The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Victor of Aufidus
fl. 19 May 303 (death unrecorded) · Notary of Cirta · Writer of the church inventory · Cirta (Constantina), Numidia
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Victor of Aufidus was
The man who wrote the inventory of the church of Cirta — two golden chalices, six silver, seven silver lamps, eighty-two women’s garments against sixteen men’s, forty-seven pairs of women’s shoes against thirteen pairs of men’s. It is one of very few surviving inventories of a pre-Constantinian church, and the clothing ratio is direct evidence of what the church was actually for. When Silvanus produced the hidden silver, it was Victor who told him what the alternative had been.
Named once, in the Gesta apud Zenophilum — the Cirta records of 19 May 303 and 13 December 320; no other ancient source names him.
Common questions
When was Victor active?
Victor of Aufidus is dated fl. 19 May 303 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Victor in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313).
Which early sources mention Victor?
Victor of Aufidus is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Municipal acts of Cirta. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Victor from?
The archive associates Victor of Aufidus with Cirta (Constantina), Numidia. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Who were Victor’s contemporaries?
The archive links Victor of Aufidus to 3 other figures, including Silvanus of Cirta, Paul of Cirta and Munatius Felix. 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.
The Acts of Munatius Felix, 19 May 303 — read into evidence before Zenophilus
c. AD 303Victor of Aufidus made this brief inventory against them: ‘Two golden chalices, also six silver chalices, six silver pots, a silver chafing vessel, seven silver lamps, two torches… eighty-two women’s garments, thirty-eight veils, sixteen men’s garments, thirteen pair of men’s shoes, forty-seven pair of women’s shoes, eighteen pattens for the country.’Municipal acts of Cirta · Gesta apud Zenophilum, Acts of 19 May 303 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Named alongside Victor in the sources
This figure is placed with Victor by the record — in a council roll, a martyr-act, a letter or a history — without Victor naming them in return.
Events in this lifetime
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
- AD 251 · The Novatianist schism, AD 251
- AD 257 · The Valerian persecution, AD 257
- AD 260 · Gallienus’ edict of toleration, AD 260
- AD 268 · Antioch deposes Paul of Samosata, AD 268
- 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
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Victor, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.