The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Felix the Marble-worker
fl. 19 May 303 (death unrecorded) · Lector of Cirta · Marmorarius · Cirta (Constantina), Numidia
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Felix the Marble-worker was
A worker in marble who was also a lector of the church, and who kept five codices at home. He is the nearest thing the whole horizon offers to a named Christian building craftsman — named, though, for his order and not his trade, which is exactly how the anonymity of early Christian art works. Distinct from Felix of Thibiuca, Felix of Acci, Felix of Aptunga and Felix I of Rome.
Named once, in the Gesta apud Zenophilum — the Cirta records of 19 May 303 and 13 December 320; no other ancient source names him.
Common questions
When was Felix active?
Felix the Marble-worker is dated fl. 19 May 303 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Felix in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313).
Which early sources mention Felix?
Felix the Marble-worker is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Municipal acts of Cirta. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Felix from?
The archive associates Felix the Marble-worker with Cirta (Constantina), Numidia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Felix’s contemporaries?
The archive links Felix the Marble-worker to 3 other figures, including Eugenius the lector of Cirta, Victorinus and Projectus. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
The Acts of Munatius Felix, 19 May 303 — read into evidence before Zenophilus
c. AD 303And when they came to the house of Felix, the worker in marbles, he brought forth five codices.Municipal acts of Cirta · Gesta apud Zenophilum, Acts of 19 May 303 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
- AD 257 · The Valerian persecution, AD 257
- AD 260 · Gallienus’ edict of toleration, AD 260
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- AD 272 · Aurelian awards the Antioch church, AD 272
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Felix, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.