Passion of Peter and Paul (Ps.-Hegesippus)

Passio Petri et Pauli in Ps.-Hegesippi historia

Standard abbreviation: Ps.-Hegesippus, DEH (De Excidio Hierosolymitano)

Other titles: On the Destruction of Jerusalem (De Excidio Hierosolymitano) 3.2

Clavis numbers: ECCA 673; CANT 192

Category: Apocryphal Acts

Compiled by Carson Bay, Universität Bern ([email protected]).

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Bay, Carson. “Passion of Peter and Paul (Pseudo-Hegesippus).” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/passion-of-peter-and-paul-ps-hegesippus/.

Created October 2020. Current as of Sept. 2022.

1. SUMMARY

This short account of the martyrdoms of the apostles Peter and Paul comprises one moderately-sized chapter within a much larger Latin Christian history from the late fourth-century (probably ca. 370–375 CE), called On the Destruction of Jerusalem (De Excidio Hierosolymitano = DEH) and attributed to an anonymous ‘Pseudo-Hegesippus,’ and sometimes to Ambrose. It is the only portion of that work to include named Christian characters. The pericope contains mostly a description of the apostle Peter’s encounter with Simon Magus, who is cast as a friend and court favorite of Nero, but it begins and ends with mention of both Peter and Paul (called doctores Christianorum). The story begins by recounting a contest between Peter and Simon to resurrect a dead youth from Nero’s court (Peter wins). Also mentioned is Simon Magus’ failed and embarrassing attempt at flight and his death in exiled disgrace. Near the end of the episode one encounters a version of the Quo Vadis? story (or, here, the Quo Venis? story).

DEH is a five-book Latin reworking of the seven-book Greek Jewish War (Bellum Judaicum = BJ) written by Flavius Josephus in the late first-century CE. Books 1–4 of DEH basically parallel Books 1–4 of BJ, whereas Book 5 of DEH condenses Books 5–7 of BJ. DEH is ‘anti-Jewish’ in the sense that it adopts a triumphal, supersessionist Christian historical perspective and narrative tone which sees the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Romans in 70 CE—the subject of the work—as direct divine punishment for the Jews’ rejection and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. For the author of DEH, the end of the Second Temple was the end of Jewish history and proof positive of God’s having rejected his former people.

The third book of DEH begins near the end of Nero’s reign. At 3.2 comes the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, situated in a chapter which otherwise is concerned with the Roman-Jewish conflict in Judea which erupted into war beginning in 66 CE. DEH’s focus on the Roman-Jewish War may be seen in how much the narrative pace slows down in this chapter, which covers events of only a year or so (whereas the previous chapter covered the events of six decades). Book three ends with a description of Vespasian’s military campaign around Galilee in August of 67 CE.

The fifth book of DEH is by far its most important and intensive. This book relates the end of the Roman Jewish war, i.e. the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in 70 CE, ending with the infamous suicidal aftermath of Jewish defeat atop Mount Masada not much later, in 73/74 CE (5.53). The chapter begins with a long, unique address made by the author to Jerusalem and, by proxy, the Jews (5.2). Also are important are its description of the Jerusalem Temple’s interior (5.9) and an account of the martyrdom of a Jewish man, Mattias, and his sons which explicitly recalls the martyrdom of the ‘Maccabean mother’ and her seven sons from 2 Maccabees 7 (5.22); this martyrdom account, like that of Peter and Paul, is something unique to PH which he adds to an otherwise largely Josephus-based narrative. We might also note that Book 5 contains the main thesis of DEH as a work stated in terms both prophetic and theological and 5.31–32: namely, that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews in 70 CE was a consequence of the Jews’ rejection and crucifixion of Jesus Christ and that it signified God’s rejection of his former people in history; thus does DEH attempt to ‘write the Jews out of history.’

The fact that the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul appear in this work is striking. No other Christian characters ever appear outside of DEH 3.2. The history is almost entirely concentrated on the Jews and on the Romans who eventually destroyed them. Thus, literary context is a hermeneutical key for understanding this apocryphal story: it is part of a Christian (-Roman) historiography of the Jews written in the classical style of Sallust (which renders the work unique in the late fourth century). The specific point(s) of the narrative within DEH as a whole is not clear; however, one thing it does do is locate the larger narrative of DEH within specifically Christian time: by showing that Peter and Paul were living (and dying) at the time at which the events in the narrative took place, DEH situates his historical narrative, which is nevertheless not a ‘church history,’ within the larger history of the church.

Passion of Peter and Paul is thus not a text in its own right but a tradition within a larger, and largely unrelated, text. Nevertheless, many or most manuscripts of DEH cordon the narrative off as its own pericope with incipit and/or explicit, colored or altered text, or something similar. The earliest exemplar of the narrative, for example, found in Codex Ambrosianus C 105 inf. (5th/6th cent.), marks the episode off clearly at beginning and end with prominent crosses (see fols. 95^vand 97^v, pp. 201 and 205 in the digitized edition). The tradition as it appears in DEH is a source for Pseudo-Marcellus’ Passion of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul 25 and is related to the Greek Acts of Peter and Paul 46.

2. RESOURCES

Blocker, Wade. “Ps.Hegesippus, translated from Latin into English.” The Tertullian Project. Administered by Roger Pearse. 2005. Online: http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/hegesippus_00_eintro.htm (an amateur translation not intended for scholarly use).

“Hegesippi qui dicitur Historiae libri 5.” Latin text from Vincen Ussani, Hegesippi qui dicitur Historiae libri v.

“Pseudo-Hegesippus.” Wikipedia.

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Latin (BHL 6648–6654)

The Passion of Peter and Paul is generally present in manuscripts of DEH, though a thorough study of this has yet to be undertaken (indeed, no comprehensive list of manuscripts of DEH yet exists). The following list includes those manuscripts used in previous critical editions along with several other early witnesses (prior to 12th cent.) noted by Pollard (2015, p. 80) and Gitner (forthcoming).

A Karlsruhe, Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. 82 (9th cent.)

B Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Ms. 180 (9th cent.)

C Kassel, Landesbibliothek, Theol. fol. 65 (6th/7th cent.) ~ Earlier Latin Manuscripts

H Leiden, Universitaire Bibliotheken, VLF 17 (10th cent.)

I Innsbruck, Univeristäts-und Landesbibliothek, Frag. 72 + Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Lat. ser. nov. 3643 (7th–9th cent.)

M Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, C 105 inf., fols. 95^v–97^v (5th/6th cent. and 7th cent.)

P Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 13367 (7th cent.) ~ excerpt

T Turin, Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria, D.IV.7 (10th cent.)

V Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 170 (ca. 800)

Z Besançon, Bibliothèque municipale, 833 (10th/11th cent.)

Cambrai, Bibliothèque municipale, 678 (10th/11th cent.)

Chartres, Bibliothèque municipale, 117 (10th/11th cent.)

Cherbourg, Bibliothèque municipale, 51 (9th cent.)

Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenzina, Plut. 66.1 (11th cent.)

Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. 101 (9th cent.)

Koblenz, Landeshauptarchiv, Best. 701 Nr. 759.22 + Marburg, Hessischen Staatsarchivs, 4.17 (9th cent.)

Laon, Bibliothèque municipale, 403b (9th cent.)

Leiden, Universitaire Bibliotheken, BPL 21 (9th cent.)

Monte Cassino, Archivio e Biblioteca dell’Abbazia, Comp. VIII + Monte Cassino, Archivio e Biblioteca dell’Abbazia, Comp. III + London/Oslo Schøyen Collection, MS 183 (11th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 12512 (9th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 12513 (10th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Lat. 14641 (12th cent.)

Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Nouv. Acq. Lat. 1490 (10th cent.)

St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 626 (9th cent.)

Ballerini, Paulo Angelo, ed. Sancti Ambrosii Mediolanensis Operia Omnia. Vol. 6. Milan: Sancti Josephi, 1883 (see pp. 115–19).

Barre, René Laurent de la. Historia christiana veterum patrum. Paris, 1583 (see pp. 147v–48r).

Bigne, Marguerin de la (1546–1590). Magna Bibliotheca veterum patrum et antiquorum scriptorum ecclesiasticorum. Vol. 5. Lugdunum, Anissonios, 1677 (see p. 1161).

––––––. Magna Bibliotheca veterum patrum et antiquorum scriptorum ecclesiasticorum. Volume VII. Paris: Morelli, 1644 (see pp. 461–63).

Lefèvre d’Étaples, Jacques. Aegesippi historiographi fidelissimi ac disertissimi et inter christianos antiquissimi historia de bello Iudaico. Sceptri sublatione. Iudaeorum dispersion. Et Hierosolymitano excidio. A divo Ambrosio Mediolanen. Antistite e Graeca Latina facta. Cum eiusdem anacephaleosi et tabellis congruentiarum cum Iosephi libri etiam de gestis Machabaeorum. Paris: Ascens, 1510 (editio princeps).

Fábrega Grau, Ángel. Pasionario hispánico. Tome 2: Texto. Monumenta Hispaniae Sacra VI. Madrid/Barcelona, 1955 (see pp. 293–95).

Gallandius, Andreas. Bibliotheca veterum patrum antiquorumque scriptorum ecclesiasticorum. Vol. 7. Venice, 1765–1781 (see pp. 700–701).

Mazochius, Alexius Symmachus. Commentarii in vetus marmoreum sanctae Neapolitanae ecclesiae kalendarium. Vol. 3. 1755 (see pp. 855–68).

Migne, Jean-Paul. Sancti Ambrosii Mediolanensis Episcopi, Opera Omnia: Tomi Primi Pars Posterior. PL 15. Paris: Barrière d’Enfer, 1845 (see pp. 1961–2204).

No Author. Sancti Ambrosii opera. Vol. 2. Venice, 1781 (see pp. 103–105).

Surius, Laurentius. De probatis Sanctorum historiis partim ex tomis Aloysii Lipomani. 6 vols. Cologne: Calenius and Quentel, 1570–1575 (Latin text in vol. 3, pp. 855–57).

Ussani, Vincenzo, ed. Hegesippi qui dicitur Historiae libri v – Pt. 1: Textum criticum continens. CSEL 66.1. Vienna: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1932 (standard edition of DEH based on the ten manuscripts with sigla above, pp. 183–87).

Ussani, Vincenzo, and Karl Mras. Hegesippi qui dicitur Historiae libri v – Pt. 2: Praefationem Caroli Mras et Indices Vincentii Ussani Continens. CSEL 66.2. Vienna: Hoelder-Pichler-Tempsky, 1960 (description of manuscripts, pp. vii–xxiii).

Weber, Carl Friedrich, and Julius Cäsar, eds. De bello Judaico: Ope codicis Cassellani recognitus. Marburg: Elwertus, 1864 (edition based on C, pp. 170–73).

3.1.2 Old German (printed edition)

Lautenbach, Conrad. Egesippi / des Fürtrefflichen unnd hochberühmten Geschichtschreibers / von Zerstörung der Statt Jerusalem. Strassbourg: Rihel, 1578.

3.1.3 Old French (printed edition)

Millet, J. Les V Livres de l’Histoire d’Egesippe, contenans plusieurs guerres des Juifs &c. Paris: Gilles Gourbin, 1556 (pp. 127–32).

3.1.4 Old Italian (printed edition)

Modonese, Pietro Lauro. Historia d’Egesippo tra i christiani scrittori antichissimo de le ualorose imprese fatte da giudei ne l’assedio di Gierusaleme, e come fu abbattuta quella citta, e molte altre del paese, breue somma del medesimo di quanto è compreso ne l’opera. Tradotta di latino in italiano per Pietro Lauro modonese. Venice, 1544. (pp. 92–94).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Bay, Carson, trans. “The Passion of Peter and Paul.” Pages 465–78 in vol. 3 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. 3 vols. Edited by Tony Burke with Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016–2023 (translation based on edition by Ussani).

__________, trans. “Passion of Peter and Paul (Pseudo-Hegesippus).” Unpublished translation.

3.2.2 French

Estève, Dominique. “L’oeuvre historique du pseudo-Hegésippe: ‘De bello iudaico,’ livre I à IV.” PhD diss., Université Paris Nanterre, 1987 (pp. 249–53).

3.3 General Works

Bay, Carson. “The ‘Maria Story’ in Greek, Latin, & Hebrew: The Teknophagia Episode (BJ 6.201-13) in Josephus, Latin Josephus, Rufinus, Pseudo-Hegesippus, and Sefer Yosippon with Introduction, Texts, Translations, Notes, & Commentary.” Judaica 3 (2022): 1–105.

Bell, Albert A., Jr. “Early Latin Versions of the Quo Vadis Story and the Ambrosian Authorship of the Excidio Hierosolymitano.” Patristic and Byzantine Review 9 (1990): 171–80.

__________. “Josephus and Pseudo-Hegesippus.” Pages 349–61 in Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity. Edited by Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987.

Eastman, David L. 2019. The Many Deaths of Peter and Paul. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019 (see pp. 30 n. 84, 82 n. 60, 194)

Eastman, David L., trans. The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015 (see pp. 29 n. 1, 69, 87 n. 35, 91 n. 41, 318, 331 n. 19).

Estève, Dominique. “L’oeuvre historique du pseudo-Hegésippe: ‘De bello iudaico,’ livre I à IV.” PhD diss., Université Paris Nanterre, 1987 (see pp. 249–53, 478).

Gitner, Adam. “Hegesippus.” In The Oxford Guide to the Transmission of the Latin Classics. Edited by Justin Stover. Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

Leoni, Tommaso. “Translations and Adaptations of Josephus’s Writings in Antiquity and the Middle Ages.” Ostraka – Rivista di antichità 16.2 (2007): 481–92.

Pollard, Richard Matthew. “The De Excidio of ‘Hegesippus’ and the Reception of Josephus in the Early Middle Ages.” Viator 46.2 (2015): 65–100 (includes list of additional manuscripts).

Somenzi, Chiara. Egesippo – Ambrogio: Formazione scolastica e Cristiana a Roma alla metà del IV secolo. SPM 27; Milan: Vita e Pensiero, 2009 (see pp. 137–50).