Susanna of Rome

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Statue of Saint Susanna of Rome in the dedicated church of Santa Susanna in Rome

Susanna of Rome is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches . Legend has it that they in the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian , the martyrdom suffered. Her with Santa Susanna one of the oldest titular churches in Rome dedicated. She is the patron saint of Torre Santa Susanna and Osini in Italy. In the Calendarium Romanum Generale , their feast has not been taken into account since 1969; in Orthodox calendars it is still recorded on August 11th.

Legend

According to the legend about her life, written in the 6th century and generally regarded as an invention, Susanna is said to have been a niece of Pope Gaius and daughter of St. Gabinus . She had taken the vow of perpetual virginity and as a result refused to marry the adopted son of Emperor Diocletian , Maximian . The imperial recruiter sent to her - first her cousin Claudius, then his brother Maximus - is said to have converted her to Christianity . When she was forced to sacrifice in front of a small, golden image of Jupiter , she breathed it on, bowed her head and asked God to protect her from the demon. When she raised her head again the portrait was gone. The emperor's envoy, Macedonius, who was present, thought she had stolen it and took this as evidence of her belief in the pagan gods. A messenger came and reported that the image of Jupiter had appeared in the courtyard of the palace. Under the blows of the angry Macedonius, Susanna persistently confessed herself to be a Christian. All of this was reported to the emperor, who sentenced her to death by the sword . The sentence was carried out in her own home. Diocletian's alleged wife Serena - the historic wife Diocletian was Prisca - therefore even secret Christian, the blood Susanna intended collected in a vessel and the dead in a silver casket in coemeterium Alexandri - either one of the cemeteries on the Via Nomentana or coemeterium Iordanorum to the Via Salaria - have been buried. Gaius was then in the house of Gabinus which was his own next connected, a Statio set up in memory of Susanna. It was therefore ad duas domos , "with the two houses ".

Adoration

Susanna was an extremely rare woman's name in Rome and can only be traced once between 313 and 604. Nevertheless, it is the only Old Testament name that found a certain distribution in early Christian naming and is documented in catacomb painting because of the Susanna legend ( Dan 13.1–64  EU ).

Whether the Old Testament Susanna is also linked to the first mention of a “holy Susanna” (sancta Susanna) is the subject of discussion. In a poem written around 402 and entitled Iacobum magistrum equitum , Claudian asks the Comes and Magister equitum of the West, named Iacobus, not to shred Claudian's verses. In an ironically pointed list of various saints and biblical figures who are supposed to assist Iacobus in various situations, he also names Susanna, who should give him her strength (det vires sancta Susanna suas) . Claudian's Susanna is usually referred to as the Roman saint, mainly because the adjective sancta was not used for the biblical figure. For example, in the treatise de lapsu Susannae , which was written around 400, and which cannot be reliably assigned, a virgin of the name who has become unchaste would be compared with the Old Testament as fortissima illa Susanna without this adjective. Steffen Diefenbach also sees a connection with St. Susanna , who, however, interprets her position within the poem as an indication of a non-Roman origin of the veneration of saints. In contrast, for Peter Van Nuffelen only the reference to the biblical Susanna makes sense, who with the play on words vires / viros ("forces" / "(old) men") also underlines the ironic trait of the poem because of the biblical figure known for its chastity.

Saint Susanna of Rome appears for the first time in 595, when a priest Rusticus operates as presbyter tituli sanctae Susannae in a synod under Gregory the Great . This titulus is mentioned in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on August 11th. The associated Bern Codex from the 9th century also specifies the situation with the words ad duas domos iuxta duo clecinas [ duo clecinas corrupted from Diocletianas ]. As a result, it was located at a place called “by the two houses” next to the baths of Diocletian , a place in the ancient Alta Semita region . The Liber Pontificalis also knows the designation ad duas domos as a synonym for the titulus sanctae Susannae on the occasion of the consecration of certain objects by Pope Sergius I , himself presbyter of Titulus, in the church. These two domus townhouses mentioned are the domus Nummiorum and the domus Ceioniorum identified for this place until the Late Antiquity are occupied.

Ad duas domos was also the one according to the passio s. Susannae Station of Susanna set up by Gaius. Therefore, the titulus sanctae Susannae is commonly equated with the titulus Gai mentioned in a synodal act of 499 . According to this, the veneration of a saints Susanna in Rome would be secured for the 5th century. Excavations in the church of Santa Susanna as a successor to the titulus sanctae Susannae in the 1990s showed that in the 5th century - the excavator Alessandro Bonanni suggests the years after the Goths invasion of 410 , since the area around the Baths of Diocletian was Events had been badly hit - at this point a house that had existed since the 2nd century was remodeled and put to Christian use; No references to the type of cult practiced at this point or a patrizonium were found.

The passio of Susanna was created between around 450 and 550 and possibly formed the basis for the renaming of the titulus. It has come down to us in a relatively small number of text witnesses. The Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina lists 39 documents to which Cécile Lanéry was able to add another 9 in 2010. The underlying passio of Cecilia of Rome , on the other hand, has been handed down with 230 testimonies. Michael Lapidge suspects the author of the legend to be a cleric of the titulus, who, based on the unknown founder of the titulus Gai, invented a story and expanded it bit by bit. By equating the founder with the Pope from 283-296, Gaius , he created the basis for the family relationship between Susanna and the house of Emperor Diocletian, who is also from Dalmatia, which is important in the legend. At the same time, he introduced Pope Gaius, a person who bore all the traits of Pope Urban of the Cecilia legend. Following this legend, further references were made with Claudius and Maximus, who were converted to Christianity by Susanna, as they are modeled on Valerian and Tiburtius from the environment of Cäcilia. Finally, like Cäcilia, Susanna was murdered in her own house.

Again and again the titulus won the favor of high church dignitaries. In the late 7th century, Sergius I equipped him with a marble ciborium and other gifts. Instead of the dilapidated titulus sanctae Susannae was under Leo III. , Formerly presbyter of the titular church , the Church of Santa Susanna built between 797/798, magnificently gifted and honored with the body of a holy relic Felicitas. Up to the 18th century it was assumed that the church also contained the relic of St. Susanna herself under the altar of the church crypt. Since there are no translation reports, it was assumed that a Susanna who was subsequently identified with the martyr or who was martyred was buried in the church, if the Old Testament Susanna was not the original center of the cult in the church and the church could therefore not conceal a Susanne grave. Most recently, the art historian Elisabeth Priedl came to the conclusion that the church is not keeping a relic of the body, but a blood relic attributed to Susanna . According to information from the attached monastery, this is the only relic of St. Susanna.

Both in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum and in the Martyrologium Romanum the feast of St. Susanna is recorded on August 11th . Due to historical inadequacies in the legend associated with Susanna, it was removed from the Calendarium Romanum Generale in 1969 . Susanna is depicted with a sword and a crown as attributes of martyrdom. She is the patron saint of Torre Santa Susanna and Osini in Italy. In addition to the church in Rome, a church in Busachi (district of Santa Susanna) on the island of Sardinia , consecrated in 1349, and a church in Palermo also bear the patronage of St. Susanna. In Busachi, a procession with a portrait of the church patron takes place annually on her commemoration day in August .

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Susanna of Rome  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Peter Kirsch : The Roman title churches in antiquity (= studies on the history and culture of antiquity. Volume 9, 1/2). Schöningh, Paderborn 1918, p. 72.
  2. ^ Louis Duchesne : Le Liber Pontificalis. Texts, introduction et commentaire (= Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d'Athènes et de Rome. Sér. 2, T. 3, 1). Volume 1. Thorin, Paris 1886, p. 197, note 82 ( digitized version ).
  3. ^ Luce Pietri, Charles Pietri : Prosopography chrétienne du Bas-Empire. Volume 2: Prosopographie de l'Italie Chrétienne (313–604). École française de Rome, Rome 1999, p. 2140.
  4. ↑ Volker Kohlheim: The Christian naming. In: Ernst Eichler , Gerold Hilty , Heinrich Löffler , Hugo Steger, Ladislav Zgusta (eds.): Namenforschung / Name Studies / Les noms propres. An international handbook of onomastics / An International Handbook of Onomastics / Manuel international d'onomastique. Volume 2. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1996, pp. 1048-1057, here: p. 1050.
  5. ↑ Iiro Kajanto: Onomastic Studies in the Early Christian Inscriptions of Rome and Carthage (= . Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae Volume II / 1). Tilgmann, Helsinki 1963, p. 93 f.
  6. ↑ For dating see Alan Cameron : Claudian. Poetry and Propaganda at the Court of Honorius. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1970, pp. 225 f.
  7. ^ Claudian, carmina 50 ( digitized version ).
  8. ↑ On Iacobus see John Robert Martindale : The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Volume 2: AD 395-527. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1980, pp. 581 f.
  9. ↑ Jens Michners: Mockery and irony in Claudian's carmina minora. In: Widu-Wolfgang Ehlers , Fritz Felgentreu , Stephen Michael Wheeler (eds.): Aetas Claudianea. A conference at the Free University of Berlin from June 28 to 30, 2002. Saur, Munich / Leipzig 2004, pp. 175–186, here: pp. 180–182.
  10. ↑ Victor Saxer : Susanna v. Rome . In: Walter Kasper (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3. Edition. tape 9 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2000, Sp. 1143 . Agostino Amore: Susanna v. Rome . In: Josef Höfer , Karl Rahner (Ed.): Lexicon for Theology and Church . 2nd Edition. tape 9 . Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1964, Sp. 1196 .
  11. ^ John Vanderspoel: Claudian, Christ and the Cult of the Saints. In: The Classical Quarterly . Volume 36, Issue 1, 1986, pp. 244-255, especially p. 250.
  12. ↑ Steffen Diefenbach : Roman memory rooms. Memory of saints and collective identities in Rome from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD (= Millennium Studies. Volume 11). De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2007, p. 345, note 59.
  13. ^ Peter Van Nuffelen : Orosius and the Rhetoric of History. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2012, pp. 86-89, esp. 87.
  14. ↑ Monumenta Germaniae Historica : Gregorii I papae Registrum epistolarum 1,367 ( digitized version ).
  15. ↑ Martyrologium Hieronymianum on August 11 [III Id. Aug.] ( digitized version ); see. Hippolyte Delehaye : Commentarius perpetuus in Martyrologium Hieronymianum. In: Acta Sanctorum , November, T. 2, ps. 2, Brussels 1931, p. 435.
  16. ^ Louis Duchesne : Le Liber pontificalis. Texts, introduction and commentary. Volume 1. Thorin, Paris 1886, p. 371 ( digitized version ).
  17. ↑ Alessandro Bonanni: Duae Domus. In: Eva Margareta Steinby (Ed.): Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae . Volume 2. 2nd edition. Quasar, Rome 1995, p. 217.
  18. ↑ Critically, however, Antonio Valeri: I monumenti cristiani del Foro Romano. In: Rivista d'Italia. Volume 3, 1900, pp. 700-726, here: p. 708; Mariano Armellini , Carlo Cecchelli: Le chiese di Roma dal secolo IV al XIX. New edition. Volume 2. Ruffolo, Rome 1942, p. 1459.
  19. ↑ Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores antiquissimi 12.413 ( digitized version )
  20. ↑ On the tituli, see with older literature: Steffen Diefenbach: Römische MEMORIAL ROOMS. Memory of saints and collective identities in Rome from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD (= Millennium Studies. Volume 11). De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2007, pp. 343-345.
  21. ↑ Alessandro Bonanni: Scavi e ricerche in Santa Susanna in Roma. Le fasi paleochristiane e altomedievali. In: Eugenio Russo (ed.): 1983–1993: dieci anni di archelogia cristiana in Italia. Atti del VII Congresso nazionale di Archeologia Cristiana. Cassino, 20.-24. September 1993. Volume 1. Università degli Studi di Casino, Cassino 2003, pp. 359-376 ( online ).
  22. ↑ Michael Lapidge: The Roman Martyrs. Introduction, Translations, and Commentary. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2018, p. 270.
  23. ^ Database inventory of the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina manuscripta after Michael Lapidge: The Roman Martyrs. Introduction, Translations, and Commentary. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2018, p. 272.
  24. ↑ Cécile Lanéry: Les Passions latines composées en Italie. In: Guy Philippart (ed.): Hagiographies. Histoire internationale de la littérature hagiographique latine et vernaculaire en Occident des origines à 1550. Volume 5. Brepols, Turnhout 2010, pp. 15–369, here p. 151, no. 313.
  25. ↑ For the references and dependencies of the Susanna legend to the legend of Cäcilias, see Cécile Lanéry: Les Passions latines composées en Italie. In: Guy Philippart (ed.): Hagiographies. Histoire internationale de la littérature hagiographique latine et vernaculaire en Occident des origines à 1550. Volume 5. Brepols, Turnhout 2010, pp. 15–369, here p. 151; Michael Lapidge: The Roman Martyrs. Introduction, Translations, and Commentary. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2018, pp. 270-272.
  26. ↑ To the Church of Leo III. see Franz Alto Bauer : The image of the city of Rome in the early Middle Ages. Papal foundations as reflected in the Liber Pontificalis of Gregory III. up to Leo III. (= Palilia. Volume 14). Reichert, Wiesbaden 2004, pp. 106-109 ( online ).
  27. ↑ For example Pompeo Ugonio : Historia delle stationi di Roma che si celebrano la Quadragesima. B. Bonfadino, Rome 1588, f. 194r ( digitized at the Arachne image database ); see. also Jörg Martin Merz: Le Sante Vergini novels. The representation of early Christian virgins and martyrs in their restored title churches in Rome in the late 16th and 17th centuries. In: Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte. Volume 57, 2008, pp. 133-164, here: p. 140.
  28. ↑ Agostino Amore: Note agiografiche sul Calendario perpetuo della Chiesa universale. In: Antonianum. Volume 39, 1964, pp. 18-53, here: p. 42.
  29. ↑ Steffen Diefenbach: Roman memory rooms. Memory of saints and collective identities in Rome from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD (= Millennium Studies. Volume 11). De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2007, p. 345.
  30. ↑ Elizabeth Priedl: The Making of Santa Susanna. Medium, discourse and ritual of the post-Tridentine generation of evidence. In: Carolin Behrmann, Elisabeth Priedl: AUTOPSIA: blood and eye witnesses. Extreme images of Christian martyrdom. Finck, Munich 2014, pp. 145–166 with note 72 on the information provided by the monastery ( online ; PDF without page numbering).
  31. ↑ Martirologio on vatican.va (Italian); German translation according to PDF of the preliminary working translation of the Liturgy Commission of the German Bishops' Conference from 2016 on: Martyrologium. Renewed by decision of the Sacred Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and published under the authority of Pope John Paul II. 2004: “At Rome: the memory of St. Susanna. In old calendars she is celebrated as a martyr. The basilica of St. Caius near the Baths of Diocletian was consecrated to God under her name in the sixth century ”.
  32. ^ Calendarium Romanum. Vatican 1969, p. 68 f. ( Digitized version ).
  33. ↑ Il villaggio di Santa Susanna on commune.busachi.or.it.
personal data
SURNAME Susanna of Rome
BRIEF DESCRIPTION early Christian virgin and martyr