Anthemius (or Anthemios) was the

archbishop of Cyprus This is a list of Archbishops of Cyprus since its foundation with known dates of enthronement. According to tradition, the Church of Cyprus was created by St. Barnabas in 45 AD. The see of Cyprus was declared autocephalous by the Council of Eph ...

in the late 5th century. As archbishop of Cyprus, Anthemius was the

metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

over the island with his see at Salamis-Constantia. Anthemius resisted the efforts of the

non-Chalcedonian Non-Chalcedonian Christianity comprises the branches of Christianity that do not accept theological resolutions of the Council of Chalcedon, the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451. Non-Chalcedonian denominations reject the Christological D ...

patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

Peter the Fuller Peter Fullo ("the Fuller") was Patriarch of Antioch (471–488) and Non-Chalcedonian. Peter received his surname from his former trade as a fulling, fuller of cloth. Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, Tillemont (''Empereurs'', tome vi. p.&nbs ...

, to restore his patriarchal authority on Cyprus. In the process, he discovered what he claimed were the relics of

Saint Barnabas Barnabas (; arc, ܒܪܢܒܐ; grc, Βαρνάβας), born Joseph () or Joses (), was according to tradition an early Christian, one of the prominent Christian disciples in Jerusalem. According to Acts 4:36, Barnabas was a Cypriot Jew. Name ...

, buried with a copy of the ''

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

''. This served to prove that the

church of Cyprus The Church of Cyprus ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Κύπρου, translit=Ekklisia tis Kyprou; tr, Kıbrıs Kilisesi) is one of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox churches that together with other Eastern Orthodox churches form the communio ...

was of apostolic foundation. According to the '' Laudatio Barnabae'', written around 550, Anthemius saw Barnabas in a dream three nights in a row and the saint told him where he lay buried beneath a carob tree. After discovering the saint's body, Anthemius went to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. He gave the gospel to the Emperor

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

, who had the

patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

summon a synod to rule in favour of Cyprus against Antioch. In 488, Zeno confirmed the Cypriot church's

autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...

and financed the construction of a church to hold Barnabas's relics. Many local notables contributed to the construction, which was begun immediately. This first building was a pilgrimage church and probably served as a stopover for many on the way to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The remains of this building are today a part of the monastery of Saint Barnabas. As the gospel that Anthemius gave to Zeno was a

codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

, it could not have been an authentic 1st-century copy. There are, however, different interpretations of the fraud. Michael Metcalf sees Anthemius as the deceiver (and Zeno the dupe) in a game of high politics with the patriarch of Antioch.

Glen Bowersock Glen Warren Bowersock (born January 12, 1936 in Providence, Rhode Island) is a historian of ancient Greece, Rome and the Near East, and former Chairman of Harvard’s classics department. Early life Bowersock was born in Providence, Rhode Island a ...

, on the other hand, sees Zeno and Anthemius as working together to resolve a dispute the emperor was equally interested in resolving. The claim that Zeno granted Anthemius regalian privileges is found in nothing earlier than the 16th-century works of

Florio Bustron Florio Bustron (1500s - post-1568, perhaps 1570), was a 16th century administrator, jurist and historian. Florio became a prominent administrative figure when Cyprus was under Venetian rule. He came from a family possibly of Syrian origin, with ...

, who may have invented it.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{refend Archbishops of Cyprus 5th-century Byzantine bishops