A their bodies by mutilation, or having their other limbs and parts butchered, such as occurred at Alexandria? What need is there to rekindle the memory of those at Antioch, who were roasted on grids of fire—not to finish them off, but for long-drawn-out torment—or of others who threw their right hands into the fire more quickly than they would lay hold of the accursed sacrifice? Some of these, avoiding the trial before being caught and falling into the hands of the conspirators, cast themselves down from high buildings, deeming death a snatching away from the wickedness of the impious. Others at Pontus suffered things that are dreadful to hear: having their fingers pierced from the tips of the nails with sharp reeds, and others, molten lead boiling and glowing being poured over their backs, B and having the most sensitive parts of the body roasted; and through their private members and parts, others endured shameful, pitiless, and unspeakable sufferings. But these were the extremes of the calamities: when finally the governors throughout every province grew weary of the excess of evils, and, exhausted by the slaughter, they turned to what they considered to be their kindness and humanity, they ordered that eyes be gouged out and that one of the legs be maimed. These were indeed their "humanities," and the lightest of their punishments against us, such that, because of this humanity of the impious, it was no longer possible to tell the number of those beyond all count who had their right eyes first gouged out with the sword and scorched with fire, and their left feet again rendered useless by cauterizing the hams, and after this were condemned to the copper mines throughout the provinces, not so much for the usefulness of the labor as for the sake of oppression and torment.
II. Passion of the ten holy martyrs C of Egypt, Marcianus, Nicander, Apollonius, Leonides, Arius, Gorius, Hyperechius, Selleniades, Irene, and Pambo.
Most beautiful, beloved, is the choir that bore witness to God in Egypt, most beautiful and worthy of narration. For men together with women, found to be of one mind, having resolved to serve the Lord and having disciplined their minds and bodies to endure whatsoever might be, were all subjected to one punishment; they journey together, having conquered a noble strife in common with one another, and having bound a brilliant crown about them. For just as the murderers had grown weary, and those who handed them over hesitated, and they loathed from that point on to stone them, the governor of Egypt devised a punishment beyond human contemplation, D taking as his accomplice the position of the place. For just as the sun released a great intensity of fire over the fields, and the position of Egypt is by nature such as to heat up faster than other places, and even more to be set aflame by the turns of the seasons...
eam rem, whom he had proposed to make his own, he brought much assistance. For when the sun itself was burning, and casting a great force of heat across the fields, and the nature of the Egyptian region was such that it heated up more quickly than other places and, beyond all other lands, was ignited by the heat of the sun, the prefect himself built a certain wall in the field, and erected it in such a way that those who wished could not escape from that place. And when he had shut those concordant martyrs inside that wall, he said: "Give your punishment, all of you, since you labor under one and the same madness." He also engaged guards, whom he ordered to ask the martyrs frequently whether they wished to depart from their conviction; and he commanded them to say these things to the martyrs: "Water is available to us, and it is abundant, and the necessary things for sustenance are at hand. If, therefore, you are thirsty or hungry, deny your God and be saved; do this, and we will supply you with necessities." But they, correctly judging that martyrdom itself is the one and true liberty, that one salvation hangs upon the confession of God, and that one life proceeds from this present death, were moved neither by any heat of the burning sun, nor by heavy hunger; and finally, they did not care to relieve their dry thirst, but instead of food they recited psalms, and instead of drink they recounted the praise of God. B
Thus, their faith did not differ from that voice of the Gospel, which voice Jesus returned to the devil in the mountain when he proposed these things, "Say that these stones may become bread." He says, "It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." And in another place he said to the Samaritan woman: "Everyone who drinks from this water will thirst again: but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will not thirst forever; but the water which I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water leaping up into eternal life." In this way those most holy martyrs were nourished; thus, the perseverance in good things provided them with a true drink, and one similar to the fountain toward which they were hastening. This was their exultation; this praise set before them urged them most greatly to attain the pleasure of paradise: for they desired to draw drink from that holy fountain. After these things, when the time was at hand for their souls to hasten to their own places and to their own God, the martyrs themselves, having proclaimed God with many hymns and praises, delivered their most pure souls to God, as was fitting. When this matter was reported to the leader of Egypt, he ordered the wall, built to guard them, to be their tomb: but we, Christian men, let us send up glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and unto the ages of ages. Amen. C