Julius and Aaron

Saints Aaron and Julius (or Julian, Latin: Aaronus et Iulius/Iulianus) were two British saints who are traditionally held to have been martyred at Caerleon, Wales, during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in 304 AD Along with Saint Alban and Amphibalus, they are the only named martyrs from Roman Britain. Their feast day was traditionally celebrated on 1 July^[1] but is now observed together with Saint Alban on 20 June by the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Anglican Churches.^[3][4]

Surviving Sources

Little can actually be known about Julius and Aaron, as there is so little information about them in primary sources. The main textual sources for St. Aaron and St. Julius are Gildas and Bede, though we have few details concerning their story from either source. Gildas' De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae is the first surviving source to mention them,^[5] and he writes that during the Diocletian persecution, "God... kindled up among us bright luminaries of holy martyrs...Such were St. Alban of Verulam, Aaron and Julius, citizens of the city of legions and the rest, of both sexes, who in different places stood their ground in the Christian contest."^[6] Bede, drawing on Gildas, says in the Ecclesiastical History of the English People that in the same persecution during which St. Alban was martyred, so "suffered Aaron and Julius, citizens of Caerleon, and many others of both sexes throughout the land. After they had endured many horrible physical tortures, death brought an end to their struggles."^[7]

The 12th-century Book of Llandaf also mentions a church (Merthir Iún et Aaron) dedicated to the cult of two martyrs.^[1]

Medieval Hagiography

By the high Middle Ages, the hagiography of Julius and Aaron had been significantly elaborated. In his Description of Wales, Giraldus Cambrensis explains that Caerleon was native home of Amphibalus, teacher to St. Alban. Other legends say that Julius and Aaron were Roman soldiers, and that after the martyrdom of St. Alban, Amphibalus returned to Caerleon where he converted Julius and Aaron, among others, before their persecution and death in the Roman amphitheater at Caerleon.

Aaron (due to his Biblical name) was believed to be a Briton, while Julius, with his Roman name, was believed to be a Roman soldier.

Medieval Cult Sites

By the high medieval times, three churches dedicated to Julius and Aaron existed in Caerleon. Of the three churches, the first was dedicated to Julius the Martyr and was graced with a choir of nuns. The second belonged to his associate Aaron, and ennobled with an order of canons. The third was the metropolitan of Wales, the seat of the Welsh bishop in ancient times.^[8] The metropolitan see was relocated to Menevia (St Davids) by St. David, the patron saint of Wales, in 519. According to the 17th century historian Francis Godwin, who wrote the Early History of Religion (De praesulibus Angliae), each of the martyrs had a church named for them in the city of Caerleon. These chapels existed on the east and west sides of Caerleon, about two miles distant from each other. St. Julias' belonged to a nunnery, and St. Aaron to a monastery of canons.

The churches are thought to have been damaged by storms and age, and were finally fully destroyed under Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the 1500s. The ruins of the monastic chapel of St. Julius were completely destroyed in the 15th century when Sir George Herbert built a Manor on the site and gave the manor the name of "St Gillian’s" a corruption of "St Julian’s". ^[9]

Location of Martyrdom Controversy

There is some evidence to suggest that the martyrdom may have occurred not in Caerleon but in Chester. When Gildas first mentions Julius and Aaron, he says that they were martyred in the "City of Legions," or legionum urbis. This could have referred to a number of legionary fortresses, including Chester and York, both of which carry this name in a number of sources.^[5] Archaeological excavations at an amphitheater in Chester have uncovered a structure that may have been used for public executions in the Diocletian period, and the possible remains of an early medieval church that might be related to a Roman martyrdom site.^[10]

However, several other factors may point to the traditional association with Caerleon: An eighth-century grant found in the Book of Llandaff describes the boundaries of "territorium sanctorum martirium julii et aaron," or "the territory of the martyred saints Julius and Aaron"^[5] located near Caerleon. Two twelfth century charters reinforce the grant.^[5] There is also evidence that Caerleon became a cult site for St. Julius and Aaron, which lasted to the high Middle Ages. The Book of Llandaff mentions a "Merthir Iun et Aaron," or "sanctified cemetery of Julius and Aaron" at Caerleon.^[11] By 1200, there were at least three churches in Caerleon dedicated to them.

Modern Times

Caerleon Catholic Church

A Roman Catholic church dedicated to St Aaron, Julius, and David was built in Caerleon at the end of the 19th century as part of what is now the RC Archdiocese of Cardiff. The Anglican parish church of St. Julius and St. Aaron was established in the St Julians suburb of Newport in 1924.

SS Julius and Aaron Church, Newport

The 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology recognizes the martyrs as being martyred after Alban during the persecution of Diocletian by the legionaries of Brittania Minor (i.e., Brittany), in a period during which many 'arrived at the glorious city [of heaven] after enduring painful tortures and severe flogging'.^[2]

The Roman Martyrology indexes Aaron and Julius under 22 June, but since this is also the date when Saints John Fisher and Thomas More are celebrated, the current Roman Catholic liturgical calendar for Wales^[3] commemorates them together with St Alban on 20 June.

References

• David Hugh Farmer, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978), 228.