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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture 4. May is also the feast day of: Agapius and Secundinus and their companions (d. 259). We know about these North African victims of the Valerianic persecution from what is said of them in what has become known as the Passio of the Martyrs of Lambesa (BHL 131) but is really the Passio of Marian and James (now 6. May in the RM) with mentions of others named and unnamed. According to this text (narrated by a companion of Marian and James and seemingly closely contemporary), Agapius and Secundinus were bishops in Numidia who had been recalled from exile and were traveling to their certain martyrdom at Cirta (now Constantine in Algeria) when they stopped at a villa in a suburb of that city where Marian and James, who seem to have been traveling from Africa Proconsularis, and other Christians were also staying. Before departing the two bishops inspired some of their fellow travelers to seek martyrdom as well. A few days later Marian and James were arrested and were taken into Cirta, where they were imprisoned and underwent torture. The magistrates of Cirta then sent them and others on to the provincial capital of Lambaesis (now Lambesa in Algeria). While in prison there, and narratively just prior to his and Marian's day of execution, James had a vision in which Agapius, who by this time had been martyred at Cirta, celebrated a feast for those who had been imprisoned with them there and were now saints in Heaven. These included two young women named Tertulla and Antonia for whose martyrdom Agapius had prayed assiduously, as well as the soldier Aemilianus and an unnamed woman together with her twin children, all of whom, having been mentioned specifically in this narration, are included in the RM's _laterculus_ for Agapius and Secundinus. In the martyrologies of the Carolingian period and in the RM prior to its revision of 2001 Agapius and Secundinus were commemorated on 29. April and Marian and James (who according to the Passio clearly died later) were commemorated on 30. April. When the revised RM of 2001 moved Marian and James to 6. May, the day under which they appear in the early sixth-century calendar of Carthage, it brought Agapius and Secundinus forward to 4. May. Best again, John Dillon ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html