PONZIUS. — Biographer of St. Cyprian. About thirty manuscripts have preserved a work that narrates the life of St. Cyprian from his baptism to his election as bishop, his pastoral activity (chapters 1–10), and his passion (chapters 11–19).
The author presents himself as a companion of Cyprian in exile and a witness to his martyrdom (chapters 12, 13; 13, 3–15; 14, 4–8). Neither in the narrative nor in the inscriptions of the oldest manuscripts does the name of the writer appear; he is known only from St. Jerome, who describes him as a deacon of Cyprian (De vir. ill. 68). Therefore, the authenticity of the *Vita* and its historical value are disputed by various critics, though without convincing arguments. The evident apologetic, encomiastic, and edifying aims do not prevent acceptance of the substance of the account, which, moreover, adds little to what is already known about Cyprian from other sources.
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PONZIANO, CEMETERY OF. — Fragment of an altar with an inscription in *damiana* (second half of the 4th century) — Rome, Cemetery of Ponziano.
It was first cleared on 26 July 1618. Since then, no regular excavations have been carried out, only reinforcement work on the monuments explored; it is therefore impossible to determine with certainty the original nuclei. The known parts feature galleries from the late 3rd and 4th centuries, dug into a very friable clay rock, traversed by drainage tunnels; hence their current state is poor, and exploration is made extremely difficult by the terrain. Nevertheless, it has been possible to identify: 1) the burial place of Sts. Pollio, Pumenius, and Milix, with their painted images alongside those of Sts. Peter and Marcellus, with their respective names and numerous graffiti, including an important one with the obituary date of Milix; 2) a cubiculum decorated with frescoes, commonly known as the Baptistery. Access to it is via a large staircase, on the arch of which is painted a bust of the Redeemer, commissioned by a certain Gaudiosus. In the cubiculum, situated at a lower level than the surrounding gallery, ancient burial recesses are visible, obstructed on two sides by protruding structures. One of these is frescoed with the scene of the Baptism of Christ, the other with the coronation of Sts. Abdon and Sennen, flanked by Sts. Milix and Bicentius. Beneath an arch created in the left wall, water flows into the chamber, collecting in a basin decorated with a jeweled cross. It is precisely the presence of water that led Bosio and modern archaeologists to identify this place as a baptistery. Styger, however (Die römischen Katakomben, Berlin 1933, pp. 271–73), denies this identification, impossible both due to the cramped space (m. 1 × 1.35) and the immediate proximity of the bodies interred there. The water, he argues, was not brought in, as there is no supply channel; rather, it invaded the chamber due to the accidental cutting of a drainage tunnel. Later constructions, dating to the 6th century, transformed the space into a small temple of the Jordan. To the right of the staircase leading to this chamber is a cubiculum with a naval scene in the lunette of its solid arch.
The epigraphic material from the underground cemetery is fragmentary: names of loculus owners, invocations, and symbols; mention may be made of the inscription of a certain “Sabinus Santias, artis ispeleris,” with tools of his trade carved beside II. In 1917, while a building was under construction in the cemetery area, a part of the above-ground region of the cemetery itself was discovered.
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**PONZIANUS, POPE, SAINT, MARTYR** — Marble epitaph (3rd century) with the monogram *Martyr* added — Rome, Cemetery of St. Callistus.
More frequently reprinted, and in PL 3, 1541–58 with variants and notes drawn from other manuscripts; *Acta SS. Septembris*, IV, Paris 1868, pp. 325–37; W. Hartel, in appendix to St. Cyprian (*CSEL*, 3, 3), pp. XC–CX; A. Harnack, in *Texte u. Unters.*, 30, III, Leipzig 1913.
— Studies: besides A. Harnack–P. Monceaux, *Hist. litt. de l’Afr. chret.*, II, Paris 1902, pp. 190–97; R. Reitzenstein, in *Sitzungsber. d. Heidelb. Akad. d. Wissenschaft.*, Phil.-hist. Kl., 1913–1914 (against authenticity); P. Corssen, in *Zeitschr. f. neutest. Wissenschaft.*, 15 (1914), pp. 285–316; 16 (1915), pp. 214–29; 18 (1917–18), pp. 118–39, 202–216 (for authenticity); J. Martin, in *Hist. Jahrbuch*, 39 (1919), pp. 674–12 (against); H. Delehaye, *Les passions des Martyrs et les genres litt.*, Brussels 1921, pp. 82–104; cf. *Analecta Boll.*, 39 (1921), p. 168 ff. (for authenticity).