SIXTUS
32
SIXTUS
of the Appian Way, nearly opposite the cemetery of
St. Callistus. While seated on his chair in the act of
addressing his flock he was suddenly apprehended by a
band of soldiers. There is some doubt whether he
was beheaded forthwith, or was first brought before
a tribunal to receive his sentence and then led back
to the cemetery for execution. The latter opinion
seems to be the more probable.
The inscription which Pope Damasus (366-84) placed on his tomb in the cemetery of St. Callistus may be interpreted in either sense. The entire in- scription is to be found in the works of St. Damasus (P. L., XIII, 383-4, where it is wrongly supposed to be an epitaph for Pope Stephen I), and a few frag- ments of it were discovered at the tomb itself by de Rossi (Inscr. Christ., II, 108). The "Liber Pontifi- calis" mentions that he was led away to offer sacri- fice to the gods ("ductus ut sacrificaret demoniis " — I, 155). St. Cyprian states in the above-named letter, which was written at the latest one month after the martyrdom of SLxtus, that "the prefects of the City were daily urging the persecution in order that, if any were brought before them, they might be punished and their property confiscated ' ' . The pathetic meeting between St. SLxtus II and St. Lawrence, as the former was being led to execution, of which mention is made in the unauthentic "Acts of St. Lawrence" as well as by St. Ambrose (Officiorum, lib. I, c. xli, and lib. II, c. x.xviii) and the poet Prudentius (Peristephanon, II), is probably a mere legend. Entirely contrary to truth is the statement of Prudentius (ibid., fines 23-26) that Sbctus II suffered martyrdom on the cross, unless by an unnatural trope the poet uses the specific word cross ("Jam Xystus adfixus cruci") for martyrdom in general, as Duchesne and Allard (see below) suggest. Four deacons, Januarius, Vincen- tius, Magnus, and Stephanus, were apprehended with Sixtus and beheaded with him at the same ceme- tery. Two other deacons, Felicissimus and Agapi- tus, suffered martyrdom on the same day. The feast of St. Sixtus II and these sbc deacons is celebrated on 6 August, the day of their martyrdom. The remains of Sixtus were transferred by the Cliristians to the papal crypt in the neighbouring cemetery of St. Callis- tus. Behind his tomb was enshrined the blood- stained chair on which he had been beheaded. An oratory (Oratorium Xysli) was erected above the cemetery of St. Prjetextatus, at the spot where he was martyred, and was still visited by pilgrims of the seventh and the eighth century.
For some time Sixtus II was believed to be the au- thor of the so-called "Sentences", or "Ring of Six- tus", originally written by a Pythagorean philosopher and in the second century revised by a Christian. This error arose because in his introduction to a Latin translation of these "Sentences" Rufinus ascribes them to Sixtus of Rome, bishop and martyr. It is certain that Pope Sixtus II is not their author (see Conybeare, "The Ring of Pope Xystus now first ren- dered into English, with an historical and critical com- mentary", London, 1910). Harnack (Tcxte und Untersuchungen zur altchrist. Literatur, XIII, XX) ascribes to him the treatise "Ad Novatianum", but his opinion has been generally rejected (see Rom- bold in "Theol. Quartalschrift", LXXII, Tubingen, 1900). Some of his letters are printed in P. L., V, 79-100. A newly discovered letter was published bv Conybeare in "English Hist. Review", London, 1910.
Acta .S.S.. Aug., II, 124-42; Ddchesne, Liber Pontifiralis, I. l.')5-fi; Barmdy in Diet. Christ. Biog.. s. v. Xystus; Rohault de Fleury, Les Saints de la messe. III (Paris. 1893); He.ilt, The Valerian Persecution (Boston and Now York, 1905). 170-9; .\i.- l.ARD, Les dernih'ts persecutions du troisiime siicle (Paris. 1907), 80-92, 343-349; DF. Rossi, Roma SoUeranea. II (Rome, 1864-77), 87-97; WiLPEHT, Die Papstgrfibcr und die Cdciliengruft in der Katakombe des hi. Callistus, supplement to de Rossi's Roma SoUeranea (Freiburg im Br., 1909).
Michael Ott.
Sixtus III (Xtstds), Saint, Pope, consecrated
31 July, 432; d. 440. Previous to his accession he
was prominent among the Roman clergy and in cor-
respondence with St. Augustine. He reigned during
the Nestorian and Pelagian controversies, and it was
probably owing to his conciliatory disposition that he
was falsely accused of leanings towards these heresies.
As pope he approved the Acts of the Council of
Ephesus and endeavoured to restore peace between
Cyril of Alexandria and John of Antioch. In the
Pelagian controversy he frustrated the attempt of
Julian of Eclanum to be readmitted to communion
with the Cathohc Church. He defended the pope's
right of supremacy over lUyrieum against the local
bishops and the ambitious designs of Proclus of Con-
stantinople. At Rome he restored the Basilica of
Liberius, now known as St. Mary Major, enlarged the
Basifica of St. Lawrence-Wit hout-the-Wafis, and ob-
tained precious gifts from the Emperor Valentinian
III for St. Peter's and the Lateran Basihea. The
work which asserts that the consul Bassus accused
him of crime is a forgery. He is the author of eight
letters (in P. L., L, 583 sqq.), but he did not write the
works "On Riches", "On False Teachers", and "On
Chastity" ("De divitiis", "De malis doetoribus",
" De castitate") attributed to him. His feast is kept
on 28 March.
Duchesne (ed.). Lib. Pont.. I (Paris, 1S86), 126-27, 232-37; B.iRMBT in Diet. Christ. Biog., a. v. Sixtus (3) ; Gris.vr, History of Rome and the Popes, tr. C.iPPADELT.i. I (St. Louis, 1911), DOS. 54, 135, 140, 144, 154.
N. A. Webeb.
Sixtus TV (Francesco della Rovere), Pope, b. near Abisola, 21 July, 1414; d. 12 Aug., 1484. His parents were poor, and while still a child he was destined for the Franciscan Order. Later he studied philosophy and theology with great success at the University of Pavia, and lectured at Padua, Bologna, Pavia, Siena, and Florence, having amongst other eminent disciples the famous Car- dinal Bessarion. After filling the post of procurator of his order in Rome and Provincial of Liguria, he was in 1467 created Cardinal of S. Pietro in Vincofi by Paul II. Whatever leisure he now had was devoted to theology, and in 1470 he pubhshed a treatise on the Precious Blood and a work on the Immaculate Conception, in which latter he endeavoured to prove that Aquinas and Scotus, though differing in words, were really of one mind upon the question. The conclave which assembled on the death of Paul II elected him pope, and he ascended the chair of St. Peter as Sixtus IV.
His first thought was the prosecution of the war against the Turks, and legates were appointed for France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, and Poland, w^ith the hope of enkindling enthusiasm in these countries. The crusade, however, achieved little beyond the bringing back to Rome of twenty-five Turkish pris- oners, who were paraded in triumph through the streets of the city. Sixtus continued the pohcy of his predecessor Paul II with regard to France, and denounced Louis XI for insisting on the royal con- sent being given before papal decrees could be pub- lished in his kingdom. He also made an effort like his predecessor for the reunion of the Russian Church with Rome, but his negotiations were without result. He now turned his attention almost exclusively to Italian politics, and fell more and more under his dominating passion of nepotism, heaping riches and favours on his unworthy relations. In 1478 took place the famous conspiracy of the Pazzi, planned by the i)()pe's neiihew — Cardinal Rafael Hiario — to overtlirow the Medici .and bring Florence under the Riarii. The pope was cognizant of the plot, though
