The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130

Ampliatus

fl. c. 57 (death unrecorded) · “My beloved in the Lord” · Rome

The Apostolic Fathers

Who Ampliatus was

A common slave-name — and in the oldest part of the Catacomb of Domitilla a finely painted tomb of the late first or early second century bears the single word AMPLIAT(I): a one-name burial, servile in form, honored in execution. Whether it is Paul’s Ampliatus or his family’s freedman descendants, archaeology here walks to the edge of a Romans 16 greeting and looks in.

Common questions

When was Ampliatus active?

Ampliatus is dated fl. c. 57 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Ampliatus in the Apostolic Fathers (AD 70–130). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.

Which early sources mention Ampliatus?

Ampliatus is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paul, Origen of Alexandria and John Chrysostom. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Ampliatus from?

The archive associates Ampliatus with Rome.

Who were Ampliatus’ contemporaries?

The archive links Ampliatus to 2 other figures, including Urbanus and Stachys. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

Scripture record

Primary-source mentions (3)

Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Romans 16:8

c. AD 55
Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord.
Paul · read ↗

Origen, Commentary on Romans X (on Romans 16:8)

c. AD 246
Origen of Alexandria · Commentary on Romans X · source text

Homilies on Romans XXXI

c. AD 391
Here again he passes encomiums upon his person by his love. For the love of Paul was for God, carrying countless blessings with it. For if being loved by the king is a great thing, what a great encomium must it be to be beloved by Paul?
John Chrysostom · Homilies on Romans XXXI · source text

Connected in the archive

People

Events in this lifetime

Place

Places served

The one place the sources put Ampliatus.

  1. 1Rome

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