Abstract:
The article is a contribution to the more than one-hundred-year-long discussion on the date of death of Simeon bar Sabba’e, metropolitan bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, and the beginning of the persecution of Christians in Persia during the reign of Shapur II. The author stresses the point that the main source on Simeon’s martyrdom is a hagiographical work and, as such, it should be interpreted strictly on the basis of the principles relevant to the genre. Taking some of the hypotheses formulated to date into consideration, the author holds the view that it is not possible to determine the precise date of Simeon’s death. It could only be assumed that it must have occurred somewhere between February 344 and July 345, most likely in late 344.
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