Possidius (5th century) was a friend of
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
who wrote a reliable biography and an ''indiculus'' or list of his works. He was bishop of
Calama in the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Numidia
Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...
.
Biography
![GM Guelma Theatre romain01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/GM_Guelma_Theatre_romain01.jpg)
The dates of his birth and death are unknown. In the ''Vita S. Augustini'' (xxxi), after describing the death of Augustine, Possidius speaks of his unbroken friendship with him for forty years. He also, speaking of himself in the third person, lets it be known that he was one of the clergy of Augustine's monastery.
[Bacchus, Francis Joseph. "St. Possidius." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 10 January 2020
The date of his promotion to the episcopate was, according to
Tillemont, about 397. He followed Augustine's example and established a monastery at Calama, an area much disturbed by factions. At a council held at
Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
, Possidius challenged Crispinus, the
Donatist
Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...
Bishop of Calama, to a public discussion which the latter refused. In 404 a party of Donatists dragged Possidius out of his house, beat him, and threatened his life. Donatist extremists set fire to a house where Possidius was visiting.
["St. Possidius", Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel of the Augustinian Order/ Midwest Augustines]
/ref> Legal proceedings were instituted against Crispinus, the bishop, who refused to punish the presbyter
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...
responsible. Crispinus was condemned for heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
and was heavily fined, but at the intercession of Possidius the fine was not exacted).
In 407, Possidius served, with Augustine and five other bishops, on a committee appointed to adjudicate upon some ecclesiastical matter, the particulars of which are not known. In 408 he nearly lost his life in a riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people.
Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The property targete ...
stirred up by the pagans at Calama (Augustine, "Epp.", xc, xci, xciii). In 409 he was one of four bishops deputed to go to Italy to obtain the protection of the emperor against the Donatists. He was one of the seven bishops chosen to represent the Catholic party at the ''collatio'' of 411.[
In 416 he assisted at the Council of Milevum, where fifty-nine Numidian bishops addressed a synodal letter to Innocent I, asking him to take action against ]Pelagianism
Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from t ...
. He joined with Augustine and three other bishops in a further letter to Innocent on the same subject, and was at the conference between Augustine and the Donatist Emeritus. When the Germanic Vandals
The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The ...
invaded Africa, he fled to Hippo and was present at the death of Augustine (430).
In 437, according to Prosper {{wiktionary, prosper
Prosper may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places in the United States
* Prosper, Minnesota, an unincorporated community
* Prosper, North Dakota, an unincorporated community
* Prosper, Oregon, an unincorporated community
* Prosper, Texa ...
, who, in his ''Chronicle'', records that Possidius and two other bishops were persecuted and expelled from their sees by the Vandal
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
king, Gaiseric
Gaiseric ( – 25 January 477), also known as Geiseric or Genseric ( la, Gaisericus, Geisericus; reconstructed Vandalic: ) was King of the Vandals and Alans (428–477), ruling a kingdom he established, and was one of the key players in the diff ...
, who was an Arian
Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God t ...
.[ Possidius died in ]Apulia
it, Pugliese
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shortly thereafter.
Works
*His ''Vita S. Augustini'', composed before the capture of Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
(439), is included in all editions of the works of Augustine, and also printed in Hurter
The von Hurter family belonged to the Swiss nobility; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries three of them were known for their conversions to Roman Catholicism, their ecclesiastical careers in Austria and their theological writings.
Friedr ...
's "Opusc. SS. Patr.".
*His ''indiculus'' ('small index') will be found in the last volume of Migne's edition of the works of Augustine and in the tenth volume of the Benedictine edition.
Canonization
Pope Clement X
Pope Clement X ( la, Clemens X; it, Clemente X; 13 July 1590 – 22 July 1676), born Emilio Bonaventura Altieri, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 April 1670 to his death in July 1676. Elected pope at ag ...
confirmed devotion to Possidius on August 19, 1672, along with his contemporary Alypius of Thagaste
Alypius of Thagaste was bishop of the see of Tagaste (in what is now Algeria) in 394. He was a lifelong friend of Augustine of Hippo and joined him in his conversion (in 386; ''Confessions'' 8.12.28) and life in Christianity. He is credited wit ...
, another North African bishop who was a friend of Saint Augustine. Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova. “May 16 - Saints Alypius and Possidius”. augustinian.org. Accessed 12 Aug 2020
/ref>
References
Sources
*
External links
at th
Tertullian Project
Critical Latin text and English translation of the "Life of St. Augustine"
at Archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Possidius
Christian writers
Numidian saints
5th-century bishops in Roman North Africa
4th-century births
5th-century deaths
5th-century Christian saints