1Abercius, citizen of a chosen city, names himself a disciple of the pure Shepherd who tends his flocks.
5The Shepherd taught Abercius faithful writings and sent him to Rome to see royalty and a golden-robed queen.
9Abercius tells of seeing a people with a shining seal at Rome and of travelling through Syria beyond the Euphrates, finding fellow believers everywhere, led by Faith.
13Faith everywhere sets before him the Fish caught by a pure Virgin, with wine mixed and bread, given to her friends.
17Abercius dictates the epitaph in his seventy-second year and asks those who understand and agree to pray for him.
21Anyone who puts another body in the tomb must pay fines to Rome's treasury and to Hieropolis.
About this work
Author
Anonymous
Attribution
authentic · Epitaph composed in Abercius's name (bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia Salutaris, probably the Avircius Marcellus of Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.16.3); the surviving stone is a fragment and the full text is a restoration from the Life of Abercius and the epitaph of Alexander. Dated by Lightfoot to the reign of Marcus Aurelius (later 2nd century); Ramsay dated the monument to the early 3rd century. Not part of the 66-book canon.
Standing
Not honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. Anonymous or pseudonymous work read and used in the church of its time.
Date
ca. 160–220 (approximate) · Lightfoot: Abercius flourished under Marcus Aurelius; Ramsay dated the stone to the early 3rd century.
groups of about four lines, each cited by its first line (1 = lines 1–4, 5 = 5–8 … 21 = 21–22), following Lightfoot's line numbers; 0 = title (supplied).
SBL abbreviation
Ep. Aberc.Not yet checked
Text from
J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, Part II: S. Ignatius, S. Polycarp, vol. 1 (London: Macmillan, 1889), 495-497 (Printed edition in the public domain; hand transcription of a public-domain scan (Internet Archive))