Above: Temples of Vesta and of the Sybil, Tivoli, Italy
Image in the Public Domain
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SAINTS AMANTIUS AND GETULIUS OF TIVOLI (DIED 120)
Brothers, and Martyrs at Tivoli
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SAINTS CAEREALIS AND PRIMITIVUS OF TIVOLI (DIED 120)
Roman Soldiers, and Martyrs at Tivoli
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SAINT SYMPHOROSA OF TIVOLI (DIED IN THE EARLY 100S)
Wife of St. Getulius of Tivoli, and Martyr
Her feast transferred from July 18
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No information, aside from names, years of death, and places of martyrdom has survived for many Christian martyrs of the Roman imperial period, unfortunately. We do know slightly more about these five saints, however. Their stories, combined, provide enough information for a brief post.
The narrative begins with St. Getulius.
St. Getulius was a Roman military officer during the reigns of Emperors Trajan (98-117) and Hadrian (117-138). After St. Getulius converted to Christianity he resigned his commission. He and his brother, St. Amantius, also a Christian, went to central Italy, to live among the Sabines. Hadrian dispatched Caerealis and Primitivus to apprehend the brothers. Caerealis and Primitivus found Sts. Amantius and Getulius, who converted them to Christianity. The judge Licinius, under imperial orders, sentenced the four Christians to death. He granted them an opportunity for a reprieve; the Christians, to avoid execution, had to renounce their faith. They refused. Therefore, in Tivoli, in 120, they received the crown of martyrdom via clubbing to death.
St. Getulius left a widow, St. Symphorosa, who also became a martyr during the reign of Hadrian.
God and history have issued their verdicts–against the persecution over which Hadrian presided.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JANUARY 20, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT FABIAN, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR
THE FEAST OF SAINTS DEICOLA AND GALL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS; AND SAINT OTHMAR, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AT ST. GALLEN
THE FEAST OF SAINTS EUTHYMIUS THE GREAT AND THEOCRISTUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS
THE FEAST OF HARRIET AUBER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
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Almighty God, who gave to your servants
Saints Getulius, Amantius, Caerealis, Primitivus, and Symphorosa of Tivoli
boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ
before the rulers of this world and courage to die for this faith:
Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us,
and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2 Esdras 2:42-48
Psalm 126 or 131
1 Peter 3:14-18, 22
Matthew 10:16-22
–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 713
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Above: The Roman Empire, 117 C.E.
Scanned by Kenneth Randolph Taylor from Hammond’s World Atlas–Classics Edition (1957)
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SAINT QUADRATUS THE APOLOGIST (SECOND CENTURY C.E.)
Early Christian Apologist
Eusebius of Caesarea (circa 260-339) mentioned one Quadratus in his Ecclesiastical History. The great historian, without explaining who Quadratus was, wrote that Quadratus had written a defense of Christian faith and sent it to the Roman Emperor Hadrian (reigned 117-138) because, as Eusebius explained,
certain wicked men were trying to get our people into trouble.
—Eusebius–The Church History: A New Translation with Commentary, translated by Paul L. Maier (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1999), page 136
Eusebius also wrote that copies of that document were commonplace among Christians then praised the intelligence and orthodoxy of Quadratus. Next the great historian quoted that apologia:
Our Savior’s deeds were always there to see, for they were true: those who were cured or those who rose from the dead were seen not only when they were cured or raised but were constantly there to see, not only while the Savior was living among us, but also for some time after his departure. Some of them, in fact, survived right up to our time.
–Maier, page 136
Copies of the apologia of Quadratus were commonplace in the lifetime of Eusebius, but the document has not survived the ravages of time. We would not have the opportunity to read any part of it except for the fact that Eusebius included an excerpt.
St. Jerome (347-419) understood the apologist to have been St. Quadratus of Athens, the Bishop of Athens, Greece, in the 120s. Many subsequent scholars have disagreed with that conclusion, though. On one hand, the apologia dated to 124 or 125, so the timeframe fit. On the other hand, how many Quadratuses were contemporaries of each other?
Regardless of who St. Quadratus the Apologist was, we can be certain of one fact: he was the earliest known Christian apologist.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 7, 2017 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF PHILIP AND DANIEL BERRIGAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS
THE FEAST OF ANNE ROSS COUSIN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF GERALD THOMAS NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER; BROTHER OF BAPTIST WRIOTHESLEY NOEL, ANGLICAN PRIEST, ENGLISH BAPTIST EVANGELIST, AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS NIECE, CAROLINE MARIA NOEL, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF MARIA JOSEPHA ROSSELLO, COFOUNDER OF THE DAUGHTERS OF OUR LADY OF PITY
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Lord God, you have surrounded us with so great a cloud of witnesses.
Grant that we, encouraged by the example of your servant Saint Quadratus the Apologist,
may persevere in the course that is set before us and, at the last,
share in your eternal joy with all the saints in light,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Micah 6:6-8
Psalm 9:1-10
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Luke 6:20-23
–Adapted from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 59
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