Nereus and Achilles

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Saints Nereus and Achilles, stained glass in Saint Helier (19th century)
Domitilla between Nereus and Achilles (with martyr palms). Altarpiece by Peter Paul Rubens around 1608, S. Maria in Vallicella, Rome, to the right of the main altar

Nereus and Achilles († late 3rd or early 4th century) were Roman soldiers who were believed to have converted to Christianity and during the persecution of Christians under Diocletian , (which in its initial phase, 295-298, focused on the military) died as martyrs . Pope Damasus I (366–384) described both of them in a memorial inscription as loyal soldiers who were devoted to the emperor.

fiction

In the acts of Saints Nereus and Achilles from the 5th or 6th century, the two martyrs are not described as imperial soldiers, but made into chamber eunuchs of Flavia Domitilla ; Flavia Domitilla was a niece of the Roman Emperor Domitian , who lived in the first century and suffered martyrdom for converting to Christianity . Perhaps that is why Nereus and Achilles have often been depicted with Flavia Domitilla.

Domitilla with Nereus and Achilles. Altarpiece by Cristoforo Roncalli around 1599, basilica SS. Nereo e Achilleo, altar in the left aisle

cult

The day of remembrance of hll. Nereus and Achilles in the general Roman calendar is May 12th .

At the end of the 4th century or immediately afterwards, a basilica in honor of the martyrs Nereus and Achilles was built above the Domitilla catacombs in such a way that half of the church was placed underground, so that the altar was erected directly above the catacomb tombs of the two martyrs to be able to. These graves were originally located in a burial chamber ( cubiculum ), which had already been highlighted by Pope Damasus I around 380 with a plaque ( memoria ). It is assumed that the column with a depiction of the beheading of Achilles , which is now in the basilica in front of the chancel, also belonged to the memoria. This column shows how Achilles tries to flee to avoid being beheaded; In the background a cross with the wreath intended for the martyr becomes visible. This so-called catacomb basilica was a three-aisled building on an irregular floor plan with the apse in the west above the memoria of the church patron . The basilica, which fell into disrepair in the 9th century, was rediscovered in 1874, the remains excavated and the building rebuilt according to old plans. The reconstructed basilica is now on Via delle Sette Chiese 283, 2,200 m from the city walls of Rome.

The old basilica was also called the Petronilla basilica. Behind the altar stood the sarcophagus of the martyr Petronilla , which was transferred from there in 757 to the mausoleum at St. Peter's Basilica .

The graves of the martyrs Nereus and Achilles were moved from the Domitilla catacombs to the town church Titulus Fasciolae in the course of the 6th century for security reasons , which was subsequently also renamed Titulus SS. Nerei e Achillei . Because the area around this church was deserted and no longer inhabited in the 13th century, it gradually fell into disrepair. Therefore, in 1228 under Pope Gregory IX. the relics of the martyrs Nereus and Achilles and other saints transferred to the church of Sant'Adriano in the Roman Forum . It was not until 1597 that Cardinal Cesare Baronio, as cardinal priest of the town church of Santi Nereo e Achilleo, received papal permission to bring the relics of the martyrs Nereo and Achilleo and other saints back to his titular church, which had been transferred to Sant'Adriano in 1228.

literature

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lexicon for Theology and Church (LThK), Herder, Freiburg 2006, Volume 7, Col. 740 with sources
  2. ^ Tyler Lansford, The Latin Inscriptions of Rome: A Walking Guide (Johns Hopkins University Press 2011 ISBN 978-1-42140325-0 ) §6.9
  3. ↑ Umberto M. Fasola, The domitilla catacomb and the basilica of the martyrs Nereus and Achilles (Edipuglia 1989 ISBN 978-88-7228082-9 ), pp. 17-20.
  4. ^ Philippe Pergola, Francesca Severini, Palmira Maria Barbini, Christian Rome: Early Christian Rome; Catacombs and Basilicas (Getty Publications 2000 ISBN 978-88-8162101-9 ), p. 27.
  5. ↑ Lexicon for Theology and Church (LThK), Herder, Freiburg 2006, Volume 3, Sp. 325f. with references
  6. ↑ Dennis Trout, From the elogia of Damasus to the Acta of the gesta martyrum: restaging Roman history in Brita Alroth and Charlotte Scheffer, Attitudes towards the Past in Antiquity Creating Identities (Stockholm University 2014 ISBN 978-91-87235-47-4 ) , P. 314.
  7. ^ Louis Reekmans, "Recherches récentes" . In Mathijs Lamberigts, Peter van Deun, Martyrium in multidisciplinary perspective (Leuven University Press 1995), pp. 61-64.
  8. ^ Dennis Trout, Damasus of Rome: The Epigraphic Poetry (Oxford University Press 2015 ISBN 978-0-19873537-3 ), p. 99.
  9. ↑ Hans Georg Wehrens: Rome - The Christian sacred buildings from the 4th to the 9th century - Ein Vademecum , Freiburg, 2nd edition 2017, pp. 164f. with floor plan
  10. ↑ Google maps
  11. ^ Giovanni Battista de Rossi , La scoperta della basilica di S. Petronilla col sepolcro dei martiri Nereo ed Achilleo nel cimitero di Domitilla
  12. ↑ George Edmundson, The Church in Rome in the First Century: An Examination of Various Controverted Questions Relating to its History, Chronology, Literature and Traditions (Wipf & Stock 2008 ISBN 978-1-55635846-3 ), p. 281.
  13. ↑ Éamonn Ó Carragáin, Carol L. Neuman de Vegvar, Roma Felix: Formation and Reflections of Medieval Rome (Ashgate 2007 ISBN 978-0-75466096-5 ), p. 87.
  14. ↑ Walther Buchowiecki: Handbook of the Churches of Rome. The Roman sacred building in history and art from early Christian times to the present , Volume 3, Vienna 1974, p. 354ff.
  15. ^ Pio Franchi de 'Cavalieri: Nereo e Achilleo, santi. In Enciclopedia Italiana (1934)
  16. ↑ Jetze Touber: Law, Medicine and Engineering in the Cult of the Saints in Counter-Reformation Rome: The Hagiographical Works of Antonio Gallonio, 1556-1605. Brill, 2014 ISBN 978-9-00426514-1 , pp. 89-93.