Glaubenskrieger - Kriegsdienstverweigerer - Wort- und Blutzeuge des Evangeliums. Charakterliche Vielschichtigkeit, Intertextualität und Versionenpluralität in der lateinischen Passio Theodor Tiros

Abstract

The Latin dossier on Theodore the Recruit derives in its entirety from the early fifth-century Greek Passio (BHG 1761-62). During the seventh and eighth centuries, the West became acquainted with two versions of it: the older one (BHL 8078) is based on a lost recension of the Greek text which had combined Theodore with Eutropius and Basiliscus in order to present a triad of iconoclast soldier-saints. This older version also exists in a slightly better attested redaction of Northern French origin (BHL 8079). The Latin standard-text (BHL 8077), however, results from an original (re-)translation of BHG 1761, which also relies on the earlier version 8078 and other Latin Martyria of similar content, such as the Martyrdom of Polycarp or the Passio Nestoris. Both the relatively high quality of the translations and the development of Theodore’s cult in the West speak to their Italian origin, at some point between the late sixth and early eighth centuries.