Doctrina Simonis Petri in urbe Roma (syriace)
Standard abbreviation: Pre. Pet. Rome
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: CANT 199
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Peter; History of Simon Cephas, the Chief of the Apostles; Epistle of Pilate to Claudius (=Acts of Peter and Paul by Pseudo-Marcellus 40–42)
Compiled by J. Edward Walters, Rochester College ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Walters, J. Edward. “Preaching of Simon Cephas in the City of Rome.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/preaching-of-simon-cephas-in-the-city-of-rome/.
Created December 2018. Current as of Sept. 2022.
1. SUMMARY
Pre. Pet. Rome is a Syriac narrative text that bears some relationship to the Acts of Peter and other apocryphal Petrine literature, though it is unclear whether this episode ever actually circulated as part of the Acts of Peter or any other larger collection of stories featuring Peter. The narrative opens with Peter arriving at Rome and then immediately addressing a crowd that had gathered to hear him speak. In this brief sermon, Peter provides a brief overview of Christian faith, including some doctrinal statements that clearly locate the text as a post-Nicene creation. Following this sermon, Peter engages Simon Magus in a contest to re-vivify a corpse. A similar episode occurs in the Actus Vercellenses version of the Acts of Peter, though the details of the two stories are not exactly the same. Following Peter’s success in the contest, the text describes Peter’s further ministry in and around Rome. The text concludes with a brief account of the martyrdom of both Peter and Paul, but not before Peter names a deacon called Ansus as his successor as Bishop of Rome.
The text was likely originally composed in Greek, though because the text has not survived in Greek, it is unclear whether the Syriac Pre. Pet. Rome is simply a translation of a text or a Syriac composition that represents an amalgamation of several earlier texts. The text is likely a product of the late fourth or early fifth century. There are three ancient Syriac witnesses from the 5th/6th century, which provide a fairly certain terminus ante quem of the fifth century. The text also appears to have undergone a renaissance of popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries, as it was copied in five different manuscripts dating from 1895 to 1972.
Named Historical Figures and Characters: Ansus (Linus), Claudius (emperor), Cuprinus, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Nero, Paraclete, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Simon (Magus), Tiberius (emperor).
Geographical Locations: Antioch, Jerusalem, Palestine, Rome.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Syriac (BHO 936; BHS 719)
St. Petersburg, National Library of Russia, Siriyskaya novaya seria 4, fol. 33r–38v (6th cent.)
London, British Library, Add. 14644, fols. 15v–18r (5th/6th cent.)
London, British Library, Add. 14609, fols. 16r–19r (6th cent.)
Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 4, fols. 57r–58v (1895)
Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard Houghton Library, Syr. 99, fols. 103v–106v (1899)
Mardin, Dayr al-Zaʿfarān, 203 fols. 88r–91r (20th cent.)
Montserrat, Biblioteca de Montserrat, Or. 31, fols. 93v–96v (1915)
Midyat, Dayro d-Mor Gabriel, 21, fols. 88–92 (1971)
Midyat, Gülçe, 4, fols. 112r–115v (20th cent.)
Midyat, Mar Barṣawmo Library, 16, pp. 153–158 (1972)
Cureton, William, ed. and trans. Ancient Syriac Documents: Relative to the Earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa and the Neighbouring Countries from the Year after Our Lord’s Ascension to the Beginning of the Fourth Century. London: Williams & Norgate, 1864 (editio princeps based on British Library Add. 14644 and 14609, pp. 35–41 [Syriac numbering]).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Cureton, William, ed. and trans. Ancient Syriac Documents: Relative to the Earliest Establishment of Christianity in Edessa and the Neighbouring Countries from the Year after Our Lord’s Ascension to the Beginning of the Fourth Century. London: Williams & Norgate, 1864 (English translation based on Cureton’s edition British, pp. 35–41).
Eastman, David. The Ancient Martyrdom Accounts of Peter and Paul. WGRW 39. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2015 (partial English translation of Cureton’s edition, pp. 367–75).
Pratten, Benjamin P., trans. “The Teaching of Simon Cephas in the city of Rome.” Pages 673–75 in vol. 8 of The Ante-Nicene Christian Library. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. 24 vols. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1867–1883 (a retranslation of Cureton’s edition).
Walters, J. Edward. “The Preaching of Simon Cephas in the City of Rome: A New Translation and Introduction.” Pages 408–23 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 (English translation based on the edition by Cureton).
3.3 General Works
Baumstark, Anton. Geshichte der syrischen Literatur mit Ausschluß der christilich-palästinensischen Texte. Bonn: Marcus and Webers, 1922 (see p. 69).
__________. Die Petrus- und Paulusacten in der litterarischen Überlieferung der syrischen Kirche. Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1902.
Haase, Felix. Apostel und Evangelisten in den orientalischen Überlieferungen. NTAbh 9.1–3. Münster: Aschendor, 1922 (see p. 205).
Lipsius, Richard A. Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten und Apostellegenden. 2 vols. Braunschweig: Schwetschke, 1883–1887. (See vol. 2.1, pp. 206–207.)
Otero, Aurelio de Santos. “Later Acts of the Apostles.” Pages 426-82 in New Testament Apocrypha. Vol. 2: Writings Related to the Apostles, Apocalypses and Related Subjects. Edited by Wilhelm Schneemelcher. Translated by R. McLachlan Wilson. 6th ed. 2 vols. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1992 (see p. 437).
Peeters, Paul. “Notes sur la légende des apôtres S. Pierre et S. Paul dans la littérature syrienne.” AnBoll 21 (1902): 121–40.