Fortunatus of Corinth

When was Fortunatus active?

Fortunatus of Corinth is dated fl. c. 55 – c. 96 in the archive, which places Fortunatus 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 Fortunatus?

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

Where was Fortunatus from?

The archive associates Fortunatus of Corinth with Corinth, Rome. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.

Who were Fortunatus’ contemporaries?

The archive links Fortunatus of Corinth to 6 other figures, including Stephanas of Corinth, Achaicus of Corinth, Claudius Ephebus and Valerius Bito. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.

I am glad of the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus…

Now send ye back speedily unto us our messengers Claudius Ephebus and Valerius Bito, together with Fortunatus also, in peace and with joy.

They had written accordingly to him **by the hand of Fortunatus and Stephanas and Achaicus, by whom also he himself writes**; and this he has indicated in the end of the Epistle: not however upon all these subjects, but about marriage and virginity; wherefore also he said, “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote” … And he proceeds to give injunctions, both on the points about which they had written, and those about which they had not written; having learnt with accuracy all their failings. Timothy, too, he sends with the letters, knowing that letters indeed have great force, yet that not a little would be added to them by the presence of the disciple also. [Chrysostom makes Achaicus and his two companions the carriers in both directions — they brought the Corinthians’ letter to Paul and took the First Epistle back — and reads the letter’s subject-matter off the fact: what the Corinthians had written about was marriage and virginity, which is why Paul opens chapter 7 “concerning the things whereof ye wrote.” This passage is from **the Argument**, the introduction to the series, which is where Chrysostom explains who the three men were. The archive also cites Homily XLIV, which covers 1 Corinthians 16, where Achaicus is named in the text; that homily has not been read, and nothing here is claimed from it.]