Sarmentitii
Sarmentitii , also Sarmentii , (also referred to in German as "Sarmentier") was a ridiculous name that the pagans are said to have been given to Christians during the persecution of Christians in ancient Rome . The name comes from a cruel method of execution .
Lore
The term Sarmentitii is often cited in connection with the derisive name Semaxii (also Semiaxii or Semiaxiarii ), which refers to the same type of execution. According to Tertullian's report , the Christian martyrs were tied alive to a 1.80 meter long board or post, a so-called semaxis, before they were cremated . They were then covered with bundles of kindling called sarmenta . The Romans derived the nicknames Sarmentitii and Semaxii from these objects used to punish Christians .
Tertullian wrote around 198 AD in his Apologeticum :
"Vicimus cum occidimur, licet nunc Sarmentitios et Semiaxiarios appelletis, quia ad stipitem dimidii axis revincti sarmentorum ambitu exurimur"
"May you at least call us Sarmentitians and Semiaxians, because we are tied to a pole consisting of half a corrugated tree, surrounded with bundles of brushwood, and burned."
Starting from Tertullian, these mock names and tortures were often reproduced in encyclopedias and works on the history of Christianity.
Literary processing
Henryk Sienkiewicz mentions the type of execution for Christians in his novel Quo Vadis , published in 1896, when describing a conversation on Nero's table :
“But Chilon answered with the counter-question: 'What kind of torches are these that are supposed to burn in the gardens? Did you hear what the Caesar said? '
'I heard it and I know it. They are called sarmentitii and semaxii. You put them in the embarrassing tunic, smear them with pitch, chain them to pillars and light a fire under them [...] If only the gods don't bring misfortune to the city! Semaxii! That is a terrible punishment. '"
literature
- Johann Georg Pertsch : Attempting a Church History: As Far As Such As An Introduction To Spiritual Legal Faith Can Be Viewed. Second year hundred , with registers, Volume 2, Teubner, 1737, page 411
- Joseph Bingham : Origines Ecclesiasticæ: Or, The Antiquities of the Christian Church, and Other Works, of the Rev. Joseph Bingham; with a Set of Maps of Ecclesiastical Geography, to which are Now Added, Several Sermons, and Other Matter, Never Before Published , Volume 1, William Straker, 1834, page 17
Individual evidence
- ^ Joseph Bingham: Origines Ecclesiasticæ , Volume 1, 1834, p. 17
- ^ KA Heinrich Kellner: Tertullian: Apologetikum or defense of the Christian religion and its followers. Chapter 50: The believers are surpassed in steadfastness by the Christians. Praise and dignity of martyrdom. In: Library of the Church Fathers. Tertullian's selected writings translated into German. 1912/1915
- ^ Johann Christian Wilhelm Augusti: Handbook of Christian Archeology. First volume, Leipzig 1835, p. 125 , on Google Books
- ^ Henryk Sienkiewicz : Fifty-ninth chapter, Quo Vadis , German translation, Leipzig, Volume 2, p. 236 , according to Zeno.org