Download PDF | (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450_ 90) Ionuț Holubeanu - Christianity in Roman Scythia_ Ecclesiastical Organization and Monasticism (4th to 7th Centuries)-Brill (2024).
503 Pages
Introduction:
The Land between the Danube and the Black Sea in Late Antiquity
The land between the Danube and the Black Sea (the present-day region of Dobruja in Romania and Bulgaria) fell under Roman rule between the years 44 and 29/28 BC, after the death of the Dacian king Burebista (82-44 BC). It became part of the Roman province of Moesia in the middle of the 1st century aD and of Moesia Inferior under Domitian (81-96). Scythia was organized as a distinct Roman province between the years 286 and 293, during the administrative reform initiated by Emperor Diocletian (284-305).
The name Scythia had also been used for the Istro-Pontic land before Diocletian’s reign. Its oldest attestation appears in a Greek inscription dating to the beginning of the 2nd century BC, uncovered at Histria (now Istria, Romania).! At the beginning of the 1st century AD, the Greek geographer Strabo mentions that the region received the name of ‘Scythia Minor (Mixpd Xxv8ta, ‘Lesser Scythia’) as a result of the mass settlement there of some of the nomadic Scythians (of Iranian origin) from the north of the Black Sea.” Through the creation of the Roman province, the old name of the region acquired an official character within the administration of the empire.
Scythia had an important strategic role within the plan of the military organization of the Eastern Roman Empire, especially after the foundation of Constantinople in the early 4th century. Together with the neighbouring province of Moesia Secunda, it was the outpost for the defense of the Eastern imperial capital, especially against barbarian attacks coming from across the Danube.?
Within the administrative organization of the empire, Scythia was part of the diocese of Thrace, with a capital city at Tomi (now Constanta, Romania), situated on the Black Sea coast. Its borders were marked by the Danube River to the west and north, without the Delta from the mouth of the river, by the Black Sea coast to the east, and in the south, in the area neighbouring Moesia Secunda, mainly by the course of the rivers Sukha Reka, toward the Danube, and Batova, toward the Black Sea shore (see map 3). The province was led by a governor (praeses) who was in charge of civil affairs, and a military commander (dux), who controlled and commanded the provincial army. In 536, Justinian 1 (527-565) established a quaestura exercitus with a seat in Odessos (now Varna, Bulgaria), containing the Roman provinces of Moesia Secunda, Scythia, Cyprus, Caria, and the Islands. The provinces kept their individual identity within this new administrative structure, despite the fact that the presiding official (the quaestor) was responsible for the entire area. The position of Justinian 1’s quaestura exercitus was discarded shortly before 587, when the ducal system was reinstated in the region.*
The land of Scythia had a varied topography, from mountains and low hills to fields, as well as the terrain of the delta and the littoral. In the central and southern part there were ravines whose slopes, pierced by caves, offered favourable conditions to the creation of monastic complexes. In the first half of the 5th century, Saint John Cassian, who was from Scythia, revived the image of his homeland and pointed to “the recesses of the woods that would not only delight the heart of a monk, but would also furnish him with a plentiful supply of food.’5 Regarding the climate, ancient authors mentioned almost exclusively the harsh winters there, much different from the Mediterranean ones.® In the first quarter of the 6th century, Saint Dionysius Exiguus, while in Rome, noted that his home province, Scythia, “is proved to be terrible both for its cold and its barbarians,’ but revealed that this reality did not affect in any way the evolution of monastic life and the theological instruction of the monks there.”
Scythia had important economic resources. From this point of view, it was the most favoured of the four Danubian provinces (Moesia Prima, Dacia Ripensis, Moesia Secunda, and Scythia). Nevertheless, it was not part of the category of great production areas of the Eastern Empire and was not able to provide by itself for its economic needs. However, the Black Sea and the navigable course of the Danube favoured the trade with Constantinople, with richer eastern provinces, and with the northern Black Sea cities, as Chersonesus, which contributed to its economic development. Moreover, intense commercial relations existed in the 4th century with the Gothic communities to the north of the Danube, Scythia being also a transit territory for the goods exported there from other regions of the empire. The creation of that quaestura exercitus in 536 contributed both to the provisioning of the troops in Scythia and to the intensification of the commercial relations with Cyprus, Caria, and the Islands.®
The creation of Scythia province was followed by the reorganization of the army in the region. Its defense was entrusted to legions 1 Iovia and 11 Herculia and to numerous auxiliary units and naval forces. During the Tetrarchy, troops of legion 11 Herculia in Scythia were detached also to the Crimean Peninsula, in Chersonesus. An important reorganization of the army in Scythia took place in the middle of the 4th century, when new regiments of riparian type created by Constantius 11 (337-361) were dispatched along the border. After the disaster of Hadrianopolis in 378 (see below), Gothic and Alanic contingents were incorporated into the Roman army, whereas after 453 the imperial administration appealed also to troops formed of Huns, Sciri, Sadagari, and Alans in order to defend Scythia. The reorganization of the armed forces by Anastasius I (491-518) led to major changes in their structure, composition, and battle tactics. Later, under Justinian I (527-565), a large part of the attributions of the former border troops were transferred to the armies of the cities, alongside which the field army also took action. The province often had to rely only on its own military resources.?
Being a strategic border province, Scythia had a solid infrastructure (roads and fortifications), and a highway network consisting of three arterial roads and numerous secondary ones (see map 3). One of the main roads was the one on the border, which ran along the Danube bank, coming from Durostorum (now Silistra, Bulgaria) in Moesia Secunda and ending in Stoma Peuce/Ad Stoma (now Dunavatu de Sus, Romania), where the southern branch (Peuce, now Sfantul Gheorghe [Saint George]) of Danube in the Delta flows into the Black Sea. In 527/8, in Hierocles’ Synecdemus, almost half of the cities in the province are attested along this route: Axiopolis (now Cernavoda, Romania), Capidava (now Capidava-Topalu, Romania), Carsium (now Harsova, Romania), Troesmis (now Turcoaia-Iglita, Romania), Noviodunum (now Isaccea, Romania), Aegyssus (now Tulcea, Romania), and Halmyris (now Murighiol, Romania). The coastal road, the second arterial route, started from Ad Stoma and ran parallel to the Black Sea coast, continuing south to Constantinople.
It ensured the land connection between the maritime cities in the province: Constantiana (now Enisala, Romania), Histria, Tomi metropolis, Callatis (now Mangalia, Romania), T(i)rissa/Akres (Kaliakra Cape, Bulgaria), and Dionysopolis (now Balchik, Bulgaria). The third arterial road crossed the central area from north to south, starting from the Danube city of Noviodunum, passing by Tropaeum Traiani (now Adamclisi, Romania) and Zaldapa (now Abrit, Bulgaria) and continuing southwards up to Marcianopolis (now Devnya, Bulgaria), the capital of Moesia Secunda province, and then to Constantinople. From these three highways branched off numerous secondary roads (semitae), ensuring the direct connection between the settlements on the Black Sea coast and those of the Danube bank, as well as between all of these and those inside the province. The main demographic areas of Scythia were along the three main roads.!°
Approximately 70 fortified perimeters (castra, castella, burgi, turres) were identified on the territory of Scythia. In the 4th century, most of them preserved their military character, but, starting with the following century, many of them became part of the larger inhabited areas, which led to a multiplication of urban centres. At its foundation, there were 1 cities in Scythia, whereas in 527, in Synecdemus are mentioned 15, representing 45 per cent of the 32 urban settlements from the Danube provinces of the empire mentioned in the same document. Seven of the cities in Scythia were situated on the Danube River, six on the Black Sea coast, and two inside the province (see above).
During the reigns of Justinian 1 and Justin 11 (565-578), other fortified settlements were raised to the rank of cities. This aimed at improving the defense system of the province by increasing the military role of urban centres (see above). In what concerns the size of the fortified area of the cities mentioned in Synecdemus, only the metropolis of Tomi, having over 60 ha, belonged to the category of large settlements. Five settlements were medium-sized (Zaldapa, Dionysopolis, Noviodunum, Troesmis, and Akres) and eight small (Axiopolis, Histria, Callatis, Carsium, Halmyris, Capidava, Aegyssus, Tropaeum Traiani, and Constantiana)." The organization and, later, the extension of the episcopal network of Scythia in the 6th century depended directly on this urban network,”
The ethnic background of Scythia relied mostly on a strongly Romanized native Getae in the western half of the province and on a Greek speaking population on the Black Sea coast, as well as on freshly colonized Thracians, Dacians, Carpi, as well as communities of Scythians and Sarmatians. In the maritime cities of Tomi and Callatis are also attested inhabitants originating from Syria and Egypt. Many Goths, with the title of foederati, settled in the province in the last quarter of the 4th century. After the collapse of the Hunnic Empire in the middle of the 5th century, groups of Sciri, Sadagari, Alans, and Huns mixed with Sarmatians received lands in the province, and from the second half of the 6th century Slavs are also attested in documents. Before the downfall of the Danubian limes (see below), the allogeneous populations settled in Scythia were subjected to an intense romanization process.
The history of Scythia was turbulent, marked by numerous invasions, robberies, and damages caused by the barbarians to the north of the Danube. The first such event took place shortly after its foundation, toward the end of 295 or the beginning of 296, when Carpi, Goths, and Bastarnae attacked the Lower Danube Roman provinces. Goths’ attacks occurred in Scythia also under Constantine the Great (306-337) and his successors. During the reign of Valens (364-378), the Goths that had taken refuge south of the Danube revolted, defeated the Roman army in Hadrianopolis (9 August 378) and robbed large regions in the diocese of Thrace, including Scythia. In the last decade of the 4th century and the first two decades of the following century, the province also suffered due to the Huns’ attacks. The situation worsened again during the reign of Leo I (457-474). A law issued by his successor, Zeno (474-491), between the years 474 and 484, mentions the precarious situation of the churches in Scythia “damaged by continuous barbarian incursions or otherwise afflicted by want.”4
Emperors Anastasius 1, Justin 1 (518-527), and Justinian 1 made important efforts to improve the precarious situation in the Lower Danube regions. In this context, military fortresses were reconstructed and new public edifices were built in Scythia, including basilicas. In the year 513, a riot broke out, led by Vitalian, count of the federates in the diocese of Thrace, in which the armies in Scythia and even the local monks were involved. It was generated by Anastasius 1’s fiscal policy and religious views. The conflict ended in the year 518, with the emperor’s death. During the reign of Justinian 1, the barbarian inroads increased in the Lower Danube areas. In Novella 50 of 537, Scythia and Moesia Secunda were described as ‘lands infested with barbarians.> The Kutrigurian invasion of 558/9 was devastating for Scythia.
In the last quarter of the 6th century and the first quarter of the following century, during the inroads of the Avars and Slavs, most of the cities in the province were destroyed and lost their military character, being gradually deserted by the civil population. Some of the settlements on the sea coast [Tomi, Callatis, Dionysopolis (Balchik-Horizont) and Histria], on the Danube River [Carsium, Aegyssus, Beroe (Piatra Frecatei—Ostrov, Romania) ]| and inside the province [Ulmetum, possibly (L)Ibida,], even if more modest in occupation, continued their existence after 614. This situation could be prolonged in the case of some of them (Tomi, Carsium, possibly Callatis, Dionysopolis, Histria, Aegyssus) until 680/1, when the Proto-Bulgarians led by Asparuh crossed the river and founded an independent state to the north of the Balkan Mountains. This was the effective end of the former late Roman province of Scythia.!®
In what concerns the penetration of Christianity into the land between the Danube and the Black Sea, it is possible that it occurred in the 1st century, through apostles Andrew and Philip, although there are no unquestionable documentary arguments to support this idea.” The discovery in Tomi of an oil lamp with Christian symbols (nine crosses, a dove, a dolphin, and a planta pedis) from the second half of the 2nd century or first half of the following one proves the existence of Christians in the city at that time.!8 In the north of the country, on the territory of the present-day Niculitel village (Romania), the carbonized bones of two Christians who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Decius (249-251) were discovered.
Other numerous Christians became martyrs during the persecutions of Diocletian, Licinius (308-324), and Julian (361-363), most of them in Tomi, others in Axiopolis, Halmyris, Noviodunum and, possibly, Dinogetia (now Garvan, Romania). Their names are mentioned in Martyrology of Jerome, Syriac Martyrology of 4n, Synaxarion of Constantinople, and in several epigraphic inscriptions. The entire relics of some of them were found at Niculitel (Sts. Zotikos, Attalos, Kamasis, and Philippos), Halmyris (Sts. Epictet and Astion), Tropaeum Traiani (five martyrs not known by their names, in the crypt of the ‘A’ basilica), and Beroe (other martyrs not known by their names), whereas in the crypt of the basilica in Sanctus Cyrillus fortress [on the territory of now Kapitan Dimitrovo village (Bulgaria), close to the modern Golesh village (Bulgaria)], three fragments of relics were discovered.
The bones of several people were also found in the crypt of the cemeterial basilica of Tropaeum Traiani. The relics of at least three martyrs (Sts. Cyrillus, Kyndaeas, and Tasius) were preserved in Axiopolis at the beginning of the 4th century. Their existence there is attested by an inscription engraved on a limestone slab uncovered among the remains of the local extramural basilica. Other crypts of basilicas in Tomi (four), Zaldapa (four), Tropaeum Traiani (two), Histria (two), and Capidava (one) were discovered empty. The relics preserved inside them were most probably evacuated from the province in the context of the barbarian attacks that occurred by the turn of the 7th century.!®
To date, the remains of over 60 worship places (urban intramural and extramural basilicas, rural basilicas, martyria, and monastic chapels) have been discovered on the territory of Scythia. Among the oldest ones are the first basilicas of the monastic complexes near Slava Rusa (Romania) and Dumbraveni (Romania), dated to the second half of the 4th century. A special case is represented by the basilica in Telita-Amza (Romania), dated to the beginning of the 4th century, which served a Christian community from the countryside, being shaped by adapting an edifice from the 2nd—3rd centuries to the Christian worship. The sanctuary of Niculitel, where the relics of six Christian martyrs were discovered (see above), was situated in the administrative territory (chora) of Noviodunum and built in the second half of the 4th century. The large number of basilicas, the old age of some of them, and their existence in the countryside reveals the early spread of Christianity in Scythia.?°
The first hierarch of Tomi known by name is Saint Cyrillus, martyred in Axiopolis in the year 303 or 304. Most probably, he presided the Christian communities in the land between the Danube and the Black Sea when the province of Scythia was founded and the atypical organization of the Church there (only one bishop, that of Tomi, for the whole province) could be put to his account.?! His successor was Evangelicus (c.304), mentioned in Passion of the Holy Martyrs Epictet and Astion.?? Another bishop of Tomi, (Ani)Filius/Titus, mentioned in Martyrology of Jerome was martyred during Licinius’ persecution.”
The Church of Scythia may have been represented at the First Council of Nicaea (325) by Mark, who was mentioned in the signatories lists of the council as ‘Marcus Comeensis/Tomeensis.”* During the theological debates of the 4th century, which followed the Nicaean council, the Church in Scythia remained loyal to the Orthodox faith. This aspect is shown by Sozomen in his Church History, pointing to the defense of the Nicene doctrine of the Trinity by Saint Vetranio/Bretanio (c.367—c.374) of Tomi in front of the Semi-Arian Emperor Valens, in 369.° A decade later, at the First Council of Constantinople (381), Scythia was represented by Terennius/Terentius/Gerontius of Tomi (c.381), who is one of the eleven hierarchs nominated by Emperor Theodosius 1 (379-395) as landmarks for the Orthodox faith in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.*° His successor, Theotimus I (c.390—-c.407), was a hesychast monk, writer, and missionary, who had the reputation of a wonder-worker and was honored as a saint in the Catholic Church shortly after his death.?”
Five other hierarchs of Tomi are known in the 5th century: Timothy (c.431), Alexander (c.449—-c.452), Theotimus 11 (c.457/458), and Peter (c.480—498). Timothy was a contemporary of the theological debates generated by the teaching of Archbishop Nestorius of Constantinople (428-431). Unlike his predecessors in Tomi, who were firm defenders of the Orthodox faith, Timothy was hesitant. Moreover, the measures he took in Scythia after the First Council of Ephesus (431) affected the soteriological teaching of the Church in the province in the long run.?® Alexander attended the hearing in Constantinople on 13 April 449 and approved the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon (451), after the end of its sessions. Theotimus 11 is known to have been leading the Church in Scythia during the religious investigation initiated by Emperor Leo 1 in 457. In his response letter to the emperor, the hierarch of Tomi proved to be favorable to the council’s decisions of 451 and condemned the murder of the Chalcedonian Patriarch Proterius (+457) at Alexandria.3° Peter of Tomi was the tutor of Saint Dionysius Exiguus.!
The last three metropolitans of Tomi in Late Antiquity known by their names are Paternus (498-c.520), John (c.530—-c.550), and Valentinian (c.550).
Paternus’ name is mentioned in an inscription engraved on a silver liturgical plate in 498 and in a letter of the papal legates in Constantinople on 5 July 519 regarding the Christological debates in which the Scythian monks at that time were involved. He also participated in the Home Synod of July 520, within which Epiphanius (520-535) was elected patriarch of Constantinople.*? John, coming from among the Scythian monks, wrote a treatise against Eutychianism and Nestorianism.?? Regarding Valentinian, he corresponded with Pope Vigilius (537-555) during the Three Chapters controversy; his name was also mentioned in the documents of the Second Council of Constantinople (553).34
The first ordinary bishoprics, suffragan of the metropolis of Tomi, were founded on the territory of Roman Scythia in the second quarter of the 6th century (c.536).3> Even if they were numerous, the name of only one hierarch (Stephen) is known at present. He is mentioned in an epigraphic inscription at Callatis.36
A Novatian bishop, named Mark, is attested in documents in Scythia in 438.3” His existence reveals the quite large number of Christians in Scythia who renounced their faith under the persecutions of Diocletian and Licinius from the first quarter of the 4th century and the discontent of some of the local Christians with the readmission of these /apsi to communion. Socrates names Mark as “bishop of the Novatians in Scythia” (“ev LxvOia Navatiavay enicxomoc”). From these words it can be deduced that the Novatian communities in the province were led by a single bishop (like the Catholic ones). Most likely, this bishop also resided at Tomi, the Novatian hierarchy in the empire as a rule duplicated the Catholic presence.
The Church of Scythia had relations also with other churches in the East and the West, through the hierarchs, priests, deacons, monks, and even the ordinary Christians. Old ecclesiastical connections with the Syro-Palestinian provinces are suggested by a hagiographical document (Lives of the Bishops of Chersonesus), which mentions the sending of a bishop (Ephraim) to Scythia by Hermon of Jerusalem (300-—312).3° The relations between the bishops of Tomi and those of Syria were also proposed on the basis of some type of amphoras (LRA 1 with Christian inscriptions) discovered in Scythia.®° The architecture of two Scythian basilicas [that in Callatis (4th—5th centuries) and one (no. 3) in Troesmis (6th century)] reflects Syrian influences.# These connections may have been mediated by the Syrian community in Scythia, whose existence is epigraphically attested: Simplicius the Syrian, a lawyer, is referred to in a funerary inscription in Callatis (5th—6th centuries), and Paul the Syrian, a subdeacon, in a funerary inscription in Tomi (6th century).*!
Some Christians from the eastern provinces of the empire settled in Scythia, like Epictet and Astion, martyred at Halmyris in 304.4? Others were exiled there, like Macrobius (from Phrygia) and Gordian (from Cappadocia), who were martyred in Tomi in 320-324.43 Under Constantius 11 (337-361), Audius the monk, the founder of the schismatic group that bears his name, was also exiled in Scythia. Other Christians (such as a certain Cappadocian Eutychius, in the second quarter of the 4th century) came to the Lower Danube regions (including Scythia) from the eastern regions of the empire to preach the Christian faith.4
In 373, Vetranio of Tomi bore a correspondence with Saint Basil the Great on the occasion of the transfer from trans-Danubian Gothia to Cappadocia of the relics of Saint Sabas the martyr (12 April 372).46 Theotimus 1 of Tomi was close to John Chrysostom, whom he defended against the accusation of Origenism.*” Other hierarchs of Tomi, as already shown, participated in ecumenical councils, in home synods, and were involved in the theological debates that took place during their spiritual guidance.
In the first quarter of the 6th century, the monks in Scythia travelled to Constantinople, Rome, and the island of Sardinia to advocate for the adoption of their theoanthropopaschite theological formula “One of the Holy Trinity suffered/was crucified in the flesh” (“unus de sancta trinitate passus/crucifixus est carne”).48
The travels of Saints John Cassian and Germanus reveal the Scythian Christians’ pilgrimages to Palestine since the end of the 4th century. Another Christian from Roman Scythia, Benjamin, is attested in Scetis desert in Egypt at the same time.*9
Menas flasks from Egypt were discovered in Tomi (three pieces) and Capidava (one piece) (5th—6th centuries). Two other pilgrim flasks, one from the Syro-Palestinian provinces (6th century) and one from Asia Minor (the end of the 6th century), were discovered in Capidava and Callatis, respectively.5° They could have been brought either by pilgrims or by merchants and soldiers, or could be the result of elite-level gift-exchange.*! An inscription at Bizone (now Kavarna, in Bulgaria) (6th century) mentions the erection there (by voluntary donations—de donis) of a basilica dedicated to the martyrs Cosmas and Damian, whose shrine was in the city of Cyrrhus, in Syria.5? All these pieces of evidence reveal the veneration in Scythia of the saints from those regions and suggest the connections with their sacred sites.
The liturgical language of the Church in Roman Scythia was Greek. A piece of evidence in this respect is the Christian inscriptions written in this language identified in the Latin-speaking areas of the province (on the Danube River and in the central part). The most representative are those from the basilicas in Axiopolis, Halmyris, and Niculitel. In the first case (Axiopolis, on the Danube), there is an inscription dated to the early half of the 4th century, where the names of three of the local martyrs (Cyrillus, Kyndaeas, and Tasius) are mentioned.5? In Halmyris, a city situated close to the point where the Danube flows into the Black Sea, the inscription in the crypt of the intramural basilica (the second quarter of the 4th century) is written also in Greek, mentioning the names of the two local martyrs (Epictet and Astion).5* At Niculitel, in chora of the Danubian city of Noviodunum, there are three inscriptions in Greek in the crypt of the basilica (the latter half of the 4th century).5> A special case is represented by a bilingual (Greek and Latin) Christian inscription of the 5th—6th centuries, uncovered in Tropaeum Traiani, a city situated in the central Latin-speaking area of the province.®®
In the following century (the 6th), Greek is attested as a liturgical language of the Scythian monks, who mention that the Liturgy of Basil the Great was used almost throughout the whole East (so also in Roman Scythia) and cite (in Latin translation) a version of the Prayer to the Altar in this religious ceremony.*” Greek is also attested in theological education in the province by the turn of the 5th century, during the time of Theotimus I of Tomi.*® Later, after the First Council of Ephesus (431), the use of Latin became widespread in theological education. In 492, Metropolitan Peter of Tomi asked Dionysius Exiguus, who was in Rome, to translate for him the Synodal Letter (no. 17) to Nestorius from Greek to Latin. A similar request was addressed to Dionysius in 519 by some of the Scythian monks who arrived in Rome. These requests reveal that most of the theologians of the province no longer understood at a satisfactory level the Greek of the theological treatises. Scythian monks also wrote their treatises and compiled the patristic texts collections in Latin, not in Greek.®9
As can be seen, there is a diversity of topics related to Christianity in Scythia. Some of them, such as archaeological discoveries (basilicas, inscriptions, and other remains), made the object of numerous studies and extended works. Mention must be made of the book of the Romanian researcher Ioan Iatcu, which was dedicated to Christian religious constructions discovered on the territory of Scythia.®° We consider it useful to edit a new extended work, presenting together Christian objects discovered in the province, with a re-evaluation of their dating.®! Significant progress was also made in clarifying the series of Christian hierarchs in the province, the problematic cases—Peter and John of Tomi—being discussed in the present book, as well.
In the case of other topics, such as the origins of Christian life in the province, the identification of the martyrs there, or of the relations with other churches, there are aspects that have not been fully clarified, even if the subjects have been approached by certain scholars.6? Moreover, no Christian prosopography of Scythia has been written, even if there had been preoccupations in this regard.®*
In the present book, two topics regarding the history of Christianity in Roman Scythia are treated: Church organization and monastic life. We have paid particular attention to these issues in our previous research investigations.® To clarify several aspects related to these topics, we have advanced a new thesis, based on documentary information that was overlooked or (we consider) not satisfactorily interpreted in the already published works.
We hope to deal extensively also with other topics, such as the Christian martyrs of Scythia, in our future studies.
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