The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313

Philemon of Rome

fl. c. AD 255–260 (death unrecorded) · Presbyter of Rome · Rome

The Ante-Nicene Church

Who Philemon of Rome was

A Roman presbyter who held Stephen’s hard line on rebaptism and corresponded with Dionysius of Alexandria about it. Dionysius answered him at length, and the exchange is one of the main surviving windows into how the baptism controversy was argued between Rome and Alexandria rather than between Rome and Carthage. Distinct from Philemon of Colossae.

Verified single attestation

Named once in Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History; no other ancient source names him.

Common questions

When was Philemon active?

Philemon of Rome is dated fl. c. AD 255–260 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Philemon 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 Philemon?

Philemon of Rome is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.

Where was Philemon from?

The archive associates Philemon of Rome with Rome.

Who were Philemon’s contemporaries?

The archive links Philemon of Rome to 4 other figures, including Dionysius the Great, Stephen I of Rome, Xystus II (Sixtus II) of Rome and Dionysius of Rome. 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.

Ecclesiastical History VII.7.1–4

c. AD 325
[Dionysius wrote to Philemon, a presbyter at Rome, on the question of the baptism of heretics.]
Eusebius of Caesarea · Ecclesiastical History VII.7.1–4 · source text

Connected in the archive

People

Events in this lifetime

Place

Places served

The one place the sources put Philemon.

  1. 1Rome

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