Ursinus, Luciferians, and The Bishops of Rome

Abstract

Abstract Two texts in the Collectio Avellana, a sixth-century collection of documents concerning the relationship between bishops of Rome and emperors, provide us with a unique window into the Christian landscape of Rome in late antiquity. The first is the Quae gesta sunt, a narrative of the contested episcopal election at Rome in 366 between Ursinus and Damasus, written by a supporter of Ursinus. The second is the Libellus precum, a petition from a group of Nicene rigorists called ‘Luciferians’ which details the long persecution they have suffered at the hands of other Nicene Christians in Rome and elsewhere. The relationship between these two documents, and between these two communities, has long been a point of confusion in modern scholarship, but has only rarely been addressed as a question in its own right. This study examines these two documents in their mid-fourth-century context and concludes that they reflect the interests and experiences of separate communities. It concludes with a brief note about how the historical events of the 350s, which compelled these two separate Nicene communities to remain opposed to Damasus in the 360s, caused intractable social ruptures in Rome that Damasus was unable to overcome.