The epistolary correspondence of Papa Bar Aggai: first analysis and manuscripts overview

Some Syriac manuscripts preserve a corpus of eight letters presented as the epistolary correspondence of the early 4th-century bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon Papa bar Aggai. These letters are forgeries, probably composed during the 6th century, to legitimate the role and primacy of the see of Seleucia among the Eastern bishoprics. The corpus is composed of eight letters written by Papa or addressed to him by some Western political and religious leaders (e.g. the empress Helena, Judah Kyriakos, Ephrem and Jacob of Nisibis). This article aims at presenting an overview of Papa's correspondence, providing a first look at its manuscript tradition and some hypothesis on the authorship and reasons behind the composition of these pseudo-epigraphs.