* The Syriac Epitome (Schoene Ξ 211) puts the foundation of the Church at Antioch and St. Peter’s arrival at Rome (‘et
refuit ecclesim ili annos xxv")in Anno Abr, 2058 (= a.p. 42- HN the appointment of Euodius two years later; but under An. Abr. Boa (=A.D. 48-49) it has the entry, ‘ Petrus apostolus moderator eccl. Romani factus est.’
+ It ls, however, ible that we should connect this appoint- ment of Linus with what there are some reasons for thinking
be the fact that Peter left Rome for a time about a year before his martyrdom
there (see below, p. 778).
and relate its speedy fulfilment. Eusebius’ words, preserved by Syncellus, are: ἐπὶ πᾶσι δ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῖν ἀδικήμασι [ἀτυχήμασι Codd.] καὶ τὸν πρῶτον κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐνεδείξατο διωγμόν, ἡνίκα Πέτρος καὶ Παῦλον «.7.X. It does not appear that Eusebius was acquainted with Tacitus, and, if he did not con- nect the persecution with the great fire, it was very natural that, whether he followed the catho- lic Acts or no, he should regard the attack on the Church as the filling up of Nero’s iniquities (cf. Ac 12)3), On the other hand, the evidence of Tacitus is decisive that the persecution followed immediately upon the fire ; and the Chronicon re- cords under the year 63-64 ‘many conflagrations at Rome.’ We have still to account for the legend of the 25 years episcopate at Rome. If the terminus ad quem of Peter’s sojourn at Rome was determined as suggested above, we may con- jecture that (the ministry at Antioch being re- garded as a mere offshoot of the ministry at Jern- salem) Peter’s departure for Rome was placed at the expiration of the 12 years, after which, according to the tradition which hada place in the Κήρυγμα Πέτρου (ap. Clement, Strom. vi. 5) and the Gnostic Acts of Peter (ed. Lipsius p. 49; for other refer- ences see Harnack, Die Chronol. p. 243), the Lord commanded the apostles to go forth into the world (cf. Α΄ 1217), If the Passion was placed in the year 30, then the sojourn of Peter at Rome sear be considered to commence about the year 42, and just about a quarter of a century would elapse
tween that date and the martyrdom at the end of Nero’s reign.*
(ii.) The ‘Liber Pontificalis.—We turn now to the later catalogues of Roman bishops. (1) The Liberian catalogue (Duchesne p. 2) has the notice, ‘Petrus ann. xxv mens. uno a viiii.t Fuit tem- ae Tiberii Cesaris et Gai et Tiberi Claudi et
eronis, a cons. Minuci Vege Vinici] et Longini usque Nerine et Vero [/ege Vetere]. Passus autem cum Paulo die iii kl. iulias, cons. &., imperante Nerone.’ The date of this catalogue is 354. It gives the date of Peter’s 25 years’ Roman episco- pate as A.D. 30-55. The notice immediately pre- ceding puts the date of the crucifixion as A.D. 29 (‘duobus Geminis cons.’), and then adds: ‘ et post ascensum eius beatissimus Petrus episcopatum suscepit.’ The singular date of Peter’s rig therefore, seems based on the assumption that Christ made the apostle a bishop, and that his see must have been Rome. (2) The Lider Pontificalis in the earlier form (as restored from the Felician and Cononian abridgments) puts side by side the follow- ing statements :—(a) ‘ Primum it cathedra epis- copatus in Antiochia ann, vii.’ (δ) ‘ Ingressus in urbe Roma Nerone Cesare ibique sedit cathedra episcopatus ann. xxv mens. ii dies iii.’ (6) ‘ Fuit temporibus Tiberii Cesaris et Gaii et Tiberii Claudi et Neronis.’ To these statements (Duchesne Ρ. 50f.) the later recension (Duchesne p. 118) adds another, ‘martyrio cum Paulo coronatur, post pas- sionem Domini anno xxxviii.’ According to this statement the date of the martyrdom is 67 (cf. Jer. de Virr. Illustr.). It is unnec to examine the different parts of the above mosaic. But how- ever the chronological context varies, the xxv years’ episcopate is preserved.
1. The burial-places of St. Peter. —The Am- brosian hymn connects the festival of St. Peter and St. Paul with three spots in Rome—' Trinis celebratur uiis Festum sacrorum martyrum’ (Daniel, Thes. Hymn. 1. xc.). These vie are the
*In the Eastern and Oriental lists Ponti. $4 7., there are variations Short ἃ, αρὴμ of 853 gives 22 years; (i. 2 years; ({Π|.} Syncellus leaves a blank; (iv) years ; (v.) Elias of Nisibis 28 years.
t For a possible explanation of the variations of the number of months and days see Duchesne, Lid. Ponty. p. xx a.
ven In Duchesne, Lid rom 25 years—(i.) The Nicephorus τ u 2
PETER (SIMON) Ostian, the place of St. Paul’s death and burial ; the Aurelian, the resting-place of St. Peter; and the Appian, where the bodies of both apostles were laid fer atime. The facts are briefly these :
(1) \he Vatican.—The belief that the apostle was buried on the Vatican goes back to the time of Caius (see above); so Jerome, de Virr. Jilustr. 1: ‘Sepultus Rome in Vaticano iuxta uiam trium-
halem’ (this via runs N.E. of the Vatican); Acta δὶ et Pauli, 84 (ed. Lipsius p. 216, cf. p. 172), ἔθηκαν αὐτὸ ὑπὸ τὴν τερέβινθον δ liny, Hist. Nat. xvi. 44] πλησίον τοῦ ναυμαχίου (cf. Martyr. a Lino conser. x., ed. Lipsius p. 11; see above] εἰς τόπον καλούμενον Barixavéy; Lib. Pontif. (ed. Duchesne pp. 52f., 118 ff.): ‘Sepultus est uia Aurelia, in templum Apollonis, iuxta locum ubi crucifixus est, iuxta ᾿ tium Neronianum in Vaticanum, in territurium