The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Urban I of Rome
d. c. 230 · Bishop of Rome · Rome
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Urban I of Rome was
Bishop of Rome for about eight years under Severus Alexander, an emperor the sources call unusually tolerant of Christians. Eusebius records only his name and tenure; the elaborate later legends connecting him with Cecilia and a crop of martyrdoms belong to the romance-hagiography of a later age. In the archive he is what the early record makes him — the peaceable interval between Callistus’s storms and Pontian’s exile.
Also listed in the bishops of Rome.
Common questions
When did Urban I die?
Urban I of Rome is dated d. c. 230 in the archive, which places Urban I 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 Urban I?
Urban I of Rome is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Eusebius of Caesarea and The chronographer of 354. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Urban I from?
The archive associates Urban I of Rome with Rome.
Who were Urban I’s contemporaries?
The archive links Urban I of Rome to 3 other figures, including Callistus I of Rome, Pontian of Rome and Saint Cecilia. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History VI.23
c. AD 325Urbanus… held the episcopate of Rome for eight years, and was succeeded by Pontianus.Eusebius of Caesarea · VI.23 · source text
Liberian Catalogue (Chronography of 354)
c. AD 354Connected 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 Urban I.
- 1Rome