Martyrium Petri et Pauli (armeniace)
Standard abbreviation: Mart. Pet. Paul
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 827; CANT 206
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Peter, Hypomnema on Peter and Paul, Passion of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (Ps.-Marcellus); John Malalas, Chronographia 10:32–37
Compiled by: Tony Burke, York University ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Martyrdom of Peter and Paul.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-peter-and-paul/.
Created December 2023.
1. SUMMARY
The text is one of several efforts to combine the final years of the two apostles. Its information on the contest between Peter and Simon is derived mainly from John Malalas or one of the later writers who drew on Malalas for their own chronicles. Both apostles arrive together in Rome where they meet Simon Magus, who is astonishing the people with his magic. Simon tells Peter that he is Christ and demonstrates his divinity through three “miracles”: he causes the deaths of the son of a widowed woman and a prefect’s son, and speaks in the ear of a bull, making it burst into two. Peter restores all of the victims and the people declare him to be greater than Simon.
Nero summons Peter and Simon to him, along with Pilate. Asked to identify them, Pilate says Peter is a disciple of Jesus but Simon is not Jesus. Simon then attempts to fly over the city. Peter and Paul kneel to pray and Simon falls from the sky. He lands on a stone table, which splits like a cross and can still be seen today; the body is placed on a copper pillar in the middle of the main street.
Nero orders Peter’s arrest for the death of Simon and for converting the concubines of Agrippa. Hearing of the order, Peter flees but returns to Rome after encountering Jesus on the road (the famous “Quo Vadis” scene from the Acts of Peter). Peter ordains Linus as his successor and is crucified head downward. After a short prayer, he gives up the ghost. Marcellus anoints Peter’s body and buries him in a fine shroud. That night an angel tells Nero to cease his persecution of Christians. The section on Peter finishes with a description: he was of small stature, his hair was curly and white, and his beard bushy and white, his body was white, and he had a long nose and thick eyebrows.
A short biography is given of Paul based on information from the New Testament (his birth in Tarsus, his Road to Damascus experience, etc.). A list of the cities he evangelized is provided, culminating in a second and final trip to Rome. There he is accompanied by Luke, who departs Rome after two years, before Paul’s martyrdom—given here as an explanation for why he did not tell of Paul’s death in the canonical Acts. Paul appears before Nero, who loses his temper at the apostle’s answers to his questions. Nero kills his own aunt, wife, and mother because they believed in Christ. Paul is beheaded and blood and milk flows from the wound. Finally, a description of Paul is given: he was short and fat, bald, greying, with a long nose, blue eyes, thick eyebrows, a laughing face, and a long beard.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Agrippa (prefect), Agrippina, Ananias, Aristarchus, Barnabas, Claudius (emperor), Gaius Caesar, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Linus (bishop), Luke (evangelist), Marcellus (senator), Nero, Octavia, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Simon (Magus), Stephen (martyr), Tiberius (emperor).
Geographical Locations: Antioch (Pisidia), Antioch, Assos, Athens, Attalia, Beroea, Bithynia, Cappadocia, Caesarea, Chios, Corinth, Crete, Cyprus, Damascus, Derbe, Ephesus, Forum of Appius, Galatia, Hellas, Iconium, Jerusalem, Knidos, Kos, Lycaonia, Lycia, Lystra, Macedonia, Malta, Miletus, Myra, Mytilene, Pamphylia, Pataras, Philippi, Pontus, Pozzuoli, Ptolemais, Perga, Rhegium, Rhodes, Rome, Samos, Seleucia, Sidon, Syracuse, Tarsus, Three Taverns, Tyre.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Armenian (BHO 963)
Venice, Biblioteca dei Padri Mechitaristi San Lazzaro degli Armeni, 346 (303)
Tchérakian, Chérubin. Ankanon girkh arakhelakankh: Thankgaran haykakan hin ew nor deprutheankh. Venice: Òazar, 1904 (edition, pp. 46–50).
Bayan, George. “Les synaxaire arménien de ter-Israel XI: Mois de Margats.” PO 21 (1930): 543–678 (edition, pp. 629–35).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 French
Leloir, Louis. Écrits apocryphes sur les apôtres. CCSA 3–4. 2 vols. Turnhout: Brepols, 1986–1992 (translation of Armenian text from Tchérakian, vol. 1, pp. 55–63).
3.3 General Works
Tajra, Harry W. The Martyrdom of St. Paul: Historical and Judicial Context, Traditions, and Legends. WUNT 2/67. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1994 (summary and commentary, pp. 162–63).