Primary source · Latin
The Life and Passion of Cyprian
Pontius the Deacon · c. AD 259
What this text is
The first Christian biography — written by the deacon who shared Cyprian's exile and stood in the crowd at his beheading.
Profile of Pontius the Deacon →
Public-domain translations
Robert Ernest Wallis (ANF, 1886)
What should the priest of God do at such an hour but what he taught?… He covered his eyes with his own hand; and when the executioner's hand trembled, the crown of God's priest was accomplished. His people cried, 'Let us also be beheaded with him!'
Manuscript witnesses
Prefixed to the Cyprianic corpus manuscripts
6th–9th c.The deacon's Vita Cypriani travels at the head of his master's works.
Provenance
Carthage, c. AD 259 — the first Christian biography
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- Vita di Cipriano (ed. Bastiaensen, Vite dei Santi III)A. A. R. Bastiaensen, 1975Critical edition with commentary.
- Early Christian Biographies (FOC 15)Roy J. Deferrari (ed.), 1952Faithful English translation.