Apostle of the 70 Philologus, Bishop of Sinope

Philologus, Apostle of the Seventy and Bishop of Sinope (1st century), is named by the Apostle Paul in Romans 16:15: "Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints with them." Tradition holds that Philologus came from a noble Roman family, was the son of Persis (Rom 16:12), and in his youth served in the Praetorian Guard; through his acquaintance with Aquila he came to know Paul during Paul's first Roman imprisonment and, with his wife Julia, embraced the Christian faith.

According to the traditional list of the Seventy Apostles attributed to Dorotheus of Tyre, Philologus was consecrated bishop of Sinope in Pontus by the Apostle Andrew the First-Called and continued his apostolic labors there. One tradition holds that he and Julia later suffered martyrdom in Rome under Nero, following the great fire of 64 AD for which Christians were blamed.

His feast is kept November 5/18, together with the Apostles of the Seventy Patrobas, Hermas, Linus, and Gaius, and again January 4/17 in the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles. He is traditionally depicted paired with the Apostle Gaius, both belonging to the group of disciples named by Paul in Romans 16.