03 — The Sirmium Question
The collection’s source-critical centerpiece: the scholarly thesis that the cult of St. Demetrios did not originate at Thessaloniki at all but migrated there from Sirmium on the Danube, where a martyr Demetrius is attested earlier; and the layered tradition of the Passio itself — its several recensions, their dates, and their reliability. Both files present the question both-sides, naming the scholars and their arguments, without forcing a verdict.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Great Martyr; the Myrrh-Streamer)
Why is there no early Thessalonian record of a martyr Demetrios, when a Demetrius of Sirmium appears in the early martyrologies? This is the question that the most searching modern scholarship has pressed, and it is the natural center of any honest study of the saint. This section lays out the migration thesis (Woods, Vickers, Lemerle’s cautious openness) and the case for treating Thessaloniki’s claim more generously (Skedros), and then turns to the Passio recensions that are the textual ground of the whole debate, dating and weighing each.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| From Sirmium to Thessaloniki | The thesis that the cult migrated from Sirmium; the absence of an early Thessalonian martyr-record; the Sirmian Demetrius in the martyrologies; the proposed mechanism of transfer (the move of the prefecture, the Emeterius hypothesis); both sides, named scholars. |
| The Passio Traditions | The several recensions of the Passio (prima, altera, metaphrastic, Menologion); their relative dates and dependence; what each adds; their value and limits as evidence; how they relate to the Miracula. |
See Also
- The Historical Core — where the origin question first arises
- The Confession and the Imprisonment — the narrative the recensions carry
- Martyr and Civic Patron — separating the martyr-core from the cult
- The Byzantine Church — the imperial setting of the cult’s growth
References
- Woods, David. “Thessalonica’s Patron: Saint Demetrius or Emeterius?” Harvard Theological Review 93, no. 3 (2000): 221–234.
- Vickers, Michael. “Sirmium or Thessaloniki? A Critical Examination of the St. Demetrius Legend.” Byzantinische Zeitschrift 67 (1974): 337–350.
- Lemerle, Paul. Les plus anciens recueils des miracles de saint Démétrius. Vol. 2. Paris: CNRS, 1981.
- Skedros, James C. Saint Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1999.