Priscus

The Latin cognomen Priscus, meaning ancient or venerable, was relatively common in the Roman world and was borne by several distinct early Christian martyrs and bishops. Hagiographical sources, including the Roman Martyrology, local Campanian calendars, and the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea, preserve notices of more than one holy man of this name. Because the subject of this entry is identified only as Priscus, without a see, a set of companion martyrs, or a specific feast date, it is not possible to assign a single, verified year of birth or death, nor a unique place of origin. The following account therefore separates the principal figures rather than merging legendary and historical data into one biography.

The most securely documented is the Palestinian martyr Priscus who died at Caesarea Maritima in the persecution of the emperor Valerian, in the middle of the third century. Eusebius of Caesarea, a native of that city writing a generation later, states in Book VII of the Ecclesiastical History that Priscus, together with Malchus and Alexander, were Christians living in the countryside near Caesarea and were distinguished for their devout life. They came forward of their own accord before the governor and were condemned to be thrown to wild beasts. Later Latin martyrologies assign their commemoration to 28 March. Eusebius gives no age, parentage, occupation, or birthplace beyond the rural territory of Caesarea in Palaestina. Nothing is known of a wife or children, and there is no indication that this Priscus held episcopal office.

In Campania two episcopal cults grew up around the same name. At Capua, Saint Priscus was venerated as bishop and martyr, with a feast on 1 September. Medieval legend identified him as one of the seventy-two disciples of Christ or as a companion sent by the apostle Peter; the nearby town of San Prisco takes its name from him, and a church in his honor existed from an early date. Critical historians regard the apostolic chronology as a typical claim of Petrine foundation by a Campanian see and treat this Priscus more cautiously as a local martyr or early bishop whose genuine acts have not survived. At Nocera (ancient Nuceria Alfaterna, later Nocera Inferiore) another Saint Priscus was honored as bishop, with a feast on 9 May. He is the principal patron of that city, and the cathedral of Nocera Inferiore is dedicated to him. The story that Saint Peter personally consecrated him is likewise legendary. Neither the Capuan nor the Noceran saint can be given a verified birth year, and their death dates remain uncertain, although both cults are of considerable antiquity.

Other martyrs named Priscus appear in the martyrological tradition: an African martyr; a companion associated in some recensions with the passion of Saint Quintinus in Belgic Gaul; and occasional soldiers or unnamed companions in group passions. None of these men is recorded as Bishop of Rome or as patriarch of an Eastern see, and none belonged to a later religious order. Patronages, where they exist, are strictly local: Capua and San Prisco for the Capuan saint, Nocera Inferiore for the Noceran bishop. Formal papal canonization or beatification does not apply; these are pre-congregational saints received by the Church through liturgical and martyrological custom. In the absence of a more precise identification, dates of birth and death, places of burial, and family circumstances must be left unknown.