E06121: The Greek Martyrdom of *Kyrikos/Cyricus and Ioulitta/Julitta (child and his mother, martyrs of Tarsus, S00007), by Theodoros bishop of Ikonion/Iconium, is written to supplant the earlier ‘epic’ Martyrdom (E06118) by retelling the story in a more down-to-earth fashion. Probably written in Ikonion (central Asia Minor) in the mid 6th century or later.
Creators: name: Nikolaos
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2018
Subjects: History

description: Martyrdom of Kyrikos and Ioulitta (or Letter of Theodore of Ikonion) (BHG 315)<br><br>Summary:<br><br>Note: the name Kyrikos is usually, but not always, spelled Kerykos in the Greek manuscripts.<br><br>1. The Martyrdom whose author identifies himself as Theodoros, bishop of Ikonion, assumes the form of a letter addressed to a bishop Zosimos. In a prologue, Theodoros explains how he was asked by Zosimos to investigate whether in Ikonion there also circulates a suspect Martyrdom of the saints Kyrikos and Ioulitta. Theodoros answers in the affirmative, having read the text in question (BHG 313y-z, E06118) and describes it at length as bursting with frivolous and possibly heretical nonsense. He tried to find a more authentic version, but in vain. However, from a certain tribounonotarios [i.e. tribunus et notarius] Markianos, who served as kankellarios under the emperor Justinian when the latter was still a general, and one Zenon who also belonged to the retinue of the same emperor, he learned of the story of the saints circulating orally among certain Lycaonian nobles who were blood relatives of the saints and as such took exceptional care to celebrate their feast day.<br><br>2. According to this story, Ioulitta was an Iconian noblewoman of royal blood, who, when Dometianos had become comes of Lycaonia and had begun a persecution, fled the city with her three-year-old son to Seleucia [presumably the nearby Seleucia ad Calycadnum in Isauria]. However, in Seleucia too a governor, Alexandros, had been appointed by the emperor Diocletian and was stirring up a persecution; so Ioulitta continued her flight to Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia Prima.<br><br>3. Alexandros, however, also relocates to Tarsus, and arrests the saints. Ioulitta’s two handmaidens flee. The governor tries to persuade Ioulitta to sacrifice to the pagan gods, and tortures her when she persists in refusing. He then takes the child Kyrikos on his lap and attempts to win the infant over, trying to kiss him, but the child mimics his mother’s persistent cries of 'I am a Christian' and struggles against the governor, kicking him in the ribs. Angered, Alexandros hurls the infant down from the podium, breaking open his skull and killing him. Ioulitta is full of joy at her child’s martyrdom, and after more torture, she too is put to death, after a final prayer for her soul before her execution, on 15 July.<br><br>4. The next day the two handmaidens recover the bodies and bury them in a cave in the district of Tarsus. In the time of emperor Constantine, one of the handmaidens reveals the burial place, and all the faithful rush in to obtain some of the relics for their protection. In a brief epilogue, the writer exhorts Zosimos to circulate this version of the story and not to pay attention to the tall tales of the earlier martyrdom account.<br><br>Text: van Hooff 1882, 201–207. <br>Summary: N. Kälviäinen.