The Acts of Peter and Paul is a

pseudepigraphical A pseudepigraph (also anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. The name of the author to whom the wor ...

5th century Christian text of the genre

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

. An alternate version exists, known as the ''Passion of Peter and Paul'' (''Passio sanctorum Petri et Pauli''), with variances in the introductory part of the text. Some versions have been written by a certain Marcellus, thus the anonymous author, of whom nothing further is known and is sometimes referred to as pseudo-Marcellus. The intended Marcellus is doubtless he who after the martyrdom takes the lead in burying St. Peter "near the Naumachia in the place called the Vatican."

Synopsis

The text is framed as the tale of

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

's journey from the island of "Gaudomeleta" (probably

Gozo Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...

) to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where it also claims that on the way the ship also lands in Melita. It assigns

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as Paul's brother. It also describes the death of Paul by beheading, an early church tradition.

Acts of Pilate

The text often includes a letter purporting to be from Pilate, known as

Acts of Pilate The Gospel of Nicodemus, also known as the Acts of Pilate (; ), is an apocryphal gospel purporting to be derived from an original work written by Nicodemus, who appears in the Gospel of John as an acquaintance of Jesus. The title "Gospel of Nicod ...

(or ''Epistle of

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

'').

Origins

The ''Passio'', which appears in numerous medieval manuscripts, was known to

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine, OP (13/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the mediev ...

who noted in his '' vita'' of the

Apostle Peter An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

, "His martyrdom wrote Marcellus, Linus pope, Hegesippus, and Leo the pope." There are two

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

analogues,

Ælfric Ælfric (Old English ', Middle English ''Elfric'') is an Anglo-Saxon given name, consisting of the elements ''ælf'', "elf" and ''ric'', "a powerful person, ruler". Churchmen * Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955–c. 1010), late 10th century Anglo-Sax ...

's ''Passio Apostolorum Petri et Pauli'' and the anonymous Blickling Homily 15, ''Spel Be Petrus & Paulus.'' The work appears to have been based on the

Acts of Peter The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (genre), Acts of the Apostles in Christianity, dating to the late 2nd century AD. The majority of the text has survived only in the Vetus Latina, Latin translation of ...

, with the addition of Paul's presence where before it was only Peter's. The work is dated to around 450 to 550. Latin as well as Greek versions survive, with the latter usually being longer. The Latin versions sometimes end with "I, Marcellus, have written what I saw." This Marcellus is identified as a disciple of

Simon Magus Simon Magus (Greek Σίμων ὁ μάγος, Latin: Simon Magus), also known as Simon the Sorcerer or Simon the Magician, was a religious figure whose confrontation with Peter is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The act of simony, or payi ...

, who lived in the 1st century. Because of this obvious anachronism, since the text is clearly written centuries later, scholars have dubbed him Pseudo-Marcellus.

References

Translation of the Acts of Peter and Paul
at the New Advent website

Bibliography

MS 1679: Vellum ms from

Bobbio Bobbio (Emilian language#Dialects, Bobbiese: ; ; ) is a small town and ''comune'' in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. It is located in the Trebbia River valley southwest of the town Piacenza. There is also an abbey and a ...

, tenth century.
Text
edited by R.A. Lipsius and M. Bonnet

Synopsis

Acts of Pilate

Origins

References

Bibliography

Further reading