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HADRIAN, PIUS, AND MARCUS. 5^7
away to execution. They were led away by Maximus the chamberlain ('cubicularius')
of the prefect to the place called ' Pagus situated at
',
the fourth milestone from the
city. There they were slain by the sword. But meanwhile Maximus himself had
been so impressed by their demeanour and conversation, that he was baptized
— he
and his family and
; many others were converted by his instrumentality. For this
Almachius sentenced him to be beaten to death with leaded thongs. His body was
laid by Cfficilia in the same tomb with those of her husband and brother-in-law.
After this she herself was brought before the prefect. Having boldly avowed her
religion and rebuked the prefect, she was by his order confined in her bath which was
heated intensely for the purpose of scorching her to death. A day and a night she
remained there, suffering no inconvenience. Then the prefect sent an executioner to
behead her. Striking three blows and failing to sever the head, the executioner left
her, while the Christians whom she had converted stanched the wounds with linen
cloths. For three days she survived, during which time she left her house to his
'
holiness ' Pope Urban to be a church for ever. Then she delivered up her soul to
God. The day of her departure was the 22nd of November. Her body was taken
up by Urban, who buried it ' among other bishops his colleagues, where all the confessors
and martyrs are deposited
'.
According to her injunctions her house was converted
into a church.
Such is the skeleton of the story of S. Ccecilia, divested of the miracle and
romance. It is contained in her Acts, of which an account will be found in De Rossi
Roma Sotterr. II. p. xxxii. sq, and in Aube Les Chretiens dans VEmpire Romain
(a.d. 180— 249), 1881, p. 352 sq. They may be conveniently read in Surius under
Nov. 22. His text is a re-translation from the Metaphrast, who had translated them
from the original Latin into Greek. For the Greek see S. Caeciliae Virginis ct Martyris
Acta etc. a J. Laderchio i. p. 229 sq (Romae 1722). The various Acts are
given in this volume as edited by Bosio".
These Acts are plainly not authentic. To say nothing of their general character,
they abound in the supernatural, while they betray themselves by their anachronisms
and inconsistencies. Thus Caecilia is stated to have been martyred under Pope
Urban (a.d. 222— 230), and a violent persecution was raging at the time— so violent
that the Christians are hunted out of their hiding-places and decent burial is denied
to the slain. But this period falls within the reign of Alexander Severus, when the
Christians were not only unmolested, but even regarded with favour. Moreover the
Acts speak of more than one emperor,
'
Domini nostri invictissimi principes ',
invictissimis principibus ', '
imperatores ' ;
but there was no divided rule during this
period. Again the names of the prefect, Turcius Almachius (ToiJpKtos 6 /cai'AX/idKtos),
are suspicious, and savour of a later date.
The Acts of Pope Urban are a sequel to those of S. Crecilia, written perhaps
much later, but certainly founded on them. The same prefect Turcius Almachius
appears in them, and the dimensions of the persecution are still further magnified.
Altogether these Acts only increase the difficulty, without throwing any light on the
facts underlying the fiction. The different recensions of these Acts will be found in
form of them is there
the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum May 25. The least extravagant
and attributed to the notaries of the Roman Church under Anteros
accepted as genuine,
the successor of Urban in the papal chair. Their spurious character is laid bare by
Tillemont iSIcmoires ill. p. 686 sq, and by Aube Les Chretiens etc. p. 381 sq comp.
;
also Lipsius Chronol. der Rom. Bisch. p. 179 sq, and Erbes in Zeitsch.f. Kirchengesch.
1887, p. I sq.
'
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