The Apologists · AD 130–180
Hyginus of Rome
d. c. 142 · Bishop of Rome · Rome
The Apologists
Who Hyginus of Rome was
Ninth bishop of Rome, in whose episcopate — Irenaeus is precise about this — the heretics Cerdo and Valentinus both came to Rome, making his tenure the hinge on which the church’s first great confrontation with Gnosticism turned. Cerdo, he says, “coming frequently into the church and making confession, thus ended,” alternately teaching in secret and being expelled. Hyginus governed about four years.
Also listed in the bishops of Rome.
Common questions
When did Hyginus die?
Hyginus of Rome is dated d. c. 142 in the archive, which places Hyginus in the Apologists (AD 130–180). 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 Hyginus?
Hyginus of Rome is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Irenaeus of Lyon and The chronographer of 354. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Hyginus from?
The archive associates Hyginus of Rome with Rome.
Who were Hyginus’ contemporaries?
The archive links Hyginus of Rome to 4 other figures, including Telesphorus of Rome, Pius I of Rome, Cerdo the Syrian and Valentinus. 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.
Against Heresies III.4.3
c. AD 180Cerdon… coming into the church, and making confession, continued thus: at one time teaching secretly, at another making public confession; and at last, being convicted of his evil teaching, he was excommunicated. He lived under Hyginus.Irenaeus of Lyon · III.4.3 · source text
Against Heresies III.3.3 (ninth in the Roman register)
c. AD 180Then Telesphorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus.Irenaeus of Lyon · Against Heresies III.3.3 · source text
Liberian Catalogue (Chronography of 354)
c. AD 354Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 95 · Domitian’s reprisals, AD 95
- AD 96 · Rome writes to Corinth: 1 Clement, AD 96
- AD 112 · Pliny writes Trajan, AD 112
- AD 117 · Symeon and Ignatius martyred, AD 117
- AD 135 · Bar Kokhba crushed; Aelia Capitolina, AD 135
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Hyginus.
- 1Rome