The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Gaianus, also called Porphyrius
fl. c. AD 230 · Centurion · Benefactor of the worship hall floor · Kfar Othnay, by the camp at Legio
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Gaianus, also called Porphyrius was
A serving Roman centurion, and the church at Kfar Othnay called him **“our brother”**. The largest of the three inscriptions — over eleven square feet, in the northern panel — reads: *“Gaianus, also called Porphyrius, centurion, our brother, has made the pavement at his own expense as an act of liberality.”* A symbol on its top line marks the rank.
**Two names, and both are informative.** Gaianus is Latin; **Porphyrius** is Greek, and was almost certainly what he was called day to day in the eastern provinces where Greek was the working language. It has been suggested that the pair points to a non-western Roman background — a provincial risen in the imperial service — though that is not certain and the archive does not assert it.
**What his page establishes is harder to get from any text.** Around AD 230, at a rural settlement beside the camp of the legion at Legio, an officer of the Roman army paid out of his own pocket for the floor of a Christian worship hall, and the congregation recorded him on it as a brother. The archive already holds Cornelius the centurion, the centurion at the cross, and the correspondence in which Pliny asks Trajan what to do with Christians. Gaianus is the physical evidence, from the century of the persecutions, that Christians and serving Roman soldiers were the same people in the same room.
His donation included the medallion of two fish set in the floor.
The Gaianus inscription of the Megiddo mosaic, c. AD 230 — one epigraphic attestation, which gives his rank, his second name and the fact that he paid for the floor.
Common questions
When was Gaianus, also called Porphyrius active?
Gaianus, also called Porphyrius is dated fl. c. AD 230 in the archive, which places Gaianus, also called Porphyrius 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 Gaianus, also called Porphyrius?
Gaianus, also called Porphyrius is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Gaianus. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Gaianus, also called Porphyrius from?
The archive associates Gaianus, also called Porphyrius with Kfar Othnay, by the camp at Legio. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Gaianus, also called Porphyrius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Gaianus, also called Porphyrius to 5 other figures, including Jesus of Nazareth, Akeptous, Brutius and Cornelius the Centurion. 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 Megiddo Mosaic — the Gaianus Inscription
c. AD 230“Gaianus, also called Porphyrius, centurion, our brother, has made the pavement at his own expense as an act of liberality. Brutius has carried out the work.” (Tepper and Di Segni) [The largest of the three panels. The rank is marked by a symbol on the top line, and the donation included the medallion of two fish set in the floor. **“Our brother”** is the congregation’s word, not his own — the kinship term used of fellow believers throughout the New Testament epistles, applied here to a serving officer of the Roman army in the century of the persecutions.]Gaianus · Greek inscription, northern panel (over 11 sq ft)
Object. The Megiddo Mosaic — floor of a Christian worship hall at Kfar Othnay, beside the Roman legionary camp at Legio, c. AD 230. Excavated by Yotam Tepper for the Israel Antiquities Authority during salvage work on the grounds of Megiddo Prison, 2003–2005; the inscriptions edited by Leah Di Segni. Lifted in 2024 in ten pieces and exhibited at the Museum of the Bible, Washington DC, 15 September 2024 – 6 July 2025, then returned to Israel. Three Greek panels name seven people; five are women.
Connected 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
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Gaianus, also called Porphyrius.