4 - Asia, Aphrodisias, and the Lyon Martyrium

Summary

Nearly two decades ago I queried the extraordinary prescript of the great letter, preserved by Eusebius, concerning the martyrdom at Lyon in the year ad 177. The letter, clearly full of many authentic details concerning the martyrdom, begins with a prescript containing a striking formulation of the home territory of the recipients: οἱ ἐν Βιέννη καὶ Λουγδούνῳ τῆς Γαλλίς παροικοῠντες δοῠλοι Χριστοῠ τοῐς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν καὶ Φρυγίαν τὴν αὐτὴν τῆς ἀπολυτρώσεως ἡμῐν πίστιν καὶ ἐλπίδα ἔχουσιν ἀδελϕοῐς. The conjunction of Asia and Phrygia seemed odd, inasmuch as Phrygia was an integral part of Asia in normal second-century usage, although a few texts of apparently later date displayed such phrasing as “Asia and Phrygia,” “Asia and Lydia,” or “Asia and Caria.”