András Handl - How to be a martyr without dying for it: a new perspective on the martyrdom of Callixtus I. (217?-222?)

The biography of Callixtus I., Bishop of Rome (217?-222?) contains an unresolved puzzle concerning his death. For while both of the most relevant sources -- the Refutatio omnium haeresium and the Passio Callixti -- call Callixtus a martyr, but only one, the less historically reliable Passio, actually ascribes a violent death to him. My paper will examine this puzzle through a careful, contextualized re-reading of both sources. 

The only contemporary, but strong polemical source about Callixtus, the refutatio, reports on the sentenced Callixtus and his work as a slave in the

 mines of Sardinia. The Author of the refutatio, but also other coevals like

 Bishop Victor (189?-199?), see this clearly in conjunction with martyrdom.

 In this context, it is important to note that the terminology that was used

 at the beginning of the 3rd century wasn't distinctive: the expression

 martyr meant confessor as well as martyr in the classical sense. Finally, the refutatio, written after the death of Callixtus, doesn't mention a dreadful death at all. Furthermore, a factual violent death of Callixtus would not only unambiguously point out the upright character of his opponent but also his “first” martyrdom in the mines of Sardinia. At the same time, this would completely destroy the argumentation of the refutatio against Callixtus based on ruining his good reputation.

There is no need for the Passio Callixti to explain the martyrdom of

 Callixtus. The refutatio clearly states the criteria on the basis of which

 he was declared and later honoured as a martyr. That was obviously not a

 problem until the 5th century, when the refutatio was forgotten and a story

 of violated death was needed for the making of a martyr. And this was how

 the creation of a legend began.