Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi

Kazıları 1989-2009

Yayına Hazırlayanlar
Sema Doğan
Ebru Fatma Fındık
Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi Kazıları
1989-2009
ISBN 978-9944-483-81-0

Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi Kazıları

1989-2009

Yayına Hazırlayanlar
Sema Doğan
Ebru Fatma Fındık

Kapak Görseli
Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi, naostan bemaya bakış (Z.M. Yasa / KA-BA)

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Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi Kazıları
1989-2009

Yayına Hazırlayanlar

Sema Doğan
Ebru Fatma Fındık
Yıldız Ötüken’e…
İçindekiler

Sunuş . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal

Mark Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Kaynaklar Eşliğinde Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi’nin Tarihi

Sema Doğan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi Kazı Çalışmaları  1989-2009

S. Yıldız Ötüken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi Projesi

2000-2015 Yılları Arasında Proje Kapsamında Gerçekleştirilen
Danışmanlık, Projelendirme, Planlama ve Uygulama Çalışmaları
Cengiz Kabaoğlu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Malzeme Sorunları ve Koruma Önerileri

Bekir Eskici . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Tuğla Örnekleri Arkeometrik Çalışmaları

Ali Akın Akyol - Yusuf Kağan Kadıoğlu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Duvar Resimleri
Nilay Çorağan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Opus Sectile Zemin Panoları ve Duvar Kaplamaları

Çiğdem Alas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Mimari Plastik Buluntular: Liturjik Kuruluşlar ve Liturjik Mekânlar

ile İlişkisi
Sema Doğan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Die Inschriften
Thomas Corsten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
6 İçindekiler

Maden Buluntular 1989-1999

Meryem Acara Eser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Maden Buluntular 2000-2009

Vera Bulgurlu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Sırsız Seramik Buluntular

Ayşe Ç. Türker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Ortaçağ Sırlı Seramikleri 1989-2009

Ebru Fatma Fındık . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Cam Buluntular
B. Yelda Olcay Uçkan - Özgü Çömezoğlu Uzbek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513

Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi İnsanları: 1989-2007 Kazı Sezonu İskelet

Kalıntıları
Ömür Dilek Erdal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

Aziz Nikolaos Kilisesi’nde Arkosolium Tipi Bir Mezar

Ebru Fatma Fındık . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577

Yazarlar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh
Appraisal
Mark Wilson

Introduction
The emergence of monotheistic Judaism in Lycia in the midst of the polythe-
ism of the Lycians, Greeks, and Roman occurred probably in the 3rd century
B.C. The appearance of Judaism will be first discussed using available literary
and archaeological evidence. Its spiritual cousin Christianity appeared in Lycia
in the middle of the 1st century A.D. Again, texts and archaeological realia will
be used to elucidate its founding in Lycia, and then its growth will be traced
over the next two centuries until Licinius’ edict in 313. Important personalities
such as Paul, Methodius, and Nicholas will be evaluated regarding their inter-
actions with the nascent Jewish and Christian communities. The geography of
Mediterranean Lycia and its important ports will play a key role in the discus-
sion. As Akyürek writes, “These coastal cities have had the possibility to develop
by utilizing the opportunities provided by their harbors in maintaining a close
contact with the world of those days”.1 The article assumes several important
sociological hypotheses advanced by Stark: 1) Diasporan Jewish communi-
ties tended to be located in port cities (no. 5-2); 2) Paul tended to missionize
port cities (no. 5-5), 3) Paul tended to missionize cities with substantial Jewish
Diasporan communities (nos. 5-6), and 4) cities with a significant Diasporan
community were Christianized sooner than other cities (nos. 5-8).2

Jews in Lycia
Non-Jewish traditions sometimes attributed the origin of the Jews to Lycia.
Homer recounts that when Bellerophon came to Lycia, he had a great bat-
tle with the “glorious Solymoi”.3 This battle ended in defeat for Bellerophon,
and his son Isandros was slain by this people. Herodotus also placed this
tribe in Lycia.4 The 3rd century B.C. Egyptian author Manetho associates the
Solymites with the Jews.5 During the early Hellenistic period, even the Jews

1 Akyürek 2018, 37.

2 Stark 2006, 123, 132-135.
3 Homer, Iliad 6.184-204.
4 Herodotus, Historia 1.173; cf. Stebnicka 2015, 25.
5 Manetho, Fragment 54. This section is preserved by the Jewish apologist Josephus in Contra Apion
1.248. For Josephus “doctoring” other references to “Solymites” as “Hierosolymites”, see Barclay’s
12  Mark Wilson

themselves began to claim that they were the ancient Solymoi. This tradition
is reflected later in Josephus who quotes the ancient writer Cherilos that the
Jews had once lived in the Solymean Mountains.6 After the fall of Jerusalem in
A.D. 70, Greek and Roman authors began to make this association as well. As
Brenk writes, “So strong was their (the Jews) resurgence in the period, that the
Solymoi connection has even been considered an invention of Flavian authors,
having nothing to do with the Hellenistic age”.7 Tacitus mentions that the
Solymoi gave rise to the Hebrews who later founded the city of Hierosolyma
(“holy” Jerusalem), thus exploiting the linguistic similarity.8 In Sibylline Oracle
4, probably a Jewish composition dating around A.D. 80, the Roman destruc-
tion of the temple in Jerusalem is viewed as an attack on the land of the Soly-
moi. The interesting thing, as Whitmarsh notes, “is that the passage weaves in
a second level of Iliadic reminiscence, intertextually assimilating the sack of
Jerusalem with that of Troy. This is a passage crammed full of Iliadic motifs”.9
For the Flavian authors the Solymoi, once worthy allies of Hector, now were
the tragic losers in their struggle against the might of Rome.10
Leaving such traditions aside, there is little early literary evidence for the
first Jewish communities in Lycia. Josephus mentions that Antiochus III settled
two thousand Jewish families from Mesopotamia and Babylonia in the rebel-
lious provinces of Lydia and Phrygia around 210 B.C. “to guard the interests
of the Seleucid government”. Antiochus III commanded “that they be pro-
vided with houses and land and be exempted from taxes on produce for ten
years”.11 Paul’s family was probably settled in Cilicia along with other Jews
when Antiochus IV re-founded Tarsus in 171 B.C.12 However, such a specific
reference for the settlement of Jews in Lycia does not appear in the literary
record. Nevertheless, during the Hellenistic period “the Jews spread through-
out Asia Minor as far as Bithynia and Pontus on the Black Sea”.13 The letter of
the Roman consul Lucius in 139 B.C. to Ptolemy VIII and Attalus III validates
this statement. Among the various lands (χώρας) in the Mediterranean region

note in Josephus 2005, 60 n. 327. For more on Mantheo and the Solymites, see Schäfer 1997, 18-20.
6 Josephus, Contra Apion 1.172-174; cf. Homer, Odyssey 5.283. This tradition is confused in two
ways. The Solyman Mountains are said to be set next to Lake Asphalitis, the Roman name for the
Dead Sea in Palestine. And the scholia identify them with Lycian Termessos, which is actually in
Pisidia; see Whitmarsh 2013, 233-234.
7 Brenk, 1999, 226.
8 Tacitus, Historiae 5.2.3.
9 The relevant sections of Oracle 4 are 115-118 and 125-127; see Whitmarsh 2013, 237. For more
on the date and provenance of Book 4, see Collins 1983, 1:381-383.
10 Roman hegemony over Judea is depicted among the Claudian reliefs of numerous conquered
nations at the Sebasteion in Aphrodisias; see Smith et al. 2008, 26-27. It is also seen on Vespasian’s
coin that shows a personified Judea sitting under a palm tree under the Latin caption IUD(A)EA
CAPTA; see Dow 2011, 265-267.
11 Josephus, Antiquities 12.148-153. For a discussion of the historicity of Antiochus’ letter to Zeuxis,
see the comments of Marcus, his translator and editor in Josephus 1957, 764.
12 Wilson 2003a, 96-98.
13 Hegermann 1989, 146.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  13

with a Jewish presence, he names Lycia, and specifically the city of Phaselis.14
At the time of the letter’s composition, Lycia was independent, having gained
its freedom from Rhodes in 169 B.C.15
The Ptolemies had previously controlled Lycia from 295 B.C. to 197 B.C.
when Antiochus III conquered the region.16 A likely scenario is that the Ptole-
mies allowed Jewish settlement in Lycia for the same reasons the Seleucids
did in Lydia and Phrygia. Ptolemy VIII believed that the Jews “will be well
disposed guardians of our possessions; because of their piety towards God;
and because I know that my predecessors have born witness to them, that they
are faithful, and with alacrity do what they are desired to do”.17 A large Jew-
ish community already existed in Egypt by the 3rd century B.C. In fact, the
Jewish population of Alexandria may have been larger than Jerusalem’s, thus
prompting the need to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek so the Greek-
speaking Jews there could read it.18 Cyprus was a Ptolemaic territory for much
of this same period, and Josephus mentions the presence of Jewish communi-
ties in Ptolemaic Cyprus.19 Jewish merchants and administrators undoubtedly
traveled from Alexandria and Paphos to Lycia to conduct business at this time,
especially in key port cities like Patara, Myra, and Phaselis, and some likely
remained to settle there.
Only a decade after Lucius’ letter the Romans established the province of
Asia in 129 B.C. and slowly increased their hegemony in Anatolia. Augus-
tus granted his Jewish client king, Herod the Great, contracts for territorial
revenues in the East, and Herod used his authority to remit tribute and tax
payments to various places including Phaselis (Φασηλίταις).20 Herod’s largesse
would certainly have fostered good will towards the Jews living in Lycia. In the
first century A.D. Philo describes the spread of Jewish communities to “those
more distant regions of Pamphylia, Cilicia, the greater part of Asia Minor as
far as Bithynia, and the furthermost corners of Pontus”.21 Although Lycia is
not specifically mentioned, the region is clearly included in this Alexandrian
Jew’s descriptive landscape. Jews from Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and
Pamphylia are among the Anatolian provinces and regions mentioned in the
book of Acts from which Jews had made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the day

14 1 Maccabees 15:16, 22-23.

15 Mitchell 1996, 894.
16 For the issues related to the terminus post quem of the occupation, see Meadows 2007, 462-466.
17 Josephus, Antiquities 12.149.
18 For an overview of the Jewish Diaspora in Egypt, see Hegermann 1989, 131-151, 163-166; for
Alexandria specifically see Venit 2010.
19 Josephus, Antiquities 13.284. For a Jewish presence on the island since the Early Bronze Age, see
Davis - Wilson 2016, 2. For Jewish inscriptions on Cyprus, see Noy - Bloedhorn 2004: from the
Persian period, 223-226; from the Hellenistic period, 222-223.
20 Josephus, Jewish War 1.128. I agree with Gabba 1999, 120, who interprets this Phaselis as that in
Lycia. Josephus in Jewish War 1.418; 2.167 and Antiquities 16.145 mentions another Phasaelis
(Φασαηλίδος) north of Jericho named after his brother Phasael. This was Herod’s own property, so
there would be no reason to remit taxes/tribute on his own estate; see Rocca 2008, 213-214.
21 Philo, Legatio Ad Gaium 282.
14  Mark Wilson

of Pentecost.22 This list is not meant to be exhaustive but only suggestive of

Jewish communities in the ancient world. Lycia would be understood to be
among those places as well.
Archaeological evidence for Jewish communities in Lycia exists in epi-
graphical texts, realia, and a synagogue structure. An inscription from Tlos
names Ptolemy, a citizen of the city, who built a heroon for himself and his
son also named Ptolemy out of his own resources. He held an archonship, or
presidency, of a well-organized Jewish community, and as an act of benefaction
donated the tomb to all the Jews of the city for their exclusive burial use.23 As
Cohen writes, “Although he does not call himself a Jew, his social horizons are
defined by his Jewishness. The phrase ‘among us Jews’ reveals a strong public
identification with the Jewish community”.24 The inscription is dated to the
late 1st century A.D. and evidences Jews being in Tlos at a much earlier date
for them to have gained such civic recognition.25
In nearby Oinoanda the longest ancient inscription ever discovered has
been found. A reference to Jews was found on this famous Diogenes inscrip-
tion. Erected around A.D. 120, its size is estimated to be 80 m long and 4 m
high and consisting of over 20,000 words, of which approximately 6000 have
been found on around 300 fragments.26 In 1997 Smith made an interesting
discovery relevant to our study. On block NF 126.III-IV the text calls Jews
along with Egyptians “the most superstitious of all peoples” and “the vilest
of all peoples”.27 No evidence exists for a Jewish community in Oinoanda,
yet readers of the inscription seemingly are acquainted with their customs. In
many cities, Tlos for example, Jews and non-Jews apparently lived together
harmoniously. Nevertheless, Jews were stereotyped as antisocial and xenopho-
bic28, active in proselytism29, and mutilators of their flesh through circumci-
sion.30 Smith suggests that this negative language may be related to the recent
Jewish revolts in the empire, first in Judea in 66-73, in Cyrenaica, Egypt, and
Cyprus in 115-118, and possibly that of Bar Kokhba in 132-135. He writes, “If

22 Acts 2:9-10.
23 CIJ II no. 757 = TAM I.2 no. 612. For a German translation, see Ameling 2004, 477-480 no. 223;
for its English translation, see Williams 1998, 119 no. V.39.
24 Cohen 1999, 2.
25 The name Ptolemy suggests the family’s settlement in Lycia in the Ptolemaic period, as argued
above. First published by E. Hula in 1893, the inscription is unfortunately no longer extant. T.
Kokut, director of excavations at Tlos, writes: “Ancak yazıtı sadece yayınlardan biliyoruz. Bugüne
kadar yazıtın kendisine ulaşamadık (“But we know the inscription only from publications. Until
today we have not been to find the inscription”; personal communication; 13/4/2013).
26 An introduction to the site as well as a translation of the inscription can be found on Oinoanda’s
website: http://www.english.enoanda.cat/welcome.html.
27 Smith 1998, 132, 135, 140-141. The fragment is now numbered as 222.
28 Diodorus Siculus, 24.1.1-4; 40.3.4.
29 Horace, Satirae 1.4.142-43.
30 Tacitus, Historiae 5.5. Additional negative references in ancient sources include: 1) separatism:
Josephus, Contra Apion 2.121; Juvenal 14.100-104; 2) proselytism: Juvenal 14.96-105; Seneca,
apud Augustine CD 6.11; Quintilian 3.7.21; 3; circumcision: Philo, de Vita Mosis 2.210; Josephus,
Contra Apion 2.137; Tacitus, Historiae 5.5.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  15

the news of the second and/or the third of these revolts were fresh in Diogenes’
mind when he was writing the present passage, and reports of atrocities, includ-
ing acts of cannibalism allegedly committed by the rebels, had been part of the
news, this would help to explain his strong words about the Jews”.31 Whether
such animosity towards Jews in Asia Minor would have developed because of
the two revolts in Judea is questionable. However, the disturbances among the
Diasporan Jews in nearby Cyprus and north Africa must have caused residents
of Lycia to wonder if similar troubles might develop with their own Jewish
communities. Diogenes unfortunately taps into ethnic stereotypes to drive a
wedge between communities that had long co-existed in Lycia.
A 4th century synagogue discovered at Andriake likely provides evidence
for a Jewish community that had also been established centuries earlier.32
Akyürek captures the significance of this find: “The synagogue was not only
serving a small, settled population at the harbor of Andriake, but also serving a
large number of Jews who came to the port for trading”.33 Unique to this syna-
gogue is its orientation southeast toward Jerusalem. The two other excavated
synagogues in Anatolia at Sardis and Priene are both oriented east, following
the grid plan of the city. All three Anatolian synagogues are in or near the main
civic areas of the city, evidencing the influence of their respective Jewish com-
munities.34
The discovery of two fragments of chancel screens in Limyra in 2012 sug-
gest the presence of a synagogue in that Lycian city located between Phaselis/
Olympus, and Myra/Andriake. One fragment had partial menorahs on both its
front and back along with another partial shofar. The other had a partial meno-
rah and partial lulav. These became standard iconographical elements in Asia
Minor. For as Fine observes: “From the fourth century onward, the menorah
became ubiquitous in Jewish visual culture as a cipher for Judaism and Jewish
culture”, and they “were placed there as markers of Jewish identity”.35 Similar
panels were found in the Andriake synagogue. Unfortunately, further excava-
tions around Limyra’s east city gate to localize such a structure have not yet
occurred. A cursory examination of the reddish stone used for these screen
fragments suggests a link with the two chancel screens in the courtyard of the
Church of St. Nicholas at Myra. Asked about a possible relationship between
these screens, the church’s excavator Sema Doğan writes:

31 Smith 1998, 142.

32 Jewish realia from Late Antiquity evidencing earlier communities is normal in Anatolia. The two other
synagogues excavated in Anatolia - Sardis and Priene - similarly date to the Late Antique period.
As we have seen, Jews were in Lydia almost half a millennium earlier, and a Jewish community was
established in Priene by the Hellenistic or Roman imperial period. Why earlier archaeological evidence
for these communities is missing seems to result from the serendipitous nature of preservation.
Earthquakes probably destroyed earlier structures; buildings were reused for other purposes; and
some synagogues might have been purposely destroyed. For further on the dating of the Priene
synagogue, see Burkhardt - Wilson 2013, 174.
33 Akyürek 2018, 41.
34 Burkhardt - Wilson 2013, 178-179, 184-185.
35 Fine 2015, 39.
16  Mark Wilson

Similarities between two panels from different sites in Lycia are no surprise.
We know that the masters employed in the workshops of the palace in Con-
stantinople occasionally worked in travelling workshops, too. We learn from
the Vita of St. Nicholas of Sion that in Anatolia and also Lycia, besides the
travelling workshops, there were also local workshops. So it is possible to see
some regional styles and materials within the Byzantine Empire. If you sur-
vey Lycia and examine the local characteristics like these two panels, we see
that the material of each is not local. They are reddish Breccia stone from
Bilecik. The panel in the courtyard is from the 6th century – the first period
of the Church – with its composition and stylistic features.36

Seyer and Lotz suggest a terminus ante quem for the original structure in the
5th century A.D.37 The similarity of stone and workmanship of the chancel
screens in Limyra and Myra suggest their concurrency. The unique element,
of course, is that the stone craftsmen adapted their designs according to the
religious needs of their clients. It also suggests, in Lycia at least, that public
harmony existed between the Jewish community and the dominant Christian
community.

Christians in Lycia
The canonical Acts of the Apostles records two visits by the apostle Paul to
Lycia. The first occurred in A.D. 57 while Paul was returning from his third
journey. In Acts chapters 20-21 Luke records a periplus involving cabotage
on a coasting vessel. With eight companions he began in Assos and ended in
Patara. Paul is hurrying to reach Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Pente-
cost, so implicit in the narrative is a calendar that unfolds for fifty days from
his celebration of Passover in Philippi until his arrival nearly fifty days later in
Jerusalem. The periplus down the Aegean coast involved ten ports. Reaching
the Mediterranean, the coasting vessel next crossed from Rhodes to Patara (εἰς
τὴν Ῥόδον κἀκεῖθεν εἰς Πάταρα).38 There Paul and his companions are forced to
change ships to continue their journey eastward to the Phoenician coast. This
suggests that Patara was a key transit point for maritime trade: it was the east-
ernmost point for the vessel based in Troas and the westernmost point for the
vessel whose final destination was Caesarea Maritima after stops for trading in
Tyre and Ptolemais.39 When transiting at harbors like Patara, travelers did not
know how long it would take to book passage on another vessel. Paul appar-
ently was able to secure passage quickly because his concerns about reach-
ing Jerusalem for Pentecost seem to have dissipated. Although unmentioned,

36 Sema Doğan (personal correspondence 27/6/2015).

37 Seyer - Lotz 2014, 151. In the same special issue Weiss 2014, 161 proposes a date either in the 4th
or 5th century A.D. Pülz 2014, 166, however, suggests that the “synagogue phase” of the complex
was in the 5th or 6th century.
38 Acts 21:1. For more on this voyage see Wilson 2016b, esp. 237-239 for the calendar of the periplus.
39 For more about cabotage in Lycia, see Hohlfelder - Vann 2000.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  17

perhaps there were Jews from Patara and its region who were also traveling
to Jerusalem for the feast. So Paul’s timely arrival allowed him to find space
aboard such a vessel. However, the quick turnaround (a day or two) at the har-
bor would have given Paul little time to begin a preaching mission in the city.
So it is unlikely that a church was formed in Patara at this time.
Paul’s second visit to Lycia occurred three years later. During his two-year
house arrest in Caesarea Martima under the Roman governors Felix and Fes-
tus because of circumstantial accusations made by the Jewish Sanhedrin, Paul
used his right as a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar to facilitate a change
in legal venue.40 Along with other prisoners under the oversight of a Roman
centurion named Julius, Paul departed for Italy aboard another coasting ves-
sel whose home port is identified as Adramyttium. The captain and crew were
bringing goods from the eastern Mediterranean to trade in ports along the
Anatolian coast.41 Because of the strong winds, the ship was forced to sail on
the leeward side of Cyprus (ὑπεπλεύσαμεν).42 After sailing across open seas off
the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, it arrived at Myra of Lycia (εἰς Μύρα τῆς
Λυκίας).43 Myra’s port of Andriake is unnamed in the text, for as Çevik writes,
“Andriake is not a city in itself, but rather a harbor district of Myra”.44 The
longer Western text notes that the trip to this point took fifteen days.45 It was
apparently known that at Myra Julius could find a vessel to transship with
his prisoners to Italy. In fact, there was a grain ship in port that had come
from Alexandria. Because it was late in the year, the ship’s owner and captain
were likely trying to make a second roundtrip with a grain cargo to maximize
their profits. The cargo might also have included purple dye plus carried 276
persons.46 This giant ship must have resembled the Isis seen in the harbor of
Piraeus by Lucian in the early 2nd century, whose length is estimated at 55
meters and its capacity at approximately 1228 tons.47 That Andriake was able
to accommodate such a large ship suggests a developed infrastructure for the
port. The two large horria/granaria later constructed in Andriake and Patara
by the emperor Hadrian demonstrate the significance of these two harbors in

40 Acts 24:1-26:32.
41 Acts 27:2.
42 Acts 27:4. In this case the definition of ὑποπλέω by the Friberg Analytical Lexicon is clearly wrong:
“in an effort to protect a ship from stormy winds sail under the lee or sheltered side (his italics) of an
island, usually the southern side in the Mediterranean Sea”. Because of the prevailing northwest
winds in this part of the Mediterranean, the leeward side was on Cyprus’ eastern and northern
sides. Thus the NLT Bible translation captures well the situation: “so we sailed north of Cyprus
between the island and the mainland”.
43 Acts 27:5.
44 Çevik 2017, 84.
45 Metzger 1975, 497.
46 For the murex industry at nearby Aperlae and its connection to Andriake, see Hohlfelder - Vann
2000, 131-133. This is the ship mentioned in Acts 27:37 that experienced the hurricane-force winds
south of Crete and was later shipwrecked off the coast of Malta. Luke’s account in Acts 27:9-28:1
of the storm and shipwreck is one of the most vivid nautical accounts found in ancient sources.
47 Lucian, Navigium 5. For more on the Isis and other oversize freighters of antiquity, see Casson
1995, 184-189.
18  Mark Wilson

the Mediterranean grain trade. Whether Paul had time to preach the gospel
before his departure on the grain ship is unknown. The centurion Julius had
allowed Paul to visit members of the Christian community in Sidon during
their stopover there.48 While in Andriake Paul might have made contact with
the Jewish community there and in Myra, so it is possible that a church was
formed, although this is unstated.
In a recent article Bennett has proposed an alternate hypothesis regarding
the arrival of Christianity in Lycia. He argues for the possibility that Paul and
Barnabas introduced the gospel to the Roman province during their first Ana-
tolian journey. The canonical Acts recounts how Paul and Barnabas arrived
in Pamphylia around A.D. 46, starting in Perge before they walked inland to
Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. In each of these Galatian cities a
church was planted. They then reversed direction to Perge, where a church was
probably also started, and then sailed from the port of Attalia back to Seleucia
Pieria, the port of Antioch on the Orontes.49 The canonical Acts never men-
tions any travel to Lycia while the Paul and Barnabas were in southern Asia
Minor at this time.
Bennett, however, questions the veracity of this account and instead cites
the Acts of Paul and Thecla chapters 40-41, which state that Paul traveled from
Pisidian Antioch to Myra where he performed three miracles. Thecla became a
disciple of Paul in Iconium and later followed him to Myra where she was bap-
tized by him. Bennett further claims: “Thus it may well be that elements not
germane to the main story were simply edited out of the Acts and the account
of Paul’s travels in Anatolia and elsewhere suitably abridged for public con-
sumption”. In a note he cites E. Haenchen, a German scholar known for his
skeptical views on the historicity of Acts but concedes that Haenchen’s views
“are admittedly not widely shared today”. In fact, Bennett is unable to muster
any other scholars to support his view. Nevertheless, he concludes that a stop
in Myra by Paul on his first journey “should perhaps not be so adamantly
dismissed out of hand…”.50 Regarding the presentation of Paul’s travels in the
apocryphal Acts, Barrier writes, “In the same way that writing history is not the
pre-eminent concern, it is also possible that neither is geography”.51 Bauckham
regards Thecla as a real woman who was a convert of Paul and a prominent
Christian leader in Iconium. Beyond that, he writes that “it is impossible to tell
whether anything else in the stories about her is more than legend”.52
Although the apocryphal Acts date to the end of the 2nd century, neverthe-
less, Bennett deems the document more credible than the canonical Acts dated
at least a century earlier.53 He makes two comments that warrant further scru-

48 Acts 27:3. In the apocryphal Acts of Paul 4-5 the travel order is reversed: after preaching in Myra
Paul departs for Sidon.
49 Acts 13:13-14:26. For more on this journey see Wilson 2009; Wilson 2016a; Wilson 2018, 18-20.
50 Bennett 2015, 261-262, esp. n. 19.
51 Barrier 2009, 137.
52 Bauckham 1993, 36.
53 The scholarly consensus is that canonical Acts dates from the end of the 1st century while apocryphal
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  19

tiny. Firstly, he claims that classifying the Acts of Paul and Thecla as apocryphal
“was done as much for political reasons as for any questions over its veracity”.
Secondly, he states that “some would hold that it is a credibly accurate as well
as a near contemporary record of Paul’s doing in Anatolia during his first mis-
sionary journey”. He later comments: “we should not ignore the evidence that
the Acts of Paul and Thecla were certainly held to be as genuine a source as the
Acts in the early Church”.54 None of these assertions are footnoted, and he never
identifies who the “some” are that hold the apocryphal Acts to be genuine.
Elliott, the editor of the current critical edition of the apocryphal New Tes-
tament, traces the reception history of the Acts of Paul to the end of the 2nd
century A.D.55 Bennett notes Tertullian’s mention around A.D. 190 and cites
Elliot for this judgment. However, Eliot states that Tertullian’s testimony about
the Acts is “ambiguous”.56 Why? Because Tertullian’s point concerns a presby-
ter of Asia who was removed from office because he confessed to fabricating
the account of Thecla because of his love for Paul57! As Ehrman writes, “The
presbyter was being faulted, then, for making up stories about Paul that were
not historically accurate.”58 Origen, writing around 219-230, is the first church
father to refer explicitly to the apocryphal Acts.59 However, by doing this he
neither endorses its historicity nor its canonicity. Bennett states that it was not
until the 5th century that the work was declared apocryphal. However, this
recognition came at least a century earlier. In the early 4th century Eusebius
failed to find the “so-called Acts” (τὰς λεγόμενας αὐτοῦ πράξεις) among the
undisputed books of Paul, while in the late 4th century Jerome reckoned it
“among the apocryphal writings”.60 Because the Manichaeans accepted and
used the Acts of Paul, later church opinion (Gelasian Decree, Stichometry of
Nicephorus, etc.) deemed them heretical.
Summarizing, the Acts of Paul and Thecla falls more into the genre of
ancient historical novel rather than ancient historiography. Its audience was
most likely readers in Asia Minor situated in cities like Myra and Patara61 and
seems to reflect more what second-century Christians thought about Paul
rather than what he really did. Bennet concludes by appealing that the Acts
“should not be so adamantly dismissed out of hand as most biblical scholar
do”.62 But as we have seen, there is good reason for such a dismissal. While the

Acts dates to the second half of the 2nd century; see Bauckham 1993, 35.
54 Bennett 2015, 261.
55 Elliott 1993, 350-352.
56 Elliot 1993, 350.
57 Tertullian, de Baptismo 17.22-26.
58 See Ehrman 2012, 59-60. Barrier 2009, 21-22, inclines toward a translation of Tertullian’s verb
construxit as “compiled”, not “composed”, and attributes authorship to a woman or community of
women in Asia. Why would the presbyter have to resign if his only infelicity was to edit or compile
an earlier document?
59 Origen de Principiis and his commentary on John 20:12.
60 Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastic, 3.3.5; Jerome, de Virus Illustribus 7.
61 Barrier 2009, 20.
62 Bennett 2015, 262.
20  Mark Wilson

Acts of Paul may preserve some true early traditions, a visit to Myra should be
dismissed in this case because it contradicts Luke’s account in the canonical
Acts. Bennett’s attempt to localize Paul in Lycia during his first journey with a
subsequent founding of the first Christian congregation in Myra founders both
textually and historically.

The Growth of Christianity in Lycia and Resultant Persecution

Little is known about the growth of Christianity in Asia Minor in its early
centuries. Işık claims that “Christianity spread to the world from Anatolia”.63
However, the New Testament presents the gospel of Jesus radiating first from
Jerusalem and Judea around A.D. 30.64 It did not take root in Anatolia until
over a decade later, most probably in Cilicia.65 With its coastal orientation
and Jewish communities, Lycia would be a prime location for early Christian
churches, according to Stark’s hypotheses mentioned in the introduction. Nev-
ertheless, Tabbernee’s observation is accurate: when Christian communities
were formed in Patara and Myra “is not known”.66 Harrison acutely observes
that the “lack of information about Lycian Christianity in the first, second, and
third centuries is probably accidental”.67 However, the probability is that the
first churches in Lycia appeared sometime in the late 1st century A.D.
It has been claimed that pagans in Lycia who converted to Christianity had
to learn Greek to read the Bible and thus it was the church that killed Ana-
tolia’s indigenous languages like Lycian.68 This is historically inaccurate since
Greek began to be used in Lycia centuries before the arrival of Christianity.
For example, the trilingual Letoon inscription in Lycian, Greek, and Aramaic
dates to 337 B.C.69 Marek adds, “Lycian society did not cease to exist when
the language disappeared from history after 300 BCE”.70 Mitchell gives a ter-
minus post quem for written Lycian in the 2nd century B.C. and notes that few
traces of indigenous languages like Lycian remained by Roman times.71 This is
sustained by Strabo’s comment that by the Roman period “most of the peoples
have already lost both their dialects and their names”.72 Diaspora Jews such as
those in Lycia used the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures (Christian
Old Testament) called the Septuagint (commonly LXX). This is clearly seen
in Paul’s speech at the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch in which he gave four

63 Işık 2011, 105.

64 Acts 1:8.
65 Wilson 2003b, 3-10.
66 Tabbernee 2014, 300, 301.
67 Harrison 1963, 119. He goes on to say that Lycia’s coastal cities would be “receptive” to the new
religion.
68 Işık 2011, 105. Karl Holl is quoted positively to that effect.
69 For a list of bilingual and trilingual Lycian texts, see Bryce 1986, 51-53.
70 Marek 2016, 102.
71 Mitchell 1993, 1.72
72 Strabo, Geography 12.4.6, Jones trans.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  21

quotations from the LXX.73 So the demise of the Lycian language cannot be
attributed to Christians and their need to read the New Testament, which was
not even in its present canonical form until the 4th century A.D.
Persecution soon become a reality for Christians in Lycia. The first martyrs,
known from an 11th century hagiographic report, were Nicander, bishop of
Myra, and his deacon Hermaeus. According to tradition, both were appointed
by Titus, Paul’s disciple. The governor Libanius ordered first their torture, then
executions because of excessive proselytizing. This occurred sometime in the
late 1st or early 2nd century74, and their feast day is celebrated on 4 Novem-
ber. In the 3rd century such persecution became more widespread. However,
its implementation depended on the discretion of provincial governors and
their willingness to prosecute Christians individually and corporately for their
faith. Monroy observes, “With a few exceptions, it appears that the pagan
population did not collaborate in this persecution against the Christians, per-
haps because their presence was beginning to be accepted as a normal fact in
many environments”.75 The emperor Decius instigated a persecution in 25076,
and Themistocles of Myra was martyred at this time, now celebrated on 21
December.77 Another persecution was conducted by Valerian between 257-260
in which two Patarans, Paregorius and Leo, were also martyred.78 Their feast
day is 18 February. Andrew, the 8th century bishop of Crete, mentions three
other martyrs of Myra - Crescens (15 April), Dioscorides (11 May), and Nico-
cles.79 However, the date of their martyrdom is unknown but presumably in the
late 3rd century.
Despite the prayers of Lycian Christians that the persecutions inflicted
by Decius and Valerian might be past, the situation would soon grow worse.
On 23 February 303 Diocletian and Galerius began a persecution of Chris-
tians that began in Nicomedia, the eastern capital. After Diocletian’s death in
305, Galerius continued the persecution until his death in 311.80 His succes-
sor Maximinus Daia continued the policies of his predecessors and encour-
aged his pagan constituents to petition him to ban Christians from their cities.
This allowed him to issue rescripts in answer to such petitions. As Monroy
writes, “The cities themselves felt highly honoured by the imperial response

73 For a detailed discussion of this speech, see Morgan-Wynne 2014, esp. 75. Işık 2011, 105 also implies
that Christians in Rome did not understand Greek and still needed to be taught the language until
the 4th century so they could read the Bible. However, Paul wrote a letter to the Roman church
in Greek around A.D. 56-58, in which he quoted extensively from the LXX, especially in chapter
15; see Morgan-Wynne 2014, 85. This proves that Greek was understood well in Rome in the 1st
century A.D.
74 Passio of Nikandros and Hermaios, Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca (BHG) 2295.
75 Monroy 2015, 224.
76 For more on this persecution, see Rives 1999.
77 Delahaye 1902, 334.2.
78 Delahaye 1902, 472-473.3.
79 Andrew of Crete, Encomium on St. Nicholas of Myra, trans. Jaakko Olkinuora; http://www.
stnicholascenter.org/pages/andrew-crete/; see also Delahaye for these: Crescens 603-606.1; for
Dioskorides 676.3.
80 Berchman 2005, 41-42.
22  Mark Wilson

and engraved memorials ad perpetuam rei memoriam”.81 Mitchell writes, “The

persecution of Christians at the beginning of the fourth century…cannot be
understood except by examining the public documents which made known the
various imperial decisions which implemented persecution…of the Christian
community at large.”82
In 312 A.D. Maximinus issued a rescript, of which the church historian
Eusebius translated substantial sections into Greek of a Latin inscription
erected in Tyre.83 For the sake of space, only some relevant sections are given.
In sections 5-7 Maximinus addressed the cities directly:

5. Your city, then, deserves to be called a temple and domicile of the immor-
tal deities, and many signs suggest that it flourishes because the immortal
gods dwell there. 6. It was your city that totally ignored its private pursuits
and earlier requests when it saw that the followers of that damnable folly
were starting to spread once again, like a forgotten, smoldering pyre that
rekindles into a blazing conflagration. Instantly you appealed to our piety, as
to a mother city of all religious worship, for some healing and help, 7. a salv-
ific idea clearly planted in you by the gods because of your faith and rever-
ence to them. It was therefore he, the most high and mighty Zeus–defender
of your illustrious city, the guardian of your ancestral gods, your women
and children, your hearth and home from all destruction– who inspired you
with this resolve for rescue, demonstrating how splendid and salutary it is to
accord due reverence to the worship and sacred rites of the immortal gods.

In section 12 he then warned what would happen to the Christians if they

refused to apostatize.

But if they still persist in their damnable folly, let them be driven out of
your city and vicinity, just as you requested, so that, in accord with your
laudable enthusiasm in this matter, your city may be purged of all pollution
and impiety and follow its natural disposition to worship the immortal gods
with due reverence.

For their cooperation Maximinus promised generous benefactions to each city

in sections 13-14.

13. That you may know how much we appreciate your request and how
inclined we are to benevolence quite apart from petitions and pleas, we
permit Your Dedication to ask whatever reward you wish in return for this
godly intention of yours. 14. Resolve now to do this and receive your reward
without delay. Awarding it to your city will forever demonstrate your piety

81 Monroy 226. He mistakenly places Arykanda in Phrygia, not Lycia.

82 Mitchell 1993, 1:105.
83 Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 9.7.3-7, 10-14. The English translation is by Maier 2007, 290-291.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  23

toward the immortal gods and a proof to your posterity that our benevo-
lence duly rewarded your conduct.

Eusebius concluded his transcription, stating, “This was engraved on tablets

in every province”.84
Remarkably two damaged versions of the rescript have been found in south
central Anatolia. A Greek text corresponding to paragraphs 11-14 was found
in Pisidian Colbasa85, while a Greek version was found in Lycian Arykanda.86
These stelae contained the petition against the Christians by Lycian and Pam-
phylian cities with part of the emperor’s reply in Latin that correspond to the
final part of Eusebius’ text. However, the emperor’s desire to restore the tra-
ditional worship of the gods was destined to failure, and the attempt to ban
Christians from Lycia was also unsuccessful. For, as Berchman reflects, “these
latter pogroms had little public support. Christians, during forty years of tol-
eration, had become less peculiar and very Roman”.87 Christianity in Lycia not
only endured these challenges, but also survived to leave an important spiritual
legacy. For in the late 3rd century two Christian leaders emerged in Lycia who
came to epitomize its Christian movement – Methodius and Nicholas. Both
men, to be discussed next, were caught up in the persecutions characterizing
this period until Licinius issued the Edict of Nicomedia on 13 June 313.

Methodius of Olympus
In the second half of the 3rd century an important Christian theologian
emerged by the name of Methodius of Olympus88 (ca. 250-311). The 5th-cen-
tury church historian Socrates of Constantinople identifies him as “bishop of a
city in Lycia called Olympos”.89 He was a prolific writer, but the only complete
extant work is his Symposium, or On Chastity (Συμπόσιον, ἢ Περὶ ἁγνείας; also
known as Banquet of the Ten Virgins). It is modeled on Plato’s Symposium
and extols the virtues of virginity culminating with a hymn to the church as
the bridegroom of Christ.90 In Symposium 8-9 Methodius interprets key texts

84 Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 9.7.15.

85 The editio princeps was published by Mitchell in 1988; see also Horsley 2007, 240-242 no. 338.
Mitchell argues that Colbasa was part of Pamphylia at the time so would have been party to its
petition.
86 Reproduced in McMullen - Lane 1999, 238 no. 18.13. Translation and information on the inscription,
including its accession number at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, can also be found on the
Judaism and Rome website: http://judaism-and-rome.cnrs.fr/maximinus-daia-and-christians-lycia-
pamphylia (accessed 13/04/2018).
87 Berchman 2005, 42
88 In some Orthodox traditions he is referred to as Methodius of Patara. For an English overview of
Olympus city see Uçkan et al. 2006; for an overview of recent archaeological activity at the site
(Turkish with English summaries), see Uçkan 2017a.
89 Socrates, Historia Ecclesiastica 6.13. Kinzig 1993, 969 calls this tradition “unreliable,” while the
entry on Methodius in Cross - Livingstone 2005, 1086 identifies him as “bishop of Lycia”.
90 For a complete list of Methodius’ writings, see Bracht 2017, 13-14, who cites the number of each
(1810-1830) in the Clavis Patrum Graecorum I. Apart from Eusebius of Caesarea, he is the only
24  Mark Wilson

in the book of Revelation symbolically as proofs for his argument. Metho-

dius’ use of Revelation suggests that it was already an authoritative text and
accepted as canonical in the churches of Lycia in the early 3rd century.91 This
is significant since the council of Laodicea later failed to affirm its canonicity in
A.D. 370. Lycia was no theological backwater, and its leaders like Methodius
were engaged in critical theological debates occurring in ecclesiastical circles.92
Another interesting aspect of his writing is Methodius’ awareness of local geog-
raphy. As Bracht notes, “From the occurrence of Lycian names in res. II,23,1-5
(Mt. Olympus) and res. I,1,1 (city of Patara) we may conclude that Methodius
was familiar with the Lycian region”.93
Much disagreement surrounds the life and ministry of Methodius.94 Jerome
states that he was the bishop of Olympus in Lycia95, although Pauli and Schmidt
have recently asserted that he was probably just an educated layperson who was
an “itinerant teacher”.96 Jerome also asserts that he became the bishop of Tyre
at a later date, a mistaken claim according to Cross and Livingstone.97 Metho-
dius was critical of the writings of Origen, the church father from Alexandria,
though he considered him “a man of the Church”.98 This may account for the
omission of Methodius from the church history of Eusebius of Caesarea.99
The only contemporary reference to Methodius is found in the sixth book of
Apologia pro Origene by Eusebius’ predecessor Pamphilus, perhaps with some
editing by Eusebius. It suggests that he was an Origen turncoat: “How can
Methodius now dare to criticize Origen, when he has so often shown himself
dependent on his teachings”100? Origen had fled from Alexandria to Caesarea
in 231 and established a school there. In 250 Origen was tortured during the
persecution of Decian and died four years in the Phoenician city of Tyre where
he was also buried.101 Origen’s student Pierius had trained Pamphilus at Alex-
andria, and Pamphilus later became the teacher of Eusebius. Tyre took the side
of Alexandria in the Quartodeciman controversy and was generally aligned
with Alexandria theologically. After Pamphilus’ martyrdom around 310, Tyre

author in the Eastern church from this period whose works have survived.
91 McGinn 2007, 264-268.
92 See Sakel 2007.
93 Bracht 2005, 420 n. 4. Uçkan 2017b, 291 suggests that Methodius went to Miletus. In de Resurrectione
1.1.1-3 Methodius states that he went to Patara with Proclus of Miletus, not that he went to Miletus;
see Dechow 2017, 128.
94 For a useful summary of the sources related to Methodius, see the chart by Uçkan - Kayapınar
2015, 537.
95 Jerome, de Virus Illustribus 83.
96 Pauli - Schmidt 2000, 421-422.
97 Cross - Livingstone 2005, 1086.
98 Methodius, de Resurrectione 1.19.1.
99 Eusebius did refer to Methodius’ de Libero Arbitrio in his Praeparatio Evangelica 7.22 (cf. Historia
Ecclesiastica 5.27) but identifies its author as Maximus. This was likely the original name of
Methodius’s work, and Eusebius seemingly confused the title with the author; see Patterson 1997,
16, 38.
100 Jerome, Contra Rufinus 1.11.
101 Jerome, de Virus Illustribus 54; see McGuckin 2004, 23.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  25

became the home of Eusebius for a time. So it is doubtful that Methodius

would have been theologically acceptable to serve as the bishop of Tyre, despite
Jerome’s claim.102 Plus there is no other documentation for a Methodius being
a bishop of Tyre in this period.
Jerome’s confusion has also been explained linguistically. In his original
source Jerome perhaps read that Methodius was bishop of Olympus and
Φοινικοῦντος. Thinking that this referred to Syria Phoenicia, he then inferred
Tyre to be Methodius’ see since it was the capital of the province in his day.
Bracht concludes, “Thus the seemingly aberrant tradition of Tyre in Jerome
actually gives evidence of a very old tradition of Methodius being bishop of
the Lycian city of Phoinika, therefore strengthening the weight of the evidence
for Olympus”.103 While this appears a creative solution, it also creates another
problem: no literary tradition identifies Methodius as bishop of Phoinika/
Phoinix. However, there is a geographical explanation that is more compel-
ling. Strabo in his description of Olympus states that it is “a large city and
a mountain of the same name, the latter of which is also called Phoinikous”
(ὄρος ὁμώνυμον, ὃ καὶ Φοινικοῦς καλεῖται).104 Jerome’s confusion arose not from
the name of the proximate city but from the name of the nearby eponymous
mountain. The Barrington Atlas depicts this mountain, today’s Tahtalı Dağı,
as “Olympus/Phoinikous” with “Solyma?” below it.105 However, this does not
fit Strabo’s sequence: the mountain Olympus/Phoinikous is above the city
while Solyma is above Phaselis.106 Between them is a stretch of shoreline/beach
(αἰγιαλός) called Korykos, which can only be modern Çıralı near Olympos.
This fits Adak’s identification and similarly makes sense of his identification of
Musa Dağı (997 masl) with Mount Olympus/Phoinikous.107
Methodius’ later locations of ministry are likewise debated. Leontius of Byz-
antium (6th cent.), John of Damascus (8th cent.), and Photius (9th cent.) state
that he was bishop of Patara.108 It is noteworthy that a late 7th century pseude-
pigraphic apocalypse was attributed to Methodius, and in it his bishopric was
identified as Patara. Nikephorus of Constantinople in his Antirrhetica was the
first to claim that Methodius was also the bishop of Myra. However, this tradi-
tion is first documented late in the 9th century. The evidence for Side being the
episcopal see of Methodius is rather weak because it deviates from other tradi-
tions by placing him in Pamphylia rather than Lycia.109 After evaluating these tra-

102 Patterson 1997, 15 comments: “Jerome is not always trustworthy in handling his sources”.
103 Bracht 2001, 5 attributed this linguistic explanation to Zahn. The additional suggestion of Philippi
is not discussed here because of its aberrant nature.
104 Strabo, Geography 14.3.8; cf. 14.5.7.
105 Talbert 2000, 65 D4.
106 Strabo, Geography 14.3.9.
107 Adak 2004, 27-39.
108 Leontius of Byzantium, De Sectis 3.1, John of Damascus, Discourses on Divine Images 3.138,
and Photius, Epistolae 24.21. However, the Greek text of the Great Synaxaristes dismisses sources
that claim he held that position and that his association with Patara occurred because the dialogue
Aglaophon e peri tes anastaseos (On the Resurrection) took place in Patara.
109 See Bracht 2001, 7-8.
26  Mark Wilson

ditions related to the sees of Methodius, Bracht surmises that they are strains of
a single tradition. Since Olympus was a minor city in Lycia that fell into oblivion
after the 3rd century, later authors sought to place Methodius in the more major
sees of the metropolises of the province — Patara in the 4th century and Myra in
the 5th century onward. However, the locus of these historical roots is Olympus,
so Bracht infers that “the oldest tradition most probably gives the correct infor-
mation concerning the episcopal see of Methodius”.110
Whether Methodius was a martyr is also debated. Jerome places his death
“at the end of the recent persecution or, as others affirm, in the reign of Decius
and Valerian”.111 Persecution under Decius (r. 249-251) and Valerian (r. 253-
260) is too early for Methodius to have interacted with the writings of Origen,
which probably became more generally available in the latter half of the third
century.112 Although Methodius’ writings provide no clue regarding a time of
possible martyrdom, the end of Diocletian’s reign “in the persecution of the
year after 304 is commonly accepted”.113 However, a later consensus date of
around 311/312 has emerged, with his veneration occurring on 20 June in
the Orthodox Church114 while in the Roman Catholic Church it is Septem-
ber 18.115 Eustathius’ reference to “Methodius of blessed memory” written in
the 320s or 330s may imply a martyr’s death, while in 392 Jerome explicitly
called him a “martyr”.116 Photius in the 9th century again calls him a martyr
(μάρτυς).117
But where was his place of martyrdom? Jerome locates it in Chalcis in
Greece.118 However, this apparently stems from his confusion with Maximus,
whom Eusebius wrongly attributed the work of Methodius (see earlier). Maxi-
mus was the author of an extant dialogue on matter and the origin of evil
and martyred in Greece under Decius or Valerian. Barnes thinks it extremely
plausible that Methodius could have changed bishoprics and thus proposes
(with diffidence) that “Methodius was bishop of Olympus and then of Patara,
and that he was executed at Patara on 20 June 312—perhaps after a trial by
the emperor Maximinus who may well have visited Patara during the summer
of that year”.119 Bracht well summarizes the significance of Methodius: “His

110 Bracht 2001, 9.

111 Jerome, de Virus Illustribus 83.
112 For the distribution of ancient works like Origen’s, see Patterson 1997, 20-21 n. 8.
113 Patterson 1997, 20.
114 For this day, see Synaxarium Eccl. Cpl., cols. 757-758.
115 Frend 1967, 515 places his martyrdom on 25 November 311.
116 Eustathius, de Engastrimutho 22; Jerome, Contra Rufinum 1.11.
117 Photius, Epistlolae 24.21.
118 Uçkan, “Olympos,” 291 and Uçkan 2017, 6 localize this as Chalcis in Syria. However, there were
two cities in Syria named Chalcis. To avoid confusing the one in Chalcidice with Chalcis sub Libano,
ad Belum was added to the former’s name; cf. Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 5.81. As Cohen
2006, 143 notes, “The toponym recalls Chalkis in Europe. There were, however, a number of cities
with that name, for example, in Euboea and Aetolia.” The remoteness of Chalcis ad Belum from
Lycia and Phoenicia (if a bishopric at Tyre is still held) makes a Syrian martyrdom improbable.
Chalcis sub Libano is closer to Tyre, yet still inland from the more proximate Berytus.
119 Barnes 1979, 54.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  27

writings are an important source for the theology and piety of Asia Minor
Christianity during the 40 years of peace before the last great persecution of
Christians — a time when asceticism increasingly gained importance as a sub-
stitute for martyrdom and the ecclesiastical organizational structures matured
and were strengthened”.120 Methodius was indeed an important transitional
figure between Late Antique and early Christian Lycia.

Nicholas of Myra
Methodius’ better-known contemporary was Nicholas, bishop of Myra, who
was born in Patara around A.D. 260. He became bishop of Myra during Dio-
cletian’s reign (r. 284-304). When Galerius issued an edict in the eastern empire
in the summer of 303 that all bishops and clergy be imprisoned, Nicholas may
have been included.121 Diocletian’s vicennalia was celebrated in November that
year, and Christian leaders were offered release if they would sacrifice to the
emperor.122 Nicholas’s presumed resistance to this demand would have invited
further imprisonment and probably torture.123 His release probably occurred
around 312-313 when edicts of religious toleration began to be issued by the
emperors.124 His death in Myra occurred around 343 on 6 December, which
remains his feast day in the Christian church. Unlike Methodius, he survived
these final Christian persecutions and became a confessor.125 In the early
church this group comprised those “who suffered for confessing his or her
faith, but only to an extent that did not involve martyrdom”.126
The skull of Nicholas may provide some confirmation of his persecution.
The story of the theft of Nicholas’ remains in 1087 by merchants from Bari is
well known. Today they are buried in a crypt at the Basilica di San Nicola in
Bari, Italy. These bones were temporarily removed when the crypt was repaired
during the 1950s. At the Vatican’s request, anatomy professor Luigi Martino
from the University of Bari took thousands of minutely-detailed measurements
and X-ray photographs (roentgenography) of the skull and other bones.127 Then
in 2004 the facial anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson, then at the University of
Manchester, was engaged to construct a model of the saint’s head from the ear-
lier measurements. Using this data, Wilkinson used state-of-the-art computer

120 Bracht 2017, 1.

121 Lactantius, de Mortibus Persecutorum 12.
122 Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 8.6.10.
123 A parallel is the life of Marcus Julius Eugenius. His epitaph records that he was a Christian soldier
who served with distinction at Pisidian Antioch (IMont 69). When he refused to offer sacrifices,
the governor Valerius Diogenes repeatedly tortured him. Eugenius survived as a confessor and later
served for twenty-five years (ca. 315-ca. 340) as the bishop of Laodicea Combusta. However, two
Lycaonian bishops, Severus and Gennadius, were both martyred around A.D. 312. See Tabbernee
2014, 294-295.
124 Wilson 2006, 7-8.
125 His life did not end as a martyr; contra Işık 2011, 105.
126 Cross - Livingstone 2005, 398.
127 English 2012, 179-187, 3-5.
28  Mark Wilson

software to develop a model of St. Nicholas.128 Wilkinson updated her original

2004 work a decade later in 2014. This new image incorporates the latest 3D
interactive and facial reconstruction technology. The result shows a middle-
aged man with a long beard, rounded head, and square jaw. It also revealed
that the subject had a severely broken nose that healed asymmetrically. The
three-dimensional image was then sent to Image Foundry Studios where a
digital artist added detail and color to the model. His appearance now assumed
that of a Greek Mediterranean man who had olive-toned skin, brown eyes, and
grey hair and beard trimmed in the fashion of the 4th century. He was about
60 years old, 1.68 meters tall, and had a heavy jaw and a broken nose.129 While
the break might have occurred naturally, it might also have been inflicted by a
heavy blunt object. Whether this occurred because of persecution can only be
speculated; yet it is an interesting detail found on the skull.
Unlike Methodius, Nicholas left no literary heritage. Regarding this, Kazh-
dan - Ševčenko wrote, “Surprisingly, a saint who was not martyred for his
faith, left no theological writings”.130 However, this lack of literary output need
not be surprising. Other well-known bishops of the period such as Gregory
Thaumaturgus and Gregory the Illuminator left no writings. Like Nicholas,
accounts of their lives were only written later.131 Regarding their legacy, Metho-
dius is remembered as the theologian of Lycia while Nicholas is known as its
pastor par excellence.

Conclusion
Jewish communities, which developed in Lycia starting in the 3rd century
B.C., continued to prosper into Late Antiquity. Paul was the first known apos-
tle of Jesus to set foot in Lycia sometime around A.D. 55, and subsequently
a Christian community developed in the Lycian centers of Patara and Myra.
Despite waves of persecution in the 3rd and early 4th centuries, Christianity
survived to become the new official state religion. Unfortunately, Judaism lost
its former privileged status under the empire and now found itself as the occa-
sional target of imperial persecution in much the same way that Christians had
formerly been targeted. Lycia produced two of the most important Christian
figures of the pre-Constantinian period –Methodius and Nicholas. Their lega-
cies of scholarship and beneficence continue to be celebrated throughout the
world today.132

128 Mahoney - Wilkinson 2012, 232-233.

129 The 2004 and 2014 restored images plus links related to Wilkinson’s work can be found on the
website: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/real-face/ (accessed 25/05/2018).
130 Kazhdan - Ševčenko 1991, 2:376.
131 Another possible parallel to consider is that only three of Jesus’ twelve disciples wrote gospels or
letters that are traditionally ascribed to them.
132 A fuller discussion of Nicholas’ life and ministry will be the subject of a future article.
 Jews and Christians in Ancient Lycia: A Fresh Appraisal  29

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