The sarcophagus of Empress Helena (4th c.), Musei Vaticani, Rome, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:011-_Sarcofago_di_Sant%27Elena,_310-320_d.C._-FG.jpg , CC BY-SA 4.0 BY Fabrizio Garrisi. Empress Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine I (306-337), died around 329 after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. According to the historian Eusebius of Caesarea (4th c.), Helena was buried “in the imperial city,” that is, in Rome. However, later Eastern writers transformed this “im

The translation of Josaphat’s relics by King Barachiah, as depicted in the manuscript Los Angeles, Getty Museum, Ludwig XV 9 (15th c.), f. 375, https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103SC6 Tales, like proverbs, have always traveled, knowing no borders. It is the case of an ancient Indian legend that, transformed into an edifying tale and then a hagiographic text, enjoyed great success in the Middle Ages. From the 11th century, its hero, the Hindu prince Siddhartha Gaut