The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Victor the Fuller
fl. c. AD 305–320 (death unrecorded) · Fuller of Cirta · Presbyter by purchase · Cirta (Constantina), Numidia
The Nicene Age
Who Victor the Fuller was
A cloth-fuller who paid twenty folles to Silvanus and was made a presbyter — openly, in front of the people, with the money laid before the episcopal chair. The bishops who had consecrated Silvanus divided it among themselves. It is the earliest simony in the Latin church documented by sworn testimony rather than accusation, and the fifth distinct Victor in the document.
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 the Fuller is dated fl. c. AD 305–320 (death unrecorded) in the archive, which places Victor 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 Victor?
Victor the Fuller is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Gesta apud Zenophilum. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Victor from?
The archive associates Victor the Fuller 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 the Fuller to 3 other figures, including Silvanus of Cirta, Castus and Crescentianus. 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 trial before Domitius Zenophilus, 13 December 320
c. AD 320‘For Victor the fuller gave twenty pieces of money, to be made priest, in your presence and in that of the people, as Christ knows and His angels.’Gesta apud Zenophilum · Gesta apud Zenophilum, trial of 13 December 320 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- 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
- 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
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.