Eusebius of Caesarea: Ecclesiastical History, Book VIII
As we have described in seven books the events from the time of the apostles, we think it proper in this eighth book to record for the information of posterity a few of the most important occurrences of our own
times, which are worthy of permanent record. Our account will begin at this
point.
It is beyond our ability to describe in a
suitable manner the extent and nature of
the glory and freedom with which the word of piety toward the God of the
universe, proclaimed to the world through Christ, was honored among all men,
both Greeks and barbarians, before the persecution in our day. The favor shown
our people by the rulers might be adduced as evidence; as they committed to
them the government of provinces, and on account of the great friendship
which they entertained toward their doctrine, released them
from anxiety in regard to sacrificing. Why
need I speak of those in the royal palaces,
and of the rulers over all, who allowed the members of their households, wives and children and servants, to speak openly before them for the Divine word and life, and suffered them almost to boast of the freedom of their faith? Indeed they esteemed them highly, and
preferred them to their fellow-servants. Such
an one was that Dorotheus, the most devoted and faithful to them of all, and on this account especially honored by
them among those who held the most honorable offices and governments. With him
was the celebrated Gorgonius, and as many as had been esteemed worthy of
the same distinction on account of
the word of God. And one could see the
rulers in every church accorded the greatest favor by all officers and governors.
But how can any one describe those vast assemblies, and the multitude that
crowded together in every city, and the famous gatherings in the houses of
prayer; on whose account not being satisfied with the ancient buildings they
erected from the foundation
large churches in all the cities? No envy hindered the progress of these
affairs which advanced gradually, and grew and increased day by day. Nor could
any evil demon slander them or hinder them through human counsels, so long as
the divine and heavenly hand watched over and guarded his own people as
worthy.
But when on account of the abundant
freedom, we fell into laxity and sloth, and
envied and reviled each other, and were almost, as it were, taking up arms
against one another, rulers assailing rulers with words like spears, and
people forming parties against people, and monstrous hypocrisy and
dissimulation rising to the greatest height of wickedness, the divine judgment
with forbearance, as is its pleasure, while the multitudes yet continued to
assemble, gently and moderately harassed the episcopacy.
This persecution began with the brethren
in the army. But as if without sensibility,
we were not eager to make the Deity favorable and propitious; and some, like
atheists, thought that our affairs were unheeded and ungoverned; and thus we
added one wickedness to another.
And those esteemed our shepherds, casting aside the bond of piety, were
excited to conflicts with one another, and did nothing else than heap up
strifes and threats and jealousy and enmity and hatred toward each other, like
tyrants eagerly endeavoring to assert their power. Then, truly, according to
the word of Jeremiah, "The Lord in his wrath darkened the daughter of Zion,
and cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth, and remembered not his
footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord also overwhelmed all the
beautiful things of Israel, and threw down all his strongholds." And
according to what was foretold in the Psalms: "He has made void the covenant
of his servant, and profaned his sanctuary to the earth -- in the destruction
of the churches -- and has thrown down all his strongholds, and has made his
fortresses cowardice. All that pass by have plundered the multitude of the
people; and he has become besides a reproach to his neighbors. For he has
exalted the right hand of his enemies, and has turned back the help of his
sword, and has not taken his part in the war. But he has deprived him of
purification, and has cast his throne to the ground. He has shortened the days
of his time, and besides all, has poured out shame upon him."
All these things were fulfilled in us, when
we saw with our own eyes the houses of
prayer thrown down to the very foundations, and the Divine and Sacred
Scriptures committed to the flames in the midst of the market-places, and the
shepherds of the churches basely hidden here and there, and some of them
captured ignominiously, and mocked by their enemies. When also, according to
another prophetic word, "Contempt was poured out upon rulers, and he caused
them to wander in an untrodden and pathless way."
But it is not our place to describe the sad misfortunes which finally came upon them,
as we do not think it proper, moreover, to record their divisions and
unnatural conduct to each other before the persecution. Wherefore we have
decided to relate nothing concerning them except the things in which we can
vindicate the Divine judgment. Hence we shall not mention those who were shaken
by the persecution, nor those who in everything pertaining to salvation were
shipwrecked, and by their own will were sunk in the depths of the
flood. But we shall introduce into this history in general only those events
which may be use-fill first to ourselves and afterwards to posterity. Let
us therefore proceed to describe briefly the sacred conflicts of the witnesses
of the Divine Word.
It was in the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in the month Dystrus, called March by the Romans, when the feast of the Saviour's passion was near at hand, that royal edicts were published everywhere,
commanding that the churches be leveled to the ground and the Scriptures be
destroyed by fire, and ordering that those who held places of honor be
degraded, and that the household servants, if they persisted in the profession
of Christianity, be deprived of freedom.
Such was the first edict against us. But
not long after, other decrees were issued,
commanding that all the rulers of the churches in every place be first thrown
into prison, and afterwards by every artifice be compelled to sacrifices.
Then truly a great many rulers of the
churches eagerly endured terrible sufferings,
and furnished examples of noble conflicts. But
a multitude of others, benumbed in spirit by
fear, were easily weakened at the first onset.
Of the rest each one endured different forms of
torture. The body of one was scourged with
rods. Another was punished with insupportable
rackings and scrapings, in which some suffered a miserable death. Others
passed through different conflicts. Thus one, while those around pressed him on by force and dragged him to the abominable and impure sacrifices, was dismissed as if he had sacrificed, though he had not. Another, though he had not approached at all, nor touched any polluted
thing, when others said that he had sacrificed, went away, bearing the
accusation in silence. Another being taken up half dead, was cast
aside as if already dead, and again a certain
one lying upon the ground was dragged a
long distance by his feet and counted
among those who had sacrificed. One cried out and with a loud voice testified
his rejection of the sacrifice; another shouted that he was a Christian, being
resplendent in the confession of the saving Name. Another protested that he
had not sacrificed and never would. But they were struck in the mouth and
silenced by a large band of soldiers who were drawn
up for this purpose; and they were smitten
on the face and cheeks and driven away
by force; so important did the enemies of piety regard it, by any means, to
seem to have accomplished their purpose. But these things did not avail them
against the holy martyrs; for an accurate description of whom, what word of
ours could suffice?
For we might tell of many who showed
admirable zeal for the religion of the God
of the universe, not only from the beginning of the general
persecution, but long before that time, while yet peace prevailed. For though
he who had received power was seemingly aroused now as from a deep sleep, yet
from the time after Decius and Valerian, he had been plotting secretly and
without notice against the churches. He did not wage war against all of us at
once, but made trial at first only of those in the army. For he supposed that
the others could be taken easily if he should first attack and subdue these.
Thereupon many of the soldiers were seen most cheerfully embracing private
life, so that they might not deny their piety toward the Creator of the
universe. For when the commander, whoever he was, began to persecute
the soldiers, separating onto tribes an purging those who were enrolled in the
army, giving them the choice either by obeying to receive the honor which
belonged to them, or on the other hand to be deprived of it if they disobeyed
the command, a great many soldiers of Christ's kingdom, without hesitation,
instantly preferred the confession of him to the seeming glory and
prosperity which they were enjoying. And
one and another of them occasionally received in exchange, for their pious
constancy, not only the loss of position, but death. But as yet the
instigator of this plot proceeded with moderation, and ventured so far as
blood only in some instances; for the multitude of believers, as it is likely,
made him afraid, and deterred him from waging war at once against all.
But when he made the attack more boldly,
it is impossible to relate how many and
what sort of martyrs of God could be seen, among the inhabitants of all the
cities and countries.
Immediately on the publication of the decree against the churches in Nicomedia, a certain man, not obscure but very highly honored with distinguished temporal
dignities, moved with zeal toward God, and incited with ardent faith, seized
the edict as it was posted openly and publicly, and tore it to pieces as a
profane and impious thing; and this was done while two of the sovereigns were in the same city -- the oldest of all, and the one who held the fourth place in the government after him. But this
man, first in that place, after distinguishing himself in such a manner
suffered those things which were likely to follow such daring, and kept his
spirit cheerful and undisturbed till death.
This period produced divine and illustrious martyrs, above all whose
praises have
ever been sung and who have been celebrated for courage, whether among Greeks
or barbarians, in the person of Dorotheus and the servants that were with
him in the palace. Although they received the highest honors from their
masters, and were treated by them as their own children, they esteemed
reproaches and trials for religion, and the many forms of death that were
invented against them, as, in truth, greater riches than the glory and luxury
of this life.
We will describe the manner in which one of them ended his life, and leave
our readers to infer from his case the sufferings of the others. A certain man
was brought forward in the above-mentioned city, before the rulers of whom we
have spoken. He was then commanded to sacrifice, but as he refused, he was
ordered to be stripped and raised on high and beaten with rods over his entire
body, until, being conquered, he should, even against
his will, do what was commanded. But as
he was unmoved by these sufferings, and
his bones were already appearing, they mixed vinegar with salt and poured it
upon the mangled parts of his body. As he scorned these agonies, a gridiron
and fire were brought forward. And the remnants of his body, like flesh
intended for eating, were placed on the fire, not at once, lest he should
expire instantly, but a little at a time. And those who placed him on the pyre
were not permitted to desist until, after such sufferings, he should assent to
the
things commanded. But he held his purpose firmly, and victoriously gave up
his
life while the tortures were still going on. Such was the martyrdom of one of
the servants of the palace, who was indeed well worthy of his
name, for he was called Peter. The martyrdoms of the rest, though they
were not inferior to his, we will pass by for the sake of brevity, recording
only that Dorotheus and Gorgonius, with many others of the royal
household, after varied sufferings, ended their lives by strangling, and bore
away the trophies of God-given victory.
At this time Anthimus, who then prosided over the church in Nicomedia, was
beheaded for his testimony to Christ. A great multitude of martyrs were added
to him, a conflagration having broken out in those very days in the palace at
Nicomedia, I know not how, which through a false suspicion was laid to our
people. Entire families of the pious in that place were put to death in
masses at the royal command, some by the sword, and others by fire. It is
reported that with a certain divine and indescribable eagerness men and women
rushed into the fire. And the executioners bound a large number of others and
put them on boats and threw them into the depths of
the sea. And those who had been esteemed their masters considered it
necessary to dig up the bodies of the imperial servants, who had been
committed to the earth with suitable burial and cast them into the sea,
lest any, as they thought, regarding them as gods, might worship them lying in
their sepulchers.
Such things occurred in Nicomedia at the
beginning of the persecution. But not
long after, as persons in the country called
Melitene, and others throughout Syria, attempted to usurp the government, a royal edict directed that the rulers of the churches everywhere should lye thrown into prison and
bonds. What was to be seen after this
exceeds all description. A vast multitude
were imprisoned in every place; and the prisons
everywhere, which had long before been prepared for murderers and robbers of graves,
were filled with bishops, presbyters and deacons, readers and exorcists, so that room was
no longer left in them for those condemned
for crimes. And as other decrees followed
the first, directing that those in prison if
they would sacrifice should be permitted to depart in freedom, but that those
who refused should be harassed with many tortures, how could any one,
again, number the multitude of martyrs in every province, and especially
of those in Africa, and Mauritania, and Thebais, and Egypt? From this last
country many went into other cities and provinces, and became illustrious
through martyrdom.
THOSE of them that were conspicuous in
Palestine we know, as also those that were
at Tyre in Phoenicia. Who that saw them was
not astonished at the numberless stripes, and at the firmness which these
truly wonderful athletes of religion exhibited under them? and at their
contest, immediately after the scourging, with bloodthirsty wild beasts, as
they were cast before leopards and different kinds of bears and wild boars and
bulls goaded with fire and red-hot iron? and at the marvelous endurance of
these noble men in the face of all sorts of wild beasts?
We were present ourselves when these things occurred, and have put on
record the divine power of our martyred Saviour Jesus Christ, which was
present and manifested itself mightily in the martyrs. For a long time the
man-devouring beasts did not dare to touch or draw near the bodies of those
dear to God, but rushed upon the others who from the outside irritated and
urged them on. And they would not in the least touch the holy athletes, as
they stood alone and naked and shook their hands at them to draw them toward
themselves -- for they were commanded to do this. But whenever they rushed at
them, they were restrained as if by some diviner power and retreated
again. This continued for a long time,
and occasioned no little wonder to the
spectators. And as the first wild beast did nothing, a second and
a third were let loose
against one and the same martyr. One
could not but be astonished at the invincible firmness of these holy men,
and the enduring and immovable constancy of those whose bodies were young. You
could have seen a youth not twenty years of age standing unbound and
stretching out his hands in the form of a cross, with unterrified and
untrembling mind, engaged earnestly in prayer to God, and not in the least
going back or retreating from the place where he stood, while bears and
leopards, breathing rage and death, almost touched his flesh. And yet their
mouths were restrained, I know not how, by a divine and incomprehensible
power, and they ran back again to their place. Such an one was he.
Again you might have seen others, for
they were five in all, cast before a wild bull,
who tossed into the air with his horns those who approached from the outside,
and mangled them, leaving them to be token up half dead; but when he rushed
with rage and threatening upon the holy martyrs, who were standing alone, he
was unable to come near them; but though he stamped with his feet, and pushed
in all directions with his horns, and breathed rage and threatening on account
of the irritation of the burning irons, he was, nevertheless, held back by the
sacred Providence. And as he in nowise harmed them, they let loose other
wild beasts upon them. Finally, after these
terrible and various attacks upon them,
they were all slain with the sword; and instead of being buried in the earth
they were committed to the waves of the sea.
Such was the conflict of those Egyptians
who contended nobly for religion in Tyre.
But we must admire those also who suffered martyrdom in their native land;
where thousands of men, women, and children, despising the present life for
the sake of the teaching of our Saviour, endured various deaths. Some of them,
after scrapings and rackings and severest scourgings, and numberless other
kinds of tortures, terrible even to hear of, were committed to the flames;
some were drowned in the sea; some offered their heads bravely to those who
cut them off; some died under their tortures, and others perished with hunger.
And yet others were crucified; some according to the method commonly employed
for malefactors; others yet more cruelly, being nailed to the cross with their
heads downward, and being kept alive until they perished on the cross with
hunger.
It would be impossible to describe the outrages and tortures which the martyrs in Thebais endured. They were scraped over the entire body with shells instead of
hooks until they died. Women were bound by one foot and raised aloft in the
air by machines, and with their bodies altogether bare and uncovered,
presented to all beholders this most shameful,
cruel, and inhuman spectacle. Others being
bound to the branches and trunks of trees
perished. For they drew the stoutest branches
together with machines, and bound the limbs of the martyrs to them; and then,
allowing the branches to assume their natural position, they
tore asunder instantly the limbs of those
for whom they contrived this. All these
things were done, not for a few days or a
short time, but for a long series of years. Sometimes more than ten, at other
times above twenty were put to death. Again not less than thirty, then about
sixty, and yet again a hundred men with young children and women, were slain
in one day, being condemned to various and diverse torments.
We, also being on the spot ourselves,
have observed large crowds in one day; some suffering decapitation, others
torture by fire; so that the murderous sword was blunted, and becoming weak,
was broken, and the very executioners grew weary and relieved each other. And
we beheld the most wonderful ardor, and the truly divine energy and zeal of
those who believed in the Christ of God. For as soon as sentence was
pronounced against the first, one after another rushed to the judgment seat,
and confessed themselves Christians. And regarding with indifference the
terrible things and the multiform tortures, they declared themselves boldly
and undauntedly for the religion of the God of the universe. And they received
the final sentence of death with joy and laughter and cheerfulness; so that
they sang and offered up hymns and thanksgivings to the God of the universe
till their very last breath.
These indeed were wonderful; but yet
more wonderful were those who, being distinguished for wealth, noble birth,
and honor,
and for learning and philosophy, held everything
secondary to the true religion and to faith in our Saviour and Lord Jesus
Christ. Such
an one was Philoromus, who held a high
office under the imperial government at Alexandria, and who administered
justice every day, attended by a military guard corresponding to his rank and
Roman dignity. Such also was Phileas, bishop of the church of Thmuis, a
man eminent on account of his patriotism and the services rendered by him to
his country, and also on account of his philosophical learning.
These persons, although a multitude of
relatives and other friends besought them,
and many in high position, and even the judge himself entreated them, that
they would have compassion on themselves and show mercy to their children and
wives, yet were not in the least induced by these things to choose the love of
life, and to despise the ordinances of our Saviour concerning confession and
denial. But with manly and philosophic minds, or rather with pious and
God-loving souls, they persevered against all the threats and insults of the
judge; and both of them were beheaded.
Since we have mentioned Phileas as having a high reputation for secular
learning,
let him be his own witness in the following extract, in which he shows us who
he was, and at the same time describes more accurately than we can the
martyrdoms which occurred in his time at Alexandria:
"Having before them all these examples and models and noble tokens which
are given us in the Divine and Sacred Scriptures, the blessed martyrs who were
with us did not hesitate, but directing the eye of the soul in sincerity
toward the God over all, and having their mind set upon death for religion,
they adhered firmly to their calling. For they understood that our Lord Jesus
Christ had become man on our account, that he might cut off all sin and
furnish us with the means of entrance into eternal life. For 'he counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God, but
emptied himself taking the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross.' Wherefore also being zealous for the greater gifts, the Christ-bearing martyrs
endured all trials and all kinds of contrivances for torture; not once only,
but some also a second time. And although the guards vied with each other in
threatening them in all sorts of ways, not in words only, but in actions, they
did not give up their resolution; because 'perfect love casteth out fear.'
"What words could describe their courage
and manliness under every torture? For
as liberty to abuse them was given to all that
wished, some beat them with clubs, others with rods, others with
scourges, yet others with thongs, and others with ropes. And the spectacle of
the outrages was varied and exhibited great malignity. For some, with their
hands bound behind them, were suspended on the stocks, and every member
stretched by certain machines. Then the torturers, as commanded, lacerated
with instruments their entire bodies i not only their sides, as in the
case of murderers, but also their stomachs and knees and cheeks. Others were
raised aloft, suspended from the porch by one hand, and endured the most
terrible suffering of all, through the distension of their joints and limbs.
Others were bound face to face to pillars, not resting on their feet, but with
the weight of their bodies bearing
on their bonds and drawing them tightly.
And they endured this, not merely as long
as the governor talked with them or was at
leisure, but through almost the entire day. For when he passed on to others,
he left officers under his authority to watch the first, and observe if any of
them, overcome by the tortures, appeared to yield. And he commanded to cast
them into chains without mercy, and afterwards when they were at the last gasp
to throw them to the ground and drag them away. For he said that they were not
to have the least concern for us, but were to think and act as if we no longer
existed, our enemies having invented this second mode of torture in addition
to the stripes.
"Some, also, after these outrages, were
placed on the stocks, and had both their
feet stretched over the four holes, so that they
were compelled to lie on their backs on the
stocks, being unable to keep themselves up on
account of the fresh wounds with which their
entire bodies were covered as a result of the
scourging. Others were thrown on the ground
and lay there under the accumulated infliction
of tortures, exhibiting to the spectators a more
terrible manifestation of severity, as they bore
on their bodies the marks of the various and diverse punishments which had
been invented.
As this went on, some died under the tortures, shaming the adversary by
their constancy. Others half dead were shut up in prison,
and suffering with their agonies, they died in
a few days; but the rest, recovering under the
care which they received, gained confidence by
time and their long detention in prison.
When therefore they were ordered to choose
whether they would be released from molestation by touching the polluted
sacrifice, and would receive from them the accursed freedom, or refusing to
sacrifice, should be condemned to death, they did not hesitate, but went to
death cheerfully. For they knew what had been declared before by the Sacred
Scriptures. For it is said, 'He that sacrificeth to other gods shall be
utterly destroyed,' and, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.'"
Such are the words of the truly philosophical and God-loving martyr,
which, before the final sentence, while yet in prison, he addressed to the brethren in
his parish, showing them his own circumstances, and at the same time exhorting
them to hold fast, even after his approaching death, to the religion of
Christ.
But why need we dwell upon these things, and continue to add fresh
instances of the conflicts of the divine martyrs throughout the world,
especially since they were dealt with no longer by common law, but attacked
like enemies of war?
A Small town of Phrygia, inhabited solely by Christians, was
completely surrounded by soldiers while the men were in it. Throwing fire into it, they
consumed them with the women and children while they were calling upon Christ.
This they did because all the inhabitants of the city, and the curator
himself, and the governor, with all who held office, and the entire populace,
confessed themselves Christians, and would not in the least obey those who
commanded them to worship idols.
9. There was another man of Roman dignity named Adauctus, of a noble
Italian family, who had advanced through every honor under the emperors, so that he
had blamelessly filled even the general offices of magistrate, as they call
it, and of finance minister. Besides all this he excelled in deeds of
piety and in the confession of the Christ of God, and was adorned with the
diadem of martyrdom. He endured the conflict for religion while still holding
the office of finance minister.
Why need we mention the rest by name,
or number the multitude of the men, or picture the various sufferings of the
admirable martyrs of Christ? Some of them were slain with the axe, as in
Arabia. The limbs of some were
broken, as in Cappadocia. Some, raised on high by the feet, with their heads
down, while a gentle fire burned beneath them, were suffocated by the smoke
which arose from the burning wood, as was done in Mesopotamia. Others were
mutilated by cutting off their noses and ears and hands, and cutting to pieces
the other members and parts of their bodies, as in
Alexandria. Why need we revive the recollection of those in Antioch who
were roasted on grates, not so as to kill them, but so as
to subject them to a lingering punishment? Or
of others who preferred to thrust their right
hand into the fire rather than touch the impious sacrifice? Some, shrinking
from the trial,
rather than be taken and fall into the hands
of their enemies, threw themselves from lofty
houses, considering death preferable to the
cruelty of the impious.
A certain holy person -- in soul admirable for virtue, in body a woman --
who
was illustrious beyond all in Antioch for wealth and family and reputation,
had brought up in the principles of religion her two daughters, who were now
in the freshness and bloom of life. Since great envy was excited on their
account, every means was used to find them in their concealment; and when it
was ascertained that they were away, they were summoned deceitfully to
Antioch. Thus they were caught in the nets of the soldiers. When the woman saw
herself and her daughters thus helpless, and knew the things terrible to speak
of that men would do to them -- and the most unbearable of all terrible things,
the threatened violation of their chastity, -- she exhorted herself and the
maidens that they ought not to submit even to hear of this. For, she said,
that to surrender their souls to the slavery of demons was worse than all
deaths and destruction; and she set before them the only deliverance from all
these things -- escape to Christ. They then
listened to her advice. And after arranging
their garments suitably, they went aside from the middle of the road, having
requested of the guards a little time for retirement, and cast themselves into
a river which was flowing
by. Thus they destroyed themselves. But there were two other virgins in
the same city of Antioch who served God in all things, and were true sisters,
illustrious in family and distinguished in life, young and blooming, serious
in mind, pious in deportment, and admirable for zeal. As if the earth could
not bear such excellence, the worshipers of demons commanded to cast them into
the sea. And this was done to them.
In Pontus, others endured sufferings horrible to hear. Their fingers were
pierced
with sharp reeds under their nails. Melted lead, bubbling and boiling with the
heat, was poured down the backs of others, and they were roasted in the most
sensitive parts of the body. Others endured on their bowels and privy members
shameful and inhuman
and unmentionable torments, which the noble
and law-observing judges, to show their severity, devised, as more honorable manifestations of wisdom. And new tortures
were
continually invented, as if they were endeavoring, by surpassing one another,
to gain!
prizes in a contest. But at the close of
these calamities, when finally they could
contrive no greater cruelties, and were weary of putting to death, and were
filled and satiated with the shedding of blood, they turned to what they
considered merciful and humane treatment, so that they seemed to be no longer
devising terrible things against us. For they
said that it was not fitting that the cities
should be polluted with the blood of their own people, or that the government
of their rulers, which was kind and mild toward all, should be defamed through
excessive cruelty; but that rather the beneficence of the humane and royal
authority should be extended to all, and we should no longer be put to death.
For the infliction of this punishment upon us should be stopped in consequence
of the humanity of the rulers. Therefore it was commanded that our eyes
should be put out,
and that we should be maimed in one of our limbs. For such things were humane
in their sight, and the lightest of punishments for us. So that now on account
of this kindly treatment accorded us by the impious, it was impossible to tell
the incalculable number of those whose right eyes had first been cut out with
the sword, and then had been cauterized with fire; or who had been disabled in
the left foot by burning the joints, and afterward condemned to the provincial
copper mines, not so much for service as for distress and hardship. Besides
all these, others encountered other trials, which it is impossible to recount;
for their manly
endurance surpasses all description. In
these conflicts the noble martyrs of Christ
shone illustrious over the entire world, and everywhere astonished those who
beheld their manliness; and the evidences of the truly divine and unspeakable
power of our Saviour were made manifest through them. To mention each by name
would be a long task, if not indeed impossible.
As for the rulers of the Church that suffered
martyrdom in the principal cities, the first
martyr of the kingdom of Christ whom we shall mention among the monuments of
the pious is Anthimus, bishop of the city of Nicomedia,
who was beheaded. Among the martyrs at Antioch was Lucian, a presbyter
of that parish, whose entire life was most excellent. At Nicomedia, in the
presence of the emperor, he proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of Christ, first
in an oral defense, and afterwards by
deeds as well. Of the martyrs in Phoenicia the most distinguished were those
devoted pastors of the spiritual flocks of Christ: Tyrannion, bishop of
the church of Tyre; Zenobius, a presbyter of the church at Sidon; and
Silvanus, bishop of the churches about Emesa.
The last of these, with others, was made
food for wild beasts at Emesa, and was thus
received into the ranks of martyrs. The other two glorified the word of God at
Antioch through patience unto death. The bishop was thrown into the depths
of the sea. But Zenobius, who was a very skillful physician, died through
severe tortures which were applied to his sides.
Of the martyrs in Palestine, Silvanus, bishop
of the churches about Gaza, was beheaded
with thirty-nine others at the copper mines of Phaeno. There also the
Egyptian bishops,
Peleus and Nilus, with others, suffered
death by fire. Among these we must mention Pamphilus, a presbyter, who was
the
great glory of the parish of Caesarea, and among the men of our time most
admirable. The virtue of his manly deeds we have recorded
in the proper place. Of those who suffered death illustriously at
Alexandria and
throughout Egypt and Thebais, Peter, bishop of Alexandria, one of the
most excellent teachers of the religion of Christ, should first be mentioned;
and of the presbyters with him Faustus, Dius and Ammonius, perfect
martyrs of Christ; also Phileas, Hesychius, Pachymius and Theodorus,
bishops of Egyptian churches, and besides them many other distinguished persons who are commemorated by the parishes of
their country and region.
It is not for us to describe the conflicts of
those who suffered for the divine religion throughout the entire world, and to relate accurately
what happened to each of them. This would
be the proper work of those who were eyewitnesses of the events. I will describe for posterity in another work those which I myself witnessed. But in the present book I will add to what I have given the revocation
issued by our persecutors, and those events that occurred at the beginning of
the persecution, which will be most profitable to such as shall read them.
What words could sufficiently describe the
greatness and abundance of the prosperity
of the Roman government before the war against
us, while the rulers were friendly and peaceable
toward us? Then those who were highest in
the government, and had held the position ten
or twenty years, passed their time in tranquil
peace, in festivals and public games and
most joyful pleasures and cheer. While
thus their authority was growing uninterruptedly, and increasing day by day,
suddenly they changed their peaceful attitude toward us, and began an
implacable war. But the second year of this movement was not yet past, when a
revolution took place in the entire government and overturned all things.
For a
severe sickness came upon the chief of
those of whom we have spoken, by which his understanding was distracted; and
with him who was honored with the second rank, he retired into private life. Scarcely had he done this when the entire empire was divided; a thing
which is not recorded as having ever
occurred before. Not long after, the Emperor Constantius, who through
his entire
life was most kindly and favorably disposed toward his subjects, and most
friendly to the Divine Word, ended his life in the common course of nature,
and left his own son, Constantine, as emperor and Augustus in his stead. He was
the first that was ranked by them among the gods, and received after death
every honor which one could pay to an emperor. He was the kindest and mildest
of emperors, and the only one of those of our day that passed all the time of
his government in a manner worthy of his office. Moreover, he conducted
himself toward all most favorably and beneficently. He took not the smallest
part in the war against us, but preserved the pious that were under him
unharmed and unabused. He neither threw down the church buildings, nor
did he devise anything else against us. The end of his life was honorable and
thrice blessed. He alone at death left his empire happily and gloriously to
his own son as his successor -- one who was in all respects most prudent and
pious.
His son Constantine entered on the government at once, being proclaimed
supreme
emperor and Augustus by the soldiers, And long before by God himself, the King
of all. He showed himself an emulator of his father's piety toward our
doctrine. Such an one was he.
But after this, Licinius was declared emperor and Augustus by a common
vote of the rulers. These things grieved Maximinus
greatly, for until that time he had been
entitled by all only Caesar. He therefore, being exceedingly imperious, seized
the dignity for himself, and became Augustus, being made such by himself. In the mean time he whom we
have mentioned as having resumed his dignity after his abdication, being
detected in conspiring against the life of Constantine, perished by a most
shameful death. He was the first whose decrees and statues and public
monuments were destroyed because of his wickedness and impiety.
Maxentius his son, who obtained the government at Rome, at first
feigned our faith, in complaisance and flattery toward the Roman people. On this account he
commanded his subjects to cease persecuting the Christians, pretending to
religion that he might appear merciful and mild beyond his predecessors. But
he did not prove in his deeds2.
to be such a person as was hoped, but ran
into all wickedness and abstained from no impurity or licentiousness,
committing adulteries and indulging in all kinds of corruption. For having
separated wives from their lawful consorts, he abused them and sent them back
most dishonor-ably to their husbands. And he not only practiced this against
the obscure and unknown, but he insulted especially the most prominent and
distinguished members of the Roman senate. All his subjects, people and rulers,
honored and obscure, were worn out by
grievous oppression. Neither, although they kept quiet, and bore the bitter
servitude, was there any relief from the murderous cruelty of the tyrant.
Once, on a small pretense, he gave the people to be slaughtered by his guards;
and a great multitude of the Roman populace were slain in the midst of the
city, with the spears and arms, not of Scythians and barbarians, but
of their own fellow-citizens. It would be
impossible to recount the number of senators who were put to death for the
sake of their wealth; multitudes being slain on various
pretenses. To crown all his wickedness,
the tyrant resorted to magic. And in his
divinations he cut open pregnant women, and again inspected the bowels of
newborn infants. He slaughtered lions, and performed various execrable acts to
invoke demons and avert war. For his only hope was that, by these means,
victory would be secured to
him. It is impossible to tell the ways in
which this tyrant at Rome oppressed his
subjects, so that they were reduced to such an extreme dearth of the
necessities of life as has never been known, according to our contemporaries,
either at Rome or elsewhere.
But Maximinus, the tyrant in the East,
having secretly formed a friendly alliance
with the Roman tyrant as with a brother in wickedness, sought to conceal it
for a long time. But being at last detected, he suffered merited punishment. It was wonderful
how akin he was in wickedness to the tyrant at Rome, or rather how far he
surpassed him in it. For the chief of sorcerers and magi-clans were honored by
him with the highest rank. Becoming exceedingly timid and superstitious, he
valued greatly the error of idols and demons. Indeed, without soothsayers and
oracles he did not venture to move even a finger, so to speak. Therefore
he persecuted us more violently and incessantly than his predecessors. He
ordered temples to be erected in every city, and the sacred groves which had
been destroyed through lapse of time to be speedily restored. He appointed
idol priests in every place and city; and he set over them in every province,
as high priest, some political official who had especially distinguished
himself in every kind of service, giving him a band of soldiers and a
body-guard. And to all jugglers, as if they were pious and beloved of the
gods, he granted governments and the greatest
privileges. From this time on he distressed
and harassed, not one city or country, but
all the provinces under his authority, by extreme exactions of gold and silver
and goods, and most grievous prosecutions and various fines. He took away from
the wealthy the property which they had inherited from their ancestors, and
bestowed vast riches and large sums of
money on the flatterers about him. And
he went to such an excess of folly. and
drunkenness that his mind was deranged and crazed in his carousals; and he
gave commands when intoxicated of which he repented afterward when sober. He
suffered no one to surpass him in debauchery and profligacy, but made 'himself
an instructor in wickedness to those about him, both rulers and subjects. He
urged on the army to live wantonly in every kind of revelry and intemperance,
and encouraged the governors and generals to abuse their subjects with
rapacity and covetousness, almost as if they were rulers with him. Why need we
relate the licentious, shameless deeds of the man, or enumerate the multitude
with whom he committed adultery? For he could not pass through a city without
continually corrupting women and ravishing virgins. And in this he succeeded
with all except the Christians. For as they despised death, they cared nothing
for his power. For the men endured fire and sword and crucifixion and wild
beasts and the depths of the sea,
and cutting off of limbs, anti burnings, and pricking and digging out of eyes,
and mutilations of the entire body, and besides these, hunger and mines and
bonds. In all they showed patience in behalf of religion rather than transfer
to
idols the reverence due to God. And the
women were not less manly than the men
in behalf of the teaching of the Divine Word, as they endured conflicts with
the men, and bore away equal prizes of virtue. And when they were dragged away
for corrupt purposes, they surrendered their lives to death rather than their
bodies to impurity.
One only of those who were seized for
adulterous purposes by the tyrant, a most
distinguished and illustrious Christian woman in Alexandria, conquered the
passionate and intemperate soul of Maximinus by most heroic firmness.
Honorable on account of wealth and family and education, she esteemed all of
these inferior to chastity. He urged her many times, but although she was
ready to die, he could not put her to death, for his desire was stronger
than his anger. He therefore punished her
with exile, and took away all her property.
Many others, unable even to listen to the threats of violation from the
heathen rulers, endured every form of tortures, and rackings, and deadly
punishment.
These indeed should be admired. But far the most admirable was that woman
at Rome, who was truly the most noble and modest of all, whom the tyrant
Maxentius, fully resembling Maximinus in his actions, endeavored to
abuse. For when she learned that those
who served the tyrant in such matters were
at the house, and that her husband, although a
prefect of Rome, would suffer them to take and lead her away, having requested
a little time for adorning her body, she entered her chamber, and being alone,
stabbed herself with a sword. Dying immediately, she left her corpse to those
who had come for her. And by her deeds, more powerfully than by any words, she
has shown to all men now and hereafter that the virtue which prevails among
Christians is the only invincible and indestructible possession?
Such was the career of wickedness which
was carried forward at one and the same
time by the two tyrants who held the East and the West. Who is there that
would hesitate, after careful examination, to pronounce the persecu
During the entire ten years of the
persecution, they were constantly plotting
and warring against one another. For the sea could not be navigated, nor
could men sail from any port without being exposed to all kinds of outrages;
being stretched on the rack and lacerated in their sides, that it might be
ascertained through various tortures, whether they came from the enemy; and
finally being subjected to punishment by the cross or by fire. And besides
these things shields and breastplates were preparing, and darts and spears and
other warlike accoutrements were making ready, and galleys and naval armor
were collecting in every place. And no one expected anything else than to be
attacked by enemies any day. In addition to this, famine and pestilence came
upon them, in regard to which we shall relate what is necessary in the proper
place.
Such was the state of affairs during the
entire persecution. But in the tenth year,
through the grace of God, it ceased altogether, having begun to decrease after
the eighth year. For when the divine and heavenly grace showed
us favorable and propitious oversight, then truly our rulers, and the very
persons by whom the war against us had been earnestly prosecuted, most
remarkably changed their minds, and issued a revocation, and quenched the
great fire of persecution which had been kindled, by merciful proclamations
and ordinances concerning us. But this was not due to any human agency; nor was it the result, as one
might say, of the compassion or philanthropy of our rulers -- far from it, for
daily from the beginning until that time they were devising more and more
severe measures against us, and continually inventing outrages by a greater
variety of instruments -- but it was manifestly due to the oversight of Divine
Providence, on the one I hand becoming reconciled to his people, and on the
other, attacking him a who instigated these evils, and showing anger toward
him as the author of the cruelties of the entire persecution. For though it
was necessary that these things should take place, according
to the divine judgment, yet the Word saith, "Woe to him through whom the
offense cometh." Therefore punishment from God came upon him, beginning
with his flesh,
and proceeding to his soul. For an abscess suddenly appeared in the
midst of the
secret parts of his body, and from it a deeply perforated sore, which spread
irresistibly into his inmost bowels. An indescribable multitude of worms
sprang from them, and a deathly odor arose, as the entire bulk of his body
had, through his gluttony, been changed, before his sickness, into an
excessive mass of soft fat, which became putrid, and thus presented an awful
and intolerable sight to those who came
near. Some of the physicians, being wholly unable to endure the exceeding
offensiveness of the odor, were slain; others, as the entire mass had swollen
and passed beyond hope of restoration, and they were unable to render any
help, were put to death without mercy.
WRESTLING with so many evils, he thought of the cruelties which he had
committed against the pious. Turning, therefore, his thoughts toward himself,
he first openly confessed to the God of the universe, and then summoning his
attendants, he commanded that without delay they should stop the persecution
of the Christians, and should by law and royal decree, urge them forward to
build their churches and to perform their customary worship, offering prayers
in behalf of the emperor. Immediately the deed followed the word. The imperial
decrees were published in the cities, containing the revocation of the acts
against us in the following form:
"The Emperor Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximinus, Invictus, Augustus,
Pontifex Maximus, conqueror of the Germans, conqueror of the Egyptians,
conqueror of the Thebans, five times conqueror of the Sarmatians, conqueror of
the Persians, twice conqueror of the Carpathians, six times conqueror of the
Armenians, conqueror of the Medes, conqueror of the Adiabeni, Tribune of the
people the twentieth time, Emperor the nineteenth time, Consul the eighth
time, Father of his country, Pro-consul; and the Emperor Caesar Flavius
Valerius Constantinus, Pins, Felix, Invictus,
Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribune of the people, Emperor the
fifth time, Consul, Father of his country, Proconsul; and the Emperor Caesar
Valerius Licinius, Pins, Felix, Invictus, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribune
of the people the fourth time, Emperor the third time, Consul, Father of his
country, Proconsul; to the people of their provinces, greeting:
"Among the other things which we have ordained for the public advantage
and profit, we formerly wished to restore everything to
conformity with the ancient laws and public discipline of the Romans, and
to provide that the Christians also, who have forsaken the religion of their
ancestors, should return to a good
disposition. For in some way such arrogance had seized them and such
stupidity
had overtaken them, that they did not follow the ancient institutions which
possibly their own ancestors had formerly established, but made for themselves
laws according to their own purpose, as each one desired, and observed them,
and thus assembled as separate congregations in various places. When we had
issued
this decree that they should return to the
institutions established by the ancients, a great many submitted under
danger, but a great many
being harassed endured all kinds of death.
And since many continue in the same folly, and we perceive that they neither offer to
the heavenly gods the worship which is due, nor pay regard to the God of the
Christians, in consideration of our philanthropy and our invariable custom, by
which we are wont to extend pardon to all, we have determined that we ought
most cheerfully to extend our indulgence in this matter also; that they may
again be Christians, and may rebuild the conventicles in which they were
accustomed to assemble, on condition that nothing be done by them contrary to discipline. In another letter we shall indicate to the magistrates what
they have to observe. Wherefore, on account of this indulgence of ours,
they ought to supplicate their God for our safety, and that of the people, and
their own, that the public welfare may be preserved in every place, and
that they may live securely in their several homes."
Such is the tenor of this edict, translated,
as well as possible, from the Roman tongue
into the Greek? It is time to consider what took place after these events.
That which follows is found in Some Copies in
the Eighth Book.
The author of the edict very shortly after
this confession was released from his pains
and died. He is reported to have been the original author of the misery of the
persecution, having endeavored, long before the movement of the other
emperors, to turn from the faith the Christians in the army, and first of all
those in his own house, degrading some from the military rank, and abusing
others most shamefully, and threatening still others with death, and finally
inciting his partners in the empire to the general persecution. It is not
proper to pass over the death of these emperors in silence.
As four of them held the supreme authority, those who were advanced in age and
honor, after the persecution had continued not quite two years, abdicated the
government, as we have already stated, and passed the remainder of their
lives in a common
and private station. The end of their lives was as follows. He who was first
in honor and age perished through a long and most grievous physical infirmity. He who held the second place ended his life by strangling, suffering thus according to a certain demoniacal prediction, on account of
his many daring crimes.
Of those after them, the last, of whom we
have spoken as the originator of the entire
persecution, suffered such things as we have related. But he who preceded him,
the most merciful and kindly emperor Constantius, passed all the time of
his government in a manner worthy of his office. Moreover, he conducted
himself towards all most favorably and beneficently. He took not the smallest
part in the war against us, and preserved the pious that were under him
unharmed and unabused. Neither did he throw down the church buildings, nor
devise anything else against us. The end of his life was happy and thrice
blessed. He alone at death left his empire happily and gloriously to his own
son as his successor, one who was in
all respects most prudent and pious. He entered on the government at once,
being proclaimed supreme emperor and Augustus by
the soldiers; and he showed himself an emulator of his father's piety toward
our doctrine.
Such were the deaths of the four of whom we
have written, which took place at different
times. Of these, moreover, only the one
referred to a little above by us,s with those
who afterward shared in the government, finally published openly to all the
above-mentioned confession, in the written edict which he issued.
MARTYRS OF PALESTINE.
It was in the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in the month
Xanthicus, which is called April by the Romans, about the time of the
feast of our Saviour's passion, while Flavianus was governor of the
province of Palestine, that letters were published everywhere, commanding that the churches be leveled to the ground and the
Scriptures be destroyed by fire, and ordering that those who held places of
honor be degraded, and that the household servants, if they persisted in the
profession of Christianity, be deprived of freedom.
Such was the force of the first edict against us. But not long after other
letters were issued, commanding that all the bishops of the churches
everywhere be first thrown into prison, and afterward, by every artifice, be
compelled to sacrifice.
The first of the martyrs of Palestine was Procopius, who, before he
had received the trial of imprisonment, immediately on his first appearance
before the governor's tribunal, having been ordered to sacrifice to the
so-called gods, declared that he knew only one to whom it was proper to
sacrifice, as he himself wills. But when he was commanded to offer libations
to the four emperors, having quoted a sentence which displeased them, he was
immediately beheaded. The quotation was from the poet:
"The rule of many is not good; let there be one ruler and one king."
It was the seventh day of the month Decius, the seventh before the ides of June, as the Romans reckon, and the fourth day of the week, when this first example was given at Caesura in Palestine.
Afterwards, in the same city, many rulers of the country churches
readily endured terrible sufferings, and furnished to the beholders an example
of noble conflicts. But others, benumbed in spirit by terror, were easily
weakened at the first onset. Of the rest, each one endured different forms of
torture, as scourgings without number, and rackings, and tearings of their
sides, and insupportable fetters, by which
the hands of some were dislocated. Yet
they endured what came upon them, as in
accordance with the inscrutable purposes of God. For the hands of one were
seized, and he was led to the altar, while they thrust into his right hand the
polluted and abominable offering, and he was dismissed as if he had
sacrificed. Another had not even touched it, yet when others said that he had
sacrificed, he went away in silence. Another, being taken up half dead, was
cast aside as if already dead, and released from his bonds, and counted among
the sacrificers. When another cried out, and testified that he would not obey,
he was struck in the mouth, and silenced by a large band of those who were
drawn up for this purpose, and driven away by force, even though he had not
sacrificed. Of such consequence did they consider it, to seem by any means to
have accomplished their purpose.
5. Therefore, of all this number, the only ones who were honored with the
crown of the holy martyrs were Alphaeus and Zacchaeus. After stripes and
scrapings and severe bonds and additional tortures and various other trials,
and after having their feet stretched for a night and day over four holes in
the stocks, on the seventeenth day of the month Dius, -- that is,
according to the Romans, the fifteenth before the Kalends of December --
having confessed one only God and Christ Jesus as king, as if they had
uttered some blasphemy, they were beheaded like the former martyr.
What occurred to Romanus on the same day at Antioch, is also worthy of
record. For he was a native of Palestine, a deacon and exorcist in the parish
of Caesarea; and being present at the destruction of the churches, he beheld
many men, with women and children, going up in crowds to the idols and
sacrificing. But, through his great zeal for religion, he could not endure
the sight, and rebuked them with a loud voice. Being arrested for his
boldness, he proved a most noble witness of the truth, if there ever was one.
For when the judge informed him that he was to die by fire, he received the sentence with cheerful countenance and most ready mind, and
was led away. When he was bound to the stake, and the wood piled up around
him, as they were awaiting the arrival of the emperor before lighting the
fire, he cried, "Where is the fire for me?" Having said this, he was
summoned again before the emperor, and subjected to the unusual torture of
having his tongue cut out. But he endured this with fortitude and showed to
all by his deeds that the Divine Power is present with those who endure any
hardship whatever for the sake of religion, lightening their sufferings and
strengthening their zeal. When he learned of this strange mode of punishment,
the noble man was not terrified, but put out his tongue readily, and offered
it with the greatest alacrity to those who cut it off. After this punishment
he was thrown into prison, and suffered there for a very long time. At last
the twentieth anniversary of the emperor being near, when, according to an
established gracious custom, liberty was proclaimed everywhere to all who were
in bonds, he alone had both his feet stretched over five holes in the stocks, and while he lay there was strangled, and was thus honored with martyrdom,
as he desired. Although he was outside of his country, yet, as he was a
native of Palestine, it is proper to count him among the Palestinian martyrs.
These things occurred in this manner during the first year, when the
persecution was directed only against the rulers of the Church.
In the course of the second year, the persecution against us increased
greatly. And at that time Urbanus being governor of the province, imperial
edicts were first issued to him, commanding by a general decree that all the
people should sacrifice at once in the different cities, and offer libations
to the idols.
In Gaza, a city of Palestine, Timotheus endured countless tortures, and
afterwards was subjected to a slow and moderate fire. Having given, by his
patience in all his sufferings, most genuine evidence of sincerest piety
toward the Deity, he bore away the crown of the victorious athletes of
religion. At the same time Agapius and our contemporary, Thecla, having exhibited most noble constancy, were condemned as food for the wild beasts.
But who that beheld these things would not have admired, or if they heard
of them by report, would not have been astonished? For when the heathen
everywhere were holding a festival and the customary shows, it was noised
abroad that besides the other entertainments, the public combat of those who
had lately been condemned to wild beasts would also
take place. As this report increased and
spread in all directions, six young men,
namely, Timolaus, a native of Pontus, Dionysius from Tripolis in Phoenicia,
Romulus, a sub-deacon of the parish of Diospolis, Paesis and Alexander,
both Egyptians, and another Alexander from Gaza, having first bound their own
hands, went in haste to Urbanus, who was about to open the exhibition,
evidencing great zeal for martyrdom. They confessed that they were Christians,
and by their ambition for all terrible things, showed that those who glory in
the religion of the God of the universe do not cower before the attacks of
wild beasts.
Immediately, after creating no ordinary astonishment in the governor and
those who
were with him, they were cast into prison. After a few days two others were
added to them. One of them, named Agapius, had in former confessions
endured dreadful torments of various kinds. The other, who had supplied them
with the necessaries of life, was called Dionysius. All of these eight were
beheaded on one day at Caesarea, on the twenty-fourth day of the month
Dystrus, which is the ninth before the
Kalends of April. Meanwhile, a change in
the emperors occurred, and the first of them
all in dignity, and the second retired into private
life, and public affairs began to be troubled.
Shortly after the Roman government became divided against itself, and a cruel war
arose among them. And this division, with the troubles which grew out of
it, was not settled until peace toward us had been established throughout the
entire Roman Empire. For when this peace arose for all, as the daylight after
the darkest and most gloomy night, the public affairs of the Roman government
were re-established, and became happy and peaceful, and the ancestral
good-will toward each other was revived. But we will relate these things more
fully at the proper time. Now let us return to the regular course of events.
Maximinus Caesar having come at that time into the government, as if
to manifest to all the evidences of his reborn enmity against
God, and of his impiety, armed himself for persecution against us more
vigorously than his
predecessors. In consequence, no little
confusion arose among all, and they scattered here and there, endeavoring in
some way
to escape the danger; and there was great commotion everywhere.
But what words would suffice for a suitable
description of the Divine love and boldness, in
confessing God, of the blessed and truly innocent lamb, I refer to the martyr
Apphianus, who presented in the sight of all, before the
gates of Caesarea, a wonderful example of
piety toward the only God? He was at
that time not twenty years old. He had first
spent a long time at Berytus, for the sake of a
secular Grecian education, as he belonged to a
very wealthy family. It is wonderful to relate
how, in such a city, he was superior to youthful
passions, and clung to virtue, uncorrupted neither
by his bodily vigor nor his young companions;
living discreetly, soberly and piously, in accordance with his profession of
the Christian doctrine and the life of his teachers.
If it is needful to mention his native country, and give honor to it as producing
this noble athlete of piety, we will do so
with pleasure. The young man came from Pagae, -- if any one is acquainted with the
place -- a city in Lycia of no mean importance. After his return from his
course of study in Berytus, though his father held the first place in his
country, he could not bear to live with him and his relatives, as it did not
please them to live according to the rules of religion. Therefore, as if he
were led by the Divine Spirit, and in accordance with a natural, or rather an
inspired and true philosophy, regarding this preferable to what is considered
the glory of life, and despising bodily comforts, he secretly left his family.
And because of his faith and hope in God, paying no attention to his daily
needs, he was led by the Divine Spirit to the city of Caesarea, where was
prepared for him the crown of
martyrdom for piety. Abiding with us there,
and conferring with us in the Divine Scriptures diligently for a short time,
and fitting himself zealously by suitable exercises, he exhibited such an end
as would astonish any one
should it be seen again. Who, that hears
of it, would not justly admire his courage,
boldness, constancy, and even more than these
the daring deed itself, which evidenced a zeal
for religion and a spirit truly superhuman?
For in the second attack upon us under Maximinus, in the third year of the persecution, edicts of the tyrant were
issued for the first time, commanding that the rulers of the cities should
diligently and speedily see to it that all the people offered sacrifices. Throughout the city of Caesarea, by command of the governor, the heralds were
summoning men, women, and children to the temples of the idols, and besides
this, the chiliarchs were calling out each one by name from a roll, and an
immense crowd of the wicked were rushing together from all quarters. Then this
youth fearlessly, while no one was aware of his intentions, eluded both us who
lived in the house with him and the whole band of soldiers that surrounded the
governor, and rushed up to Urbanus as he was offering libations, and
fearlessly seizing him by the right hand, straightway put a stop to his
sacrificing, and skillfully and persuasively, with a certain divine
inspiration, exhorted him to abandon his delusion, because it was not well to
forsake the one and only true God, and
sacrifice to idols and demons. It is probable that this was done by the youth through
a divine power which led him forward, and which all but cried aloud in his
act, that Christians, who were truly such, were so far from abandoning the
religion of the God of the universe which they had once espoused, that they
were not only superior to threats and the punishments which followed, but yet
bolder to speak with noble and untrammeled tongue, and, if possible, to summon
even their persecutors to turn from their ignorance and acknowledge the only
true God. Thereupon, he of whom we are speaking,
and that instantly, as might have been expected after so bold a deed, was
torn by the governor and those who were with him as if by wild beasts. And
having endured manfully innumerable blows over his entire body, he
was straightway cast into prison. There
he was stretched by the tormentor with both
his feet in the stocks for a night and a day; and the next day he was brought
before the judge. As they endeavored to force him to surrender, he exhibited
all constancy under suffering and terrible tortures. His sides were torn, not
once, or twice, but many times, to the bones and the very bowels; and he
received so many blows on his face and neck that those who for a long time
had been well acquainted with him could not recognize his swollen face.
But as he
would not yield under this treatment, the torturers, as commanded, covered his
feet with linen cloths soaked in oil and set them on fire. No word can
describe the agonies which the blessed one endured from this. For the fire
consumed his flesh and penetrated to his bones, so that the humors of his body
were melted and oozed
out and dropped down like wax. But as
he was not subdued by this, his adversaries
being defeated and unable to comprehend his superhuman constancy, cast him
again into prison. A third time he was brought before the judge; and having
witnessed the same profession, being half dead, he was finally thrown into the
depths of the sea.
But what happened immediately after
this will scarcely be believed by those who
did not see it. Although we realize this, yet we must record the event, of
which to speak plainly, all the inhabitants of Caesarea were witnesses. For
truly there was no age but beheld this marvelous sight. For as soon as
they had cast this truly sacred and thriceblessed youth into the fathomless depths of the sea, an uncommon commotion and
disturbance agitated the sea and all the shore about it, so that the land and
the entire city were shaken by it. And at the same time with this wonderful
and sudden perturbation, the sea threw out before the gates of the city the
body of the divine martyr, as if unable to endure it.
Such was the death of the wonderful Apphianus. It occurred on the second
day of the month Xanthicus, which is the fourth day before the Nones of
April, on the day of preparation
About the same time, in the city of Tyre,
a youth named Ulpianus, after dreadful
tortures and most severe scourgings, was enclosed in a raw oxhide, with a dog
and with one of those poisonous reptiles, an asp, and cast into the sea.
Wherefore I think that we may properly mention him in connection with the
martyrdom of Apphianus.
Shortly afterwards, Aedesius, a brother
of Apphianus, not only in God, but also
in the flesh, being a son of the same earthly father, endured sufferings like
his, after very many confessions and protracted tortures in bonds, and after
he had been sentenced by the governor to the mines in Palestine. He conducted
himself through them all in a truly philosophic manner; for he was more highly
educated than his brother, and had prosecuted
philosophic studies. Finally in the city of
Alexandria, when he beheld the judge, who
was trying the Christians, offending beyond all bounds, now insulting holy men
in various ways, and again consigning women of greatest modesty and even
religious virgins to procurers for shameful treatment, he acted like his
brother. For as these things seemed insufferable, he went forward with bold
resolve, and with his words and deeds overwhelmed the judge with shame and
disgrace. After suffering in consequence many forms of torture, he endured a
death similar to his brother's, being cast into the sea. But these things, as
I have said, happened to him in this way a little later.
In the fourth year of the persecution
against us, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of December, which is the twentieth day of the month Dius, on the
day before the Sabbath, while the tyrant Maximinus was present and giving
magnificent shows in honor of his birthday, the following event, truly worthy
of record, occurred in the city of Caesarea.
As it was an ancient custom to furnish the spectators more splendid shows
when the emperors were present than at other times,new and foreign spectacles
taking the place of the customary amusements, such as animals brought from
India or Ethiopia or other places, or men who could astonish the beholders
with skillful bodily exercises -- it was necessary at this time, as the
emperor was giving the exhibition, to add to the shows something more
wonderful. And what should this be?
A witness of our doctrine was brought into the midst and endured the contest
for the true and only religion. This was Agapius, who, as we have stated a little above, was, with Thecla, the second to be
thrown to the wild beasts
for food. He had also, three times and more,
marched with malefactors from the prison to the
arena; and every time, after threats from the
judge, whether in compassion or in hope that
he might change his mind, had been reserved
for other conflicts. But the emperor being
present, he was brought out at this time, as if
he had been appropriately reserved for this
occasion, until the very word of the Saviour
should be fulfilled in him, which through divine
knowledge he declared to his disciples, that they
should be brought before kings on account
of their testimony unto him. He was taken
into the midst of the arena with a certain
malefactor who they said was charged with
i the murder of his master. But this murderer of his master, when he had been
cast
to the wild beasts, was deemed worthy of compassion and humanity, almost like
Barabbas in the time of our Saviour. And the whole theater resounded with
shouts and cries of approval, because the murderer was humanely saved by the
emperor, and deemed worthy of honor
and freedom. But the athlete of religion
was first summoned by the tyrant and promised liberty if he would deny his
profession. But he testified with a loud voice that, not for any fault, but
for the religion of the Creator of the universe, he would readily and with
pleasure endure whatever might be inflicted upon
him. Having said this, he joined the deed
to the word, and rushed to meet a bear
which had been let loose against him, surrendering himself most cheerfully to
be devoured by him. After this, as he still breathed, he was cast into prison.
And living yet one day, stones
were bound to his feet, and he was drowned in the depths of the sea. Such was
the martyrdom of Agapius.
Again, in Caesarea, when the persecution had continued to the fifth year, on
the second day of the month Xanthicus, which is the fourth before the
Nones of April, on the very Lord's day of our Saviour's resurrection, Theodosia, a virgin from Tyre, a faithful and sedate maiden, not yet eighteen
years of age, went up to certain prisoners who were confessing the kingdom of
Christ and sitting before the judgment seat, and saluted them, and, as is
probable, besought them to remember her when they came before the Lord.
Thereupon, as if she had committed a profane and impious act, the soldiers
seized her and led her to the governor. And he immediately, like a madman and
a wild beast in his anger, tortured her with dreadful and most terrible
torments in her sides and breasts, even to the very bones. And as she still
breathed, and withal stood with a joyful and beaming countenance, he ordered
her thrown into the waves of the sea. Then passing from her to the other
confessors, he condemned all of them to the copper mines in Phaeno in
Palestine.
Afterwards on the fifth of the month Dius, on the Nones of November
according to the Romans, in the same city, Silvanus, and those with him, men who had shown the noblest firmness in behalf of religion, were condemned by him to labor in the same copper mines, command
being first given that their ankles be disabled with hot irons. At the same time he
delivered to the flames a man who was illustrious through numerous other confessions. This was Domninus, who was well known to all in Palestine for his exceeding fearlessness. After this the
same judge, who was a cruel contriver of suffering, and an inventor of devices
against the doctrine of Christ, planned against the pious punishments that had
never been heard of. He condemned three to single pugilistic combat. He
delivered to be devoured by wild beasts Auxentius, a grave and holy old man.
Others who were in mature life he made eunuchs, and condemned them to the same
mines. Yet others, after severe tortures, he cast into prison.
Among these was my dearest friend Pamphilus, who was by reason of
every virtue the most illustrious of the martyrs in our time.
Urbanus first tested him in rhetorical philosophy and learning; and
afterwards endeavored to compel him to sacrifice. But as he saw that he
refused and in nowise regarded his threats, being exceedingly angry, he
ordered him to be tormented with severest tortures. And when the brutal man,
after he had almost satiated himself with these tortures
by continuous and prolonged scrapings in his sides, was yet covered with shame
before all, he put him also with the confessors in prison.
But what recompense for his cruelty to
the saints, he who thus abused the martyrs
of Christ, shall receive from the Divine judgment, may be easily determined
from the preludes to it, in which immediately, and not long after his daring
cruelties against Pamphilus, while he yet held the government, the Divine
judgment came upon him. For thus suddenly, he who but yesterday was judging on
the lofty tribunal, guarded by a band of soldiers, and ruling over the whole
nation of Palestine, the associate and dearest friend and table companion of
the tyrant himself, was stripped in one night, and overwhelmed with disgrace
and shame before those who had formerly admired him as if he were himself an
emperor; and he appeared cowardly and unmanly, uttering womanish cries and
supplications to all the people whom he had ruled. And Maximinus himself, in
reliance upon whose favor Urbanus was formerly so arrogantly insolent, as if
he loved him exceedingly for his deeds against us, was set as a harsh and most
severe judge in this same Caesarea to pronounce sentence of death against him,
for the great disgrace of the crimes of which he was convicted. Let us say
this in passing. A suitable time may come when we shall have leisure to relate the end and the fate of those impious
men who especially fought against us, both of Maximinus himself and those
with him.
Up to the sixth year the storm had
been incessantly raging against us. Before
this time there had been a very large number of confessors of religion in the
so-called Porphyry quarry in Thebais, which gets its name from the stone found
there. Of these, one hundred men, lacking three, together with women and
infants, were sent to the governor of Palestine. When they confessed the God
of the universe and Christ, Firmilianus, who had been sent there as
governor in the place of Urbanus, directed, in accordance with the imperial
command, that they should be maimed by burning the sinews of the ankles of
their left feet, and that their right eyes with the eyelids and pupils should
first be cut out, and then destroyed by hot irons to the very roots. And he
then sent them to the mines in the province to endure hardships with severe
toil and suffering.
But it was not sufficient that these only who suffered such miseries
should be deprived of their eyes, but those natives of Palestine also, who
were mentioned just above as condemned to pugilistic combat, Since they would
neither receive food from the royal storehouse nor undergo the necessary
preparatory Exercises. Having been brought on this account not only before the
overseers, but also
before Maximinus himself, and having manifested the noblest persistence in
confession
by the endurance of hunger and stripes, they received like punishment with
those whom we
have mentioned, and with them other confessors in the city
of Caesarea. Immediately afterwards others who were gathered
to hear the Scriptures read, were seized in Gaza, and some endured the same
sufferings in the feet and eyes; but others were afflicted with yet greater
torments and with most terrible tortures in the sides. One of these, in body a
woman, but in understanding a man, would not endure the threat of fornication,
and spoke directly against the tyrant who entrusted the government to such
cruel judges. She was first scourged and then raised aloft on the
stake, and her sides lacerated. As those appointed for this purpose applied
the tortures incessantly and severely at the command of the judge, another,
with mind fixed, like the former, on virginity as her aim -- a woman who was
altogether mean in forth and contemptible in appearance; but, on the other
hand, strong in soul, and endowed with an understanding superior to her
body -- being unable to bear the merciless and cruel and inhuman deeds, with a
boldness beyond that of the combatants famed among the Greeks, cried out to
the judge from the midst of the crowd: "And how long will you thus cruelly
torture my sister?" But he was greatly enraged, and ordered the woman to be
immediately seized. Thereupon she was brought forward and having called
herself by the august name of the Saviour, she was first urged by words to
sacrifice, and as she refused she was dragged by force to the altar. But her
sister continued to maintain her former zeal, and with intrepid and resolute
foot kicked the altar, and overturned it with the fire that was on it. Thereupon the judge, enraged like a wild beast,
inflicted on her such tortures in her sides as he never had on any one
before, striving almost to glut himself with her raw flesh. But when his madness was
satiated, he bound them both together, this one and her whom she
called sister, and condemned them to death by fire. It is said that the first
of these was from the country of Gaza; the other, by name Valentina, was of
Caesarea, and was well known to many.
But how can I describe as it deserves the martyrdom which followed, with
which the thrice-blessed Paul was honored. He was condemned to death at the
same time with them, under one sentence. At the time of his martyrdom, as the
executioner was about to cut off his head, he requested a brief respite.
This being granted, he first, in a clear and
distinct voice, supplicated God in behalf of
his fellow-Christians, praying for their pardon, and that freedom might
soon be restored to them. Then he asked for the conversion of the Jews to God
through Christ; and proceeding in order he requested the same things for the
Samaritans, and besought that those Gentiles, who were in error and were
ignorant of God, might come to a knowledge of him, and adopt the true
religion. Nor did he leave neglected the mixed multitude who were standing
around. After all these, oh! great and unspeakable forbearance ! he entreated
the God of the universe for the judge who had condemned him to death, and for
the highest
rulers, and also for the one who was about to behead him, in his hearing and
that of all present, beseeching that their sin toward him
should not be reckoned against them. Having prayed for these things with a
loud voice,
and having, as one who was dying unjustly, moved
almost all to compassion and tears, of his own
accord he made himself ready, and submitted
his bare neck to the stroke of the sword, and
was adorned with divine martyrdom. This took
place on the twenty-fifth day of the month
Panemus, which is the eighth before the Kalends of August.
Such was the end of these persons. But
not long after, one hundred and thirty admirable athletes of the confession
of Christ, from the land of Egypt, endured, in Egypt itself, at the command
of Maximinus the same afflictions in their eyes and feet with the former
persons, and were sent to the above-mentioned mines in Palestine. But some of
them were condemned to the mines in Cilicia.
After such noble acts of the distinguished martyrs of Christ, the flame of
persecution lessened, and was quenched, as it were by their sacred blood, and
relief and liberty were granted to those who, for Christ's sake, were laboring
in the mines of Thebais, and for a little time we were beginning to breath
pure air.
But by some new impulse, I know not what, he who held the power to
persecute was again aroused against the Christians. Immediately letters from
Maximinus against us were published everywhere in every province. The
governors and the military prefect urged by
edicts and letters and public ordinances the magistrates and generals and
notaries in all the cities to carry out the imperial decree, which ordered
that the altars of the idols should with all speed be rebuilt; and that all
men, women, and children, even infants at the breast, should sacrifice and
offer oblations; and that with diligence and care they should cause them to
taste of the execrable offerings; and that the things for sale in the market
should be polluted with libations from the sacrifices; and that guards should
be stationed before the baths in order to defile with the abominable
sacrifices those
who went to wash in them. When these orders were being carried out, our
people, as was natural, were at the beginning greatly distressed in mind; and
even the unbelieving heathen blamed the severity and the exceeding absurdity
of what was done. For these things appeared to them extreme and burdensome.
As the heaviest storm impended over all in every quarter, the divine power
of our Saviour again infused such boldness into his athletes, that without
being drawn on or dragged forward by any one, they spurned the threats.
Three of the faithful joining together, rushed
on the governor as he was sacrificing to the
idols, and cried out to him to cease from his delusion, there being no other
God than the Maker and Creator of the universe. When he asked who they were,
they confessed boldly
that they were Christians. Thereupon Firmilianus, being greatly enraged,
sentenced
them to capital punishment without inflicting tortures upon them. The name of
the eldest of these was Antoninus; of the next, Zebinas, who was a native of
Eleutheropolis; and of the third, Germanus. This took place on the thirteenth
of the month Dius, the Ides of November?
There was associated with them on the same day Ennathas, a woman from
Scythopolis, who was adorned with the chaplet of virginity. She did not indeed
do as they had.
done, but was dragged by force and brought
before the judge. She endured scourgings
and cruel insults, which Maxys, a tribune of
a neighboring district, without the knowledge of the superior authority, dared
to inflict upon her. He was a man worse than his name, sanguinary in other
respects, exceedingly harsh, and altogether cruel, and censured by all who
knew him. This man stripped the blessed woman of
all her clothing, so that she was covered only from her loins to her feet and
the rest of her body was bare. And he led her through the entire city of
Caesarea, and regarded it as a great thing to beat her with thongs while she
was dragged
through all the market-places. After such
treatment she manifested the noblest constancy at the judgment seat of the
governor himself; and the judge condemned her to be burned alive. He also
carried his rage against the pious to a most inhuman length and transgressed
the laws of nature, not being ashamed even to deny burial to the lifeless
bodies of the sacred
men. Thus he ordered the dead to be exposed in the open air as food for wild beasts
and to be watched carefully by night and day. For many days a large number of
men attended to this savage and barbarous decree. And they looked out from
their post of observation, as if it were a matter worthy of care, to see that
the dead bodies should not be stolen. And wild beasts and dogs and birds of
prey scattered the human limbs here and there, and the whole city was strewed
with the entrails and bones of
men, so that nothing had ever appeared
more dreadful and horrible, even to those
who formerly hated us; though they bewailed not so much the calamity of those
against whom these things were done, as the outrage against
themselves and the common nature of man.
For there was to be seen near the gates a
spectacle beyond all description and tragic
recital; for not only was human flesh devoured in one place, but it was
scattered in every place; so that some said that limbs and masses of flesh and
parts of entrails were to be seen even within
the gates.
After these things had continued for many
days, a wonderful event occurred. The air
was clear and bright and the appearance of the sky most serene. When suddenly
throughout the city from the pillars which supported the public porches many
drops fell like tears; and the market places and streets, though there was no
mist in the air, were moistened with sprinkled water, whence I know not. Then
immediately it was reported everywhere that the earth, unable to endure the
abomination of these things, had shed tears in a mysterious manner; and that
as a rebuke to the relentless and unfeeling nature of men, stones and lifeless
wood had wept for what had happened. I know well that this account may perhaps
appear idle and fabulous to those who come after us, but not to those to whom
the truth was confirmed at the time.
On the fourteenth day of the following
month Appellaeus, the nineteenth before the
Kalends of January, certain persons from Egypt were again seized by those who
examined people passing the gates. They had been sent to minister to the
confessors in Cilicia. They received the same sentence as those whom they had
gone to help, being mutilated in their eyes and feet. Three of them exhibited
in Ascalon, where they were imprisoned, marvelous bravery in the endurance of
various kinds of martyrdom. One of them named Ares was condemned to the
flames, and the others, called Probus and Elias, were beheaded.
On the eleventh day of the month Audynaeus, which is the third before
the Ides of January, in the same city of Caesarea, Peter an ascetic, also
called Apselamus, from the village of Anea, on the borders of
Eleutheropolis, like purest gold, gave noble proof by fire of his faith in the
Christ of God. Though the judge and those around him besought him many times
to have compassion on himself, and to spare his own youth and bloom, he
disregarded them, preferring hope in the God of the universe to all things,
even to life itself. A certain Asclepius, supposed to be a bishop of the
sect of Marcion, possessed as he thought with zeal for religion, but "not
according to knowledge," ended his life on one and the same funeral pyre.
These things took place in this manner.
It is time to describe the great and celebrated spectacle of Pamphilus, a
man thrice
dear to me, and of those who finished their course with him. They were twelve
in all; being counted worthy of apostolic grace and number. Of these the
leader and the only one honored with the position of presbyter at Caesarea,
was Pamphilus; a man who through
his entire life was celebrated for every virtue, for renouncing and despising
the world, for sharing his possessions with the needy, for contempt of earthly
hopes, and for philosophic deportment and exercise. He especially excelled all
in our time in most sincere devotion to the Divine Scriptures and
indefatigable industry in whatever he undertook, and in his helpfulness to his
relatives and associates. In a separate treatise on his life, consisting
of three books, we have already described the excellence of his virtue.
Referring to this work those who delight in such things and desire to know
them, let us now consider the martyrs in order.
Second after Pamphilus, Vales, who was
honored for his venerable gray hair, entered
and versed in the Divine Scriptures, if any one ever was. He had so laid up
the memory of them in his heart that he did not need to look at the books if
he undertook tO repeat any passage of Scripture.
The third was Paul from the city of Jamna, who was known among them as
most zealous and fervent in spirit. Previous to his martyrdom, he had endured
the conflict of confession by cauterization.
After these persons had continued in prison for two entire years, the
occasion of their martyrdom was a second arrival of Egyptian brethren who
suffered with them. They had accompanied the confessors in Cilicia to the
mines there and were returning to
their homes. At the entrance of the gates of Caesarea, the guards, who were men of barbarous character, questioned them as
to who they
were and whence they came. They kept back
nothing of the truth, and were seized as malefactors taken in the very act.
They were five
in number. When brought before the tyrant, being very bold in his presence,
they
were immediately thrown into prison. On the next day, which was the nineteenth
of the month Peritius, according to the Roman reckoning the fourteenth
before the Kalends of March, they were brought, according to command, before
the judge, with Pamphilus and his associates whom we have mentioned. First, by
all kinds of torture, through the invention of strange and various machines,
he tested the invincible constancy
of the Egyptians. Having practised these
cruelties upon the leader of all, he asked
him first who he was. He heard in reply the name of some prophet instead of
his proper name. For it was their custom, in place of the names of idols given
them by their fathers, if they had such, to take other names; so that you
would hear them calling themselves Elijah or Jeremiah or Isaiah or Samuel or
Daniel, thus showing themselves inwardly true Jews, and the genuine Israel of
God, not only in deeds, but in the names which they bore. When Firmilianus had
heard some such name from the martyr, and did not understand the force of the
word, he
asked next the name of his country. But
he gave a second answer similar to the former, saying that Jerusalem was his
country, meaning that of which Paul says, "Jerusalem which is above is free,
which is our mother," and, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." This was what he meant; but
the judge thinking only of the earth, sought
diligently to discover what that city was, and in what part of the world it
was situated. And therefore he applied tortures that the truth might be
acknowledged. But the man, with his hands twisted behind his back, and his
feet crushed by strange machines, asserted firmly
that he had spoken the truth. And being
questioned again repeatedly what and where
the city was of which he spoke, he said that it was the country of the pious
alone, for no others should have a place in it, and that it lay toward the far
East and the rising sun.
He philosophized about these things according to his own understanding, and was
in nowise turned froth them by the tortures with which he was afflicted on
every side. And as if he were without flesh or body he seemed insensible of
his sufferings. But the judge being perplexed, was impatient, thinking that
the Christians were about to establish a city somewhere, inimical and hostile
to the Romans. And he inquired much about this, and investigated where that
country toward the East
was located. But when he had for a long
time lacerated the young man with scourgings, and punished him with all sorts
of torments, he perceived that his persistence in what he had said could not
be changed, and passed against him sentence of death. Such a scene was
exhibited by what was done to this man. And having inflicted similar tortures
on the others, he sent them away in the same manner.
Then being wearied and perceiving that
he punished the men in vain, having satiated
his desire, he proceeded against Pamphilus and
his companions. And having learned that already under former tortures they had manifested
an unchangeable zeal for the faith, he asked them
if they would now obey. And receiving from
every one of them only this one answer, as their
last word of confession in martyrdom, he inflicted
on them punishment similar to the others.
When this had been done, a young man,
one of the household servants of Pamphilus,
who had been educated in the noble life and instruction of such a man,
learning the sentence passed upon his master, cried out from the
midst of the crowd asking that their bodies
might be buried. Thereupon the judge,
not a man, but a wild beast, or if anything
more savage than a wild beast, giving no consideration to the young man's age,
asked him only the same question. When he learned that he confessed himself a
Christian, as if he had been wounded by a dart, swelling with rage, he ordered
the tormentors to use their utmost
power against him. And when he saw that
he refused to sacrifice as commanded, he
ordered them to scrape him continually to his very bones and to the inmost
recesses of his bowels, not as if he were human flesh but as if he were stones
or wood or any lifeless thing. But after long persistence he saw that this was
in vain, as the man was speechless and insensible and almost lifeless, his
body being worn out
by the tortures. But being inflexibly merciless and inhuman, he ordered him to be
committed straightway, as he was, to a slow fire. And before the death of his
earthly master, though he had entered later on the conflict, he received
release from the body, while those who
had been zealous about the others were yet
delaying. One could then see. Porphyry, like one who had come off victorious in every
conflict, his body covered with dust, but his countenance cheerful, after such
sufferings, with courageous and exulting mind, advancing to death. And as if
truly filled with the Divine Spirit, covered only with his philosophic robe
thrown about him as a cloak, soberly and intelligently he directed his friends
as to what he wished, and beckoned to them, preserving still a cheerful
countenance even at the stake. But when the fire was kindled at some distance
around him in a circle, having inhaled the flame into his mouth, he continued
most nobly in silence from that time till his death, after the single word
which he uttered when the flame first touched him, and he cried out for the
help of Jesus the Son of God. Such was the contest of Porphyry.
His death was reported to Pamphilus
by a messenger, Seleucus. He was one
of the confessors from the army. As the
bearer of such a message, he was forthwith
deemed worthy of a similar lot. For as soon
as he related the death of Porphyry, and had
saluted one of the martyrs with a kiss, some
of the soldiers seized him and led him to the
governor. And he, as if he would hasten him on
to be a companion of the former on the way to
heaven, commanded that he be put to death
immediately. This man was from Cappadocia, and belonged to the select band of
soldiers, and had obtained no small honor in those things which are esteemed
among the Romans. For in stature and bodily strength, and size and vigor, he
far excelled his fellow-soldiers, so that his appearance was matter of common
talk, and his whole form was admired on account of
its size and symmetrical proportions. At
the beginning of the persecution he was
prominent in the conflicts of confession, through
his patience under scourging. After he left the
army he set himself to imitate zealously the religious ascetics, and as if
he were their father
and guardian he showed himself a bishop and
patron of destitute orphans and defenceless
widows and of those who were distressed with
penury or sickness. It is likely that on this
account he was deemed worthy of an extraordinary call to martyrdom by God, who
rejoices
in such things more than in the smoke and
blood of sacrifices. He was the tenth athlete among those whom we have
mentioned
as meeting their end on one and the same day.
On this day, as was fitting, the chief gate was
opened, and a ready way of entrance into the
kingdom of heaven was given to the martyr Pamphilus and to the others with him.
In the footsteps of Seleucus came Theodulus, a grave and pious old man, who
belonged to the governor's household, and had
been honored by Firmilianus himself more than
all the others in his house on account of his
age, and because he was a father of the third
generation, and also on account of the kindness
and most faithful conscientiousness which he
had manifested toward him. As he pursued
the course of Seleucus when brought before his
master, the latter was more angry at him than at
those who had preceded him, and condemned him
to endure the martyrdom of the Saviour on
the cross. As there lacked yet one to fill
up the number of the twelve martyrs of
whom we have spoken, Julian came to complete it. He had just arrived from
abroad, and had not yet entered the gate of the city, when having learned
about the martyrs while still on the way, he rushed at once, just as he was,
to see them. When he beheld the tabernacles of the saints prone on the ground,
being filled with joy, he embraced and kissed them all.
The ministers of slaughter straightway seized
him as he was doing this and led him to Firmilianus. Acting as was his custom, he condemned him to a slow fire.
Thereupon Julian, leaping and exulting, in a loud voice gave thanks to the
Lord who had judged him worthy of such things, and was honored with the crown
of martyrdom. He was a Cappadocian by
birth, and in his manner of life he was most
circumspect, faithful and sincere, zealous in all other respects, and animated
by the Holy Spirit himself.
Such was the company which was thought
worthy to enter into martyrdom with Pamphilus. By the command
of the impious
governor their sacred and truly holy bodies
were kept as food for the wild beasts for four days and as many nights. But
since, strange to say, through the providential care of God, nothing
approached them -- neither beast of prey, nor bird, nor dog -- they were
taken up uninjured, and after suitable preparation were buried in the
customary manner.
When the report of what had been done
to these men was spread in all directions, Adrianus and Eubulus, having come from the so-called country of Manganaea to
Caesarea, to see the remaining confessors, were also asked at
the gate the reason for their coming; and having acknowledged the truth, were
brought to Firmilianus. But he, as was his custom, without delay inflicted
many tortures in their sides, and condemned them to be devoured by wild
beasts. After two days, on the fifth of
the month Dystrus, the third before the Nones of March, which was regarded as the birthday of the tutelary divinity of
Caesarea, Adrianus was thrown to a lion, and afterwards slain with the sword.
But Eubulus, two days later, on the Nones of March, that is, on the seventh of
the month Dystrus, when the judge had earnestly entreated him to enjoy by
sacrificing that which was considered freedom among them, preferring a
glorious death for religion to transitory life, was made like the other an
offering to wild beasts, and as the last of the martyrs in Caesarea, sealed
the list of athletes.
It is proper also to relate here, how in a
short time the heavenly Providence came
upon the impious rulers, together with the tyrants
themselves. For that very Firmilianus, who had
thus abused the martyrs of Christ, after suffering
with the others the severest punishment, was put
to death by the sword.
Such were the martyrdoms which took place
at Caesarea during the entire period of the persecution.
I THINK it best to pass by all the other events which occurred in the
meantime: such as those which happened to the bishops of the churches, when
instead of shepherds of the rational flocks of Christ, over which they
presided in an unlawful manner, the divine judgment, considering them worthy
of such a charge, made them keepers of camels, an irrational beast and
very crooked in the structure of its body, or condemned them to have the care
of the imperial horses -- and I pass by also the insults and disgraces and
tortures they endured from the imperial overseers and rulers on account of the
sacred vessels and treasures of the Church; and besides these the lust of
power on the part of many, the disorderly and unlawful ordinations, and the
schisms among the confessors themselves; also the novelties which were
zealously devised against the remnants of the Church by the new and factious
members, who added innovation after innovation and forced them in unsparingly
among the calamities of the persecution, heaping misfortune upon misfortune. I
judge it more suitable to shun and avoid the account of these things, as I
said at the beginning. But such things as are sober and praiseworthy,
according to the sacred word -- "and if there be any virtue and praise," -I
consider it most proper to tell and to record, and to present to believing
hearers in the history of the admirable martyrs. And after this I think it
best to crown the entire work with an account of the peace which has appeared
unto us from heaven.
THE seventh year of our conflict was completed; and the hostile measures
which
had continued into the eighth year were gradually and quietly becoming less
severe. A large number of confessors were collected at the copper mines in
Palestine, and were acting with considerable boldness, so far as even to build
places of worship. But the ruler of the province, a cruel and wicked man, as
his acts against the martyrs showed, having come there and learned the state
of affairs, communicated it to the emperor, writing in accusation whatever he
thought best. Thereupon, being appointed superintendent of the mines, he
divided the band of confessors as if by a royal decree, and sent some to dwell
in Cyprus and others in Lebanon, and he scattered others in different parts of
Palestine and ordered
them to labor in various works. And, selecting the four who seemed to him
to be
the leaders, he sent them to the commander of the armies in that section.
These were Peleus and Nilus, Egyptian bishops, also a presbyter, and
Patermuthius, who was well known among them all for his zeal toward all. The
commander of the army demanded of them a denial of religion, and not obtaining
this, he condemned them to death by fire.
There were others there who had been
allotted to dwell in a separate place by
themselves -- such of the confessors as on account of age or mutilations, or
for other bodily infirmities, had been released from service. Silvanus, a
bishop from Gaza, presided over them, and set a worthy and genuine example of Christianity. This man having
from the first day of the persecution, and
throughout its entire continuance, been eminent for his confessions in all
sorts of conflicts, had been kept all that time that he might, so to speak,
set the final seal upon the whole con-flier in Palestine. There were with him
many from Egypt, among whom was John, who surpassed all in our time in the
excellence of his memory. He had formerly been deprived of his sight.
Nevertheless, on account of his eminence in confession he had with the others
suffered the destruction of his foot by cauterization. And although his sight
had been destroyed he was subjected to the same burning with fire, the
executioners aiming after everything that was merciless and pitiless and cruel
and inhuman. Since he was such a man, one would not be so much astonished at
his habits and his philosophic life, nor would he seem so wonderful for them,
as for the strength of his memory. For he had written whole books
of the Divine Scriptures, "not in tables of stone" as the divine apostle
says, neither on skins of animals, nor on paper which moths and time destroy,
but truly "in fleshy tables of the heart," in a transparent soul and most
pure eye of the mind, so that whenever he wished he could repeat, as if from a
treasury of words, any portion of the Scripture, whether in the law, or the
prophets, or the historical books, or the gospels, or the writings of the
apostles.
I confess that I was astonished when I
first saw the man as he was standing in the
midst of a large congregation and repeating portions of the Divine Scripture.
While I only heard his voice, I thought that, according to the custom in the
meetings, he was reading. But when I came near and perceived what he was
doing, and observed all the others standing around him with sound eyes while
he was using only the eyes of his mind, and yet was speaking naturally like
some prophet, and far excelling those who were sound in body, it was
impossible for me not to glorify God and wonder. And I seemed to see in these
deeds evident and strong confirmation of the fact that true manhood consists
not in excellence of bodily appearance, but in the soul and understanding
alone. For he, with his body mutilated, manifested the superior excellence of
the power that was within him.
But as to those whom we have mentioned
as abiding in a separate place, and attending to their customary duties in
fasting and prayer and other exercises, God himself saw fit to give them a
salutary issue by extending his right hand in answer to them. The bitter foe,
as they were armed against him zealously through their prayers to God, could
no longer endure them, and determined to slay and destroy them from off the
earth because they troubled
him. And God permitted him to accomplish
this, that he might not be restrained from
the wickedness he desired, and that at the same time they might receive the
prizes of their manifold conflicts. Therefore at the command of the most
accursed Maximinus, forty, lacking one, were beheaded in one day.
These martyrdoms were accomplished
in Palestine during eight complete years;
and of this description was the persecution in our time. Beginning with the
demolition of the churches, it increased greatly as the rulers rose up from
time to time against us. In these assaults the multiform and various conflicts
of those who wrestled in behalf of religion produced an innumerable multitude
of martyrs in every province -- in the regions extending from Libya and
throughout all Egypt, and Syria, and
from the East round about to the district of Illyricum.
But the countries beyond these, all Italy and Sicily and Gaul, and the
regions toward the setting sun, in Spain, Mauritania, and Africa, suffered the
war of persecution during less than two years, and were deemed worthy of a
speedier divine visitation and peace; the heavenly Providence sparing the
singleness of purpose
and faith of those men. For what had
never before been recorded in the annals of
the Roman government, first took place in our day, contrary to all
expectation; for during the persecution in our time the empire was divided into two parts. The brethren dwelling in the part of which we have just
spoken enjoyed
peace; but those in the other part endured
trials without number. But when the divine
grace kindly and compassionately manifested its care for us too, then truly
our rulers also, those very ones through whom the wars against us had been
formerly carried on, changed their minds in a most wonderful manner, and
published a recantation; and by favorable edicts and mild decrees
concerning us, extinguished the conflagration against us. This recantation
also must be recorded.
Issue Oriented Discussion Newsletter
Index | Search This Site | Aristide.Org | The Latter Rain | Babylon the Great | The Kingdom | The Nicolaitans | Jezebel
The Events which preceded the Persecution in our
The Destruction of the Churches
The Nature of the Conflicts endured in the Persecution
The Famous Martyrs of God, who filled Every Place with their Memory and won Various Crowns in behalf of Religion
Those in Nicomedia
Those in the Palace
The Egyptians in Phoenicia
These in Egypt
Those in Thebais
The Writings of Phileas the Martyr describing the Occurrences at Alexandria
Those in Phrygia
Many Others, both Men and Women, who suffered in Various Ways
The Bishops of the Church that evinced by their Blood the Genuineness of the Religion which they preached
The Character of the Enemies of Religion
The Events which happened to the Heathen
The Change of Affairs for the Better
The Revocation of the Rulers
As One Body
Help To Prepare A Holy Bride!
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