SILVESTER I, POPE, saint. — Despite his long pontificate (31 Jan. 314–31 Dec. 335), few details are known about his life and activities, since it Constantine (v.), the first Christian emperor, who dominated and filled with his presence the life of the Empire and the Church in the first half of the 4th century.
The same author of the *Liber Pontificalis* dwells at length on enumerating Constantine’s constructions, while offering only brief mentions of the Pope’s activity. Sylvester is said to have issued decrees on the consecration of chrism by the bishop, on trials and judgments concerning clerics, on the intervals required to access Holy Orders, on liturgical vestments, and on the manner of receiving heretics into the Church. He is credited with founding the *titulus Equitii* on the Esquiline (S. Martino ai Monti), though it appears to have been older and Sylvester may have merely exercised his ministry there before his election as pope. It is certain, however, that by the end of the 4th century the name and cult of Sylvester were associated with that title, and by the 6th century it was already called the *titulus s. Silvestri*.
During his pontificate, the Church was troubled by the Donatist and Arian controversies, but Sylvester does not appear to have played a significant role in condemning heretics, despite being aware of the issues. The former was settled at the Council of Arles (314), convened by Constantine, to which the Pope did not attend but was informed of the decisions through a synodal letter; the latter was settled at the Council of Nicaea (325), also convened, presided over, and directed by Constantine, with papal legates including Hosius, bishop of Córdoba, and two Roman priests in attendance. Sylvester also played a secondary role in the subsequent phases of the Arian controversy.
He was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria Nova. His name appears in the *Depositio Episcoporum* and is recorded with the same date and place in the martyrologies, the 7th-century itineraries, and the sacramentaries.
Sylvester’s person, however, did not escape legend, which portrayed him as a heroic figure in contrast to Constantine, by whom he had been somewhat overshadowed. Among the so-called *Apocrifi simmachiani* (v. Simmaco), three pertain to Sylvester: the *Actus beati Silvestri*, the *Constitutum*, and the so-called Synod of the 275. The first, which exists in Latin, Greek, and Syriac versions and was falsely attributed to Eusebius of Caesarea, recounts a romanticized life of Sylvester. As a young man, he performed works of hospitality toward pilgrims and, having been enrolled among the clergy, was ordained a priest by Miltiades. Elected pope, to escape Constantine’s persecution, he withdrew to Mount Soratte, from where he descended to baptize the emperor himself after his conversion and to free him from leprosy. Constantine’s fervor for building, however, aroused the wrath of his mother Helena, who provoked a dispute between Sylvester and some Jews over the true religion; Sylvester emerged victorious, and Helena embraced Christianity. She then traveled to the East, where she found the Cross of Jesus, while Constantine founded Constantinople.
The *Constitutum* and the *Synod* consist of a collection of 20 decrees and the decisions of a supposed synod held by Sylvester in the Baths of Trajan after Constantine’s baptism and in his presence, to confirm the decisions of the Council of Nicaea, with which Sylvester is said to have exchanged letters. To these apocryphal works, the famous *Donatio Constantini* was added in the 8th century, in which Constantine, transferring his seat to the East, granted Sylvester all his sovereign rights over Rome and conferred many privileges upon him and his clergy.