1st Edition
The Hagiography of Saint Abercius Introduction, Texts, and Translations
This broad-based critical edition is the first-ever modern translation of all of three adaptations of the hagiography of St. Abercius, the 2nd-century bishop of Hieropolis, based on one of the most valuable inscriptions of the early church, the Abercius Inscription.
This volume features the Greek texts complemented by facing translations for all three versions of the hagiography. The edition also includes introductory chapters, a composite critical text of the inscription, an Epitome, Synaxarion, and Greek/English indices. The reader will have access to the most expansive reconstruction of both the hagiography and the famous inscription based on the oldest traditions—twenty-nine 10th- and 11th-century manuscripts. The English translations are based on a majority reading, accompanied by an exhaustive Greek text apparatus that preserves the numerous variant readings. The volume provides scholars with new substantive material for research, while the introductory chapters help to familiarize readers interested in early Christianity with the Abercius tradition.
The Hagiography of Saint Abercius is an invaluable resource for students and scholars working on early Christianity, early church history, and hagiography, as well as those interested in manuscript transmission.
PART 1: Introduction; 1. Stone, Story, and Scholarship: Introducing Abercius; 2. Chronology and Context: Historical considerations; 3. Doctrine and Discourse: The Christocentric version; 4. A Model Metaphrasis: The Hagiocentric version; 5. Tomb Terminology: The Epigraphic version; 6. Curious and Concise: The Epitome and Synaxarion; 7. Reconstructing a Reading: The Inscription text; 8. Tracing Traditions: Twenty-nine manuscripts; 9. A Broader Base: Critical text and apparatus; 10. Style, Scholars, and Sectioning: English translations; PART 2: The Texts—Greek and English; 1. The Christocentric version; 2. The Hagiocentric version; 3. The Epigraphic version; 4. The Epitome; 5. The Synaxarion; 6. The Inscription.
Biography
Ken Tully (MPhil, MDiv) is Adjunct Faculty, Classical Studies, Villanova University, and a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford. In 2020, he co-authored Jerusalem Afflicted: Quaresmius, Spain, and the Idea of a 17th-Century Crusade (Routledge), which presented the first-ever modern translation and commentary on the Latin sermon first published in 1631.
Pamela D. Johnston (PhD) is Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Fresno Pacific University, where she teaches a broad range of classes in ancient and medieval history and classics. She is the author of The Military Consilium in Republican Rome (Gorgias Press), the first full-length treatment of the consilium in the Roman Republic.
