Acta Alexandrinorum

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Under the term Acta Alexandrinorum or Alexandrian Martyrs Acts , a group of texts is summarized, which give in legendary form an account of the persecution and process of Alexandrian Greeks by the Roman rulers. They have been handed down in the form of anonymous fragments, dating from the 1st to 3rd centuries, found in Egypt, mainly in the papyri from Oxyrhynchos . Further locations are Hermopolis magna , Panopolis , Karanis and Tebtunis . Many of the papyri that have been preserved are copies made by non-literary private individuals. From this and from the geographical distribution it is concluded that the Acta Alexandrinorum were a genus that was quite popular , especially in the time of the Severians .

In terms of form, they typically resemble court minutes with a dialogue between a criminal and immoral depicted Caesar and the Alexandrian Greeks who defied the tyrant as the central part. In this respect, they show parallels to the Christian acts of martyrdom , without any direct connection or dependency being proven. In terms of tendency, it is anti-Roman propaganda literature with, in some cases, clearly anti-Semitic (which is not surprising given the deeply rooted hostility between the Greeks and Jews in Alexandria).

According to Harker, the starting point and the archetype of this literature were the embassies of Alexandrian Greeks and Jews, which were sent to Rome by these two parties following the violent clashes of 38. The Alexandrian Greeks were initially optimistic about their prospects of success, since it could be assumed that the then emperor Caligula was particularly favored by them. However, he was murdered in 41 without settling the dispute.

Embassies appeared again before his successor Claudius . However, he was not ready to take sides, but passed a neutral judgment, which was published in Alexandria on October 10, 41. He also had two members of the Greek delegation, Isidorus and Lampon, executed. The course of this procedure from the Jewish point of view is described in the report Legatio ad Gaium by Philon of Alexandria , who had participated in the embassy of 39/40. In his work In Flaccum Philon deals with the prehistory of the uprising and the role of the then Praefectus Aegypti , Aulus Avillius Flaccus . A corresponding representation from the Greek point of view is assumed to be the root of Acta Alexandrinorum .

literature

  • Andrew Harker: Loyalty and dissidence in Roman Egypt: the case of the Acta Alexandrinorum. Cambridge University Press, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-88789-2 .
  • Dieter Hennig: On the Alexandrian Martyrs Act POxy.1089. In: Chiron 4 (1974), pp. 425-440.
  • Reinhold Merkelbach : Commodus was not a ΕΥΓΕΝΗΣ (To the Acta Alexandrinorum XI Musurillo = Pap. Oxy. I 33: Acta Appiani). In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , Vol. 100 (1994), pp. 471–472 ( PDF ).
  • Reinhold Merkelbach: Isis regina - Zeus Sarapis - the Greek-Egyptian religion depicted according to the sources. 2nd, improved edition. Saur, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-598-77427-3 . Pp. 142-145
  • Herbert A. Musurillo: The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs (Acta Alexandrinorum). Clarendon Press, Oxford 1954 (text edition of the fragments known from 1954 with translations and commentary).
  • Herbert Musurillo: Acta Alexandrinorum: de mortibus Alexandriae nobilium fragmenta papyracea Graeca. Teubner, Leipzig 1961 (expanded and finalized text edition without translations and commentary).
  • Herbert Musurillo, George M. Parássoglou, GM Parássoglu: A New Fragment of the Acta Alexandrinorum. In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik , Vol. 15 (1974), pp. 1-7.
  • Anton von Premerstein : On the so-called Alexandrian acts of martyrs. Dieterich, Leipzig 1923.
  • Anton von Premerstein: Alexandrian Geronts before Emperor Gaius. A new fragment of the so-called Alexandrian Martyrs Acts (P. bibl. Univ. Giss. 46). Notes from the papyrus collection of the Giessen University Library 5. Reprint: Cisalpino-Goliardica, Milan 1973
  • Winfried Vogler: Legal historical research on the Alexandrian martyrs' acts. Erlangen, Faculty of Law, dissertation dated July 1, 1949.

Remarks

  1. ^ Harker: Loyalty and dissidence 2008, p. 2.
  2. ↑ Peter Parsons: The city of the sharp-nosed fish. Everyday life in ancient Egypt. Bertelsmann, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-570-00459-3 , pp. 130-134.
  3. ↑ David E. Aune: The Westminster dictionary of New Testament and early Christian literature and rhetoric. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, KY 2003, ISBN 0-664-21917-9 , pp. 9f.
  4. ↑ They had supported his grandfather Mark Antony and gave his father Germanicus a particularly splendid and enthusiastic reception when he visited Alexandria.
  5. ↑ The correct name of Caligula was " Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus".
  6. ^ Harker: Loyalty and dissidence 2008, pp. 9f.