1027 HIPPOLYTUS THEBANUS 1028
Emanuel Schelstraten provided the Latin in *Antiquitates Ecclesiae illustratae* (Rome, 1682, fol., 513) (f). But also the brief work concerning the XII Apostles, published under the name of Hippolytus from the Royal Codex by Cotelerius at the end of Book IX of the *Recognitions* of Clement, § 29, and published in its entirety with his own version and notes by Francis Combefis in the *Auctarium novum bibliothecae Patrum*, Vol. II (Paris, 1648, fol., 831), and those things concerning the LXXII disciples which Baronius held in his *Roman Martyrology* for April 9th, and in his *Annals* for the year of Christ 44, n. 38, and a. 58, n. 56, appear to have been taken from the libellus of Hippolytus, which Sirletus possessed in Greek, from the *Chronicon* of Hippolytus Thebanus (g). A libellus concerning the twelve Apostles has been reprinted in Latin from Combefis's version in Vol. III of the *Bibliotheca Patrum*, p. 265, with which one should compare the brief indexes concerning the same apostles under the name of Dorotheus, or Sophronius, or Epiphanius, or even those existing without the author's name in manuscripts, and published with Oecumenius on the Epistles of Paul, at the end of the *Chronicon Paschale*, pp. 434, 437; by Cave in Part I of his *Historia litteraria* for the year of Christ 33, and by Cotelerius on the *Apostolic Constitutions*, Book II, last chapter. One should also compare it with those libelli in Baronius concerning the LXXII disciples. Hippolytus’s chronology of the Gospels and his *Chronographical Teachings* are mentioned by Montfaucon, p. 261 and 511 of his *Palaeographia Graeca*.
Regarding the collation of orders among the Greeks, see p. 50. Also a fragment of Hippolytus the historian, in which Joseph’s wife is called Salome, is reported by Andreas Rivetus (Vol. III of his Works, p. 640) as having been communicated to him by Salmasius. Turrianus also cites it in his *Apologia pro domo Lauretana* against Vergerius, and in the scholia to Book II of the *Apostolic Constitutions*.
(f) Fabricius had the fragment reprinted in Greek with the Latin version of Emanuel a Schelstrate in Vol. I of his Works of Hippolytus, p. 46 sqq., with various readings from the Vatican and Vienna codices, and those of the Canisius edition. He added a fragment concerning the time at which the Evangelists wrote their Gospels, from a Turin codex, and a fragment which Henricus Canisius published in Latin and translated in Vol. III of his *Lectiones antiquae* from a Bavarian manuscript codex, and prefixed the testimonies of Michael Glycas, Nicephorus Callistus, and Stephanus le Moyne. See Fabricius in the *Codex apocryphus N. T.*, Vol. I, p. 7. The *Chronicon* is also in the *Bibliotheca Patrum*, Vol. IX, part 1, p. 1006 (Colonia Agrippina, 1618, fol., etc.). In Turin codex 302, fol. 64, there is a fragment of the *Chronica* of Hippolytus Thebanus concerning the genealogy of the Mother of God, which, as the compiler of the *Catalogue of Greek Codices* observes (p. 392), differs in many respects from those things which are contained in the latest (Basnage’s) edition of Canisius, Vol. III, part 1. There, it is read on pp. 20-40. Greek, p. 129 A, from Bavarian codex 168 with the Latin version, and Basnage in his preface is copious concerning that Hippolytus and the various fragments of the codices. The same fragment is in the Escorial codex, as witnessed by Plujer in his *Itinerarium per Hispaniam*, p. 173. In Montfaucon’s *Bibliotheca mss.*, many codices in which the *Chronicon* of Hippolytus is present are designated; e.g., in Rome in the Vatican Library among the codices of Claudius Etienne (Vol. I, p. 134), in the Cassinese fragment (Vol. I, p. 220). In the library of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Selincourt, Diocese of Amiens (Vol. II, p. 1200), as well as Vienna, Bodleian, Paris, and Coislin codices also mentioned by him. In the former library, cod. 1107 contains a disquisition on the kinship of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Elizabeth. Fragments in cod. 39, 1084 and 4555. In Gale cod. n. 5953, cat. vol. II, p. 188, are fragments from the *Historia chronica* of Hippolytus, with more complete addenda. Rome, in the library of the monastery of St. Basil, a chronicle fragment with some parts of Anastasius, as witnessed by Montfaucon in his *Diarium Italicum*, p. 216. — Excerpts from the *Chronicon* of Hippolytus Thebanus concerning the incarnation of Christ, the years the Blessed Virgin lived, concerning John the Baptist, the Evangelist, etc. Oxford, among the Gale codices, n. 18 (cat. codd. Angliæ etc. I, p. 18). — Concerning the genealogy of the Blessed Virgin, ibid., p. 162, among the Selden codices, n. 3372. HARL.
(g) Hippolytus, *Concerning the Twelve Apostles*, Venice, Marciana Lib. cod. 498 (cat. codd. Gr. p. 261), and in the Coislin library, cod. 120 and 258, concerning the 12 apostles and 70 disciples: cod. 296, p. 194, 304 and 413 (v. Montf. Bibl. Coisl. p. 194). — Among the Gale codices, n. 5941. — Concerning the 70 disciples, among the Baroccian codices, n. 206 and among the marginalia of Gerard Langbaine, n. 11 (second cat. cit.). — Rome, in the Vatican library (Montf. Bibl. mss. I, p. 129 A). — Florence, in the Medicean codex, Plut. LVI. (Band. II, p. 309). Fabricius in the Works of Hippolytus, Vol. I, p. 20 sqq., appends the particles concerning the XII apostles with the Latin version and notes of Fr. Combefis and his own, and concerning the 72 disciples from the Baroccian codex and in Latin. — Hippolytus, *Chronology of the Gospels* in the Paris codices 48, 177, and 186. *Exposure of the seventy weeks* (in Daniel), ibid. cod. 159, p. 146, old edit. HARL.
FRAGMENTS FROM THE CHRONOLOGICAL SYNTAGMA OF HIPPOLYTUS THEBANUS
FRAGMENT I. From the Chronological Commentary of Hippolytus Thebanus regarding the lineage of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ was therefore born in the year 5500.
FRAGMENTA.
A Under the Emperor Augustus, He was born in a cave on the 25th day of December. From Adam to Noah, 2242 years. And from Noah to Abraham, 1170 years. And from Abraham to Moses, 444 years. And from Moses to David, 599 years. And from David to Christ, 1045 years, making in total 5500 years. From the incarnation of Christ to the arrival of the Magi, 2 years. And from the flight into Egypt to the death of Herod, the son of Antipater, 3 years. They dwelt in Egypt at Heliopolis near Memphis for 3 years. And from their return to their own country in Galilee to the death of Archelaus, 19 years. B With Archelaus, Augustus also dies in his 88th year, the 56th of his reign. From the death of Archelaus to the baptism of Christ, 3 years, making in total 30 years. From the baptism of Christ to the stoning of Zacharias, 1 year. And from the death of the latter to the death of John, his son, which occurred in prison under the younger Herod, the son of Archelaus, 1 year. And from the death of John to the saving passion, 6 months. For John the Baptist lived 33 years; thirty indeed in the desert, and he baptized for three years in the Jordan, preaching repentance. And in this way our Lord Jesus Christ lived for thirty years in his youth. C After his baptism, he chose disciples to preach his kingdom, for 3 years, until the cross. Whence the Fathers in the Nicene synod ordained that presbyters should not be ordained before thirty years of age, saying that it is sufficient for the disciple to be as the master, and for the servant as his lord. From the saving passion and the ascension to the stoning of Stephen, 7 years, and from that time until the light which appeared to Paul, 6 months. And from the baptism and preaching of Paul until the assumption of our most immaculate Lady, there are 3 years, making in total 44 years. For the all-pure Theotokos lived among men in the temple for 14 years, and in the house of Joseph for 4 months, D and she received the annunciation, and conceiving, she bore our Lord Jesus Christ, making in total 15 years. And from the incarnation of Christ, she lived 33 years. Up to the assumption of Christ, in the house of John, 11 years. And after the Lord's assumption, with his disciples, she lived in the house of John the Evangelist for 11 years.
So that all her years were 59.
A This is John, whom Christ loved, and who was a virgin and an evangelist; he remained in Jerusalem in his own house—the mother of the Churches—to which the apostles fled for fear of the Jews. There the Passover was prepared; there the first mystery was delivered to the disciples; there after the resurrection the Lord appeared to them; there the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples; there he showed Thomas the marks of the nails; there the apostles ordained as the first bishop the son of Joseph, the brother of the Lord—not the son of Zebedee, the brother of John. For Zebedee is called a ship-owner in his own right, and he was the first among the prominent men who were in Galilee.
After the death (of Zebedee), John sold his paternal inheritance in Galilee and purchased a dwelling in Jerusalem; whence, as is said of him, he was known to the high priest.
B He received the most holy Theotokos into his house until her resurrection, and afterwards, having preached the Word, he himself was also taken up.
James, however, having become the first bishop of Jerusalem, is called the brother of the Lord according to the flesh, but the son of Joseph the carpenter by his carnal wife. For Joseph had four sons—James, Simon, Judas, and Joseph—and two daughters, Esther and Martha, by his wife Salome, who was the daughter of Haggeus, the brother of Zacharias, the father of John, the son of Barachias, the son of Abia the priest.
C And Joseph was a widower at that time, so that John the Baptist and Salome were children of brothers-german. For Haggeus, the son of Barachias, was the paternal uncle of John. Likewise also Zacharias, the brother of Haggeus, was the paternal uncle of Salome, the wife of Joseph the carpenter.
Furthermore, the holy Lady, our Theotokos, had three sisters from Bethlehem, daughters of Mathan the priest and his wife Maria, during the reign of Cleopatra and Sapor the Persian, before the reign of Herod the son of Antipater. The name of the first was Maria; of the second, Sobe; of the third, Anna. The first, therefore, married in Bethlehem and gave birth to Salome the midwife. The second likewise in Bethlehem gave birth to Elisabeth; and the third, in the land of Galilee, gave birth to Mary, the Mother of God. Hence, Salome the midwife, Elisabeth, and the holy Theotokos were the daughters of three sisters; and from this, John the Baptist and our Lord were cousins.
Christ, however, is called the son of Joseph, both because he nurtured him together with his own sons, and because he was of the lineage of Haggeus, the brother of Zacharias the priest, the son of Barachias.
II.
A We find, however, in the divine Scripture, that in the sixteenth year of her life the most holy Lady Theotokos gave birth to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. And she was baptized by Peter and John the apostles, while Christ himself baptized them. The Theotokos lived for eleven years after the saving passion; thus the sum of the years of her whole life was sixty-one. And the holy John the Theologian also lived until Domitian the Roman emperor, so that the entire time of his life was one hundred and ten years.III.
B But the most holy patriarch of Jerusalem, the great Sophronius, in an encomium celebrating John the Evangelist, teaches the Church of God that the father of the Theologian was Zebedee, and his mother was Salome, who herself was the daughter of Joseph. Joseph had four sons and three daughters: as sons, James, Simon, Jude, and Joseph; and as daughters, Esther, Martha, and Salome, who was the wife of Zebedee and mother of John. Hence, the Savior was John’s uncle, being the brother of Salome, who was the daughter of Joseph.IV.
C The castle called Panormum was built by a certain Greek named Panormus; it is double-walled and composed of iron and brass. In the northern gate of the same castle there stood a rugged tower and a two-headed female statue; where also a notable event occurred. For when that castle was burning in a fierce fire, and the whole city together with its walls was leveled to the ground, that tower of the gate, in which the statue had been placed, remained standing. Moreover, as the fire repeatedly drew closer to the place, the flame would recoil from the statue by five cubits, as if repelled by something. Chosroes, the tyrant of the Persians, took it away, and it is worshipped in Persia to this day, as the superintendent of the vivarium, having been captured there and escaped by flight, declared in the Chronicle of Hippolytus, which is published for the third time. Seek out that extraordinary account.The place called Smyrnium, near the D quadruple portico, has beneath the earth, toward the north, a subterranean grotto of ten cubits; within it are nine statues not far from the holy temple of Saint Theodore. These statues are: three of Constantine the Great and his wife Fausta, and of Hilarion the praepositus, and of the boy...
A fourth, the son of Constantine, whose head, as Herodotus and Hippolytus the chroniclers relate, was severed by his father; the father, affected by the grief of this murder, for forty days, they say, followed him in mourning, neither washing his body nor refreshing himself with rest in his bed. Moreover, he made a statue of pure silver, gilding it with much gold—one head of pure gold, I think—with these words inscribed upon the forehead: "My son, struck by injury." With this intent and with the mind of those doing penance, he would bow down, and falling prostrate in a religious manner, he begged for the forgiveness of his sins from God. The remaining seven (read: five) statues are those of Severus, Harmatus, Xeuxippus, Vigilantius—who built the house of Vigilantius—and Eleutherius, who built the palace in the senate. All these were punished by the sword, and their statues were erected by the one who had injured them, so that he might beg for forgiveness from the one who had committed the offense. This custom passed to their children, and from them to others, up to the time of Valens the Arian. The Arians, therefore, not being able to bear the defeat they had received at the hand of Constantine, buried the statues in the earth in the aforementioned four-sided portico, near the temple of Saint Theodore. B
Fragments from the manuscript codex of the library of Maximilian, Prince of Bavaria.
From the Chronological Commentary of Hippolytus the Theban.
1. From the incarnation of Christ until the coming of the Magi, there are two years. And from the flight into Egypt until the death of Herod, son of Antipater, there are three years and five days. Joseph and Mary lived in Egypt, in Heliopolis, which is near Memphis, with Jesus for three years and twenty days. After their return, that they might live in Galilee, until the death of Archelaus, there are [19] years and 47 days. Along with Archelaus, Augustus also dies. He lived, indeed, 88 years and reigned 56 years. From the death of Archelaus, moreover, until the baptism of Christ, which he received from John in the Jordan, there are 16 years and 30 days. From the baptism until the lapidation of Zacharias, there is one year. [For in the meantime, while he was performing the sacred rites according to custom, they pelted him with stones and, hurling them against his head, they slew him; and dragging his body away, they hung it in the valley of Josaphat.] From the lapidation of Zacharias, moreover, until the death of his son John, which was carried out in prison under Herod the Younger, the son of Archelaus, there is one year. From the death of John until the salvific passion, there are 6 months. For John the Baptist lived thirty-six years. For thirty years he was occupied in the desert, while in the other six he administered baptism in the Jordan, preaching repentance. Thus the Lord Jesus Christ was in the thirtieth year of his age. After
A baptism was received, he took and chose for himself disciples, proclaiming with them his kingdom until his saving passion, for three years. For this reason, the canons of the three hundred and eighteen divine Fathers of the Nicene Synod order and decree that no one be chosen into the order of presbyters before the age of thirty. For it is sufficient, they say, for the disciple to be as his master, and for the servant to be as his lord.
II. From the saving passion, and his ascension, B until the stoning of the holy Stephen, the first martyr, until the light which was seen by Saul and appeared to him, there are six months. And from the light that appeared to Saul, and from his baptism and preaching, until the assumption of the holy Virgin Mary, there are three years and forty-four days. The most holy Theotokos and Virgin lived on earth fifty-nine years. And indeed in this manner: in the temple fourteen years, in the house of Joseph four months, and immediately she was greeted and received the herald of the divine birth from the archangel Gabriel; and when she had conceived our Lord Jesus Christ, she gave birth to him on the day of December... the fifteenth year. C But she lived while our Lord Jesus Christ was living here in human nature for thirty-three years. After the Lord's assumption and ascension, she lived with his disciples in the house of John the Evangelist for eleven years, days... the total years of the life of the Virgin and Mother are fifty-nine. This is that same John whom the Lord loved, who was a virgin, who also wrote the Gospel, who remained in Jerusalem at the place called holy Sion, the mother of all churches; this was his dwelling. There, therefore, the apostles fled because of their fear of the Jews. There, with the doors closed, the Lord appeared to his disciples after he had risen from the dead; and he gave them the Holy Spirit, and peace. There, on the eighth day, the Lord confirmed Thomas, who was doubting, showing him the wound in his side and the shape of the nails. D There, the paschal lamb was prepared for our Lord and Savior Christ to eat with his disciples. And from there, having sung hymns, they went out to the Mount of Olives, to a place called Gethsemane. There, the Lord first celebrated the mystery of the Father with his disciples. And he initiated them into the mystical worship, and he shaved their heads, and blessed them, and ordained them, and delivered to them the mystical worship of his commandments and of his great works; and he displayed all the vision and glory of his divine form, and the spectacle of the blessed ones by whom he is beheld, and all the glory, and order, and brilliance of his Church; and he deemed them worthy of the divine communion of his body and blood; and that faithful Nicodemus before his passion, and
after his resurrection, he remained faithful. There they accomplished the first of all the mysteries of Christ, the mystery of the apostles. There the Lord designated his first bishop, and the apostles did so; namely, James, the brother of our Lord. For I do not mean the son of Zebedee, but the brother of our Lord. For James, the disciple of the Lord, was indeed the son of Zebedee, and the brother of John the Evangelist. Zebedee, however, was their father: he is called *idioklēros*, that is to say, having a ship of his own. Among the illustrious men of Galilee, John held the first place. After the death of his father Zebedee, he sold and dispersed the property he had inherited from Zebedee, and bought himself another in Jerusalem.
B III. Thus, therefore, he received the holy Theotokos into his home, preaching the word of the truth of Christ in Ephesus in Asia, and he eventually fell asleep in the Lord there, pursuing his name and great deeds with due praises.
IV. James, however, having been ordained bishop by the Lord and by the apostles, is said indeed to be the brother of the Lord according to the flesh, but the son of Joseph the carpenter, from his wife, who was occupied with the cares and administration of domestic life; he was the brother of Simon, and of Jude, and of Joses, his own brother. For Joseph had four sons, and two daughters: Esther and Martha; born of his wife Salome, who was the daughter of Aggaeus, the brother of Zacharias the priest.
and son of Barachias, the son of Abia the priest. A And at that time Joseph was a widower, so that Salome and John the Baptist were children of siblings. For Aggaeus, the son of Barachias, was the paternal uncle of John. Likewise also Zacharias, the brother of Aggaeus, was the paternal uncle of Salome; whom Joseph the carpenter had in marriage. I speak, however, of Solome, not of that midwife, but of the wife of Joseph. For the midwife was indeed from Bethlehem, and was herself a cousin of Elisabeth and of the holy Virgin Mary. And the holy Gospel according to Luke declares this. For there were three sisters from Bethlehem, daughters of the priest Mathan and of his wife Maria; while Cleopatra was queen, and Sopator the Persian, and before Herod the son of Antipater obtained the Jewish kingdom. The name of the first was Maria; the name of the second was Soma; the third was called Anna. The first married in Bethlehem, and bore Salome, the midwife. The second was given in marriage in the same place, and bore Elisabeth. The third married in Galilee B and bore Mary the Theotokos. So that Salome, and Elisabeth, and the holy Maria Theotokos, are the daughters of the three sisters. Hence, therefore, John the Baptist and our Lord are said to be cousins. And He was reputed to be the son of Joseph, because He was a brother to his sons, not only from the fact that He was nourished and raised together with them, but also from the kinship of Aggaeus, the brother of Zacharias the priest.
V. Our Lord Jesus Christ is born, therefore, from the tribe of Judah and from the seed of David according to human nature, in the last days, in the 6000th year from the creation of the world, in the 42nd year C of Augustus the emperor, in the month of December on the 25th, at the 10th hour of the night, on the 1st day.
VI. One must also know this, that in order to demonstrate from the beginning according to the Hebrew computation the origin of the world, take and subtract from the first-formed Adam down to Noah (under whom the flood took place, and there are ten generations) 2142 years. In a similar way from the flood down to Abraham, there are the same number of generations, 1270 years. Abraham was 75 years of age when he migrated from Mesopotamia into the land of Chanaan; and having dwelt there 25 years, he begat Isaac. Isaac, having lived 60 years, D begets two children, Esau and Jacob. He went down into Egypt together with his twelve sons and his grandsons, 75 in number. And his seed sojourned in the land of Chanaan for 215 years. And his race sojourned in Egypt for 215 years. And having multiplied into twelve tribes, it was calculated, and the multitude was numbered in thousands of thousands. And to Levi belonged the descendants Moses and Aaron. And the one was deemed worthy of the priesthood, and the other, Moses, was appointed to rule. Who in the eighth—
Erythraean sea and walked upon it, and led the Hebrew people out of Egypt. He himself flourished in the time of Inachus in Greece, the first of all who ruled. The Greeks are more ancient than all the Jews, and their laws: the Greeks are more recent. For they do not worship God, having turned aside from the former [practices]. But the legislation [was given] three months after the emigration from Egypt through Moses, the voice of God appearing to mortals. They stayed in the desert for 40 years. Under Joshua the son of Nun they were for 25 years; under the judges, 454 years, until the kingdom of Saul, the first of their kings, under whom, in the first year of that reign, David was born. By the same calculation also, from Abraham unto David there are 14 generations, being 1024 B years. And from David unto the migration to Babylon, there are 14 generations, being 609 years. From the migration to Babylon unto Darius, 25 years. And from Darius unto Jesus the son of Josedec, 40 years. And from Jesus the son of Josedec unto Jesus, who is called Christ, 309 years. Having summed up the sequence of years according to this calculation, we find from the first-formed Adam unto Christ 5500 years.
VII. In this manner, therefore, is born our Lord Jesus Christ, in the 42nd year of the reign of Augustus, in the month of December, on the 25th day, at the 10th hour of the night.
VIII. From the assumption of Christ, or his ascension into heaven, unto the most pious Emperor Constantine the Great, C are 207 years. In which some Christians erred, celebrating Easter with the Jews. But the most divine Emperor in the twelfth year of his reign, having founded the city named after himself, Byzantium, and having gathered the first foolishly wise Arian acts and the instituted synod, gathered 318 divine Fathers, or rather patriarchs; namely, the Roman, the Alexandrian, the Hierosolymitan, and the Constantinopolitan, bishops who were in the Bithynian province, and Arius, and those of the same mind as him; he deposed them and clearly proclaimed the faith.
IX. Then, having requested the holy Fathers and patriarchs to enter the royal city, D and to offer prayer for the city built by him, he afterwards asked in what manner the method for celebrating Easter should be handed down to future generations, so that they might not fall into a manifest and notable error. And they, having become weary, and having spent no small amount of time in this investigation, were barely able to receive such an oracle from God through an angel. It is maintained, however, that three of the cycles, beginning at the beginning
of the age, and ending in the six thousand sixteenth year. Enumerating these periods, therefore, the tenth was completed in the year 5320. A Of the eleventh period which had begun, 186 years have passed, and our Lord Jesus Christ put on human nature, as the book of the Nicomedian and the Metaphrastes contains. But the great Basil says that in the year 5500 our Lord Jesus Christ is born. And so, from the aforementioned eleventh period, there remain six years. Other writers, such as Eusebius Pamphili, Eustathius, and Georgius the Chronographer, and others, think and maintain only 180 years. Others, thirty-three years spent in the world and this life, and having dwelt here, and having suffered death for our salvation, on the 23rd of March was crucified. B On the 24th was buried; and on the 25th rose again, on the first day, namely Sunday, as the Metaphrastes declares, and the Nicomedian: or as the others, rose from the dead on April 21. For my part, I trust in the opinion of Lord Simeon: since the fashioning of this world took its beginning from the month of March: and the light (of the sun) by which we measure all things was divinely created on the fourth day of the same month. Hence, then, forty-four and seventy-seven, then the fiftieth number are in honor. C And it is to be attentively considered; for God, by his divine wisdom, founded the world in seven ages; and it was fashioned in seven days; and he gave vengeance for Cain sevenfold, and for Lamech seventy-sevenfold. He translated Enoch, being the seventh, as one who was pleasing to God: he declared Abraham to be the father of many nations from the foundation of the world: but even the Lord himself is numbered as the seventy-seventh from Adam. Also Pentecost, or the Quinquagesima of the jubilee (thou mightest call it remission), for this reason is in honor. In the seventh month also those solemn sacrifices were performed. D X. What is more, if you wish to find the dimension also concerning the course of the sun and moon, take the period, and subtract by seventy and by forty, you will prove for certain the dimension of the sun and moon, and without error. Furthermore, revolve in a circle and sphere what is within...
A the writings, and they have been noted, and you will find the years from the foundation of the world until the advent of Christ. And after that, again, the genealogy of Christ who became man for our sake, and the periods of the sun and moon, and the beginnings and current terminuses of the Paschal cycles, just as they were written under the reign of Constantine.
VI.
Fragments exhibiting the remainder of the 136th chapter of the Hypomnesticon of Joseph the Christian.
Zacharias, the father of John, had a brother who was a fellow-priest named Aggaeus, who died before him. Joseph the carpenter took as his wife the daughter of this Aggaeus, from whom he begat four sons and three daughters: one of whom was James, who is surnamed brother of the Lord, and was the first bishop of Jerusalem. The name of Joseph’s wife was Salome, not that midwife, but another. After her death, however, Joseph sought for himself as a wife Mary the Theotokos, who descended from the maternal line from Matthan the priest, and he from Solomon the son of David, as the Gospel of Luke says in weaving his genealogy. This Matthan had daughters by his spouse Maria, whose names were Mary, Sube, and Anna. B Mary, therefore, gives birth to Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist; Anna gives birth to the holy Theotokos in Bethlehem, who was called Mary after the name of her grandmother and aunt; so that Elisabeth is indeed a cousin of Anna, but truly a daughter of the brother of the Theotokos. Both of these are confirmed by the Gospel, because it recounts the paternal and carnal lineage of Christ: For Jesus, it says, was beginning to be about thirty years old, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, of Heli, of Matthan.
VII.
Fragment from the Venetian manuscript codex 494, page 243, of the Library of St. Mark (60).
From the chronological syntagma of Hippolytus the Theban.
One must know that from Adam until barbarism, there are 2266 years, and from barbarism until scythism, 500 years, and from scythism until Hellenism, 1236 years; and from Hellenism until Judaism, one thousand years; and from Judaism until Christianity, five hundred years. Having made the calculation in total, we find from Adam to Christ 5502 years, and from the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ to Constantine the Great, 200 years.
Furthermore, it should be known that from the first parent of men, Adam, until Noah, under whom the flood happened, there are ten generations, or 2451 years. D Adam is interpreted through the four letters of the alphabet as Orient (East), Occidens (West), Septentrio (North), and Meridies (South).
A From the flood to Abraham, when he migrated to the land of Canaan from Mesopotamia, there are 10 generations, or 1121 years. Abraham was then 75 years old, and he dwelt in the land of Canaan for 25 years, and he begot Isaac. Isaac, when sixty years old, begot two sons, Esau and Jacob.
When Jacob was 130 years old, he went down into Egypt together with his twelve sons and his grandchildren, 75 in number, and Jacob dwelt in Egypt for 400 years, whose lineage multiplied, was reckoned in twelve tribes, and the multitude of the people [reached] 600,000.
To Levi were born descendants: Moses and Aaron. The former was adorned with the priesthood, the latter was set over the governance of the people. Thus, in the eightieth year of his life, he trod the Red Sea. The giving of the Law began three days after the exodus from Egypt. They remained in the desert for 40 years.
They were ruled by Joshua the son of Nun for 25 years, and by the Judges for 450 years, down to the kingdom of Saul. Thereafter came David, his son-in-law. There were from Abraham to David 14 generations, or 1024 years. And from David to the transmigration of Babylon, 14 generations, or 504 years. Computing these altogether, we find that from Adam to Christ there are 5500 years [(62)].
Christ is born in the forty-second year of the emperor Augustus, in the 10th indiction, on the 7th day, from the tribe of Judah, from the seed of David according to the flesh. Since there are so many years, how is Plato not ashamed, discoursing as he does about the first and second flood?
From the incarnation, etc., as in fragment V, no. 1, with slight variation. But what is set forth under no. II, because they vary greatly, we shall bring forward here.
C From the saving passion and assumption of Christ to the stoning of the protomartyr Stephen, 7 years. And from the martyrdom of Stephen to the light which appeared to Paul, and the baptism and preaching of him, and until the assumption of the holy Virgin and Theotokos Mary, 3 years, and in total 44 years. For the Mother of God lived among men for 59 years; in this manner: in the temple for 14 years, and in the house of Joseph for 6 months, and immediately she received the message from Gabriel, and conceiving, she brought forth our Lord Jesus Christ on the twenty-fifth day of the month of December. Altogether 15 years, and she lived with the incarnate Lord for 33 years, and after the assumption of the Lord, with the disciples in the house of John the Evangelist for 11 years, and there result in total 59 years of her life.
This is that John whom the Lord loved, who was also a virgin, and who remained in Jerusalem at the holy Sion, the mother of the churches. Thither the apostles had fled because of the fear of the Jews. There the Lord appeared to the disciples after his resurrection, the doors being shut, and gave unto them the Holy Spirit. D There, on the eighth day, he assured Thomas.
A And showing him the mark of the nails, he had him eat the Passover with the disciples. From there, having sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives to the place called Gethsemane. There the apostles celebrated the first mystery. There they consecrated the first bishop, not James the son of Zebedee, but the brother of the Lord according to the flesh, the son of Joseph the carpenter.
For James, the disciple of the Lord, was indeed the son of Zebedee, the brother of John the Evangelist, from Judea. Zebedee, however, is called the owner of his own ship. He was, moreover, the chief of the distinguished men in Galilee. For John says in his own Gospel concerning himself: "That disciple was known to the high priest." For he sold the property he had in Galilee—that is, the part of what had come to him by inheritance from his father Zebedee—to the high priest, and in its place he purchased the holy Zion; hence he was known.
He received the Theotokos into his house, namely B in Zion, until she was assumed. After her assumption, John went to Ephesus of Asia, preaching the Word, and was taken up there.
James, however, was the first bishop; he is called the Lord’s brother according to the flesh, etc., up to number V of fragment V, with no notable variations.
VIII.
From a Greek manuscript in the Urbino-Vatican Library, in which, after the aforementioned fragment of Hippolytus the Theban, follows another written by an author unknown to us. Schelstr.
Chronicle of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the great God and our Savior.
Our Lord was born of the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary in the third year of the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad. That was the forty-second year of the emperor Augustus, and the thirty-second year of the reign of Herod the son of Antipater. Augustus reigned for fifty-six years, and Herod for thirty-seven.
Therefore, Herod died when our Lord was six years old in the flesh. After Herod, his son Archelaus reigned for nine years, and he was sent into exile in Gaul, and Antipas, who was also the son of Herod the son of Antipater, reigned. When Augustus died and Archelaus had been sent into exile, Christ was D fifteen years old from his incarnation. Tiberius succeeded Augustus, and Antipas, also a son of Herod, succeeded Archelaus. Therefore, they are found to have reigned at the same time: Tiberius over the Romans, and Antipas, the son of Herod, over the Jews, as has been said. Thus, the first year of the reign of Tiberius and Herod is found to be the sixteenth year of Christ from his incarnation. These things being so, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Lord was thirty years old from his incarnation when he came to the baptism of John and began his divine preaching, as the most divine Luke says. In the nineteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the divine...
A cross and the life-giving resurrection took place. And this Antipas, son of Herod, reigned for 23 years. It is certain, therefore, that this Herod killed the Forerunner, and being in Jerusalem at the time of the divine passion, sat in judgment on the Lord; and after the life-giving resurrection, he reigned for another five years and was sent into exile with Herodias to Vienne. After him reigned Agrippa, who is also called Herod, son of Aristobulus, of Mariamne, son of the first Herod. This Agrippa, who is also called Herod, killed James the son of Zebedee. He also wished to kill Peter, the chief of the Apostles, to gratify the Jews. He too reigned for seven years, and after him reigned the second Agrippa, under whom Paul was tried in Caesarea by Festus in the 26th year. B
And after these things Titus took Jerusalem by storm; and forty years are counted from the passion of the Savior until the capture of Jerusalem. Some write that three hundred myriads died there; the siege lasted for two years, in such a way that they ate their own children because of the severe hunger.
IX. *Another fragment from a Turin manuscript, concerning the time when the holy evangelists wrote their Gospels.*
It is to be known that the holy Gospel according to Matthew was written in Palestine in Hebrew, eight years after the Assumption of Christ. The Gospel according to Mark was written in Latin at Rome twelve years after the Assumption. The Gospel according to Luke was written in Greek in great Alexandria, fifteen years after the Assumption. The Gospel according to John was written in Greek on the island of Patmos, thirty-two years after the Assumption.
Hippolytus concerning the 12 apostles, and where each of them preached, and where he was perfected.
(See *Patrologia* tom. X, col. 951, in the Appendix to the Works of Hippolytus of Portus.)XI. *Of the same Hippolytus, concerning the 70 apostles.* (See the volume cited above, col. 654.)
XII. *The homelands of the 12 apostles and the names of those who gave them birth.* (See our *Patrologia* tom. CII, col. 1075.)
XIII. *From a Nanano codex, an anonymous fragment.*
Concerning the birth of Christ and our God.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was born according to the flesh from our glorious Lady, the holy