Editing Matthias the Apostle (section)

==Ministry and death==
All information concerning the ministry and death of Matthias is vague and contradictory. The tradition of the Greeks says that St. Matthias spread Christianity around [[Cappadocia]] and on the coasts of the [[Caspian Sea]], residing chiefly near the port [[Hyssus]].<ref name=Butler>Butler, Alban. [https://www.bartleby.com/210/2/241.html "Saint Matthias, Apostle"], ''The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints'', D. & J. Sadlier, & Company, 1864</ref> 

According to [[Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos|Nicephorus]] (''Historia eccl.'', 2, 40), Matthias first preached the Gospel in [[Iudaea Province|Judaea]], then in Aethiopia (by the region of [[Colchis]], now in modern-day [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]) and [[Crucifixion|was crucified]].<ref name=Jacquier/> An extant [[Copt]]ic ''[[Acta Andreae et Matthiae apud Anthropophagos|Acts of Andrew and Matthias]]'', places his activity similarly in "the city of the cannibals" in [[Ethiopia (mythology)|Aethiopia]].{{efn|The Ethiopia/Aethiopia mentioned here as well as in the quote from the "Synopsis of Dorotheus" is that region identified with an ancient Egyptian [[military colony]] in the [[Caucasus]] mountains on the river [[Alazani]].}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=Hyde |date=1874 |title=On the Egyptian Colony and Language in the Caucasus, and its Anthropological Relations |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2841305 |journal=The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=3 |pages=178–200 |doi=10.2307/2841305 |jstor=2841305 |issn=0959-5295}}</ref> A marker placed in the ruins of the Roman fortress at [[Gonio (settlement)|Gonio]] (Apsaros) in the modern Georgian region of [[Adjara]] claims that Matthias is buried at that site.

The ''Synopsis of Dorotheus'' contains this tradition: "Matthias preached the Gospel to barbarians and meat-eaters in the interior of Ethiopia, where the sea harbor of Hyssus is, at the mouth of the river 
[[Rioni|Phasis]]. He died at [[Sukhumi|Sebastopolis]], and was buried there, near the Temple of the Sun."<ref name=Catholic/>

Alternatively, another tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned at Jerusalem by the local populace, and then [[Decapitation|was beheaded]] (cf. [[Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont|Tillemont]], ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclesiastique des six premiers siècles'', I, 406–7).<ref name=Catholic>{{Catholic|last=Jacquier|first=Jacque  Eugène|wstitle = St. Matthias|volume=10|year=1911|inline=1}}</ref> According to [[Hippolytus of Rome]], Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem.

[[Clement of Alexandria]] observed (''Stromateis''<!--?--> vi.13.):

<blockquote>Not that they became apostles through being chosen for some distinguished peculiarity of nature, since also Judas was chosen along with them. But they were capable of becoming apostles on being chosen by Him who foresees even ultimate issues. Matthias, accordingly, who was not chosen along with them, on showing himself worthy of becoming an apostle, is substituted for Judas.</blockquote>