Mons Porphyrеticus in Pannonia?
Mons Porphyrеticus in Pannonia?

Summary/Abstract: The famous hagiographical text on the martyrdom of the Four Crowned Martyrs and their cult has been preserved through Latin literary transmission. This extant and vivid text incited centuries-long scholarly debate on the provenance, paths of transmission and possible ubication of the story behind the legend. Abundant geographical terms present in the narrative resulted in numerous hypotheses on the location of the martyrdom from Pannonia to Egypt. Although the question has been approached from historical, archaeological and even petrological perspective, the philology behind the Passio Quattuor Coronatorum has not been thoroughly examined. This paper examines the use of the adjective porphyreticus applied by the Passio’s author to denote a specific oronym (Mons Porphyreticus), where the martyrs committed their religious crime against the Roman state. The paper analyses the frequency and the context in which the adjective in question as well as the correlating forms were used in the attested ancient and medieval sources in order to determine the discourse in which this word was particularly used. Based on the presented analysis the author proposes solutions to some still unresolved questions concerning the ubication of the events described in the Passio and its authorship.

• Details
• Contents