The Apostolic Fathers · AD 70–130
The Household of Narcissus
fl. c. 57 · Believers within a freedman’s establishment · Rome
The Apostolic Fathers
Who The Household of Narcissus was
“Them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord” — the qualifying clause conceding that not all were. Narcissus is most plausibly Claudius’s notorious freedman-secretary, richest commoner of his age, forced to suicide under Nero shortly before Romans was written; his vast familia, passing to imperial ownership, would still bear his name. If so, Paul is greeting Christians embedded in the machinery of the palace — “they that are of Caesar’s household” (Phil 4:22) a few years early.
Common questions
When was The Household active?
The Household of Narcissus is dated fl. c. 57 in the archive, which places The Household 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 The Household?
The Household of Narcissus is named in 3 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Paul, Origen of Alexandria and John Chrysostom. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was The Household from?
The archive associates The Household of Narcissus with Rome.
Who were The Household’s contemporaries?
The archive links The Household of Narcissus to 1 other figure, including The Household of Aristobulus. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Scripture record
Primary-source mentions (3)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Romans 16:11
c. AD 55Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord.Paul · read ↗
Origen, Commentary on Romans X (on 'them of Narcissus, which are in the Lord')
c. AD 246Homilies on Romans XXXI
c. AD 391“Greet them which be of the household of Narcissus” — who, it is likely, were not so worthy as the afore-mentioned, on which account also he does not mention them all by name even, and after giving them the encomium which was suited to them, that of being faithful … “Which are in the Lord.”John Chrysostom · Homilies on Romans XXXI · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 30 · Crucifixion, Resurrection and Pentecost, AD 30–33
- AD 44 · Persecution under Herod Agrippa I, AD 44
- AD 49 · The Council of Jerusalem, AD 49
- AD 57 · Paul writes Romans, AD 57
- AD 62 · James the Just stoned, AD 62
- AD 64 · The Great Fire and Nero’s persecution, AD 64
- AD 70 · The fall of Jerusalem, AD 70
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put The Household.
- 1Rome