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[German version] I. Greek (Γρηγόριος; Grēgórios) [German version] [I 1] Thaumaturgus Lawyer and theologian, 3rd cent. AD G. was born between AD 210 and 213, as the son of a wealthy pagan family in Neocaesarea/ Pontus (modern Niksar), probably under the name of Theodorus. In 232/3 (or 239), after a thorough elementary education G. actually wanted to study law in  Berytus/Beirut but before this in  Caesarea [2] (Palestine) got to know  Origen who taught there and then studied under his supervision the ‘Christian s…

[German version] Deacon in Carthage, d. AD 546/547, pupil and friend of bishop  Fulgentius of Ruspe, whose vita he wrote soon after the latter's death in 532 (though his authorship is not universally recognized). F. compiled the first anthology ( Breviatio canonum) of North African canon law (a summary of synodal decisions in 232 canons). Also extant are 14 of his letters, mainly dealing with theological questions (Monophysitism, Three-Chapter Controversy). Fröhlich, Roland (Tübingen) Bibliography PL 65,117-150; 67,949-963; 88,817-830 LThK2, 4,87 H. Jedin (ed.), Hdb. der Ki…

[German version] Pope 402-417 born in Alba near Rome, son of Anastasius (pope 399-402). As Siricius (384-399) before him, he attempted to tie the western bishops to the Apostolic see. He used the following arguments: the bishop of Rome is caput et apex episcopatus (Epist. 37,1); all bishops of Italy, Gaul and Spain owe their installation to him (Epist. 25,2); all more important cases have to be submitted to him for decision (Epist. 2,3). With his decretalia, I. aimed to establish a more uniform church discipline in the western half of th…

[1] H. of Poitiers 4th cent. AD [German version] A. Biography H. was probably born in Poitiers in the first quarter of the 4th cent. and baptized as an adult (De synodis 91). He became bishop of Poitiers before 356; H. is the first known bishop of this place, in which there cannot have been many Christians. In 356, at a synod in Béziers, H. was sent into exile in Asia Minor on the orders of the later emperor  Julianus [11]. Whereas formerly only a lengthy resistance activity against the line of ecclesiasti…

Roman cognomen (‘The Fortunate One’), in the Republican period initially an epithet of the dictator L. Cornelius [I 90] Sulla and his descendants (Cornelius [II 59-61]); in the Imperial period, as a name invoking luck, one of the most common cognomina and the most common slave name. Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Gem-cutter of the Roman Republican period Gem-cutter of the Roman Republican period, probably a contemporary of  Dioscurides [8], named together with  Anteros in an inscription as a gemari de sacra via [1. 44 and note 40]. He signed the famous sard…

[German version] (Germanios). Bishop of Sirmium from 351, belonged to the principes Arianorum ( Arianism); together with Valens of Mursa and Ursacius of Singidunum he drafted a creed that mentioned only the ‘similarity’ (ὅμοιος, hómoios), not the identical nature (ὁμοούσιος, homooúsios) of the Son and God-the-Father (4th Sirmic Creed). The (5th) Synod of Rimini (359) imposed anathema (excommunication) on the authors. Consequently, emperor Constantius II enforced revisions and further synods, until the Synod of 378 in Rimini, after G.…

[II] Widespread Roman praenomen (probably connected with the Latin family name Gavius, but not related to gaudere), abbreviated as C., more rarely G.; in late Greek inscriptions also Γα ( Ga). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [1] Physician of the school of Herophilus Physician of the school of Herophilus, probably 1st cent. BC or AD, wrote about hydrophobia (Caelius Aurelianus morb. ac. 3,113-4). He explained that this disease affected the brain as well as the meninges, because the nerves surrounding the stomach and responsi…

[German version] Apostle of Ethiopia, born at the beginning of the 4th cent. AD in Tyre. The only source on him is Rufinus of Aquileia (Historia ecclesiastica 10,10). On a journey to India F. was captured by the Ethiopians, where he managed to gain the favour of the king of  Axum. After Athanasius of Alexandria had ordained him bishop of Ethiopia (Aksum) F. (from 340) was very active as missionary. On the beginnings of Christianity in Ethiopia cf. [3]. Fröhlich, Roland (Tübingen) Bibliography 1 PL 21, 478f. 2 E. Cerulli, s.v. Äthiopien, LThK2 1, 999f. 3 B. B. W. Dombrowski, F. A. Dombrow…

Name of an old patrician family, probably connected with the name of the god  Jupiter [1. 281; 2. 729]. The gens was one of the so-called ‘Trojan families’, who were said to have moved from Alba Longa to Rome under king Tullus Hostilius [I 4] (see below). The Iulii were prominent in the 5th and 4th cents. BC. Their connection to the family branch of the Caesares, which rose to prominence from the 3rd cent. and whose outstanding member was the dictator  Caesar (with family tree), is unclear. Caesar's adoptive son,…

[German version] [1] (Ydacius) Bishop of Emerita, removed in AD 388 Bishop of Emerita (Merida/Spain), died before 392. Vehement opponent of  Priscillianus, against whom he had called the synod of Saragossa in 380. H. achieved the latter's conviction, later (385) his execution by the emperor Maximus. His harshness against the Priscillianists, fuelled by personal resentments, was condemned by several bishops ( Martinus of Tours,  Ambrosius,  Siricius) and led to his removal in 388. Fröhlich, Roland (Tübingen) Bibliography Sulpicius Severus, Chronica II, 46-51, CSEL 1,99-105 Pris…

The veneration of saints began early in the development of Christianity. In the Catholic Church, 'saint' is a title conferred by the pope (since 1234), permitting liturgical veneration throughout the Church. Prerequisites for sainthood are an individual's 'saintly life' and at least two answers of a miraculous character to prayer (for the procedural order leading to canonization, see the Apostolic Constitution Divinus perfectionis magister: [1]). 'Beatification' precedes canonization. This permits public veneration ( cultus publicus) in a specific region or part of th…

[German version] [1] Rom. bishop AD 236-250 Pope from AD 236 to 250, a Roman, divided the church of Rome into seven districts headed by deacons; from these later developed (12th cent.) the churches headed by cardinals. F. is mentioned in Euseb. Hist. eccl. VI,29, Jer. Ep. 84,10, Cypr. Ep. 9,1, Novatianus (Cypr. Ep. 30,5). Fröhlich, Roland (Tübingen) Bibliography MGH AA 9/1,75 LThK3 vol. 3, 1146f. [German version] [2] Papirius F. Philosopher and rhetor, see  Papirius