The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Tarbo
d. c. AD 342 (martyr) · Consecrated virgin · Sister of Simeon bar Sabbae · Martyr · Seleucia-Ctesiphon (Sasanian Persia)
The Nicene Age
Who Tarbo was
Sister of the martyred primate, killed with her widowed sister and her maidservant after the Persian queen fell ill and was persuaded that Simeon’s sisters had bewitched her in revenge. Sozomen is explicit that the charge came from the queen’s Jewish advisers, whose rites she followed — one of the sharpest surviving pieces of evidence for how the Persian church’s enemies were configured. The three women were tied to stakes and sawn in two. Her name appears as Tarbo, Tarbula, Tharba and, in the Greek, Pherbuta.
Named once in the sources within the horizon; no other ancient witness names her.
Also listed in martyrs, women and desert fathers & mothers.
Common questions
When did Tarbo die?
Tarbo is dated d. c. AD 342 (martyr) in the archive, which places Tarbo in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). 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 Tarbo?
Tarbo is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Sozomen. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Tarbo from?
The archive associates Tarbo with Seleucia-Ctesiphon (Sasanian Persia).
Who were Tarbo’s contemporaries?
The archive links Tarbo to 2 other figures, including Simeon bar Sabbae and Shapur II. 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 II.12 (the persecution under Shapur II)
c. AD 445The queen… blamed Symeon’s sister Tarbula for her illness… since she had embraced their sentiments, and lived in the observance of the Jewish rites, for she had great confidence in their veracity and in their attachment to herself.Sozomen · Ecclesiastical History II.12 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- 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
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Tarbo.