The Martyrs of Palestine

EUSEBIUS: A WRITING CONCERNING THOSE WHO BORE WITNESS IN HIS TIME

^A And these things we have found in one manuscript copy, in the eighth volume. ^B

This was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, the month of Xanthicus, which the Romans call April. As the day of the feast of the Savior’s Passion was approaching, Flavianus was governing the nation of the Palestinians, when letters were suddenly spread abroad everywhere, ordering the churches to be leveled to the ground, the Holy Scriptures to be burned in the fire, those who held positions of honor to be stripped of their rank, and those in domestic service to be deprived of their liberty if they persisted in the profession of the Christian religion. And this was the purport of the first edict issued against us. But not long afterward, other letters were brought. ^C

EUSEBIUS OF CÆSAREA: BOOK OF THE MARTYRS OF PALESTINE

^D Hæc quoque in quodam exemplari reperimus in libro octavo. [These things also we have found in a certain copy in the eighth book.]

Anno imperii Diocletiani nono ac decimo, mense Xanthico quem Romani Aprilem vocant, Flaviano provinciam Palæstinam regente; cum salutaris Passionis dies immineret, repente proposita sunt ubique edicta, quibus imperabatur ecclesias quidem solo æquari, sacros autem codices flammis absumi: et honoratos quidem honoris prærogativa spoliari, plebeios autem et in ministerio constitutos libertate privari, si in Christianæ religionis proposito adhuc permanerent. Et primi quidem adversus nos edicti hujusmodi fuit sententia. Sed non multo post allatæ sunt aliæ litteræ, quibus jubebatur ut ecclesiastici præsides ubique vincti custodirentur, et postea omnimodis tormentis ad sacrificandum cogerentur.

^A Such was a certain power. Not long after, other letters having arrived, order was given that the presidents of the churches everywhere should first be consigned to bonds, and afterwards, by every device, be compelled to sacrifice.

CHAPTER I.

On the martyrs Procopius, Alphaeus, and Zacchaeus.

^B Therefore, of the martyrs of Palestine, the first, Procopius, before he had experienced the peril of prison, immediately upon his first arrival, as they say, at the threshold, having been brought to the governor’s tribunal and bidden to sacrifice to the gods of the gentiles, answered that he knew but one God, to whom it was right to sacrifice with such rites as He himself had ordained. But when he was also ordered to offer libations to the four emperors, having uttered a word ^B [consummatum est, regnante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui honor et gloria in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. Exstant etiam hæc Acta in duobus mss. codicibus bibliothecæ Sancti Germani.]

(5) *Primum martyrum qui sunt in Palæstina, Procopius.* The same is read in the Acts of the Passion of the martyr Procopius, which begin thus: "The first of the martyrs who are in Palestine appeared, Procopius, etc." From which it appears that those Acts were translated from the Greek of Eusebius into the Latin tongue. That this may appear more manifest, it will not be useless to append them here in their entirety. For many things worthy of knowledge are contained in those Acts which it was the lot of neither Baronius nor Molanus to see. We have described them, however, from a most ancient codex of the monastery of Musciacum, which is now in the possession of the most learned man Claudius Joly, canon of the Church of Paris. They have it thus:

THE PASSION OF SAINT PROCOPIUS THE MARTYR, WHO SUFFERED UNDER JUDGE FABIANUS ON THE FOURTH DAY BEFORE THE NONES OF AUGUST.

The first of the martyrs who are in Palestine appeared, Procopius, a man of heavenly grace, who even before his martyrdom so ordered his life that even from early youth he always studied chastity and the virtues of character. He so mortified his body that he might have been thought almost dead, but he so comforted his soul with divine words that he also ministered strength to his body from this refreshment. His food and drink were bread and water. He used only these, although after two days or three, he sometimes returned to food only after the seventh. ^C The meditation of the sacred discourses had so occupied his mind that he remained indefatigable in this, night and day. He offered himself as an example of clemency and meekness, as if he were inferior to others. In the divine words, he had such zeal. Those things, however, which are extrinsic, he had touched upon only moderately. Therefore, he was by birth an Aelian, but by conversation or habitation a Scythopolitan. There he provided three ministries for the Church: one in the office of reader, another in the interpretation of the discourse into Syrian, and the third in overcoming demons by the laying on of hands. And when he had been sent from Scythopolis together with his companions to Caesarea, ^D he is led from the very gates to the governor; and before he could experience the agonies of prison or bonds, at the very moment of his entry he is compelled by the judge Flavianus to sacrifice to the gods. But he invoked with a loud voice and testified that there are not many gods, but one creator and maker of all. The judge, however, struck by the blow of the word and wounded in his conscience, agreed to his discourse. And he prepared other arguments for himself, that he might sacrifice even to the kings. But the holy martyr of God, despising his discourse, said, quoting the verse of Homer: "It is not good that there be many lords. Let there be one lord, one king." Therefore, this word of his being heard, as if one who had uttered something ill-omened concerning the kings, by command of the judge he is led to death, and with his head cut off, the blessed one found the path to heavenly life, or a shortcut, on the seventh day of the month of July, which is called the Nones of July among the Latins, in the first year in which the persecution was directed against us. This first martyrdom in Caesarea was consummated, reigning our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

^A uttering some bad verse of Homer, which was not at all pleasing to them: "It is not good that there be many lords; let there be one lord, One king," he is immediately beheaded on the eighth day of the month of Desius, which is, as the Romans say, the seventh day before the Ides [of June ^B], on the day of the Sabbath. ^C

(9) *On the day of the Sabbath.* That is, literally, the fourth day of the Sabbath or of the week. For the ancient Christians, since they had received the calendar of seven days from the Jews, also named the days of the week from the Sabbath, just as the Jews did. They said, therefore, the first of the Sabbath, the second of the Sabbath, the third of the Sabbath, and so on in order, as Tertullian teaches in his book *De jejuniis*: "Why do you call the fourth and sixth of the Sabbath stations?" Sometimes they also called them *feriae*, as Tertullian witnesses in the same book, where he says: "Therefore, neither of the stations, which also have their own..."

^A fixed times, should be without prayer to God, nor should the fasts be broken."

Martyrs of Caesarea Palestina

Thus, this first martyrdom was carried out at Caesarea in Palestine. After this, in the same city, very many of the rulers of the local churches, having willingly struggled through terrible tortures, exhibited to those who beheld them a history of great contests. Others, however, broken in spirit through cowardice and weakened, collapsed immediately at the first assault. As for the rest, each of them endured different kinds of torments—one being torn by countless lashes, another suffering rackings and scrapings of the ribs, and unendurable fetters, by which it even happened to some that their hands were paralyzed. Yet they all bore what befell them according to the secret judgments of God. ^B For one, while others held his hands and brought him to the altar and threw the wretched and defiled sacrifice onto his right hand, was released as if he had sacrificed; another, though he had not touched it even with the tips of his fingers, was released in silence—others merely affirming that he had sacrificed. This one, seized half-dead and lifted up high, was tossed aside as if dead and released from his chains, being reckoned among those who had sacrificed. Another, crying out and protesting that he did not consent to what was enjoined, was beaten on the mouth and silenced by the many assigned to this task; he was pushed out by force, even though he had not sacrificed. So greatly did they value, among them, the mere appearance of having accomplished what they wished. For this reason, then, of so many, only Alpheus and Zacchaeus ^C were deemed worthy of the crown of the holy martyrs. After lashes and scrapings, after the most bitter fetters and the pains endured in them, and after torments of every kind, and having had their feet stretched on the rack of the torture-wood for twenty-four hours to the fourth point, they confessed the one God and Christ the King and Lord, Jesus. As if they had spoken something impious, they were beheaded in the same manner as the former martyr, Procopius, on the seventeenth day of the month of Dius—which is among the Romans the fifteenth day before the Kalends of December.

CAPUT II. Concerning the Roman martyr.

But also worthy of commemoration, primarily, are matters concerning the days of the week, the fourth and the sixth, etc. ^D It is evident, therefore, why Christians have called the days of the week *feriae*, for *feria* means the same as Sabbath. Just as the Jews, therefore, used to say the first, second, and third of the Sabbath, and so on up to the seventh day, which they called the Sabbath, so the ancient Christians called them the first, second, and third *feria*, changing only one thing—that they did not institute resting on the Sabbath as the Jews did, but on the first day of the Sabbath, which they also called the Lord's Day. This is roughly what Isidore says in his book *De natura rerum*, ch. 5: "Hence the day of the Sun is called the first *feria*, because it is the first from the *feria* [Sabbath]; likewise the day of the Moon is called the second *feria*, because it is the second from the Sabbath," etc. Bede, however, in his book *De ratione temporum*, writes that they are called *feriae* because the clergy would rest every day by the decree of Pope Sylvester. But this opinion cannot be maintained, since days of the week were called *feriae* long before Pope Sylvester, as Tertullian witnesses. Furthermore, not only Christians, but also Gentiles, had accepted the use of the week from the Jews, as Josephus teaches at the end of his book *Against Apion*. But the Gentiles called the days of the week by the names of the seven planets, and these names still remain among most nations, as certain remnants of the ancient error of the Gentiles. Tertullian in his book *Ad nationes*: "You are certainly those who have even adopted the Sun into the register of the seven days." And a little later: "Even you yourselves, deviating from your own customs, have turned to foreign religions." For the Jews have their feasts, Sabbaths, etc.

^A which happened at Antioch on the same day. For this man was a Palestinian by birth, a deacon 13 and an exorcist 14 of the diocese of Caesarea. At the very moment when the churches were being destroyed, he entered Antioch, and seeing innumerous men together with women and children 15 flocking to the temples of the gods and offering sacrifices, he reckoned the sight to be insufferable. Driven by zeal for divine worship, he approached them and rebuked them in a loud voice. Because of the boldness of this act, he was immediately seized, and he proved himself a most noble witness of the truth, if ever any other did. For when the judge had sentenced him to death by fire, he received the verdict with a joyful face and with a most willing disposition, and was led away. Then he was bound to the stake, and as the wood was heaped up on it, and as the ministers who were to kindle the fire waited for the king’s 16 command—

(12) Concerning Romanus: The Greeks indeed distinguish between two martyrs named Romanus: one who was condemned by the prefect Asclepiades at Antioch under Galerius; the other, the Caesarean deacon of whom Eusebius speaks here, who is said to have suffered under Diocletian. But since they admit that both suffered on one and the same day, and that both underwent the same kind of martyrdom (for both affirm that his tongue was cut out, that both spoke after the cutting of the tongue, and both agree that he was finally strangled in prison), who does not see that it is in vain that these two Romanuses are distinguished? I am surprised, however, that this opinion found favor with Baronius in his notes to the Martyrology. Certainly, if there were two Roman martyrs of the same name, and if both suffered martyrdom at Antioch on the same day, why did Eusebius mention only one in this place? Perhaps someone will say that Eusebius intended this book to speak only of the martyrs of Palestine, and therefore mentioned only the Roman deacon, since he was a Palestinian. But Eusebius has mentioned this martyr elsewhere as well: in the second book of his *On the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ*, where he describes the martyrdom of Romanus eloquently and rhetorically in these words: "In that city of the Antiochians, a certain Romanus existed as a martyr," etc. You see here also that only one Romanus is acknowledged by Eusebius, who endured martyrdom at Antioch.

(13) Deacon. Among the ancient Christians, especially in smaller towns, when the number of clergy was small, one and the same cleric performed the duty of two or three. Hence it is that in the Acts of Procopius the martyr, which I mentioned above, Procopius is said to have performed three offices at once in the Church of Scythopolis: namely, those of reader, interpreter, and exorcist. In the same way, therefore, Romanus performed the roles of deacon and exorcist in the Caesarean Church. The ancient author of the *Questions on the Old and New Testament*, chap. 101, speaks of this custom in these words: "Although the deacons of the Roman Church seem somewhat arrogant, they do not presume to the dignity of sitting in the Church; but the multitude of clergy causes it that they do not perform all the ministries of service in order. For in any case they would carry the altar and its vessels, and pour water onto the hands of the priest, as we see in all the churches." And a little later: "For the higher order contains within itself and under itself a lower one. For the presbyter also performs the office of deacon, and of exorcist, and of reader."

(14) Exorcist. The exorcist was formerly used in the Church for two purposes: they were employed both to cleanse the demon-possessed and for the catechumens. And catechumens were not only exhorted and exorcised once, but after each catechesis, they were led to the exorcist ungirded and barefoot, ^D so that they might be cleansed by him. Cyril of Jerusalem in the *Procatechesis to the Illuminandi*: "Receive the exorcisms with eagerness, even if you are breathed upon [i.e., exorcised], etc." Chrysostom in his first homily to the *Illuminandi*, in volume 1, writes thus about this custom: "And why, after the instruction from us, do they lead you unbelted and barefoot, and send you out with only a tunic to the voices of those who exorcise?"

(15) Together with women and children. That there were many who had denied Christ, Eusebius shows in his second sermon *On the Resurrection*, in these words: "In that city of the Antiochians, a certain Romanus existed as a martyr. This stranger had arrived there. But when he saw the city then deserted because of the storms (for he had found that many soldiers had already fallen from the Church), he did not allow the devil to exult. But he attacked the exulting judge regarding those who had been defeated, using force, and having taken the kingdom he says: 'You shall not depart happy. For God has soldiers who cannot be defeated.'" But the judge, drunk on the victory over those who had been defeated, estimating the saint’s constancy by their weakness, orders him to be brought in. For it was not fitting for the Lord Jesus to depart without a conqueror. Bringing him in, he employed all torments; and as many for the one who was winning as for all those who had been defeated. Struggling so that his victory would not be undone by this one's victory, and reckoning to himself that in athletic contests the end of those running is sought, and that if this man wins, it will not be as those who were defeated were; he orders all torments to be applied to him. For wishing to bend the young man, he tortured him with his eyes, and threatened him with his teeth, and with the hands of the torturers he extended his own hands, and from his very anger he was even moved from his seat, etc." I have adduced these things here because our Eusebius, in his book which is *On the Martyrs of Palestine*, said nothing about the torments inflicted upon Romanus.

(16) On the king's command. I think Galerius is to be understood, for Diocletian was indeed staying in Nicomedia; but the Caesars, as assistants and ministers, were traversing the border. Certainly in this year in which the persecution began, in the month of April, Diocletian was staying in Nicomedia with Galerius, as Eusebius testifies in his eighth book. But also some time after the persecution began, when the Nicomedian palace was struck from heaven and burned, Diocletian was staying there, as Constantine teaches in his *Oration to the Assembly of the Saints*. Therefore he could not have been present at Antioch when Romanus was condemned to the punishment of fire. For that happened around the beginning of the persecution. Indeed, Romanus was killed on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of December, having been detained in prison for several months, as Eusebius testifies.

^A And so, "Where is my fire?" he cried (17). Saying these things, he was summoned before the emperor to be punished by a new kind of torture, namely, the excision of his tongue. Having endured this punishment most bravely, he demonstrated in very truth to all that for those who sustain any torture whatsoever for the sake of piety, divine power is always present, which both diminishes their pains and strengthens their spirits. Having learned of this innovation in punishment, the courageous man, not at all terrified, willingly thrust out his tongue, offering it most readily to the executioners to be cut off. After this punishment, he was thrust into prison and, having been tortured there for a very long time, at last, when the emperor's twentieth anniversary ^B of his reign arrived (20), in accordance with the customary gift (21) of liberty proclaimed everywhere for all who were held in custody, he alone, with both his feet stretched apart by five degrees, lying in this

way on the rack, with his sinews broken and his throat constricted by the noose, was adorned with martyrdom just as he had desired. And he indeed, as a Palestinian, deserves to be numbered among the Palestinian martyrs, even though he suffered outside his homeland. These events took place in this manner in the first year, when the cruelty of the persecutors raged only against the leaders of the ^A Churches.

Chapter III. On Timothy, Agapius, Thecla, and eight other martyrs.

^B When the second year had passed, and the fury of the persecution against us had burned more vehemently, with Urbanus at that time governing the province, imperial letters were first sent, by which it was commanded through a general edict that all persons in every place and nation should offer sacrifices and libations to idols in public. At that time, Timotheus, having endured countless tortures at the city of Gaza in Palestine, and having finally been consumed by a thin and slow fire, provided a most genuine proof of his most sincere piety toward the Divine through his endurance in all things, and carried off the crown of the champions ^C of piety. Together with him, Agapius and our Thecla (22), having displayed most noble steadfastness, were condemned to be food for the beasts. But who, seeing what followed these things, or hearing of them, was not struck with amazement? For when the Gentiles were conducting a public festival and the customary spectacles, along with the other things they were eager for (25), there was much talk among all that those Christians who had recently been condemned would also fight with beasts. And as the report of this matter spread everywhere among all, six young men, one of whom was a native of Pontus, Timolaus by name; ^D another was from the city of Tripoli in Phoenicia, by name Dionysius; a third of them, a subdeacon of the church in Diospolis, was called Romulus; and in addition to these, two Egyptians, Pausis (24) and Alexander; and another of the same name as the latter, Alexander, a native of Gaza—these, I say, having first bound their own hands, so as to signify their exceeding eagerness for martyrdom, ran swiftly and approached Urbanus, who was at that time on his way to the amphitheater, confessing themselves to be Christians, and by their demeanor in the face of all dangers, showing that they did not even fear the assaults of the beasts, as they boasted in their piety toward the God of all.

^A And immediately, having struck not only the governor but also those standing by with no small astonishment, they were committed to prison. A few days later, two others being added to them—one who had already some time before struggled through many varied and severe tortures for other confessions (Agapius was his name), and the other who had been ministering to their bodily needs (his name was Dionysius)—the eight of them together were, on a single day, beheaded again in Caesarea itself, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of Dystrus, which also happened to be the ninth day before the Kalends of April. ^B At this time, a certain change took place among the rulers, the one who was supreme over all, and the second after him, laying aside the imperial state to assume private life, and the affairs of state began to fare ill. A little later, the Roman empire having been rent asunder, an implacable war arose among them; nor did the state of discord and the tumults that followed it find resolution until peace for us was dispensed throughout the whole world under Roman rule. For as soon as this peace shone upon all like a light after the gloom of a dark and shadowy night, then the common affairs of the Roman empire were once again stable, friendly, and peaceful, recovering the mutual goodwill they had received from their ancestors. But we shall give a fuller account of these matters in the proper place and time; for now, let us proceed to the sequence of the following events.

CHAPTER IV.

Of Apphianus the martyr.

^C Maximinus Caesar, from that time having succeeded to the empire, as if wishing to display to all the signs of the innate hatred of God and impiety within him, set himself to the persecution of our people more violently than the former princes. Since, therefore, all were being gravely troubled and were scattering this way and that, and everyone was struggling with all their might to escape the danger, and a great tumult had occupied all the provinces, what speech could ever suffice for us to give a worthy account of the divine love’s ardor and the confession full of confidence of the blessed—

I mean the martyr Apphianus, the truly innocent lamb, who was set forth before the gates as a wonderful example of piety toward the one God for all those at Cæsarea to behold? He was not even twenty years of age. First, on account of secular Greek education—for he happened to be one of those who are flooded with worldly wealth—he had spent most of his time in Berytus; and it is a marvel to say that, although in such a city he was above the desires of youth, ^A nor was he corrupted in his character by the bloom of his body or by the company of the young; rather, he embraced modesty, leading his life honestly, soberly, and piously, according to the rule of Christianity, and guiding his own life.

If it is necessary, then, to mention his homeland and to adorn it because of the noble athlete of piety who came forth from it, we shall rightly do so. If anyone knows the city of the Lycians called Pagæ, no obscure city, it is from there that the young man came. After returning from his education in Berytus, while his father held the chief position in his homeland, he could not bear life with his father and those related to him by birth, because it did not seem to him that they were living according to the laws of piety. Seized by a divine spirit, as it were, and by a kind of natural—or rather, truly divine—philosophy, he looked down upon the glory of life that is so esteemed, and, having despised the pleasures of the body, he secretly fled from his home. ^B Being not even anxious about the expenses necessary for his daily sustenance, because of the hope and faith he had placed in God, he was led by the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the city of Cæsarea, where the crown of martyrdom for his piety awaited him.

Having come to us, and having gathered for himself, as much as possible in that very brief time, the fruits from reading the Holy Scriptures, and having strengthened himself by appropriate exercises of stricter abstinence, he eventually became manifest by such an exit, which whoever... ^C

has seen, how could he not be struck with amazement? And whoever has heard of it, would he not justly admire his boldness, his frankness, his steadfastness, and before all these, his daring and the very enterprise itself, which clearly provided proofs of divine zeal and of the Spirit—truly beyond human measure? 33 For when the second uprising against us arose under Maximinus, in the third year of the persecution in our time, and the tyrant's edicts had first been circulated, by which the governors in every city were ordered to take pains to ensure that all inhabitants, without exception, should sacrifice to the gods, and heralds were calling out all the heads of families throughout the entire city of Caesarea to the temples of the demons by order of the governor, and in addition, the military tribunes were calling each one by name from a list; while Christians everywhere were being shaken by an inexplicable storm of evils, the one we have mentioned above, having communicated his plan to no one—secretly from us who lived in the same house, and secretly from the entire cohort of soldiers who stood around the ^B governor—boldly approached Urbanus, who at that very moment happened to be offering libations. With a confident spirit, he seized his right hand and immediately compelled him to cease the sacrifice. Then, like a very prudent monitor, with a certain divine gravity, he began to exhort him to desist from his error. For he urged that it was absurd for men, having neglected the one and only true God, to perform sacred rites to idols and demons. And this, as is likely, the brave youth was doing through a certain divine power which had impelled him to this, as if crying out and proclaiming through this deed to all, that Christians—at least those who were truly worthy of that name—were so far from being ever led away from the worship of the Divine Being which they had once embraced, that they were even superior to threats and the tortures that usually follow threats, so that they spoke all the more freely thereafter and proclaimed the truth with a noble and fearless voice, and even exhorted their own persecutors, if it were possible, to cast aside the error of impiety and to acknowledge Him who alone is God. After these things, the aforementioned youth, as was to be expected in the presence of such a daring deed, was torn by the soldiers who served the governor as if by wild ^C beasts, and having most bravely endured countless blows over his whole body, he was cast into prison. There, having remained for the space of a day and a night with his feet stretched in the stocks, on the following day he was led to judgment. Compelled then by the judge to sacrifice to the gods, he demonstrated a constancy of soul invincible against hardships and however horrible the pains; his sides were torn, not once or twice, but many times until his bones and even his inward parts were laid bare, ^D as he provided proofs.

[...] in the sacred letters by the great martyr Pamphilus, he attained a habit of no common virtue, from which he opened for himself the entrance to the palm of martyrdom. Yet Eusebius testifies that Apphianus was not instructed in the sacred letters by the martyr Pamphilus, but by himself. And I believe this to be truer. For our Eusebius was far more learned than Pamphilus. However, the Greek Menaea and the Menologium edited by Canisius agree with Symeon Metaphrastes, except that the Metaphrast writes that Apphianus, after his return from his studies at Berytus, when he had come to Caesarea, was there instructed by Pamphilus. But in the Menaea and in the Menologium, the same Apphianus is said to have been instructed by Pamphilus at Berytus with his brother Aedesius, with no mention made of Eusebius. So anxiously did the later Greeks take care lest the most blessed martyr should be said to have been instructed by Eusebius of Pamphilus, whom they persuaded themselves was a heretic.

(33) [i]providing proofs.[/i] With disjointed words. For it refers to the word that preceded.

^A And receiving so many blows to his face and neck that, even to those who had known him well and clearly for a long time, his face was so swollen that he could no longer be recognized. But since he did not yield even to such things, the torturers wrapped his feet in linen soaked in oil and set them on fire; the pains he endured from this exceed, I think, all description. The fire reached his flesh, melting it down to the bones, so that like wax it flowed and dripped, the moisture of his body being consumed. But he, not yielding even to these things, while his adversaries were already overcome and almost despairing at his superhuman endurance, was again cast into bonds. And after three days, being brought again before the judge and professing the same steadfastness, although he was already half-dead, he was committed to the deep of the sea. ^B Now, the things that immediately followed may perhaps, if I relate them, seem incredible to those who were not present to see them, but for us, even though we know this as a fact, the story does not allow us not to entrust it completely to record, for all the inhabitants of Caesarea were, so to speak, witnesses of what happened. No age was absent from the sight of this extraordinary event. For just when it seemed most certain that they had cast that truly holy and thrice-blessed man into the infinite depths of the middle of the sea, a sudden and uncommon churning and agitation disturbed the sea itself and everything around it ^C, so that the earth and the whole city were shaken by what occurred. And together with this wondrous and sudden earthquake, the sea, as if unable to bear the dead body of the divine martyr, cast him out before the gates of the city. And such were the things that happened to the inspired Apphianus, completed on the second day of the month of Xanthicus, which corresponds to the fourth day before the Nones of April, on a Friday.

CHAPTER V. Of the martyrs Ulpianus and Ædesius

At the same time, and in the same days, in the city of the Tyrians, a young man named Ulpianus, after severe ^D tortures and the cruelest scourging, was sewn into a raw skin of an ox along with a dog and an asp, a venomous reptile, and cast into the sea. Therefore, it seems to me that it is fitting that he should be mentioned by us in these records of Apphianus. A brother to Apphianus by a little time later, one who was not only his brother according to God, but also his brother in the flesh...

[index: entries preserved]

Aedesius, after enduring countless confessions, long-drawn-out sufferings from chains, and the sentences of governors by which he had been condemned to the mines of Palestine, and furthermore after having spent his life in a philosophical manner, wearing the philosopher's cloak—for indeed he had acquired learning beyond his brother, and had also set out from the teachings of philosophers—at length, while in the city of Alexandria, he saw the judge there sitting in judgment upon Christians, and behaving with excessive insolence, at one time visiting grave men with various insults, and at other times handing over women of the highest modesty and ^A consecrated virgins to be abused by panders for every sort of baseness. He, undertaking the same thing as his brother because it seemed to him that what was happening was intolerable, approached with a bold spirit and covered the judge with shame and ^B indignity by his words and deeds. And after this, having endured with great fortitude the varied torments of his tortures, he was cast into the sea and finished his life, suffering the same manner of death as his brother. And these things, as I said, occurred in this way a little later.

CHAPTER VI. Of Agapius the martyr.

In the fourth year of the persecution stirred up against us, on the twentieth day of the month of Dius—which would be the twelfth day before the Kalends of December—on a Friday, in that same city of Caesarea, a martyrdom ^C truly worthy of being written down was accomplished in the presence of the tyrant Maximinus himself, who was exhibiting shows for the multitudes on the day called his birthday. Since it was an old custom that, when emperors were present, magnificent shows should offer greater pleasure than usual to the spectators, they had collected new and strange wonders from all sides; some were animals brought into the amphitheatre from India, or Ethiopia, or elsewhere, or human beings who ^D

^A exhibited stupendous displays of their skill, delighting the spectators with a wonderful pleasure; at that time too, since the emperor himself was providing the spectacles, it was altogether fitting that something more magnificent and more admirable than usual should be present in the arrangement of the games. And what, indeed, was that? A martyr of our faith was brought into the midst, to contend for the one and true piety. This was Agapius ^B, the second, who has been mentioned a little earlier as having been condemned to the beasts along with Thecla. This man, already having been led forth from prison three times before, and having been paraded in the stadium many times along with evildoers—the judge, after various threats, repeatedly putting him off to other contests, whether because he felt pity for him or because he hoped he might be led away from his purpose—was, at that time, finally produced while the emperor was present: as though he had been reserved for that time on purpose, so that in him that saving word, which the Savior had foretold to his disciples by divine foreknowledge—that they would be brought before kings for the sake of confession of his name—might be fulfilled. ^C He is brought, therefore, into the center of the stadium along with a certain evildoer. They said that this man was charged with the murder of his master. Then, the murderer of his master, having been thrown to the beasts, was deemed worthy of pardon and humanity, much like that Barabbas at the time of our Savior. On this account, the whole amphitheatre began to resound with acclamations and praises, because, forsooth, the emperor had most kindly saved the bloody homicide and had gifted him with honor and liberty. But the athlete of piety was summoned first by the tyrant; then, when he was asked to deny his purpose in return for the promise of liberty, he proclaimed with a loud voice that he would willingly and with joy endure whatever sufferings might be inflicted upon him, not because of any base cause, but for the piety toward the Creator of all. And having said this, he joined action with his word; he ran straight to the bear that had been released against him, and most gladly offered himself to the beast to be devoured. After being mangled by it, he was carried back to the prison while still breathing. Having survived there for the space of one day, on the following day stones were attached to his feet, and he was drowned in the middle of the sea. Such was the martyrdom of Agapius.

Chapter VII. On the virgin Theodosia, and on the martyrs Domninus and Auxentius.

^D When the fifth year of the persecution had already rolled on, on the second day of the month of Xanthicus—which is before the [nones of April, on that same Sunday which was our Savior's resurrection—]

^A — again at Caesarea, Theodosia, a virgin from the city of Tyre, a faithful and grave maiden not yet eighteen years old, approached some prisoners who were making a free confession of the kingdom of Christ and were sitting before the praetorium. She approached them partly to greet them, and, as is credible, to ask them that when they reached God they would be mindful of her. When she had done this, as if she had committed some impious and wicked crime, she was seized by the soldiers and led to the governor. He, being at once insane and incited by a certain beastly impetuosity of rage, after having tortured her with bitter and horrible torments, and having ravaged her sides and breasts down to the very bones with iron claws, ordered her, still breathing and bearing all things with a joyful and cheerful face, to be cast into the sea waves. ^B Thereupon, turning to the remaining confessors of Christ, he condemned them all to the copper mines which are at Phaeno in Palestine. After these things, on the fifth of the month of Dius — which the Romans call the Nones of November — in the same city of Caesarea, Silvanus, who was even then a presbyter and confessor, but who shortly after was raised to the honor of the episcopate and finished his martyrdom, and certain others of his companions, since they had shown a singular constancy for the true piety, were condemned by the same governor whom I have mentioned to labor in the same mines; and it was decreed that the joints of their feet should first be disabled by a red-hot iron, and then they were delivered over. At the same moment of time in which he passed sentence against these, he ordered a certain man, ennobled by countless other confessions, Domninus by name, who was most well known to all the Palestinians for his singular freedom of speech, to be burned alive. ^C After these things the same judge, an excellent artificer in devising evils, and one who had invented certain new kinds of traps and frauds to storm the doctrine of Christ, devised punishments unheard of before against the worshipers of God. He compelled three indeed to fight among themselves in pugilistic combat, but a certain holy and venerable old man, named Auxentius, he threw to the beasts. Others, however, now adults and having entered their prime, after having had their testicles cut out, he condemned to the same mines. Others again, after most bitter torments, he cast into prison. Among whom was also Pamphilus, of all my companions by far the dearest to me; who, above all the martyrs of our age, on account of his surpassing virtue, obtained singular praise and glory. And first indeed Urbanus, when he had tested his skill as well in the art of discourse as in philosophy, and later had compelled him to sacrifice, as he refused and did not even deign to notice his threats in his speech, becoming enraged to the last degree, ^D ordered him to be tormented with more violent tortures. And indeed, as to the things concerning [the ravaging of] his sides...

the most ferocious man seemed almost to satiate himself with them, yet he gained nothing but shame for all his actions, and he added him to the confessors who were in prison. As to what retribution he will receive before the divine tribunal for his cruelty against the saints, having so abused the martyrs of Christ, it is easy to judge from the preliminaries here, through which divine justice quickly and ^B before long overtook him while he was still holding office. It suddenly stripped him—who just yesterday had been judging from a high tribunal, surrounded by a bodyguard of soldiers, governing the whole nation of the Palestinians, and living as a most intimate comrade and table-companion to the tyrant himself—of all these dignities in the space of a single night, and exposing him, stripped of his honors, poured upon him contempt and shame before those who had previously revered him as their governor. It displayed him to the entire nation he had ruled as a cowardly and unmanly person, uttering womanly cries and supplications; and it established Maximinus himself—in whom he then took such pride as a champion, as one who uniquely cherished him on account of the deeds he dared against us—as his own harsh and most cruel judge in the city of Caesarea itself, so that he even passed the sentence of death upon him, after a great deal of shame for the crimes of which he was convicted. ^C But let this be said by us as a side note: there will be a suitable time when our account will, at leisure, relate the ends and the final catastrophes of the lives of those impious men who most especially campaigned against us, of Maximinus himself, and of those around him.

Chapter VIII. On other confessors and the martyrdom of Valentina and Paul.

^D As the storm of persecution against us blew persistently into its sixth year, there had already been in the place in the Thebaid which is named from the famous porphyry stone produced there, a very great multitude of those who confessed the fear of God. From among these, one hundred men less three, together with women and young children, were sent to the governor of Palestine. Since they confessed God the creator of all and Christ, the tendons of their left feet were cut through with hot irons, and again, their right eyes were first gouged out [E] with swords along with the pupils, and then completely destroyed at their roots by fire through the use of cauterizing irons. Firmilianus, who was the governor there, [index: entries preserved]

^A acting by mandate of the imperial authority, ordered them to be handed over to the mines of the province of Palestine, to be exhausted there by labor and suffering. Nor did we see only these persons undergo such punishments; but also those of the Palestinians whom we mentioned a little earlier as having been condemned to the pugilistic contests, because they would neither accept the rations from the emperor's treasury nor submit to being trained through the exercises customary for pugilists. For this reason, not only were they brought before the procurators but also before Maximinus himself; and having demonstrated their invincible constancy in the confession of Christ through perseverance in hunger and the endurance of whips, they suffered the same things as those we have described, with other confessors added to them in the city of Caesarea itself.

Following these, certain others who had been captured near Gaza while they were gathered to hear readings from the Holy Scripture: some underwent the same mutilations of the eyes and feet as those mentioned above; others suffered even greater and more terrible tortures upon their sides. Among them was one who, having a woman's body but a manly spirit, and not bearing the threat of defilement ^B, cast an insult at the tyrant for having entrusted the governance of the provinces to such cruel judges. First she was beaten with whips, then she was suspended high upon the rack and had her sides torn with claws.

When the ministers appointed for this task were pressing on with all persistence and the full strength of their limbs to torture her by order of the judge, another woman—who had embraced the resolve of virginity just as the former had—though she was very lowly in appearance and contemptible to the eye, was nonetheless endowed with a brave soul and a mind higher than her sex suggested, and was far superior to those pugilists among the Greeks who are celebrated by the mouths of all for their freedom of speech. Unable to bear such atrocity and inhumanity, she began to cry out from the middle of the crowd against the judge: "How long, then, will you so cruelly ^C torture my sister?"

At this word, he was provoked and ordered the woman to be seized suddenly. Dragged therefore into the midst, and having identified herself by the august name of our Savior, she was first solicited with softer words to be willing to sacrifice. But when she refused this, she was dragged by force to the altar. Then indeed, like her precursor, and without relaxing her former zeal in the least, she stepped upon the altar with a firm and confident foot and overturned it, along with the pyre that had been placed upon it. ^D Because of this, the judge, becoming heated in his anger like a wild beast, inflicted upon her so many torments upon her sides—such as no one ever before experienced—that he was almost sated with her flesh.

driven by the madness of a certain beast, ^A he ordered her sides first to be mangled with as many and as great blows of the claws as had never been used before, so that he seemed as if he wished to be sated with her raw flesh. But when satiety of his wickedness took hold of him, joining both together, he ordered this very one, along with her whom she had called her sister, to be consumed by flames. The former of these was said to have come from the region of the Gazaeans, but the latter, Valentina by name, known well to many, had Caesarea as her homeland. ^B And the martyrdom that followed immediately after, with which the most blessed Paul was adorned—in what way could I ever explain it as it deserves? For since he had been condemned to capital punishment at the same moment of time and by the same sentence as those virgins, as the time of his consummation was imminent, he begged of the executioner, who was about to strike off his head, that a brief space of time be granted to him. Having obtained this, in a clear and resonant voice, he first poured out prayers to God on behalf of the whole Christian people, beseeching that He might be reconciled to them, and that peace and security might be restored to them as soon as possible. Then he supplicated for the Jews, that they might come to God by being converted through faith in Christ. Proceeding then in order, he entreated the same for the Samaritans. After these things, he prayed to God on behalf of the Gentiles, who were held fast by the error of their minds and blinded by ignorance, that they might finally arrive at the knowledge of Him and embrace the true religion; nor did he leave the promiscuous crowd standing by uncared for. After all of them—oh, the truly extraordinary and inexplicable mildness of spirit!—he implored God Almighty, in the hearing of that judge himself and of all who were present, that the crime which they were committing against him might not be imputed to them, and he prayed for the judge himself, by whom he had been condemned to capital punishment, for the emperors, and even for the executioner himself, who was about to strike off his neck at that very moment. Having prayed these things and others like them in a loud voice, and having moved almost everyone to pity and tears as if he were being ^C unjustly put to death, he nevertheless composed himself, and presenting his neck bare to the stroke of the sword, he was adorned with a divine martyrdom on the twenty-fifth day of the month of Panemus, which might be called the eighth day before the Kalends of August. And such was the end of those martyrs. Not long after, again from the land of the Egyptians, one hundred and thirty athletes, noble in their confession of the Christian faith, having already suffered in Egypt the same mutilations of their eyes and feet as those mentioned before, were, by the order of the Emperor Maximinus, condemned and led away, some to the mines of Palestine, others to those in the province of Cilicia. ^D

CHAPTER IX. Concerning the renewed and more intense persecution; and concerning Antoninus, Zebinus, Germanus, and other martyrs.

But after so many noble exploits of the martyrs of Christ, when the conflagration of persecution had begun to abate and was, as it were, extinguished by their sacred blood; and when peace and liberty had already been granted to those who were being afflicted for Christ's sake in the mines of the Thebaid, and we were about to draw breath for a little while in a pure atmosphere, I know not by what impulse ^A or through what agitation he who had acquired the power of persecuting was again inflamed from the beginning against the Christians.

Suddenly, edicts of Maximinus were sent in all directions against the Christians throughout every province. At the same time the governors, and even he who had been commissioned to command the armies, by means of public notices, letters, and imperial decrees, urged the curators of the cities, the magistrates, and the tabularii to carry out the Emperor's command, by which it was ordered that the shrines of the idols, which had fallen into decay through age, should be restored with all care and zeal; and that all persons, men as well as women, together with their servants and even their infants, should be forced to sacrifice and pour libations to the immortal gods, and to eat of the flesh of the offerings; and that all provisions sold in the market should be defiled by the libations of the sacrifices; and that guards should be stationed, as though in ambush, before the public baths, so that those bathing there might ^B be defiled by the accursed sacrifices while cleansing the filth of their bodies.

While these things were being carried out—our people, as may be imagined, being overwhelmed with great anguish, and even the Gentiles themselves, who were aliens to our faith, disapproving of the severity and excess of such atrocities (for these things seemed to them full of importunity and loathsomeness)—and when a most grievous tempest was impending over all men everywhere, again the divine power and might of our Saviour inspired His athletes with such confidence of soul that, without anyone urging or dragging them, they themselves of their own accord trampled upon the threats of so many adversaries.

Three, therefore, from the number of the faithful, as if in a united band, rushed upon the governor who was at that moment sacrificing to idols, shouting for him to desist from his error; for they maintained there was no other God except the Maker and Creator of all. Being asked who they were, they boldly confessed themselves to be Christians. ^C Upon which, Firmilianus, being more than usually provoked, and without even deigning to torture them, passed on to ^D instantaneous execution. One of these was a presbyter, Antoninus by name...

^A, ^B; another was called Zebinas, who hailed from Eleutheropolis; third was he who went by the name of Germanus. These events took place on the thirteenth day of the month of Dius, which is the Ides of November. On this same day, there was added to their number a certain woman from Scythopolis, Ennathas by name, who was likewise adorned with the crown of virginity. She had not indeed performed the same exploit as the others, but had been dragged and brought before the judge by force. After the lash and the terrible outrages that he inflicted upon her, and even without the authorization of the higher power, a certain tribune from the neighborhood, Maxys by name—a man worse than his designation, vile in other respects, of an excessively arrogant character, and in every way truly a cruel man, and maligned by all who knew him—this man, having stripped the blessed virgin of all her clothing, so that she was covered only from the loins down to her very feet, while the rest of her body was bare, took it upon himself to lead her in a circuit through the entire city of Caesarea, and to beat her with leathern thongs ^C as she was dragged through all the markets. And after so many lashes, I say, when she had even before the judge’s tribunal brought forth a great display of steadfast confidence, the judge ordered her to be burned alive. In this, he extended his inhumanity and his frenzy against the worshippers of God beyond the laws of nature, for he did not fear to deprive the corpses of those holy men of burial. He issued orders that, day and night, their remains be kept out in the open as fodder for the beasts. And it was possible to see, for many days, no small...

multitude of men watching ^A to ensure that the corpses were not stolen, obeying this savage and barbarous intent. They watched from a distance as if it were a matter of great importance, preventing anyone from taking the bodies, while wild beasts, dogs, and carnivorous birds tore human limbs to and fro. The entire city round about was strewn with entrails and human bones, such that never before had anything more cruel or more horrible appeared—even to those who were previously hostile toward us. Everyone bemoaned not so much the calamity of those against whom these things were being done, but the insult to their own nature and the nature common to all. For near the very gates of the city there was set out a spectacle that surpassed all power of description and all tragedy, with human flesh being devoured not in one place, but scattered everywhere in every direction. Some even affirmed that they had seen limbs and fragments of flesh and viscera inside the gates.

While these things were continuing for many days, a miracle of this kind occurred. The air was pure and clear, and the condition of the entire sky was most serene. ^B Suddenly, the greater part of the columns that supported the public porticoes of the city began to drip, as it were, with certain drops of tears; and the marketplaces and squares, though no dew had fallen from the air, were wetted and dampened by water from I know not where. So much so that it was commonly rumored that the earth, in a wondrous and inexplicable way, had shed tears because it could not bear the impiety of what was being perpetrated; and that, to convince the unyielding and barbaric minds of men, the very stones and inanimate matter had groaned at what was happening. I do not doubt that those who come after us will consider what I have said to be mere trifles and fables, but not so those to whom the witness of the present time has confirmed the truth of the event. ^C

CHAPTER X. Of the monk Peter, Asclepius the Marcionite, and other martyrs.

In the following month, which we call Apellaeus, on the fourteenth day—which is the nineteenth day before the Kalends of January—again some Egyptians who had set out from their homeland to minister to the confessors established in Cilicia were seized by those posted at the gates of the city to scrutinize all who passed through. Part of them were condemned to the same punishment as those to whom they had come to minister, being deprived of the use of their eyes and feet. Three others of them, in the city of Ascalon where they were held captive, after they had shown ^D wondrous strength of spirit, met a different end to their martyrdom. For one of them, Ares by name, was consumed by flames; the others, Probos and Elias, were beheaded.

On the eleventh day of the month of Audynaeus, which is to say, as the Romans would say, on the third day before the Ides of January, Peter an ascetic, who was also called Apselamus, born from the village of Anea in the territory of Eleutheropolis, like the purest gold tested by fire, gave proof of his faith in the Christ of God with a noble mind. He despised both the judge himself and all those who stood with him—who were repeatedly urging him to have pity on himself and to consider his own age and youth—and he preferred above all things, and above life itself, the hope which he had placed in God, the creator of all. With him, a certain Asclepius, who was reputed to be a bishop of the Marcionite sect, joined in the same fire to depart this life, prompted by a zeal, as he thought, for piety, though not the piety that is according to knowledge. But these things happened in this way. ^{A B C}

CHAPTER XI

Of Pamphilus and the other twelve martyrs.

Now the time calls for us to relate that great and celebrated spectacle of those who were perfected with Pamphilus—whose name is to me truly most desirable. There were twelve of them.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS PAMPHILUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, FROM SIMEON METAPHRASTES

The time invites us to recount the great and glorious spectacle of Pamphilus and his companions—admirable men who were perfected with him and who showed manifold contests of piety. And since very many in the persecution known to us conducted themselves bravely, we have written down the most rare contest of those of whom we speak; a contest which in itself comprised every manner of age, and of bodily state, and of diversity of life’s pursuits; adorned with various kinds of torments and different crowns in their perfect martyrdom. For it was permitted to see some who were adolescents and boys, and even indeed infants among those who were with them, and others who were young men, with whom was also Porphyrius: vigorous both in body and in prudence, indeed my own most dear master—for it is not right for me to call the divine and truly most blessed Pamphilus otherwise. For he had attained in no small measure to the erudition that is had in admiration among the Greeks; and in the learning of divine dogmas and of the divinely inspired Scriptures, if one may speak somewhat boldly, yet it must be said, he was so exercised that no one among those who were in his own time was his equal. But what was in these things far greater and more excellent, he possessed a gift; namely, an intelligence and wisdom born at home, or rather given to him by God. And as concerns the spirit, they all carried themselves in such a way. But there was a very great difference among them in the condition of life and manner of living: for Pamphilus traced his lineage according to the flesh from those born in an honorable status; and he had been distinguished in the administration of public affairs in his fatherland; Seleucus indeed had been notably adorned with the dignities of military service; others were born from a mediocre and common status. Their chorus was not even without servile condition. For even from the house of the presiding governor, Theodulus had been brought into their number, and Porphyrius, who in appearance indeed was the slave of Pamphilus, but he held him in his affection in the place of a brother, or rather a true son, as one who would omit nothing so that he might imitate his master. What else? If anyone should say in summary that they comprised a pattern of the ecclesiastical assembly, he will not be far from the truth, for among them Pamphilus had been honored with the presbyterate; Valens with the diaconate; and others had been allotted the place of those who are accustomed to read among the multitude; and they had [enduringly…]

^A all been deemed worthy of a certain prophetic and apostolic gift and number. Of these, the leader stood out, and Pamphilus alone, being the only one from among their number honored with the dignity of the presbyterate at Caesarea, a man who, throughout his whole life 72 had distinguished himself by every virtue, by his renunciation and contempt of the world, by the distribution of his substance to the needy, by his disregard for worldly hopes, by his philosophical manner of life and his asceticism; and he excelled especially, beyond all those of our time, in his devotion to the divine scriptures.

^B Furthermore, ^C Seleucus had conducted himself most gloriously in martyrdom, and had bravely accepted the loss of his military rank, and the others then, through the catechumens and the faithful, fulfilled the remaining resemblance to the numberless Church, as though in a small image. Thus, I marveled at the admirable election of so many and such martyrs, who, although they were not many in number, yet none departed from those ranks which are found among men. But just as a lyre, which has many strings, and consists of dissimilar strings—some sharp and some deep, some plucking, and some tense and middle-toned—is harmoniously tuned by the musical art: in the same way, among them, were gathered together youths and old men, slaves and free men, the learned and the unlearned; men of obscure origin, as it seemed to many, and those illustrious in glory; the faithful together with the catechumens, and deacons together with the presbyters. All of whom, as if by a most wise musician, namely the Word of God, the only-begotten, were variedly plucked, and each, by the endurance of torments—that is, by their confession—showing their strength, and emitting at their trials, clear, numerous, and rhythmic sounds, they filled the melody to God, the Lord of all, with one and the same end, first in a pious and most wise manner, through the consummation of martyrdom.

It is, however, worth the effort to admire the number of the men as well, which signifies a certain prophetic and apostolic grace. For it happened that they were all twelve in number, by which number we have received that the patriarchs and prophets and apostles were counted. One must not pass over the laborious fortitude of each one individually—the tearing of their sides, the wearing away of parts of their bodies with goats' hair, the incurable scourges, the manifold and various torments, and the tortures, grave and difficult to endure, which the attendants, at the judge’s command, inflicted with their hands and feet, forcibly compelling the martyrs to do some of those things which were forbidden. What need is there to mention the words of these divine men, worthy to be committed to perpetual memory, to whom, caring nothing for their labors, they answered the judge’s questions with a joyful and cheerful face; smiling manfully in the very midst of their tortures, and with good humor mocking his interrogations? For when he asked whence they were, they chose not to speak of the city they had on earth, but showed that which is truly their fatherland, saying that they were from Jerusalem. Indeed, by the same intent, they indicated the heavenly city of God towards which they were hastening; and other things of this kind; matters unknown and which cannot be discerned by those who have not tasted the sacred Scriptures, but which they brought out as clear to those alone who were inspired by divine faith. ^D Because of these things, the judge, being indignant and greatly tormented in his mind, and clearly in doubt as to what he should do, sought various ways in which he might overcome them. Finally, when he had lost hope, he allowed each one to carry away the prizes of victory. The manner of their death, moreover, was various; for while two who were among them as catechumens were consummated by the baptism of fire, another was delivered to the figure of the salvific passion, and he who was dear to me was crowned with various wreaths.

And one might say these things, making a general mention of them: but one who pursues each one individually would deservedly call him blessed who holds the first place in the choir. That person was Pamphilus, a man truly pious, etc. [alt-version omitted] 71 By a "prophetic or apostolic" gift, he understands the minor prophets, who were twelve in number. This, however, is held much more clearly in Metaphrastes in these words: "It is worth the effort to admire the number of the men as well, which signifies a certain prophetic and apostolic grace. For it happened that they were all twelve in number, by which number we have received that the patriarchs and prophets and apostles were counted." 72 Pamphilus, a man truly pious, in the whole of his life. And this passage in Metaphrastes is held much more purely in this manner: "But he was Pamphilus, a man truly pious, and to speak once, the friend and intimate of all; showing by his very reality that the name imposed upon him was true; an ornament of the Church of the Caesareans. For, as a presbyter, he graced the chair of the presbyters, as one who both adorned the ministry and was adorned by it. Moreover, he was also to others divine and a partaker of divine inspiration; since his whole life was most distinguished by virtue, for he set great store by the neglect of delights and the abundance of riches, having dedicated himself entirely to the Word of God, and renouncing those things which came to him from his ancestors, he distributed everything to the naked, the maimed, and the poor. He himself lived a life possessing nothing, through most valiant exercise, pursuing divine philosophy. And he was born from the city of the Berytians, where in his first age he had been educated in those literary studies which were there. But after his providence had reached adult age, he crossed over from these to the knowledge of the sacred letters. He adopted the ways of a divine and prophetic life, and he showed himself a martyr of the things of God even before his final end. But such was Pamphilus."

^A

Remaining deeds of his virtue, being of too lengthy a narrative, we have already set forth in three previous treatises devoted to the account of his life. But since we have sent those who are eager to know these things to that work, we shall now take up the sequence concerning the martyrs. The second to enter the contest after Pamphilus was Valens, a deacon of the churches of Aelia, ^B honored with a venerable grey head, a man of most dignified aspect, and a deep, if not the deepest, expert in divine Scripture. He had stored up so many of its records in his heart that he had no need of the reading of books, for whenever he took up any passage of Scripture, he could recite long stretches of it from memory. The third of them, who was noted among them as most fervent and boiling with the Spirit, was Paul from the city of the Jamnites, who, before his martyrdom, had wrestled through the struggle of confession by enduring the scorching of hot irons. For these men, having spent two whole years in prison, the occasion for martyrdom became the second arrival of our Egyptian brethren, who were brought to their consummation together with them. ^C These latter had set out to accompany the confessors who had been sent from Cilicia to the mines there, and were on their return journey home. They, too, were questioned by the guards—men who were by nature barbaric—at the very gates of Caesarea as to who they were and whence they had come. They hid nothing of the truth, and like evildoers caught in the act, they were seized—there were five of them in number. They were also brought before the tyrant, and having spoken with boldness before him, they were immediately cast into prison. ^D On the next day, the sixteenth of the month of Peritius (which is the fourteenth day before the Kalends of March according to the Romans), by mandate addressed to the judge, they were executed together with those mentioned accompanying Pamphilus.

Here, for the first time, he began to put the indomitable constancy of the Egyptians to the test through ^A every kind of torture and the varied inventions of new machines. And when he had previously exercised their leader with such torments, he first asked him who he was. But after he heard from him a prophetic name in place of his own (for they had perhaps discarded the names given to them by their parents, seeing that they were names of idols), it was possible to hear them being given the names of Elias, and Jeremias, and Isaias, and Samuel, and Daniel, and not only in deeds but also in names loudly articulated were they effectively manifesting themselves as the genuine and sincere Israel of God, and as the Jew who is in secret. ^B Having heard such a name from the martyr, Firmilianus—though not understanding the power of the word—asked a second time what his fatherland might be. He, speaking without any discrepancy from the former name, replied that Jerusalem was his fatherland, meaning indeed that city of which it is spoken to Paul: "But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother," and: "You have come unto mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." And while he was intending this, the judge—having cast his understanding down to the earth and being low—was anxiously inquiring what this city was and where in the world it might be. Afterwards, he applied torments so as to elicit the truth. But he, ^C with his hands bound behind his back and his feet stretched on certain strange instruments, insisted that he had spoken the truth. Then, being asked again and again what this city might be that he spoke of and where it was situated in the world, he said again that this was the fatherland of the pious alone; for he claimed that it did not belong to others, but only to these, and that it was situated towards the very east and towards the rising sun. He, then, through these things was philosophizing according to his own mind, in no way turning his attention to those tormenting him with tortures all around, but as if he were fleshless and bodiless, appearing not even to perceive the pains. But the judge, being at a loss, was agitated, thinking that the Christians were certainly plotting to establish a city hostile and at war with the ^D Romans; and he was very earnest in investigating this and the region indicated, examining it towards the east.

But when he had flayed ^A the youth for a long time with scourges and punished him with all manner of tortures, and perceived that his resolution was unchanged from what he had said before, he pronounced a capital sentence upon him. Such, then, was the drama enacted in his case.

And having exercised the others with similar trials, he dispatched them in the same way. Then, weary and realizing that the men were being punished to no purpose, and having had his fill ^B of desire, he turned to those around Pamphilus. Having been previously informed how they had already demonstrated their unchangeable zeal for the faith through tortures, he asked whether they would now at last obey, and having received only the final word of confession from each one regarding their martyrdom, he imposed the same punishment upon them as upon the former.

When these things were brought to an end, a lad who belonged to the household attendance of Pamphilus ^C, having been nurtured in his upbringing and education just as one would expect of a man of such stature, as soon as he learned of the verdict against his master, shouted from the middle of the crowd, demanding that the bodies of the dead be handed over for burial. But he—not a man, but a beast, and if there is anything more savage than a beast—paying no heed even to the innocence of his age, just as soon as he learned that he confessed to being a Christian, was as if ^D stung by some arrow, and swelling with rage, he ordered the torturers to use their full force against him. And when he saw that he refused to offer sacrifice at his command, he ordered him to be flayed—not as if he were human flesh, but as if he were stones or wood or some other lifeless thing—persistently, right to his bones and into the depths and recesses of his entrails. When this had been going on for a long time and he perceived that he was laboring in vain, as his body was mute and unresponsive—being very nearly completely lifeless—and was being worn away by the tortures, still possessed of a relentless and inhuman cruelty, he immediately commanded that he be handed over to a slow fire. And he—although he was the last to enter the contest before the consummation of his master according to the flesh—gained his release from the body, while those who had been zealous for the former ones were still lingering.

And so one could see Porphyry (for such was his name), like a noble athlete competing in a sacred contest and carrying off the victory in a pugilistic struggle; his body indeed covered in dust and filth, but his face cheerful and his mind confident as he advanced toward death after so many tortures; he was truly filled with the divine Spirit, and clothed only in the philosopher’s garment, a cloak draped in the manner of an *exomis*, giving commands and signaling to his friends with a sober mind about those things he wished; and even upon the stake itself he still maintained a serenity of countenance. Furthermore, although the pyre had been kindled all around at a distance from him, he drew the flame toward himself from here and from there; and after that single cry which he uttered when the flame began to touch him, invoking Jesus the Son of God as his helper, he spoke nothing more: he persevered most bravely in silence until his final breath. ^B Such was the contest of Porphyry.

Now, when a certain confessor named Seleucus, who had formerly been a soldier, announced the consummation of this athlete to Pamphilus, he—as if he were the minister of such an announcement—merited to be joined to their lot. For he had scarcely announced the death of Porphyry and greeted one of the martyrs with a kiss, when suddenly the soldiers seized him and led him to the governor. The governor, as if wishing to urge Seleucus on his way to heaven as a fellow-traveler to the one who had gone before, immediately ordered him to be punished with death by beheading. Now he was from the land of the Cappadocians, and from the army’s picked youth, and had attained to no small honor in Roman ranks; for in age ^C and in strength of body, and in size and vigor, he exceeded his fellow soldiers by a great margin, so that his appearance was famous to all, and his whole form was worthy of admiration for its stature and beauty. In the beginning of the persecution, he had distinguished himself in the struggles of confession through his endurance of scourging; but after his discharge from the army, having set himself to be a devotee of the ascetics of godliness, he had appeared as a bishop and helper, like a father and guardian, to orphans, deserted widows, and those cast aside in poverty and sickness; wherefore, fittingly, by God—who rejoices more in such sacrifices than in those of smoke and blood—he was deemed worthy of the paradoxical summons through martyrdom. He was the tenth athlete among the previously mentioned, and was brought to his end on one and the same day, on which, as it seems, the greatest ^D of Pamphilus’s household was also perfected.

On the Ascetics and the Terminology of the Persecution

(83) The text says "after one," but it should be "after one cry," as the emendation is certain. (84) Christophorosonus understood "monks." For there were no monks at that time; or if there were any, the ascetics were far removed from them. For monks, as the name itself indicates, sought solitude, whereas ascetics lived in the midst of cities. Whosoever, therefore, had instituted a more severe life according to the precepts of the Gospel, and had left all things for God’s sake, were called ascetics. Thus a certain Peter the ascetic and an ascetic virgin are named earlier in this book of Eusebius. If anyone wished to call them monks, he would undoubtedly be mistaken. Certainly Jerome explicitly testifies that there was no monk in Palestine before Hilarion. Yet that ascetic Peter lived in Palestine long before Hilarion. (85) "Widows without support." The same word is used by Eusebius in *Life of Constantine*, bk. iv, c. 36. So also John Chrysostom, *Homily on the Acts of the Apostles*, p. 202, says: that is, give help to the widows. (86) This should be written as distinct words: "to such as these." For what is more clear than these words: "to God who rejoices in such as these rather than in sacrifices made through smoke and blood"? Christophorosonus did not see this. It is gathered from the version of Hervetus that Simeon Metaphrastes surely read it this way: "Wherefore he was deservedly deemed worthy by God, who rejoices in these more than in sacrifices made through smoke and blood, of the consummation which is attained through martyrdom."

^A a passage into the kingdom of heaven became easy for him and for others. ^B Following in the footsteps of Seleucus, Theodulus, a certain venerable and God-fearing old man, who was a member of the governor’s household and esteemed by Firmilianus more than all those in his house—both because of his age and because he stood in the place of a father of three generations, and also because of the goodwill and most faithful conscience he had preserved toward him—having done likewise as Seleucus, being brought to the master and having provoked him even more than those before him, underwent the same martyrdom of the saving passion, ending his life on the cross. Further, one being still wanting to complete the number of twelve among the aforementioned martyrs, Julian arrived to complete this; for having arrived from abroad, and not yet having set foot in the city, immediately as he was from the road, having learned and rushed to the sight of the martyrs, when he saw the bodies of the saints lying upon the ground, becoming filled with joy, he embraced each one and greeted them all. Upon catching him doing this, the ministers of the slaughters once again brought him before Firmilianus. Proclaiming things consistent with his own nature, he likewise delivered him over to a long fire. Thus also Julian, leaping for joy and exulting, with a great voice thanking the Lord who had deemed him worthy of such great things, was deemed worthy of the martyrs' crown. He was a Cappadocian by race according to the flesh, but in his manner of life he was most devout, most faithful, and most sincere, zealous in all other things, and breathing his own Holy Spirit. Such was the troop of the company of those deemed worthy to enter into martyrdom together with Pamphilus. ^C For four days and as many nights, by the order of the ungodly governor, their sacred and truly holy bodies were kept as food for the beasts. But as nothing strange happened to them—neither beast, nor bird, nor dog approached them—they were again, by the dispensation of God's providence, taken up without harm and, having obtained fitting funeral rites, were committed to the customary burial. Moreover, while the account concerning these was still on everyone's lips, Hadrian and Eubulus, from the country called Magganea, arriving at Caesarea as the other confessors had, were themselves examined at the gate as to the reason for their coming; then, having confessed the truth, they were brought before Firmilianus. He, promptly and without any delay, after many tortures which he inflicted upon their sides, condemned them to be food for wild beasts. Two days having passed meanwhile, Hadrian, on the fifth day of the month of Austrus—on the third day before the Kalends of March, the day of the birthday of the Tyche [Fate] of the Caesareans, ^D having been cast to a lion, and after the...

sword finished him, he was brought to perfection. Eubulus, however, after another intervening day—on the Nones of March itself, which would be the seventh day of Dystrus—when the judge had entreated him much, that by sacrificing he might obtain the liberty esteemed by them, preferring the glorious death for piety over this fleeting life, and having likewise, like the former, become a victim after the beasts, was the last of the martyrs at Caesarea to seal his struggle. ^A It is still worth mentioning here the account of how the divine providence, after a long time, overtook those impious governors along with the tyrants themselves. For Firmilianus himself, who had committed such outrages against the martyrs of Christ, after undergoing the ultimate punishment with others, ended his life by the sword. And these were the martyrdoms that were carried out in the city of Caesarea throughout the entire time of the persecution.

CHAPTER XII

Of the leaders of the Churches

^B Now, as for what has come to pass in this interval of time and thereafter concerning the leaders of the Churches; how divine justice, as if deeming them worthy of such an office, permitted those who had not rightly and legitimately governed the pastors of Christ’s rational flock to be appointed as caretakers of camels—a brute animal, and by its very nature most crooked—as though they were being made to stand in charge of these as a penalty, since they had not stood in charge of the rational sheep of Christ in a becoming manner...

[Translation continues from the Latin/Greek commentary notes]: ...and to feed the emperor's [horses and camels]. ^C But at Caesarea in Cappadocia the "Genius" had its own temple, concerning which Gregory of Nazianzus speaks in his Invective against Julian, page 91, and in Oration 19, page 509. In which places interpreters have constantly translated it as "Fortune," erroneously. Whereas, to say nothing of others, Charisius could have himself taught that it was a "Genius." These words are obscure enough. Christopherson indeed understood them to refer to the time of the persecution, with which I do not agree. For Eusebius speaks of those things which happened when the fury of the persecution had already gradually subsided. Therefore, the phrase "in the intervening time" has the same meaning as "afterwards," as Eusebius is wont to speak both elsewhere throughout his work and here within this chapter, when he says... those words which follow designate the entire time which elapsed from the beginning of the persecution up to its seventh year, as Eusebius teaches in the following chapter. I write, therefore, etc. The particle which is not in this place must be struck out, but must be placed in the line above, as I have already said. I would even prefer to write, for it seems to me more elegant: etc. That is, word for word, "which happened against the bishops." ^D ...among the Romans, that free-born men might be condemned to the grazing of the emperor's horses or camels and to other personal services of this kind. Thus Metaphrastes in the Acts of the martyrs Indes and Domna: "He ordered that the ministry of the camels which were in the region of Claudiopolis be delivered to him, stripping him of the dignity of the prefecture." This service, however, was called *camelasia*, and is listed among personal services in the Pandects, under the title "On services and honors." Although in that title the discussion is not of imperial camels, but of the camels of each individual city, which were used for transporting wood and other burdens, as is clear from law 18 in the said title. Eusebius, however, treats here of the imperial camels and horses, to the grazing of which certain bishops were condemned. But there is a great difference between these two ministries. For the former, indeed, that was a civil service, to which the decurions...

^A consigned the horses: as for the other, the injuries and insults, and finally the tortures, which they suffered at the hands of the prince’s procurators and the governors of the provinces—whoever they were during those times—on account of the sacred vessels and treasures of the Church; furthermore, the ambition of many, and the reckless and unlawful ordinations, and the factions among the confessors themselves, and whatever those younger agitators of disturbances persistently plotted against the remnants of the Church, devising new schemes one after another, and insulting more harshly amidst the calamities of the persecution, and heaping evils upon evils—all these things, I say, I consider ought to be omitted. For it is, in my judgment, foreign to our plan to commemorate such things, a task from which I even professed my aversion at the very beginning of this discourse. Since, therefore, it most befits our purpose to speak and write and commend to the ears of the faithful those things which are grave and honorable in our religion, and whatsoever pertains to praise and glory, I think I shall act more rightly if I adorn the final part of this book with the noble deeds of the admirable martyrs and the peace which subsequently shone upon us from heaven. ^B

CHAPTER XIII

Concerning Silvanus and John and thirty-eight other martyrs.

The seventh year of the persecution was drawing to an end, ^C and our affairs, having gradually and imperceptibly been freed from the annoyance of those who slandered us, had proceeded as far as the eighth year. And since a great multitude of confessors had gathered together in the copper mines in Palestine and were enjoying incredible freedom, to such an extent that they were even building churches, the governor of the province, a man cruel and wicked—as can easily be seen from what he did against the martyrs—arrived there, and having learned of their manner of life, he immediately reported the matter to the emperor, writing slanders against them regarding whatever he saw fit. Thereafter, the person appointed over the mines arrived there and, as if by imperial command, divided the multitude of confessors into various groups, and ordered some to dwell in Cyprus and others in Lebanon. The rest he dispersed throughout various parts of Palestine and ordered that all of them be vexed with the hardships of various ^D labors. Then, having selected four of them who seemed to be the leaders, he...

sends them to the commander who was in charge of the military forces there. Two of these were Egyptian bishops, Peleus and Nilus; the third was a certain presbyter; the fourth was Patermuthius, a man well known to all for his abundant kindness toward everyone. When that commander demanded that they renounce their religion and met with a refusal, he ordered them to be consumed by flames. ^B Others again were staying there, having been allotted a separate region apart from the rest to inhabit—all those among the confessors who, on account of old age, or maiming, or other bodily infirmities, were exempt from the work. Their leader was Silvanus, a bishop originating from Gaza, a man who stood as an absolutely perfect and venerable example of the Christian religion. Since he had become distinguished by various struggles of confession from the very first day, so to speak, of the persecution and throughout all the time that followed, he had been preserved until that time so that he might, as a final seal, close the entire struggle in Palestine. There were several Egyptians with him, among whom was a certain John, who surpassed all the men of our time in memory. And this man had already been deprived of his sight beforehand; nevertheless, he shone most brightly in the contests of confession, for when one of his feet was crippled with a searing iron just like the others, his eyes—though already devoid of light—were also scorched with a cauterizing iron, so far had the cruelty and inhumanity of the executioners progressed to ferocity and severity. ^C Furthermore, there is no need to praise this man for his character and philosophical way of life, especially since he did not achieve as much admiration for this reason as he did for the excellence of his memory. For he held whole books of divine Scripture inscribed not on stone tablets, as the divine Apostle says, nor on the skins of animals or on papers which are destroyed by worms and the passage of time, but on the fleshy tables of the heart, that is, in a pure soul and in the most radiant light of the mind. So that whenever he wished, he would bring forth from memory—as if from some literary storehouse—at one time the books of the Mosaic Law and the prophets, at another time passages of sacred History, and at others the evangelical and apostolic writings. ^D I confess that I was once struck with amazement when I first saw the man standing in the middle of a crowded assembly of the church, discoursing on certain portions of divine Scripture. For as long as only his voice reached me, I supposed that he was reading, as is the custom in the assemblies; but when I drew quite near and saw what was happening, I perceived that all the others were standing around with healthy eyes, while he alone was using the eyes of his mind, and was uttering words just like some prophet, and was far excelling those who were physically

^A stronger, I could not help but praise and glorify God with the highest commendations. And it seemed that I beheld with my own eyes a clear and most certain proof that a man truly is not that which appears in the external appearance of the body, but rather that which resides in the soul and intelligence. Indeed, although his body was maimed, he nonetheless exerted the greater power ^B of his faculty and virtue. Moreover, as for those men mentioned above who lived apart and applied themselves as usual to prayers and fastings and the rest of such exercises, God was already preparing to grant them a blessed and salutary end, extending to them a helping hand. But that enemy and hater of all that is good, since he could not endure them always armed with constant prayers to God and ready for the struggle, sought to kill them and take them from the midst as if they were ^C troublesome to him. God indeed permitted him to accomplish this, partly so that he might not be deterred from his spontaneous wickedness, and partly so that they might at last receive the rewards of so many and such great struggles. Thus, therefore, thirty-nine men were beheaded on one and the same day by the nod of the most profane Maximinus. These, then, are the martyrdoms which were carried out in Palestine over the space of eight years. Such was the persecution of our time, which, having taken its beginning from the destruction of the churches, progressed much further ^D under the subsequent infestations of the rulers over various times. In these, the struggles of all kinds of those who fought bravely for piety produced an innumerable multitude of martyrs in every province: namely, in Libya and throughout all Egypt and Syria and all the provinces which extend from the East as far as the region of Illyricum. For those regions which are situated further away—all Italy, that is—and Sicily, Gaul too, and whatever regions extend to the setting sun, Spain, Mauritania, and Africa, having experienced the fury of the war for scarcely the first two entire years of the persecution, soon obtained the most present aid of the divine Deity and peace, God's providence, indeed, looking to the simplicity of those men and their faith. Furthermore, what is recorded to have never before happened in the Roman Empire, that came to pass then for the first time beyond everyone's expectation. For in this persecution, which in our times