Standard abbreviation: Disp. Pet. Nero
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 949
Category: Apocryphal Acts
Related literature: Acts of Peter
Compiled by J. Edward Walters, Hill Museum and Manuscript Library ([email protected])
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Walters, J. Edward. “Disputation of Peter and Nero” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/disputation-of-peter-and-nero/.
Created January 2021.
1. SUMMARY
The Disputation of Peter and Nero is a Syriac dialogue poem arranged in the form of an acrostic of the Syriac alphabet. Thus, the original language of composition for this text is undoubtedly Syriac, though it is very difficult to propose a date for the text. Disp. Pet. Nero features a short allegorical narrative introduction about the apostles and their preaching, a dialogue between Nero and his soldiers about Peter and his teaching, and a conversation between Nero and Peter. Although the apostle Paul is also mentioned in the text and, in fact, is present for the disputation, he is not given any lines of dialogue. In their encounter, Nero frequently boasts about “mighty Rome,” while Peter somewhat subversively notes the success he has had in spreading his teachings in the city. Nero lays before Peter the option to renounce Christ and live or die, leading to the climactic scene where Peter, as in all the apocryphal accounts of his death, requests to be crucified upside down. The text concludes with a chorus of witnesses to Peter’s death, proclaiming his great example.
Named historical figures and characters: Death, Herod Antipas, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Nero, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Pontius Pilate, Zeus.
Geographical locations: Jerusalem, Rome, Sheol.
2. RESOURCES
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Syriac (BHO 937)
Bedjan, Paul. Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum. 7 vols. Paris: Otto Harrassowitz, 1890–1897 (editio princeps from an unidentified manuscript in vol. 2, pp. 680–86).
Caraglio, Iacopo. “The East-Syriac Dialogue Poem of St. Peter and Nero.” MA Thesis, Università degli Studi di Torino, 2020 (text of Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East, 6 with English translation, pp. 17–26).
Mingana, Alphonse. Narsai doctoris syri homiliae et carmina. 2 vols. Mosul: Fraternity of Preachers, 1905 (edition based on an unidentified manuscript in vol. 2, pp. 391–96).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Caraglio, Iacopo. “The East-Syriac Dialogue Poem of St. Peter and Nero.” MA Thesis, Università degli Studi di Torino, 2020 (text of Baghdad, Archbishopric of the Church of the East, 6 with English translation, pp. 17–26).
Walters, J. Edward. “The Disputation of Peter and Nero.” Pages 424–34 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 Bedjan).
3.3 General Works
Baumstark, Anton. Die Petrus- und Paulusacten in der literarischen Überlieferung der syrischen Kirche. Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1902 (pp. 46–47).
Brock, Sebastian P. Treasure-house of Mysteries: Explorations of the Sacred Text through Poetry in the Syriac Tradition. Popular Patristics Series 45. Yonkers: St. Vladimir’s Press, 2012.
_____. “Syriac Dispute Poems: The Various Types.” Pages 109–19 in Dispute Poems and Dialogues in the Ancient and Medieval Near East: Forms and Types of Literary Debates in Semitic and Related Literatures. Edited by Gerrit J. Reinink and Herman L. J. Vanstiphout. OLA 42. Leuven: Peeters, 1991.
Mengozzi, Alessandro. “Simon Magus and Simon Peter in Rome: The Sureth Version of a Late East-Syriac Hymn for the Commemoration of Saints Peter and Paul.” Kervan: International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies 22 (2018): 65–90.
Rigolio, Alberto. Christians in Conversation: A Guide to Late Antique Dialogues in Greek and Syriac. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.