Epistles of Longinus, Augustus, Ursinus, and Patrophilus

Epistulae Longini, Augusti, Vrsini et Patrophili

Standard abbreviation: Ep. Long. Aug., Testim. Urs., Dial. Urs. Patr.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 140; CANT 309.1–4

Category: Pagan Testimonies, Pilate Cycle

Related literature: Epistle of Tiberius to Pilate; Sayings of Greek Philosophers; Chronicum maroniticum; Theodore Bar Konai, Liber Scholiorum; Agapius, Universal History; Michael the Syrian, Chronicle; Bar-Hebraeus, Chronography; Solomon of Basra, Book of the Bee 39

Compiled by Tony Burke, York University

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Epistles of Longinus, Augustus, Ursinus, and Patrophilus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/epistles-of-longinus-augustus-ursinus-and-patrophilus/.

Created December 2018. Current as of January 2024.

1. SUMMARY

These four short “orphan” apocrypha appear in the Syriac Sayings of Greek Philosophers and several other Syriac and Arabic works. The Epistles of Longinus and Augustus focuses on the story of the Magi. Longinus inquires to Augustus about Persians entering Palestine to bring gifts to an infant; he wants to know who the boy is. Augustus responds that he will ask Herod the Great about it. The Testimony of Ursinus is an account of the darkening of the sun and the earthquake that occurred at the crucifixion. Ursinus mentions learning from a letter from Pilate to Tiberius about the crucifixion of Jesus and how, when Tiberius heard, he dismissed Pilate and threatened death on the Jews. The Dialogue of Patrophilus and Ursinus (the third and fourth texts) begins with Patrophilus asking his teacher why so many illustrious thinkers and rulers have become believers in Jesus. He praises the preaching activities of Christians (perhaps the disciples/apostles) who, though lowly, are mighty in deed. In response, Ursinus says he has no need for Patrophilus to tell him about all those who have become believers, as he already knows. He then gives his own praise to Jesus’ “pupils” for rejecting adultery, magic, etc. and, in particular, intercourse with women.

Named historical figures and characters: Africanus (of Alexandria), Augustus (emperor), Herod the Great, Jesus Christ, Longinus (philosopher), Magi, Marcianus (of Caesarea), Martin (of Beroea), Patrophilus, Pontius Pilate, Theodore (of Athens),Tiberius (emperor), Ursinus.

Geographical locations: Caesarea Palaestina, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, Palestine, Syria.

2. RESOURCES

3.BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Arabic

Vasiliev, Alexandre, ed. and trans. “Kitab al-‘unvan, Histoire Universelle écrite par Agapius (Mahboub) de Menbidjh, seconde partie.” Patrologia Orientalis 7 (1901): 457–591 (based on Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Or. 132; Testim. Urs. on p. 471; Ep. Long. Aug., p. 463; Dial. Urs. Patr., pp. 500–502).

Pearse, Roger. “Agapius, Universal History (1909).” Vasiliev’s French translation of Agapius translated into English.

3.1.2 Syriac

A Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Fonds. Patr. 79 (Sony 256), (1901) (=Arzhanov S)

B Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Fonds. Patr. 87 (Sony 261), (1907 from an 8th cent. manuscript in Midyat)

C Charfeh, Syrian-Catholic Patriarchate, Fonds. Patr. 86 (Sony 224), (1618/1619)

D Mardin, Dayr al-Zaʿfarān, 203 fols. 148^v–156^v(20th cent.)

E Midyat, Dayro d-Mor Gabriel, 21, pp. 221–230 (1971)

F Midyat, Mar Barṣawmo Library, 16, pp. 277–288 (1972)

M Edgbaston, University of Birmingham, Mingana Syr. 4, fol. 81^v–85^v (1895) ~ copied by same scribe as A

P Montserrat, Biblioteca de Montserrat, Or. 31, fols. 105^r–112^r (1915)

R Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard Houghton Library, Syr. 99, fols. 138^v–146^v (1899) ~ perhaps the same scribe as P

W Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. Sir. 596, fols. 105^r–111^r (1917)

Arzhanov, Yury. Syriac Sayings of Greek Philosophers: A Study in Syriac Gnomologia with Edition and Translation. CSCO 669, Subsidia 138. Leuven: Peeters, 2019 (text and translation, pp. 300–301, 306–11).

Rahmani, Ignatius E., ed. Studia Syriaca, seu collectio documentorum hactenus ineditorum ex codicibus Syriacis: Apocryphi hypomnemata Domini Nostri, seu, Acta Pilati. 5 vols. Charfeh: Charfeh Patriarchal Seminary, 1908 (text of Ep. Long. Aug. and Testim. Urs., vol. 2:20–21 [Syriac numbering]; translation, vol. 2:38; partial text and translation of Dial. Urs. Patr., vol. 2:30–31)

3.1.3 Additional Syriac Sources

Chronicle of Michael the Syrian (Testim. Urs. and Ep. Long. Aug. in V.10, Dial. Urs. Patr. in VI.3):

Chabot, Jean-Baptiste, ed. Chronique de Michel le Syrien. 4 vols. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1899–1963 (Testim. Urs. text vol. 4, p. 91; Ep. Long. Aug. text p. 88; Dial. Urs. Patr. p 103).

Chabot, Jean-Baptiste, trans. Chronique de Michel le Syrien. 4 vols. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1899–1963 (Testim. Urs. vol. 1, p. 144; Ep. Long. Aug. pp. 138–39; Dial. Urs. Patr., p. 169).

Ep. Long. Aug. also appears in Solomon of Basra, Book of the Bee 39:

Budge, E. A. W. The Book of the Bee: The Syriac Text Edited from the Manuscripts in London, Oxford, Munich, with an English Translation. Anecdota Oxoniensia, Semitic Series 1 part 2. Oxford: Clarendon, 1886 (Syriac text, pp. 94–95 [Syriac numbering], English translation, p. 86).

Ep. Long. Aug. also appears in the Chronicum maroniticum:

Brooks, Ernest W., ed. Chronicum maroniticum. Pages 43–74 in Chronica minora II. CSCO 3/syr. 3. Leuven: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1904 (p. 55)

Chabot, Jean-Baptiste, trans. Chronicum maroniticum. Pages 43–74 in Chronica minora II. CSCO 4/syr. 4. Leuven: Secrétariat du CorpusSCO, 1904 (p. 45).

Ep. Long. Aug. also appears in Theodore bar Konai, Liber Scholiorum:

Scher, Addai, ed. Théodore Bar Koni. Liber Scholiorum. 2 vols. CSCO 55 Syr. 65, CSCO 69 Syr. 66. Paris: L. Durbecq, 1910–1912 (text vol. 2:73, translation 2:52).

Hespel, Robert, and René Draguet, trans. Théodore Bar Koni. Livre des Scolies. 4 vols. CSCO 431 syr. 187 and 432 syr. 188. Leuven: Peeters, 1981–1982 (p. 52).

Ep. Long. Aug. and Dial. Urs. Patr. also appear in the Chronography of Bar-Hebraeus:

Bedjan, Paul, ed. Gregorii Barhebræi Chronicon Syriacum e codd. mss. emendatum ac punctis vocalibus adnotationibusque locupletatum. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1890 (Ep. Long. Aug., p. 46; Dial. Urs. Patr., p. 51).

Budge, E. A. W. ed. and trans. The Chronography of Gregory Abu’l-Faraj the Son of Aaron, the Hebrew Physician, commonly known as Bar Hebraeus. 2 vols. London: Oxford University Press, 1932 (vol. 1 is a translation of Bedjan; vol. 2 is a facsimile of Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodl. Hunt. 52; Ep. Long. Aug. vol. 1:47–48, Dial. Urs. Patr. vol. 1:32) partial translation.

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Burke, Tony, trans. “Epistles of Longinus, Augustus, Ursinus, and Patrophilus.” Pages 535–48 in vol. 3 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. Edited by Tony Burke with Brent Landau. 3 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2016–2023 (translation based on the edition of Arzhanov).

3.2.2 Latin

3.3 General Works

Arzhanov, Yury. Syriac Sayings of Greek Philosophers: A Study in Syriac Gnomologia with Edition and Translation. CSCO 669, Subsidia 138. Leuven: Peeters, 2019.

Baumstark, Anton. Geschichte der syrischen Literatur: mit Ausschluß der christlich-palästinensichen Texte. Bonn: Verlag, 1922 (p. 69).

Brock, Sebastian P. “Notes on Some Texts in the Mingana Collection.” Journal of Semitic Studies 14.2 (1969): 205–26 (see p. 211–15).

__________. “Some Syriac Excerpts from Greek Collections of Pagan Prophecies.” VC 38 (1984): 77–90.

__________. “A Syriac Collection of Prophecies of the Pagan Philosophers.” OLP 14 (1983): 203–46.

Broek, Roelof van den. “Der Brief des Jakobus an Quadratus und das Problem der judenchristlichen Bischöfe von Jerusalem (Eusebius, HE IV, 5, 1–3).” Pages 56–65 in Text and Testimony. Essays on New Testament and Apocryphal Literature in Honour of A.F.J. Klijn. Edited by Tjitze Baarda et al. Kampen: J.H. Kok, 1988.

Desreumaux, Alain J. “De quelques pièces du dossier syriaque sur Pilate: De la correspondance byzantine à la correspondance médiévale.” Pages 619–34 in Gnose et manichéisme: Entre les oasis d’Égypte et la Route de la Soie: Hommage à Jean-Daniel Dubois. Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Etudes, Sciences Religieuses 176. Edited by Anna Van den Kerchove and Luciana Gabriela Soares Santoprete. Turnhout: Brepols, 2016.

Haase, Felix. Altchristliche kirchengeschichte nach orientalischen quellen. Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1925 (pp. 116–17, 125).

Izydorczyk, Zbigniew. The Medieval Gospel of Nicodemus: Texts, Intertexts, and Contexts in Western Europe. Tempe, AZ: Medieval and Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1997 (pp. 34–35).

Monneret de Villard, Ugo. La leggende orientali sui magi evangelici. Translated by G. Levi della Vida. Stud e testi 163. Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1952 (pp. 124–25).

O’Ceallaigh, G. C. “Dating the Commentaries of Nicodemus.” HTR 56.1 (1963): 21–58 (esp. 41–49).

Stegmüller, Friedrich. Repertorium Biblicum 1. Matriti: Consejo Superior de Investicaciones Cientificas, 1950 (p. 159).

Zeegers-Vanders Vorst, Nicole. “Quatre pièces apocryphes néotestamentaires en version syriaque.” Pages 65–77 in IIIo Symposium Syriacum, 1980: Les contacts du monde syriaque avec les autres cultures (Goslar 7–11 Septembre 1980). Edited by René Lavenant. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Studiorum Orientalium, 1983.

__________. “Une gnomologie d’auteurs grecs en traduction syriaque.” Pages 163–77 in Symposium Syriacum 1976 célebré du 13 au 17 septembre 1976 au Centre Culturel “Les Fontaines” de Chantilly (France). Edited by François Graffin and Antoine Guillaumont. OCA 205. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, 1978.