Università Roma Tre

Course Title:
Saint Sebastian and Saint Cecilia: Two Roman Martyrs Between History and Legend

This course aims to reconstruct the early stages of the veneration of Saint Sebastian and of Saint Cecilia. Sebastian is first mentioned in the Depositio martyrum of 354, under the date of January 20, as having been buried on the Via Appia ad catacumbas, at the site of the Memoria Apostolorum (later the Basilica Apostolorum under Constantine). He is later briefly mentioned by Ambrose in his Commentary on Psalm 118 and eventually becomes the central figure of the Passio Sancti Sebastiani, written between 430 and 450 by Arnobius the Younger, an African monk contemporary with Augustine, who lived in the monastery established next to the Basilica Apostolorum.

Cecilia, on the other hand, is not mentioned in the Depositio martyrum nor in other early sources. However, mainly through the Passio dedicated to her—also attributed to Arnobius the Younger—she came to be one of the most venerated and remembered martyrs, especially from the sixth century onwards.

The course focuses in particular on the analysis of these two passiones, which had a wide and lasting influence. Their literary, theological, and devotional aspects will be examined, along with possible connections to archaeological evidence.

Michael Lapidge (ed.), The Roman Martyrs, Oxford 2018.
G. P. Maggioni., La santità in Occidente. Introduzione all’agiografia medievale, Carocci, Roma 2021 selected chapters)
Further bibliography willl be provided during the course