apostolicfathers0201clem - Carmel Apologetics

HADRIAN, PIUS, AND MARCUS. 503
third in the heart, and so forth. Their bodies are then thrown into a deep pit, hence
called ad ' Septem Biothanatos Their '. burial place is at the 8th milestone on the
Tiburtine Way, and their day is xv Kal. Aug. The persecution
thus ended, having
lasted eighteen months. In the course of the interview with the emperor, Symphorosa
mentions her husband Getulius and his brother Amantius as having been put to death
by Hadrian.
This document was admitted by Ruinart into his collection of genuine Acts.
It is
accepted likewise as substantially authentic history by Tillemont {Mcmoires ll. p. 241
sq. P- 595 sq), though he does not venture to ascribe it to Africanus or suppose that
we possess the Acts in their original form. Even Overbeck {Stud, zur Gesch. der Alten
Kirchc p. 139) assigns a relative value to them. On the other hand they have been
attacked by Basnage {Ann. Pol. Ecd. II. p. 46 sq) and more recently by Gorres
{Zeitschr.f. Wissensch. Theol. xxi. p. 48 sq, 1878), though for the most part not on
the right grounds. One of their main arguments
is the supposed anachronism in the
'
formula (§ 4) regnante Domino nostro Jesu Christo This argument however
'.
Gorres was subsequently obliged to retract {ib. xxil. p. 97 sq, 1879), since the
formula occurs as early as the Letter of the Smyrnseans on the death of Polycarp
(§ 21, see III. p. 400) and in the undoubtedly genuine Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs
(see below, p. 524). This point will be discussed below, in the chapter on the
Letter of the Smyrn^ans. At the same time he supposes that Symphorosa and her seven
sons were historical persons, because they are mentioned in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum,
xv Kal. Aug. (comp. v Kal. Jul.).
Aube {Les Persecutions p. 289 sq)
rejects the story altogether. On the other hand it has gained an advocate in Wieseler
{Christenverfolgmtgen p. 29).
A fresh argument in its favour has also been found in
the discovery of the basilica (Stevenson Scoperta della Basilica di Santa Simfo7-osa e
dei suoi Setie Figli, Roma 1878 ; comp. Bull, di Archeol. Crist. 1878, p. 75) ;
and
chiefly on the strength of this discovery Doulcet {Sur les Rapports etc. p. 95 sq)
accepts these Acts as worthy of credit, though he does not venture to claim them as
an original document.
But in fact the story condemns itself both in its framework and in its details.
(i) Its framework is common to several other stories of martyrdom and was not
Christian in its origin ;
(a) The earliest example is in the Fourth Book of Maccabees (viii. i sq).
The
tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes orders before him seven Jewish brothers with their aged
mother, who was a widow. Threatening them with the most horrible tortures, he
commands them to conform to Greek usages and violate the law of Moses. The
eldest is taken first. One by one they defy the tyrant, undergo cruel tortures, and are
put to death, their mother encouraging them in their defiance. Her own turn comes
next. To avoid being apprehended, she throws herself on the pyre and perishes.
These martyrdoms, we are told, are the triumphs of godly reason (6 ewe/S-ijs Xoyifffj.6s)
over physical pains and affections (Fritzsche Liir. Apocr. Vet. Test. p. 366 sq).
This book has been wrongly attributed to Josephus (Euseb. //. E. iii. 10).
It was
probably written in the first century before the Christian era (see Grimm Kurzgef.
Exeg. Handb. zu den Apokr. iv. p. 291 sq).
The Maccabean story is repeated in
Josippon Ben-Gorion iv. 19 (p. no sq, Gagnier), where the name Hannah is given
to the mother.
(b) It is next found in Rabbinical writings. The sufferers are still Jews, but
the persecutor is now Hadrian. Doulcet (p. 96) directs attention to the Talmudic
story {Talmud Babli Gittin p. 57 b), but he fails to see that it is a strong argument