Anthemius of Cyprus

{{Short description|Cypriot archbishop}}

Anthemius (or Anthemios) was the archbishop of Cyprus in the late 5th century.

As archbishop of Cyprus, Anthemius was the metropolitan bishop over the island with his see at Salamis-Constantia.{{sfn|Loverance|2018a}}

Anthemius resisted the efforts of the non-Chalcedonian patriarch of Antioch, Peter the Fuller, to restore his patriarchal authority on Cyprus. In the process, he discovered what he claimed were the relics of Saint Barnabas, buried with a copy of the Gospel of Matthew.{{sfn|Loverance|2018a}} This served to prove that the church of Cyprus was of apostolic foundation.{{sfn|Metcalf|2009|pp=308–309}} According to the Laudatio Barnabae, written around 550, Anthemius saw Barnabas in a dream three nights in a row and the saint told him where he lay buried beneath a carob tree. After discovering the saint's body, Anthemius went to Constantinople.{{sfn|Cosby|2021|pp=95–96}} He gave the gospel to the Emperor Zeno, who had the patriarch of Constantinople summon a synod to rule in favour of Cyprus against Antioch.{{sfn|Metcalf|2009|pp=308–309}}

In 488, Zeno confirmed the Cypriot church's autocephaly and financed the construction of a church to hold Barnabas's relics.{{sfn|Loverance|2018a}} Many local notables contributed to the construction, which was begun immediately.{{sfn|Cosby|2021|pp=98–99}} This first building was a pilgrimage church and probably served as a stopover for many on the way to Jerusalem.{{sfn|Metcalf|2009|p=310}} The remains of this building are today a part of the monastery of Saint Barnabas.{{sfn|Loverance|2018b}}

As the gospel that Anthemius gave to Zeno was a codex, it could not have been an authentic 1st-century copy.{{sfn|Metcalf|2009|pp=308–309}} There are, however, different interpretations of the fraud.{{sfn|Cosby|2021|p=97}} Michael Metcalf sees Anthemius as the deceiver (and Zeno the dupe) in a game of high politics with the patriarch of Antioch.{{sfn|Metcalf|2009|pp=308–309}} Glen Bowersock, on the other hand, sees Zeno and Anthemius as working together to resolve a dispute the emperor was equally interested in resolving.{{sfn|Cosby|2021|pp=97–98}}

The claim that Zeno granted Anthemius regalian privileges is found in nothing earlier than the 16th-century works of Florio Bustron, who may have invented it.{{sfn|Huffman|2015|p=250}}