring to two provincial officials, Maximus and Amantius. A common citation of them
follows:
"...Maximus Quirinum episcopurnjussit ad Amantium praesidem, ad primam
Pannoniam deduci..."(...Maximus orderedthat bishop Quirinus be taken to the
praesesAmantiusin PannoniaPrima...): PassioS. Quirini,fr.
The official paganreligion is mentionedseveraltimes. One example:
" Q.{ote
"Respice& agnoscepotentesessedeos, quibus Romanorurn servit irnperhzrn.
and acknowledgethe powerful gods worshipped by the Roman Empire.) - Passio
S. Quirini,ll.
The opinions of the martyr regarding pagan deities are perhaps best expressedby the
following text:
"...contraDei praeceptajubet servosChristi diis vestris immolare, quibusegonan
servio, quia nihil sltnt." (... againstthe commandmentsof God they ask that the
servantsof Christ make sacrificeto your gods, which I do not serveas they represent
nothing.) - PassioS. Quirini,ll.
The function of Quirinus is clearly noted:
"...beatusQuirinusepiscopusSiscianus..."(..blessedQuirinus,bishopof Siscia...)PassioS. Quirini,ll.
Quirinus indicatesthat there are other Christians in his community during discussionswith
Maximus, and in another section of the text Christian women from Pannonia Prima are
cited:
"...Christianaemulieres,cibum,potumqueobtulerunt ei." (...Christian women
broughthim food and drink.) - PassioS. Quirini,lY.
No detaileddescriptionof the torturesexists,merely a brief mention of a beating:
"Tunc Maximus praesesjussit eumfustibus caedi." (The praesesMaximus then
orderedhim flogged.) - Passio S. Quirini,tr.
The constancyof the martyr is emphasizedthroughout the entire text, and one citationis
offered:
"...veremodo sacerdoseffectussum, si me ipsum vero Deo sacrificium obtulero."
(...I truly have becomea priest, if I sacrificemyself to the true God.) - PassioS.
Quirini,ll.
Admiration is expressedthrough gatheringat the grave of the martyr:
"...ubi major estpro meritis ejusfrequentia procedendi." (...becauseof his merit, there
were more frequentvisits.) - PassioS. Quirini,Y.
The manner of martyrdom is emphasized in the orders and only the execution itself is
described:
"..jussit sanctoDei Sacerdotivelfamulo molam ad collum ligari & influvii Sibaris
undas demergi." (...he orderedthat the holy priest or servantof God have a millstone
placedaround his neck and be thrown into the waves of the river Sibaris.)- Passio
S. Quirini,Y.

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Fnov rHe lNvrxcrsI-eSunro rue SUNor Justrcs

The site of burial is specifically noted:

portam depositum..."(This
"Sedipsumsancturncorpus in basilica ad Scarabetensem
sameholy body was placedin the basilicaby the Scarabetangates...)- PassioS.
Quirini,Y.
One of the miraclesoccurredwhile he was in prison:
"Media autemnocte apparuit splendormagnusin carcere." (A greatlight appearedin
the prison in the middle of the night.) - PassioS. Quirini,III.
NB: The archaic forms of the letters c and s in the cited passio
have been replaced by modem forms. All else has remained
unchanged.The pronounced variant of the vowel i (caseswhere
the vowel i is pronouncedasj) appearsas the graphemej.
Morphological irregularities are not particularly frequent, only in
some individual verb forms (sumsit in place of sumpsit in Passio
oll.l, for example).

This survey of the "common" sectionsillustratesthe mutual elementsof the two

analyzedpassiones.Prominentspecialcitationsincluded among atypical data include the
indirect mention of the religious hierarchy of Cibalaein the Passfoof St Pollio, and data
aboutthe administrativedivisions of Pannoniain the Passio of St Quirinus. Such special
data also appearsin legendsabout other Pannonianmartyrs, either in the "common-"
sections(which thus attain particular contextualvalue and nuances)or in other sectionsof
the texts.T\e Passioof St Synerotascontainsspecialdata mentioning the origin of the
martyr and his arrival in the Sirmian area.This information correspondsto the historical
situationconcerningthe marked influence of easterninhabitantson the formation of the
Christiancommunitiesof Pannonia.The Passio of St Irenaeusmentionsthe Catholic
characterof the Sirmium community, that of St Donatusdata about the Pannonianclergy, St
Ursicinuscontainsmention of a private estateoutsidethe city, and the Passio of the Four
Crowned has exceptionallyimportant noteson Pannonianquarriesand stone-carving.
The Passionesof St Pollio and St Quirinus, which we have usedto illustrate the
stereotypicalcharacterof the legendsof the martyrs, are the only two that speakof
Christiancommunitieson present-day Croatianterritory. Such a small number of preserved
legendscorrespondsto the numerical figures from the MH, wherethe greatestnumber of
martyrs were connectedto Sirmium.
The most important questionsin relation to the actsof martyrs concernthe
authenticityof the eventsnarratedin the legends,i.e. the historical evaluationof the sources
themselves.The classificationarising from historical evaluationof the actswas first made
by H. Delehaye.64As this division has remainedfundamentaland as the legendsof the
Pannonianmartyrs were also included in this scheme,the historical authenticity of these
legendscan be evaluatedon the basis of Delehaye'scriteria. His classificationsystem
divides the legendsinto six groups, eachfurther group within the division being further
from the rigorous criteria of historically valid sources.It is clear from the groups to which
the Pannonianlegendswere assignedthat they are not included among sourcesof the
highestvalue, but nonethelesshave a certainhistorical value.
The preservedlegendsabout the Pannonianmartyrs belong to groups 3 and 4 of
Delehaye'sclassificationsystem.The legendsabout Irenaeus,Pollio, Quirinus, Synerotas,
Donatusand others, Ursicinus, and the Pannonianstonemasonswere assignedto group 3.
The legendsabout Anastasiaand Demetriuswere placedin group 4.
A generalcharacteristicof Delehaye'sGroup 3 is its inclusion of legendsthat are
later revisionsof original documents.The sourceof theselegendswould thus be some
authenticdocument.According to the degreeto which alterationshad beenundertaken
(revision of original or already revised, secondarydocuments),the legendsof this group
are characterizedbyminor stylistic modifications or major changesin content.
Legendsof Group 4 originated without a basisin written sources,as opposedto the
legendsof the previous group. Their contentsare the result of combinationsof real and
fantasticelements.The legendsof this group are called historical romances,and this is a
very abundantcategory.The historical elementin them is reducedto a minimum. It can

r66

THs Hlsronv or Ennly Cunrsnlx CorrauuNrrrss

rNCoI{TTNENTAL
Cno.q,rre

nonethelessUeperceivedin the namesof the martyrs, the datesof their executionand the
eventualexistenceof a cult site.
The contentsof the actsof the Pannonianmartyrs primarily determinestheir
classificationinto Delehaye'sgroups 3 and4.
The legend of St Pollio reports on the persecutionof Diocletian. After legal processes
againstthe Christiansof Sirmium, the praesesProbusturned to the neighboring
communitiesand in Cibalaecondemnedthe first lector of the community there, Pollio. Most
of the passio consistsof a dialoguebetweenthe praesesand the condemned- the dialogue
is actually a freely organizedrecord of the interrogation.The Passio of St Pollio containsno
interesti4gadditions such as descriptionsof amazing conversions.It is limited to a
recapitulationof the legal process,offered in a very extensiveform. This strict limitation of
the contentsindicatesthe authenticityof the source,although this passio is consideredless
reliable in the modern literature(particularly in comparisonwith the Passio of St Irenaeus,
evaluatedas the most dependablePannonianlegend).65The recapitulationof the legal
processshows that the compilers of this text had knowledge of the original court records,
hencethe legendjustifiably belongsin Delehaye'sgroup 3. The martyrPollio was executed
by burning in the vicinity of his city.
The Siscianbishop Quirinus was executedin PannoniaPrima, in Savaria,accordingto
the legend. The legend was recordedon the basis of recordsreporting a double
interrogationand trial - the first in Sisciaand the secondin Savaria.After the secondlegal
process,the martyr Quirinus was thrown into the river with a millstone around his neck.
The Passio of St Irenaeusis distinguishedfrom other legendsabout the Pannonian
martyrs by its very pure form, while the Passio of St Donatus offers a stereotypicalreport
about the legal process.The legendsabout the martyrs Synerotas,Ursicinus and the
Pannonianstonemasonshave more unrestrictedcontents.The Passio of St Irenaeusreports
on the bishop of Sirmium who was executedduring the persecutionof Diocletian. A great
part of the text is occupiedby the dialoguebetweenthe praesesProbusand the accused
Irenaeus.This text is evocativeof an official legal process,which was probably noted in
original documents.Irenaeusis representedas a very young man, but also as aardent and
steadfastChristian. When he refusedto sacrificeto the pagangods, the praesesProbus
orderedhim executedby sword and thrown into the river Sava.The legend of St Donatus
and four other Pannonianmartyrs recapitulatesthe legal caseagainstthem. As a
disproportionately large part of the text is devoted to the trial of the Pannonian martyr
Hermogenes,thepassio should in fact be termed the Acts of St Hermogenesand others.All
the martyrs from this legend were members of the Pannonian clergy. The events are dated
to the period of Diocletian. The legend of St Synerotasspeaksof Sirmium. Most of the text
is characterizedby a particular narrative vitality and an unusual story. The stereotypical
legal dialogueoccupiesa lessersectionof the text. The legend speaksof the humble
gardenerSynerotas,who was brought before the pagancourt becauseofthe revengeofan
offended woman whose immoral lifestyle he had condemned.He was executedby sword.
The legend of St Ursicinus containsa more extensivedescriptionof the legal caseagainst
the Pannonianmilitary tribune, the Christian Ursicinus. His place of binh was noted in the
legend as the town of-Sibentumin Upper Illyricum. On the basis of the descriptionof the
court case,it canbe concludedthat it took placein Sirmium. Ursicinus was executedwith a
sword. The dating is not entirely secure.The legendsof the Pannonianstonemasonsrefer
to Diocletian'spresencein Pannoniaand his encounterwith the skilled stonemasons
Symphorianus,Claudius, Castorius,Nicostratusand Simplicius. They met the emperor's
wishes, carvedvarious sculpturesand decorativeornamentsfor him, and confirmed their
inspired skill. As Christians,they refusedto carve a statueof the god Aesculapius,and
were condemnedand executed.They were closedalive in lead casesand thrown into the
river. As can be seenfrom the presenceof Diocletian, the event is dated to his period. The
legend of the Pannonianstonemasonsis very extensiveand freely formed. The official
report, which was probably a part of its basis,has been modified until it is unrecognizable.
It is nonethelessconsideredthat the legend speaksof actual events,and that other ihan the
lames of the martyrs certainother data (about the geographicregion, Pannonianquarries,
the craft of stonemasonry)atteststo its correctattribution to Delehaye'sgroup 3.
Two legends(about St Anastasiaand the martyr Demetrius) have characteristicsof
historical romances,and are included in group 4. The actual occurrenceswere entirely

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FRoM THE INVINCIBLE SUNTo THs SUN oF JUSTICE

ignored and minimized in them. The events were placed elsewherethan in Pannonia, and
figures appearthat have absolutely no relation with these martyrs.
After consideration of the historical value of the acts of the martyrs, the period of
their origin must be addressed.The early Christian legendswere preservedin mediaeval
manuscripts.One example would be the numerousmanuscriptsin which the legendsof the
Pannonianstonemasonsare preserved.The earliestof thesemanuscriptg-isfrom the 8th
century (ParisCodex no. 10861).The othersare dated somewhatlatei.6 The legendsof
other Pannonianmartyrs are similarly locatedin various mediaevalmanuscripts.An aspect
that must be investigated concernsthe thesis of the classical origin of the legends of the
martyrs. Is it possible to speak with certainty about the creation of the legends as early as
the late Roman period? Did they then exist merely as ideas or did they already have a
literary form? Hagiographicliterature provides a positive answerto thesequestions.All
passionesof Delehaye'sgroup 3 were undoubtedly createdin the classicalperiod, as they
are in fact more unrestrained alterations of documentscreatedin the period of the
persecution.They thus must have been composedwhen the original sourceswere still well
preservedand generallyknown.
The legendsabout the martyrs Irenaeus,Pollio, Quirinus, Synerotasand the
Pannonianstonemasonscan be dated to the 4th century. The earliest of them is perhaps the
legendof St lrenaeus,which transmitsthe court proceedingsin a very pure form. The date
of Irenaeus'death in the legend correspondsto that in the MH. The phrase Ecclesi.atua
catlnlica6T indicates the first half of the 4th century, when Orthodox oriented bishops were
in chargeof the Sirmian community. When the Arian bishop Germinius was placedas the
head of the Sirmian community in the mid 4th century, it becamea markedly Arian
community. The adjectiveCatholic was alreadywell known in the 4th century.ouIt rarely
appearsin the pre-Constantine period in the preservedliterature, although the term was
known then and usedby certainreligious writers. Its appearancein the 4th century could be
entirely expecled and would not contradict the suggesteddating of the passio.
T\e Passio of St Pollio is dated to the secondhalf of the 4th century,in the period of
the emperor Valentinian I, who is mentioned in it. It may have acquired its literary form
prior to this, in the first half of the 4th century. The preserved version was probably written
although certainmodifications and supplementscould have
in the period of V_alentinian,
beenaddedlater.6eThe mention of Valentinian as the most Christian ruler would make
senseonly if thepassio had been written in his period. If, for instance,the text had been
written a century later, Valentinian certainly would not be emphasizedin this manner, as the
chronological distance would enable an more exact perception of his character and
behaviour. In terms of his character,Valentinian I certainly does not deservethe title of
most Christianruler, and the sameis true of his behavior, particularly if one considershis
religious toleranceor lack thereof. However, the composerof the passio who wrote in the
period of Valentinian'sreign ignored the negativeaspectsof the emperor,and in the text
devotedto the Christian community of Cibalaeshowedhim in the best possiblelight,
certainly becausethe emperor had been bom in Cibalae.
The compilatory character of the acts about Quirinus is indicated by the report about
a double trial. Evidently the compiler utilized various primary sourceswhich were then still
preservedand accessible.The terminusante quernfor the origin of the passio is certainly
the transportof the relics of Quirinus to Rome, which occurredat the beginning of the 5th
century. The text mentions the grave of Quirinus at Savaria, and there is no information
abouthis remainsbeing moved. Only a later addition to the Passio of St Quirinus mentions
the translationto Rome. Hence,the original text of the legend can be datedto the second
half of the 4th century.
Other than the martyr himself, only tfe emperor Maximian is named in the Passio of
St Synerotas.The administratorof the province remainedanonymous,other than his rank
of praeses.The dating of this text to the 4th century is supportedby the introductory note
'
that Synerotaswas a Greek citizen who had settledin Sirmium. The fairly expressive
contentsof the legend allow a hypothesisthat the data about the immigration of Syneroks
had not been taken from some official record, but that it had been preservedorally. Such
settlementfrom easternareaswas a common phenomenonin the 4th century. Later, in the
5th and 6th centuries,the influx of easternpopulationsceased.Thus it seemslikely that the

168

THs Hrsronv op Eenly CHntsttRttCovtvtuNtrtBsrNCoNrrNsNral Cnoere

author of the legend emphasizedthe foreign origin of Synerotasin a period when such
settlementin Sirmium was normal. He could then comparethe tradition with the actual
situation,concludingfrom their congruenceabout the accuracyof the story.
The legendsabout the Pannonianstonemasonsoriginatefrom the earlier phaseof the late
Roman period. The main argumentfor dating this text as'earlyas the 4th centuryis the
Latin in which it is written, partibularlythe utilization of technicalterms and citationsfrom
the Gospel of St Matthew from a tranilation prior to the MH.
The dating offered by F,ggerfor the legend of St Donatus [et al] can be accepted.As was
the casewith the actsof St.Quirinus,the origin of the Passio of St Donatuscan be
consideredin terms of the translationof the relics of the martvr- While the transferalof the
relics of St Quirinus representeda terminusante quemfor the origin of his passio, for St
Donatus and the group of martyrs it was a terminuspost quem. The'relics of the Pannonian
cleric Donatus,and those of Romulus, Silvanus,Venustui and Hermogenes,arrived in
northernltaly at the beginningof the 5th century.Soon aftbr the depositionof the relics, the
legend about the Pannonianmartyrs was written on Italian soil. Both R. Egger and S. Ritig
considerthattheactsofStDonatuswerewrittenunder'influenceof
the PassioofSt
Pollio.7oTheir opinionsdifferedin that Ritig consideredthe Passioof Donatus
contemporaryto that of Pollio, while Egger datedit later.
tt is difncirtt to datethe lesend aboullhe martvr Ursicinus with certaiiltv. A somewiiat
later origin of the legend coul-dbe indicatedby the distortion of the nam'efbr the iown
where the martyr was born - Sibentum.Similarly, the dating accordingta indictionesthat
appearat the end of the passioindicatea later origin.
Two Fannonianlegendsthat belong to Delehaye'sgroup 4 (St Demetririsand St __
Anastasia)also originatedsomewhatlater, but certaifistill in the late Rom?u1'period.7l
Data about the period of the executionof individual saintsare ambng the most important
information that can be derived from the legendsof the martyrs. They do not cite the.yearof
martyrdom, but rathermerely the day and month. The year of martyrdom had no liturgical _.
importance,so it could be ignored. However, Christian communitiespreserved
remembranceof the imperial persecutorsand their namesare also cited in the legends.
The majority of Pannonianmartyrs died in the period of Diodetian. The persecutionof .
Diocletianis mentionedin the legendsof Irenaeus,Pollio, Quirinus,Donatus[et a1],the'
Pannonianstonemasons,Anastasiaand Demetrius (the emperorsDiocletian and Maxiri'riari
are mentionedindividually or together).The year 304 has been aqceptedin the literatureas
the date of the executionof Irenaeus,Pollio, Donatus(and the oth^ermartyrs from this acta),
Anastasiaand Demetrius.The beginning of the Passioof Pollio, /z where previous
martyrdomsin Sirmium are mentioned,is art important sourcefor deducingthe
chronologicalsequenceof the executionsof the Pannonianmartyrs. As this section'
includesfhe phraie a clericissumsitexordium,l3 it follows that ihis persecutioirwas'also
directedagainlay membersof the community, i.e. that this was the 4th persecutionof'
Diocletian in the spring of 304.74The sequencein which the martyrs are listed in the Passlo
of St Pollio correspondsto that in the MH . The priest Montanus was the first to die, on the
26th of March,304, followed by the bishopIrenaeus(6 April) and Pollio (28 April). As
can clearly be seenfrom the MH,\aymen as well as clergy died in this persecution,which
indicatesthe 4th edict. The wife of the priest Montanus, Maxima, was the first recorded
non-clergy to die. Along with the clericsDonatus (and his accompanyinggroup of martyrs
cited in his acts)and Demetrius,the anonymousSirmian female saintsare cited in the MH.
The death of Anastasia,and thoseof martyrs about whose lives there are no data (Sabbatia,
A^glpp.inus,Secundus,Basilia) should also be placedin the year'304, when all the citizens
of the Empire were exposedto persecution.
The other martyrs that are known from citationsin the MH andthe preservedlegends
were executedin variouspersecutions.
- It is entirely certainthat the first among the PannonianChristiansto die was the bishop
of Cibalae,Eusebius.He is mentionedin the MH andin the Pcssjo of St Pollio, but no legerd is preservedabout him. From the citation inthe MH it would be possibleto conclude
that Eusebiushad died in the sameyear 4qPollio, as the martyrs are listed togetherunder
the samedate.In the Passioof St P;11io,75however, it is cleaily statedthat E:usebiushad
been martyred in a previouspersecution,but which one is uncertain.The placementof his
deathin the 2nd century certainlyis unacceptablebecauseof the late Christianizationof

r69

FRoM THBINVINCIBLBSUNTOTHB SUXOTJUSTICS

in the 3rd century,againconsidering.

region.Of thepossiblepersecutions
thePannonian
that the periodof Valerianwould
it
seems
td; a;-1!j;fcon-"Crsion of thi Pannoriianarea"
of
Eusebius.
martyrdom
the
be the dateof
mosdf[kely
-----'Th;ilartyrdom
be
should,accordingto the legends,
stonemasons
of thePannoriian
in Pannoniain
relatedto a visif by Diocletianto Pannonia.As Diocletiaq_wqnq!-present
ln
thefall of 3O4,a sbmew[qtlatermartyrdomof the so-calledFruSkaGorastonemasons
306hasbeensuggested.T6
St Synerotasdateshis mqtyr-dgmt_othe-peryd-of the emperor
The legen-d-of
that this refenedto GaleriusMa,ximianus.The
Mutimian. C-ertainopini6nshavesuggested

6rfiaiy"-t*t"r

- mgstprobably
of Diocletian
iittaceain thepifrodof thePersecution

in gOZ.Allhough Gdirius ruled the Pannonianregi94(includingSirmium)as.Caes.ar

persecutions),
in the.
i"hi.h iodd elphin thelargenumberof victimsbf Diocletian's
from 304,DiocletianandManimianarementioned
the marty:rdoms
iigin* ae"scribiirg
Galeriusis mentionedindependentlymerely
* ihJori-ginatorso:fthe persecutions.
;d;tfi
St
Synerotas'
of
in the Passio
as
- Augustus
he exactyearoi tne aeattiof Ursicinusis dfficult to determine.In thepassloitself'
of DalmatusandMaxentius,which is
his deathwasdaiedaccordingto the consulates
indictioneswerealsonoted.Dalmatusand
iiiio*.tiy pre"isefor legendiof martyrs..The
of the 4th centuryor in the secondhalf of
at
the_-beginning
Maxentiuiarenot notedeither
in theconsular
nameof Maxentiusappears
thE
Onty
lists.77
consular
in
ttt"
irc ita
"Jniury
tilte,s at the beginningof ttre4th century- the emperorMaxentiuswasconsul
iilir *";;"t
thlattheauthorof thi:passdowasreferringt9 Maxeltius'
6uriim6. tf it is hypothesized
r.*nO ronsulatefr6in 309,the sted indictionesdonbt conespondto this dating.The year
deaththusremainsunknown.
- -T5gr"attytOom
of
-- Ursicinus'
of St Quirinusis relatedto DiocletianandMaximian.Accordingto
other,rnoiereliible sources,dredeathof Quirinuscaqpqplacedin the periodafterthe.
prtr"tution of Diocletian,in the year308.lhe greatChristlanpoethrdentius doesnotcite

f#;;;i'd;itfi;;ffi;h,

the
Galerius.Jfrn
duringtliereign-of
b"i pt"reritrr martirdom

/'St
relatedQuirinusto Sisciaanddid not mentionSavariaat all.
firsfverses,Prudentius
bisho.p,
the
of
qgirinus'
death
the
martyrdom,anddes-cribed
iiio1nJ.iria theyear308for
in termsof thedate,the4th
acceptable
This yearis more_
asAiOFruOentiusls0
;fjil;jil
oi iuiy,' .it.a in the MH. Laterthat yeai, on the 1l th of November,the P.annonillt:qi9i
till then,hence$9 dlting
cameundertherule of Licinius.Galeriushadruledin Pannonia
thelast
i*. ttt MH ugr"etwiththeotherdataabolt Quirinus,whois thusconsidered
(the
century)
period
6th
later
a
somewhat
writer
from
marjyr.Anotherclassical
Fannonian
the
concerning
information
no_new
Tours,
offered
of
Gregory
who mentionsSi Quirinus,
of Toursdescribedin
Life AItnb othercitedwriters,Qregor.y
rfit;Ail"iQuiinus.
of the
Iltuii miiJty tni Aeatbloydrowning,but importantdataaboutthe circumstances
E
l
executionareomitted,
maltyrs:
chronologyof thePannonian
Thetablebelowshowsthe suggested
Dateof martvrdoml
Martvrs:
2EApril259?
Eusebius
26March304
Maxima
Montanus,
6 April304
henaeus
Romulus,
Donatus,
Fortunatus,
Hermogenes, 9 April 304
Venustus,
Silvanus,
Sirmian
anonymous
Demetrius,
Virgins")
tbmalesaints("Seven
28April 304
Pollio
4 July304
Sabbatia
15July304
Secundus
Agrippinus,
29August304
Basilia
304
25December
Anastasia

170

Cnonne
Tse Hn'ronvor ElRlv CHntsrnuCouuuNlnesw CoNTINEMAL

Ursicinus

14August(year?)

Pannonianstonemasons

8 November306 ?

synerotas
Ouirinus

307?
23February
4 JunLSQE-

Although all of *re abovecitedmartyrswereundoubtedlyhistoricalfigures,the

historicalrldity of Irenaeusand Synerolasareadditionallyconfirmedby epigraphic
from Sirmium.uz
monuments
The martyrsfrom the communitiesof CibalaeandSisciahavea yery Proryinentplace
within the gineral list in both the formal andcontextualsenses.In the formal sense,the
persecutiori's
beginandendwith them - the first known martyr-wasfrom the community
'of
anddhelastwasfrom Siscia.In thecontextualsense,thedataaboutthefirst
CiUatae
of the
hasa specialimportanceasit indicates$9 $eye-lopment
mdyr, Eusebius,
Pannonian
Sqqip
lag
behin{
did
not
certainly
comriuhityin the'mid3rd century.-It
Cibalaean
lhe
At
is.available'
in this_periodcommunity,for whiih no informationaboulpossiblemartyr,s
it acquiredthroughDiocletian's.
thistimeSirmiumdid not yethavetheimportance
tenitorial-administrativereorganizationof the Empire.Hencethe lack of citationin sources
the history_ofthe
aboutpossiblemartyrsin the 3rd centuryperhapsieflectsleality. Th_us
the
martyrEusebius
with
truly
begins
region
entire
Pann6nian
of
the
Christiancommunit!
from Cibalae.
While it knownfor Eusebiusmerelythathe wasa bishop,muchmoreis knownabout
in
andsocialstatusaredelineated
two othermartyrs,PollioandQuirinus.Pollio'scharacter
in
and
quirinus,
14e
l9ee4
in
bottr
is
available
information
preserved
l6gend,andfor
his
theworksof certainvery famousclassicalwriters.It is debatableasto.wheth_e.r-Quirinus
or did theywrite
wassorenownedthath; attractedtheattentionof JeromeandPrudentius
have
singledoutthe
might
St Jerome
with Pannonia.
of theirconnection
abouthim because
the
had
been
Prudentius
is
known
that
It
because
of
his
own
origin.
Siscianbishop
to Quirinus
of his panegy{rc
provirice,andexactlybecause
of anunspecified
administrator
of Pannonia
to find hyiothesesin theliteraturethathe hadbgen-governor
it is po-s-sible
Savii.E3If this werenot the case,it still seemspossiblethatthefameof Quirinuscould
havepromptedhim to dedicateahymn to thesaint.
attestto thespecialpositionof-bishopQuirinusin the
Ce'rtainveryvaluablemonuments
on 9,n9very beautifulsilver
lateRomanpdrioa.A portraitof Quirinusis preserved
Quirinus.is.
reliquarynow in theGiadocathedlalandprobablyin Aquileia-originally.
shoivnih the companyof saints(Cantius'groupof martyrsandthe.RomanLatinus)who
in Aquileia,in theperiodwhenthereliquarywasmade.HThe
wereworshipped,'espicially
cult of Quiriirirswasevidentlyveri developedin the 5th centuryin theregionof Aquileia,
artisticime'
led to thepreserved
andthehigh degreeof reverence
The otf,.ermonumentrelatedto Quirinuscomesfrom Rome.This is thefamous
atthe
at theendof thelastcenlury{ the site ad catacumba"r,
inscriptionthatwasdiscovergd
thatthis inscriptionmentioningQuirinus
It is considered
cult siteof thefirst apostles,Ss
stoodon thesaint'sgi'avein Romeandthatit provesthetranslationof theremainsof the
by thelatteradditionto thePassioof
to Rome,asis alsoindi-cated
martyrfrom Pannoriia
from the4th to thq 5$
at
the
trinsition
events
the
historical
Considering
Quirinus.s6
betweenPannoniaand Italy throughouttheentirelate
cinturies,andtheclosecontacts
Romanperiod,whicharereflectedfurtherin thedevelopedcultsof otherPannonian
martyrsinnorthernItaly andin Rome,it seemsthattheRomaninscriptionmusttruly be
of Quirinusto
relatid to theSiscianbi-shopQuirinus.Theproblemof the connections
of theMH, canbe solvedthroughthe Rome,which wasalsonot6din the analyses
reliabiiityof therecordandfurtherthroughtheinscriptionaswell astheadditionto the
originalicts. In termsof thecitationin thl rVZtitself,althoughit musthaveoriginatgdafter
to
of Quirinusto Romeaccordingto thedateof thetext,thel9is no n-eed
the-translation
to the
to Rome.The citationof Romeinthe MH, according
seekproofof someconnection

conl;lti" thi.h it .pfi;i,-ir

"ot

sT
toQuirinus.
rir.Jit*iiv ietatea
r7l

FnorarHe INVTNcTBLE
SuNro rHs SUNor Jusrtcp

The martyrs of the community of Cibalae,Eusebiusand Pollio, did not arousethe

interestof classicalwriters as did Quirinus, hencethe Siscianbishop can be consideredas
the most prominentrepresentativeof the formative phaseof the early Christian
communitiesin Croatia. Quirinus can be comparedwith the famous representativesof the
Sirmian community, Demetriusand Anastasia,whose cults extendedbeyond their local
frameworks and were interwoven into the foundationsof a broaderregional development
of mediaevalChristianity.
The two preservedlegendsabout the martyrs from Cibalaeand Siscia,despitetheir
orientationto religious mannersand their stereotypicalforms (as is shown by the sections
in common), offer data that is interestingin the context of church history and also general
secularhistory. As is noted in the analysisof the Passioof Pollio, datain it about the
courseof persecutionsin Pannoniais of greatimportance.The mention of two provincial
governorsin the Passio of Quirinus indirectly refers to Diocletian'sterritorialadministrativedivision of Pannonia.Theseadministratorswere insertedin the lists of
provincial governors88only on the basisof the citation in the passlo, so thislegend is
included amongthe hagiographicsourceswith unequivocalhistorical value.6vThe
reliability of historical datafrom hagiographicsourceshas also been confirmed through
epigraphicfinds. eoThus even when epigraphicconfirmationis lacking, as in the caseof the
Pannonianadministratorsin the Passioof Quirinus, nonethelessit can be assumedthat the
datafrom the sourceare accurate.9lSuchseculardatafurther enableknowledge about the
early Christiancommunitiesto be placedin a clear historicalframework.
On the basisof analysesof more extensivesourcesabout the persecutions,the
legendsof the martyrs, in conclusionof this discussionof the beginningsof the creationof
the Christian comrnunities,it is possibleto offer very generalconclusionsabout the
characterof the first early Christian communitiesin Pannoniaas a whole, and hence,in
Croatia. The already noted data from the Passro of Irenaeusabout the Catholic characterof
the Sirmian church can be taken as a standardfor other communities.Most probably, as
thereis no contradictoryinformation, the Pannoniancommunitieswere Catholic orientedat
the beginning.They were also large in terms of members,as is shown by the greatnumber
of known martyrs (with varied social status)and citations,such as the ore in the legend of
the Four Crowned, noting the large numbersof imprisoned Christians.ez

II. The Period of the DevelopedEarly Christian Communities

a doubleinfluence
In theearliestphaseof theformationof Christiancommunities,
region- influences
from theNearEastandGreeceand
couldbe notedfor the Pannonian
bothto the eastandthewestcanalsobe noted
from northernItaly. Connections
influences
Relationswith theneighboringprovince
in theperiodof developedChristiancommunities.
poorly
Data
in the 6th centuryabout
researched
despite
this.
only appears
of Dalmatiaare
region.
with Dalmatia,causedby thestagnation
of thePannonian
connections
Relationswith theNearEastareillustratedby bishopsof easternorigin(theSimian
bishopsPhotinusandGerminius).Arianism,asthe mostsignificantheresyof the4th
for easterncommunities,
alsoverypowerfullyseparated
century,primarilycharacteristic
communities
from themainlyCatholicoriented
thehereticalbishopsof thePannonian
westembishops.The activitiesof the Arianbishopsandthe questionof theratioof
regionis
strengthbetweenCatholicandArian formsof Christianityin the Pannonian
The
by preserved
literarysources.
certainlythemostinterestingthemediscussed
with Italy intensifiedduringthe4th century,culminatingin the activitiesof
connections
Ambrosiusof Milan. Otherthanthe attestedcontactsof Ambrosiuswith theSirmian
locatedon
community,thequestionof his possibleinfluenceon eventsin thecommunities
is of particularimportance.
Croatian,tenitory
-present-day
thebasisfor thestudyof Pannonian
Liststakenfrom literarysourcesrepresent
list is
in the4th, 5th and6th centuries.
Themostcompleteepiscopal
Christiancommunities
to theremaining
preserved
for theSirmiancommunity(themostcompletein comparison
while a smallnumberof names
bishoprics,but actuallyitselfveryfragmentary),
Pannonian
list of Sirmium,derivedfrom reliable
is knownfor theotherbishoprics.The episcopal
172

THs Hrsrony oF EARLYCsntsrrlN Co\arrauNltlEstti CoNttlqsNrel- CnoelA

sourcesand -acceptedby modern scholarsfromZelller and Nagy to Vuli6, Leclercq,Btatoi

and Duval.eJcontainsthe followins names:
After the bishop-martyr Irenaeu-s,who was killed in 3O4,the first participantat a_church
council from the Pannoniaaregion was the Sirmian bishop Domnus. He appearsin the list
of the signatoriesto the Councilof Nicaea:
"ProvinciaePannoniae
DomnusStridonensis."94
"Pannoniae.
D omnus P annonie nsis."95
His identity as bishop of Sirmium is confirmed by a primary source,St Athanasius,who
mentionsDomnus of Sirmium among other bishops in the w,ork Historia Arianorum ad
monachos.96
The next bishop of Sirmium to be mentionedwas Eutherius,a participantat the Council
of Serdica:
"Eulheriusa Pannoniis.'97
The primary sourcefor Eutheriusis St Hilarius, who mentions him in his list of bishops.98
Numerous sourcescontain information about bishop Photinus. He is also often
mentionedin Mansi's collection of the Acts of Councils (e.g. in descriptionsof the
Councils of'Milan, Rome, Sirmium..,).99Primary sourceswould include Socrates'History
of the Church.lffi
Much information is also preservedabout bishop Germinius. This bishop is cited in
He is usually me-ntionedtogetherwith the
sourcesfor a period of longei than twenty y_ears.
Pannonianbiihops Valensand Ursacius.l0l Many classicalwriters wrote aboutGerminius
and the othertwo.lo2
Bishop Anemius was noted as a participantat the Council in Aquileia in"ipt. The well
known statementthat Sirmium was the capital of Illyricum camefrom him. tur
The other known bishopsof Sirmium are not cited as having attendedchurch councils.
They are insteadmentionedin Papal epistles,and an anonymousSirmian bishop is
mentionedin a fragrnentof the historian Priscus.Bishop Corneliusis mentionedin the 16th
Thetitleof anotherletterofthesamepopementionsBishop
epistleof PopeInnocent.104
is mentioned
Laurentius: ilnnocentiusLaurentio episcopoSeniensi".l05B^ishop-Sebastianus
in the addressesof two epistlesof Pope Gregory the Great.l06 The titles of both lettersare
Resiniensi". The anonymousSirmium bishop
identical: "GregoriusSebastianoept^s_copo
appearsin Priscusfragmentno. 8. lu/
Much lessdata are availablefor the other Pannonianearly Christian communities.It is
more suitable'tospeakof individual namesrather than episcopallists.
Other than the first bishop and martyr from Cibalae,there are no citationsin the sources,
making it appearasif there were no other bishops.The completelack of information makes
it almost impossibleto researchthe religious history of Cibalae.
There is also almost no information about the bishopric in Iovia. The only name
traditionally connectedto Iovia is the bishop Amantius, a signatoryof the Council in
Aquileiain-331.108
Only one certainname is availablefor the bishopric in Mursa - bishop Valens.
Numerous citationsexist for him, as he was one of the most active participantsin the
lengthy conflict betweenArianism and Orthodoxy. As the sourcesabout bishop Valens are
numerous,it is sufficient in this context to note that much attentionwas paid to him by such
prominent religious writers as Socrates,Sozomenus,Athanasius,and Hilarius.
Severalreliable namesare preservedfor the Sisciancornmunity. In the period after the
bishop-martyr Quirinus, active Siscianbishops are mentioned as participantsin church
councils.
The Siscian'bishop
Ivlarcuswas a participant of the Council of Serdica.Mansi's
^Councils
collection of Acts of
lists him as a signatory: "MarcLlsab Asia,de Siscia";l@in
anotherlist he was cited as'."MarcLtsab Asia-de Fisiia"'110 and finally in the alphabetical
list of the council participantsthere is a correctionof the previous citations: "Corrigea Savia
de Siscia".lI I The exact citation of the dioceseof Marcus is given by a primary source,St
Hilarius:
"52)Marcusa Suaiais $i5giq".ll2

t73

FRoM THEINVINCIBLESUNTo THESUNoF JUSTICE

Bishop Constantiusappearsat the Council of Aquileia in 381. He is noted several

times in Mansi's collection, first in the list of participants and later as an active member in
the discussions.113
Johannesand Constpntinus appear in the 6th century at participants in two Councils
at Salonain 530 and 533. Si5ii's publication of the Acts of thesecouncilsincludes the
following: "JohannesepiscopusecclesiaeSiscianae..."arnd"Constantinusepiscopus
ecclesiai Sisc|ono"...".l14
The bishopric of Bassianae,outside of Croatian territory, must also be mentioned.
An anonymousbishop of Bassianaeis mentionedin the 6th century.ll5 1" citation is
related to the foundation of an archbishopric in Justiniana Prima. The new archbishopric
replaced the former ole in Sirmium and its dioceseincluded a part of the region which was
onceunderSirmium. l16 4 6irltonric in Bassianaeis not mentionedprior to the f$ century,
and thosewho have datedits foundation earlier, suchas Szal6gyi,are mistaken.rI /
The first question related to the cited incomplete lists of bishops, and whose
attempted solutions were particularly prominent in emlier literature, concernsthe possible
supplementationof these lists. Earlier authors attempted to supplement the Sirmian chronotaxis with various names listed among the signatories of the late Roman church councils, as
well as with the legendarybishopsof the lst century. Szaldgyimade the greatesteffors in
this and suggestedthe greatestnumber of names.r16He also tried to supplementthe
chronotaxesofthe other Pannoniandioceses.Thesesuggestionsand those ofother authors
deservedetailed comment becauseof the fragmentary nature of the lists as shown above.
As was stated above, not a single leader of the Christian community of Cibalae can
be cited with certainty after the bishop and martyr Eusebius. Szal6gyi nonethelessnoted one
name frequently cited in the acts of the church councils that could refer to a bishop of
Cibalae. This is the Pannonian bishop Gaius, who is often mentioned in the sourcesas a
representativeof Arianism together with the Arian bishops Valens, Ursacius and
Germinius. While the diocese is usually noted by the names of the latter three, such a
designationis missing for Gaius. He was, however, mentioned as a Pannonianbishop, and
as the leader of some Pannonian communities. It is true that a Pannonianbishop called
Gaiusis frequently^mentionedin the compilation of Mansi as well as in the primary
me non
classicalsources.rrv Szaldgytconsideredhim to be a bishop of Cibalae: "Suscipi.o
levispulsat, Pannonium illum Episcopum, nomine Gajum, Valentis, & Ursacii, ac Germinii
in propugnanda haeresi Ariana sociutn, de quo saepius hactenus mentionemfecimus,fuisse
Praesulem Cibalensern.ll tntly believe that the Pannonian bishop named Gaius, the
comrade of Valens, Ursacius and Germinius in defending the Arian heresy, who has often
beenmenioned here,was the leader in Cibalae."t/o 5r4{*9's opinion about the bishoir
Gaius could perhapsbe accepted, although other attributions can also be found in the
literature. T. Nagy, for instance, has suggestedthat the Arian Gaius was the bishop of Iovia
before the arrival of the Catholic oriented bishop {man1iu5.l21
The chronotaxisof Sisciawas also the subjectof similar discussion.Of the five
reliably attestedSiscian bishops, the first tlree were from the 4th century, while Johannes
and Constantius were mentioned in the 6th century. A large gap thus exists in our
knowledge of the Siscian chronotaxis, as no citation of a bishop is known from the 5th
century. Certain authors of religious-historical synthetic texts have attempted to supplement
the Siscianchronotaxis at least partially.
Szal6gyi attempted to fill a hiatus between the reliably confirmed bishops Marcus
and Constantiuswith the citation of certain bishops whose names were recorded at the
Council of Ariminium (Rimini) in 359: "Inter EpiscoposArianae perfidiaepatronusfuere
ex lllyrico in SynodoAriminensi anno 359.celebrata Valens, Ursacius,Germinius,Gajus,
Migdonius,p Megasius,Certae sunt omnium istorum sedes,praeterquam duorum
postremorum,Migdonii, & Megasii: namValens Mursensem,Ursacium Singidunensem,
GerrniniusSirmiensem,Gajus, ut supra conjecimus, Cibalitanam sedernoccupabant.
Migdonius, & Megasius cum lllyricianifaerint, tum eosdetnPannoniosfuisse...lAmong
the bishopssupporting the Arian heresyat the Synodheld in Ariminium in 359,were
patrons from lllyricum, Valens, Ursacius, Germinius, Gaius, Migdonius and Megasius.
The diocesesof all of them are certain, exceptfor the latter two, Migdonius and Megasius.
Valens held the see of Mursa, Ursacius that of Singidunum, Germinius Sirmium,

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THs HtsroRy on Eenly CgnlsrteN CorrauuNtrrss tN CoNTINENTALCnoet,q

Gaius,as we concludedearlier, Cibalae. Migdonius and Megasiuswere not merely

Illyrians, they were Pannonians."l22 71rssentencebefore this makes it clearthat he was
speakingof the bishopric of Siscia: "...Sisciaepost Marcum, D ente ConstantiumArianos
sedisseEpiscopos...Atquinam hifuerint, nunc indagamus./Therewere Arian bishopsinSisciaafier Marcus onh b"|or" ionstantius...We siall now discusswho they migh{6s."122
This lengthy quotationillustratesthe attemptsof Szal6gyito supplementthe lists of bishops
from Siscia.Migdonius and Megasiusare also mentioned together with.Ursacius,Valens,
Gaius and certainother bishopsln a letter from 359 cited by Hilutiut.124 However,
SzalSgyiwas not successfulin finding any correspondingindividuals for the 5th century.
J. ZelLlersuggestedthat Vindemius, a participant of the Council of Grado in 579, should
be considereda bishop of Siscia.This Vindemius was a signatory to the acts as Vindemius
episcopusCessensis.He also appearedlater in the sources,at councils in 589 and 590.
Zeiller cites Paulus Deaconus,who reports that a certain Vindemius participated in the
councils.PaulusDeaconusconsideredhim to be a bishop from Istria, wi,ttrwhich Zeiller
disagrees.According toZeiller, this would have been a Siscianbishop.1251X" hypothesis
of Zelller about Vindemius as the last known bishop of Sisciahas not been received
particularly well in the recentliterature.The theory of M. Suiiplacing the dioceseof
Vindemius on the island of Brijuni seemsmost convincing.rro
A secondquestionabout the Pannonianchurch is also closely related to the fragmentary
characterofthe extant lists ofbishops. This refers to the problem ofthe bishop oflovia and
the Iovian bishopric in general.Two levels of researchinto Iovia must be distinguished,or
rather two mutually relatedproblems:the first concerningthe very existenceitself of a
bishopric in Iovia (on the basisof various data in the sources),and a secondaryproblem of
the location of this bishopric (which arisesonly after one acceptsthat the sourcesactually
do refer to a bishopric in lovia).
The thesisabout a bishopric in Iovia originatedon the basis of council actsin which the
designationloviensium appearsnext to the name of Bishop Amantius, a participantat the
Council of Aquileia in 381. Certainsources,however, stateNiciensrsin placeof
Ioviensium.rT Are there two different bishops in this case,or should one of the citations
be rejectedas inaccurate?Judging by the many unclearplacesin the council acts(to
mention only various forms of the sameniune, which can be deformed out of recognition),
either alternativecould be possible.There is, however, a third citation relatedto Amantius.
In the new edition of the actsof the Council of Aquileia (CSEL 8213,l98Z), in place of the
cited form above,he is now listed as Amantius episcopusLotovensium.126
Other than the council acts,accordingto the very convincing argumentsof Egger,
anotherimportant sourcefor the sameAmantius who was presentat the Council of
Aquileia wbuld be a lost inscription from a northern Italian sarcophagus.l29lsvia is ns1
cited anywhereon this inscription, althoughfrom the contentsit can be hypothesizedthat
the bishopric of Amantius was located in Pannonia.If one then searchesthrough the
sourcesfor somebishop Amantius from Pannonia,one immediately comesacrossthe
alreadynoted citation about Amantius from Iovia. Thus indirectly, through an analysisof
the contentsof the inscription on the sarcophagusof Amantius, the doubtful data about a
bishopric in Iovia appearsin a new light.
If one acceptsthe existenceof a bishopric in Iovia, it is further necessaryto solve the
questionof the position of this bishopric. Egger consideredthat of three PannonianIovias,
only one could have been an episcopalcenter.lJUThis would be the Iovia locatedbetween
Poetovio and Mursa, the only one designateda civitas, while the other two Iovias were
merely modestroad stationsand could not have had the rank of a bishopric.l31 gungslisll
literature,however, containsother opinions in terms of the location of the late Roman
bishopric. T. Nagy, using Egger'scriteria of the size and importanceof the city,
hypothesizedthat the Iovian bishopric was at Het6nypuszta(a site with important Roman
rjmainsl. l32 A large fortified settlementcould havebeen locatedhere, a ciiltas in the late
Roman sense.As such a settlementwould exceedthe dimensionsof an ordinary road
station,an early Christian basilicacould have been locatedin it. Other Hungarianauthors
also claim thatihe bishopric of Iovia was locatedat Het6nypus26.133In wfiat mannercan
the thesisabout an episcopalseeat present-day Ludbreg be defended?If it is

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FROM THE INVINCIBLE SUNTO THE SUN OF JUSTrcE

known that Hungarianearly Christian, and in generallate Roman finds are very numerous
and rich, while they are scarcein Croatia,then the extensivefinds from Hetdnypusztado
not representan argumentfor the location of a bishopric in this town. other croatian sites,
suchas Sisak, Osijek and Vinkovci, also have very scarceearly Christian finds (in the
senseof a lack of early Christian architecture),but nonethelessno one considersthat Siscia,
Mursa and Cibalaeshould be relocatedelsewherebecauseof this. Naturally, the problem of
the location of Iovia is particularly prominent becauseof the existenceof several
settlementsof the samenamein a relatively small area.Despitethis, the scarcityof early
Christianfinds (a generalcharacteristicfor northem Croatia) cannotbe a proof againstthe
existenceof the bishopric of Iovia in Ludbreg. This should not be taken to meanthat there
were no bishopricsin Hungary, indeed, there were many of them. The abundantfinds,
particularly ofearly Christian architecture,confirm the existenceofbishoprics on
Hungariantenitory. They have unfortunatelyremainedwithout confirmation in the literary
sources,as mention of them has not been preservedin the existing acts,and as the corpus
of late Roman sourcesis both limited and well researched,there is faint or no chanceof
confirming certainHungarianlate Roman bishopricsthrough the literary records.134
It appearsthat both the historical circumstancesand the period in which Amantius of
Iovia was mentionedwould support Egger'sargument.This bishop was only one of the
mediatorsand transmittersof northern Italian influencesinto the Pannonianregion in the
period of St Ambrosius of Milan. Data about the date of burial from the lost sarcophagus
bf Amantius indicatethat the bishop was activein Pannoniain the last decadesof the 4th
century,exactly in the period of Anemius, the prot6g6of Ambrosius in Sirmium. As is
known, St Ambrosius of Milan took radical actionsas an opponentof Arianism, and
through his personalintervention,the Catholic orientedAnemius was placed as the.leader
of the Sirmian metropolitan.This act of interferencein_thereligious politics of Illyricum is
reportedby the biographerof Ambrosius, Paulinus.135Paulinusexplicitly writes.aboul the
arrival of Ambrosius in Sirmium to consecrateAnemius as bishop. He also mentionsthe
hostile attitude of the Arians (under the protectionof the empressJustina),who did not
agreewith the selectionof Catholic Anemius. Paulinus'story at this point reachesanecdotal
pioportions - all attentionis given to the unusualeventof an Arian girl attacking^
Ambrosius.The information that Paulinusdoesnot transmit but which is evident from his
text is the significanceof Ambrosius' actsin the context of religious relationsbetween
Milan and Sirmium. Ambrosius' actionswere outsidethe bounds of the existing church
practiceand cannons,as the church in Sirmium (then raisedto the level of a metropolitan)
ivas autonomousfrom northern Italy in the religious-legal senseand in particularhad the
right to independentorganizationof its own hierarchy. This activity of Ambrosius outside
of his own diocesehas been greatly emphasizedand discussedin the modem literature, as
I'Milan was at this period the administrativecapital of the
in this quotationfrom Jones:
pre-eminence
was due lessto this fact than to the dominating,
West, but its ecclesiastical
not to say domineering,personalityof its bishop, Ambrosius. His most extraordinary
assertionof his authority was to consecratea bishop of Sirmium in 376. No canonor
ancientcustomjustified this interferenceof the bishop of Milan in the affairs of a church
which lay not only in anotherprovince but anotherdibcese."136git actionsin Sirmium can
only be explainedas resulting from the force of his personalityand his great authority, but
do not denotethe subjectionof the Sirmium region to the jurisdiction of Milan. This was
merely a matter of temporary influence on church politics in a region otherwise
autonomousin mattersof religion andjurisdiction.
The Catholic bishop of Siscia,Constantius,is also mentionedin the sameperiod
along with Anemius of Sirmium and Amantius of Iovia. As was the casewith the previous
two Pannonianbishops, Constantiusof Sisciaappearedat the Council of Aquileia in 381,
where he actively participatedin discussionsabout Arianism and joined the other Catholics
in denouncingfaniaius.l37 As far as is known, Arian bishops w-erenot active in Siscia,in
contrastto Mursa and Sirmium, and Constantius'orientationmay be consideredas the
continuationof already confirmed church politics. Nonetheless,as hasbeen illustrated at
length with citationsof the hypothesesof SzalSgyi,Siscianbishops supportingArianism
can perhapsbe recognizedin certainbishopsaccompanyingValens, Ursaciusand
Germinius.In this case,the situationin Sisciawould be similar to that in Sirmium, where
after a period of Arian domination, there was a Catholic reactionand the installationof a

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Catholic bishop. Further questionsthat could be askedin this context concernpossible

connectionsbetweenAmbrosius of Milan and the bishop of Siscia,Constantius.Does
literary confirmation of any connectionexist?
As a Catholic bishop and participantat the Council of Aquileia, Constantiuswas
undoubtedly in contactwith Ambrosius of Milan. The correspondenceof the latter with
severalnorthem Italian bishops over whom he had direct influence is known, and his letters
addressedto other individuals are also preserved.Among theseletters are two written to a
certainConstantius,who has not beenidentified with certainty.In fact, there is no proof
that the two letterswere evenintendedfor the sameindividual. The first letter to
Constantiusis datedto 379 in the critical edition of the letters of Ambrosius. As the letter
mentionsthe recentappointmentof Constantiusas a bishop, this was not a secular
individual. Another bishop named Constantius(Arausicanus)is also mentionedfor this
period in addition to the bishop of Siscia.According to one sectionof the letter, however,it
may not have been addressedto either of the two bishopsnoted above. Ambrosius
entrustedhis prot6gdConstantiuswith the duty of caring for a Christian community near
the small town of Forum Cornelii, urging him to visit it more frequently. This would
obviously mean that the episcopalseeof Constantiusmust have been locatedsomewherein
the vicinity of this settlement.The author of the commentaryto this letter acknowledgedthat
he cannotdeterminethe dioceseof Constantius.138The seiond letter addressedto
Constantiuscontainsabsolutelyno data about the possiblelocation of the bishopric, being
concernedentirely with theoreticalmatterssuch as the reasonsfor certaindifferences
nothing about Constantiusas an
betweenthe Old and New Testaments.l3911in4ign1es
individual. Although it can be hypothesizedthat both letterswere written to the same
person(as was suggestedby the author of the commentary),this is not necessarilythe case.
It is possiblethat the secondletter to Constantius(published as no. 72) was written to the
bishop of Siscia.If this were true, then Constantius,like Anemius and Amantius, would be
connectedto Ambrosius of Milan, and the restoredOrthodox orientation of the Pannonian
Church would have attaineda specialcompactnessas reflectedin the very similar
convictionsof theserepresentativesof the Pannoniancommunities.
A particularly important elementin the study of the early Christian Pannonian
communitiesis the position the representativesof thesecommunitiesheld within the general
developmentof the ChristianChurch. The cited chronotaxesattestto the small number of
bishopsknown. Much more data has been preservedboth about the developmentof the
hierarchy and the numbersof clergy in certainother regions of the Empire whose
developmentwas more peacefulthan in the Pannonianprovinces(such as the neighboring
dioceseof Salona).The activity of individuals is much more important than the number of
representatives,
and accordingto such a criteria, a community with a fragmentary
chronotaxiscould have a much more important role than thosewith attestedcontinuity but
less activerepresentativeswho were not particularly prominent in terms of their attitudes
and beliefs. The Christian communitiesof Pannoniahad a disproportionatelymajor
importancein and influence on the eventsof the 4th century in comparisonto the quantity
of known representatives.This is indicatedby the presenceand role of Pannonianbishops
at church councilsduring the 4th century. The Arian bishops of the Pannoniancommunities
in fact transformedthe 4th centuryinto their century, as is rightfully emphasizedin the
literature.l40Severalhistorical circumstancesled to such a developinent.Roman emperors
very frequently visited or stayedin Sirmium, and hencepassedthrough all Pannonia,in the
4th century.This would naturally affect the developmentof the entire region and strengthen
the self-confidenceof the local clergy, who consideredthemselvesobliged to determinethe
proper form of faith for their communities.The profound devotion to Arianism partially
developeddue to the sojourn of Arius in Pannonia.l4l 16" unwaveringtenacityin retaining
Arianism in the midst of the Catholic West might have been engenderedby a certaindesire
to emphasizetheir individuality. This can perhapsbe glimpsed in the classicalsources,
where the pragmatismof the Arian bishopsis emphasizedrather than their statusas
theologiansand philosophers.
The most renownedArian bishop, Valens of Mursa, was presentat numerouschurch
meetingsthroughout a long period. He first appeared,togetherwith Ursacius,at the Synod
of Tyre in 335. They cameinto conflict with St Athanasiusthere, which is an important
sourcefor their activities. In fact. no documentsor texts whatsoeverof Valens and

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FnorrarHs INVTNcTBLE
S uN ro rHE SUNoR Jusrrce

Ursaciusare preservedthat could show their theological doctrines.Most of what we know

of them comesfrom the reports of their opponents.They again appearas important
participantsat the Council of Serdicain 343.
They are further known to have been at the Councils in Milan in347, Milan in 355,
and Ariminium in 359, as well as at the Sirmian assembliesof the 350s (where the socalle.d
formulae Sirmienserwere enacted).It is not certainwhether they were presentat the
Synodof Rome in369, where they were denouncedand excommunicatedby Pope
Damasus.It is not known whether they left Pannoniaafter this or what happenedto them
later. Their sympathizerGerminius of Sirmium also disappearedfrom religious sourcesat
this time, and he was not excommunicatedat the Synod of Rome in 369 given that he had
modified his Arian doctrine.
The position of the other Pannonianbishopsis reflectedin their participationat the
most important church councilsin the 4th century.Thus Domnius of Sirmium was at the
First EcumenicalCouncil of Nicaeain 325, which indicatesthe greatextent of
Christianizationof the Pannonianregions,particularly consideringthat very few bishops
from the I;atin West were presentat Nicaea.
Thosepresentat the centralcouncil of the 4th century at Serdica,probably held in
343 (differeni datesare recordedin various sources),1a2in"1u6"6 the C'atholicMarcus of
Sisciaand Euteriusof Sirmium and the Arian Valens of Mursa. As the Catholics and the
Arians were physically separatedfor the first time at this council, the abovebishops were
actually at two different councils;Valensjoined the primarily easterngroup, while Marcus
and Euteriusremainedfaithful to the westem tradition. This dimensionof the Council of
Serdicais particularly emphasizedin religious history as the first clearly expressed
separationof the Christian Church into Easternand WesternChurches,which would
continueto intensify at other councilsin the 4th and later centuries.l43Valens of Mursa
was especiallycensuredby the Orthodox bishopsat the Council of Serdicafor an attempt
to take over the seeof Aquileia. The descriptionof this deplorableev_ent,
as given by St
Hilarius, hasresultedin the negativeevaluationof Valens' character.taa
In a period after the Arian domination,three Catholicsappearedat the Council of
Aquileia in 381: Constantiusof Siscia,Anemius of Sirmium, and Amantius of Iovia. This
was the council for the Western Church and the council of the EastemChurch was held at
Constantinople;this shows how the processof separationbegun at Serdicahad continued.
Thesecouncilsin 381 are particularly cited for their final condemnationof the remaining
Arian bishops,after which this heresylost much prestigeand importance.
It should be noted that the Arians' different doctrine about the natureof the Holy
Trinity was merely the most important, but not the only heresypresentamong the
inhabitantsof Pannonia.The hereticalteachingsof bishop Photinusabout Christ were
influential evenafter his banishmentfrom Sirmium.
The image of the Pannonianearly Christian communitieshasbeen derived from data
about the bishops,the leadersof thesecommunities.Lessis known about the religious
beliefs ofthe ordinary people. This is not a specialcharacteristicofthe Pannonianregion,
but is rather a generalrule for knowledge about the early Christianperiod. For instance,at
the Council of Serdicathere was no discussionabout the convictionsof the massof
believers:"This period was dominatedecclesiasticallyby the power and authority of
bishops.We find nothing in the Serdicadocumentsconcerningthe religion of the masses
of the people.The later EastemOrthodox belief that the authority of the church is diffused
amongalllts members,bishops,clergy and peoplehad not yet come into prominen.".t'145
Someillumination into the questionof the level of theologicalcomprehensionof
ordinary believershas been noted for the Sirmian community, in the form of a preserved
discussionbetweenHeraclianus,a common member of the church, and Germinius, the
bishop: Altercatio Heracliani laici cum Germinio episcopoSirmiensi.146As was statedby
Gabridevii, this document "...indicatesin an extremelylucid mannerthe interestof various
elementsof the Sirmianpopulationin theologicaldiscussion,or ratherin the politicalreligiousquestionswhich were definitelyrelatedto suchthemes."t+/ ll ls interestingthat
the layman Heraclianusdoesnot agreewith the bishop'sviews and has his own opinions.
However, this is the only such documentin all the preservedsourcesfor the Pannonian
Church to mention the beliefs of the ordinary members.Not eventhe

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Cnoe.rrR

preservedepigraphicmaterial can offer much illumination on this topic (and especiallynot

for the Croatianregion, where early Christian epigraphicmonumentsare rare).
,Literary sourcesreferring to religious and secularhistory contain severalchronological
referencesindicating the possiblecontinuationof the early Christian communities(all these
religious or historical sourceshave alreadybeen cited in this text). Theseconsistof
relatively scarcedata about bishopsin the 6th century.If the hypothesesof T6th and Zerller
are omitted (about the bishopsVigilius and Vindemius), then only a few fragmentsof data
remain. The bishopsJohannesand Constantinusof Sisciaare mentioned for the years530
q{ _533.Their participationat the Councilsof Salonaindicatesthat the Sisciancommunity
had beenattachedto the archbishopricof Salona.The mention of Sebastianus,probably the
bishop of Sirmium, in the late 6th centurywould probably representinformation about the
fall of Sirmium. Data about an anonymousbishop from Bassianae,who was subordinateto
a new archiepiscopalsee,would also indicatethe decline of Sirmium's importance.It is
possibleto statethat the religious-historical recordsfrom the 6th century offer more information about the disappearance
of religious organizationin Pannoniathan about its continuity. Nonetheless,theserepresentdependableproof about the existenceof individual
parishes.
Sources.referringto secularhistory and to eventsin the Migration Period are much more
numerous.ta6 Thesetexts are extremelyimportant for data on the continuity of the Romanized populationin this period. Various theoriesabout the late classicalcontinuity of the
Romanizedinhabitantsof Pannonia,which are particularly numerousin modern literature,
are derived both from datain literary sourcesand archaeolosical1in6.. 149The fact that
thesetheoriesprove the continuity of Romanizedpopulatiois in Hungary is particularly
important, as this in and of itself indicatesthat in more southernregions (e.g. Croatia)this
continuity must have beenyet more marked.150Severalargumentsin favor of a theory
- of
continuity, taken from the works of E. B. Thomas, will be presentedas a conclusion.
The book by Thomas about Roman villae in Pannoniais a classicalwork on provincial
archaeology.The author hypothesizedthe gxistenceor adaptationof areasfor religious
purposesin an entire seriesof structures.l5l In a chapteron the continuity of the Roman
villa, she hypothesizedtheir continuedexistencethroughout the 5th century. This would
imply that the late Roman indigenouspopulationand the newly arrived barbarian
inhabitantslived together.
In a review of the early Christian archaeologicalfinds from the Hungariansectionof
Pannonia,Thomasrelatedcertainfinds to a continuedexistenceof the late Roman
population. Thesefinds include disk broochesbrought by PannonianChristiansfrom the
Holy Land as pilgrimage medallions.Thesefibulae are particularly numerousin cemeteries
152
4-P9qrh and Fenekpusztadatedto the 6th and 7th centuries. 1n u similar review of early
Christianfinds, Thomas datedmany objectsto the 5th and 6th centuries.153
- Although the possibility of the existenceof individual barbarianChristian groupscannot
be excluded(to whom certainearly Christianfinds are attributed),Thomasbelievesthat the
early Christianmaterial canmainly be attributedto the Romanizedpopulation.Shealso
considersthat particularly in certainsmall areas,the continuity of the Romanizedpopulation
can be proven to extendfar into the mediaevalperiod.
_Similar opinions are held by many researchers.All concurwith a theory of continuity,
whichis also generallyacceptedin the modem literature on this topic.
.In the light of such conclusions,and consideringthe few literary reports about the
existenceof early Christian communities(particularly in Sirmium and Siscia)in the
southernPannonianregion, it can be consideredcertainthat thesecommunitiesexisted
throughout the entire 6th century, adaptingthemselvesto new conditions, as is shown by
the inclusion of Sisciawithin the metropolitanof Salona.

179