THEODOSIUS THE DEACON, COLLECTION OF

A collection of canonical and historical material pertaining to the Carthaginian synod of 419 (see carthage, councils of), to the early Eastern councils, and to the personal history of St. athanasius. The collection itself is to be found solely in the Verona Chapter Library Codex LX (58), dating from about the year 700. Its contents were first published by S. Maffei in 1738. The unique interest of the collection is that it contains several important documents that are not found elsewhere. These are a letter to the bishops of the East from a Roman synod held in about 372, the canons of a synod at Carthage in 421, a paschal cycle, two letters from Athanasius to the Church at Alexandria, a letter from the Council of sardi ca, the Historia Acephala, and two letters relating to the meletian schism. Because of its large quantities of Carthaginian and Sardican material, C. H. Turner suggested that the collection grew up around the African jurisdictional dispute with Rome over Apiarius of Sicca, for upon this dispute the Sardican canons would have had bearing. E. Schwartz, W. Telfer, and H. Hess have modified this hypothesis, but it is generally agreed that the Sardican and other Eastern material in the collection represents an early fifth-century African inquiry into the nature of the Council of Sardica. The identity of the deacon Theodosius, whose subscription the MS collection bears, is unknown.

Bibliography: w. telfer, "The Codex Verona LX (58)," Harvard Theological Review 36 (1943) 169–246. c. h. turner, "The Verona Manuscripts of Canons LX (58) and LIX (57)," Guardian (Dec. 11, 1958) 1921–22. h. hess. The Canons of the Council of Sardica, A.D. 343 63–67. f. maassen, Geschichte der Quellen und der Literatur des canonischen Rechts im Abendlande bis dem Ausgang des Mittelalters (Graz 1870; 1956) 546–551. e. schwartz, "Über die Sammlung des Cod. Veronensis LX," Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche 35 (1936) 1–23.

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