Pontius of Carthage

Pontius, or Pontius the Deacon, (died in the mid-third century) was a Christian saint and Latin author from Carthage. He served as a deacon under Cyprian of Carthage and wrote the Vita Cypriani ("Life of Cyprian") shortly after Cyprian's death.

There is only one surviving account of Pontius, a brief mention in Jerome's De viris illustribus ("On famous men") 68:

Pontius, diaconus Cypriani, usque ad diem passionis eius cum ipso exsilium sustinens egregium volumen vitae et passionis Cypriani reliquit.
Pontius, Cyprian's deacon, who up to the day of his martyrdom endured exile with him, wrote a remarkable book of the life and passion of Cyprian.

Although the author is not identified in the transmitted Life of Cyprian, Jerome is clearly writing of this work. The only other information comes from the author's own statements: he writes in part from what he himself witnessed or heard from older people; he accompanied Cyprian into exile at Curubis, modern Korba. From the preface, it appears that Pontius was not aware of any other account of Cyprian's martyrdom at the time he wrote.

Beyond this little is certain. Allusions and forensic style indicate that Pontius must have been well educated, with knowledge both of the Bible and of secular rhetoric.Hermann Dessau noted the coincidence of an inscription in the little town of Curubis to a local magistrate with the name Pontius and suggested that the praise of the town in the work and the author's desire to associate the town with Cyprian's martyrdom may reflect local patriotism. Other scholars either reject this or regard it as unprovable.

The manuscripts give the title of the work as Vita Cypriani ("The Life of Cyprian"), while Jerome (see above) referred to it as Vita et passio Cypriani ("Life and martyrdom of Cyprian"). Jerome's reference may not be intended as a title; but it is certainly the case that the book is clearly divided into two parts, one concerned with Cyprian's life, one with the events leading up to his martyrdom. In the preface to the work, Pontius expresses regret there were detailed accounts of the martyrdoms of lay Christians, but none of a bishop like Cyprian who had so much worth narrating even without the martyrdom (1, 2). Chapters 3 to 10 relate Cyprian's activities from the time of his conversion, while chapters 11-19 describe proceedings before two different proconsuls, their judgements and Cyprian's final martyrdom.

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