Martyrium Clementis
Standard abbreviation: Mart. Clem.
Other titles: none
Clavis numbers: ECCA 281
Category: Hagiographa
Related literature: Acts of Peter by Clement, Book of the Rolls, Pseudo-Clementines, Golden Legend 170; Gregory of Tours, Glor. mart. 35–36; Theodosius, De situ terrae sanctae 12
Compiled by Tony Burke, York University
Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Burke, Tony. “Martyrdom of Clement.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/martyrdom-of-clement/.
Created July 2021. Current as of January 2024.
1. SUMMARY
Consistent with Western traditions, Clement is said to be the third bishop after Peter, following Linus and Cletus. He is adored not only by the Christians of Rome but also Jews and pagans, though he would not allow poor Christians to “pollute their lives” by accepting public donations from them. Clement did not fear Aurelian or Sisinnius, friends of the emperor; he converted Domitilla, the niece of Domitian and wife of Aurelian, and Theodora, the wife of Sisinnius. One day Sisinnius follows his wife to church. After Clement says Amen, Sisinnius is struck blind and deaf because he participated in the mysteries without baptism. He orders his slaves to take him outside but they cannot find a door. They come upon Theodora, who prays for their release and they all return home. At Theodora’s request, Clement prays for Sisinnius. His sight and hearing restored, Sisinnius accuses Clement of using magic against him so that he could be with his wife and orders his servants to grab him and tie him up. They think they have done so, but in reality they have ensnared stone pillars. Clement tells Theodora to keep praying for her husband until he is visited by the Lord. That evening Peter appears to her and promises that Sisinnius will be brought to the faith through her.
Sisinnius has a change of heart and calls for Clement. After Clement teaches him about Christ, Sisinnius becomes a believer and is baptized along with his household; he also brings about the conversion of many senators and friends of the emperor. But Tarquinius, the financial minister, stirs up an insurrection against Christians and accuses Clement of blaspheming the gods. Mamertinus, the prefect of Rome, tells Clement to abandon his superstition and worship the gods. Clement refuses because the accusations are baseless. Mamertinus sends a message to Nerva and Trajan saying that Clement was being falsely accused and he found no grounds to punish him.
Trajan sends Clement into exile across the Black Sea in a deserted place near the city of Chersonesus. Clement embarks on a ship with some of his clergy members and followers. In Chersonesus they are put to work in a quarry where there are 2000 Christians. Clement thinks he has been sent to them to offer consolation by suffering along with them. The people at the quarry had been carrying water for six miles. Clement prays and a lamb appears, pointing to a place where they should dig. They do so and a spring comes out, creating a small river. The entire region become believers. In a year, 75 churches are established and the temples and idols are destroyed.
After three years a hostile report about Clement is dispatched to Trajan. He sends a commander named Aufidianus to punish the Christians. The people rejoice at their approaching martyrdom, so Aufidianus just compels Clement to sacrifice. But seeing that Clement cannot be moved, he orders his men to drop him in the sea with an anchor around his neck; this way, without proper burial, Clement cannot be worshipped as a god. The people pray to God to show them what happened to Clement. The sea recedes three miles and a small temple is revealed. Inside is a stone coffin holding Clement’s body. Every year on the anniversary of his death, the sea recedes again for seven days so that people can see his resting place and many healings occur. The day of his martyrdom is given as 23 November (24 in the Arabic text).
Named historical figures and characters: Abraham (patriarch), Aufidianus, Aurelian, Clement (bishop), Cornelius (disciple of Clement), David (king), Diana, Domitilla, Hercules, Jesus Christ, Jupiter, Mamertinus, Mars, Mercury, Minerva, Paul (apostle), Peter (apostle), Phoebus (disciple of Clement), Saturn, Sisinnius, Tarquinius, Theodora, Trajan (emperor), Venus.
Geographical locations: Black Sea, Chersonesus, Rome, Sea of Azov, Sinai.
2. RESOURCES
2.1 Art and Iconography
Frescoes in the Lower Basilica of Saint Clement in Rome include three scenes from Mart. Clem. created in the eleventh century.
Illustration of Clement in the Menologion of Basil II, Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1613, p. 204 (10th cent.).
2.2 Web Sites and Other Online Resources
“Chersonesus.” Wikipedia.
“Pope Clement I.” Wikipedia.
3. BIBLIOGRAPHY
3.1 Manuscripts and Editions
3.1.1 Arabic
London, British Library, Add. 9965, fols. 195v–199v (1659)
Gibson, Margaret Dunlop. Apocrypha Sinaitica. Studia Sinaitica 5. London: C. J. Clay and Sons, 1896 (text from BL Add. 9965, pp. 56–65 [Arabic numbering], translation, pp. 44–51).
3.1.2 Greek (also appears as an appendix to the pre-Metaphrastic epitome of Pseudo-Clement Homilies)
3.1.2.1 Martyrium et miraculum (BHG 348)
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1510, fols. 230–239v (10th cent.)
3.1.2.2 Martyrium (BHG 349–350)
Leipzig, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, B Rep. II 26 (Nauman 187), fols. 2–6 (10th cent.) ~ Pinakes; UL
Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, G 63 sup. (Martini-Bassi 405), fols. 32–38 (11th/12th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, gr. 1614, fols. 1–9v (16th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolic Vaticana, Barb. gr. 318, fol. 203v–214r (12th/13th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolic Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1673, fols. 222v–225r (11th cent.) ~ Pinakes
Cotelier, Jean Baptiste. SS. Patrum qui temporibus apostolicis floruerunt. 2 vols. Antwerp: Huguetanorum sumtibus, 1672 (edition based on four unspecified manuscripts with facing Latin translation, 2nd ed. vol. 1, pp. 808–14)
Diekamp, Franz. Patres apostolici. 2 vols. Tübingen: H. Laupp, 1913 (revision of Funk but with a parallel Latin edition rather than a translation, vol. 2, pp. 50–80).
Funk, Franz X. Patres apostolici, 2 vols. Tübingen: H. Laupp, 1881–1901 (Greek edition with facing Latin translation by Funk, pp. 28–44).
Migne, Jacques Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. Vol. 2. Paris: Cerf, 1886 (reprint of the text from Cotelier with Latin translation, cols. 617–22).
Risch, Franz Xaver. Die Pseudoklementinen IV: Die Klemens-Biographie (Epitome prior, Martyrium Clementis, Miraculum Clementis). GCS, n.s.,16. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008 (Greek edition of the appendix to the epitome).
3.1.2.3 Menologion of Basil II
Preliminary translation: November 25: The struggle of the holy martyr Clement, bishop of Rome. Clement, the wisest of the holy apostles’ disciples and successors, was one time rescued from shipwreck and waves and met with the apostle Peter, from whom he was taught the truth of Christ, when he already possessed the knowledge of the Greeks. Having become a herald of the Gospel, a writer of apostolic constitutions, he was appointed bishop of Rome. But being arrested by the emperor Trajan, and tortured, he was exiled to Ancyra in Galatia: where, enclosed in a wall, the door blocked with stones, and sustained only by vegetables, he left the town in this squalor and distress. His precious remains, as it is reported, were taken by some of the faithful, and transferred to Cherson, where, thrown into the depths of the sea by idolators, innumerable miracles are wrought to this day for the glory of Christ.
Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. gr. 1613, p. 204 (10th cent.) ~ Pinakes; BAV
Migne, Jacques-Paul. Patrologiae cursus completus: Series graeca. Vol. 117. Paris: Cerf, 1903 (Greek text with facing Latin translation, cols. 177–78).
3.1.3 Latin (BHL 1848; CPL 2177)
Preserved in 225 manuscripts, the earliest from the 8th century. See the listing in:
Lanéry, Cécile. “Hagiographie d’Italie (300–550). I. Les Passions latines composées en Italie.” Pages 15–369 in Hagiographies V. Edited by Guy Philippart. Corpus Christianorum. Turnhout: Brepols, 2010 (pp. 88–96).
Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm. 4554, fols. 42r–45v (8th/9th cent.)
Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek Weissenburg, 48, fols. 160v–161v (9th cent.)
Thomas Beauxamis, ed. Abdiae Babyloniae primi episcopi de historia certaminis Apostolici libri decem. Paris, 1517 (Latin text from unidentified manuscript, fols. 135v–141r).
Buckingham III, John C. “Passio Sancti Clementis: A New Critical Edition with English Translation.” MA thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2018 (Latin edition based on 11 manuscripts, pp. 55–104; English translation, pp. 110–21).
Diekamp, Franz. Patres apostolici, 2 vols. Tübingen: H. Laupp, 1913 (parallel Greek and Latin editions, pp. 50–80).
Grau, Fábrega. Pasionario hispánico (siglos VII–XI). 2 vols. Madrid: CSIS, 1953–1955 (edition based on a tenth cent. manuscript, vol. 2, pp. 40–46).
Mombritius, Boninus, ed. Sanctuarium seu Vitae sanctorum. Novam editionem curaverunt duo monachi Solesmenses. (Original edition Milan, 1478) 2 vols. Paris: 1910; repr. New York: Hildesheim, 1978 (edition based on a lost manuscript, vol. 1, pp. 341–44).
Narbey, C. Supplément aux Acta Sanctorum pour des vies de saints de l’époque mérovingienne. 2 vols. Paris: Le Soudier, 1899–1912 (edition based on three Paris manuscripts, vol. 2, pp. 333–36).
3.2 Modern Translations
3.2.1 English
Buckingham III, John C. “Passio Sancti Clementis: A New Critical Edition with English Translation.” MA thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2018 (Latin edition based on 11 manuscripts, pp. 55–104; English translation, pp. 110–21).
Gibson, Margaret Dunlop. Apocrypha Sinaitica. Studia Sinaitica 5. London: C. J. Clay and Sons, 1896 (translation of the Arabic text from BL Add. 9965, pp. 44–51).
Lapidge, Michael. The Roman Martyrs: Introduction, Translations, and Commentary. OECS. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018 (based on the Latin text by Mombritius, pp. 170–79; discussion, pp. 165–70).
3.3 General Works
Amore, Agostino. I martiri di Roma. Rome: Antnianum, 1975. 2nd ed. rev. by Alessandro Bonfiglio. Ricerche di archeologia e antichità cristiane 4. Todi: Tau ed., 2013 (pp. 301–303).
Carron, Helen. Clemens Saga: The Life of St Clement of Rome. London: University College London, 2005.
Delehaye, Hippolyte. Étude sur le légendier romain. Les saints de novembre et de décembre. Subsidia Hagiographica 23. Brussels: Société des Bollandistes, 1936 (pp. 96–116).
Dufourcq, Albert. Étude sur les ‘Gesta martyrum’ romains. 5 vols. Paris: De Boccard, 1900–1907. 2nd ed. Paris: De Boccard, 1988 (vol. 1, pp. 160–62).
Franchi de’ Cavalieri, Pio Petro. Note agiografiche V. Studi e testi 27. Rome: Tipografia, 1915 (pp. 1–40).
Garrison, Edward B. Studies in the History of Medieval Italian Painting. 4 vols. London: The Pindar Press, 1993 (vol. 2, pp. 173–80).
Hofmann, Dietrich. Die Legende von Sankt Clemens in den skandinavischen Ländern im Mittelalter. Beiträge zur Skandinavistik 13. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1997.
Mullooly, Joseph. Saint Clement: Pope and Martyr and His Basilica in Rome. 2nd ed. Rome: G. Barbèra, 1873.
Pouderon, Bernard. “Clément de Rome, Flavius Clemens et Clément juif.” Pages 197–218 in Studi su Clemente romano. Edited by Philippe Luisier. OCA 268. Rome, 2003.
Scorza Barcellona, F. Enciclopedia dei papi. Edited by the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana. 3 vols. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 2000 (vol. 1, pp. 199–212 esp. 202–203).
Stuiber, A. “Clemens Romanus II (PsClementinen).” Cols. 188–206 in vol. 3 of Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum. Edited by Theodor Klauser. Stuttgart: Hiersemann Verlags-G.M.B.H., 1957.
Zannoni, Guglielmo, and M. C. Celletti. “Clement I, papa, santo.” Bibliotheca Sanctorum. 13 vols. Rome: Città nuova, 1961–2013 (vol. 5, cols. 38–48).