Cynegius

Cynegius (Greek: Κυνήγιος, Kunegios), as he is known in the Greek text of Mark the Deacon's Life of Porphyry, or Ğeniḡos (from Greek Γενικός, Genikos), as he is known in the Georgian, was a Christian counsellor of the Roman emperor Arcadius (395–408).[1][2]

For the praetorian prefect of the East, see Maternus Cynegius.

According to the Greek text of the Life, Cynegius was a member of Arcadius' consistorium with the rank of clarissimus, although the expected rank for a comes consistorianus is spectabilis.[3] The Georgian text says explicitly that he was a comes (count).[1] He was sent by Arcadius to Gaza in 402 to close down the pagan temple known as the Marneion.[3] This mission came at the request of a group of bishops led by Porphyry of Gaza. Cynegius was chosen for the task by the Empress Aelia Eudoxia.[4] In his successful mission, he was assisted by both the dux and the consularis of Palaestina Prima.[3]

Paul Peeters, the editor of the Georgian text of Mark's Life, and Raymond Van Dam argue that the name Cynegius is likely an error in the Greek text and that the authentic name is Genikos. The Georgian text is based on a Syriac original.[1][2] On the basis of the Greek text, most scholars have concluded that the official who closed down the Marneion was a relative of Maternus Cynegius, perhaps his son.[3][4] The elder Cynegius is known for closing temples in Egypt and Syria, leading John Matthews to see the selection of the younger Cynegius as indicating a common religious zeal.[4] On the other hand, Van Dam and Peeters see the selection of the name Cynegius by a later editor of the Greek Life as indicating the name's association with temple closures.[1][2][5]

If the name Cynegius is authentic, then he may be identified with the addressee of a letter of Bishop Firmus of Caesarea dated to 438. Firmus calls him a comes and the language of the letter is that between two aged friends.[4]

References
  1. Raymond Van Dam (1985), "From Paganism to Christianity at Late Antique Gaza", Viator 16: 1–20, at 14n. doi:10.1484/j.viator.2.301417
  2. Paul Peeters (1941), "La Vie géorgienne de Saint Porphyre de Gaza", Analecta Bollandiana 59: 65–216, at 83. doi:10.1484/j.abol.4.00879
  3. Martindale, John R., ed. (1980). The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire: Volume II, AD 395–527. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 331. ISBN 0-521-20159-4.
  4. John F. Matthews (1967), "A Pious Supporter of Theodosius I: Maternus Cynegius and His Family", The Journal of Theological Studies 18(2): 438–446, at 441–442.
  5. Giulia Sfameni Gasparro (2009), "Porfirio di Gaza, un «uomo santo» fra pagani, eretici e maghi: modelli retorici di propaganda religiosa e realtà storica", in Mariangela Monaca (ed.), Problemi di storia religiosa del mondo tardo-antico: tra mantica e magia (Edizioni Lionello Giordano), p. 201–294, at 241n.

Further reading
  • F. M. Marique (1963), "Another Cynegius of the Fourth Century", Classical Folia 17: 60–62.
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