Sergius and Bacchus
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Sergius (or Serge
According to their hagiography, Sergius and Bacchus were military officers in the army of the Roman Emperor Galerius and were held high in his favor until they were exposed as secret Christians. They were then severely humiliated and punished, forced to wear both feminine and commoner garments, with Bacchus dying during torture to his feet, and Sergius eventually decapitated.
Sergius and Bacchus were very popular throughout
Legend
The story of Sergius and Bacchus is told in the Greek text known as The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus. The story is ostensibly set during the reign of Roman emperor Galerius (305 to 311), though it contains a number of contradictions and anachronisms that make dating difficult. The work itself may date to the mid-5th century.[6]
According to the text, Sergius and Bacchus were Roman citizens and high-ranking officers of the
Popularity and veneration
Veneration of Sergius and Bacchus dates to the fifth century. A shrine to Sergius was built in Resafa (renamed Sergiopolis around 425), but there is no certain evidence for his or Bacchus' cult much older than that. Their cult grew rapidly during the early fifth century, in accordance with the growth of the cult of martyrs, especially military martyrs, during the period. The Resafa shrine was constructed of mudbrick, evidently at the behest of bishop Alexander of Hierapolis. The Passion has been dated to the mid-5th century on the grounds that it describes the construction of such a shrine as if it were a relatively recent occurrence. The original shrine was replaced with a sturdier stone structure in 518; this new site was patronized by important political figures including Roman emperor Justinian I, emperor Khosrow II of the Sasanian Empire, and al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith, ruler of the Ghassanids.[6]
Traditionally, the
In the Byzantine Empire, they were venerated as protectors of the army. A large monastery church, the Little Hagia Sophia, was dedicated to them in Constantinople by Justinian I, probably in 527. According to legend, during the reign of Justin I, his nephew Justinian had been accused of plotting against the throne and was sentenced to death, which was reversed after Sergius and Bacchus appeared before Justin and vouched for Justinian's innocence. He was freed and restored to his title of Caesar. Justinian, in gratitude, vowed that he would dedicate a church to the saints once he became emperor. The construction of this Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, between 527 and 536 AD (only a short time before the erection of the Hagia Sophia between 532 and 537), was one of the first acts of the reign of Justinian I.[10]
Sergius was a very popular saint in Syria and Christian
In the
The close friendship between the two is strongly emphasized in their hagiographies and traditions, making them one of the most famous examples of paired saints; the scholar
Regardless, in the wake of Boswell's work, Sergius and Bacchus have become popularly venerated in the gay Christian community.
Historicity
The Passion of Sergius and Bacchus has been dismissed as an unreliable historical source. It has been dated to mid-5th century and there is no evidence for the cult of Sergius and Bacchus before 425, over a century after they are said to have died. There is no evidence for Sergius and Bacchus's
References
- ^ ISBN 9780884022848.
- ^ الشهيدان سركيس وباخوس، مطرانية حلب للسريان الأرثوذكس، 30 نوفمبر 2011.
- ^ Palmer Monk And Mason On The Tigris Frontier.
- ^ https://ia801506.us.archive.org/21/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.13564/2015.13564.History-Of-The-Arabs_text.pdf
- ^ "القدّيسان سرجيوس وباخوس العظيمان في الشهداء". Antioch. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
- ^ a b c d e Woods, David (2000). "The Origin of the Cult of SS. Sergius and Bacchus". From The Military Martyrs. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
- ^ "Sergius and Bacchus". From the Catholic Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
- ^ Boswell, p. 155
- Martyrologium Romanum, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001, p. 528.
- ISBN 0-393-32014-6.
- ^ Boswell, p. 146. "By far the most influential set of paired saints was Serge and Bacchus."
- St. Theodore, it is easy to imagine that Peter and Paul were coupled in the popular imagination."
- ^ a b Boswell, p. 154.
- ^ Young, Robin Darling (November 1994). "Gay Marriage: Reimagining Church History". First Things. 47: 43–48. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
- ^ Shaw, Brent (July 1994). "A Groom of One's Own?". The New Republic: 43–48. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
- ^ Christopher Walter, review of Elizabeth Key-Fowden, The Barbarian Plain: Saint Sergius between Rome and Iran in Revue des études byzantines, 59-60:p. 279
- ^ Albrecht Classet, Marilyn Sandidge, Friendship in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age, p. 209
- ISBN 0520216857.
- ISBN 0-226-41033-1.
- ISBN 0-226-41033-1.
- ISBN 1-57607-355-6.
- ISBN 978-1426925054.
- ^ Christopher Walter, The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition (Routledge, 2003), pp. 149–150.
- ^ Pio Franchi de' Cavalieri, Scritti agiografici, Volume I (1893–1900)
Bibliography
- Attwater, Donald and Catherine Rachel John. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. 3rd edition. New York: Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-14-051312-4.
- E. Key Fowden, The Barbarian Plain: Saint Sergius between Rome and Iran, The Transformation of the Classical Heritage 28 (Berkeley, 1999).
- D. Woods, 'The Emperor Julian and the Passion of Sergius and Bacchus', Journal of Early Christian Studies 5 (1997), 335–67.
- ISBN 0-679-43228-0.
External links
- David Woods: The Origin of the Cult of SS. Sergius and Bacchus
- The Lives of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus from the official Website of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA)
- Delehaye, Hippolyte (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). p. 667.
- Photographs of the Church of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, Istanbul
- The Passion of SS. Serge and Bacchus