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Nicetas of Remesiana and His Time

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Nicetas of Remesiana and His Time STUDIA TEOLOGICZNE NOWE ŻYCIE W CHRYSTUSIE 33(2015) KS. JÓZEF ŁUPIŃSKI NICETAS OF REMESIANA AND HIS TIME Contents: 1. The administrative divisions in the Balkans, 2. Christianization of Dacia, 3. Works of Nicetas of Remesiana, 4. Nicetas and Arianism. The bishop of Remesiana - Nicetas was probably born in 335 AD, died in 414. He was a bishop in the years 366-414. Both in the Catholic Church and in the Orthodox Church he is considered to be a saint. He was “redi- scovered” in the last centuries. Some ancient texts, including the Order of Catechizing, considered Bishop of Remesiana to be one of the fathers of the Church, together with Hilary of Poitiers and Jerome. Theologians and phi- losophers recommend reading the works of Nicetas. Gennadius of Massilia mentions Nicetas in his catalog of writers as “Nicetas Romatianæ civitatis episcopus,” to whom he assigns several works on religious themes1. In Mar- tyrologium Romanum of 1585, Baronius mentions the bishop and the date of his memorial: Nicetas episc. In Dacia 7 Ianu2. Later, the works of Bishop of Remesiana were often attributed to other authors. Some identified him, among others, with Nicetas of Aquileia (454-485) or Nicetius of Trier, e.g. B. Rasponio in the work Sancti Nicete episcopi Aquilejensis3. In VetusMarty- rologium Romanum,published before the Second Vatican Council, the me- morial of Saint Nicetas fell on January 7. It contained the following text: “In Dacia S. Nicetae episcopi, qui feras et barbaras gentes euangelii praedica- Ks. prof. UKSW, dr hab. Józef Łupiński – kapłan diecezji łomżyńskiej, dr hab. nauk humani- stycznych w zakresie historii, pracownik naukowy na Wydziale Nauk Historycznych i Spo- łecznych UKSW w Warszawie. Autor licznych publikacji z zakresu historii Kościoła. 1 Gennadius of Marseilles, De viris illustribus, XXII: “Niceas Romatianae civitatis episcopus, composuit simplici et nitido sermone competentibus ad baptismum instructionis libellos six”, PL 58, 1073-1074. 2 C. Baronius, Martyrologium romanum ad novam Kalendarii rationem, et Ecclesiasticae his- toriae veritatem restitutum. Gregorii XIII Pont. Maximi iussu editum. Accesserunt notationes atque tractatio de Martyrologio Romano, [Romae] 1585, 875. 3 B. Rasponio, Sancti Nicete episcopi Aquilejensis opuscula, que supersunt, duo, Utini 1810. Ks. Józef Łupiński tione mites redidit ac mansuetas”4. In the latest Martyrologium Romanum the memorial of Nicetas of Remesiana falls on June 225. In the western liturgy the memorial of St. Nicetas falls on June 22 - along with his close friend, St. Paulinus of Nola. The tradition of worshi- ping both saints on this day comes from the 5thcentury Martyrologium Hie- ronymianum – an anonymous work from this period, attributed to St. Je- rome, which is a list of Roman martyrs and saints, and it lists both Nicetas and Paulinus together6. The name of the episcopal residence, Remesiana (now Bela Palanka, Serbia), over the centuries aroused a lot of ambiguity. The city is mentioned in ancient descriptions of a travel in several versions, e.g. in c 3rd and c 4th, in Itinerarium Antonini the name of the city is Remi- siana, in Tabulae Peutingeriana - Romesiana, in Itinerarium Burdingalense - Romansiana. Gennadius of Massilia (the second half of c 5th) calls the seat of Bishop Nicetas Romatiana. The c th6 writer - Synekdemus - Hierokles(c 6th) mentiones in Dacia Mediterranean names of cities, among them Re- mesiana. Similarly, in his work De aedificiis, Procopius mentions the city of Roumisiana, which was situated between Neissus and Sardici, and at the time of Justinian was rebuilt7. 1. The administrative divisions in the Balkans At the turn of the fourth century, Remesiana was located within the Me- diterranean province of Dacia (Dacia Mediterranea). In Roman times, Da- cia Mediterranea often changed its administrative affiliation. Administra- tive divisions of the Roman Empire arouse considerable interest among hi- storians due to the constant changes of administrative boundaries, as well as similar terminology. In Roman times, there were several administrative areas with the name of Dacia. The first of them was Trajan’s Dacia. In 101, Emperor Trajan (98-117) organized an expedition against the Dacian king- dom. The Dacians not only threatened the Roman Empire, but also had numerous silver and gold mines. Trajan wanted to gain prestige through dominance over the lands which Domitian (81-96) had failed to conquer. Emperor Trajan annexed the new territory, which, after the end of the se- 4 Vetus martyrologium Romanum, 1965, 8. 5 Martyrologium Romanum (editio typica altera), Città del Vaticano 2004, 349. 6 A. E. Burn, Nicetas of Remesiana: His Life and Works, Cambridge 1905, IX. 7 A. Soroceanu, Nicetas von Remesiana: Seelsorge und Kirchen politik im spatantiken unteren Donauraum, Frankfurt am Main 2013, 89. 338 Nicetas of Remesiana and his time cond century, consisted of three provinces: Dacia, Upper Moesia (Moesia Superior) and Lower Moesia (Moesia Interior). Later, in Upper Moesia the province of Aurelian‘s Dacia was established, covering part of the current area of ​​Bulgaria and Serbia. The capital of the new province was Sardici, or present Sofia. Between 235 and 284, a serious economic and political crisis struck the Roman Empire. The crisis was deepened by the expansion of the neighbo- ring tribes. Because of the invasion of the Carpi and the Goths on Moesia and Illyria, a year after coming to power, Emperor Aurelian (270-275) went with the army to Trajan’s Dacia to the north of the Danube, where he defe- ated his opponents. However, he resigned from ruling over the gained ter- ritory and withdrew the Roman army. Since Trajan’s Dacia was taken over- by the Goths, the people of Rome began leaving the area in large numbers and moved to the south of the Danube.8 The withdrawal of the Romans from Dacia not only caused the loss of part of the territory of the empire, but had a positive effect, which was correcting the northern border and strengthening the defense of the state. Aforementioned Illyria was a region located to the south of the Danube. Lying on the border between East and West, it played an important role in the Empire. After conquering Illyria in late c 1st AD, the Romans establi- shed a new province there - Illyricum. During the reign of the Illyrian em- peror, Diocletian (284-305), approx. 293, so called “first tetrarchy” was in- troduced, i.e. the reign of four sovereigns. The system was meant to provide the Empire with protection against external threats and sought to limit the power of the army. As a result of the division, Remesiana was included in the diocese of Moesia with its capital in Sirmium. The term diocese in this context meant an administrative unit, initially known only in the East. This was the area of tax​​ collection. It was only later that it denoted administrati- ve territory and was introduced throughout the Empire9. In the diocese of Moesia there were the provinces of Dacia Mediterranea, (with Remesiana), Coastal Dacia (or Ripensis), Dardania, Moesia Prima, Prevalitania, Epirus Vetus, Novus Epirus, Thessaly, Achaia, and Crete. Also the subsequent ad- ministrative divisions of the Empire were of pragmatic importance. They were motivated by political, economic and administrative reasons. From 8 Eutropius, Eutropi Breviarium ab urbe condita cum versionibus graecis et Pauli Landolfique additamentis, IX, 15. 9 J. Roisman, I. Worthington, A Companion to Ancient Macedonia, Maldem MA and Oxford, 548. 339 Ks. Józef Łupiński 293 to 305, Moesia was under Caesar Galerius’s reign, who controlled the provinces to the south of the Danube, and in the years 305- 311 was the ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire. The administrative reforms begun by Diocletian were continued by Constantine I the Great (306-312). The emperor, the autocrat of the Em- pire, divided the states into 4 prefectures: Gaul, Italia, the prefecture of the East and the prefecture of Illyria. Every prefecture were controlled by pra- efectus praetorio. In Constantine’s times the prefects did not have military power, but managed the imperial army logistics. They served as civil power - administrative, judicial and financial. Constantine divided the diocese of Moesia into two - Macedonia and Dacia. At that time Remesiana was in the praetorium prefecture of Illyria, in the diocese of Dacia, in the province of Dacia Mediterranea. After the death of the emperor, the power in the Empire was taken over by his sons: Constantine II, who ruled the prefecture praetorium for Gaul, Constans ruled the praetorium prefecture of Italy, Illyria and Africa, and Constantius II- praetorium prefecture of the East (a.k.a. Orient). In the second half of the fourth century the state of the praetorium prefecture of Illyria underwent another change: in 361 it was abolished by Julian the Apostate (361-363), re-established by Gratian (375-379). After the death of the emperor in 379, Sirmium ceased to be the capital of the prefectu- re of Illyria. The prefecture was divided into two smaller parts: Illyricum Occidentale - Western Illyria (with the diocese of Pannonia) and Eastern Illyria - Oriental Illyricum (dioceses of Macedonia and Dacia). After the division, Remesiana found itself in Eastern Illyria, in the diocese of Da- cia, in the province of Dacia Mediterranea. To our times survived the list of senior officials of the Empire, Notitia Dignitatum, drawn up before the year 379, containing a list of the provinces of the empire. According to the document, in the Western Illyria there was a diocese of Pannonia, consi- sting of the provinces of Pannonia Prima, Pannonia Secunda, Savia, Dal- matia, Noricum Mediterranea and Noricum Ripensis. In Eastern Illyria there were the dioceses of Pannonia, Macedonia and Dacia, together with the provinces of Moesia Prima, Praevalitana, Dardania, Dacia Ripensis and Mediterranean Dacia (Mediterranea)10. The Battle of Adrianople in 378 had important implications for the fu- 10 Notitia Dignitum accedunt Notitia Urbis Constatinopolitanae et Laterculi Pravinciarum, ed.
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