
311 AD to 314
AD

The year of his birth is not known; he was elected pope in either
310 or 311; died 10 or 11 January, 314. After the banishment of Pope
Eusebius, the Roman See was vacant for some time, probably because
of the complications which has arisen on account of the apostates
(lapsi), and which were not cleared up by the banishment of
Eusebius and Heraclius. On 2 July, 310 or 311, Miltiadea (the name
is also written Melchiades), a native of Africa, was elevated to the
papacy. There is some uncertainty as to the exact year, as the
"Liberian Catalogue of the Popes" (Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis",
I, 9) gives 2 July, 311, as the date of the consecration of the new
pope (ex die VI non. iul. a cons. Maximiliano VIII solo, quod fuit
mense septembri Volusiano et Rufino); but in contradiction to this
the death of the pope is said to have occurred on 2 January, 314,
and the duration of the pontificate is given as three years, six
months and eight days; possibly owing to the mistake of a copyist,
we ought to read "ann. II" instead of "ann. III"; and therefore the
year of his elevation to the papacy was most probably 311. About
this time (311 or 310), an edict of toleration signed by the
Emperors Galerius, Licinius, and Constantine, put an end to the
great persecution of the Christians, and they were permitted to live
as such, and also to reconstruct their places of religious worship
(Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", VIII, xvii; Lactantius, "De mortibus
persecutorum", xxxiv). Only in those countries of the Orient which
were under the sway of Maximinus Daia did the Christians continue to
be persecuted. The emperor now gave Pope Miltiades in Rome the right
to receive back, through the prefect of the city, all ecclesiastical
buildings and possessions which had been confiscated during the
persecutions. The two Roman deacons, Strato and Cassianus, were
ordered by the pope to discuss this matter with the prefect, and to
take over the church properties (Augustinus, "Breviculus collationis
cum Donatistis", iii, 34); it thus became possible to reorganize
thoroughly the ecclesiastical administration and the religious life
of the Christians in Rome.
Miltiades caused the remains of his predecessor, Eusebius, to be
brought back from Sicily to Rome, and had them interred in a crypt
in the Catacombs of St. Callistus. In the following year the pope
witnessed the final triumph of the Cross, through the defeat of
Maxentius, and the entry into Rome of the Emperor Constantine (now
converted to Christianity), after the victory at the Milvian Bridge
(27 October, 312). Later the emperor presented the Roman Church with
the Lateran Palace, which then became the residence of the pope, and
consequently also the seat of the seat of the central administration
of the Roman Church. The basilica which adjoined the palace or was
afterwards built there became the principal church of Rome. In 313
the Donatists (q.v.) came to Constantine with a request to nominate
bishops from Gaul as judges in the controversy of the African
episcopate regarding the consecration in Carthage of the two
bishops, Cæcilian and Majorinus. Constantine wrote about this to
Miltiades, and also to Marcus, requesting the pope with three
bishops from Gaul to give a hearing in Rome, to Cæcilian and his
opponent, and to decide the case. On 2 October, 313, there assembled
in the Lateran Palace, under the presidency of Miltiades, a synod of
eighteen bishops from Gaul and Italy, which, after thoroughly
considring the Donatist controversy for three days, decided in favor
of Cæcilian, whose election and consecration as Bishop of Carthage
was declared to be legitimate. In the biography of Miltiades, in the
"Liber Pontificalis", it is stated that at the time Manichæans were
found in Rome; this was quite possible as Manichæism began to be
spread in the West in the fourth century. The same source attributes
to this pope a decree which absolutely forbade the Christians to
fast on Sundays or on Thursdays, "because these days were observed
by the heathen as a holy fast". This reason is remarkable; it comes
most likely from the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" who with
this alleged decree traces back a Roman custom of his own time to an
ordinance of Miltiades. The "Liber Pontificalis" is probably no less
arbitrary in crediting this pope with a decree to the effect that
the Oblation consecrated at the Solemn Mass of the pope (by which is
meant the Eucharistic Bread) should be taken to the different
churches in Rome. Such a custom actually existed in Rome (Duchesne,
"Christian Worship," London, 1903, 185); but there is nothing
definite to show that it was introduced byMiltiades, as the "Liber
Pontificalis" asserts.
After his death, on 10 or 11 January (the Liberian Catalogue"
give it as III id. jan.; the "Depositio Episcoporum" as IIII id.
jan.), 314, Miltiades was laid to rest in the Catacomb of St.
Callistus and he was venerated as a saint. De Rossi regards as
highly probably his [this] location of this pope's burial-chamber
(Roma Sotterranea, II, 188 sq.). His feast was celebrated in the
fourth century, on 10 January, according to the "Martyrologium
Hieronymianum". In the present "Roman Martyrology" it occurs on 10
December.
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