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journey from the island of Gaudomelete to Rome. Dioscorus the shipmaster, who was bald like Paul, was arrested in mistake for him at Puteoli and beheaded, and his head sent to Caesar (for the Jews had induced the emperor to forbid Paul's landing in Italy). There are other local legends in this portion of the book. But after the arrival at Rome the story takes the same course as Pseudo-Marcellus.
5. A Latin Passion of Peter and Paul, largely borrowed from Pseudo-Hegesippus, has this peculiarity, that the apostles lodge in Rome with a believer who is a relation of Pontius Pilate. This person is called in by Nero to testify whether Simon is, as he asserts, Christ: and denies it, and further suggests that Peter and Paul should be called in to give their witness also. The dispute follows. The apostles are sentenced to death by Clement, not Agrippa, prefect of the city. Hardly anything is said of the Martyrdom.
The Greek Acts of Thaddaeus centre round the Edessene legend of the mission of King Abgarus to Christ, the miraculous portrait of him procured by Ananias, Abgarus's messenger, and the preaching of Thaddaeus at Edessa. The Syriac doctrine of Addai tells the same story. These are strictly local legends.
Acts and Passions of disciples of the apostles are sometimes interesting: such are those of Nereus and Achilleus which tell the story of Petronilla, Peter’s daughter; and of Xanthippe and Polyxena which borrow matter and language from the Acts of Paul, Peter, Andrew, and Thomas. Those of Zenais and Philonilla—disciples of St. Paul—may prove to be interesting, and those of Hermione. The Acts of Titus by Zenas have already been shown to throw light on the Acts of Paul. The Acts of Mark, Luke, Timothy, Longinus, Cornelius, Aquila, Ananias are not of much interest, either as history or legend.
The Oriental Acts—mainly Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopic—form a large mass of matter which it is not practicable to analyse. They may be read conveniently in the English versions of S. C. Malan, Conflicts of the Holy Apostles; Budge, Contendings of the Apostles; A. S. Lewis, Mythological Acts of the Apostles. The two first are from Ethiopic, the third from Arabic. They usually consist, in the case of each apostle, of his Preaching and his Martyrdom, related in separate chapters. Of the Martyrdoms, some (Peter, Paul, John, Thomas, James the Less) are the familiar stories: James ultimately from Hegesippus, the rest versions of the old Acts. The Ethiopic has a version of the first six episodes of the Acts of Thomas, and (in Budge) a long life of St. Paul which does not seem to have many points of contact with the old Acts: besides some stories which are loose and fabulous versions of the Clementine romance. The Acts of John are partly from Prochorus. The tales of the Preachings of the apostles vary greatly in interest. Those which make some impression are Andrew and Philemon in Scythia, where a dove is sent as a messenger by Philemon to Andrew; Andrew and Bartholomew, where a whale transports the party in their sleep, a ship with our Lord as captain (cf. Andrew and Matthias) conveys them, and a dog-headed man of hideous aspect is made to become their ally; Bartholomew in the Oasis practising vine-dressing; Matthew telling of his visit to the Land of Promise where the Lost Tribes dwell; Thaddaeus, identical with Peter and Andrew, but shorter. Andrew and Matthias figure here also.