The term Tetrarchy (Greek: "leadership of four [people]") describes any system of government where power is divided among four individuals, but usually refers to the tetrarchy instituted by Roman Emperor Diocletian in 293, marking the end of the Crisis of the Third Century and the recovery of the Roman Empire. This Tetrarchy lasted until c.313, when internecine conflict eliminated most of the claimants to power, leaving Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East.

Terminology

Although the term "tetrarch" was current in antiquity, it was never used to describe the imperial college under Diocletian or Galerius. The term was used to describe independent portions of a kingdom that were ruled under separate leaders. The tetrarchy of Judaea, established after the death of Herod the Great, is the most famous example of the antique tetrarchy. The term was understood in the Latin world as well, where Pliny the Elder glossed it as follows: "each is the equivalent of a kingdom, and also part of one" (''regnorum instar singulae et in regna contribuuntur'').

The sense in which the term was used by the ancients is distinct from the sense it carries in modern literature on Diocletianic government: whereas the Judaean tetrarchy was a set of four independent and distinct states, where each tetrarch ruled a quarter of a kingdom, the Diocletianic tetrarchy was a college, led by a single supreme leader. When later authors described the period, this is what they emphasized: Ammianus has Constantius II admonish Julian for disobedience by appealing to the example in submission set by Diocletian's lesser colleagues; Julian himself would compare the Diocletianic tetrarchs to a chorus surrounding a leader, speaking in unison under his command. Only Lactantius, a contemporary of Diocletian and a deep ideological opponent of the Diocletianic state, referred to the tetrarchs as a simple multiplicity of rulers.

Much modern scholarship was written without the term. Although Edward Gibbon pioneered the description of the Diocletianic government as a "new empire", he never used the term. Neither did Theodor Mommsen. It did not appear in the literature until 1887, when it was used by the schoolmaster Hermann Schiller in a two-volume handbook on the Roman Empire, ''Geschichte der Römischen Kaiserzeit''. Schiller called it "''die diokletianische Tetrarchie''". The term did not catch on in the literature, however, until Otto Seeck used it in 1897.

Creation

The first phase, sometimes referred to as the Diarchy ("rule of two"), involved the designation of the general Maximian as co-emperor — firstly as ''Caesar'' (junior emperor) in 285, followed by his promotion to ''Augustus'' in 286. Diocletian took care of matters in the Eastern regions of the Empire while Maximian similarly took charge of the Western regions. In 293, feeling more focus was needed on both civic and military problems, Diocletian, with Maximian's consent, expanded the imperial college by appointing two ''Caesars'' (one responsible to each ''Augustus'') — Galerius and Constantius Chlorus.

In 305, the senior emperors jointly abdicated and retired, allowing Constantius and Galerius to be elevated in rank to ''Augusti''. They in turn appointed two new Caesars — Severus II in the east under Constantius, and Maximinus in the west under Galerius — thereby creating the second Tetrarchy.

Regions and capitals

The four Tetrarchs based themselves not at Rome but in other cities closer to the frontiers, mainly intended as headquarters for the defence of the empire against bordering rivals (notably Sassanian Persia) and barbarians (mainly Germanic, and an endless procession from the eastern steppe; many nomadic or elsewhere chased tribes) at the Rhine and Danube. These centres are known as the "Tetrarchic capitals". Although Rome ceased to be an operational capital, the "Eternal City" continued to be nominal capital of the entire empire, not reduced to the status of a province but under its own, unique Prefect of the City (praefectus urbis, later copied in Constantinople).

The four Tetrarchic capitals were:

Nicomedia in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Izmit in Turkey), a base for defence against invasion from the Balkans and Persia's Sassanids was the capital of Diocletian, the eastern (and most senior) ''Augustus''; in the final reorganisation by Constantine the Great, in 318, the equivalent of his domain, facing the most redoubtable foreign enemy, Sassanid Persia, became the pretorian prefecture ''Oriens'' 'the East', the core of later Byzantium.

Sirmium (modern Sremska Mitrovica) in the Vojvodina region of modern Serbia, and near Belgrade, on the Danube border) was the capital of Galerius, the eastern ''Caesar''; this was to become the Balkans-Danube prefecture ''Illyricum''.

Mediolanum (modern Milan, near the Alps) was the capital of Maximian, the western ''Augustus''; his domain became "Italia et Africa", with only a short exterior border.

Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier, in Germany) was the capital of Constantius Chlorus, the western ''Caesar'', near the strategic Rhine border, it had been the capital of Gallic emperor Tetricus I; this quarter became the prefecture Galliae.

Aquileia, a port on the Adriatic coast, and Eboracum (modern York, in northern England near the Celtic tribes of modern Scotland and Ireland), were also significant centres for Maximian and Constantius respectively.

In terms of regional jurisdiction there was no precise division between the four Tetrarchs, and this period did not see the Roman state actually split up into four distinct sub-empires. Each emperor had his zone of influence within the Roman Empire, but little more, mainly high command in a 'war theatre'. Each Tetrarch was himself often in the field, while delegating most of the administration to the hierarchic bureaucracy headed by his respective Pretorian Prefect, each supervising several Vicarii, the governors-general in charge of another, lasting new administrative level, the civil diocese. For a listing of the provinces, now known as eparchy, within each quarter (known as a praetorian prefecture), see Roman province.

In the West, the ''Augustus'' Maximian controlled the provinces west of the Adriatic Sea and the Syrtis, and within that region his ''Caesar'', Constantius, controlled Gaul and Britain. In the East, the arrangements between the ''Augustus'' Diocletian and his ''Caesar'', Galerius, were much more flexible.

However, it appears that some contemporary and later writers, such as the Christian author Lactantius, and Sextus Aurelius Victor (who wrote about fifty years later and from uncertain sources), misunderstood the Tetrarchic system in this respect, believing it to have involved a stricter division of territories between the four emperors.

Public image

Although power was shared in the Tetrarchic system, the public image of the four emperors in the imperial college was carefully managed to give the appearance of a united empire (''patrimonium indivisum''). This was especially important after the civil war of the third century.

The Tetrarchs appeared identical in all official portraits. Coinage dating from the Tetrarchic period depicts every emperor with identical features — only the inscriptions on the coins indicate which one of the four emperors is being shown. The Byzantine sculpture ''Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs'' (pictured at right) shows the Tetrarchs again with identical features and wearing the same military costume.

Military successes

One of the greatest problems facing emperors in the Third Century Crisis was that they were only ever able to personally command troops on one front at any one time. While Aurelian and Probus were prepared to accompany their armies thousands of miles between war regions, this was not an ideal solution. Furthermore, it was risky for an emperor to delegate power in his absence to a subordinate general, who might win a victory and then be proclaimed as a rival emperor himself by his troops (which often happened). All members of the imperial college, on the other hand, were of essentially equal rank, despite two being senior emperors and two being junior; their functions and authorities were also equal.

Under the Tetrarchy a number of important military victories were secured. Both the Dyarchic and the Tetrarchic system ensured that an emperor was nearby to every crisis area to personally direct and remain in control of campaigns simultaneously on more than just one front. After suffering a defeat by the Persians in 296, Galerius crushed Narseh in 298 — reversing a series of Roman defeats throughout the century — capturing members of the imperial household and a substantial amount of booty and gaining a highly favourable peace treaty, which secured peace between the two powers for a generation. Similarly, Constantius defeated the British usurper Allectus, Maximian pacified the Gauls, and Diocletian crushed the revolt of Domitianus in Egypt.

Demise

When in 305 the 20-year term of Diocletian and Maximian ended, both abdicated. Their Caesares, Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, were both raised to the rank of Augustus, and two new Caesares were appointed: Maximinus (Caesar to Galerius) and Flavius Valerius Severus (Caesar to Constantius). These four formed the second Tetrarchy.

However, the system broke down very quickly thereafter. When Constantius died in 306, Galerius promoted Severus to Augustus while Constantine the Great was proclaimed Augustus to succeed his father Constantius, by his father's troops. At the same time, Maxentius, the son of Maximian, resenting having been left out of the new arrangements, defeated Severus before forcing him to abdicate and then arranging his murder in 307. Maxentius and Maximian both then declared themselves Augusti. By 308 there were therefore no fewer than four claimants to the rank of Augustus (Galerius, Constantine, Maximian and Maxentius), and only one to that of Caesar (Maximinus).

In 308 Galerius, together with the retired emperor Diocletian and the supposedly retired Maximian, called an imperial "conference" at Carnuntum on the River Danube. The council agreed that Licinius would become Augustus in the West, with Constantine as his Caesar. In the East, Galerius remained Augustus and Maximinus remained his Caesar. Maximian was to retire, and Maxentius was declared an usurper. This agreement proved disastrous: by 308 Maxentius had become ''de facto'' ruler of Italy and Africa even without any imperial rank, and neither Constantine nor Maximinus — who had both been Caesares since 306 and 305 respectively — were prepared to tolerate the promotion of the Augustus Licinius as their superior.

After an abortive attempt to placate both Constantine and Maximinus with the meaningless title ''filius Augusti'' ("son of the Augustus", essentially an alternative title for Caesar), they both had to be recognised as Augusti in 309. However, four full Augusti all at odds with each other did not bode well for the Tetrarchic system.

Between 309 and 313 most of the claimants to the imperial office died or were killed in various civil wars. Constantine arranged Maximian's death by strangulation in 310. Galerius died naturally in 311. Maxentius was defeated by Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 and subsequently killed. Maximinus committed suicide at Tarsus in 313 after being defeated in battle by Licinius.

By 313, therefore, there remained only two emperors: Constantine in the West and Licinius in the East. The Tetrarchic system was at an end, although it took until 324 for Constantine to finally defeat Licinius, reunite the two halves of the Roman Empire and declare himself sole Augustus.

Timeline

285–293

:;Augusti ::''Oriens'' Diocletian (285–293) ::''Occidens'' Maximian (285–293)

293–305

:;Augusti ::''Oriens'' Diocletian (285–305) ::''Italia et Africa'' Maximian (285–305) :;Caesars ::''Illyricum'' Galerius (293–305) ::''Gallia et Hispaniae'' Constantius Chlorus (293–305) :;Usurpers ::''Amandus et Aelianus'' – ''leaders of the Bagaudae in Gaule'' ''(285–286)'' ::''Sabinus Iulianus'' – ''Africa Zeugitana'' ''(circa 285–293)'' ::''Britania'' Carausius (286–293) ::''Britania'' Allectus (293–296) ::''Domitius Domitianus'' – ''Aegyptus'' ''(296–297)'' ::''Aurelius Achilleus'' – ''Aegyptus'' ''(297–298)'' ::''Eugenius'' – ''Syria Coele'' ''(303/304)''

305–306

:;Augusti ::''Illyricum'' Galerius (305–306) ::''Gallia, Hispaniae et Britannia'' Constantius Chlorus (305–306) :;Caesars ::''Oriens'' Maximinus Daia (305–306) ::''Italia et Africa'' Flavius Valerius Severus (305–306)

306–307

:;Augusti ::''Illyricum'' Galerius (306–307) ::''Italia et Africa'' Flavius Valerius Severus (306–307) :;Caesars ::''Oriens'' Maximinus Daia (306–307) ::''Gallia, Hispaniae et Britannia ''Constantine I (306–307) ::''Roma'' Maxentius (307)

307–313

:;Augusti ::''Illyricum'' Galerius (307–311) ::''Gallia, Hispaniae et Britannia'' Constantine I (307–…) ::''Thracia et Pontus to Taurus'' Licinius (308–…) ::''Italia'' Maxentius (307–312) ::''Oriens from Taurus to Aegyptus'' Maximinus Daia (310–313) ::''Italia'' Maximian (307–310)

:;Caesars ::''Oriens from Taurus to Aegyptus'' Maximinus Daia (307–310)

:;Usurpers ::''Domitius Alexander'' – ''Africa'' ''(308–311)'' ''Constantine's Allied''

313–324

:;Augusti ::''Oriens'' Licinius (313–324) ::''Occidens'' Constantine I (313–324) ::''Oriens'' Sextus Martinianus (324)

:;Caesars ::''Italia'' Bassianus (313–314) ::''Illyricum'' Valerius Valens (314–316) ::''Oriens'' Licinius the Younger (317–324) ::''Occidens'' Crispus (317–326)

324

:;Augustus ::Constantine I

Legacy

Although the Tetrarchic system as such only lasted until c. 313, many aspects survived. The fourfold regional division of the empire continued in the form of Praetorian prefectures, each of which was overseen by a praetorian prefect and subdivided into administrative dioceses, and often reappeared in the title of the military supra-provincial command assigned to a magister militum.

The pre-existing notion of ''consortium imperii'', the sharing of imperial power, and the notion that an associate to the throne was the designated successor (possibly conflicting with the notion of hereditary claim by birth or adoption), was to reappear repeatedly.

The idea of the two halves, the East and the West, re-emerged and eventually resulted in the permanent de facto division into two separate Roman empires after the death of Theodosius I (though it is important to remember that the Empire was never formally divided, Emperors of East and West legally ruling as one imperial college until the fall of Rome's western empire left Byzantium, the "second Rome", sole direct heir).

Other examples

Tetrarchies in the ancient world existed in both Thessaly (in northern Greece) and Galatia (in central Asia Minor; including Lycaonia) as well as among the British Cantiaci.

The constellation of Jewish principalities in Roman Palestine was known as a tetrarchy; see Tetrarchy (Judea).

See also

Notitia dignitatum, a later document from the imperial chancery

Notes

References

Leadbetter, William Lewis (2009). ''Galerius and the Will of Diocletian''. London and New York: Routledge.

External links

A detailed chronology of the tetrarchy from Diocletian to Constantine

A chart showing the tetrarchy from Diocletian to Constantine

Category:Roman Empire Category:293 establishments Category:Constitutional state types Category:Emperors Category:Forms of government Category:Late Antiquity Category:Monarchy Category:Oligarchy

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Border	imperial
royal title	Emperor
realm	the Roman Empire
coatofarms	Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg
coatofarmscaption	Vexillum
style	Imperator, Augustus, Caesar, Princeps, Dominus Noster, or Autokrator (depending on period)
first monarch	Augustus
last monarch	Theodosius I (Unified or Classical),Romulus Augustus (Western),Constantine XI (Eastern)
began	27 BC
ended	AD 395 (Unified or Classical),AD 476 (Western),AD 1453 (Eastern)
pretender	None }}

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC). The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the Emperor. If a man was "proclaimed Emperor" this normally meant he was proclaimed ''augustus'', or (for generals) ''imperator'' (from which English ''emperor'' ultimately derives). Several other titles & offices were regularly accumulated by emperors, such as ''caesar'', ''princeps senatus'', ''consul'' and ''pontifex maximus''. The power of Emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army.

Roman Emperors refused to be considered "kings", instead claiming to be leaders of a republic, however nominal. The first Emperor, Augustus, resolutely refused recognition as a monarch. Although Augustus could claim that his power was authentically Republican, his successor, Tiberius, could not convincingly make the same claim. Nonetheless, the Republican institutional framework (senate, consuls, magistracies etc.) was preserved until the very end of the Western Empire.

By the time of Diocletian, Emperors were openly "monarchs", but the contrast with "kings" was maintained: Although the imperial succession was, ''de facto'', generally hereditary, it was only hereditary if there was a suitable candidate acceptable to the army and the bureaucracy so the principle of ''automatic'' inheritance was not adopted. The Eastern (Byzantine) emperors ultimately adopted the formal title of ''Basileus'', which had meant ''king'' in Greek, but became a title reserved solely for the "Roman" Emperor (and the ruler of the Sassanid Empire). Other kings were referred to as ''regas''.

In addition to their pontifical office, Emperors were given divine status: initially after their death, but later from their accession. As Christianity prevailed over paganism, the emperor's religious status changed to that of Christ's regent on earth, and the Empire's status was seen as part of God's plan to Christianize the world.

The Western Roman Empire ended in 476 and the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453.

Overview

Rome used no single constitutional office, title or rank exactly equivalent to the English title "Roman Emperor". Romans of the Imperial era used several titles to denote their emperors, and all were associated with the pre-Imperial, Republican era. "Roman Emperor" is a convenient shorthand used by historians to express the complex nature of the person otherwise known as princeps - itself a republican honorific.

The emperor's legal authority derived from an extraordinary concentration of individual powers and offices extant in the Republic rather than from a new political office; emperors were regularly elected to the offices of consul and censor. Among their permanent privileges were the traditional Republican title of ''princeps senatus'' (leader of the Senate) and the religious office of ''pontifex maximus'' (chief priest of Roman state). Every emperor held the latter office and title until Gratian surrendered it in 382 AD to St. Siricius; it eventually became an auxiliary honor of the Bishop of Rome.

These titles and offices conferred great personal prestige (''dignitas'') but the basis of an emperor's powers derived from his ''auctoritas'': this assumed his greater powers of command (''imperium maius'') and tribunician power (''tribunicia potestas'') as personal qualities, independent of his public office. As a result, he formally outranked provincial governors and ordinary magistrates. He had the right to enact or revoke sentences of capital punishment, was owed the obedience of private citizens (''privati'') and by the terms of the ''ius auxiliandi'' could save any plebeian from any patrician magistrate's decision. He could veto any act or proposal of any magistrate, including the tribunes of the people (''ius intercedendi'' or ''ius intercessionis''). His person was held to be sacrosanct.

Roman magistrates on official business were expected to wear the form of toga associated with their office; different togas were worn by different ranks; senior magistrates had the right to togas bordered with purple. A triumphal imperator of the Republic had the right to wear the toga picta (of solid purple, richly embroidered) for the duration of the triumphal rite. During the Late Republic, the most powerful had this right extended. Pompey and Caesar are both thought to have worn the triumphal toga and other triumphal dress at public functions. Later Emperors were distinguished by wearing ''togae purpurae'', purple togas; hence the phrase "to don the purple" for the assumption of imperial dignity.

The titles customarily associated with the imperial dignity are ''imperator'' ("commander", lit. "one who prepares against"), which emphasizes the emperor's military supremacy and is the source of the English word ''emperor''; ''caesar'', which was originally a name but it came to be used for the designated heir (as ''Nobilissimus Caesar'', "Most Noble Caesar") and was retained upon accession. The ruling emperor's title was the descriptive ''augustus'' ("majestic" or "venerable", which had tinges of the divine), which was adopted upon accession. In Greek, these three titles were rendered as ''autokratōr'' (""), ''kaisar'' (""), and ''augoustos'' ("") or ''sebastos'' ("") respectively. In Diocletian's Tetrarchy, the traditional seniorities were maintained: Augustus was reserved for the two senior emperors and ''Caesar'' for the two junior emperors - each delegated a share of power and responsibility but each an emperor-in-waiting, should anything befall his senior.

As ''princeps senatus'' (lit., "first man of the senate"), the emperor could receive foreign embassies to Rome; some emperors (such as Tiberius) are known to have delegated this task to the Senate. In modern terms these early emperors would tend to be identified as chiefs of state. The office of ''princeps senatus,'' however, was not a magistracy and did not own ''imperium''. At some points in the empire's history, the emperor's power was nominal; powerful praetorian prefects, masters of the soldiers and on a few occasions, other members of the Imperial family including Imperial mothers and grandmothers acted as the true source of power.

''Imperator''

The title ''imperator'' dates back to the Roman Republic, when a victorious commander could be hailed as ''imperator'' in the field by his troops. The Senate could then award (or withhold) the extraordinary honour of a triumph; the triumphal commander retained the title until the end of his magistry. Roman tradition held the first triumph as that of Romulus but the first attested recipient of the title ''imperator'' in a triumphal context is Aemilius Paulus in 189 BC. It was a title held with great pride: Pompey was hailed ''imperator'' more than once, as was Sulla, but it was Julius Caesar who first used it permanently - according to Dio, this was a singular and excessive form of flattery granted by the Senate, passed to Caesar's adopted heir along with his name and virtually synonymous with it.

In 38 BC Agrippa refused a triumph for his victories under Octavian's command and this precedent established the rule that the ''princeps'' should assume both the salutation and title of ''imperator''. It seems that from then on Octavian (later first emperor Augustus) used imperator as a praenomen (''Imperator Caesar'' not ''Caesar imperator''). From this the title came to denote the supreme power and was commonly used in that sense. Otho was the first to imitate Augustus but only with Vespasian did ''imperator'' (emperor) become the official title by which the ruler of the Roman Empire was known.

''Princeps''

The word ''princeps'' (plural ''principes''), meaning "first", was a republican term used to denote the leading citizen(s) of the state. It was a purely honorific title with no attached duties or powers. It was the title most preferred by Caesar Augustus as its use implies only primacy, as opposed to another of his titles, ''imperator'', which implies dominance. ''Princeps'', because of its republican connotation, was most commonly used to refer to the emperor in Latin (although the emperor's actual constitutional position was essentially "pontifex maximus with tribunician power and ''imperium'' superseding all others") as it was in keeping with the façade of the restored republic; the Greek word ''basileus'' ("king") was modified to be synonymous with emperor (and primarily came into favour after the reign of Heraclius) as the Greeks had no republican sensibility and openly viewed the emperor as a monarch.

In the era of Diocletian and beyond, ''princeps'' fell into disuse and was replaced with ''dominus'' ("lord"); later emperors used the formula ''Imperator Caesar NN. Pius Felix (Invictus) Augustus''. NN representing the individual's personal name, Pius Felix, meaning "Pious and Blest", and Invictus meaning "undefeated". The use of ''princeps'' and ''dominus'' broadly symbolise the differences in the empire's government, giving rise to the era designations "Principate" and "Dominate".

First Roman Emperor

At the end of the Roman Republic no new, and certainly no single title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as ''emperor'' could be seen as the English translation of imperator, then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, like several Roman generals before him. Instead, by the end of the civil wars in which Julius Caesar had led his armies, it became clear on the one hand that there was certainly no consensus to return to the old-style monarchy, and that on the other hand the situation where several officials, bestowed with equal power by the senate, fought one another had to come to an end.

Julius Caesar, then Octavian after him, accumulated offices and titles of the highest importance in the Republic, making the power attached to these offices permanent, and preventing anyone with similar aspirations from accumulating or maintaining power for themselves. However, Julius Caesar, unlike those after him, did so ''without'' the Senate's vote and approval.

Julius Caesar held the Republican offices of consul four times and dictator five times, was appointed dictator in perpetuity (''dictator perpetuo'') in 45 BC and had been "pontifex maximus" for several decades. He gained these positions by senatorial consent. By the time of his assassination in 44 BC he was the most powerful man in Rome.

In his will, Caesar appointed his adopted son Octavian as his heir. On Caesar's death, Octavian inherited his adoptive father's property and lineage, the loyalty of most of his allies and - again through a formal process of senatorial consent – an increasing number of the titles and offices that had accrued to Caesar. A decade after Caesar's death, Octavian's victory over his erstwhile ally Mark Antony at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed Octavian's supremacy.

In 27 BC, Octavian appeared before the Senate and offered to retire from active politics and government; the Senate not only requested he remain, but increased his powers and made them lifelong, awarding him the title of Augustus (the elevated or divine one, somewhat less than a god but approaching divinity). Octavian stayed in office till his death; the sheer breadth of his superior powers as princeps and permanent imperator of Rome's armies guaranteed the peaceful continuation of what nominally remained a republic. His "restoration" of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his ''auctoritas'' and pious respect for tradition.

Even at Augustus' death, some later historians such as Tacitus would say that the true restoration of the Republic might have been possible. Instead, Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his replacement and pleaded his case to the Senate for inheritance through merit. The Senate disputed the issue but eventually confirmed Tiberius as princeps. Once in power, Tiberius took considerable pains to observe the forms and day-to-day substance of republican government.

The historians of the 1st centuries observed the dynastic continuity: if a hereditary monarchy-not-by-kings existed after the republic, it had started with Julius Caesar. In this sense Suetonius wrote of ''The Twelve Caesars,'' meaning the Emperors from Julius Caesar to the Flavians included (where, after Nero, the ''inherited name'' had turned into a ''title''), and emperors adopted themselves into an Imperial lineage.

Fall of the West

By the end of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was split into Western and an Eastern parts, each with its own ''augustis'' (and/or ''caesares''). In the West, which included Rome, the succession of emperors ended in the year 476 when the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by the Germanic King Odoacer, although many maintain that Julius Nepos was the last emperor and that the Eastern emperor Zeno decided not to appoint a new emperor in the West. This is generally accepted to be the end of Antiquity and the beginning the Early Middle Ages also known as the Dark Ages.

However, Roman rule had disintegrated somewhat earlier in the century as a result of Germanic invasions which had overrun all of the territory that had belonged to the western half of the Roman Empire. In the east however, the Eastern Roman Empire survived until 1453. Although the Greek-speaking inhabitants were ''Romaioi'' (Ῥωμαῖοι), many in Western Europe referred to the political entity as the "Greek Empire". Today it is known as the Byzantine Empire, as its capital was once the city of Byzantium, which had been massively expanded and re-named Constantinople in honour of the emperor Constantine the Great, and is now known as the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Survival of the Roman Empire in the East

The line of Roman Emperors in the Eastern Roman Empire continued unbroken until the fall of Constantinople in 1453 under Constantine XI Palaiologos. These emperors eventually normalized the imperial dignity into the modern conception of an emperor, incorporated it into the constitutions of the state, and adopted the aforementioned title ''Basileus kai autokratōr Rhomaiōn'' ("Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans"). These emperors ceased to use Latin as the language of state after Heraclius. Historians have customarily treated the state of these later Eastern emperors under the name "Byzantine Empire", though ''Byzantine'' is not a term that the Byzantines ever used to describe themselves.

Last Roman Emperor

Constantine XI Palaiologos was the last reigning Roman Emperor. A member of the Palaiologos dynasty, he ruled the feeble remnant of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire from 1449 until his death in 1453 defending its capital Constantinople.

He was born in Mystra as the eighth of ten children of Manuel II Palaiologos and Helena Dragaš, the daughter of the Serbian prince Constantine Dragaš of Kumanovo. He spent most of his childhood in Constantinople under the supervision of his parents. During the absence of his older brother in Italy, Constantine was regent in Constantinople from 1437-1440.

Before the beginning of the siege, Mehmed II made an offer to Constantine XI. In exchange for the surrender of Constantinople, the emperor's life would be spared and he would continue to rule in Mystra. Constantine refused this offer. Instead he led the defense of the city and took an active part in the fighting along the land walls. At the same time, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain the necessary unity between the Genovese, Venetian, and Byzantine troops. As the city fell on May 29, 1453, Constantine is said to have remarked: "The city is fallen but I am alive." Realizing that the end had come, he reportedly discarded his purple cloak and led his remaining soldiers into a final charge, in which he was killed. With his death, Roman imperial succession came to an end, almost 1500 years after Augustus.

After the fall of Constantinople, Thomas Palaiologos, brother of Constantine IX, was elected Emperor and tried to organize the remaining forces. His rule came to an end after the fall of the last major Byzantine city, Corinth. He then moved in Italy and continued to be recognized as Eastern Emperor by the Christian powers.

His son Andreas Palaiologos continued claims on the Byzantine throne until he sold the title to Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, the grandparents of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

New Western lineage

The concept of the Roman Empire was renewed in the West with the coronation of the king of the Franks, Charlemagne, as Roman emperor by the Pope on Christmas Day, 800. This line of Roman emperors was actually generally Germanic rather than Roman, but maintained their Roman-ness as a matter of principle. These emperors used a variety of titles (most frequently "''Imperator Augustus''") before finally settling on ''Imperator Romanus Electus'' ("Elected Roman Emperor"). Historians customarily assign them the title "Holy Roman Emperor", which has a basis in actual historical usage, and treat their "Holy Roman Empire" as a separate institution. To Latin Christians of the time, the Pope was the temporal authority as well as spiritual authority, and as Bishop of Rome he was recognized as having the power to anoint or crown a new Roman Emperor.

The title of "Western Roman Emperor" was further legitimized when the Eastern Roman Emperor at Constantinople recognized Charlemagne as basileus of the west. The last man to hold the title of proper Roman Emperor and to be crowned by the pope (although in Bologna, not Rome) was Charles V. All his successors bore only a title of "Emperor-elect". Charles V was also the last man to celebrate a triumph in Rome.

The line of "emperor-elect" rulers lasted until 1806 when Francis II dissolved the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. Despite the existence of later potentates styling themselves "Emperor", such as the Napoleons, the Habsburg Emperors of Austria, and the Hohenzollern heads of the German Reich, this marked the end of the Western Empire. Although there is a living heir to the Habsburg dynasty, as well as a Pope and pretenders to the positions of the electors, and although all the medieval coronation regalia are still preserved in Austria, the legal abolition of all aristocratic prerogatives of the former electors and the imposition of republican constitutions in Germany and Austria removed the potential for a revival of the Holy Roman Empire.

New Eastern lineage

The "seat" of the eastern lineage was claimed in Russia by the Byzantine-born wife of Ivan III "the Great" who would become the first 'Tsar' or 'Czar' the Russian title for 'Caesar.' He called Russia the third Rome (The capital of the Roman Empire moved to Byzantium by Constantine I, first called 'Nova Roma' and then Constantinople) where some of the relics of the Eastern Orthodox Church and from the Roman Empire were brought.

When Mehmed II conquered Constantinople on 29 May 1453, he claimed the title Emperor of the Roman Empire (Kayser-i-Rûm) and protector of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Here, the Caesar title should not be understood as the minor title it had become, but as the glorious title of the emperors of the past, a connotation that had been preserved in Persian and Arabic. The adoption of the title also implied that the Ottoman state considered itself the continuation (by absorption) of the Roman Empire - a view not shared in the West. Acting in his capacity as Caesar of the Roman Empire, Mehmed reinstated the defunct Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

He appointed the Patriarch of Constantinople Gennadius Scholarius, whom he protected and whose stature he elevated into leader of all the Eastern Orthodox Christians. As emperor of the Romans he laid claim to all Roman territories. However, at the time of the Fall of Constantinople, they extended to little more than the city itself, as well as a small area in Morea (the Peloponnese). Partly to bolster his claim to the title and reunite the Roman Empire, Mehmed II planned to conquer the city of Rome in 1480, but failed. The title of Roman emperor was added to the long list of other titles claimed by the Ottoman sultans.

A branch of the Comnenus family who provided emperors from 1081-1185 continued rule over the break-away Empire of Trebizond till 1461.

Titles and positions

Although these are the most common offices, titles, and positions, one should note that not all Roman emperors used them, nor were all of them used at the same time in history. The consular and censorial offices especially were not an integral part of the Imperial dignity, and were usually held by persons other than the reigning Emperor.

Augustus (also "" or ""), "Majestic" or "Venerable"; an honorific cognomen exclusive to the emperor , ''Autokrator'' (lit. "Self-ruler"); Greek title equivalent to imperator i.e. Commander-in-Chief (''Basileus''), Greek for King, popularly used in the east to refer to the emperor; a formal title of the Roman emperor beginning with Heraclius Caesar (also "" or "Nobilissimus Caesar"), "Caesar" or "Most Noble Caesar"; an honorific name later used to identify an Emperor-designate

Censor, a Republican office with a five year term and one coequal officeholder

Consul, the highest magistracy of the Roman Republic with a one year term and one coequal officeholder

Dominus, "Lord" or "Master"; an honorific title popular in the Empire's middle history

Imperator, "Commander" or "Commander-in-Chief"; a victory title taken on accession to the purple and after a major military victory; the praenomen of most Roman emperors

Imperator Destinatus, "Destined to be Emperor"; heir apparent, used by Septimius Severus for Caracalla.

''Imperium maius'', "greater ''imperium''"; absolute power to a degree greater than any other, including power of enacting capital punishment

Invictus, "Unconquered"; an honorific title

Pater Patriae, "Father of the Fatherland"; an honorific title

Pius Felix, "Pious and Blessed" an honorific title

Pontifex Maximus, "Supreme Pontiff" or "Chief Priest" (lit. "Greatest Bridgemaker"); a title and office of Republican origin—could not be used by "Catholic" Emperors, while by that time only the pope had a claim on the title of highest religious authority.

Princeps, "First Citizen" or "Leading Citizen"; an honorific title denoting the status of the emperor as first among equals

Princeps Iuventutis, "Prince of Youth"; an honorific title awarded to a presumptive Emperor-designate

Princeps Senatus, "First Man of the Senate" a Republican office with a five year term

''Tribunitia potestas'', "tribunician power"; the powers of a tribune of the people including sacrosanctity and the veto (the emperor could not ''be'' a "tribune" because a tribune was a plebeian by definition, therefore the emperor had the powers of a tribune without actually being one)

Powers

When Augustus established the ''Princeps'', he turned down supreme authority in exchange for a collection of various powers and offices, which in itself was a demonstration of his ''auctoritas'' ("authority"). As holding ''princeps senatus'', the emperor declared the opening and closure of each Senate session, declared the Senate's agenda, imposed rules and regulation for the Senate to follow, and met with foreign ambassadors in the name of the Senate. Being ''pontifex maximus'' made the emperor the chief administrator of religious affairs, granting him the power to conduct all religious ceremonies, consecrate temples, control the Roman calendar (adding or removing days as needed), appoint the vestal virgins and some flamens, lead the Collegium Pontificum, and summarize the dogma of the Roman religion.

While these powers granted the emperor a great deal of personal pride and influence, they did not include legal authority. In 23 BC, Augustus gave the emperorship its legal power. The first was ''Tribunitia Potestas'', or the power of the tribune without actually holding the office. This endowed the emperor with inviolability (sacrosanctity) of his person, and the ability to pardon any civilian for any act, criminal or otherwise. By holding the powers of the tribune, the emperor could prosecute anyone who interfered with the performance of his duties. The emperor's tribuneship granted him the right to convene the Senate at his will and lay proposals before it, as well as the ability to veto any act or proposal by any magistrate, including the actual tribune of the plebeians. Also, as holder of the tribune's power, the emperor would convoke the Council of the People, lay legislation before it, and served as the council's president. But his tribuneship only granted him power within Rome itself. He would need another power to veto the act of governors and that of the consuls while in the provinces.

To solve this problem, Augustus managed to have the emperor be given the right to hold two types of imperium. The first being ''consular imperium'' while he was in Rome, and ''imperium maius'' outside of Rome. While inside the walls of Rome, the reigning consuls and the emperor held equal authority, each being able to veto each other's proposals and acts, with the Emperor holding all of the Consul's powers. But outside of Rome, the emperor outranked the consuls and could veto them without the same effects on himself. Imperium Maius also granted the emperor authority over all the provincial governors, making him the ultimate authority in provincial matters and gave him the supreme command of all of Rome's legions. With Imperium Maius, the emperor was also granted the power to appoint governors of imperial provinces without the interference of the Senate. Also, Imperium Maius granted the emperor the right to veto the governors of the provinces and even the reigning consul while in the provinces.

Lineages and epochs

In the listings of Roman emperors below, the common name is given first, followed by the more formal name adopted upon accession to the purple, the name given at birth, and the years of his reign. So-called victory titles and other titles not forming an integral part of the name (''Pontifex Maximus'', ''Princeps Senatus'', ''Pater Patriae'', &c.;) are not listed. Co-emperors are listed in inferior text, along with notes identifying senior emperors who had hitherto served as co-emperors. Following abbreviations are used:

A.: Aulus

Aug.: Augustus (as a title)

C.: Gaius

Germ.: Germanicus

Imp.: Imperator

L.: Lucius

M.: Marcus

Max.: Maximus

Nob.: Nobilissimus

P.: Publius

P.F.: Pius Felix

Princ. Iuv.: Princeps Iuventutis

Q.: Quintus

Ser.: Servius

T.: Titus

Ti.: Tiberius

Principate

The nature of the imperial office and the Principate was established under Julius Caesar's heir and posthumously adopted son, Caesar Augustus, and his own heirs, the descendants of his wife Livia from her first marriage to a scion of the distinguished Claudian clan. This Julio-Claudian dynasty came to an end when the emperor Nero—a great-great-grandson of Augustus through his daughter and of Livia through her son—was deposed in 68.

Nero was followed by a succession of usurpers throughout 69, commonly called the "Year of the Four Emperors". The last of these, Vespasian, established his own Flavian dynasty. Nerva, who replaced the last Flavian emperor, Vespasian's son Domitian, in 96, was elderly and childless, and chose therefore to adopt an heir, Trajan, from outside his family. When Trajan acceded to the purple he chose to follow his predecessor's example, adopting Hadrian as his own heir, and the practise then became the customary manner of imperial succession for the next century, producing the "Five Good Emperors" and the Empire's period of greatest stability.

The last of the Good Emperors, Marcus Aurelius, chose his natural son Commodus as his successor rather than adopting an heir. Commodus's misrule led to his murder on 31 December 192, following which a brief period of instability quickly gave way to Septimius Severus, who established the Severan dynasty which, except for an interruption in 217-218, held the purple until 235.

Crisis of the Third Century

The accession of Maximinus Thrax marks both the close and the opening of an era. It was one of the last attempts by the increasingly impotent Roman Senate to influence the succession. Yet it was the second time that a man had achieved the purple while owing his advancement purely to his military career; both Vespasian and Septimius Severus had come from noble or middle class families, while Thrax was born a commoner. He never visited the city of Rome during his reign, which marks the beginning of a series of "barracks emperors" who came from the army. Between 235 and 285 over a dozen emperors achieved the purple, but only Valerian and Carus managed to secure their own sons' succession to the throne; both dynasties died out within two generations.

Dominate

The accession to the purple on 20 November 284, of Diocletian, the lower-class, Greek-speaking Dalmatian commander of Carus's and Numerian's household cavalry (''protectores domestici''), marked a major departure from traditional Roman constitutional theory regarding the emperor, who was nominally first among equals; Diocletian introduced oriental despotism into the imperial dignity. Whereas before emperors had worn only a purple toga (''toga purpura'') and been greeted with deference, Diocletian wore jewelled robes and shoes, and required those who greeted him to kneel (proskynesis) and kiss the hem of his robe ''(adoratio)''. In many ways, Diocletian was the first monarchical emperor, and this is symbolised by the fact that the word ''dominus'' ("Lord") rapidly replaced ''princeps'' as the favoured word for referring to the emperor. Significantly, neither Diocletian nor his co-emperor, Maximian, spent much time in Rome after 286, establishing their imperial capitals at Nicomedia and Mediolanum (modern Milan), respectively.

Diocletian established the Tetrarchy, a system by which the Roman Empire was divided into East and West, with each having an Augustus to rule over it and a Caesar to assist him. The Tetrarchy ultimately degenerated into civil war, but the eventual victor, Constantine the Great, restored Diocletian's system of dividing the Empire into East and West. He kept the East for himself and founded his city of Constantinople as its new capital.

The dynasty Constantine established was also soon swallowed up in civil war and court intrigue until it was replaced, briefly, by Julian the Apostate's general Jovian and then, more permanently, by Valentinian I and the dynasty he founded in 364. Though he was a soldier from a low middle class background, Valentinian was not a barracks emperor; he was elevated to the purple by a conclave of senior generals and civil officials.

Late empire

Theodosius I acceded to the purple in the East in 379 and in the West in 394. He outlawed paganism and made Christianity the Empire's official religion. He was the last emperor to rule over a united empire; the distribution of the East to his son Arcadius and the West to his son Honorius after his death in 395 represented a permanent division.

In the West, the office of emperor soon degenerated into being little more than a puppet of a succession of Germanic tribal kings, until finally the Heruli Odoacer simply overthrew the child-emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476, shipped the imperial regalia to the emperor Zeno in Constantinople and assumed the title "King of Italy". Though during his own lifetime Odoacer maintained the legal fiction that he was actually ruling Italy as the viceroy of Zeno, historians mark 476 as the traditional date of the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Large parts of Italy (Sicily, the south part of the peninsula, Ravenna, Venice etc.), however, remained under actual imperial rule from Constantinople for centuries, with imperial control slipping or becoming nominal only as late as the 11th century. In the East, the Empire continued until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. Although known as the Byzantine Empire by contemporary historians, the empire was simply known as the Roman Empire to its citizens and neighboring countries.

:''For rulers of Italy after Romulus "Augustulus" and Julius Nepos, see list of barbarian kings''.

:''For the Roman Emperors who ruled in the East after The Fall in the West, see List of Byzantine Emperors.''

:''For emperors of the HRE in the West , see Holy Roman Emperor.''

See also

Byzantine Emperor

Holy Roman Emperor

Imperator

Interregnum

Justitium

King of Rome

Roman Emperors family tree; also Julio-Claudian family tree and Severan dynasty family tree

Roman usurper

Lists:

List of Imperial Victory Titles

List of Roman Emperors

List of Roman usurpers

List of condemned Roman emperors

Notes

Further reading

External links

De Imperatoribus Romanis

Rulers of Rome

"Decadence, Rome and Romania, and the Emperors Who Weren't", by Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D.

UNRV.com

The Roman Law Library

Emperor Emperor, Roman Category:Positions of authority Category:Deified people

ang:Rōmānisc Cāsere ar:إمبراطور روماني ast:Emperador romanu bcl:Emperador Romano ca:Emperador romà de:Kaiser (Römisches Reich) et:Vana-Rooma keiser es:Emperador romano fr:Empereur romain ko:로마 제국의 황제 id:Kaisar Romawi is:Rómarkeisari it:Imperatore romano ka:რომის იმპერატორი la:Imperator Romanus mr:रोमन सम्राट ja:ローマ皇帝 pt:Imperador romano simple:Roman Emperor sk:Rímsky cisár (staroveký Rím) fi:Rooman keisari zh:罗马皇帝

name	Saint Peter the Apostle
birth date	ca. 1 BC
death date	possibly AD 67
feast day	main feast (with Paul of Tarsus) 29 June (Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Lutheranism)Chair of St Peter in Rome 18 January (Pre-1960 Roman Calendar)Confession of St Peter 18 January (Anglicanism)Chair of St Peter 22 February (Roman Catholic Church)St Peter in Chains 1 August (pre-1960 Roman Calendar)
venerated in	Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, Islam (''honoured'')
birth place	Bethsaida
death place	Rome, by crucifixion
titles	Prince of the Apostles, First Pope, Martyr, Preacher
attributes	Keys of Heaven, pallium, Papal vestments, Rooster, man crucified head downwards, vested as an Apostle, holding a book or scroll. Iconographically, he is depicted with a bushy white beard and white hair
patronage	See St. Peter's Patronage
major shrine	St. Peter's Basilica
major works	''1 Peter''''2 Peter''
influences	Jesus }}

Saint Peter or ''Simon Peter '' was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle. Simon Peter is venerated in multiple churches and is regarded as the first Pope by the Roman Catholic Church. After working to establish the church of Antioch for seven years presiding as the city's bishop and preaching to scattered communities of believers (Jews, Hebrew Christians and the gentiles), in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia Minor and Bithynia, Peter went to Rome. In the second year of Claudius, it is claimed, he overthrew Simon Magus and held the Sacerdotal Chair for 25 years. He is said to have been put to death at the hand of Nero. He wrote two Catholic epistles. The Gospel of Mark is also ascribed to him (as Mark was his disciple and interpreter). On the other hand, several books bearing his name—the Acts of Peter, Gospel of Peter, Preaching of Peter, Revelation of Peter, and Judgement of Peter—are rejected by Christians as Apocryphal.

According to New Testament accounts, he was one of Twelve Apostles, chosen by Jesus from his first disciples. He was a fisherman assigned a leadership role by Jesus and was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few Apostles, such as the Transfiguration.

Names and etymologies

Peter, a name derived from the Greek word for rock, is also known as Simon Peter, Cephas (), and Kepha (כיפא). Both Cephas and Kepha also mean rock. His original name was Shimon or Simeon. ''Simon Peter'' (, ''Pétros'', "stone, rock"; possibly died AD 67), sometimes Simon Cephas (, ''Simōn Kēphas''; ; , ''Sëmʻān Kêfâ'') after his name in Hellenised Aramaic. Cepha (cephah) is a native Aramaic ''Syriac'' word (ܟ݁ܺܐܦ݂ܳܐ | Kîpâ). However, a "loose language" modern Aramaic (Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, &c.;,) dictionary may define Cepha, e.g., such as in ., to mean Rock, yet, may ''not'' explain the actual origin of the word itself. It is unlikely that one will find this particular word [ܟ݁ܺܐܦ݂ܳܐ] in any "strict language" Aramaic dictionary other than that of the Aramaic ''Syriac'' dictionary. For instance the Hebrew word for Cepha [כֵּיפׇא] would not be present, while [סֶלַֽע | (ßĕ'lặᵉ) ; i.e., rock, cliff, Petra] would, for [סֶלַֽע] is a native Hebrew word. Within a "strict language" dictionary the word will be in its native and original form, thus ''rock'' will be translated into the language that which is being used, e.g., "''English-Hebrew dictionary''" where the word(s) for ''rock'' is translated as such : (הִתְנַדְנֵד−.פ, הִתְנוֹעֵעַ, הׇנֵעַ, נַדְנֵד, סֶלַע, צוּר, ש. (ריִֹק ''and not'' כֵּיפׇא \ כֵּיף.

The () is an indirect transliteration of the Syriac (ܟ݁ܺܐܦ݂ܳܐ), however the () is a direct transliteration of the Syriac (ܟ݁ܺܐܦ݂ܳܐ) and the () a direct transliteration of the Greek. Though the Hebrew word () is also used to which is a direct transliteration of the Syriac. (''cƒ.'' ''Interlinear Peshitta Aramaic New Testament Bible'' Matthew xvi. 18)

Kephas, Hebrew for "rock," was translated into Greek as Petros (which means "stone"), and into Latin as Petrus, from which are derived the English and German "Peter", the French "Pierre", the Italian "Pietro", the Spanish "Pedro", and the Russian "Piotr."

New Testament account

Peter's life story relies on the four Canonical Gospels, The Book of Acts, New Testament Letters, Non-Canonical Gospels such as the Gospel According to the Hebrews and other Early Church accounts of his life and death. In the New Testament, he is among the first of the disciples called during Jesus' ministry. It was during his first meeting with Jesus that Jesus named him Peter. Peter was to become the first Apostle ordained by Jesus in the early church.

Peter ran a fishing business in Bethsaida. He was named Simon, son of Jonah or John. The synoptic gospels all recount how Peter's mother-in-law was healed by Jesus at their home in Capernaum which, coupled with , clearly depict Peter as married or a widower.

In the Synoptic Gospels, Peter (then Simon) was a fisherman along with his brother Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. The Gospel of John also depicts Peter fishing, even after the resurrection of Jesus, in the story of the Catch of 153 fish.

In Matthew and Mark, Jesus called Simon and his brother Andrew to be "fishers of men."

In Luke, Simon Peter owns the boat that Jesus uses to preach to the multitudes who were pressing on him at the shore of Lake Gennesaret. Jesus then amazes Simon and his companions James and John (Andrew is not mentioned) by telling them to lower their nets, whereupon they catch a huge number of fish. Immediately after this, they follow him.

The Gospel of John gives a comparable account of "The First Disciples." In John, we are told that it was two disciples of John the Baptist (Andrew and an unnamed disciple) who heard John the Baptist announce Jesus as the "Lamb of God" and then followed Jesus. Andrew then went and fetched his brother Simon, saying, "We have found the Messiah," and then brought Simon to Jesus.

===The "Rock" dialogue=== In a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples (), Jesus asks, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The disciples give various answers. When he asks, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." In turn, Jesus declares Peter to be "blessed" for having recognized Jesus' true identity and attributes this recognition to a divine revelation. Then Jesus addresses Simon by what seems to have been the nickname "Peter" (''Cephas'' in Aramaic, ''Petros '' [rock] in Greek) and says, "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it."

A common exegetical interpretation of Peter is provided by Daniel Harrington who suggests that Peter was an unlikely symbol of stability. While he was one of the first disciples called and served as the spokesman for the group, Peter is also the exemplar of "little faith" in , will soon have Jesus say to him, "Get behind me, Satan," and will eventually deny Jesus three times. In light of the Easter event, then, Peter became an exemplar of the forgiven sinner. A great variance of opinions exists as to the interpretation of this passage with respect to what authority and responsibility, if any, Jesus was giving to Peter.

''Petros '' had not previously been used as a name, but in the Greek-speaking world it became a popular Christian name, after the tradition of Peter's prominence in the early Christian church had been established.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church this passage is interpreted as not implying a special prominence to the person of Peter, but to Peter's position as representative of the Apostles. The word used for "rock" (''petra'') grammatically refers to "a small detachment of the massive ledge", not to a massive boulder. Thus, Orthodox Sacred Tradition understands Jesus' words as referring to the Apostolic Faith.

The great majority of Western scholars concur with the interpretation that the "rock" was Peter, not Jesus himself or Peter's faith.

Position among the apostles

Peter is always mentioned first in the lists of the Twelve Apostles given in the canonical gospels and in the Book of Acts (Acts 1:13). He is also frequently mentioned in the Gospels as forming with James the Elder and John a special group within the Twelve Apostles, present at incidents at which the others were not present, such as at the Transfiguration of Jesus. He often confesses his faith in Jesus as the Messiah.

Peter is often depicted in the Gospels as spokesman of all the Apostles. Catholics refer to him as chief of the Apostles, as do the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox. In Coptic Orthodox Church Liturgy, he is once referred to as ''“Prominent”'' or ''"head"'' among the Apostles, a title shared with St. Paul in the text (''The Fraction of Fast and Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria''). Some, including the Orthodox Churches, believe this is not the same as saying that the other Apostles were under Peter's orders. In contrast, Jewish Christians are said to have argued that James the Just was the leader of the group. Some argue James was the Patriarch of Jerusalem and that this position at times gave him privilege in some (but not all) situations. The early Church historian Eusebius (c. AD 325) records Clement of Alexandria (c. AD 190) as saying,

"For they say that Peter and James and John after the ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem."

Paul affirms that Peter had the special charge of being apostle to the Jews, just as he, Paul, was apostle to the Gentiles.

Walking on water

Three of the four canonical Gospels—Matthew, Mark and John—recount the story of Jesus walking on water. Matthew additionally describes Peter walking on water for a moment, but began to sink when his faith wavered.

Washing of feet

At the beginning of the Last Supper, Jesus washed his disciples' feet. Peter initially refused to let Jesus wash his feet, but when Jesus responded: "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me", Peter replied: "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head". The washing of feet is often repeated in the service of worship on Maundy Thursday by some Christian denominations.

Arrest of Jesus

The three synoptic Gospels all mention that, when Jesus was arrested, one of his companions cut off the ear of a servant of the High Priest. The Gospel of John also includes this event and names Peter as the swordsman and Malchus as the victim. Luke adds that Jesus touched the ear and miraculously healed it.

Denial of Jesus by Peter

All four canonical gospels recount that, during the Last Supper, Jesus foretold that Peter would deny him three times before the following cockcrow ("before the cock crows twice" in Mark's account).

The three Synoptics and John describe the three denials as follows:

# A denial when a female servant of the high priest spots Simon Peter, saying that he had been with Jesus. According to Mark (but not in all manuscripts), "the rooster crowed." Only Luke and John mention a fire by which Peter was warming himself among other people: according to Luke, Peter was "sitting"; according to John, he was "standing." # A denial when Simon Peter had gone out to the gateway, away from the firelight, but the same servant girl (Mark) or another servant girl (Matthew) or a man (Luke and also John, for whom, though, this is the third denial) told the bystanders he was a follower of Jesus. According to John, "the rooster crowed." # A denial came when Peter's Galilean accent was taken as proof that he was indeed a disciple of Jesus. According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, "the rooster crowed." John, though, does not mention the Galilean accent.

Matthew adds that it was his accent that gave him away as coming from Galilee. Luke deviates slightly from this by stating that, rather than a crowd accusing Simon Peter, it was a third individual.

The Gospel of John places the second denial while Peter was still warming himself at the fire, and gives as the occasion of the third denial a claim by someone to have seen him in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested.

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial is coupled with a prediction that all the apostles ("you," plural) would be "sifted like wheat," but that it would be Peter's task ("you," singular), when he had turned again, to strengthen his brethren.

In a reminiscent scene in John's epilogue, Peter affirms three times that he loves Jesus.

Empty tomb

In John's gospel, Peter is the first person to enter the empty tomb, although the women and the beloved disciple see it before him. In Luke's account, the women's report of the empty tomb is dismissed by the apostles, and Peter is the only one who goes to check for himself. In fact, he runs to the tomb. After seeing the graveclothes he goes home, apparently without informing the other disciples.

Resurrection appearances

Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians contains a list of resurrection appearances of Jesus, the first of which is an appearance to Peter. Here Paul apparently follows an early tradition that Peter was the first to see the risen Christ, which however did not seem to have survived to the time when the Gospels were written.

In the final chapter of the Gospel of John, Peter, in one of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, three times affirmed his love for Jesus, balancing his threefold denial, and Jesus reconfirmed Peter's position. Some scholars hypothesize that it was added later to bolster Peter's status.

Role in the early church

The author of the Acts of the Apostles portrays Peter as an extremely important figure within the early Christian community, with Peter delivering a significant open-air sermon during Pentecost. According to the same book, Peter took the lead in selecting a replacement for Judas Iscariot. He was twice arraigned, with John, before the Sanhedrin and directly defied them. He undertook a missionary journey to Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea, becoming instrumental in the decision to evangelise the Gentiles.

About halfway through, the Acts of the Apostles turns its attention away from Peter and to the activities of Paul, and the Bible is mostly silent on what occurred to Peter afterwards.

John Vidmar writes:

"Both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that Peter had an authority that superseded that of the other apostles. Peter is their spokesman at several events, he conducts the election of Matthias, his opinion in the debate over converting Gentiles was crucial, etc.

Rescue from prison

tells how Peter was put into prison by King Herod, but was rescued by an angel.

Council of Jerusalem

At the council of Jerusalem (c. 50), the early Church, Paul and the leaders of the Jerusalem church met and decided to embrace Gentile converts. Acts portrays Peter as successfully opposing the Christian Pharisees who insisted on circumcision and the rest of the Mosaic law.

Epistles

Peter/Cephas is mentioned briefly in Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, which mentions a trip by Paul to Jerusalem where he meets Peter (Galatians 1:18), and a trip by Cephas to Antioch where Paul rebuked him for treating Gentile converts as inferior to Jewish Christian (see the Incident at Antioch). Galatians is accepted as authentic by almost all scholars, so these are the earliest mentions of Peter to be written.

Church tradition ascribes the epistles First and Second Peter to Apostle Peter, as does the text of Second Peter itself. First Peter implies the author is in "Babylon," which has been held to be a coded reference to Rome (1 Peter 5:13). Although, Babylon was an important fortress city in Egypt, just north of today's Cairo and this fact is combined with the "greetings from Marc" (1 Peter 5:13), who is regarded as founder of the Church of Alexandria (Egypt); thus other scholars put the First Peter epistle to be written in Egypt. Some scholars regard First Peter as not authored by him, and there is still considerable debate about the Petrine authorship of Second Peter. However the Greek in both books is similar, and the early Church was adamantly opposed to pseudographical authorship.

Accounts outside the New Testament

In Catholic tradition, Peter is said to have founded the church in Rome with Paul, served as its bishop, authored two epistles, and then met martyrdom there along with Paul.

Antioch and Corinth

Later accounts expand on the brief Biblical mention of his visit to Antioch. The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (9th century) mentions Peter as having served as bishop of Antioch for seven years and having potentially left his family in the Greek city before his journey to Rome. Claims of direct blood lineage from Simon Peter among the old population of Antioch existed in the 1st century and continue to exist today, notably by certain Semaan families of modern-day Syria and Lebanon. Historians have furnished other evidence of Peter's sojourn in Antioch. Subsequent tradition held that Peter had been the first Patriarch of Antioch.

Peter might have visited Corinth, as a party of "Cephas" existed there.

Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius Caesariensis, ca 260-ca 340), in his "Historia Ecclesiastica", while naming some of the Seventy Disciples of Jesus, says: ''"... and the history by Clement'' (of Alexandria, c.150 - c. 215)'', in the fifth ''(chapter)'' of Hypotyposeis; in which Cefas, the one mentioned by Paul'' (in the citation):'' «when Cefas came to Antioch, I confronted him face to face» ''(Galatians 2:11)'', it is said he was one of the Seventy Disciples, having the same name with Peter the Apostle".

Death

In the epilogue of the Gospel of John, Jesus hints at the death by which Peter would glorify God,saying "…when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and take you where you do not want to go." This is interpreted by some as a reference to Peter's crucifixion.

According to the 1911 ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', St. Peter labored in Rome during the last portion of his life, and there ended his life by martyrdom. The death of St. Peter is attested to by Tertullian at the end of the 2nd century, and by Origen in ''Eusebius'', Church History III.1. Origen says: "Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downwards, as he himself had desired to suffer." This is why an upside down cross is generally accepted as a symbol of Peter, who would not have considered himself worthy enough to die the same way as his Savior.

Status

St. Clement of Rome identifies Peter and Paul as the outstanding heroes of the faith. Papias reported that the Gospel of Mark was based on Peter's memoirs, a tradition still accepted by some scholars today.

Martyrdom

The mention in the New Testament of the death of Peter says that Jesus indicated its form by saying: "You will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Early church tradition (as indicated below) says Peter probably died by crucifixion (with arms outstretched) at the time of the Great Fire of Rome of the year 64. Margherita Guarducci, who led the research leading to the rediscovery of Peter’s tomb in its last stages (1963–1968), concludes Peter died on 13 October AD 64 during the festivities on the occasion of the “dies imperii” of Emperor Nero. This took place three months after the disastrous fire that destroyed Rome for which the emperor wished to blame the Christians. This “dies imperii” (regnal day anniversary) was an important one, exactly ten years after Nero ascended to the throne, and it was ‘as usual’ accompanied by much bloodshed. Traditionally, Roman authorities sentenced him to death by crucifixion. According to the apocryphal Acts of Peter, he was crucified head down. Tradition also locates his burial place where the Basilica of Saint Peter was later built, directly beneath the Basilica's high altar.

Clement of Rome, in his ''Letter to the Corinthians'' (Chapter 5), written c. 80–98, speaks of Peter's martyrdom in the following terms: "Let us take the noble examples of our own generation. Through jealousy and envy the greatest and most just pillars of the Church were persecuted, and came even unto death… Peter, through unjust envy, endured not one or two but many labours, and at last, having delivered his testimony, departed unto the place of glory due to him."

The apocryphal Acts of Peter is also thought to be the source for the tradition about the famous phrase "Quo vadis, Domine?" (or "Pou Hupageis, Kurie?" which means, "Whither goest Thou, Master?"). According to the story, Peter, fleeing Rome to avoid execution, asked the question of a vision of Jesus, to which Jesus allegedly responded that he was "going to Rome to be crucified again." On hearing this, Peter decided to return to the city to accept martyrdom. This story is commemorated in an Annibale Carracci painting. The Church of Quo Vadis, near the Catacombs of Saint Callistus, contains a stone in which Jesus' footprints from this event are supposedly preserved, though this was apparently an ''ex-voto'' from a pilgrim, and indeed a copy of the original, housed in the Basilica of St Sebastian.

The ancient historian Josephus describes how Roman soldiers would amuse themselves by crucifying criminals in different positions, and it is likely that this would have been known to the author of the ''Acts of Peter''. The position attributed to Peter's crucifixion is thus plausible, either as having happened historically or as being an invention by the author of the ''Acts of Peter''. Death, after crucifixion head down, is unlikely to be caused by suffocation, the usual cause of death in ordinary crucifixion.

A medieval tradition was that the Mamertine Prison in Rome is the place where Peter was imprisoned before his execution.

In 1950, human bones were found buried underneath the altar of St. Peter's Basilica. The bones have been claimed by many to have been those of Peter. An attempt to contradict these claims was made in 1953 by the excavation of what some believe to be St Peter's tomb in Jerusalem. However along with supposed tomb of Peter bearing his previous name Simon, tombs bearing the names of Jesus, Mary, James, John, and the rest of the apostles were also found at the same excavation—though all these names were very common among Jews at the time.

In the 1960s, some previously discarded debris from the excavations beneath St Peters Basilica were re-examined, and the bones of a male person were identified. A forensic examination found them to be a male of about 61 years of age from the 1st century. This caused Pope Paul VI in 1968 to announce them most likely to be the relics of Apostle Peter.

Further doubt on finding bones in Rome is cast by Pope Vitalian's letter to King Oswy of the Britons (CE 665), offering him the remains (then called relics) of the apostle Peter and Paul, along with those of the Holy Martyrs Laurentius, John, Gregory and Pancratius as a reward for the emergence of British faith.

Connection to Rome

The See of Rome is traditionally said to be founded by Peter and Paul, see also Primacy of Simon Peter, who had invested it with apostolic authority. The New Testament says nothing directly about Peter's connection to Rome, but an early Catholic tradition supports such a connection.

That Peter was bishop of Rome is corroborated by both positive and negative evidence. However, some historians have challenged this traditional view of Peter's role in the early Roman Church. Still, most Catholic and Protestant scholars, and many scholars in general, conclude that Peter was indeed martyred in Rome under Nero. In 2009 concluded in a critical study that "there is not a single piece of reliable literary evidence (and no archaeological evidence either) that Peter ever was in Rome."

1 Clement, a document that has been dated from the 90s to the 120s, is one of the earliest sources adduced in support of Peter's stay in Rome, but questions have been raised about the text's authenticity and whether it has any knowledge about Peter's life beyond what is contained in the New Testament ''Acts''. The ''Letter to the Romans'' attributed to St. Ignatius of Antioch implies that Peter and Paul had special authority over the Roman church, telling the Roman Christians: "I do not command you, as Peter and Paul did" (ch. 4). However, the authenticity of this document and its traditional dating to c. 105–10 have also been questioned, and it may date from the final decades of the 2nd century.

Later in the 2nd century, Irenaeus of Lyons believed that Peter and Paul had been the founders of the Church in Rome and had appointed Linus as succeeding bishop. In ''Against Heresies'' (Book III, Chapter III, paragraphs 2–3), Irenaeus wrote:

Tertullian also writes: "But if you are near Italy, you have Rome, where authority is at hand for us too. What a happy church that is, on which the apostles poured out their whole doctrine with their blood; where Peter had a passion like that of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John (the Baptist, by being beheaded)." Dionysius of Corinth also serves as a late 2nd-century witness to the tradition. He wrote: "You (Pope Soter) have also, by your very admonition, brought together the planting that was made by Peter and Paul at Rome and at Corinth; for both of them alike planted in our Corinth and taught us; and both alike, teaching similarly in Italy, suffered martyrdom at the same time". Later tradition, first found in Saint Jerome, attributes to Peter a 25-year episcopate (or apostolate) in Rome.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there was a Christian community at Rome before either Peter or Paul arrived there: }}

Paul's Epistle to the Romans (c. 58) attests to a large Christian community already there, although he does not mention Peter.

Non-canonical sayings of Peter

Two sayings are attributed to Peter in the gnostic Gospel of Thomas. In the first, Peter compares Jesus to a "just messenger." In the second, Peter asks Jesus to "make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life," although the verse containing the latter is regarded by most scholars as a dubious, later addition.

In the Apocalypse of Peter, Peter holds a dialogue with Jesus about the parable of the fig tree and the fate of sinners.

In the Gospel of Mary, whose text is largely fragmented, Peter appears to be jealous of "Mary" (probably Mary Magdalene). He says to the other disciples, "Did He really speak privately with a woman and not openly to us? Are we to turn about and all listen to her? Did He prefer her to us?" In reply to this, Levi says "Peter, you have always been hot tempered."

Other noncanonical texts that attribute sayings to Peter include the Secret Book of James and the Acts of Peter.

Denial of Jesus

In the Fayyum Fragment of the end of the 3rd century, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before a cock crows (on the following morning). The account is similar to that of the canonical gospels, especially the Gospel of Mark, either an abbreviation of the account in the Synoptics or a source text on which they were based.

Post-Jesus

The fragmentary Gospel of Peter, attributed to Peter, contains an account of the death of Jesus differing significantly from the canonical gospels. It contains little information about Peter himself, except that after the discovery of the empty tomb, "I, Simon Peter, and Andrew my brother, took our fishing nets and went to the sea."

19th century

Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, recorded in multiple revelations that Peter appeared to him and Oliver Cowdery in 1829 in order to bestow the apostleship and keys of the kingdom as part of a restoration of priesthood authority.

Religious interpretations

Catholic Church

{{infobox christian leader | type	Pope
english name	Peter
birth name	Simon/Simeon bar Jona
term start	AD 30?
term end	AD 64?
predecessor	New creation (First Pope)
successor	Linus
birth place	Bethsaida (traditional)
dead	dead
death date	c. AD 64 (traditional)
death place	City of Rome (traditional), Present day Italy }}

According to Catholic belief, Peter was the first Bishop of Rome and chief pastor of the whole Roman Catholic Church—the Vicar of Christ upon Earth. Although Peter never bore the title of "Pope", or "Vicar of Christ", the Catholic Church believes him to be the first Pope. Therefore, they consider every pope to be Peter's successor and the rightful superior of all other bishops.

The Catholic Church's recognition of Peter as head of its church on Earth (with Christ being its heavenly head) is based on its interpretation of two passages from the Canonical Gospels of the New Testament; as well as Sacred Tradition. The first passage is which is: "Feed my lambs, feed my lambs, feed my sheep" (within the Greek it is Ποίμαινε i.e., to feed and rule [as a Shepherd]., v. 16 while Βόσκε i.e., to feed., for v.15 & v. 17)—which is seen by Catholics as Christ promising the spiritual supremacy to Peter. The Catholic Encyclopedia sees in this passage Jesus "charging [Peter] with the superintendency of all his sheep, without exception; and consequently of his whole flock, that is, of his own church”. The second passage is :

Christ spoke here in the Syriac tongue, hence:

Pétrus (Πέτρος) and pétra (πέτρᾳ) are the Greek equivalent to the Syriac Cephah (ܟ݁ܺܐܦ݂ܳܐ) which means "rock", and there is no difference at all between Pétrus and pétra.

To better understand what Christ meant, St. Basil elaborates :

In reference to Peter's occupation before becoming an Apostle, the popes wear the Fisherman's Ring, which bears an image of the saint casting his nets from a fishing boat. The keys used as a symbol of the pope's authority refer to the "keys of the kingdom of Heaven" promised to Peter. The terminology of this "commission" of Peter is unmistakably parallel to the commissioning of Eliakim ben Hilkiah in . Peter is often depicted in both Western and Eastern Christian art holding a key or a set of keys.

Though the authenticity of this account has been challenged, the general consensus is that these are Jesus' words.

Feast days

The Roman Martyrology assigns 29 June as the feast day of both Peter and Paul, without thereby declaring that to be the day of their deaths. St. Augustine of Hippo says in his Sermon 295: "One day is assigned for the celebration of the martyrdom of the two apostles. But those two were one. Although their martyrdom occurred on different days, they were one."

This is also the feast of both Apostles in the calendar of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

In the Roman Rite, the feast of the Chair of Saint Peter is celebrated on 22 February, and the anniversary of the dedication of the two papal basilicas of Saint Peter's and Saint Paul's outside the Walls is held on 18 November.

Before Pope John XXIII's revision in 1960, the Roman Calendar also included on 18 January another feast of the Chair of Saint Peter (denominated the Chair of Saint Peter in Rome, while the February feast was then called that of the Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch), and on 1 August the feast of Saint Peter in Chains.

St. Peter's Basilica

In the early 4th century, the Emperor Constantine I decided to honour Peter with a large basilica. Because the precise location of Peter's burial was so firmly fixed in the belief of the Christians of Rome, the church to house the basilica had to be erected on a site that was not convenient to construction. The slope of the Vatican Hill had to be excavated, even though the church could much more easily have been built on level ground only slightly to the south. There were also moral and legal issues, such as demolishing a cemetery to make room for the building. The focal point of the Basilica, both in its original form and in its later complete reconstruction, is the altar located over what is said to be the point of Peter's burial.

Protestants and other views

A major debate between Catholics and Protestants centers on Matthew 16:18 where Jesus tells Peter: "You are ''Peter'', and on this ''rock'' I will build my Church..." Catholics interpret the verse as saying that Jesus would build his church on Peter, the apostle. The traditional Catholic interpretation has been that Jesus told Peter (Rock) that he would build his Church on this Rock (Peter), and that Peter was made the shepherd of the apostolic flock—hence their assertion of the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

Meaning of "Rock"

In the original Greek the word translated as "Peter" is ''Πέτρος'' (Petros) and that translated as "rock" is ''πέτρα'' (petra), two words that, while not identical, give an impression of one of many times when Jesus used a play on words. Furthermore, since Jesus presumably spoke to Peter in their native Aramaic language, he would have used ''kepha'' in both instances. The Peshitta Text and the Old Syriac text use the word "kepha" for both "Peter" and "rock" in . says Jesus called Simon "Cephas", as does Paul in some letters. He was instructed by Christ to strengthen his brethren, i.e., the apostles. Peter also had a leadership role in the early Christian church at Jerusalem according to The Acts of the Apostles chapters 1–2, 10–11, and 15.

Early Catholic Latin and Greek writers (such as St. John Chrysostom) considered the "foundation rock" as applying to both Peter personally and his confession of faith (or the faith of his confession) symbolically, as well as seeing Christ's promise to apply more generally to his twelve apostles and the Church at large. This "double meaning" interpretation is present in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Protestant counter-claims to the Catholic interpretation are largely based on the difference between the Greek words translated "Rock" in the Matthean passage. In classical Attic Greek ''petros'' generally meant "pebble," while ''petra'' meant "boulder" or "cliff." Accordingly, taking Peter's name to mean "pebble," they argue that the "rock" in question cannot have been Peter, but something else, either Jesus himself, or the faith in Jesus that Peter had just professed. However, the New Testament was written in Koiné Greek, not Attic Greek, and some authorities say no significant difference existed between the meanings of ''petros'' and ''petra''.

However, even though the feminine noun ''petra'' is translated as ''rock'' in the phrase "on this rock I will build my church," the word ''petra'' (πέτρα in Greek) is also used at in describing Jesus Christ, which reads: "They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ."

Although is used as a primary proof-text for the Catholic doctrine of Papal supremacy, Protestant scholars say that prior to the Reformation of the 16th century, Matthew 16 was very rarely used to support papal claims. Their position is that most of the early and medieval Church interpreted the 'rock' as being a reference either to Christ or to Peter's faith, not Peter himself. They understand Jesus' remark to have been his affirmation of Peter's testimony that Jesus was the Son of God.

Other theologically conservative Christians, including Confessional Lutherans, also rebut comments made by Karl Keating and D.A. Carson who claim that there is no distinction between the words ''petros'' and ''petra'' in Koine Greek. The Lutheran theologians state that the dictionaries of Koine/NT Greek, including the authoritative Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich Lexicon, indeed list both words and the passages that give different meanings for each. The Lutheran theologians further note that:

Partial Protestant support

Partial support for the Catholic position comes from one of Protestantism's most distinguished Church historians, Oscar Cullmann, a Lutheran theologian. He disagrees with Luther and the Protestant reformers who held that by "rock" Christ did not mean Peter, but meant either himself or the faith of His followers. He believes the meaning of the original Aramaic is very clear: that "Kepha" was the Aramaic word for "rock", and that it was also the name by which Christ called Peter.

Yet, Cullmann sharply rejects the Catholic claim that Peter began the papal succession. He writes: "In the life of Peter there is no starting point for a chain of succession to the leadership of the church at large." While he believes the Matthew text is entirely valid and is in no way spurious, he says it cannot be used as "warrant of the papal succession."

Cullmann concludes that while Peter ''was'' the original head of the apostles, Peter was not the founder of any visible church succession.

There are other Protestant scholars who also partially defend the historical Catholic position about "Rock." Taking a somewhat different approach from Cullman, they point out that the Gospel of Matthew was not written in the classical Attic form of Greek, but in the Hellenistic Koine dialect in which there is no distinction in meaning between ''petros'' and ''petra''. Moreover, even in Attic Greek, in which the regular meaning of ''petros'' was a smallish "stone," there are instances of its use to refer to larger rocks, as in Sophocles, ''Oedipus at Colonus'' v. 1595, where ''petros'' refers to a boulder used as a landmark, obviously something more than a pebble. In any case, a ''petros''/''petra'' distinction is irrelevant considering the Aramaic language in which the phrase might well have been spoken. In Greek, of any period, the feminine noun ''petra'' could not be used as the given name of a male, which may explain the use of ''Petros'' as the Greek word with which to translate Aramaic ''Kepha''.

Yet, still other Protestant scholars believe that Jesus in fact ''did'' mean to single out Peter as the very rock which he will build upon, but that the passage does nothing to indicate a continued succession of Peter's implied position. They assert that Matthew uses the demonstrative pronoun ''taute'', which allegedly means "this very" or ''this same'', when he refers to the rock on which Jesus' church will be built. He also uses the Greek word for "and", ''kai''. It is alleged that when a demonstrative pronoun is used with ''kai'', the pronoun refers back to the preceding noun. The second rock Jesus refers to must then be the same rock as the first one; and if Peter is the first rock he must also be the second.

Eastern Orthodox

The Eastern Orthodox Church regards Apostle Peter, together with Apostle Paul, as "Preeminent Apostles". Another title used for Peter is ''Coryphaeus'', which could be translated as "Choir-director", or lead singer. The church recognizes Apostle Peter's leadership role in the early church, especially in the very early days at Jerusalem, but does not consider him to have had any "princely" role over his fellow Apostles.

The New Testament is not seen by the Orthodox as supporting any extraordinary authority for Peter with regard to faith or morals. The Orthodox also hold that Peter did not act as leader at the Council of Jerusalem, but as merely one of a number who spoke. The final decision regarding the non-necessity of circumcision (and certain prohibitions) was spelled out by James, the Brother of the Lord (though Catholics hold James merely reiterated and fleshed out what Peter had said, regarding the latter's earlier divine revelation regarding the inclusion of Gentiles).

Eastern and Oriental Orthodox do not recognize the Bishop of Rome as the successor of St. Peter but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople sends a delegation each year to Rome to participate in the celebration of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. In the Ravenna Document of 13 October 2007, the representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church agreed that "Rome, as the Church that 'presides in love' according to the phrase of St. Ignatius of Antioch (To the Romans, Prologue), occupied the first place in the ''taxis'', and that the bishop of Rome was therefore the ''protos'' among the patriarchs, if the Papacy unites with the Orthodox Church. They disagree, however, on the interpretation of the historical evidence from this era regarding the prerogatives of the bishop of Rome as ''protos'', a matter that was already understood in different ways in the first millennium."

With regard to Jesus' words to Peter, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church", the Orthodox hold Christ is referring to the confession of faith, ''not'' the person of Peter as that upon which he will build the church. This is allegedly shown by the fact that the original Greek uses the feminine demonstrative pronoun when he says "upon this rock" (ταύτῃ τῇ πέτρᾳ); whereas, grammatically, if he had been referring to Peter, he would allegedly have used the masculine. This "gender distinction" argument is also held by some Protestants.

Feast days

In the Orthodox Daily Office every Thursday throughout the year is dedicated to the Holy Apostles, including St. Peter. There are also two feast days in the year which are dedicated to him:

June 29, Feast of Saints Peter and Paul—This is a major feast day and is preceded by a period of Lenten fasting known as the Apostles' Fast

January 16, Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-Glorious Apostle Peter—commemorating both the chains which says miraculously fell from him, and the chains in which he was held before his martyrdom by Nero.

Syriac Orthodox Church

The Fathers of the Syriac Orthodox Church tried to give a theological interpretation to the primacy of Apostle Peter. They were fully convinced of the unique office of Peter in the primitive Christian community. Ephrem, Aphrahat and Marutha who were supposed to be the best exponents of the early Syriac tradition unequivocally acknowledge the office of Peter.

The Syriac Fathers following the rabbinic tradition call Jesus “Kepha” for they see “rock” in the Old Testament as a messianic Symbol. When Christ gave his own name “Kepha” to Simon he was giving him participation in the person and office of Christ. Christ who is the Kepha and shepherd made Simon the chief shepherd in his place and gave him the very name Kepha and said that on Kepha he would build the Church. Aphrahat shared the common Syriac tradition. For him Kepha is in fact another name of Jesus, and Simon was given the right to share the name. The person who receives somebody else’s name also obtains the rights of the person who bestows the name. Aphrahat makes the stone taken from Jordan a type of Peter. He says Jesus son of Nun set up the stones for a witness in Israel; Jesus our Saviour called Simon Kepha Sarirto and set him as the faithful witness among nations.

Again he says in his commentary on Deuteronomy that Moses brought forth water from “rock” (Kepha) for the people and Jesus sent Simon Kepha to carry his teachings among nations. Our Lord accepted him and made him the foundation of the Church and called him Kepha. When he speaks about transfiguration of Christ he calls him Simon Peter, the foundation of the Church. Ephrem also shared the same view. In Armenian version of De Virginitate records Peter the Rock shunned honour Who was the head of the Apostles. In a ''mimro'' of Efrem found in Holy Week Liturgy points to the importance of Peter.

Both Aphrahat and Ephrem represent the authentic tradition of the Syrian Church. The different orders of liturgies used for sanctification of Church building, marriage, ordination etc. reveal that the primacy of Peter is a part of living faith of the Church.

New Apostolic Church

The New Apostolic Church, who believes in the re-established Apostle ministry, sees Peter as the first Chief Apostle.

Latter Day Saint movement

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church or "Mormons") along with other sects of the Latter Day Saint movement believe that Peter was the first leader of the early Christian church, but reject papal succession. In interpreting the LDS Church has stated, "The words then addressed to him, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,' have been made the foundation of the papal claims. But it is the Godhead of Christ, which Peter had just confessed, that is the true keystone of the Church." Latter-day saints believe that Peter, James, and John. came from heaven and conferred the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in 1829, near Harmony Township, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania as part of the restoration of priesthood authority.

Islamic literature

Muslims accept Jesus as a prophet of Islam. The Qur'an also speaks of Jesus's disciples but does not mention their names, instead referring to them as "helpers to the work of God". Muslim exegesis and Qur'an commentary, however, names them and includes Peter amongst the disciples. An old tradition, which involves the legend of Habib the Carpenter, mentions that Peter was one of the three disciples sent to Antioch to preach to the people there.

Shia Muslims see a parallel in the figure of Peter to Ali at Muhammad's time. They look upon Ali as being the vicegerent, with Muhammad being the prophet; likewise, they see Peter as the vicegerent, behind Jesus the prophet and messiah. Peter's role as the first proper leader of the church is also seen by Shia's to be a parallel to their belief in Ali as the first caliph after Muhammad.

Jewish folklore

According to Jewish folklore (Toledot Yeshu narrative), St. Peter (Shimeon Kepha Ha-Tzadik) had a pristine reputation as a greatly learned and holy man.

Writings

Traditionally, two canonical epistles (1 and 2 Peter) and several apocryphal works have been attributed to Peter.

New Testament

The New Testament includes two letters (''epistles'') ascribed to Peter. Both demonstrate a high quality of cultured and urban Greek, at odds with the linguistic skill that would ordinarily be expected of an Aramaic-speaking fisherman, who would have learned Greek as a second or third language. However, the author of the first epistle explicitly claims to be using a secretary (see below), and this explanation would allow for discrepancies in style without entailing a different source. The textual features of these two epistles are such that a majority of scholars doubt that they were written by the same hand. This means at the most that Peter could not have authored both, or at the least that he used a different secretary for each letter. Some scholars argue that theological differences imply different sources, and point to the lack of references to 2 Peter among the early Church Fathers.

Of the two epistles, the first epistle is considered the earlier. A number of scholars have argued that the textual discrepancies with what would be expected of the biblical Peter are due to it having been written with the help of a secretary or as an amanuensis. Indeed in the first epistle the use of a secretary is clearly described: "By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand". Thus, in regards to at least the first epistle, the claims that Peter would have written Greek poorly seem irrelevant. The references to persecution of Christians, which only began under Nero, cause most scholars to date the text to at least the year 80, which would require Peter to have survived to an age that was, at that time, extremely old, and almost never reached, particularly by common fishermen. However, the Roman historian Tacitus and the biographer Suetonius both record that Nero's persecution of Christians began immediately after the fire that burned Rome in 64. Such a date, which is in accord with Christian tradition, especially Eusebius (''History'' book 2, 24.1), would not have Peter at an improbable age upon his death. On the other hand, many scholars consider this in reference to the persecution of Christians in Asia Minor during the reign of the emperor Domitian (81–96).

In the salutation of the First Epistle of Peter, the writer refers to the diaspora, which did not occur until 136: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

The Second Epistle of Peter, on the other hand, appears to have been copied, in part, from the Epistle of Jude, and some modern scholars date its composition as late as ''c.'' 150. Some scholars argue the opposite, that the Epistle of Jude copied 2 Peter, while others contend an early date for Jude and thus observe that an early date is not incompatible with the text. Many scholars have noted the similarities between the apocryphal Second Epistle of Clement (2nd century) and 2 Peter. Second Peter may be earlier than 150, there are a few possible references to it that date back to the 1st century or early 2nd century, e.g., 1 Clement written in ''c.'' AD 96, and the later church historian Eusebius claimed that Origen had made reference to the epistle before 250. Even in early times there was controversy over its authorship, and 2 Peter was often not included in the Biblical Canon; it was only in the 4th century that it gained a firm foothold in the New Testament, in a series of synods. In the east the Syrian Orthodox Church still did not admit it into the canon until the 6th century.

Traditionally, the Gospel of Mark was said to have been written by a person named John Mark, and that this person was an assistant to Peter, hence its content was traditionally seen as the closest to Peter's viewpoint. According to Eusebius's ''Ecclesiastical History'', Papias recorded this belief from John the Presbyter:

Also Irenaeus wrote about this tradition:

Based on these quotes, and on the Christian tradition, the information in Mark's Gospel about St. Peter would be based on eyewitness material. It should be noted, however, that some scholars (for differing reasons) dispute the attribution of the Gospel of Mark to its traditional author. The gospel itself is anonymous, and the above passages are the oldest surviving written testimony to its authorship.

Pseudepigrapha and apocrypha

There are also a number of other apocryphal writings, not recognized by the Church, that have been either attributed to or written about St. Peter. They were from antiquity regarded as pseudepigrapha. These include:

Gospel of Peter, a partially Docetic narrative that has survived in part

Acts of Peter

Acts of Peter and Andrew

Acts of Peter and Paul

Acts of Peter and the Twelve

Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter

A Letter of Peter to Philip, which was preserved in the Nag Hammadi library

Apocalypse of Peter, which was considered as genuine by many Christians as late as the 4th century

The Epistula Petri, the introductory letter ascribed to Apostle Peter that appears at the beginning of at least one version of the Clementine literature

Popular culture

Over the years "St. Peter" has evolved into a stock character that is now widely used in jokes, cartoons, comedies, dramas, and plays. Such caricatures almost all play upon Peter's role as the "keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven" in , on the basis of which he is often depicted as an elderly, bearded man who sits at the pearly gates that serve as heaven's main entrance, and acting as a sort of hotel-style doorman / bouncer who personally interviews prospective entrants into Heaven, often seated behind a desk, or standing at a lectern.

In traditional Medieval iconography, Peter is a bald man with a long beard. He usually has one or more large keys in his hand or hanging from his belt.

In the 2004 movie ''Millions'', St. Peter appears to the boy Damian, referring to himself as the "patron saint of keys, locks, and general security."

Patronage

Saint Peter is the patron saint of the following categories

Workers

* Bakers

Engineering>Bridge builders

* Butchers

Fisherman>Fishermen

* Harvesters

* Cordwainers

* Life New Lifes

Horology>Horologists

* Locksmiths

shoemaking>Cobblers

Masonry>Masons

Net (device)>Net makers

* The Papacy

* Shipwrights

* Stationers

Called for aid in

* Frenzy

* Foot problems

* Fever

* Longevity

Institutions

* Bath Abbey

* Berchtesgaden Provostry

Bishop Cotton Boys School>Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore

* Exeter College, Oxford

Christian Universalism>Universalist Church

* Peterhouse, Cambridge

* St Peter's College, Oxford

* St Peter's College, Auckland

* Saint Peter's College, New Jersey

* Saint Peter's School, York

Churches and Cathedrals

St. Peter's Basilica>The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, Rome

St. Peter's Church>List of churches dedicated to St Peter

Locations

* Birżebbuġa

Bremen (city)>Bremen

San Pedro, San Pablo City>Brgy. San Pedro, San Pablo City

Worms, Germany>Worms

Calatrava, Negros Occidental>Calatrava

* Chartres

* Chimbote

* Calbayog City

* Cologne

* Davao

* Dunajská Streda

* Ilovik i Sveti Petar

Jackson, Mississippi>Jackson

* Köpenick

Las Vegas, Nevada>Las Vegas

* Leuven

* Leiden

* Lessines

* Maralal

Marquette, Michigan>Marquette

* Moissac

* Naumburg

* Obermarsberg

* Peterborough

* Philadelphia

* Poznań

Providence, Rhode Island>Providence

* Pubnico, Nova Scotia

* Regensburg

* Rome

* Póvoa de Varzim

* Saint Petersburg

* Saint Pierre and Miquelon

* San Pedro, Laguna

* San Pedro Soloma

Scranton, Pennsylvania>Scranton

* Seixal Municipality

Sunderland, Tyne and Wear>Sunderland

* Sintra

Holsbeek>Sint-Pieters-Rode

* Tielt

* Toa Baja

Umbria, Italy>Umbria

Holy relics

Pope Vitalian sent filings from Apostle Peter's chains to Oswy, King of Northumbria in the 7th century.

Peter's remains continue to be subject of investigation, but his tomb is located under Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, which was announced by Pope Pius XII on Christmas Day in 1950 after years of painstaking research.

Another revisionist view was developed by supporters of the Christ myth theory, which holds that the figure of Peter is largely a development from some mythological doorkeeper figures. According to Arthur Drews and G. A. Wells, if there was a historical Peter, then all that is known about him is the brief mentions in Galatians.

See also

St. Peter's Basilica

Saint Peter's Square

The Big Fisherman

San Pietro in Vincoli

Saint Peter's tomb

Sword of Saint Peter

Quo Vadis

Saint Peter and Islam

Saint Peter and Judaism

Notes

External links

Church Fathers on the Peter's Primacy

Church Fathers on Peter's Succcessors

The Life & Miracles of St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles

Etymology of Peter

The Jewish St Peter

Jewish Encyclopedia: Simon Cephas

Veneration of the Precious Chains of the Holy and All-Glorious Apostle Peter Orthodox icon and synaxarion

The Holy Glorious and All-Praised Leader of the Apostles, Peter icon and synaxarion

The Holy Glorious and All-Praised Leader of the Apostles, Peter & Paul sermon of Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo

Catholic response to Protestant claims that Peter never visited Rome

stpetersbasilica.org Books on St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

Category:1st-century bishops Category:1st-century Romans Category:1st-century Christian martyr saints Category:1st-century executions Category:67 deaths Category:Christian martyrs of the Roman era Category:Eastern Orthodox saints Category:Oriental Orthodox saints Category:Coptic Orthodox saints Category:Papal saints Category:Anglican saints Category:People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar Category:Patriarchs of Antioch Category:People executed by crucifixion Category:People executed by the Roman Empire Category:Popes Category:Saints from the Holy Land Category:Saints of the Golden Legend Category:Biblical apostles Category:Christian mystics Category:Book of Acts

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