PONZIO. - Biographer of s. Cipriano. Some thirty codices have transmitted a work narrating the life of s. Cipriano 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 Cipriano’s companion in exile and witness of his martyrdom (chapters 12,3; 13, 3–15; 14, 4.8). Neither in the narrative nor in the inscription of the oldest codices does the writer’s name appear; it is known only from s. Girolamo, who calls him Cipriano’s deacon (De vir. ill. 68). For this reason, the authenticity of the Vita and its historical value have been disputed by various critics, but without convincing arguments. Its evident apologetic, encomiastic, and edifying purposes do not prevent acceptance of the substance of the account, which, moreover, adds very little to what is known of Cipriano from other sources.
(photo Pont. comm. arch. sacra)