The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Artemon (Artemas)
fl. c. 230 (death unrecorded) · Adoptionist teacher at Rome · Rome
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Artemon (Artemas) was
A Roman teacher of dynamic monarchianism (adoptionism) — that Christ was a mere man, uniquely inspired but not divine — whose followers claimed, falsely, that theirs was the original faith of the Roman church corrupted only after bishop Victor. An anonymous work quoted by Eusebius, the Little Labyrinth, demolished the claim by appealing to the hymns and writings that had always sung Christ as God. Paul of Samosata’s adoptionism a generation later was seen as Artemon’s revival — “he wishes to follow the heresy of Artemas,” the synod of Antioch charged. A name that became a label for the denial of Christ’s divinity.
Also listed in heretics & schismatics.
Common questions
When was Artemon active?
Artemon (Artemas) is dated fl. c. 230 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Artemon in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). 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 Artemon?
Artemon (Artemas) is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Anonymous (attrib. Hippolytus), The synod of Antioch and Theodoret of Cyrrhus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Artemon from?
The archive associates Artemon (Artemas) with Rome.
Who were Artemon’s contemporaries?
The archive links Artemon (Artemas) to 3 other figures, including Paul of Samosata, Sabellius and Theodotus the Cobbler. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Little Labyrinth, via Eusebius V.28
c. AD 225They say that all the early teachers and the apostles received and taught what they now declare, and that the truth was preserved until the times of Victor… but that from his successor Zephyrinus onward the truth was corrupted. This account might perhaps be credible, were it not that the holy Scriptures contradict them.Anonymous (attrib. Hippolytus) · V.28 · source text
The synodal letter of Antioch, via Ecclesiastical History VII.30 (Paul told to write 'to Artemas')
c. AD 325He may write to Artemas, and those who think with Artemas may hold communion with him.The synod of Antioch · Ecclesiastical History VII.30 · source text
Compendium of Heretical Fables II.4
c. AD 453Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 177 · Persecution at Lyon and Vienne, AD 177
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
- AD 202 · Perpetua and Felicity martyred, AD 202
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Artemon.
- 1Rome