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Martyrdom of the Seven Maccabean Brothers (1863 Ciseri), art

According to Jewish and Christian traditions, the Maccabean Martyrs were the members of a Jewish family (seven brothers and their mother) martyrized under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (2nd cent. BCE). In later Roman times, the setting of the narrative was moved to the 2nd cent. CE; the "Maccabean mother" became the Jewish martyr Miriam bat Tanhum and the Christian martyrs Symphorosa of Tibur or Felicitas of Rome.

Overview

According to 2 Maccabees 7, Antiochus IV Epiphanes arrested a mother and her seven sons, and tried to force them to eat pork. When they refused, he tortured and killed the sons one by one. The narrator ends by saying that the mother died too, without specifying whether she was executed, or died in some other way.

Although the martyrs were no relatives of the Maccabees, they became known as the Maccabean Martyrs, as they died during the time of persecution just before the Maccabean revolt.

The story is retold in 4 Maccabees (where the mother throws herself into the flames) and in Josippon (where the mother falls dead on her sons' corpses).

According to Eastern Orthodox tradition, the sons are called Abim, Antonius, Gurias, Eleazar, Eusebonus, Alimus and Marcellus, though the names differ slightly among different authorities

The three Ethiopian books of Meqabyan (canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but distinct works from the other four books of Maccabees) refer to an unrelated group of "Maccabean Martyrs," five brothers including 'Abya, Seela, and Fentos, sons of a Benjamite named Maccabeus, who were captured and martyred for leading a guerilla war against Antiochus Epiphanes.

Relics of the Maccabean Martyrs

According to Antiochene Christian tradition, the relics of the mother and sons were interred on the site of a synagogue (later converted into a church) in the Kerateion quarter of Antioch, where they were venerated until the 6th century. After 551, they were transferred to Constantinopolis and from there to Rome under Pelagius II.

In 1876 a sarcophagus inscribed to the Maccabean martyrs was discovered in San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, Italy. The Maccabees Shrine, also containing the relics of the martyrs, is venerated in St. Andrew Church, Cologne, Germany.

Related legends

Similar stories, concerning a mother and her 7 sons who all died martyrs, were retold both in Judaism and Christianity. They are clearly a double of the Maccabean story but the event is now chronologically located in Roman times. The "relocation" of the event allowed each community to completely Judaize or Christianize the story.

The Jewish version (Miriam bat Tanhum and her sons)

In the Rabbinic rendition of the story (b. Gittin 57b; Lamentation Rabbah 1:16, no 50; Pesikta Rabbati 43:180; Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 30:151), the refusal to worship an idol replaces refusal to eat pork and the unnamed king is referred to as the "Emperor" and "Caesar". The woman commits suicide (she "also went up on to a roof and threw herself down and was killed"). The woman generally remains unnamed, but in Lamentations Rabbah she is called Miriam bat Tanhum.

A tomb believed to be that of the woman with her seven sons is located in the Jewish cemetery of Safed.

The Christian versions (Symphorosa of Tibur and Felicitas of Rome)

There are two major Christian adaptations of the story, one connected with Saint Symphorosa of Tibur (at the time of Emperor Antoninus Pius) and the other with Saint Felicitas of Rome (at the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius).

Symphorosa of Tibur

Felicitas of Rome

Church of Saint Symphorosa (Tivoli)

Martyrdom of Felicitas

Symphorosa of Tibur

Symphorosa is said to have been a Tiburtine matron, the widow of the tribune Getulius, who had previously been martyred under Emperor Hadrian at Gabii (now Torri). Around 138, the new Emperor Antoninus Pius attempted to induce Symphorosa also to sacrifice to the Roman gods. As she refuses to comply, she was thrown into the river Anio with a heavy rock fastened to her neck. The next day her children (Crescens, Julian, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justinus, Stracteus, Eugenius) also were martyrized. According to tradition, the bodies of the martyrs were buried in a basilica built on via Tiburtina over their tomb and later transferred to the Church of Sant'Angelo in Pescheria at Rome by Pope Stephen II in 752, where a sarcophagus bearing their names was found in 1610. The Diocese of Tivoli honors them as patron saints.

Felicitas of Rome

Felicitas of Rome is said to have been a rich and pious Christian widow who had seven sons. Around 165, the Prefect of Rome used various pleas and threats in an unsuccessful attempt to get her and her sons to worship the pagan gods. First the children (Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis, Martialis) were martyrized; then the mother also was killed. According to tradition, Felicitas and SIlvanus were buried in the Cemetery of Maximus, on the Via Salaria, while the other children were buried in three nearby cemeteries. The crypt where St Felicitas was laid to rest was later enlarged into a subterranean chapel, and was rediscovered in 1885; some of her relics are in the Capuchin church at Montefiascone, Tuscany and in the church of Santa Susanna in Rome. One of her chidren, Martialis, is venerated as the patron saint of Torricella Peligna in the Abruzzo, and Isca sullo Ionio in Calabria, Italy.

External links

• Wikipedia.en (Woman with seven sons)
• Wikipedia.en (Saint Felicitas of Rome) -- Wikipedia.en (Saint Symphorosa of Tibur)