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QNIVERSITY OF CALIFORN
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THE

APOLOGY OF APOLLONIUS ETC.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

OUTLIKES OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.

By HERMANN LOTZE.

Edited with an Introduction by F. C. Conybeare, M.A.

Crown 8vo, cloth^ 2s. 6d.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" To the thinker, of whatever creed or school he may chance to be,
who is anxious to bring into a more or less homogeneous body of
belief those religious and scientific truths which in our time are press-
ing most vehemently for acceptance, I have no hesitation in com-
mending this work as one of the most suggestive and enlightening
that our age has been privileged to welcome." — John Owen in
Acadewy.

" English students will be thankful to Mr. Conybeare for putting
into their hands a synopsis of Lotze's Philosophy of Religion, which
has no fear of the disadvantages of a translation. "—C«ar<//a«.

"An excellent translation of one of the most important works of a
prominent philosopher who made an unusually strong impression
upon the minds of his contemporaries." — Monist.

LONDON: SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO.

THE

Apology and Acts of Apollonius

AND OTHER

Monuments of Early Christianity

EDITED WITH A

GENERAL PREFACE INTRODUCTIONS NOTES ETC.

F. C. CONYBEARE M.A.

Late Fellow of University College Oxford

HontJon

SWAN SONNENSCHEIN «& CO.

NEW YORK: MACMILLAN & CO.

1894

IXlSriVERSITY

^^^

.r?7/v

Butler & Tanner,

The Selwood Printing Works,

Frome. and London.

GALOUST TER-MEKERTCHIAN,
Deacon of the Armenian Church,

IN memory of many pleasant hours passed in his
monastery of edschmiadzin.

CONTENTS

PAGE

GENERAL PREFACE i

APOLOGY AND ACTS OF APOLLONIUS.

Introduction 29

Translation of Text 35

ACTS OF PAUL AND THEKLA.

Introduction 49

Translation of Text . ' 61

ACTS OF S. PHOCAS.

Introduction 89

Translation of Text 103

ACTS OF S. POLYEUCTES.

Introduction 123

Translation of Text . 126

ACTS OF SAINT EUGENIA.

Introduction 147

Translation of Text . . . . . . -157

ACTS OF S. CODRATIUS.

Introduction , .191

Translation of Text .193

ACTS OF THEODORE.

Introduction . . . . . . . .217

Translation of Text 220

vii

viii Contents.

PA.GB

ACTS OF S. THALEL.EUS.

Introduction 239

Translation of Text 243

ACTS OF S. HIZTIBOUZIT.

Introduction 257

Translation of Text 261

ACTS OF S. CALLISTRATUS.

Introduction 273

Translation of Text 289

ACTS OF S. DEMETRIUS.

Introduction 337

Translation of Text 341

Addenda 353

Index of Names and Subjects 355

MONUMENTS OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY,

GENERAL PREFACE.

The object of the following translations is to give
the reader, in a succession of vivid pictures or
glimpses, an insight into the prac-
tical working of Christianity during ^i^3°f,^^^"3f
the first three centuries of its his-
tory. While we freely admire the heroism of the
martyrs, we must not suppose that the highest
temper of the new religion was displayed in
these desperate struggles,^ through which its
champions bore witness to the truth, as they
deemed it, of their beliefs, and in engaging in
which they were, on any view, asserting the rights
of fndividual conscience and private judgment
against the overbearing weight of a government
despotic in its form, and supported in its assaults
by innumerable popular forces and scruples, social,
religious, and political.^ The best fruits of Christ-

^ In the following pages we shall not find any martyr who in the
moment of agony prays, Father, forgive them, they know not what they
do. The note struck is more frequently one of hatred, defiance, and
imprecation.

^ Cp. Minucii Felicis Octavius, cap. 37 : quam pulchrum spectaculum.

2 Monuments of Early Christianity.

ianlty were of course reaped not in these crises,
not in these supreme moments of storm and stress,
but in the higher religious conceptions, in the
wider charity, in the purer social and family life,
in the elimination of obscene or cruel religious
rites and amusements, which on the whole went
with the abandonment of paganism. But these
blessings could not be secured for the multitude,
could not be secured at all, unless a stand were
made against enactments which made the very
name and profession of Christian an offence
punishable by any, even the most horrible, forms
of death. A martyrdom resembled a battle in
general history ; freedom from molestation and
liberty to enjoy the fruits of peace could not be
secured in any other way.

The originals of these translations are to be

found in a repertory of select martyrdoms, written

in the ancient Armenian tongue,

SylSrTek, ^^^ published at the Armenian

and Latin monastery of San Lazaro, in Venice,

texts of

Martyrs' Acts, in the year 1874. These originals
are in nearly all cases themselves
versions of still more ancient Greek or Syriac
texts. In some cases Latin versions also of con-
siderable antiquity are preserved, and will be
found in the Annals of Baronius^ or in the vast

deo, cum Christianus cum dolore congreditur, cum aduersum minas et
supplicia et tormenta componitur, cum strepitum mortis et honorem inri-
dens carnifici se inculcat, cum libertatem suam aduersus reges et principes
erigit, cum soli deo cuius est cedit, cum triumphator et victor ipsi qui
adversum se sententiam dixit insultat.

General Preface. 3

collection of the Lives of the Saints of all ages, at
which the Society of the Jesuits has now been at
work for over one hundred years, and which is
known as the Bollandist Acts of the Saints. I
have not chosen to translate the Armenian form
of these documents rather than the
Latin or Greek without reason ; and The Armenian

. . , form as a rule

my reason is this : that as a rule the the oldest,
ancient Armenian version gives an
earlier form of the narrative than either the Latin
or Greek or Syriac manuscripts now yield us.
For it is one of the first things which the student
of early Christian literature has to learn, that its
documents were continually being altered and re-
cast to suit every fresh development or change
in the dogmatic beliefs, moral conceptions, and
discipline of believers, whether
orthodox or heretical. What was revision of
believed in the first century was texts in each

age.

not believed in the same way, and
was not all that was believed in the second ; and
what was orthodox in the second century was
in many cases heterodox, and in nearly all cases
insufficiently explicit in the third and fourth
centuries.-^ The value of the Armenian versions
lies in this, that they often give us access to a
more primitive form of a Christian writing than
has survived in Greek or Latin. To take an

^ Thus the Armenian Acts of Athanagines retain the colophon of one,
Hilarion, who states that in composing the Acts he *'on paper made
orthodox all that was said " (by the various actors). Athanagines no
doubt, like many martyrs of Nicomedia, was an Arian.

4 Monuments of Early Christianity,

example : the Armenian text of the Acts of S.
Eugenia represents her as choosing for her model
Thekla, the convert of S. Paul.y Now Thekla,
/^even as early as the days of Tertullian, became
suspect, on account of her having arrogated to
herself the right to baptize. Accordingly we find
that in the old Latin version, dating probably
from the fourth century, every mention of her
is carefully expunged from the Acts in ques-
tion, and Paul and his epistles replace her and
her story in such a manner as even to make
nonsense of the context. So again into the
Epistle of the Smyrneans, written about a.u. i6o,
and describing the death of Polycarp, there were
foisted, as early as the time of Rufinus' Latin
translation of it, a series of references to the Holy
Catholic Church. Now the latter phrase did not
come into vogue until the latter half of the third
century, and some critics have in consequence
maintained that the letter of the Smyrneans is a
forgery of that date. But the difficulty vanishes
when we turn to the old Armenian version of the
"Church History" of Eusebius, who quotes the
letter at length ; for there we find, instead of the
obnoxious phrase, the simple and primitive ex-
pression which we meet with in the Acts, viz.,
'' the Churches" in such and such a region.
>^ But what the third and fourth century editors
most delighted to do, was to em-
interpoiation bellish an earlier document with

ofmiracles. . . .- . c c v

miracles, if it were tree trom them ;
or if it already contained miraculous elements, then

General Preface, 5

^ to vary and enhance them. Rationalists have
1 impugned the historical character of the New
Testament, because it has in it such elements ;
/ and even orthodox critics, among: ^ , ^

/ 1 r 1 Early docu-

rrotestants at least, have tor the mentsnotto
same reason condemned in the Wc^auseThef
most sweeping manner the so- relate

called legends of the saints ; so ^^^^^
much so that no serious historian has ventured
to use them. Both sets of critics are equally
\ unphilosophical. The real miracle would be, if
we should find a homely narrative emanating
from Galilee in the first century to have originally
contained no such elements ; and most of the
arguments adduced against the value of the
Gospels as a contemporary narrative, would prove,
^ I mutatis mutandis, that S. Bernard's account of the
I miracles of his friend, S. Malachi, is spurious. In
appraising the historical value of an early Christian
document, we ought to condemn it, not in case
it contain miraculous elements, but
in case it be wholly lacking: in local The true

1 . , . ^ J tests of

> colour, m case the sentiments and genuineness.

[ teachings put into the mouths of
the actors and the actions attributed to them be

- foreign to their age and country, so far as of
these we have any reliable knowledge.Vs Here are
the true touchstones of truth and genuineness ;
and we shall be encouraged to apply them, if we
find that in a narrative that on the whole stands
well these tests, the miraculous elements vary
and are different in the different recensions of the

6 Monuments ef Early Christianity,

text ; so that like the plus and minus quantities of
an algebraical formula, they eliminate one another,
and in the net result disappear, leaving behind
them a solid residuum of graphic and life-like
narrative. This is particularly the case with re-
gard to the Acts of Paul and Thekla, as we shall
point out in dealing with that history ; in the
Acts of Thalelseus we meet, though in a less
degree, with the same sort of corroboration of
their general truth. So is the old adage con-
firmed : €(rO\oi /mev yap ctTrXw?, TravToSaTrw^ Se KaKoi

There are a few characteristics
Character- q( ^^^ Acts of Saints of the first

istics of early • i • i i i

Acts. three centuries which deserve to be

noticed in a general preface.

I. The most historical element in them often

lies where we should the least expect to find it,

namely in the dialogues between

The dialogue the judge and the accused. This

most often -n i • i i

genuine. Will be a Surprise to those who are
familiar with the somewhat different
method pursued by ancient historians, who put
into the mouths of the actors not what they
actually said, even where this was readily acces-
sible, but what they ought in the judgment of
the historian to have said. Thus Tacitus, on the
occasion of the admission of the inhabitants of
Gallia Comata to the ius honorum, puts into the
mouth of the Emperor Claudius a speech which
we know he did not make, because the actual
words he used are preserved in an inscription found
at Lyons, the contents of which were taken from

General Preface. y

the Acta Senatus, or journal of the Senate. The
early Christians must be allowed to have started
with a higher standard of truth. yThey considered
it of the first importance to register the last acts >
and words of a saint, and one of their number f
was frequently deputed to fulfil the task. In ^
addition to their own reports they \

could draw upon the official reports and often

r -i -i drawn from

of the law-courts, though these may official records
not have been always accessible to °"cou^tT^''
them before the age of Constantine,
when in the archives of many a court the reports
of the trials of the third century at least may
easily have survived. And in this connection we >y
must remember that Christianity was such a grave
offence that the proces-verbal of trials would be
carefully recorded and preserved by a govern-
ment so methodical and observant of precedents
as was the Roman. From the time of Domitian,
if not at a still earlier date, the very name of
Christian exposed a person to the penalty of
death. >^ If information was laid against a man to a
the effect that he was a Christian, he was sum- 1
moned before a magistrate and ordered to sacri- I
fice to some god, often to the genius of the /
reigning emperor. The usual answer returned /
was : '' I am a Christian, and will not sacrifice \
to idols and to foul evil spirits." Tortures were ^
then used to compel submission, and if these
failed the culprit was sentenced to death. ^^
^2. Jesus of Nazareth addressed His teachings
to Jews, who needed no inculcation of the truths

8 Monuments of Early Christianity,

of monotheism ; and accordingly we find very S

little denunciation in the Gospels
Monotheistic of the folly and sin of idolatry. It '-j
jtw^lndelr^^ ^^ ^^^ Otherwise with the Epistles ;
Christians. of Paul, which are addressed to i
converts from polytheism. His
polemic, when not directed against those who
insisted on circumcision and the sabbath, is [
turned against the worship* of images and of
many gods, instead of the One who made the
heavens and the earth and created man in His_^
own image. "^

/ But the protest in Greek literature against idol-
atry and polytheism did not begin with S. Paul and
with Christianity. Leaving out of account the lofty
monotheism, coupled with ridicule of the popu-
lar religion, which we meet with in the writings of
/ a long line of Greek philosophers, beginning with
I Xenophanes in the fifth century B.C. ; it is enough
/ here to note, that the works of a writer like Philo
of Alexandria, who died about a.d. 40, at the ad-
vanced age of seventy, are a sustained polemic
against the worship of any created being, whether
\ sun or moon or stars, whether man or beast or
the work of men's hands, In an almost prophetic
passage this writer makes the proud boast that his
I race were destined to be the teachers of true reli-
; gion to the whole of the civilized world ; and there
is an aspect of the Jewish monotheistic missionary
effort of the first century, of which we may take
\ Paul or Philo as the coryphsei, which is in striking
', contrast with the general teaching of the Christian

General Preface. 9

\ Church in later ages, v Neither Paul nor Philo
/ believed in the ancient gods, in
I Apollo and Artemis, and in the rest. contrast of
\ These gods were to their minds PauiandPhiio

& rill ^^^^ ®^^^y

mere names, ngments 01 the heathen christians.

I imagination, mythoplasms, as Philo

\ calls them ; powerless for good or for evil, just
because they were lifeless and spiritless inventions,
because they were nothing, f- Philo was inclined to
regard the gods and goddesses as personifications of
the elements ; so Here or Juno, he tells us, is derived
from the word air, and Demeter is a name given
to the earth, because the earth is the mother of all.

i These explanations he borrowed from contempor-
ary Stoics like Cornutus, who were apologising
for a worn out mythology. But Philo was not
apologising, and merely wished to explain and
account for the heathen beliefs as the outcome
of an allegorising process akin to poetical meta-
phor. Between Paul or Philo and the earliest of "N^
the Christian Apologists there is however a change j
of attitude. The old gods were nothing but so |
much lifeless wood and stone in the estimation of
Paul, and therefore he had no objection to his
converts eating meats which had been offered to
idols. It made no difference in the meats that a
senseless form of words had been pronounced over
them, and therefore the Christian might partake of
them without misgiving. How different is the atti-
tude of Justin Martyr, and of the entire Church for
centuries after. We are apt to suppose that con-
version to the religion of Christ signified and

' ^ OF THE ^ \

ONIVERSITTi

K _ OF . /

lo Monuments of Early Christianity.

brought with it a disbelief in the gods of pagan- '^\
ism. Nothing could be further
Lingering from the truth. The convert con-
^beiief o/*' tinued to believe in the gods as \
Christian firmly as before ; the only difference (
and saints. was that he now came to regard \
them, not as benevolent beings, but J
as malevolent ones. They were the fallen angels, /
ministers of Satan lying in wait to destroy men, and \
often for that end taking up their abode in, and \
disguising their natural foulness under the most I
beautiful statues. Such was the nemesis which in
the decadence of Greek thought overtook the faith
and art of Phidias and Scopas. It is ever the
same with a new religion. The gods of one age
become the devils of the next ; and it is to the credit
of the northern nations of Europe, that they suc-
ceeded in metamorphosing their old gods into
elves and fairies, instead of into malevolent demons.
Intellectually, then, the early Christians were but
a very short remove from the paganism they de-
nounced ; and very soon after the age of Paul the
I eating of meats offered to idols became the worst
/ form of apostasy. It was not the appearance of
making a concession to heathenism which made
the act so heinous ; rather the consecration to
idols polluted the food in itself in a mysterious way
( analogous to, but the inverse of, the consecration
Vof the elements in the Christian Eucharist. It was
as it were transubstantiation turned upside down ;
and undoubtedly the belief in the mystical trans-
formation of the bread and wine into the body

General Preface. ii

and blood of Christ grew up, quite naturally, with ^
the belief that the evil demons communicated in
some hidden way their own evil properties to the /
meats offered to them. The two beliefs were \
closely akin, if not both equally remote from the /
monotheistic rationalism of the Jew Paul. " Evil \
demons," says Justin Martyr, ApoL, 55, "in
the remote past disguised themselves and com-
mitted adultery with women, and ruined children,
and wielded terrors over men, so that those who
did not take right account of such things were
terrified and were carried away by fear ; and not
knowing that they were wicked demons, gave
them the titles of gods, and gave to each of them
the particular name that each of the demons
chose to assume." In the same way Augustine in
the De Civitate Dei, bk. i., ch. 31, tells us that
the gods of the ancient Romans were Noxii
Demones. We are thus prepared to find the
Christian saints resorting to exorcism against the /
gods of the heathen. The Holy Pancrazio, we'
read, came to Taormena in Sicily, and went into a
temple, where they worshipped the god Falkon.
The saint stood facing the image and said : " O
Falko, deaf and dumb and blind brute, who art
thou, and what doest thou here .-^ How many years
hath thou lived here, cajoling the creatures of my
God, and having offerings made to thee, thou foul
and abominable idol of a devil?" And the devil
who was dwelling in the idol said ; '' Two hundred
and sixty years have I lived here, and have re-
ceived sacrifices and offerings from the city of

12 Monuments of Early Christianity,

Taormena, each year three unblemished children
and seventy and three fat and beauteous oxen and
swine and many lambs." Then the Holy Pan-
crazio cried out and said : "I adjure you, foul devils,
in the name of our crucified Messiah our God,
gather ye all hither and lift the deaf and dumb
idol of Falkon from the temple and cast it into
the sea, thirty stades distant from the shore, and
engulf yourselves along with it in the bottom-most
depths." So again in Trebizond, at the end of the
the third century, the evil spirit, which dwelt in
the idol, cried out at the approach of the Saint
Eugenius and said : " Eugenius, why dost thou
persecute us, and drive us away from our home ;
for we are not gods but miserable demons, and we
beheld the beauty of these images and were filled
with desire and dwelt in them. And now we pray
thee, drive us not out from this place, thou holy one
of God." But the saint was without mercy, and
commanded them to retire into an uninhabited
mountain in the Caucasus. The demons thus j
ousted from their images were Dia, and Apollo, j
and Artemis.^ \

si^ 3. This leads us in natural sequence to another /

* Minucius Felix, the first of the Latin Apologists had the same belief
(ch. 27) : Isti igitur impuri spiritus [dsemones], ut ostensum magis et
philosophis [et a Platone], sub statuis et imaginibus consecratis delitescunt
€t adflatu suo auctoritatem quasi pra.'sentis numinis consequuntur, dum
inseruntur interim uatibus, cum fanis inmorantur, dum nonnumquam
extorum fibras animant, auium uolatus gubernant, sortes regunt, oracula
efiiciunt falsis plurimis inuoluentes pauca uera. A more comprehensive
confession by a Christian of his faith in the heathen gods and goddesses
cannot be conceived of.

General Preface. 13

, general characteristic of the early Christians, name-

I ly, their Iconoclasm. The obvious

/ way of scotching a foul demon was Destruction
to smash his idols ; and we find that ^^^^^Snt ""^
an enormous number of martyrs works of art.
earned their crown in this manner,
especially in the third century, when their rapidly
increasing numbers rendered them bolder and
more ready to make a display of their intolerance.
Sometimes the good sense or the worldly prudence
of the Church intervened to set limits to so favourite
a way of courting martyrdom ; and at the Synod of
Elvira, c. a.d. 305, a canon, was passed, declaring
the practice to be one not met with in the gospel
nor recorded of any of the apostles, and denying to
those who in future resorted to it the honours of
martyrdom. But in spite of this, the most popular
of the saints were those who had resorted to such
violence and earned their death by it ; and as soon
as Christianity fairly got the upper hand in the
fourth century, the wrecking of temples and the
smashing of the idols of the demons became a most
popular amusement with which to grace a Christian
festival. As we turn over the pages of the martyro-
logies, we wonder that any ancient statues at all

^escaped those senseless outbursts of zealotry. In
India at the present day we meet with the same
sort of zeal in the Mahommedan population. The
Hindoos delight to embellish the walls of their
temples with scenes drawn from their copious
mythology; and a Mahommedan, as he passes by at
dusk, seldom neglects the opportunity of poking

14 Monuments of Early Christianity.

out the eye of a favourite divinity with the point
of his walking-stick.

/ 4. In very many martyrdoms the saint is made
to recite his creed ; and we find on the whole that
Early forms of ^^^ ^^^^^^ given in Acts of the
Creed in second century are simpler than
those given in third century Acts.
Thus in the Acts of Apollonius, Christ is merely
said to have been the Word of God, made man
in Judea, where He taught all goodness to men,
and was crucified. No mention is here made of
His resurrection or of His miraculous birth. As
Apollonius was familiar with Paul's epistles, the
omission of the resurrection from his creed must
be accidental. But the absence from such profes-
sions of faith of references to the miraculous birth
from a virgin is so frequent, that we may infer
that it was not universally received among Christ-
ians of the second century ; as, indeed, we know
from Justin Martyr, that it was not. Sometimes
we read simply that the Christ was born into the
world in an ineffable manner ; e.g. in the Acts of
even so late a saint as Demetrius of Thessalonica.
In the third century the references to the Virgin
Mary become fairly common, though no early
martyr ever invoked her aid. Their prayers were
ever addressed to Jesus the Messiah. Towards
the end of the third century, and not before, do we
meet in genuine Acts with the doctrine of the
Trinity in Unity. Before that epoch the saints
were content with the simpler formula of God the
Father, and of His Son Jesus Christ.

General Preface. 15

5. It is the fashion in the present day, especi-
ally with our court divines, to pretend that the
teaching of hell-fire and of eternal

^ ^ ^1^ • • ^'1 -A-U the saints

torture therein, is no essential or believed in the
orimnal part of Christianity. If we eternal fires
i- 1 -1 • 1 A of hell.

dip but cursorily into the Acta
Sanctorum we are forced to come to a very
different conclusion. Every saint wvas sure that
apostasy would cause him to be cast after his
death into the eternal fires of hell, and it was as a
means of escape from the terrible destiny which
threatened all men, that Christian baptism recom-
mended itself to most converts. For the belief
was not born with Christianity, nor
was it distinctively Jewish. A few took^over^tMs
/ years before the birth of Christ we belief from

, , T • 1 • paganism.

have the poet Lucretius denouncing

the popular religion for the reason that it affrighted

its votaries with such teaching : —

"Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.

Nunc ratio nulla est restandi, nulla facultas
^ternas quoniam pcenas in morte timendumst."

In Vergil we have the same note : —

" Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas,
Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum
Subiecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.

f The same is the burthen of Plutarch's tract
upon superstition. One brief pas-
sage is ^no\ig\i—Moralia, p. 166, f. : ^opini^n'^
— " Tear not away the superstitious
man from his temples ; for there is he chastised,

1 6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

there he meets with his punishment. Why waste
words. For all men death is the end of life ; but
of superstition 'tis not the end ; for it overleaps
the limits and transcends our life, and lengthens
out its terrors beyond this world. It attaches to
death a dream of immortal evils ; and just when

I we are ceasing to toil and sorrow here, it pretends
< that we are beginning with anguish that will
never cease. Wide open stand the deep gates of
hell that they fable, and there stretches a vista
of rivers of fire and stygian cliffs ; and all is
canopied with a darkness full of fantasms, of
spectres mowing at us with terrible faces, and

s^ uttering pitiful cries." The Christians, to their

/ eternal shame, availed themselves eagerly of an
infirmity of the human mind which pagan philoso-

; phers had deplored. And so we find the first of
the Latin fathers, Minucius Felix,
"^FeiS^^ contemplating with satisfaction the
fate in store for the heathen and
their gods (ch. 35) : "et tamen admonentur homines
doctissimorum libris et carminibus saepius am-
bientis ardoris . . . et ideo apud eos etiam
rex luppiter pertorrentes ripas et atrem uoraginem
urat religiose ; destinatam enim sibi cum suis
cultoribus poenam praescius perhorrescit. Nee
tormentis aut modus ullus aut terminus. Illic
sapiens ignis membra urit et reficit, carpit et
nutrit. Sicut ignes fulminum corpora tangunt nee
absumunt, sicut ignes ^^tncei et Vesuuii et ar-
dentium ubique terrarum flagrant nee erogantur :
ita poenale illud incendium non damnis ardentium

General Preface, 17

r pascitur, sed inexesa corporum laceratione nutritur.

Eos autem merito torqueri, qui deum nesciunt, ut

impios, ut iniustos, nisi profanus nemo deliberat,

j cum parentem omnium et omniumfdominum non

Vminoris sceleris sit ignorare quam Isedere."

/ Here we have the medieval hell. But we make

j a mistake, if we think that this awful shadow was

not cast across the human mindjpong before the

birth of Christianity. On the contrary, it is a

] survival from the most primitive stage of our

intellectual and moral development. The mys-

1 teries of the old Greek and Roman worlds were

j intended as modes of propitiation

1 and atonement, by which to escape lastofthe ecoi

\ from these all-besetting^ terrors, and Xvrripi'oi of

- ■ T 1 Ti /r • 1 11 1 paganism,

\ Jesus the Messiah, was the last and
the best of the \vTr]pLoi Oeol, of the redeeming
gods. In the dread of death and in the belief in
the eternal fire of hell, which pervaded men's
minds, a few philosophers excepted,

nu '4-' V u J ji ' u 7' xi • Belief in hell

Christianity had a pozn^ a appui, fire the fui-
without availing itself of which it crum of early

1 J I - . . Christianity.

would not have made a single step
towards the conquest of men's minds. Its ultimate
prevalence over other forms of initiation was
chiefly due to the superior speculative truth of its
monotheistic conception of the world, inherited
from the parent Judaism, and rendered intelligible
to the masses by the outward and parallel spec-
tacle, which the Roman empire presented to their
eyes, of the entire world brought under the sway
of a single will. And in this last connection it

1 8 Monuments of Early Christianity.

may be no mere fancy to say that the Christian

conception of the relation of the Son to the Father

was, if not suggested, at any rate brought home

to the ordinary Christian imagination, by the

famiHar spectacle of the absolute Caesar adopting

1 another as his son, to sit at his right hand and be

v^ co-equal with him in counsel and supreme power.

r 6. Another point strikes us in reading the Acts

/ of the Saints. It is the extent to which there

1 Slathered round the personality of a

\ Older myths ? . , ^ • i • i

\ gathered lavourite martyr the stories which

round the \^^^ been believed of the demigods

y early saints. . ^

» and heroes of an earlier age. Thus

|Callistratus is borne to the shore by dolphins, like
Amphion ; and saints innumerable began their
careers by destroying a dragon, like Perseus, or
/ like Hercules, a voracious lion, or like Theseus, a
\ destructive bull. And the predicates of one ancient
god attached themselves to one saint and of
/ another to a second. Thus the mariners of Pontus
I prayed to Phocas as of old time they had prayed
\to Poseidon. X " Mutato nomine de te fabula nar-
ratur." A rich harvest awaits any student of folk-
lore who approaches the legends of the saints
from this point of view.

7. We should err, if we ascribed to the Christ-
ians of the first three centuries as a regular and
every-day characteristic, that de-
christians ^ tachment from the interests of this
renounced world, that readiness to abandon it,

the world. ... , , . ^

which, nevertheless, they so fre-
quently displayed in seasons of persecution. We

General Preface. 19

cannot suppose that in ordinary times the Chris-
tians of the second and third centuries were more
ready to cast off the ties of family and forego the
comforts of life than were the unconverted, v And \
probably they interpreted the Gospel precepts, I
'' Let the dead bury the dead," and " Who is My f
mother ? and who are my brethren ?y in the same
sense in which we interpret them, namely, as
advice not so much to neglect the ties with which
nature has surrounded us, as to draw closer the
ties of charity, which should link us with all about
us. Such precepts of course could not otherwise \
than occur to martyrs, when the ties of blood /
seemed to stand in the way of the heavenly re- )
wards which they believed to await those who, j
rather than recant, suffered tortures and death.j
We shall see, for instance, that Polyeuctes casts
these precepts in the teeth of his father-in-law in a
manner which seems almost brutal. So Perpetua, \
the mother of a new-born babe, in the excess of
her devotion to the cause. Is ready to cast to the /
winds the instincts of maternity. But in many such 1^
cases we must take into account that the bodily /
feelings of the saint had been racked with tortures j
before they were brought to utter such sentiments.^]
None of our documents here translated, withy
the exception perhaps of the Acts . ^. . o

^ ^ ^ Asceticism of

of Thekla, go back to the very Jesusand
first stage of Christianity. In those T.fne'^^hTt the
earliest times the followers of end of world

Ji TV /r • 1 • • was at hand,

esus the Messiah, as it is now

commonly admitted by all schools of critics, be-

20 Monuments of Early Christianity.

lieved that their Prophet was going to return
and begin almost at once the millennium or king-
dom of heaven upon earth. The kingdom was
at hand, and no man knew when the heavenly
Bridegroom might appear with His angels. The
most pressing necessity was therefore to repent.
Call there was none to marry and beget children,
or to take thought for the morrow and lay up the
riches that spoil. How hardly should they that
had riches enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus said, '* Verily I say unto you, there is no
man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters,
or children, or lands for My sake, and for the
gospel's sake, but he shall receive a hundredfold,
now in this time, houses and brethren, and sisters
and mothers, and children and lands, with perse-
cutions ; and in the age to come eternal life." ^
Nor it would seem were there wanting those who
already, in the age contemporary with Christ,
and, indeed, long before, had responded to such
a summons as this, though from
also met with ^he lips of Other unknown prophets.
inPhiio's Witness the Therapeutae, of whom \

/ Therapeutae. y^, ., i i r i • • i

rhilo has left a description at the
very beginning of the Christian era, attesting
moreover that they were spread all over the in-
habited world. These men and women, he says,
give up their goods, and flee without looking back,
leaving their brethren, their children, their wives, i
their parents, their throng of relatives and ofy

* See especially Matt, xvi., 27, 28 ; and xix. 27-29.

{

General Preface, 21

faithful friends, their native lands in which they ^
were bred and born. And why ? In order that i
they might retire into the desert, and there living,
men and women together, yet in perfect chastity,
devote themselves to prayer and praise, to watch-
ing and fasting, and perpetual contemplation of >
God, and of His powers and goodness. In remote j
regions generations passed away before the \
Christians could resign their dream, and give up )
the old hope that the kingdom of
God upon earth was really at hand.y^ "Saibeiief'
As late as the beginning of the
second century we have such allusions as the
following [Neu entdeckte vierte Buck des Daniel
Commentars von^ Hippolytus^ Dr. Ed. Bratke.
Bonn, 1 89 1, p. 1 57Tr9jl^^ '"

f '' For I will narrate what happened not long
ago in Syria. A certain bishop (irpoea-rm) of the
Church, being too little versed in the ^^.^ ^^^^^^^
divine scriptures, and because he in Syria in the
also neglected to follow the voice of ^ °^^ ^^^*
the Lord, went astray and led others astray also.
. . . He persuaded many of the brethren
with their wives and children to go out into the
wilderness to meet the Christ ; and they went
wandering in the mountains and wastes, there
losing their way ; and the end was that all but a

\ few were apprehended as robbers^and would have
been executed by the hegemon, had it not been
that his wife was a believer, and that in response
to her entreaties he put a stop to proceedings, to
prevent a persecution arising because of them.

22 Monuments of Early Christianity.

What folly was it and want of sound instruction
that induced them to seek the Christ in the wil-
derness; just as in the time of Elijah the prophet,
the sons of the prophets looked among the moun-
tains for Elijah, who had been taken up into
heaven, for the space of three days !

"And in the same way there was another in
Pontus, who was, like the former, president {irpo^-

cTTw^) of the Church, a prudent man
*^«^^^/°^- and lowly-minded ; yet as he failed

to read, mark, and understand the
scriptures in sound manner, he was more given
to trust to the visions which he himself saw than
to them. ^ For he fell first into one, and then a
"second, and then a third dream, and at last began
to proclaim to the brethren that he knew this and
that as a prophet knows, and that this and that
was about to come to pass. And they listened to
his preaching, to the effect that the day of the
Lord is imminent (2 Thess. ii. 2), and with weep-
ings and lamentations they prayed to the Lord
night and day, having before their eyes the ap-
proaching day of judgment. And he brought the
brethren to such a pitch of fear and trembling, that
they abandoned their lands and fields, letting them
become waste, and sold, the most of them, their
possessions. But he told them thus : Unless it
happen as I have told you, then believe ye not any
more in the scriptures, but let each of you do as he
pleases. So they went on expecting the coming
event, and when nothing that he told them came
about, he was himself put to shame as having

Gene7'al Preface. 23

lied ; but the scriptures turned out to be true after \

all ; while the brethren were found to be cast on

a rock of offence. So that after that the virgins :

married, and the men went their way to till their /

fields. But those who had recklessly sold their

properties, were found afterwards asking to have \

them back again. This is what happens to silly

and light-headed people, who instead of attending

strictly to the scriptures, prefer to obey the tra- 1

ditions of men and their own vagaries and their

own dreams and mythologies and old wives' tales." i

Yet it was certainly the genuine teaching of

Jesus which misled these poor people. *' Ye

err," He had said to those who

asked Him to which of her seven Jests' repu-
diation of
husbands a woman would in the marriage as

resurrection belong, '' because ye ^th^e^urrec-
know not the scriptures nor the tionandthe

r r- J T- • ^L kingdom of

power of God. r or m the resurrec- God.

tion they neither marry nor are given
in marriage, but are as angels of God in heaven."
So Matthew xxii. 29 ; but in Luke the precept
that none but the unmarried can inherit the
kingdom of heaven is stated without reserve ;
for in answer to the same question we read that
Jesus said : **The children of this age marry and
are given in marriage ; but they that are deemed
worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection
from the dead neither marry nor are given in
marriage. For they can no longer die. For
they are equal to angels, and are sons of God,
being sons of the resurrection." That is to say,

24 Monuments of Early Christianity,

the question, to which husband the woman would \
belong was quite beside the point, seeing that
any marriage whatever was an absolute bar ta /
entrance into that new age and life, which He
(Jesus) was about to inaugurate *' before this
generation shall " pass away." Similar is the
teaching ascribed to S. Paul in the Acts of Paul
and Thekla, especially in chap. xii. In the same
spirit Jesus refers (Matt. xix. 12) to ''the eunuchs
who had made themselves eunuchs because of
the kingdom of heaven." For these men had by \
their self-mutilation raised themselves above all '^ .
temptation to marry.^ St. Paul
The same was thus true to the teaching of

spirit obser- j i i i* 11 --v^y 1 1

vabie in Paul. J ^^us when he dissuaded 1 hekla

and others from marriage. In the

kingdom of Christ '* there can be no male and

t^' * So in Clem. JRom., Ep. ii. 12, we read that the Lord on being asked

when His kingdom should come, answered, When the two shall be one,,
and that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the
female neither male nor female. Justin Martyr, the father of Christian
apologists, quotes the precept given by Jesus in Matthew xix. 12 with
particular approval in his Apology, I. chap. xv. ; and in chap. xxix. of the
same treatise he relates how a Christian, libellum obtulit Alexandria; Felici
praefecto rogans ut medico licentiam daret testes ipsi resecandi. The pre-
fect refused permission. During the life-time of Jesus we hear of the same
precept being followed by Alexandrian Jews or proselytes. Thus Philo
writes {Quod detur Pot. Insid., i. 224), l^^^vcux''''"^^^*^ Y* V"^^ 4(uivov
f\ irpbs <rvvov<rtas ^Kvdjtovs Xvrrdv. It is curious that modern commen-
tators on the N.T. overlook passages so illustrative of Matthew xix. 12.
To the Aryan races, like the Greeks and Romans, the practice of
eunuchism was somewhat abhorrent, and so soon as the Christian church
became in the main a church of the Gentiles, it hastened to discoun-
tenance a practice, which however its founder seems to have regarded with
approval, and which may even have constituted one of the flagitia alleged
again.st the early Christians. (See Origen Comm. on Matt. xix. 12, and
Clem. Alexand. Ed. Syllb., p. 229B, 468c, 451 a.)

General Preface, 25

female" (Gal. iii. '^'^). Marriage was to his
mind a second best, just so much distraction from
the business of the Lord, whether for man or for
woman (i Cor. vii. 34). ''Art thou loosed from
a wife ? then seek not one." However it was
better to marry than to burn, and if a man found
that he could not restrain himself and live on
platonic terms with his virgin, then he did best
to marry her (i Cor. vii. 36).^

The precept not to marry, like the companion >^
precept to possess no riches, was thus originally
meant to prepare men for the kingdom of heaven
which was at hand. But as the years rolled by, '
the expectation of the second coming and of the \
thousand years reign of Christ on earth, grew dim \
and receded into the background of the Christian
mind. And it is an effort to us, as we read to-day \
the apocalyptic passages of the New Testament,. !
to realise that they were written in view of a \
millennium w^hich was to come even during the <
lifetime of the hearers of Jesus.

But although the old apocalyptic dream thus
faded away, the belief in virginity as the true
state of the elect has survived in
\ some churches even to the present superior 'hoii-
\ day. With the early fathers vir- ness of virgina

1 • • ^ T survived in

I gmity was a never-endmg, never- the Church,
'^failing topic for edificatory hymns

* From this passage we incidentally learn that those platonic marriages
between Christians were already common in Paul's day, which Cyprian
of Carthage was obliged to interdict on pain of excommunication, because
of the frequent abuses to which they give rise.

26 Monu7nents of Early Christianity,

fand discourses. It was also a fertile source of
martyrdoms, and many were the maidens who,
being betrothed and their nuptials arranged, took
a sudden resolution to remain virgins ; and in
such cases the outraged, but ungallant, bridegroom
often consoled himself by accusing his mistress
of Christianity. In the Acts of S. Peter, which
are certainly very old, though of course their
attribution to Linus is false, we read that that
apostle by his preaching persuaded many women
old and young, rich and poor, to take vows of
virginity.^ In the fourth century when the Church
conquered the world or the world the Church, a
1 compromise was effected ; and those who wished
\ to practise the tenets of primitive Christian
poverty and purity took shelter from the now
j all-absorbing world within the walls of nunneries
' .and monasteries, k

A few words are necessary in conclusion as to
the method I have pursued in editing these trans-
lations. Where there exist other
Method pur- ancient texts besides the Armenian

sued in these , i t i i i i • r

translations. translated, 1 nave added m toot-
notes the chief varieties of text
which they furnish ; in order to give the reader
an idea of the development which a text has at
various times undergone. In the case of the

^ Martyrium beati Petri, cap. i. : ** Unde factum est ut beati Petri ser-
monibus magnuspudicitiae apud multas diversoe aetatis ac potestatis seu nobi-
litatis foeminas amor exarserit, ita ut pleroeque etiam Romanorum matronse
a commixtione uirilis thori seruare munda corda simul et corpora, quantum
ex ipsis erat, diligerent." These Acts are an admiral^le commentary on the
fitory of Paul and Thekla.

General Preface. 27

Apology of Apollonius which I have been so
fortunate as to detect in the Armenian martyro-
logy, I have added many notes illustrative of the
text. I have also prefixed to each piece an
introduction discussing its authenticity and any
other questions of interest which arise in con-
nection with it.

In the martyrology, printed at Venice in 1874,
there still remains enough of interest to make a
second volume as large as this. I have chiefly
translated those pieces which are new and hitherto
unknown, e.g. the Acts of Apollonius, a.d. 185,
of Quadratus or Codratius, c. a.d. 250, of Hizti-
bouzit, a converted magus ; or those which in
the Armenian assume such a shape, that the
question of their spuriousness needs to be re-
argued. Of the latter class the Acts of Phocas, of
Eugenia, and of Thekla are the most important.
The first of these turns out to be a partly genuine
monument of the Bithynian persecution, in which
Pliny was concerned. The second has been
strangely confirmed by recent discoveries in the
Roman catacombs. The third adds a new and
genuine chapter to the history of S. Paul.

(

THE APOLOGY AND ACTS OF
APOLLONIUS.

/OuR first example is drawn from the reign of Commodus. By

/ this time, as Eusebius informs us, the new faith had made

many converts, not only among the poor of
T^ V . .1- • u J u^ Air Evidence of

1 Rome, but among the rich and noble. We Eusebius.

I have the statement of Eusebius that Apol-

lonius was renowned for his culture and philosophy ; it is also

\ probable that he was a man of exalted and even senatorial

rank. This alone would explain the circumstance that Perennis,

before whom he was brought to trial, asked him to defend

himself before the Senate. The date of his martyrdom is

known from the fourth century catalogue of martyrs by Liberius,

also from the Roman and other calendars, to have been

185 A.D.

The tone of the martyr's defence then delivered, is full of
solemn force and simplicity, and gives the reader a loftier
idea of the Christianity of the time than the
florid special pleading of Tertullian, whose '^^^^^ij'^^^
Apology for Christianity is later only by a Stoical,

few years. If the philosopher on the throne,
Marcus Aurelius, had been a Christian and had been sum-
moned to give an account of his religion, he would, we feel,
have given just such a one as this.

By way of preface it is best to give a translation of the 21st
chapter of the fifth book of the history of the Church by
Eusebius, which has hitherto ^ contained all that was known of
this martyr. It is as follows : —

^ That is to say by European scholars. It is significant of the general
and undeserved disregard of Armenian literature, that these Acts although

30 Monuments of Early Christianity.

" And about the same period of the reign of Comodus,*

our affairs took a change in the direction of clemency ; and by

God's grace peace came over the Churches

Text of of the entire world. This was the time when

HisrEccl ^^^ saving word led the souls of all men, of

V. 21. * every race, to the reverent worship of the
God of all things. So that by this time
numbers of those who in Rome were most distinguished for
their wealth and family came and received for their own the
salvation which was prepared for every house and every race.
Now this was more than the demon who hates what is good
and is envious by his very nature could endure. So he
stripped himself again for the contest, and contrived a variety
of fresh plots against us. And in Rome accordingly he brought
before the tribunal Apollonius, a man who among the believers-
of that day was renowned for his culture and philosophy ; and
to accuse this man he incited one of his own servants who are
suited thereunto. But the unhappy man went into the suit
in an ill-starred way, for, according to the regulation of the
Emperor, it was not permitted that those who informed against
such as Apollonius should live. And he had his legs broken,
for the Judge Perennius pronounced such a sentence upon

printed by the Mechitarists of Venice as long ago as 1874, were neither
noticed nor translated into any European tongue, until I printed this
English rendering of them in the Guardian of i8th June, 1893. Yet during
the last ten years the notice of Apollonius in Eusebius' history has been
discussed and rediscussed, and the loss of the Acts themselves lamented
by Gorres and Neumann in Germany, Aube in France, and many others.
Upon my drawing his attention to them, Prof. Harnack of Berlin imme-
diately contributed a learned monograph upon them to the Royal Prussian
hzzA^vny {Sitzung der Phil. Hist. Classe vom z"} Juli^ 1893). He writes
of them thus : " Es ist in der That die vornehmste Apologie des Christen-
thum, die wir aus dem Alterthum besitzen. Ein edler Sinn, muthig abet
nicht trotzig, spricht aus ihr. Die Antworten zeichnen sich durch Festig-
keit und Wiirde, Freimuth und Ruhr aus ; sie iiberraschen an einigen
Stellen durch ihre Schlagfertigkeit." I take this opportunity of acknow-
ledging my indebtedness to Prof. Harnack's prompt monograph, from
which he has allowed me to borrow in my notes much material.

^ The name Commodus is spelt in the same way in the Armenian Acta,
Commodus reigned A.D. 180-92.

The Apology and Acts of the Apollonius. 31

him. But the martyr so dear to God, after that the judge-
had besought him much and earnestly, and asked him to give
an account of himself before the Senate, delivered a most rea-
sonable defence before all of the faith for which he was being:
martyred,^ and then was beheaded, and so reached his con-
summation, in accordance, it seems, with the decree of the
Senate, for there is an ancient law which prevails among them,
that those who have once come before the court and will not
change their resolution, shall not be excused on any ground.
In the compilation which we have made of old martyrdoms
you may learn what was said by him before the judge and the
answers which he gave to the questions of Perennius ; and the
whole defence which he made to the Senate; this whoever
wishes may know from beginning to end."

Hieronymus does not appear to have had any other know-
ledge of Apollonius than is given in the passage of Eusebius
just quoted ; for in his catalogue of Christian
writers he gives us (c. 42) the following j^ ®^^® °

notice : " Apollonius, Romanae urbis senator
sub Commodo principe a servo proditus quod Christianus
esset, impetrato ut rationem fidei suae redderet, insigne volu-
men composuit, quod in senatu legit; et nihilo minus sententia
senatus pro Christo capite truncatur, veteri apud eos obtinente
lege, absque negatione non dimitti Christianos, qui semel ad
eorum indicium pertracti essent." In the above the words "in-
signe volumen " are, as Prof. Harnack points
out, due to the characteristic exaggeration Inaccuracy
of Hieronymus, and the words " impetrato ^^^d want of
ut" to mere inability to construe the Greek of Greek^cholar-
Eusebius which lay before him. In point of Jerome's

fact the Apology which the Armenian Church account,

has preserved to us is very brief, and it was
Perennis the prefect who begged Apollonius to defend himself
before the Senate, not Apollonius who begged to be allowed to
do so. Another statement in the above extract of Hieronymus
which goes beyond the account of Eusebius is also merely due

^ Or "the faith to which he was witnessing."

32 Monuments of Early Christianity.

to hasty and inaccurate translation of the Greek. It is that
Apollonius was betrayed by one of his own servants. What
Eusebius said was that one of the devil's servants who are
iilways ready for such jobs/ betrayed Apollonius. No fourth-
form boy could have made more errors in translating these
twenty lines of Eusebius than does Hieronymus.

Eusebius makes the remarkable statement that the informer

was immediately afterwards condemned by Perennis to have

his legs broken in accordance with an im-

Addition perial edict. This statement has already

^^®*^*^® moved the suspicion of several writers ;i

Eusebius. ^or is it likely that an informer would be

punished for giving information which led
to condemnation and beheadal of the accused. The Armenian
Acts give no hint of such a circumstance, though it may have
been contained in them in their complete form. Harnack
is of opinion that it was stated in them that the informer
had his legs broken, and that Eusebius out of his own con-
jecture ascribed this action to an imaginary edict of Marcus
Aurelius, which he had just before given in his history (bk. v.,
ch. 5, § 6). This imaginary edict threatened informers against
Christians with death in consequence of the so-called miracle
of the Thundering Legion. The entire statement may have
arisen out of the fact that in all their histories of martyrdoms
the early Christians liked to learn that those who had brought
suffering on the martyrs suffered retribution even in this life.
This leads up to the question whether

Trustworthi- these Acts of Apollonius are trustworthy and
ness of these , ^^ , • , ,

Acts. authentic. Of this there cannot be any

doubt, and for these reasons : —

1. Their tone is thoroughly that of the second century.
They are simple and forcible, and there are no miraculous
additions. As Harnack remarks : " They bear the stamp of
life and genuineness."

2. Tertullian must have read them, if he really imitates
them in his Apology which he wrote a.d. 197. Prof. Harnack

* E.g. C. F. Neumann.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius. 2^7)

thinks that Tertullian has so imitated §§ 19, 38, 41 of Apol-
lonius.

3. In any case the shorthand notes of Apollonius' trial were
accessible to the fellow-religionists of the condemned, and
these were doubtless used by the writer of these Acts.

4. Eusebius reckoned these Acts to be genuine, and on that
account gave them a place in his collection of old martyrdoms,
a work which is now, sad to say, lost to us. This in itself is
strong evidence in favour of them. For in other cases where
Eusebius mentions particular Acta to be genuine, and where
time has preserved to us the documents so mentioned, we
never find his judgment astray.

The close resemblance between § 4 and a passage in the
Acts of Polycarp, proves at the best that the second century
redactor of the Acts of Apollonius had seen
those of Polycarp. But the answer is so Resemblance

• , . * , r 1 to Acts of

often met with m Acta, that we may safely Polycarp.

infer that it was the stereotyped reply which

Christians were taught to give to magistrates who pressed them

to recant.

The simplicity of the Creed which Apollonius formulates has
already been dwelt upon in our general preface. It is fresh
evidence of the early date of these Acts.
We may almost infer that the martyr had of Apollonius.
not heard of the legend of the birth of Christ
from a virgin. And if he knew of the resurrection he does
not think it necessary to allude to it. What attracted him in
Christianity was clearly its superior morality, its teachings of
I truthfulness, mercy, purity of life, of lofty monotheism far
removed from the idolatrous cults around him.

Taken in conjunction with the passage in the History of
Eusebius, the procedure which seems to have been followed
in the case of Apollonius calls for a good
deal of remark. But on so technical a mat- Procedure fol-
. T . u . c .X. J. . .1- lowed m trial

ter 1 am content to refer the reader to the ^^ Apollonius.

monograph of Prof. A. Harnack, to which I

have already referred; and will proceed at once to give a

translation of the Armenian Acts themselves. In printing

34 Monuments of Early Christianity,

them I have observed the division into sections which Har-
nack has made in his German edition, to which I owe those
of my footnotes which are subscribed A. H.

THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY APOLLONIUS,
ASCETIC.

Christ, Who giveth all things, prepareth a
crown of righteousness for those who are well-
minded and stand firm by the faith in God ; for
the chosen ones of God are called to this right-
eousness, in order that, having fought the good
fight with fortitude, they may attain the promises
which God, Who lies not,^ hath promised to those
who love Him and believe in Him with their
whole soul. One of these also was the blessed
martyr and goodly champion^ of Christ, Apol-
lonius. He had lived a good and ascetic life in
the great Rome,^ and, desirous of the earnest * of
his heavenly call, he was numbered among the
holy martyrs of Christ. The blessed one bore
witness before the Senate and Terentius the Pre-
fect,^ and gave his answers with great boldness,
whose memorials ^ are as follows : —

^ The Arm. = d\|/6v8i^s. A. H. notes that this introduction is composed
of passages from the Pastoral Epistles, see 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8 ; i Tim. vi. 17;
Tit. i. 2. With d\|/cv8i^s comp. the Acts of Poly carp 14, 2 : 6 d«|/€v8'jjs Kai
dXT]6ivbs Geos.

2 d9XT]Ti^s probably stood in the Greek original.

^ The expression " in the great Rome " shows that this introduction was
not written in Rome. A*. H.

^ The Arm. here = Kal o-irovSao-as dppa^wva t>]v dvw kXtJo-iv (? ttjs
&v« kXtjo-cus). Comp. Eph. i. 14 ; Phil. iii. 14.

^ The Arm. literally = xi^tapx-qs. The Text of Eusebius has Perennius,
who was prefect of the Praetorian guard in the reign of Commodus. Per-
ennis was the real name. Terentius is an obvious corruption of Perennius,
either in an early Greek text or in the Armenian itself.

^ Or Acts. /^SE LIBR^

OP THE

UNIVERSITY

CALJFORNlA:

36 Monuments of Early Christianity.

I. Terentius, the Prefect, commanded that he
should be brought before the Senate, and said to
him — '' O Apollonius, wherefore dost thou resist
the invincible laws and decree of the Emperors,
and dost refuse to sacrifice to the gods ? " 2.
Apollonius said — '' Because I am a Christian ;
therefore, I fear God Who made heaven and
earth, and sacrifice not to empty idols."

3. The Prefect said — '* But thou oughtest to
repent of this mind of thine because of the edicts
of the Emperors, and take oath by the good for-

§ I. The Acts cannot have begun in this way ; for not only do we not
learn how the accusation came to be made, though Eusebius must have
known in order to write as he does, but the personal details are also lacking.
— The expression ** commanded " agrees with the words of Eusebius trans-
lated above from the H. E., v. 21, § 4 : iroXXcL Xiirapws iK€T€v<ravTos tov
SiKao-TOv Kttl Xd-yov avrbv lirl ttjs ctu-ykXtItov povXTJs alr-^o-avros. — Un-
fortunately no reason is assigned for the accused being brought before the
senate ; neither is Apollonius called a senator. The hearing of the case
as here related takes place before the Prefect and the Senate. — There was
no general edict prior to the reign of Decius compelling every Christian to
sacrifice. All that is here referred to is the rule allowed by Trajan and
then repeatedly insisted upon, especially by M. Aurelius, that every Chris-
tian when accused should sacrifice ; see the Acta Carpi et Papyli, 4 :
lYvoxTTttt (Toi irdvTws rd irpocrrdYjiaTa twv Avyovotwv ircpl tov Sciv v}ids
(T^Pciv Tovs 06OVS TOWS xd irdvTa SioiKOVvras • 80€V <rup.povX€vft) {i|Jiiv
irpoo-eXOeiv kuI Svcrai (cf. Texte u. (Inters, z. altchristl. Litt.-Gesch., III. s.
454 f.). Acts of Polyc. 8 : t£ -ydp KaK<5v Io-tiv clrrctv, Kvpios Kaicrof , Kal
4iri6v(rai, etc. A. H.

§ 3. For the name Comodus see Eusebius. For the fact narrated com-
pare Tertull. Apol. 28 ff. and in particular the Acts of Polycarp, 9 : 6
dv0uiraTos . . . ^irciSev dpvcio-Oci X^-ywv al8^<r0TiT£ (rov t\v T|XiKiav,
Kal ^Tcpa TovTois dx^XovOa, usIBosavTois X^-yciv 6|xo<rov t^v Ka^o-opos
TVX1V, (JtcTavoTjo-ov, cf. § 10. In Acta Scillit. (p. 112 ed. Robinson) the
proconsul Saturninus says : **et nos religiosi sumus, et simplex est religio
nostra et iuramus per genium domini nostri imperatoris, et pro salute eius
supplicamus, quod et uos quoque facere debetis." A. H. Compare also
Minucii Felicis Octavius, cap. 29 : Sic eorum numen inuocant, ad imagines
supplicant, genium id est dcemonem rei implorant ; et est eis tutius per
lovis genium peierare quam regis.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius. 37

tune of the autocrat Commodus." 4. Apollonius
replied — ''Hear with understanding this my
answer. He who repents of just and good works,
in truth such a man is godless and without hope ;
but he who repents of lawless deeds and of evil
thoughts, and returns not again to them, such a
one is a lover of God, and hath regard to the
hope. 5. And I now am firmly resolved in this
my mind to keep the beautiful and glorious com-
mand of God, w^hich He taught by my Lord
Christ, Who knoweth the thoughts of men, and
beholdeth whatsoever is done in secret or in the
open. 6. It is best to swear not at all, but in all

§ 4. Comp. Acts of Polyc. ii. : d|X€Td9€Tos t|Hiv tj airb t«v Kpcixrdvwv
lirl TO, X^^P" fiCTOLVoia* KaXbv 8^ (icTaT^Oeo-Oat aTrb twv xaX,€ir»v lirl tcL
SiKaia. Armenian Acts of Eustratius (vol. i. p. 441 of the Venice Martyr-
ology) : The duke said : " O Eustratius, unless you repent and turn back
from your superstitious folly, expect not to be saved from my hands by
reason of the pernicious counsels you have espoused." The holy Eustratius
answered : " O Lysias, they ought to repent who drift from things that are
good into badness, but not they who spurning evil deeds and designs
follow after the truth. Even as I from the beginning have followed after
the just laws of my true God."

§ 5. KaXbv Kttl ^v8o|ov. For use of lv8o|ov see I. Clem. 9, 19, 23, 34,
43, 45, 58. A. H.

§ 6. Harnack prefers a rendering which is equally compatible with the
Armenian : Ich will wahrhaftig schworen bei dem wahren Gott, obschon
wir auch den Kaiser lieben und fUr seine Majestat Gebete darbringen. He
remarks thus : We may notice the circumspection of the accused ; he
recognises that the oath is necessary in this bad world ; but only the oath
by God is allowable. He exemplifies the prohibition of swearing from
Matt. v. 34 ff. ; Jacob v. 12 ; Justin, Apol. i. 16. Trepl %\ tov (i^ 6|i.vvvai
8X«s TdXT]0fi h\ XcYCiv del, otirtos irapcKcXevo-aTO k.t.X. To which I may
add the following references. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, bk. ii. ch. 8,
Whiston's translation : " They (the Essenes) are eminent for fidelity and
are the ministers of peace. Whatsoever they say also is firmer than an
oath. But swearing is avoided by them ; and they esteem it worse than
perjury. For they say, that he who cannot be believed without swearing
by God, is already condemned." op-yfjs ra^iax 8iKaioi, dvp.ov KaOcKTiKoC

38 Monuments of Early Christianity,

things to live in peace and truth ; for a great oath
is the truth, and for this reason is it a bad and an
ill thing to swear by Christ ; but because of false-
hood is there disbelief, and because of disbelief
there is swearing. I am willing to swear in truth
by the true God that we, too, love the Emperor,
and offer up prayers for his Majesty."

7. The Prefect said — " Come, then, and sacri-
fice to Apollo, and to the other gods, and to the
Emperor s image." 8. Apollonius said — ** As to

irio-Wws irpoo-TaTat, elp'^vt^s virovp'yof. Kal irav yXv rb p-qO^v vir'
avTwv lirxvp^Tcpov 6pKov, rb %\ 6)ivv€kv 'ir€pi£<rTavTai xetpov ti tt]S
^iriopKCas vTroXafi^dvovTCS. "JjStj ^cLp Karryvaio-Bai <f>a<rl rb dirtcTTOvncvov
S^xtt Ocov. The ordinance not to swear was older than Jesus of Nazareth,
for in Philo de x oracuUs 2, 194, we read : KdXXi<rTov 8^ Kal Pi(D<|>€X^<rTa-
Tov Kttl ap)i<iTTOv Xo-yiK^^ <)>v(r€k to av(&(iOTov, oiJTws «iXTi0cv€iv c<j>* €Kd<rToy
ScSiSa-y^JL^VQ, ws tovs Xo-yovs 6pKovs ctvai vo}iCt<o-6ai. Aevrcpos 84 <|>a<ri
irXovs tJ) cvopKctV ^r\ -ydp Ofivvs €ls airnrriav virovoeirat. This is
exactly the thought of Apollonius, And the following passage of Philo
has a superficial resemblance to the very words of the Gospel. "A^tov
liraivckV Kal tovs, oirdrc ^lao-Ocicv ofivvvai., tw (lAXciv Kal Ppa8vvciv Kal
diroKVHV luiroiovvras %io% ov |i<ivov rots 6p«<riv, aXXcL koI tois irpo-
KoXovft^vois els rbv 6pKov' clwOao-i 'ydp dva(f>dcY|d)Jievok too-ovtov )i6vov
" W| T<Jv" \ *' (Jtd Tov," }tT]8^v irapaXap<5vT€S, 4p.<}>do-€i rijs diroKoirTi$,
Tpavovv 8pKov ov •ycviJp.cvov {de spec. Legibus^ 2, 271).

§ 7. Since Apollo is here the first of the gods to be mentioned and in-
deed the only one mentioned by name, it is probable that the session of
the Senate was held in Palatio and actually \v rtj" ' AiroXX«DvC<p, see Momm-
sen, Rom. Staatsrechty III. 2 (1888), s. 929, n. 3; Preller-Jordan, Rom.
Mythologies i* s. 147 ff. 307 ff. — As regards the Emperor's image see
Plinii Ep. ad Traianum (96) : ** . . . et imagini Tuse, quam propter
hoc iusseram cum simulacris numinum adferri, ture ac uino supplicarent,"
etc. See also Acta Carpi : 9vo-aC o-c 8€t* oi^rcus "ydp ^k^cvo-cv 6 avroKpdTup.
A. H.

§ 8. •• Bloodless Sacrifice," see Justin, Dial. c. Tryph. 117, 118, 41, also
under § 44. A. H. Compare also Minucii Fel. Oct. cap. 32 : hostias
et uictimas deo offeram, quas in usum mihi protulit, ut reiciam ei suum
munus ? ingratum est, cum sit litabilis hostia bonus animus et pura mens
et sincera conscientia. Igitur qui innocentiam colit, deo supplicat, qui
iustitiam, deo libat, qui fraudibus abstinet, propitiat deum, qui hominem
periculo subripit, (deo) opimam uictimam caedit.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius. 39

my change of mind, and as to the oath, I have
given thee answer ; but as to sacrifices, I and all
Christians offer a bloodless sacrifice to God, Lord
of heaven and earth, and of the sea, and of every
living being, in behalf of the spiritual and rational
images who have been appointed by the provi-
dence of God to rule over the earth. 9. Where-
fore, according to the command of the God-given
precept, we make our prayers to Him Who dwells
in Heaven, Who is the only God, that they may
justly rule upon this earth, knowing for certain
that he (i,e. Commodus) also is established Em-
peror, through none other, but only through the
one King, God, Who holds every one in His
hand." 10. The Prefect said — ** Surely thou wast
not summoned hither to talk philosophy. I will
give thee one day's respite, that thou mayest
consider thine interest and advise thyself con-
cerning thy life." And he ordered him to be
taken to prison.

1 1 . And after three days he commanded him

§ 9. *' Divine precept" : Apollonius refers to i Tim. ii. i f. ; Compare
the prayer at the close of the 1st Ep. of Clement. A. H. — Perhaps the
sense of the original was ** that they {j..e. the spiritual and rational images
of God) may be justly ruled " ; for the passive and active forms are com-
monly confused in Armenian MSS. — "that he also, etc." The pronoun
here refers back to the Emperor mentioned in § 7.

§ 10. Monotheism was favourably regarded as a philosophy, but when it
went with refusal to sacrifice it was deemed to be obstinate folly. See
Harnack's note on Acta Carpi, 9. In § 23 the Prefect wonders at the
"philosophy" of Apollonius ; in § 31 he politely rejects his teaching as
unintelligible.

§ II. The "three days" must be an error; for not only in § 10, but
also §§ 43, 44 but a single day (night) is spoken of. A. H. — I have
rendered "hast thou formed for thyself," or "given to thyself." The
literal sense of the Arm. is " have I given to thee ; " but, if we assume

40 Mo7iuments of Early Christianity.

to be brought forward, and said to him — " What
counsel hast thou formed for thyself?" 12.
Apollonius answered — " To remain firm in my
religion, as I told thee before." 13. The Prefect
said — '* Because of the decree of the Senate I ad-
vise thee to repent and to sacrifice to the gods
to whom all the earth gives homage and sacri-
fices ; for it is far better for thee to live among us
than to die a miserable death. Methinks thou art
not unacquainted with the decree of the Senate."
14. Apollonius said — "I know the command of the
Omnipotent God, and I remain firm in my religion;
and I do no homage to idols made with hands,
which have been fashioned of gold and silver and
wood, and which neither see nor hear ; because
they are the work of men's hands, and they know
not the true service of God. 15. But I have
learnt to adore the heavenly God, and to do
homage to Him alone, Who breathed the breath
of life into all men and continually dispenses life

an infinitesimal corruption in the text, the sense becomes that which the
context demands, and which I accordingly print in the text.

§ 13. The sententia or resolution of the Senate is twice referred to ; here
it suddenly takes the place of a reference to the Emperor's edict. A. H.

It is a trite fact that Commodus was greatly influenced by his Christian
mistress to be lenient to Christians. Perhaps on that account he left as
much as he could of the responsibility of the dealing with them to the
Senate, who may have been in this matter more conservative and less
lenient than the Emperor.

§ 14. See § 19. Ps. cxv. 135. Habak. ii. 19. Jes. xliv. 9 ff. A. H.—
These words and similar came instinctively to the lips of every early
martyr. — "And they know." Here "they" must refer to *♦ men " just
before. I translate the Arm. as it stands.

§ 15. See Acts xvii. 24 : avr^s 8i8ovs irao-t \vA\yf Kal irvo^v Kal rd.
vdvra.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius. 41

unto all. 16. And I will not again debase my-
self and cast myself down into the pit. For it is
a great shame to do homage to vile things, and it
is a servile action to adore what is vain. And
men sin in adoring such things. Foolish were
those who invented them, and yet more senseless
they that adore them and honour them. 1 7. The
Egyptians do homage to an onion in their folly.
18. The Athenians unto this very day make and
adore the head of an ox in copper, which they
call the good fortune of Athens. And this they
have even set up in a conspicuous place near to
the statue of Zeus and Heracles, in order that
they may pray to them. 19. And yet what more
is this than dried clay or a baked potsherd ?

§ 16. The worship of idols is self-degradation (see § 20) ; cp. the ques-
tion in Tatian's Orat. 19 : <rt» Tciv ^wwv Kal <J>vTft)v cXoLttwv {nrdpxeis ,
— "I will not again debase, " or "I will not any more debase." The follow-
ing upon § 15, "I have leained," proves that Apollonius was a convert
who had been brought up as a Pagan. Philo thus always speaks of the
Jews as not simply having learned, but as having learned from birth to
abhor polytheistic error, e.g.^ D.V.C., vol. ii. 481, ot Mwvo-cws -Yvcopiftot
|X6)j.a6T]K6T68 €K TTpttTTis T|X.iKtas cp^v dXTjOcias.

§ 18. Hr. Michaelis of Strassburg, communicates to A. H. a note upon
the Good Fortune of Athens (lit. of Athenians). "I know of no direct testi-
mony to such a brazen ox-head. By the 'good fortune' must here be meant
either a rvxT *A9Tjvaio)v {rvyj\ rfjs irdXccDS, Athen. Mitth. 1883, p. 288,
set up in the Piraeus towards the middle of the second century after Chr.),
or an d-yaQ-fj tvx.t) or if the gender permits an d-yaGbs Aaip.a)v. On the
other hand I know of a combined cult of Zeus and Heracles, CIA. II.,
616, line 21 ff. Iiraiv€<ras 8^ Kal tovs eirtiieXTiTds Kal tovs Upoirotoiis t<5-
StoTfjpi Kttl T(S 'HpaK\€i Ka\ Tois ScoTTJpo-iv, ctc." It sccms as if Apollo-
nius had himself witnessed in Athens the cult which he describes. A. H.
Comp. Minucii Fel. Oct. cap. 28 §§ 7-9, and especially the words : item
boum capita et capita ueruecum et immolatis et colitis, de capro etiam at
homine mixtos deos et leonum et canum multu deos dedicatis.

§ 19. Comp. Tert. Ap. 14 : Socrates in contumeliam deorum quercum
et hircum et canem deierabat. A. H.

42 Monuments of Early Christianity,

Eyes have they, and see not ; ears have they, and
hear not : hands they have, but draw not things to
themselves; feet have they, and walk not; for the
mere form bestoweth not real substance ; and I
think that Socrates also was making ridicule of the
Athenians when he swore by the poplar tree, and
by the dog, and by dry wood. 20. In the first
place, men sin against themselves by worship-
ping them. 21. In the second place, they are
guilty of impiety towards God, because they do
not know the truth. The Egyptians, again, have

§ 21. For the cult of the dove cp. Philo, Sermo II. de Provid. Mangey
ed. ii. 646. Clem, Al. Coh. ad Gentes, p. 25, is the only other passage in
Christian apologists where I have met any notice of its cult. Perhaps
Christians were charitable to the cult, because they had themselves inherited
from the Pagans the belief that this particular bird was in an especial manner
the messenger and indeed the visual embodiment of the Divine Spirit (see
Matt. iii. 16, Luke iii. 32). The comparison of the holy Spirit or Reason
of God to the <{>iX^pT]|io$ rpvYcuv, ** the desert-loving pigeon " is found in
Philo Judseus, vol. ii., p. 491, and elsewhere. The Talmudists so compared
the Spirit of God which moved upon the face of the waters to a dove (Gen.
i, 2). From Philo the comparison passed to Clenjent of Rome, the friend
of St. Paul (see Fragm. 8). Perhaps through Clement or his school it
made its way into the Gospels and has become in Luke's Gospel not a
mere comparison and metaphor, but a material confusion of one thing
with another. See also Carm. Sibyl., vii. 83, where God sends down upon
Jesus at the Jordan 6pviv airayyeXTfipa Xd^wv. The gospel story then
is compounded out of two pre-existent elements : i. The comparison of
the Spirit of God to a Tpv-ywv, which we have in Philo and in the Talmud.
2. The belief that birds, especially doves, were messengers of the gods,
which was the basis of ancient augury, and still survives among us, e.g.^
in our superstitions as to ravens, magpies, etc.

§ 21. For the Egyptian cult of a mortar cp. Minuc. Fel. Oct., cap. 23 :
et deus aereus uel argenteus de immundo uasculo, ut accepimus factum
Aegyptio regi, conflatur tunditur malleis et in incudibus figuratur ; et
lapideus deus caeditur, etc. Theophilus of Antioch declaims in the same
style against the Egyptian superstitions. Philo of Alexandria is the source
of all the later and Christian rationalistic invective against the Egyptian
cults; comp. for example in Mangey's edition the following passages : 2.
193. 2. 570. I. 374. 2. 76, 2. 472.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius. 43

given the name of God to the onion, and to a
wooden mortar, and to the fruits of the field,
which we feed upon, and which enter the belly,
and pass out into the sweepings ; these things
have they adored ; aye, and they do homage to
a fish, and to the dove, and to the dog, and to a
stone, and a wolf; and they worship every one of
them, the fictions of their own minds. 22. In the
third place, men sin whenever they pay homage
to men and to angels and to demons, naming
them gods."

23. The Prefect answered — ''You have philo-
sophised enough, and have filled us with admira-
tion ; but dost thou not know this, O Apollonius,
that it is the decree of the Senate that no one
shall be named a Christian anywhere at all ?"
24. Apollonius answered — *'Aye, but it is not
possible for a human decree of the Senate to pre-
vail over the decree of God. For so far as
men frivolously hate those who benefit them and
slay them, just in this wise in many ways men
stand aloof from God. 25. But know thou this,
that God has appointed death, and after death
judgment upon all, over kings and poor men.

§ 22, This passage is indirectly aimed against the worship of the
Emperor.

§ 23. There are here two readings in the Arm. MSS. The one = ne
omnino christianus ubicunque appareat. The other = ne omnino chris-
tianus ubicunque nominetur. The latter is the true reading, for it was
penal to call oneself even by the mere name of Christian. But this rule
was made by the emperors already in the first century and not by the
Senate. Cp. Justin. Ap. i. 4. to 6vo|i.a «s ?\€"yx.ov Xa}j,pdv6T6.

§ 24. Between the first and second propositions of this § it seems as if
we must assume a lacuna of some length. A. H.

44 Monuments of Early Christianity.

rulers and slaves and freemen, and philosophers
and ignorant men. 26. But there is a distinction
of death (from death) ; for this reason the dis-
ciples of Christ do daily die, torturing their
desires, and mortifying them according to the
Divine Scriptures. For we have no part at all
in dissolute desires, nor do we allow impure
sights, nor a lewd glance, nor an ear that listens
to evil, lest our souls be wounded thereby. 27.
But since we live such a fair life, and exercise
such good resolutions, we think it no hardship to-
die for the true God ; for whatsoever we are, we
are because of God, and for Him we endure
tortures, that we may not die miserably the
everlasting death. 28. And moreover we do not
resent having our goods taken from us, because
we know that, whether we live or whether we
die, we are the Lord's. Fever, or jaundice, or

§ 26. Cp. Minucii Fel, Oct. 30 : nobis homicidium nee uidere fas nee
audire. Idem, eap. 32 : At nos pudorem non facie, sed mente prxstamus :
unius matrimonii uinculo libenter inhaeremus, eupiditate procreandi aut
unam scimus aut nullain. Conuiuia non tantum pudica colimus sed el
sobria . . . plerique inuiolate corporis uirginitate perpetua fruuntur
potius quam gloriantur ; tantum denique abest incesti cupido, ut nonnuUis
rubori sit etiam pudica coniunctio.

§ 26. The Arm. «= dW d<}>opi(r|i<Js ^(ttiv tov 6avdTov. I owe to A. H.
a perception of the true sense, which is that there is more than one kind of
death, viz. : spiritual as well as bodily death. — By the Divine Scriptures
Apollonius here refers to Gal. v. 24 (vi. 14 ; Rom. vi. 6) ; the Pauline
Epistles are therefore to him divine writings, see §§ 9, 39.

§ 28. For loss of property cp. Heb. x. 34 : t^v dpira-y^v t»v
{nrapxovTuv vfiuv jicrd xapds irpoa-e8^|ao-0e. Perhaps the lost introduc-
tion to these Acts referred to confiscation of the goods of Apollonius. Cp.
.\thenag., Suppl. i and the enactment of Marcus Aurelius in regard to for-
feiture of goods even after death in ease of high treason (majestas); Cod-
Just. 9, 8, 6. What follows is word for word from Rom. xiv. 8. A. H.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius, 45

any other disease can slay a man. I may expect
to die from one or the other of these."

29. The Prefect said— ''Art thou bent upon
death?" 30. Apollonius answered — "It is my
desire to Hve in Christ, but I have no fear of
•death, because of any love of life ; for there is not
anything that is more estimable than the life
eternal, which is the source of deathlessness for
the soul that hath lived here a noble life." 31.
The Prefect said — " I do not understand thy
meaning." 32. Apollonius said — ''And what can
I do for thee ? for the Word of God illumines
the heart, as the light gives sight to our eyes."

33. A certain philosopher who was at hand
said — " O Apollonius, thou dost insult thyself,
for thou art gone exceedingly astray, although
though dost even think to speak profound truths."
34. Apollonius said — " I have learnt to pray and
not to insult ; but thy dissembling bears witness to
the blindness of thy heart, for the truth appears
to be an insult only to the senseless. 35. The
magistrate said — "Tell me plainly what thou didst
mean." 36. Apollonius answered — " The Word

§30 "Source." The Arm. = mother. For a similar and almost con-
temporary use of p-TiTi^p see Galen irepl ^vxi]S ira0«v, 53 : Katroi tovtwv
airao-wv ovk &v 6KV'i](rai|xi ({>dvai |j.T]Tcpa irXeoveliav. I have met with
the same use in later Acta. — A. H. remarks on the distinction made by
Apollonius between tw^ alcovtos and d8avao-ia ; the former is general and
causative, the entire future world, the latter like d(t>6ap(ria is a gift there-
from to the individual soul. Comp. II. Clem, ad Cor. 20, 5 : apxTlYov
TTjs d(j)9ap(rtas, 8t' o5 Kal €(f>avEpa)cr€v rjiiiv t'^v dXi^Qetav Kal t-^v CTrovpd-
viov yai\v.

§32. The Arm. = nam uidens cordis est uerbum Dei, sicut perspicax
oculorum lumen. Might the sense be, that the word reaches the seeing
heart as light the seeing eye ?

46 Monu7nents of Early Christianity.

of God, the Saviour of souls and of bodies, be-
came man in Judsea and fulfilled all righteousness^
and was filled gloriously with Divine wisdom,
and taught a pure religion, such as beseemed the
sons of men, and to put to silence the beginning
of sins. -^"j. For He taught us to pacify anger,
to moderate desire, to abate and diminish ap-
petite, to put away sorrow, to take part in pity,
to increase love, to cast away vain-glory, to ab-
stain from taking vengeance, not to be vindictive,
to despise death, not indeed from lawlessness, but
as bearing with the lawless ; to obey the laws of
God, to reverence rulers, to worship God, to
intrust the Spirit to immortal God, to look for-
ward to judgment after death, to expect rewards
after the resurrection to be given by God to
those who have lived in piety. 38. Teaching all
this by word and deed, along with great firmness,
and glorified by all for the benefits which He con-
ferred on them. He was slain at last, as were also
before Him philosophers and just men. For the
just are seen to be a cause of offence to the un-
just. 39. As also the Divine Scripture saith :

§37. *• To reverence rulers." See i Pet. ii. 17; tov Oedv <|»op€i<r6€,
Tov ^ao-iX^ TijiaTt. A. H. — The sense of the passage which I render :
** to intrust the spirit, etc.," is not quite clear. The rendering *' to believe
[or intrust] the spirit immortal in God " is rather the sense of the original
as it stands. A minute rearrangement of the letters in the Armenian
text would give the sense : "To intrust the soul to immortal God." This
last is certainly the true sense. Comp. Luke xxiii. 46 : *' Father into Thy
hands I commit my spirit."

§38. A. H. Compares Tertul. Apol. 14: "Propterea damnatus est
Socrates, quia deos destruebat, plane olim, i.e. semper ueritas odio est."
And Acta Pionii, 17.

The Apology and Acts of Apollonius. 47

We will bind the just man, because he was a
cause of offence to us ; 40. but also one of the
Greek philosophers said : The just man shall be
tortured, he shall be spat upon, and last of all he
shall be crucified. 41. Just as the Athenians
passed an unjust sentence of death, and charged
him falsely, because they yielded to the mob, so
also our Saviour was at last sentenced to death
by the lawless : by the lawless who were filled
with envy and malice against Him, 42. as also
against the prophets who were before Him, who
spake beforehand concerning Him thus : He shall
come and shall do good unto all and shall per-
suade all men by His goodness even to worship
God the Father and Maker of all, in Whom
also we believe, rendering homage, because we
learned from Him pure commandments, which
we knew not, and, therefore, we are no longer in
error, but, having lived a good life, we await the
hope to come."

43. The magistrate said — 'T thought that thou
wast changed in the night from that mind of thine."
44. Apollonius said — ''And I expected that thy
thoughts would be changed in the night and the
eyes of thy spirit be opened by my answer : and

§ 39. The reference is to Isaiah iii. 13. §40. The reference is to Plato,
Rep. II. p. 361 seq. A. H. notes that this passage is not quoted elsewhere
in the older Christian literature.

§ 42. A free summary of prophetic teaching. A. H. — '* The hope to
come " = T^v |i^\\ov(rav eXirCSa.

§ 44. Comp. the passage quoted from Minucius Felix in illustration of
§ 8, especially the words " qui hominem periculo subripit, deo opimara:
uictimam csedit."

48 Monuments of Early Christianity,

that thy heart would bear fruit, and that thou
wouldst worship God, the Creator of all, and unto
Him continually offer thy prayers by means of
compassion ; for compassion shown to men by
men is a bloodless sacrifice and holy unto God."

45. The magistrate said — " I would fain let
thee go, but I cannot, because of the decree of
the Senate ; yet with benevolence I pronounce
.sentence on thee" ; and he ordered him to be
beheaded with a sword. 46. Apollonius said —
"I thank my God for thy sentence." 47. And
the executioners straightway led him away and
beheaded him, while he continued to glorify the
Father and Son and Holy Spirit ; to Whom be
glory for ever. Amen."

§45. ''With benevolence." The Arm. = <f)iXav0p«ir«s. The magis-
trate might have sentenced Apollonius to be thrown to the wild beasts, or
to other equally shocking forms of death.

ACTS OF PAUL AND THEKLA.

INTRODUCTION.

Among the many apocrypha or uncanonical histories which grew

up during the first three centuries of Christianity about the

apostles and their immediate followers, there

is not one that is so full of human nature as -^^f of Thekla
11 1 A r T^ 1 J rr., 1 1 X full of human

the so-called Acts of raul and Ihekla. In nature.

this document we read how Paul came to
Iconium, and there preached in the house of one Onesimus.
A rich maiden named Thekla overheard him from a window of
her house and at once resolved to follow his teaching and
devote herself to a life of perpetual virginity. Her mother,
who had betrothed her to a rich young man named Thamyris,
was vexed thereat, and at her instance Paul was by the
authorities scourged and cast out of the town. Thekla
follows him to Antioch, and as she enters that city a certain
Alexander who was giving a show of wild beasts to the in-
habitants, meets her and tries to kiss her. She resists, tears
his garments and pulls the sacrificial wreath off his -head.
For this act of sacrilege she is in accordance with Roman
provincial law condemned to be thrown to the wild beasts.
At this point she is befriended by a certain Queen Tryphaena,
who eventually adopts her.

The Acts of Paul and Thekla have not hitherto received
much credence from serious historians, and Conybeare and

Howson in their life of S. Paul confine their

Their
mention of it to a footnote, which begins authentieitv

thus : " It would have been a mischievous

confusion of history and legend to have introduced S. Thekla

of Iconium into the text. But her story has so prominent a

place in all Roman Catholic histories, that it cannot be alto-

49 F

50 Monuments of Early Christianity.

gather omitted." And an outline of the story follows in their
note.^ But recent archaeological and geographical researches^

especially those of Professor \V. M. Ramsay,

Established have gone far to establish the historical'

by the re- character of the narrative. First came the

Mommsenand discovery in Asia Minor of coins bearing

Ramsay. the name of Queen Tryphaena, coins which

indicate that she would have been a woman
of about sixty in the year 50 a.d., which was the date of Paul's
first visit to Iconium. Link by link the evidence has been,
added to, till Professor Ramsay is able to give us the following
account of her : " Queen Tryphaena was daughter of Polemon,.
king of part of Lycaonia and Cilicia, and also of Pontus.
She married Cotys, king of Thrace, and became mother of
three kings. . . . In a.d. 50 she was nearly sixty. This
suits the Acta perfectly well. . . . Tryphaena was cousin
once removed of the Emperor Claudius. The apocryph
refers to this very relationship to the Caesar." Claudius
died in a.d. 54, and was succeeded by Nero, who had scant
respect either for the memory or the relations of his prede-
cessor. And Professor Ramsay justly observes, that after the
accession of Nero, no Roman official in a far-off province
would have paid any attention to Tryphaena's kinship with the

^ Conybeare and Howson base their rejection of the tale in particular
on the statement that Onesiphorus went out along the royal road to
Lystra, to meet Paul coming from Antioch. Their objection was just in the
then stage of topographical knowledge and with only the Greek text before
them ; but this very statement of the route taken by Onesiphorus, es-
pecially in the clearer form in which the Armenian and Syriac give it, is,
now that Professor Ramsay has shown how the roads ran in the year A.D.
50, a clinching proof of the authenticity of these Acts. The old military
road of Augustus ran from Antioch of Pisidia to Lystra direct, and threw
off half-way a footpath to Iconium, which lay off it many miles to the
east. This was so in S. Paul's day. But at a later time a new road was
made from Antioch to Lystra passing through Iconium. Thus One-
siphorus, in order to meet Paul, would follow the footpath to its junction
with the royal road which led to Lystra. It is remarkable how what was
in a less perfect stage of knowledge both of text and geography an insur-
mountable objection to these Acts, has turned out to be a prime proof of
their genuineness.

Ac^s of Paul and Thekla. 5 1

deceased Claudius, and that the very memory of that kinship-
would have speedily passed away from men's minds, even as
the very name of the queen was lost. " Our knowledge of the
dynasty rests almost wholly on the evidence of inscriptions-
and coins ; in literature there occurs hardly any reference to it.
It left no mark on the history of the world, and had no place
in the memory of posterity." He justly concludes that the
basis of the apocryph must be a document almost contem-
porary with Paul, written before the recollection of Tryphsena^
of her kinship with Claudius, and of the consequent action
of the local Roman official had had time to die out.

But this is not the only sign of contemporary origin to be
found in the story. Professor Ramsay, who has studied the
ancient roads of this part of Asia Minor not
in books only, but on the spot, avers that Modern

the story reflects a condition and direction geographical
of the high-roads in the neighbourhood of truth.

Iconium which existed in the year 50 a.d.,
^hwX. which ceased to exist before the end of the century.
"Onesiphorus went out from Iconium till he came to the
point, a few miles south of Misthia, where the path diverged
from the built Roman road that led from Antioch to Lystra."
Here Professor Ramsay with insight gathered on the spot,
dwells on the divergence of the path to Iconium from the
royal or built highway which ran to Lystra.

In the Greek text of the story, which alone Professor
Ramsay had before him when he wrote the above words, it is
merely related that Onesiphorus went along the royal road to-
Lystra. But in the more ancient text, of which I shall
presently give a translation, it is expressly said that he went
out as far as the Junction of the path with the royal road which
came {or ran) to Lystra. Here is an admirable and unde-
signed coincidence with Professor Ramsay's account of the
movements of Onesiphorus, and also with the lie and
arrangement of the roads, which from ancient milestones
found in the neighbourhood he conjectures to have existed in
the year 50, before the Hues of communication were altered.

For many other touches of local colour, and of truth to the

52 Monuments of Early Christianity,

then condition of Iconium and the surrounding country which
are exhibited by the tale, we must refer the
The difficulties reader to the pages of Professor Ramsay's
the Greek and t)Ook on The Christian Church in the
Latin texts Roman Empire from a.d. 70-170. His
absent from clear and interesting statement of them
Syriacand ^^^^ ^^^ y^^ repeated here, where it is my
Armenian . , ^ . , . ^

versions. ^^"^ rather to pomt out how certam ana-

chronisms on which he lays his finger in
y the story, shrewdly surmisin£_ them to ._ bo __secpn_d ..centiiry_
additions and interpolations, for the most part vanish when
we turn to a form of the story earlier by far than that which
the Greek manuscripts give us, to the form, namely, in which
the tale is told in an ancient Armenian version which has come
down to us.

Let us enumerate these anachronisms and points of diffi-
culty. They are the following : —

I. Iconium was not a Roman colony in
^Sthein^*^^ the year 50 a.d., nor did it become one till
a century later. It could therefore not have
been governed by a pro-consul of the name Castelius or of any
other name. There would have been at
The pro- Iconium in the days of Paul no higher

Castelius. official before whom Paul could be brought

than a local judge or dikast, assisted per-
haps by a council ; and this judge would not have the power
of inflicting the penalty of death. •

2. The charge of being a Christian could not have been
brought as early as the year 50 a.d. The charge of being a

magician, however, and of interfering with

C^s^ranTty^ others, especially with women, is, says

Professor Ramsay, ** characteristic of that

1 early period, and points to an origin not later than a.d. 80."
Readers of Philostratus will remember that it was the very
charge brought a few years later in the same regions against
Apollonius of Tyana.

3. In the Greek MSS. we read that Paul with Onesiphorus
was going from Iconium to Daphne. Now Daphne was the

Ac^s of Paul and Tkekla. 53

site of a famous heathen grove and temple close to Antioch

in Syria. Consequently the writer of these

words considered that the Antioch of the iW)hne°

story was the Syrian Antioch, distant at

least 300 miles from Iconium, and not the Antioch of Pisidia^

distant only 80. " In the versions preserved to us, Antioch

of Syria has been substituted for Antioch of Pisidia through

the misunderstanding on the part of an enlarger and editor, who

is much older than Basil of Seleucia (5th century)."^ This

P)asil wrote a poem in Greek on the martyrdom of Thekla.

4. Alexander is entitled the Syriarch. This title he can
only have borne if it was in Antioch of Syria that the events
narrated took place. In the other Antioch of

Pisidia the corresponding title would have Syriarch.

been Galatarch.

5. The name Falconilla, says Ramsay, is an anachronism
in these regions so early as the year 50 a.d. ;

it did not come into vogue before the year FalcSaSa

130 A.D.

6. The Queen Tryphaena is made to say : There is no one to

help me ; neither child, for she is dead, nor kinsman, for I am

a widow. Says Professor Ramsay: "The

real queen had at this period three sons „ Queen
r • 1 • J r 1 1 .• T Tryphaena's

livmg as kmgs, and powerful relatives. In kindred.

the long process of alteration through which

the work has passed, a little additional colouring was liable to

be added to the cry of the widow."

7. The words of the governor's act, says Ramsay, setting
Thekla free, have not been left uninterpolated by later taste ;
at least the epithet God-fearing, Theosebes^ is due to a later
age and to the desire of making the governor bear witness to
the truth.

8. Onesiphorus, we read, went out to meet Paul with his
children, with Silas and Zeno and his wife

Lectra. Ramsay objects especially to the Leetra!^

name Lectra, as unlikely.

* Ramsay, p. 381.

54 Monuments of Early Christianity.

9. Thekla found Paul at Myra ; but Myra is a sea-port in
Lycia, distant from Iconium in a straight line some 200 miles
over impassable mountains. On the other
Mvra ° ^^"^ ^^ context indicates that the place

where Paul was found was not far from
Antioch. Otherwise how could Thekla have heard so soon
of Paul's whereabouts, and how could Tryphaena have at once
sent clothing and gold ? Moreover, Paul only touched at
Myra some years afterwards on his third missionary journey ;
but the tale indicates that this was Paul's first visit to Iconium,
and that he was a stranger there. It follows that the entire
episode, if it be historical, belongs to Paul's first journey,
and not to his third. At the same time Myra is a port to
which a traveller overland from Antioch of Pisidia might take
ship ; while it is inconceivable that anyone going from the
Syrian Antioch should arrive there, except by a long sea-
voyage. Professor Ramsay concludes that " the Myra episode
was inserted before the confusion with the Syrian Antioch had
been caused by one who connected the tale with Paul's third
journey." His reasoning apparently was that the action could
not be conceived as taking place at Paul's first visit to
Iconium, for he disappears from the scene of action so
quickly ; whereas, according to the Acts of the Apostles
Paul remained in the country, and soon returned to Iconium
after his first expulsion or flight from it.

The above are the chief points in the Greek narrative, which

are difficult to reconcile with the hypothesis that in these Acts

of Paul and Thekla we have at bottom a document written well

"before the end of the first century. Professor Ramsay urges that

hypothesis, and argues that these points of inconsistency with so

•early a date, are due to the hand of an interpolator who lived

soon after a.d. 130. It will go far to confirm

All the above Professor Ramsay's hypothesis, besides prov-

difflculties jj^„ j^jg remarkable sagacity as a critic, if an

vanish in the ,. r 1 a u j j r

Armenian earlier text of the Acta can be produced from

version. which all these points of difficulty are absent.

Now in the ancient Armenian language there

exists a version of these Acta, which was made from a still

Ac^s of Paul and Thekla. 55

'earlier Syriac version at the beginning of the fifth century;^
from this older text we find that, with a single exception, all
the matters conjectured by Professor Ramsay to be interpola-
tions of the second century vanish.

1. Paul is brought at Iconium before a local dikast, and
mention is made of a council or geriisia. There is no hint of
a Roman pro-consul named Castelius.

2. The second difficulty is not quite removed by the
Armenian text, yet it is minimised. For in the Greek text
Demas and Hermogenes are made to say at the banquet :
" Bring him before the governor Castelios on the charge of
persuading the multitude to embrace the new teaching of
4;he Christians, and he will speedily destroy him." But the
Armenian has : " This man teaches a new and outlandish
doctrine in the name of Christ, and forthwith when one
gives ear to it, it destroys him." I think the original text
has here, by a very slight change, been made to imply that
Christianity was an offence for which a man might be sen-
tenced to death by a Roman governor, as was the case at a
later time.

3. The Armenian has no mention of Daphne, and so leaves
it to be inferred that the Antioch mentioned was not the
Syrian, but the Pisidian Antioch.

4. In the Armenian Alexander is not called a Syriarch,

5. The name Falconilla is absent from the Armenian.

6. Instead of being made to say that she has no kindred or
children to help her, Tryphsena says that no one of her noble
family is ready to assist her. These words imply that she had
at the time highly-placed relatives, and the reference was no
doubt to her royal sons, as to whom Ramsay suggests, that
they had quarrelled with their mother for dynastic reasons.
Thus this point, instead of invalidating the story, turns out to
be confirmatory of it.

7. From the Armenian form of the governor's act releasing
Thekla the epithet God-fearing is absent. He simply says :
" The God has delivered Thekla and given her to you." There
is no reason to suppose that he knew anything of Thekla's
religion, or was in these words referring to the God of the

56 Monuments of Early Christianity.

Jews. He probably believed that Thekla was, like many other
young Phrygian girls, vowed to the service of the local deity,
and thought that that deity had intervened to save her.
Thekla herself, it will be remembered, had declared herself to
be a slave or hand-maid of the God (in Greek, ^€o8oi'A.os).
Meaning no doubt that she was the slave of the true God
about whom Paul had taught her, though Alexander would
of course have interpreted her words in the conventional sense.

8. In the Armenian Onesiphorus goes out from Iconium
with his household and Zeno and his wife. The names Silas
and Lectra are not mentioned.

9. For Myra in Lycia the Armenian gives a name Meru or
Mero, and says nothing about Lycia. The Syriac version also^
of which the Armenian is a very early translation, has the
name Merv, and says nothing of the place being in Lycia, nor
is " in Lycia " added in all the Greek MSS. Possibly Myra is
here a corruption of Merus, the name of a city some miles
from Antioch in a north-westerly direction. Perhaps there
was some place answering to the name Merv still nearer to
Antioch ; from which place Thekla sent out to seek for Paul>
and whence also the gifts of money and clothes were sent by
Tryphaena. The agreement between the Armenian and the
Syriac in spelling the name Merv is notable, because many
of the other names in the tale are misspelt in the Armenian, a
fact intelligible enough, if we remember that the vowels were
not added in Syriac MSS. Thus Thamyris is spelt The-
meros in the Armenian, and Tryphaena becomes Triphonia,
and Thekla Thekl. It is only the names like Iconium and
Alexander, names familiar to the Armenian translator, which
are rightly spelt.

There still remain however in the story, even as the
Armenian form presents it, episodes which must be apocry-
phal. Such is the story of Thekla's being
The burning sentenced to be burned. It was doubt-
of Thekla an less not less annoying in Iconium, in the
inten)olation, f^^st century than it would be in Oxford in

but m the .. • . , , .

Armenian and ^"^ nmeteenth, that a street preacher who

Syriac. came proclaiming the immediate advent

Acts of Paul and Thekla. 57

of the millennium should turn the heads of the rich young
ladies, for whom their mothers had just arranged good
matches, and persuade them that the only right thing for
them was to devote themselves to perpetual virginity. But
even if by such teaching Paul did something to merit the
being scourged and expelled from Iconium, yet Thekla cer-
tainly did not merit to be burned alive, because she was
deceived by it. Nor is it in keeping with the attitude of her
mother, and of Thamyris ; for this was one rather of embar-
rassed affection than of harsh hatred. We know moreover]
that it was not part of the original account, for there exists a!
Greek homily as old as 300 a.d., dealing with the story of]
Thekla, and not only making no mention of this episode, buti
replacing it by a different one.^

We may thus without hesitation cut out this unlikely
episode, and consider that Thekla's references thereto in her
later utterances are also the interpolations of a later reviser of
the tale. In that case we should not expect these references
to be added quite uniformly in all the texts ; and this is actu-
ally the case, for we find that in the Greek, Thekla, when
relating in chap. xlii. to Paul and Onesiphorus all that she
has undergone, mentions the burning. In the next chapter
(xliii.), in talking to her mother she says nothing about it ; but
in the Armenian it is in chap, xliii., in talking to her mother
that she refers to it, whereas in chap. xlii. she does not
mention it. This is good proof that these references were
added to the tale at a later time, when the episode of the
burning was introduced. Were they part of the original text,
they would come in the same part of it. A similar want of
uniformity among the texts, some giving and some omitting
allusions to the burning, is seen in chaps, xxiii., xxiv., xxxi.

There is no room within the limits of the present paper to

consider the doctrinal value of the Acts of Paul and Thekla.

It is enough to point out that the claim of

-ru 1 1 ^u u ^ \. ^- c c Thekla's claiux

1 hekla, though a woman, to baptise, far from ^^ baptise

being minimised in the older Armenian text,

^ See the note at end of this introduction.

58 Monuments of Early Christianity.

is in it presented more strongly and pointedly than in the
«»Greek. It is the same with regard to the teaching of virginity.
It is therefore certain that this teaching was
The inculca- part of the original first century document,
virff\rdtvbv instead of being, as Ramsay is inclined to
the Acts. think, a Montanist addition of the second

century, f The teaching of the Acta with re-
'^ard to marriage and virginity is consonant with that which
Paul addresses to the Corinthians in his first epistle to them,
•chap. vii. 25 foil. : "Concerning virgins (/>. chaste men) I have
no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment. . . .
I think then that by reason of the present necessity, that it is
good for a man so to be. Art thou bound to a wife ? Seek not
to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife ? Seek not a wife.
-. . . But this I say, brethren, the time is short, that hence-
forth they who have wives be as if they had them not ; and
they that weep as though they wept not, and they that rejoice
as though they rejoiced not, and they that buy as though they
kept not their property, and they that use the world as if they
had no use for it. For the outward show of this world is
passing away. But I would have you free from earthly cares.
The cares of the unmarried man are fixed upon the Lord, and
he strives to please the Lord. But the cares of the husband are
fixed upon worldly things, striving to please his wife. The
) wife also has this difference from the virgin ; the cares of the
virgin are fixed upon the Lord, that she may be holy both in
\ body and spirit. . . . Thus he who gives his daughter
\ in marriage does well, but he who gives her not in marriage
Vdoes better."

f Such was of necessity the teaching of one who believed, as
\ Paul no doubt believed, that the Messiah would shortly re-
i appear on earth, and then and there begin his thousand years

f reign in Jerusalem, establishing a kingdom in which there was
to be no marrying or giving in marriage, and in which, if we
may believe the Gospel of Luke, only the unmarried would be
deemed worthy to share.

The Armenian version seems to have kept a touch of local
colour in its description of Paul's refuge after the expulsion

Acts of Paul and Thekla, 59

from Iconium. Paul was fasting, himself and Onesiphorus

and his wife and sons, in a certain house „,

r \ . J ^ 77 The mention

of a young man, of which the opened door ^^ ^ sepulchre

.looks in the direction of the road of Iconium. as Paul's place

This touch is absent even from the Syriac ofrefugenotin

the Armenian,
version.

In the following notes I have only added in full the variants
of the Syriac text as translated by the late Professor Wright.
These variants well illustrate the growth of
the tale. The Greek and Latin texts are The Syriac
accessible to any one in the editions of and Armenian
Grabe, Thilo or Lipsius, and I have not oldest text of
incumbered my notes with all their variants, these Acts,
but have given only the more important
ones they contain. ( The Armenian is a literal version of the
Syriac text, but free from certain interpolations already present
in Syriac MSS. of the fifth century?) The Syriac again is free
from interpolations present in the old Latin version ; and this
again is a purer text than the Greek, which more than any
other betrays the accretions and changes of various ages.
Lipsius is therefore quite wrong in attach-
ing so little value to the Syriac texts, which Lipsius' error
vc J u .u A • .1- on this point

as purmed by the Armenian must hence- vitiates his

forth be taken as the basis of the true text. text.

Except for the interpolation of the burning

of_Thekla, the Armenian may very nearly represent the original

form of the text as it stood in the first century.
f The martyrdom of Thekla is frequently referred to in the

earliest Acts of the Martyrs. Her story it is which inspires
1 Eugenia in the reign of Commodus. The
j exordium of the Acts of Polyeuctes refers to Influence of
\r..y 11 J Ti . :\\^. these Acts on

Ihekla and Perpetua, and there were cer- later Martyrs.

tainly many virgin martyrs who drew their
first inspiration from the same source. The earlier martyr-
doms contain many indications that the History of Thekla was
one of the earliest Christian books generally diffused. J Thus,
^S. Eugenia calls it "a divine book about God " (Acts, ch. iii.),
.and, " the holy book " {ibidem). S. Eugenius, a martyr of

6o Monuments of Early Christianity.

Trebizorid under Diocletian, couples Thekla in his prayers
with David and Daniel. In connection with the Armenian
version it is interesting to note that in the Armenian convent
of Edschmiadzin, in the province of Ararat, there is built into
the wall of the conventual church an old Greek bas-relief of
Paul and Thekla which must belong to the fifth century at
latest.

Note. — Pseudo-Chrysostomi op. Ed. Migne, vol. 2, p. 746. Els t^v
dyfav irpcdTOfiaprvpa KaV dirdo-ToXov @^KXav CYKufiiov. Parentes multis
earn uerbosisque commonitionibus ad coniugium incitabant. . .
Uiderat quippe sponsi [i.e. Christi) pulchritudinem, et ab eius contuitu
non avellebatur : instabat mater, quae ad nuptias impellebat. . . .
accedebat procus nuptiali earn colloquio titillans . . . confluebant
adulationibus captantes propinqui . . . supplicabant serui cum lacrymis
. . . terrebant iudices poenis ; at omnes ilia magno animo proculcans
clamabat, Principes non sunt timori bonis operibus, sed malis (Rom. xiii.
3). Cum uero statuas uirginitatis etiam in uiis erigi martyri oporteret,
talis quaedam puellae est exorta tentatio. Liberata iudicio, Pauli praedam
sectabatur, et rumorem sequuta ducem, uiis quae ad Paulum ferebant, sese
est ausa committere. Porro diabolus puellam obseruabat, et cum iter
agentem obseruasset, hostem immittit in puellam procum, uirginitatis
tanquam in deserto praedonem. Cumque iam iter perficeret, generosa
uirgini admissarius a tergo procus et acer indagator captam eam esse iam
inclamabat ; difificiles undique angustiae urgebant ; robustus erat, qui
bellum inferebat ; infirma, cui bellum inferebatur. Ubinam aliquod illi
a perfugio illo perfugium. Turn uero in caelum conuersa uirgo ad eum,
qui omnibus ubique ipsum inuocantibus adest, cum lamentis clamabat,
Domine Deus meus, in te speravi (Ps. vii. 2). The Latin version here
quoted is that of Fronlo Ducaeus. I have given the title of the fragment
as it is read in the Greek. In the horologion of the Greeks Thekla is.
similarly entitled lo-airdorroXos.

ACTS OF PAUL AND THEKLA.

I. Paul was coming on his way up to the city of
Iconium after his persecution, and there accom-
panied him on the road Demas and Hermogenes,
copper-smiths and brasiers ; and these were full
of a spirit of mutiny, though in their words they
honoured Paul and addressed him as one whom
they loved. But Paul was looking unto ^ the
grace of the pity of Christ, and was walking
with them without any dissembling, and loved
them alike. And he so loved them that he con-
tinued to relate to them the teaching of the Lord
of all, and the explanation and the birth and
resurrection, as of one he loved, and was refresh-
ing their souls with the greatness of Christ, and
was for ever recounting to them how he (or it)
was manifested to himself. 2. Now a certain
blessed man, of the name of Onesiphorus, heard
that Paul is on his way to the city of Iconium,
and went out to meet him, taking with him his
household and Zenonia his wife ; ^ they went to
meet Paul and welcome him. For Titus had told
them and had given them the characteristics of

^ The Arm. hajzer=vf2iS asking, must be a corruption of hajer=vfas
looking.

^ The Arm. text B has : " his household, and Zenon and his wife."

62 Monuments of Early Christianity,

Paul's appearance ; because he — Onesiphorus —
did not know Paul in the flesh, but only in the
spirit. 3. So he went forth and stood at the
cross-ways of the high-road which ran to the
city of Lystra,^ and there halted and waited for
him. And he was looking at those who came
and went, bearing in mind the characteristics
which Titus had given him ; when he saw Paul
coming along, a man of moderate stature, with
curly ^ hair, . . . scanty, crooked legs, with
blue eyes, and large knit brows, long nose, and
he was full of the grace and pity of the Lord,
sometimes having the appearance of a man, but
sometimes looking like an angel.^

4. When Paul saw Onesiphorus, he was very
glad. Quoth unto him Onesiphorus, " Hail to thee
Paul, apostle of the blessed one " ; and unto him
Paul, " Hail to thee and to all thy house, Onesiph-
orus." But Demas and Hermogenes were full of ire
and bit their lips with resentment and said to Paul,
"■ Were not we also of the blessed one, that thou

The Syriac has : " went out with the sons of Simon and with Zenon and
with his wife to meet Paul." Lipsius reads : ** went out with his
children Simmias and Zenon and with his wife Lectra."

* Syriac : "Stood where the roads meet, on the highway which goes to
Lystra." Greek : "he began to walk along the royal road which runs to
Lystra."

» Or "crisp."

3 Syriac thus describes Paul : "A man of middling size, and his hair
was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were project-
ing [or far apart) ; and he had large eyes, and his eyebrows met, and his
nose was somewhat long ; and he was full of grace and mercy ; at one
time he seemed like a man and at another he seemed like an angel." The
Greek and Latin texts do not vary materially. No text but the Armenian
adds the trait " blue eyes."

Ac^s of Paul and Tkekla. 65:

didst never give such greeting to us ? " Paul
made answer and said to them, " For I see not
in you the fruit of well-doing." Quoth unto^
them Onesiphorus, '' Obey me (b. If thou be
aught, c. If ye be aught)/ come into my house,,
ye also, and rest." 5. And when Paul had come
into the house of Onesiphorus and there was
great rejoicing therein, they fell on their knees
and then rose up and brake bread.

Paul came forward and began to preach the
word of the Lord concerning the truth of souls ^
and the resurrection of the dead, and spake thus :
'' Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall
see God. Blessed are they that keep themselves
chaste, because they shall be called the temple of
God. Blessed are they that mortify their bodies
and souls, because unto them speaketh God.
Blessed are they who despise the world, for they
shall be pleasing to God. Blessing unto them
who shall have wives, as if they had them not ;
for they shall inherit the earth. 6. Blessed they
who shall have the fear of God in their hearts,
because they shall be called angels. Blessed
they who tremble at the words of God, which
they hear, for the Lord shall call them. Blessed
be they who have received the wisdom of Jesus
Christ, because they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed be they who keep the baptism, for they

^ B and C represent 2nd and 3rd Armenian MSS. of the Acta. The
Greek gives the words : " For I see not," etc., to Onesiphorus, and omits
the ensuing words : " Quoth unto them Onesiphorus."

^ Syriac : " the controuling of the flesh."

64 Monuments of Early Christianity.

shall rest^ in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.^
Blessed they who shall receive the law of Christ,
because they shall be for a great light. Blessed
those who for the love of Christ shall leave the
flesh, for they shall inherit immortal life,^ and
shall stand eternally on the right hand of the Son
•of God. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
find mercy from the Father, and in the day of
judgment they shall receive the kingdom. Bless-
ing to the souls and bodies of virgins, for they
shall be pleasing to God, and shall not lose the
reward of their chastity : for the working of the
Father's words ^ shall be found in them, and they
shall inherit life in the day of the Son of God,
and rest eternal shall be theirs."

7. And while Paul was discoursing all these
great things of God in the house of Onesiphorus
in a great assembly, a maiden named Thekla, the
•daughter of Thekla,^ who was betrothed to a man
whose name was Thamyris,^ went and sat at a

^ Syriac : '* rest in," which is probably the true sense of the Armenian.

2 All Syriac MSS. omit " and H. S." So Greek.

3 The Greek has : " because they shall judge the angels." The Latin
runs: *' quoniam angelis oequabuntur. " The next clause seems to have
originally run : " Kal kv 8e|£<jiT0v irarpis (or tov Gcov) oTa0^<rovTai. " But
as it was later on recognised to be the privilege of Jesus alone to stand on
the right hand of God, there were substituted the words Kal kv 8. tov
XpioTOv (or TOV vlov TOV 0€ov) €vXo7Ti0Vjo-ovTai. Lipsius absurdly reads
TOV iraTpbs cvXo-yTiG^o-ovTai, neither one thing nor the other.

■* Greek = " For the word (6 Xdyos) of the P^ather shall be to them a
work (Ifp-yov) of salvation unto the day of His Son, and they shall have rest
for ever and ever."

* Syriac : " Theocleia." So Greek and Latin texts.

® The Armenian spells : Themeros, a mistake natural in a translation
from unpointed Syriac.

Acts of Paul and Thekla. 65

window which was close to their roof, and there
listened to the discourse of Paul which he spake
concerning chastity. Nor did she leave the
window ever by day or by night, but listened
to the prayers of Paul and wondered at his faith ;
the more so, because she saw many women going
in unto Paul, to listen to the precepts and com-
mands of God which he taught. And it was a
matter of regret and longing to her, that she saw
not his face, but heard only his bare words.
8. And she never for a moment departed from the
window where she sat. Then her mother sent
for Thamyris to whom she had betrothed her as
wife. When Thamyris heard that his mother-in-
law summoned him, he came at once, and he
thought that she would give him Thekla to take
her to wife. Thamyris made answer and said,
*' Where is Thekla, my wife (or betrothed),
that I may see her ? " The mother-in-law
answered Thamyris and said : ''I have some-
what to tell thee, Thamyris. Thekla who was
betrothed to thee, lo, for three days and three
nights she quits not a window, she eats not nor
drinks nor rises thence ; but she strains her
eyes to gaze upon a strange man, and hearkens to
his words as if they were pleasing, though they
are illusive and vain and disgusting. And I am
surprised that a wise maiden should thus run
after such wicked and delusive talk. 9. I tell
thee, Thamyris, that yonder man has undone the
city of the Iconians, and he deceives Thekla, who
was betrothed to thee. And many other women

y^^ OF THE ^

UNlVERSITty

66 Momtments of Early Christianity.

,and young people have gone in unto him, and he
teaches them to worship one God and to Hve in
chastity. And Thekla is bound by him, as a
spider on a web, and has given herself up to
longing and to disastrous works of destruction ;
and she never raises her eyes from the window
nor forsakes it ; nor does she eat or drink, but
the virgin is quite absorbed. But do thou,
Thamyris, go in and talk with her, for she is
betrothed to thee to be thy wife.

10. And Thamyris went in to her who was
betrothed to him in marriage, because for one
thing he loved Thekla, and in the second place
he was afraid of her solemn longing. He made
answer and said to her, " Art thou not betrothed
to me ? What is this that thou doest, and what is
this evil destruction that possesses thee .'* Return
to me and be ashamed before me." And her
mother also spoke and said, '' Why dost thou look
down and refuse to answer, nay, and art like
unto one that is mad ? " When the household saw
her, they all began to weep, and Thamyris wept,
for that his wife held aloof from him ; and her
mother for that her daughter separated herself from
her ; and the handmaids that they were separated
from their mistress. And there was great sorrow
and grief in the house. But Thekla cared not for
all that, but bent down her ear to hear the words
of Paul.

1 1 . Then Thamyris was full of wrath and he
ran out into the street and marked the men who
came from or went in unto Paul. And suddenly

Ac^s of Paul and Thekla. 67

he saw two men who disputed one with the other.
Then Thamyris came upon them and said to
them : '' What are ye, or what is come unto you,
or what are the words about which ye dispute ?
Who is yonder man who is in there with you, who
ensnares the souls of young men and maidens,
and who gives the commandment that there be
no marriages at all ? ^ I am willing to give you
much money, if ye will tell me who and whence
is the man, because we are leaders of the city."
12. But Demas and Hermogenes, when they
saw him, came to him and said : *' Yonder man
of whom thou speakest, we know not who and
whence he is ; but this we know, that he separates
the young men from the virgins and the virgins
from the young men, and declares that you cannot
rise from the dead ^unless you maintain yourself in
chastity." 13. Thamyris made answer and said
to them : " Come, my friends, and rest with me."
So they went home with him to supper readily,
and Thamyris made them a great repast and
prepared for them many good dishes. For
Thamyris loved Thekla, and wished to take her
as his wife on the day appointed by his mother-
in-law. And Thamyris said to them as they lay
on the couch : " Tell me, my dear friends, what is
the teaching which this man teacheth, that I may
know it. For there are not a few who condemn

^ The Greek has : liva -ydpiok y.^ -yivcovTat dXXd oiirws jJievtoo-iv. The

Syriac and Armenian show no sign of their Greek original having been
here adapted to the language of Paul's epistles.
2 Compare on this passage the general preface.

68 Monuments of Early Christianity,

the same, and I am very grieved for my wife,
because she has given herself up to a strange
man and foreign, and behold, I am separated from
her." 14. Demas and Hermogenes answered and
said to him : ** Thou Thamyris, go and inform
the judge ^ about him, and thou shalt say thus :
This man teaches a new and outlandish doc-
trine in the name of Christ, and forthwith when
he hears it, it {or he) destroys him. But thou
shalt take thy wife, and we teach thee the
resurrection of the dead which he teaches."

15. When Thamyris heard this, being filled
with spite and rancour, he rose early at dawn and
went to the house of Onesiphorus, himself with
the senators,^ with many men bearing rods, and
provided as well with a large armed force. He
answered and said to Paul, '' Thou destroyest the
city of the Iconians, and Thekla who was be-
trothed to me thou hast ensnared with thy teach-
ing, so that she will not be mine to wife. Come
therefore let us go before the judge." ^ And all

* The Syriac=** Thamyris, bring him before Castelus the Hegemon, and
say, ' This fellow teaches the new doctrine and is a Christian, and lo,
straightway he will destroy him, and thou shalt take Thekla thy betrothed
(to wife)^ and we will teach,' " etc. The Greek text has : *' Bring him before
the Hegemon, Castelius, and say, he persuades the multitude to accept the
new teaching of Christians, and so he will destroy him, and thou wilt
have thy wife Thekla ; and we will teach thee as to the resurrection which
he declares there to be, that it has already happened in the children whom
we have [and we arise having recognised the true God]. Some Latin
MSS. omit the name Castelius here as also below.

* The Arm-=}i€TA. t«v Ycpdvrwv, which must be right, as Iconium
would have had a local senate. The Greek has yxrh. dpx^vrwv Kal
8Tf(JL0<r{a)v. The Syriac MSS. differ one from another : one reads, " With
the chief men " ; another : '* With the priests."

» Syriac : ** Come to Castelus the Hegemon." So also the Greek.

Acts of Paul and Thekla. 69

the city cried : "■ Drag out the wizard, for he has
corrupted and destroyed our women with out-
landish teaching." And all the armed men took
charge of Paul. 16. When Paul was come witTi
those who held him and stood before the judge,
Thamyris lifted up his voice and said to the
judge :''* This man, we know not who and whence
he is, but he suffers not virgins to belong to their
husbands ; let him then say before thee wherefore
he teaches such teaching." But Demas and
Hermogenes, the copper-smiths, who were full of
malice, came forward to him,^ and said : " Say
that he is a Christian, and behold forthwith he^
destroyeth him." When the judge heard the
words of Thamyris and of all the men who held
Paul, he said to him : "Tell me, Paul, who and
whence thou art and what thou teachest ? For
there are not a few who speak evil of thee and
accuse thee."

17. Then Paul lifted up his voice, and said : " I
will unfold that which I teach ; hear, O judge.
I teach one God, who returneth not evil for the
evil which men do ; God, who desireth not any-
thing, except that the sons of man should live,
sent me in order that I might save them from
destruction and purge them of their uncleanness
and from all deadly desires, unto the end that they
sin no more. For this end hath God sent me, that

^ The Greek and Latin omit the words, "The copper-smiths . .
to him."

2 The Greek has, "Thou destroyest him," or: "Thou shalt destroy
him."

JO Monuments of Early Christianity.

in Him of whom I preach the good tidings may
be the hope of all men. Who was greatly desirous
to save His people from error, that they should
sin no more and not walk in licentiousness ; but
that there may be in them awe and fear by
means of the faith in God, that they may know
the love and fear of the truth. Therefore that
which God revealed unto me, that I teach. What
do I owe unto these men 1'' ^

When the judge heard these words, he com-
manded that Paul be bound again, and kept in
prison, until there be a good opportunity to hear
him. 18. But Thekla on the same night took
her bracelet and gave it to the door-keeper of his
house ; and he opened to her the door ; and then
she went on to the gaoler who kept Paul, and
gave to him a golden mirror, in order that she
might go in unto Paul. And he took from her
the mirror and let her in. So she went and sat
at the feet of Paul and heard the great things of
God. But Paul was in no wise sad, but was full
of assurance and openly rejoiced the hearts of all
who were with him with the commandments of

* The Greek has, ** And Paul lifted up his voice, saying, * If I this day
answer what I teach, hear, O proconsul. God living, God of requitals
(^KSiK-^o-tttv), God who is jealous, God wanting in nothing, desiring the
salvation of men, sent me, to draw them away from destruction and im-
purity and from all pleasure and death, that they sin no more. Wherefore
God sent His own Son, whose good tidings I preach, and teach men to
have their hope in Him, who alone suffered with the erring world, in order
that men be no longer under judgment, but have faith and fear of God
and knowledge of holiness and love of truth. If then I teach the things
revealed to me by God, what wrong do I do, O proconsul ? ' "

The dogmatic teaching of the Greek text seems more developed.

Acts of Paul and Thekla. 71

God. And Thekla with great joy kissed the feet
and the chains which bound the feet and hands of
Paul.

19. But when her household sought Thekla
and found her not, they thought that she had
perished, and they went and sought her in the
highways. But there came a comrade of the
door-keeper's, who gave information about him
and said, " I saw Thekla give her bracelet to the
door-keeper and pass by." And when they tor-
tured the door-keeper, he avowed it under com-
pulsion, and said: "Yea, she came and said, 'I
am going to the stranger who is bound in the
prison.' " So they went and found her as the
door-keeper told them ; they came and found her
sitting at the feet of Paul, and saw several other
people as well, who were listening to the great
things of Christ.-^ And Thamyris went out along
wdth several men who were with him, full of anger,
and they told the judge all that had taken place.

20. Then the judge bade them bring Paul be-
fore him, and the young men ran and loosed Paul
and dragged him forth from the prison, But
Thekla threw herself on the ground and wept
bitterly on the spot where Paul had sat in bonds
and taught her the Commands of God. Then the
judge again ordered Thekla to be brought before
him ; and Thamyris ran, and many men with
him, and took Thekla and dragged her in. When
the judge saw her, he was very grieved about

1 Syriac, " Of God," or : "Of the Most High."

72 Monuments of Early Christianity,

her ; ^ but Thekla right gladly stood up before
him and was in no ways cast down. Then on a
sudden all the armed men cried out and said :
" Destroy this wizard." But the judge said no-
thing to Paul. And then the judge sat down on
his throne and called Thekla. And the judge
said to her : ** Wherefore art thou not for (or
to) thy husband according to the laws of the
Iconians ?" But Thekla simply stood there, just
as she was, and riveted her eyes upon Paul and
gave no answer whatever to the judge. Her
mother raised a loud and shrill scream, and said,
** Destroy the senseless one in the theatre, that
all women may look at her and forbear to learn
this evil teaching." 21. When the judge heard
this, he was very distressed about her ; but he
ordered Paul to be scourged and cast out of the
city. And he gave sentence that they should
burn Thekla with fire in the middle of the theatre.
The judge rose up to go to the theatre and all
the host with him, to see Thekla burned in the
fire. And, as a sheep wandering among the hills
in search of the shepherd, even so Thekla sought
for Paul. And as she looked round on all the
men there, she saw the Lord Jesus Christ sitting
full opposite her (Syriac, *' beside her ") in the
likeness of Paul. Thekla made answer and
said : ** Paul came and sat in front of me, as if
I could not endure,^ in the vision which has ap-

* The Greek omits this clause.

« This is the literal sense of the Armenian, of which the text here seems

Acts of Paul and Thekla. y2>

peared to me." And while she kept her eyes
fixed upon him, the Lord rose up and went into
heaven.

2 2. But the young men and the women brought
wood and laid it in the theatre to burn Thekla,
and they brought her naked into the theatre.
When the judge saw this he began to weep and
raised a lamentation, and wondered at the power
wh,ich was in her.. They piled up the wood and
undid it, and the youths compelled her to go up
on to the fire as it blazed up. And Thekla im-
mediately went up atop of the fire.-^ Then the
flames of the blazing fire rose and gathered round
her, yet not one tress of her hair caught light,
because the Spirit of God had pity on her, and
a roaring sound went forth from heaven, and a
cloud of wet was over her, and hail and heavy
rain was poured forth from heaven. And many
men who listened and saw were destroyed ; and
the fire was quenched and Thekla was saved.
23. But Paul was fasting, along with Onesi-
phorus and his wife and sons in a house ^ of

faulty. The Syriac=" As if I were not able to bear whatever may come
upon me." For a similar incident, cp. Euseb., II. E.^ v. i, 206, where
Blandina having been exposed on the cross, 8id rv\<5 cvtovov TrpotrcvxTis
iroXX^v irpoOvfiiav tois d7«vt5o[JL€vois Ivetrotei, p\€ir6vT<ov avT«v €v tco
d-ydivi Kal tois ?|cd9€V 6(|>6aX|ji.ois 8id rfjs d8€\<|)fis tov vir^p avrwv
co-Tavpwji^vov, iVa ireio-T) k.t.X. Cp. "Translatio Philippi" in M. R.
James' Apocr. Anecd., p. 161, 16, «s Kal tov 'Itjo-ovv <J>aCv€o-6ai avTois
€v a-yfy^fx.T\. TOV 4>i\tir'irov. The parallel in John xx. 15 will occur to
everyone.

^ The Syriac adds : " She stretched out her hands in the form of a
cross." So the Greek and Latin Texts. Just below the Greek runs, that
God had pity on her, and made a subterranean noise, etc.

* The Syriac has : * ' In a sepulchre which was open by the roadside of the

74 Monuments of Early Christianity.

a young man, of which the opened door looks
in the direction of the road of (or to) the city
of Iconium. When they had been there many
days a- fasting, the children say to Paul, ** We are
hungry." And they would have had nothing to
give in payment ; for Onesiphorus had abandoned
his house and means of living, and had gone forth
along with his friend Paul. Then Paul took off
his tunic and gave it to the youth, and said, ** Go,
my child, and buy bread as much as it fetches."
The youth went to buy bread and there saw
Thekla their neighbour. He wondered, and said :
'' Thekla, whither goest thou?" She says to
him : ** I am going after Paul, because I have
been saved from the fire.^ And the youth said,
" Come, I will lead you to him ; for he is dis-
traught, and sighs and grieves, and it is now six
days that he fasts and prays of God for thee."
24. Thekla went with him to the house of the
young man,^ and came to Paul and found him on
his knees in prayer, beseeching and saying, " Our
Father which art in heaven,^ I pray thee that the
fire may not touch Thekla, but rather quench it
from her, for she is Thine." And Thekla stood
behind him, and she opened her mouth and said :
" Father, which madest heaven and earth, and

Iconians." The Greek MSS. have 4v )jlvt)|1€C({> dvoiKXip (some 4v |iv. Kaiv«p
or Kcv<{>) iv '68(|> ^ h.'Tth 'IkovCov els Ad4>vT]v tropcvovrai. The old Latin
and Syriac omit the words els Ad<j>vT]v.

* One Greek MS. (Lipsius' F) omits the words 4k irvpbs o-wBcio-a.

* Syriac : ** To the sepulchre." So the Greek and Latin.

* The Greek MSS. have Ildrcp XpicrroO or similar expressions.

Acts of Paul and Tkekla. 75"

Thou art the Father of saints/ I thank Thee that
Thou hast had pity upon me and hast saved me
in order that I may behold Paul." Paul rose up
and saw her, and answered and said : '' God, who
knowest the hearts of all. Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, I thank Thee that Thou hast saved
her, for whom I supplicated Thee, from the fire,^
and hast granted to me, and to those with me, to
behold her ; in Thy hands is it to rescue from all
afflictions those who glorify Thy name for ever.

25. And Paul rejoiced exceedingly along with
those who were with him.^ And the lad brought
five loaves of bread, with vegetables and salt
besides, and water ; and they rejoiced in their
deeds and were made strong in the grace of the
pity of Christ. And said Thekla to Paul : '' JL^wiil
cut short my hair and will follow after thee^
whithersoever thou goest." Said Paul : '' 'Tis a
hard struggle, and thou art beautiful ; perhaps
another temptation may beset thee, even a greater
than the first, and thou wilt not be able to bear it."
Said Thekla to Paul : '' Give me only the seal of

^ Syriac : " Of the Holy (One)." The Greek is yet more developed : 6
Tov -TraiSbs tov oc^fxtrtYrov <rov *lT](ro(» Xpicrrov iraTTJp. So the Latin.

^ Here the reference to the fire has not made its way into the Greek and
old Latin : 6vXoy<<>> (tc Sti 8 i\puiTt\u-<i, €Tdx,vvds (xot Kal clo-qKouorcts (xov.

They also omit the words of Paul which ensue in the Armenian and
Syriac.

^ The Greek = " And there was within in the tomb much love " (dydin]
iroXX^]. Latin : gaudium magnum). Just below the Greek and Latin
texts omit the words : " and salt besides." It was a primitive Eucharist
which they celebrated with bread, water, vegetables and salt. See
Harnack's tract on the use of water in the primitive Eucharist, and compare
Philo, De Vita Contemplativa, ii. 484, where hyssop is the vegetable
partaken of with leavened bread and salt and water.

"j^ Monuments of Early Christianity.

Christ and temptation cometh not nigh me." Said
Paul to Thekla : "Be patient, and thou shalt re-
ceive that which thou seekest."^ 26. And Paul sent
away Onesiphorus along with his household, and
they went to their home. But Paul took Thekla
by the hand and the men who were with her, and
they went and came to the city of Antioch. And
as they were entering in, one of the chief men of
the city of Antioch, Alexander by name,^ who had
done many deeds in Antioch, as soon as he saw
Thekla, loved her at sight, and began to flatter
Paul and cajole him with promises of much silver
and gold. Said Paul : '* I know not the woman
of whom thou speakest, and she is nothing of
mine at all." For Alexander was violent, and
came and constrained Thekla, and put his arms
round her in the middle of the market-place. But
she would not brook his action, but cried out and
sought for Paul with much lamentation, and said :
** Hurt not one who is a stranger, insult not the
handmaids of God. I am daughter of leading
citizens of the city of Iconium, and because I
would not 'be wife to Thamyris my husband, they
cast me out of my city. And straightway she
attacked Alexander and rent his raiment, and tore
off the golden crown of the figure of Caesar,^ which
he had on his head, and dashed it to the ground,

1 Syriac : "Receive the waters (of baptism)." So the Greek text of
Lipsius, though some MSS. have rfjv Swp^av tov (or XpwrToO). The
Latin has : Signum salutis or lauacrum regenerationis.

^ Greek : Dupidpxiis (or Svpos) tis 'AX^avSpos.

* The Greek and Latin texts simply say " the crown" rbv ot^i^vov
without describing it further. See note at the end of these Acts (p. 88).

Acts of Paul and Thekla. "jj

and left him naked, destitute and full of shame.
27. Now Alexander loved her at sight, but
since she had put him to shame by the way she
had treated him, he straightway gave information
to the judge, to the effect that Thekla did thus
and thus to me, and she denies not that which she
did ; but do thou judge her and order that she be
thrown to the wild beasts. And^ Alexander himself
it was, who was giving the show of wild beasts to
the city. And when all the citizens heard, they
were astonished and they raised a cry before the
judgment seat, saying : '' Unjust Is your judgment
with which you condemn Thekla."^ And Thekla
came and stood before the judge and adjured him
and said : ''This favour grant me, that until they
cast me to the beasts I may preserve my chastity."
And the judge, when he heard these words, said
to Thekla : " Go, preserve it where thou wilt."
And there was there a certain lady of a royal ^
house and rich, Tryphaena by name, whose
daughter had died, and she took her to herself to
her house, and she was consoled at the sight of
Thekla.

28. When the wild beasts had come into the
theatre, they came to fetch Thekla from the house
of Tryphaena, and took her to the theatre, and
stripped her, but put around her a linen loin-cloth,
and set her there naked. And they let loose

^-^ The Greek omits these words. The Latin and Syriac retain.

2 The Greek and Latin have simply : " A certain rich woman,
Tryphaena." On the faith of the Syriac, Lipsius adds Pa(r£\icr<ra in his
Greek text.

78 Monuments of Early Christianity,

upon her a lioness ; and the lady Tryphaena was
at the door of the theatre and wept piteously.
The lioness came and began to lick Thekla ; and
the judge and all his armed men wondered at the
/^ power which God gave her. They wrote on
boards and showed to all men who sat there this
writing : ** Read {or ye called), Thekla the sacri-
legious violator of the gods, who dashed the
imperial crown from the head of Alexander, who
wished to treat her impurely." And all the men
along with all their children cried out and said :
" We appeal to God against the iniquity that is
being committed in the city." And again they
sent against her other wild beasts ; and these did
not touch her. Then the audience rose and left
the wild beasts ; and immediately there came the
lady Tryphaena and took Thekla, because her
own daughter,^ who was dead came in a dream
by night and addressed her mother and said :
> " Mother mine, take this Thekla, persecuted and
^ stranger that she is, to thyself in my place, that
she may pray for me, in order that I may be
worthy to pass into the place of the holy and just."
29. And when Tryphaena had taken Thekla to
herself, she was full of concern about her ; for one
thing, because they would take her on the morrow
and cast her to the wild beasts, and next because
her daughter ^ who was dead had filled her with
pity for her. And the lady said : ** Lo, this second

» Lipsius in his text adds the name Falconilla, which however is not in
all the Greek and Latin MSS.

Acts of Paul and Thekla. 79

time affliction and sorrow befalleth my house ; but
do thou supplicate and pray for my daughter that
she may live ; for thus I beheld in my dream."
And at the same time Thekla rose suddenly and
raised her voice clearly and aloud, and said : '' God
who art in heaven, Father of the Most High,^
grant to the lady Tryphaena according to her
wishes, that her daughter, may live for ever and
ever." When the lady heard this, she sat down,
plunged in grief, and wept piteously and said :
"Alas, that thy fair beauty should again be
devoured by the wild beasts ! "

30. And at the break of dawn Alexander came
in haste to carry off Thekla, for it was he who
was giving the show of wild beasts in the theatre
of the city. He made answer and said : '* Behold,
the judge is seated, and all the armed men hurry ;
give here at once Thekla that we may destroy
her by throwing her to the wild beasts." And
Tryphaena brake forth into shrill laments ; and
from the voice of her sorrow Alexander fled, and
said that he was frightened. The lady made
answer and said: '*We appeal to God. This
second time doth affliction and sorrow come upon
my house, and there is not any one to help me, for
my daughter liveth not, who is dead ; and no mem-
ber of my noble house cometh to my assistance,
and I am a widow woman.^ But do thou, Thekla,

^ In the Greek Thekla is made to attest the divinity of Christ : 6 0€<Js
jtov, 6 "utbs Tov -uxIficTTOv 6 Iv T(3 ovpavo).

2 The Greek has : Kal ovSels 6 Poi]6(ov oiirc tckvov, dir^Bavev Yap, o^Jtc
<ruYY€vifis, X'^IP"' "Y^P ^^H*'" ^*^ ^^ Latin texts.

8o Monuments of Early Christianity.

go ; and may thy God render thee assistance."
31. Again the judge sent other men to bring
Thekla, but the lady would not give Thekla into
their hands, but held her fast by the hand and
kept her. And she went and led her firmly by
herself, saying : " My darling daughter^ I escorted
to the tomb ; and thee, Thekla, I escort and lead
to be the ravine of the wild beasts." And Thekla
broke into loud and bitter lamentations, and was
beside herself with grief, and groaned before God
and said : " O Lord, my God, in whom I trusted,
and who deliveredst me from the fire,^ give
recompense to the good Tryphaena, who took pity
upon me Thy handmaiden, and preserved my
chastity."

32. And forthwith there was a violent dissen-
sion among the multitude, and a breaking forth
of loud cries, because the beasts were spurred on
and provoked. And half were for letting the
wild beasts loose upon her, and many men and
women raised a clamour and called her a sacri-
legious violator of the temples, and of the gods.
But the other half said : ** Woe to the city for the
iniquity which ye do ; destroy us all, O judge.
Bitter is the spectacle which we behold, and un-
just is the judgment with which Thekla is judged."
33. And young men came and tore Thekla
from the hands of the lady Tryphaena, and led
her into the theatre to throw her to the wild

* The Greek and Latin MSS. add the name Falconilla.
' One Latin MS. (Lipsius' cl) omits this reference to the fire.

Acts of Paul and Thekla. 8r

beasts ; and they took and stood her in the
middle of the arena. They stripped off her
garments and put on her a linen loin-cloth,
and she stood forth naked as she was, and said :
'*0 Lord God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Thou art the help of the persecuted ; Thou art
the protector of the poor ; turn and look upon
thy handmaiden who standeth naked and covered
with shame, before all this great host. My Lord
and my God, remember Thy handmaiden in this
season."^ Then they brought and let loose upon
her a leopard that was very wicked, and after that
they brought a lioness and loosed it on her. But
Thekla stood there, and kept her arms stretched
out in the likeness of one crucified on a tree,^ and
the lioness ran and rushed upon her, but when it
reached her it came and crouched at her feet.
Then the leopard came up and wished to leap
upon her, but the lioness lay before her and forth-
with tore it asunder. Then they brought a bear
that was very strong, and it ran to throw itself
upon Thekla. But the lioness which crouched at
her feet rose and took the bear and immediately
rent it. And then they loosed yet another lion
which was trained to attack men, and which
belonged to Alexander himself, and this lion too
they set onto Thekla ; but the lioness which sat
at her feet met the lion and they fought with
one another, and after a while they killed one

* The Greek and Latin texts omit this prayer.
2 Syriac : in the form of a cross.

82 Monuments of Early Christianity,

\ another. Then all the more did the women, who
sat there and looked on, lament, saying that the

I lioness which helped Thekla was dead. 34. And

'again they let loose upon her yet other wild
animals, and when Thekla saw how many were
the wild beasts, she stretched out her hands and
stood in prayer. And when she had finished pray-
ing she turned round and saw behind her a pool
full of water, and she said : '' Lo, now is the time
for baptism." She lifted up her voice and said,
In the name of Jesus Christ, behold this day am I
baptised for (or on) the last day. When the women
who sat there beheld this, they broke into laments
and said : '' Throw not thyself into yon water, for
evil are the wild beasts that are therein." And
the judge when he beheld her wept at the thought,
tjiat the beasts in the water should devour such
beauty and grace. But Thekla straightway
plunged into the water and went down ; and the
beasts when they saw her, as it were a flash of
fire, were destroyed and remained on the top of the
water ; and there was round about her, and she
was overshadowed by, a luminous cloud, so that

^it did not plainly appear that Thekla was naked.
35. When the women who sat in the theatre,
saw that they were loosing yet other wild beasts
upon Thekla, that were more evil than the former
ones, they began to scream and say : '' We
appeal to God, what do we behold in the city!"
Then women came and began to throw spices
over Thekla ; some of them threw fruit of nard,
and some of them marjoram, and others bal-

Ac^s of Paul and The k la. 83

sam^ and many other fragrant spices they scattered
in the arena. But they brought and let loose on
her many other wild beasts ; and the beasts came
and sat round her, before and behind, and dozed,
and not one of them did harm to Thekla. Again
Alexander ran and said to the judge : ''I have two
strong and fierce bulls, let us bring them and bind
between them her that is thrown to the wild
beasts ; perhaps they will become angry and destroy
her. And the judge said to Alexander : ''Go and
-do as seemeth good to thee." And he sent and had
the bulls brought. And they led Thekla and put
her between the brutes and took and threw her
on her face, and tied her feet tight between the
two bulls. And they brought spits and heated
them by placing them in the live fire, and when
they were kindled they applied them to the sensi-
tive parts of the bulls, to infuriate them, that in
their fury they might destroy her ; and the bulls
were maddened with the pain of the brands. But
the flame of the fire caught the bonds with which
•the feet of Thekla were bound ; and Thekla leapt
up in front of the bulls, as if no harm had
happened to her, and as if she had not been-
bound at all by the feet. 36. And the Lady Try-
phaena was at the door of the theatre, and gave
.a sudden scream and fell in a swoon ; for she
thought that Thekla was dead. When the slaves
saw that she screamed and fell in a faint, they

^ This word is not in the lexicons. Another MS has aparusums.
.Syriac : tarphuse. I owe the rendering balsam to Prof. Margoliouth.

84 Monuments of Early Christianity,

began to cry out and tear their garments and say :
** Woe to us, our mistress is dead." And all the
city trembled. Then Alexander was overcome
with fear, he ran and came to the judge and said :
" Have pity on me and the city, and release her
that is condemned to the wild beasts ; let her go
quite free, that the whole city may not be de-
stroyed." Peradventure the Caesar may hear of
this which we do, and will destroy the city, for
the Lady Tryphaena who tarried at the gate of
the theatre is the Caesar's kinswoman, and is
dead.

2^"]. Then the judge said, ''Bring hither Thekla" ;
and the young men ran to fetch Thekla from
among the wild beasts, and set her before the
judge. And he said to her : " Who art thou, and
how is it that the animals attack thee not?" And
she said : "I am the handmaiden of God ; and He
who is with me, He is the son of the living God;
in whom I have hoped, because through Him it
is that the beasts attack me not. For He is the
term of salvation, and the protector of all who are
persecuted, and the hope and life of the hopeless.
But I say unto thee, O Judge, and to all who are
before thee, that he who believeth in God, of
whom ye behold the great things w^hich He has
wrought unto His handmaiden, he shall live for
ever, and he who believeth not in Him, shall die
the death everlasting. 38. When the judge heard
this from the mouth of Thekla, he bade her bring
her clothes. Said the judge to her : '* Take away
her loin-cloth and put before her her raiment

Acts of Paul and The k la. 85

which she gave thee." Thekla made answer and
said to the judge : '* He that clothed me with
power in the midst of the beasts, the same
-clotheth thee^ with life in the day of judgment."
And Thekla took off the loin-cloth, and took and
put on her clothes. And the judge read a pro-
clamation before all the host and said : '' God
hath delivered Thekla and given her to you."^
And the women who sat there in the theatre
raised a loud cry, and with loud voices began to
give glory to God, and said : " Great is the God
of Thekla,^ who hath given her life and saved her
among the wild beasts." And at the sound of
the voices of the women who cried out the whole
city was shaken. 39. And instantly they ran and
^ave the news to the Lady Tryphsena, and she
running came and found her and took her in her
arms and kissed her, and said : '' My daughter
Thekla, now I believe that my darling daughter
is alive.* But come to my house, Thekla, and I
will assign to thee all that is mine."

And Thekla went with her and entered into
her house, and rested there eight days, and taught
the Lady Tryphaena all the commands of God.
And the Lady Tryphaena believed and many of
her handmaidens, and there was there great rejoic-

1 Syriac : " Will clothe me." Where Wright notes : " We should
naturally expect zuill clothe thee, cvSvcrci <re.

2 Syriac: "Thekla, who is God's, and Thekla who is righteous, I
have released and given unto you."

^ Syriac : " God is one, and the God of Thekla is one."
* In the Greek : vvv irio-Tetlft) 8ti vcKpol l-yefpovTai* vvv irio-TCva) 8ti
^h riKvov H-ov Jf . But the MSS of Lipsius ABF omit the first clause.

86 Monuments of Early Christianity,

ing. 40. But Thekla, for that she loved Paul, sent
to seek him in all directions ; and when they
found him, they told her and said : '' Lo, he is in
the city of Merou." ^ (And she rose and left the
house of the Lady Tryphaena, and she put on
male attire and took with her many men and
handmaidens of the lady -and she came and
entered the city of Merou/) And there Thekla
found Paul, sitting and teaching the commands of
God. Thekla came and stood befoie him ; and
when Paul saw her and the men who were with
her, he wondered, (and thought at once that yet
some other temptation had come upon her/)
Thekla made answer and said to him : *' I have
received baptism, for he who commanded thee to
preach, the same commanded me also to baptize."
41. And forthwith Paul arose and took her and
all the men who were with her and led them to
the house of Hermes. Paul sat down and Thekla
and the other men also who were with her ; and
Thekla related to him all that God had done
unto her. And Paul wondered exceedingly a_t.
the power which was given to her. And all who-
were there, and heard what God had done to her,
were much confirmed in the truth, and they all
with one accord glorified and blessed God, who
worketh wonders for all who believe in Him and
keep His commandments. They prayed and
besought God for the Lady Tryphsena, who had
taken pity upon His handmaid and preserved her

» In theSyriac: '* Merv.'*

Ac^s of Paul and Thekla. 87

in chastity. Said Thekla : *' I go to the city of
Iconium." And Paul said : " Go, teach there the
commands and words of God." And when the
Lady Tryphaena heard that Thekla was on her way
to the city of Iconium, she took much raiment
and gold and sent it to Thekla ; and she took
the raiment and some of the gold, and sent it
to Paul for the service of ministering to widows.
42. And Thekla went and entered the house
of Onesiphorus, and fell on her face on the spot
where Paul sat, and taught the commands of
God ; and she wept and said : '' Our God, God
of this house in which there dawned on me light
from Christ Jesus,^ who helped me in prison and
rescued me among the wild beasts before the
judge,^ and gave me baptism for ever and ever,
that I may come unto the blessedness, which is
preserved for me and for those who keep the com-
mandments of Christ.^ For He is one, God on
high, who sitteth on the throne of the cherubim.
For unto Him is glory for ever and ever. Amen.
43. After all these wonders which God wrought
unto her, she found in the city of Iconium that
Thamyris her husband (Syr. betrothed) was dead,
[but her mother Theocleia was alive].* Saith
Thekla to her : " Mother mine, if thou canst

^ The Syriac adds : " The son of God." So also some, but not all the
Greek and Latin MSS.

2 The Greek has : Pot]9J)S eirl Ti-yejJidvwv, Por^Gbs €v irvpl. But two MSS.
of Lipsius CK omit the last clause.

3 The Syriac has : " Commandments of God."

* I have added the words bracketed from the Syriac. They must have
dropped out of the Armenian.

88 Monuments of Early Christianity,

believe, there is one God on high, my Lord, who
is in heaven. But if thou lovest gold and silver
and riches which are corruptible, lo, it is given to
thee henceforth. If thou wilt believe that there is
one God in heaven, and that beside Him there
is no other God, thou canst live and keep whatso-
ever I tell thee ; for behold I stand before thee,
who was rescued from the fire^ and from the evil
wild beasts and from the presence of the judge.
For the same my God and Lord hath holpen me,
who gave me power to endure." All this testi-
mony she bore unto her mother and she departed
from the city of Iconium, and went to Seleucia,
and there she illuminated many men with the
word of God, and slept in a quiet place of rest.
The book of the blessed Thekla is finished.
Glory to God All-mighty and to His anointed, and
to the Holy Spirit, who gave power to the trans-
lator and writer. May the same God fulfil His
pity in both worlds, for ever and ever. Amen.^

* The Greek and Latin texts omit this clause and the next.
2 This last paragraph is not in the Greek and Latin texts, and is due to
the Armenian translator.

See Note on p. 76. — Mr. G. McN. Rushforth has explained to me the
nature of the crown which Alexander as Galatarch was wearing. It was a
gold wreath, bearing in front a medallion of the reigning Augustus. The
portrait bust in the Vatican Museum, No. 280, miscalled of the aged
Augustus, carries exactly such a wreath as these Armenian Acts describe,
and is probably a portrait of some provincial president of the Coesar-
worship under the Antonines (see Bernoulli, Rom. Ikonog., ii. 30, and
Lightfoot, Apost. Fathers, vol. iii. 405 seq.). In tearing such a crown oft
the head of the Galatarch, Thekla directly assailed the numen of the reign-
ing emperor. There could be no graver offence. These provincial
dignitaries were at a later time known as coronati simply. These acts are
the only ancient writing in which a description of the crown is given.

THE ACTS OF S. PHOCAS.

INTRODUCTION,

The Greek text of the Acts of Phocas is to be found in the
Acta Sanctorum^ in July, vol. iii. p. 642 foil. In my transla-
tion, however, I have followed the Armenian

form, which is plainly older than the Greek. J^^® Greek
T- 1 .1-^ 1 . . •. .1 J J- Text of these

For example, the Greek text omits the dedi- Acts.

cation of the Acts to the faithful who are
dwelling in Pontus, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, Galatia, Cappa-
•docia, and Armenia, and it also exaggerates the 500 confessors
of Pontus and Bithynia into 50,000, and pretends that they
are all present in the court of law. So in chap. xvi. the one
lamp of the Armenian becomes ten thousand.

The Bollandist editor rejected these Acts as spurious, mainly
because they do not accord with what he knew of the history
of Trajan's reign. Africanus, he argues, who
was Consul in a.d. 112, was not in Pontus These Acts
during his year of office ; nor did Trajan rejected by the
,..,•' , . rr., » BoUandists

die in the year 112, but in 117. The Acts too hastily.

however do not necessarily imply this.
Africanus, who was Consul in 112, may have been administer-
ing Bithynia as legate in 117; and though the last section re-
lating the death of Trajan is clearly added in order to satisfy the
craving of the Christian reader, who liked to be assured that
the persecutor suffered for his sins even in this life, yet we do
not know so much of the life of Trajan as to be able to deny
point-blank that he was in Asia Minor at the time, and even in
Pontus. That in the same paragraph in which the Bollandist
editor condemns these Acts, he also condemns the Acts of
Thekla as the scum of forgeries, is a warning to us, not to be
too ready in our denial of the genuineness of the piece. The
following points in the narrative make, I think, for its genuine-

90 Monuments of Early Christianity.

ness ; not indeed as it stands, but as it may have stood before
mythical accretions formed around it in the third and fourth
centuries

I. The fact that the martyrdom is ascribed to the reign of
Trajan. On this point it is well to quote the late Bishop

Lightfoot's remarks, in the second volume of
ai^enticitv* ^^^ Apostolic Fathers (second edition), p. i8 :

" Amidst many spurious and questionable
stories of persecutions alleged to have taken place during the
reign of Trajan, only three are reported on authority which

can be trusted. Of these three, two are con-

1. Ascription cerned with the fate of individual Christians
to reign of . ^. ^ , , ^ ^ .

Trajan. — ^^ Simeon at Jerusalem, and of Ignatms

at Antioch; the third only, the Bithynian
persecution, of which I have been speaking — was in any sense
general. For this last alone, so far as our authentic informa-
tion goes, Trajan was personally responsible. ... It was
as a statesman and a patriot that he conceived himself obliged
to suppress Christianity." And just before, p. 17: "It is
generally supposed that the historian of the early Church, in
order to arrive at the truth with regard to the extent of the
persecutions, has only to make deductions for the exaggerations-
of Christian writers. In other words it is assumed that the
Christians forget nothing, but exaggerate everything. This-
assumption however is shown to be altogether false by the
history of the manner in which the record of this Bithynian
persecution has been preserved. With the possible exception
of the Neronian outbreak, it was the most severe of all the
persecutions, of which we have any knowledge, during the
first and second centuries ; yet no record of it whatever was
preserved in any Christian sources. Tertullian derived his
knowledge of it from the correspondence of Pliny and Trajan ;.
Eusebius from Tertullian ; later Christian writers from Tertul-
lian and Eusebius, one or both. The correspondence of a
heathen writer is thus the sole ultimate chronicle of this im-
portant chapter in the sufferings of the early Church. What
happened in this case is not unlikely to have happened many
times. Again and again the Christians may have undergone

The Acts of S. P hoc as. 91

cruel persecutions in distant provinces, without preserving any
special record of what was too common an occurrence with
them."

But in spite of the facts here emphasised, Trajan was not
regarded by the Church, in later times, as having been a per-
secuting emperor. As Lightfoot says, /.<:., p. 2 : " To the
Fathers who wrote during the latter half of the second century,
as to Christian writers of subsequent ages generally, Trajan
appears as anything rather than a relentless persecutor." And
in his notes he adds pertinent passages to this effect from the
writings of Mehto, of Tertullian, Lactantius, and Eusebius.
If then the word was passed round among the Christians, so
widely as may be inferred from this list, that Trajan was a
friend of the Church, it is in the last degree unlikely that a
forger would have sat down in the third century, and have
penned the Acts of Phocas, in which Trajan is held up to odium
as a relentless persecutor. In the subsequent course of his
note, therefore, Lightfoot does not show his
usual sound judgment, when he writes thus : f'Tr^vT

" The usual authors who represent Trajan in Lightfoot on
an unfavourable light are chiefly martyrolo- this point.

gists and legendmongers, to whom this dark
shadow was necessary to give effect to the picture." The truth
is that no writer would be more careful than a martyrologist
to adjust his fictions to the current conceptions of the Church ;
no one less likely than he, to lay the scene of his inventions
in a reign, which by a general consensus of Christian opinion
was free from the stain of persecution. Such a consensus
there was in favour of Trajan, and so strong was it that in
later centuries Trajan only just escaped canonisation by the
Pope Gregory the First. It is inconceivable that the death of
Phocas would be so directly attributed to him as in these Acts
it is, unless the writer of them had had something to go upon.

2. If then this martyrdom took place in the province of
Bithynia-Pontus, under Trajan, are there any points in the
narrative which are confirmed by the solitary notice of this per-
secution, which Pliny's letter has preserved to us ? And can
we, too, be sure that these Acts were penned independently of

"92 Monuments of Early Christianity.

that letter, and by a writer who had no knowledge of it?

These two questions may conveniently be answered together.

In the exordium of the Acts, chap. 3, we read that : " In the

times when Trajan was emperor many Christians were snatched

away from the flock, to sacrifice to vain idols ; at which time

they made search for the blessed saint." For Phocas, so we

read in chap. 9, was both learned and famous; so much so

that the governor, Africanus, was sorry and full of pity for him,

that he should throw away his life. His fame had already

reached even the Emperor's ears (chap. 4). In chap. 3 we

learn very precisely how many persons in the joint province

had suffered for the faith : " Dost thou not know," says the

governor to the saint, " that here and in the other province

there are over 500 men whom thou seducest into not sacrificing

to the gods?" Now, what forger, writing

h^^ f either with or without a knowledge of Pliny's

Confessors in letter, would have been content with so

the Persecu- meagre an estimate of the numbers of the

tion of Trajan, Christians affected by the Bithynian perse-
according to j j sr

these Acts. cution ? Pliny wrote to Trajan thus : " Ideo
dilata cognitione ad consulendum te decu-
-curri. Visa est enim mihi res digna consultatione, maxime
propter periclitantium numerum. Multi enim omnis aetatis,
omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus etiam, vocantur in periculum et
vocabuntur. Neque civitates tantum sed vicos etiam atque
agros superstitionis istius contagio pervagata est ; quae videtur
sisti et corrigi posse. Certe satis constat prope iam desolata
templa coepisse celebrari et sacra sollemnia diu intermissa
repeti pastumque venire victimarum, cuius adhuc rarissimus
emptor inveniebatur. Ex quo facile est opinari quae turba
hominum emendari possit, si sit poenitentiae locus." It is
•certain that a mere compiler of spurious martyrdoms, whose
only aim was to edify the faithful of a later age, and who had
Pliny's letter in his hands, would not have been content with
500 confessors in two provinces. He would have magnified
the turba hominum into at least 50,000, as some old Greek
copyist of these Acts has actually done ; for in the Greek text
we find this passage of the Acts altogether rewritten, thus :

The Acts of S. Phocas. 93-,

" Dost thou know that more than 50,000 men stand here (i.e.
in the court), and that thou art stirring up and turning away
the provinces from sacrificing ? " It is true, but irrelevant, to
answer that Eusebius declares the persecutions of Trajan's
reign to have been partial and local ; for he, as Lightfoot
remarks, is studiously exculpating the memory of Trajan him-
self; whereas the writer of these Acts is as studiously assailing
it. Were the latter a forger, he would have had every reason to
exaggerate the number of the Christians who had refused to
sacrifice. That he does not do so, but gives a number so
much smaller than Pliny's own account would lead us to
expect, is the strongest possible proof that in these Acts we
have a genuine memorial of this little known persecution.

3. We have also herein a proof that the writer of them
was ignorant of Pliny's letter; had he known of them, he
could not have been content with only 500 confessors. He did
not, like the writers of the Roman Acts of Ignatius, and of the
Acts of Sharbil, preserved in Syriac, write with the help of that
letter. And this very ignorance also argues their antiquity.
For Pliny's letter was known, it would appear, to Melito ^ as
early as 170; by the end of the second century Tertullian
alludes to it ; Eusebius about 300 a.d., and after him Lactan-
tius and Sulpicius continued to give it vogue. It was so well
known that the later legendmongers, just referred to, men-
tioned it, even though they were inimical to Trajan's memory..
If the knowledge of this letter was so widely
and so early diffused, both in the East and 3. The writer
the West, how shall we account for the fact of these Acts
that the writer of these Acts not only betrays puny's letter
no knowledge of it, but could not conceiv- to Trajan.

ably have written as he does, if he had
known of it ? Would a third or fourth century romancer have
neglected a source of information open and notorious to every-
one, and bearing directly on the place and time in which he
was pitching, so to speak, the scene of his narrative ? Would
he not have seized upon PUny's phrases: "Turba hominum
. . . omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus etiam . . .

1 This is doubtful, but see Lightfoot, Ap. Fath., vol. i., p. 2, note 3.

•94 Monuments of Early Christianity.

periclitantium numerum . . . prope iam desolata templa,"
and have made the most of them ? There is but one conclu-
sion possible, namely, that he wrote before Pliny's letter be-
came known to Christendom. But in that case he can hardly
have written later than the middle of the second century.

4. Pliny writes : " Fuerunt alii similis amentiae quos, quia
cives Romani erant, adnotavi in urbem remittendos." In the

same way Phocas is sent on to be tried

Other indicia directly by the Emperor. Tradition relates
ueritatis m , -^ ^ . _. • ,Tr ,

these Acts. ^^^ same of Ignatms. We do not however
know that Phocas was a Roman citizen, and
Ignatius was sent to Rome in order to supply a spectacle, and
not to be tried. But the Acts of Phocas anyhow report the
martyr to have been a famous and a learned man, the fame of
whom, as a Bishop, had already reached the ears of the
Emperor. He may very well have been a Roman citizen
also ; for the diffusion of citizenship must have gone with the
Hellenism which, as Mommsen says {The Romafi Provinces^
vol. ii. p. 331) : "took a mighty upward impulse in Bithynia,
under the imperial period, and the tough Thracian stamp of
the natives gave a good foundation for it." According to
Mommsen the same progress occurred in Pontus ; and Sinope,
of which city Phocas was in life the Bishop, and after death the
Patron Saint, obtained from the dictator Caesar the rights of a
Roman colony, and beyond doubt also Italian settlers. This
renders it extremely probable that Phocas was a Roman citizen.

5. Trajan says in his rescript to Pliny, that the accused are
to be spared if they deny that they are Christians, and prove
the same " supplicando dis nostris." So the last word of Phocas
is the avowal that he is a Christian and that he will not sacri-
fice. This was no doubt the stereotyped answer of all con-
fessors, and as such was introduced into innumerable forged
Acts of the fourth and succeeding centuries. By itself there-
fore such an answer would not prove these Acts to be genuine.
But it should be noted that these Acts of Phocas agree in tone
with other genuine Acts of the second century. For instance,
the magistrate says to the Saint, when he is first brought into
court : " Is this the Phocas who denies the existence of the

The Acts of S. Phocas. 95

•gods, and reckons not the autocrat Trajan to be a god." So
when Polycarp was brought before him, " the
Proconsul enquired whether he were the Resemblance
man. And on his confessing that he was, Polycarp.

he tried to persuade him to a denial, saying,
"Have respect to thine age, and other things in accordance
therewith," as it is their wont to say ; " swear by the genius of
Caesar ; repent and say. ' away with the atheists ! ' " Again
Phocas, in the same way as Polycarp, is anxious to instruct the
magistrate in the truths of his religion. " Hear thou plainly,"
says Polycarp, " I am a Christian. But if thou wouldst learn
the doctrine of Christianity, assign a day and give me a hear-
ing." Again Phocas says to Trajan (chap. 11) : "We ought to
obey the government, not unto impiety, but unto true religion."
So Polycarp says : " We have been taught to render, as is
meet, to princes and authorities appointed by God, such
honour as does us no harm."

6. There is yet another point of resemblance with the Acts
of Polycarp, which may be noticed. The governor says to
Phocas : " How is it that the Christians demean themselves
towards thee as towards a God?" And Phocas answers, "that
he the unworthy Bishop is honoured not as God, but only as
a man of God and as shepherd of the spiritual flock." Simi-
larly we learn that Polycarp, when about to ascend the pyre,
endeavoured to take off his shoes, though not in the habit of
doing this before ; because all the faithful at all times vied
eagerly who should soonest touch his flesh. And after his
death the heathen besought the magistrate, at the instance of
the Jews, not to give up the body of Polycarp, lest the Christians
should abandon the Crucified One, and begin to worship this
man.

7. In the Acts of Polycarp it is only the faithful who see
the signs and wonders. "When," we read, (Letter of the
Smyrnaeans, chap. 15) "Polycarp had offered up the Amen
and finished his prayer, the firemen lighted the fire. And, a
mighty flame flashing forth, we to whom it was given to see,
saw a marvel, yea, and we were preserved in order that we
might relate what happened to the rest." There is a close re-

96 Monuments of Early Christianity.

semblance between this passage and chap. lo of the Acts of
Phocas, so close that we can hardly conceive of the two nar-
ratives having been written independently. In chap. 14 how-
ever, where the voice from heaven bids Phocas be of good
cheer, Trajan hears it also and is terrified ; and this is in
strong contrast with chap. 9 of the Letter of the Smyrnaeans,
where a similar voice is only heard by such of the faithful as
were present. In the Acts of Polycarp, moreover, no such
miracle as an earthquake with the prostration of the magistrate
is related. It looks as if this incident had been imported into
the Acts of Phocas as a reminiscence of the great earthquake
at Antioch in a.d. 115, when the Consul Pedo was killed in
his palace and the Emperor Trajan only escaped by leaping
through the window. An earthquake, however, was an incident
which almost every writer of Acts of Martyrdom allowed him-
self to import into narratives in other respects quite trust-
worthy. And in this connection we must remember that the
populations of Asia are more familiar with the terrors of earth-
quakes than are we who inhabit Western Europe ; they pray
daily in their litanies to be delivered from them, whereas we
do nothing of the sort. An earthquake therefore was a very
small tax on the credulity of the readers of ancient martyr-
doms, and they hardly expected the Almighty to vouchsafe
any smaller sign of His interest in the cause at stake.

8. Phocas is baked alive, and when the Emperor enters the
death-chamber he finds the body of the martyr fragrant as
nard, or, according to the Armenian, as a rose ; like precious
myrrh, the Greek adds. The same is related of the bodies of
Polycarp and of the martyrs of Lyons, in Acts which are above
suspicion.

9. The exordium of the Acts of Phocas closely resembles
that of the Letter of the Smyrnaeans. Just as the latter is

addressed to the brethren dwelling in Philo-
these aSs° nielium and in Asia, so the Acts of Phocas

are in the form of a letter addressed to the
brethren who are dwelling in Pontus and Bithynia, in Paphla-
gonia and Mysia, in Galatia, Cappadocia and in Armenia.
The resemblance of this dedication to the dedication of the

The Acts of S. Phocas. 97

First Epistle of Peter is also very noticeable, and cannot be

accidental. Yet it is not a case of mere

imitation, for the Acts of Phocas add Paphla- Pirs^Ep^

gonia, Mysia and Armenia, to the list of of Peter and

provinces enumerated by Peter, but omit also the Letter

Asia from it. The intention evidently was to „ ^^^®

notify the facts of the death of Phocas to the

Churches of all the provinces that lay along the north coast of

Asia Minor, from the Troad all the way to Trebizond. The

survival of this dedication in the Armenian form of these Acts

is very weighty evidence in favour of their

genuineness : the more so, because the Greek ^if ,^-"^5^° f
° ' genumeiiess.

form omits it. A forger of Acts would hardly ^

have added such a dedication to his forgery. Nor in the third I
century was it any longer the fashion to compose Acts in the /
form of a letter to certain specified Christian communities.]
For the Church had by that time reached such a sense of its
unity all over the Empire, such a degree of self-consciousness,
that the sufferings and death of a martyr had become a matter
to be communicated to the entire Christian world, and was no
longer held to be of interest to a certain region only. The
omission of these regional limitations from the Greek text is in
itself emphatic and clear testimony to the way in which at a
later time and under the influence of a later stage of church
feeling and custom a martyrologist would write. Nor is it in
the Acts of Phocas alone that we meet with traces of this more
developed self-consciousness on the part of the Church. In
the very Letter of the Smyrnaeans an early hand has inter-
polated the phrase Catholic Church no less than four times.
The interpolation was extended to Eusebius' citations at such
an early time as to figure in the Latin version of Rufinus,
made as early as 400 a.d., and also in the earliest MSS. of the
older Syriac version. The Armenian version alone, made from
a very early copy of the Syriac, is free from the interpolation.
So far as I know, the Acts of Phocas and the Acts of Polycarp
are the only Acts composed in the form of a letter to particu-
lar Churches.

If we could fix a precise date at which the divisions of the

98 Monuments of Early Christianity,

Roman provinces corresponded to the enumeration in the
dedication, that date would possibly mark
date ^ ^^ ^^^t when these Acts were drawn up.
It is enough here, without going into so
technical a discussion, to indicate sources which should be
consulted by any one desirous of forming a judgment. In
Prof. W. M. Ramsay's Historical Geography^ pp. 195 and 252
ff.,^ will be found some pertinent passages, lists of the con-
stituent regions of the province of Galatia so drawn up as to
show the official divisions of the Roman province at various

^ The following are some of the passages from Prof. W. M. Ramsay's
Geog. of Asia Minor.

p. 195. Ptolemy assigns to Galatia the whole coast of Paphlagonia, in-
cluding Abononteichos and Sinope. Pliny proves, ad Tr. 90-92, that
Amisos and Sinope were attached to Bithynia-Pontus in a.d. III-3.

In Trajan's reign Cappadocia, Pontus Galaticus and Cappadocicus were
separated from Galatia and made a distinct province. C. I. L. iii. Suppl.
No. 6819.

Perhaps Galatia was at the same time widened to include the Paphla-
gonian coast.

p. 252. In 70 A D. Cappadocia was placed under a consular legatus
Augusti, and at some time not later than 78 it was united with the pro-
vince of Galatia. This arrangement lasted until the time of Trajan ; but
in the later years of that emperor the vast province had been divided,
Galatia was entrusted to a praetorian legatus (as before 78), while Cappa-
docia was governed by a consular legatus.

The divisions of the Roman province of Galatia were at different epochs
as follows :—

The inscr. of Sospes 63-78 a.d. (C. I. L. iii. Suppl. 6818) enumerates
Galatia, Pisidia, Phrygia, Lycaonia, Isauria, Paphlagonia, Pontus Galati-
cus, Pontus Polemoniacus.

In the period 78-100 the combined province in Galatia, Cappadocia,
Pontus, Pisidia, Paphlagonia, Lycaonia, Armenia Minor. (C. I. L. iii.
312, 318).

A.D. 100-140 or 150. An unknown governor of Galatia in second half
of Trajan enumerates the countries governed by him as Galatia (Phrygia),
Pisidia, Lycaonia, Paphlagonia.

A further change is under Antoninus Pius. The C. I. L. Suppl. 6813,
enumerates only Galatia, Pisidia, Paphlagonia. Phrygia is omitted, be-
cause so little of it was included. Lycaonia at this date was given to
Cilicia, which now had three eparchioe, Cilicia, Lycaonia and Isauria.

About end of 3rd cent. Galatia was divided afresh into Paphlagonia,
Galatia, Pisidia,

The Acts of S. Phocas. 99

epochs. The divisions under Trajan seem to me to accord
sufficiently well with the enumeration in our Acts. There
is however really no reason why the writers of these Acts
should have employed the official designations. It is in any
case difficult to believe that a forger of the end of the third or
beginning of the fourth century, would have added geographi-
cal limits to the range of his forgery.

10. There are other points of contact in these Acts with
genuine Acts of the second century. " Methinks," says Afri-
canus to the saint, "thou art more of a philosopher than
Aristotle." Phocas answers : " I claim not to philosophise,
but I wish to be a Christian." Compare this with the Acts of
ApoUonius, § 2>Z' Perhaps we are to understand from the
words of Phocas in chap. 9 : " I have forfeited all worldly
wealth and riches and possessions in order to possess the
single pearl," that he had been deprived of his property.
Compare ApoUonius, § 28, with Harnack's note.

IT. There are very many other points worth noticing about
these Acts, not all of them however proofs of their antiquity,
though none of them inconsistent therewith.
There is the very primitive imagery of the Primitive

samts prayer m chap. 15. All his meta- prayer of

phors are those which we meet with in the Phocas,

earliest catacombs ; e.g. there is the flock and
the shepherd, the vineyard, the ark and its pilot. Phocas
held the doctrine of the creative Word, and his creed is of a
simple and primitive type. "Take in thy
hands," he says to Africanus, " the divinely ^re^ed ^^

inspired writings ; and know the Creator of
thyself and of thy emperor. Then wilt thou know that there
is God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, crucified and
buried, risen and ascended into heaven, and sitting on the
right hand of God." Here there is no reason to suppose that
by the scriptures is meant the written Gospel. For in a parallel
statement of his creed Paul appeals in the same words to
the scriptures, i Cor. xv. 3 : " For I delivered unto you first
of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for
our sins, according to the scriptures ; and that He was buried;

lOO Monuments of Early Christianity,

and that He hath been raised on the third day according to
the scriptures." Here Paul cannot be referring to the New
Testament, which was not yet written. Phocas was well read in
the Epistles of Paul, and the author of these
Phocas a ^cts knew the First Epistle of Peter. We
Paul's ^^^ therefore justified in interpreting the ex-

Epistles, pression Divine Scriptures used by him to mean

the Old Testament. It is likely enough that
there was a written Gospel as early as the year 1 15 a.d. ; but it
is impossible that it should be referred to in such a manner at
so early a date. The Epistles of Paul however may have been
reckoned as divine scriptures earlier than one supposes in the
second century. ^ But I cannot myself believe that they were
so classed as early as the reign of Trajan. It is certain that
Ignatius, often as he quoted them and great as was his respect
for Paul, never called them inspired writings. That appella-
tion he reserves for the Old Testament. Phocas appeals to
the divine scriptures in attestation of exactly the same tenets
in behalf of which Paul appeals to them.

12. There are passages where these Acts recall the Ignatian

Epistles. I have already referred to the words in which

Phocas disclaims the imputation made by

Resen^lances Africanus, that the Christians regard him as a
to the Epistles , „ ' , „ , ,.

of Ignatius. g^^. "Not as a god," he replies, "but as

a man of God. For I am very inferior to the

apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore they honour

me, the unworthy bishop whom thou seest before thee, not as

a god, but as the shepherd of the spiritual flock. . . . All

the schoolmen of the whole world would not be found worthy

to reply to a single one of the disciples of the Lord." This is

the language almost of the sub-apostolic age, when the works

of the apostles was still fresh in men's minds. In a similar

way Ignatius refuses to rank himself with the apostles, Rom.

4 : "I do not enjoin you, as Peter and Paul did. They were

apostles ; I am a convict ; they were free, but I am a slave to

^ Cp. Acta Mart. Scilit. al Ka0* ifJiAas pcpXot Kal at irpAs eirl tovtois
'irioToXal IlavXov tov 6<r£ov dv8p6s. Here Paul's Epp. are distinguished
from the sacred writings.

The Acts of S. Phocas. loi

this very hour." So Trail. 3: "But I did not think myself
competent for this, that being a convict I should order you as
though I were an apostle." So Ephes. 21 : "I who am the
very last of the faithful," and Magnes. 14 : "the Church which
is in Syria, whereof I am not worthy to be called a member."

13. Perhaps we ought to reckon as a mark of the antiquity
of these Acts the statement that the converted soldiers, when
they were baptised, fulfilled all the law, chap. 16. This re-
minds one of the sayings of Jesus when John hesitated to
baptise Him : " Suifer it now ; for thus it becometh us to fulfil
all righteousness."

14. Africanus is the governor before whom Phocas is
brought. It is not specified in what province the persecution
was taking place ; but we may infer from the

first and last chapters of these Acts that the Probable date
tradition which locates the scene of the tenure of prov.
martyr's trial at Sinope is correct. Sinope Pontica.

was in the province of Pontus, which was
governed about the years 111-113 by Pliny the younger with
the official title of Legatus Pro-prsetore Consulari Potestate.
Pliny had been Consul Suffectus in the year 100. In the con-
sular lists we find that Africanus was Consul Ordinarius in a.d.
112. It would not be inconsistent with the principles of the
Roman provincial administration that he should have been the
Imperial Legatus between the years 112 and 117. In such
a case he would have succeeded Pliny. It weighs nothing
against these Acts that there is no other record of Africa-
nus having governed Bithynia Pontus ; for there is not one
out of a hundred such appointments of which we know the
details. The reference in chap. 3 of these Acts to Trajan,
as having conquered in all his wars, points to the end of
Trajan's reign as the time of Africanus' governorship ; for it
was not till the year 114 that the senate conferred on Trajan
the title of Optimus on account of his victories, and in the
following year he took the fresh title of Parthicus. According
to chap. 19 of the Acts the death of the Emperor followed
closely on that of the martyr. And this is perhaps the grain
of truth contained in this part of the narrative. But these

I02 Monuments of Early Christianity.

many traits of probability must not blind us to the large ad-
mixture of pure legend which these Acts undoubtedly contain.
A great part of the interview between Phocas
Yet these ^^^ Trajan has a spurious ring, especially

Acts contain ^i , r i t- , , /-

legendary ^"^ alarm of the Emperor at the sound of

elements, the heavenly voice. The words moreover

describing the Emperor's death are a mere
tag from the Gospel. I therefore incline to the belief that we
have in these Acts an early narrative of the saint's death over-
laid with the usual mythical accretions. Such accretions are
palpable in the Greek form, if we compare it

And have with the Armenian. As we have seen above,
polat'ed'even ^^^ ^oo confessors in two provinces are

intheAr- turned into 50,000 all in one place; one

menianform. lamp Ht in the prison, becomes 10,000, all
lit miraculously ; the dedication is omitted,
and in chap. 17a fresh miracle is added, as if the Armenian
did not contain enough. We cannot suppose that the process
of accretion which is so palpable in the Greek has not already
begun in the Armenian. Perhaps a lucky chance may yet re-
veal in some library an old Latin form of these Acts which
will aid us still further in clearing away the accretions of
legend. Meanwhile it is not too much to say that the Ar-
menian version has in the case of these Acts set us upon the
track of a genuine monument of a period of persecution of
which the only other extant notice is the Letter of Pliny.

There is one last point to which Mr. Hardy draws my atten-
tion, the statement, namely, in ch. 3 of these Acts, that "the
enemies of God made diligent search " for Phocas. This at
first sight seems to be inconsistent with Trajan's words to Pliny
that the Christians conquirendi non sunt. If, however, we could
suppose that Africanus preceded Pliny in Bithynia-Pontus, it
would be rather a confirmation than not of these Acts ; for
Trajan's words imply that until he wrote the Christians were
being hunted down. Such a consideration makes it doubly
certain that the story of the Emperor's death in ch. xix. is a
later and legendary accretion.

SAINT PHOCAS.

I. Many a time since the coming of the Saviour
Jesus Christ, the pitiful and humane, and wise and
powerful, our Healer, and Shepherd, and Teacher,
and Lord, and God, Christians have received the
glorious and ineffable, the holy and spotless mys-
tery, and have sealed it by sufferings long and
extreme, by fasting and persecution and flight, by
banishment and endurance, through degradation
and glory, through torture and salvation. And
many a time have the apostles, holy and spotless
and equal to the angels, been tortured because of
the name ^ and of the glorified mystery, and have
given us ^Jype of the suffering of Christ, and__
of their own irreproachable and inflexible faith.
Wherefore, O brethren, who are dwelling in Pontus
and Bithynia, in Paphlagonia and in Mysia, in
Galatia and in Cappadocia and in Armenia,^ it has
seemed necessary also to us that we should, all of us
and everywhere, signify in this writing unto you,
the undefiled and beautiful and glorious piety of
the blessed martyrs and the memorials of the same,
in order that we may become imitators of their
good fight, and make ourselves emulous of them.

II. For we shall remember the sufferings which

^ The Greek omits " because of the name."
2 Greek omits from " wherefore " down to " Armenia."
103

I04 Monuments of Early Christianity,

they underwent by fire, and thirst, and cross, and
wild beasts, and by suffocation in pools of water,
and by carding, and by all sorts of tortures, and by
divers torments. For we too are taught to press
forward to the goal, and it is our hope to be made
partakers in great good things by our Lord Jesus
Christ, to whom glory for ever and ever. Amen.

And above all others was the blessed Phocas,
conspicuous for bravery and endurance ; for not
only did he face fire and torture, but while he was
of this world he ever lived ^ in the fair and spot-
less religion, having continually before his eyes
the Saviour Jesus Christ. (Tor if it were possible
to compose concerning him in these memorials so
long a history, it could not fail to strike great dis-
may into our readers. M

Well, then, the devoutness of the holy Phocas
was such as this. All through his youth among
us here he was not beguiled by the grievous and
destructive serpent, but holy and spotless (as) ^ the
dove of the Lord, he bore the yoke meekly from
childhood, and was full of piety, and was conspic-
uous to all. But of those who lacked the means
of livelihood he was the help and succour ; to the
rich he was ready with reproof, and exhorted them
to what is of good report and for the welfare of
others ; and in a word he was unto all everything
that is good and holy. (But no one among men
could relate, as it deserves to be related, his last

* T^v dpcHky 4iro\iTcv<raTO.

* The Greek omits this sentence,

* The Arm. omit the word *• as.'

The Acts of S. Phocas. 105

struggle and triumph.j However, unto you that
are worshippers of the true God, we will report
the little we can. III. In the times when Trajan
was Emperor, many of the Christians were
snatched away from the flock, to sacrifice to vain
idols ; and then were they seeking for this blessed
saint as for a gem of much value, which, having
lost, the possessor calls his friends and his kindred
together, that they may search and find it. In
like manner the enemies of God made diligent
search for the shepherd, for he was a just and holy
and true shepherd of the spiritual flock of the Lord.
And having taken the blessed saint, they brought
him into court.

Africanus the Eparch said : ** Is this the Phocas
who denies the existence of the gods, and reckons
not the autocrat Trajan a god ? Come, tell me,
then, have not all wars been won by the might of
his hand ? Who then but he can be God ? " But
Phocas remained silent. Africanus said : *' What
sayest thou to that } Dost thou give no answer,
or knowest thou not before whom thou hast
come?" Phocas said : *' If thou speakest about
my God who is in heaven, well and good ; but if
thou sayest of a man that he is God, then expect
not at all to hear aught from me." Africanus said :
" Are then the autocrats not gods .<* " Phocas
said : ** Is this not enough for Trajan that he is
called Emperor, but dost thou also give him the in-
comparable name ?" IV. Africanus said : " How
is it that the Christians demean themselves towards
thee as towards a god ? Phocas said : '' God for-

io6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

bid that any one should even entertain such a
thought ; for men that are imbrued in blood and
assailable by death, and liable to sin, and who
must give an account of their lives, and of the
deeds they have done here, and of theic reli-
gion, and who are brought under the judgment of
the unseen God, how can they be competent to
bear such an awful name ? " Africanus said :
" How is it that the rumour of thee hath reached
even the Autocrat ? "

Phocas said : " Yea, of me not as a god, but as
a man of God. For I am very inferior to the
apostles of the religion of our Lord Jesus Christ.^
Wherefore they honour me, the unworthy bishop
whom thou seest before thee, not as a god, as thou
thinkest, but as the shepherd of the spiritual flock ^
of the Lord. But dost thou thyself, because thou
hast been entrusted with authority by the Lord,
therefore assume the name of god ? " Africanus
said : " There should be many schoolmen here,
that they might be able to argue with thee."
Phocas said : ** Although thou shouldst assemble
all the schoolmen of the whole world, they would
not be found worthy to reply to a single one of the
disciples of the Lord." V. Africanus said : ''Hast
thou such regard for the teaching of the Crucified
One .? " Phocas said : *' Herein behold even more
His matchless wisdom ; for unless He were above
and beyond all wisdom, nay, more, unless all wise
men derived from Him, it would not have been

^ 80€v ovK &iravTO(ioXw Trjs twv diroorrrfXwv tov 6eou «vap«<rTias.
2 iroifUva Xo-yiKTjs d"Yc\i]S.

The Acts of S. Phocas. 107

written, ' Who giveth wisdom to the wise,' ^ and
again, ' Who taketh the wise in the depth of their
wisdom V and again, * I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and I will make a reproach of the
skill of the learned.' ^ Dost thou understand that
which I speak ? " Africanus said : ''I was not
sent to talk with thee concerning laws and prob-
lems, but concerning obedience to the edicts of
the Emperors."

Phocas said : " I speak of the one unseen God,
and persuade thee not. Wilt thou, then, who
speakest about a man * like to myself, who is to-
day and to-morrow dies, and is blessed if he die
well and not ill, wilt thou be able to persuade me ? "
Africanus said : '' Cast from thee this intricate and
decorated discourse, and instruct thyself in the
lore of thy true life, lest thou compel me to per-
suade thee with many tortures." VI. Phocas
said: ''When invited to so noble a feast, I de-
cline it not, the more so as the hour is far ad-
vanced." Africanus said: "Yea, all the more
because of thy philosophising, for because of that
do I pity thee." Phocas said : ''If thou hadst
pity on me, then while I stand before thee, thou
wouldst at once do whatsoever thou art going to
do. But that thou mayest know that unless I die,
I cannot live." ^ Africanus said : " Murderers

^ 6 81.80VS (ro<|>£av Tois (ro(f>ois.

2 6 8pa<r<r6[JL€vos tovs cro<J>ovis €V ttJ iravovpYicj, avTwv (l Cor. 3, 19).
^ diroXco T?|v (ro<j>iav tcSv <ro<|>(3v Kal ti*|v cruveo-iv tc3v (twctcSv dOcTiio-w
(I Cor. I, 19).

^ The Greek adds the words, "lawless and."

5 The Greek omits from "yea, all the more," dpwar-td-^'-^L-capnot live."

'f^ OF THE

tri^IVERSITY

io8 Monuments of Early Christianity,

and wizards are not worthy to look on the sun, yet
they supplicate for their lives ; but thou, whose
much wisdom, according to the saying, hath made
thee mad, art so bold and obstinate that thou
wishest to die. By the sun, methinks thou art
more of a philosopher than Aristotle."

Phocas said : ** I deign not to philosophise ; but
I wish to be a lover of Christ, since I know Him
to be my God and my King. For Aristotle
taught a philosophy which is vain and ensnaring ;
but Christ taught the conversation of God and
true religion,^ and wisdom, and fortitude, and hath
bestowed immortality on those who believe in one
God." Africanus said : ''Thou hast demonstrated
thy emptiness of mind and folly in paying so much
regard to one crucified."

Phocas said : "What is it that is a stumbling-
block to thee ? For it is written, ' A stumbling-
block to Jews and folly to Gentiles ; but to us
believing, Christ the power of God and wisdom of
God.'" VII. Africanus said : "What, God cruci-
fied ? "* Phocas said : " But there are gods, male
and female, and made out of stone, by the work of
hands. But none that are ungodly and of the
flesh can discover the path of Christ." Africanus
said : " Cure thyself of thy madness ; awake and
look on the heavens, the sun, and moon, and
morning star, and the multitude of the other stars,
that thou wouldst abandon and die." Phocas said :
" Thou beholdest the circle of the earth, and the

* OcoXoYfav Kttl iroXiTcfav Ivdpcrov, in the Greek.

* In the Greek, ^o-xlv oCv Stbs ^<rTavp«n^vos ;

The Acts of S. Phocas. 109

blazing torch of the sun, and the round globe of
the moon, and the positions of the stars ; but their
Creator, God, thou beholdest not, neither compre-
hendest Him. For neither did the sun create the
moon, nor the moon the stars ; but all this appear-
ance and show was made by the Word of God."^
Africanus said : "■ Then, on the other hand, thou
declarest the heaven and all that is therein to have
been made by another, denying that we ought to
serve them, and compliest not ? " ^

Phocas said : '' God forbid that I should call the
elements God." Africanus said : '' Show to me
thy God, and I will win over the autocrat."

Phocas said : '' Did I not tell thee before
concerning the unseen God ? For God who sits
above the heavens, how can he appear unto man '^
But if thou wouldst know God, yield to me, and I
will teach thee. Thou beholdest then the heavens^
the sun and the moon, the stars and welkin. But
it is not when they will that they shine, but when
they receive the command so to do, 'Tis not be-
cause the clouds are gathered into one throng, when
and as they will, that they are filled with water ;
'tis when they are mustered by the command of
the Lord. There comes the summer, not when it
wills, but when He thinks good. The sea is at
peace or tempest-troubled, not when it so wills,
but when it receives the decree from the Lord.
Man is healed, not when he wills, but when his
Creator bids it. Thou huntest the wild beasts,

^ Iv Xd-yw 0eov Kal Xpto-rov ■yc'yevvTjTai.
^ <t>d(rK€is, Kal |j.T)8^ avrois viTTJKeiv.

no Monuments of Early Christianity.

not when thou wilt, but when they are delivered
into thy hand. The Emperor is victorious over
the nations, not when he wills it, but when the
Lord succours and defends him. The Emperor
rules, not when he wills, but when the Lord gives
him power to rule.^ VIII. This God we ought
to know and glorify ; and worship Him who said,
* I slay and I make to live.' " ^

Africanus said : But who is supreme over all
this, the God crucified of whom thou spakest } "

Phocas said : ** How hast thou heard of his suffer-
ings and yet considerest not the might of His
resurrection '^. How camest thou to acknowledge
the Crucified One 1 for this is much for thee. But
if thou wouldst know,^ then take into thy hands
the divinely inspired writings* and know thy
Creator and thy Autocrat.^ And then wilt thou
know that there is God the Father,® and His Son
Jesus Christ, crucified and buried,^ risen,® and
ascended into heaven, and sitting on the right
hand of God." ^ Africanus said : " I have heard
enough of thy teaching, and methinks Demos-
thenes might teach as much.^^ So now obey me

^ This last speech of Phocas is somewhat shorter in the Greek.

2 The Greek has "I will slay and will make to live," ^7*!) diroKT€V(5
Kttl ^i]V iroi^o-ci).

' In Greek : If thou wouldst believe. * Ocairv^virrovs Ypa4>ds.

* Gk. =the Creator of thyself and of thy autocrat.

« Gk. = who is God the Father.

' Gk. ^o-ravpcDfUvos ^v KaxcL rb dvOpwirivov, " crucified as regards His
humanity," and omits the words " and buried."

® Gk. dvOUTTOLS %\ T|) TT^S 0€6tT]TOS avTov 8vvd)i€i.

' Gk. \v 8€|fqi ToO irarpis Ka0€?dp.evos.
^0 Gk. TToXX-^v orov ircpCoSov dKtJKoas X6"ywv, «s Tdxa F^l^i rhy
AT)(io(r6^vT)v TOtraOra d-n-TiY-ycXK^vai.

The Acts of S. Phocas. 1 1 1

and sacrifice, lest thou force me to consume thee
with torture and fire. For art thou not aware
that there are more than five hundred ^ men here
and in the other province, whom thou inveiglest
into not sacrificing to the gods." IX. Phocas
said : '' And how much better will it be, as thou
hast said, for me to die than for all the world
to perish because of my impiety. But 'tis with
joy that I approach the funeral pyre, lest the
whole flock be direfully wounded and scattered.
For such are the commandments which I
have received from the Lord Jesus Christ."
Africanus said : ^ '' And I am very sorry for
thee, and am full of pity for a man so learned and
so famous ; but thou endeavourest to oppose me
and raise an angry debate." Phocas said : *' For
all thy sorrow thou art about to destroy me. For
I despise all thy threatened tortures, nay, I even
spit upon them. Therefore do whatsoever thou
art minded to do ; for my language or my
thoughts thou shalt not control. For the loving
care of my Lord is with me, and a confession of
faith more profound than tens of thousands of thy
Demosthenes."^ Africanus said : ** If thou wast de-
ranged, I would say that thou wast raving ; and

1 Srt irXetw ircvTaKwriivpioi dv8p€S iJoTavTat IvravOa Kal toLs lirapx^as
dvarpeireis |j.i^ 6v€iv.

2 But the Greek continues with : "If thou wast advanced in age
(irpoPePiiKws), I should say that thou twaddlest ; and if thou wast poor, I
should suspect thee on that point, and so forth." These words are given
later on to Africanus in the Armenian, who, for 'irpop£pi]Ka>s, advanced in
age, read Trapap€pTiKO)S = deranged. The passage which intervenes i^) to (^)
is absent in the Greek.

112 Monuments of Early Christianity,

if thou wast poor, I should say that on that ac-
count thou wast willing to die." Phocas said : *' I
have forfeited, all worldly wealth and riches and
possessions, if only to possess a single pearl,
which neither thou nor the autocrat can ravish
from me. But if it please thee to torture me
because I sacrifice not to abominations, lo, here
I am ; torture me as thou must." Africanus
said : ** We sacrifice to the holy and spotless
gods, and thou callest them abominations."
Phocas said : " Not only abominable, but presump-
tuous and cheating and adulterous and temple-
robbing ; yea, and devils and lifeless. And not
only they, but all who speak of any other god but
the one God who is over all and almighty. To
whom as Creator be glory and honour through our
Lord Jesus Christ, for ever and ever."

X. And when the multitude of brethren who
stood there had said ''Amen," there was suddenly
a noise like the voice of many waters, and a great
earthquake, so that Africanus fell down with
fright, and was laid half dead on the floor, speech-
less, as well as all the guards who stood around
him. Among whom we saw, we to whom the
Lord wished to manifest it.^ For a bright light
shot from heaven ten times brighter than the sun ;
and two angels appeared on steeds of fire. And
fear and trembling fell upon us. But they were
embraced by the blessed Phocas ^ and then re-

^ Iv ols t8o(i£v, ols 6 Kwpios ^PovX-^Otj 8(i|ai.

* avTol 8i irpocrciirdvTes TCf" )iaKapi(|) 4>ci>k^, and in the Gk. it is ** three
angels of fire on horseback " who appear.

The Acts of S. P hoc as. 1 1 3

ascended to heaven. And after half an hour,
Terentina, wife of Africanus, ran up all dishevelled,
and with her five sons and all her attendants fell
down before the blessed Phocas, and earnestly
entreated him to restore to her her husband,
undertaking that she would believe with all her
^^ousehold, which she actually did. Then the
blessed Phocas called together ^ all the congrega-
tion ^ of the church and offered up prayers for his
salvation. But he, having escaped in so mar-
vellous a way, went and told Trajan of the in-
comparable might of Christ and of the great hope
of the Christians.^ XI. And Trajan called Phocas
and said to him : *' Thou art Phocas." And he
said : *' I am." Trajan said : '' And thou knowest
not my absolute power. Why dost thou not obey
our commands ? In whom art thou exalted,^ or
what God dost thou worship? However, me-
thinks such rhetors ^ as thyself stand in no want of
advice. But put thyself into a fitting mood and be
not recalcitrant. For though thou mayest not be
in thy right mind ^ thou canst know who is Trajan
and who is he whom thou worshippest." Phocas
said: ''Is it meet to speak and defend oneself, O
Emperor, before thee and even so run in the race

* But the Gk. = which the blessed Phocas actually did, for having called
together, etc.

^ Tov K\fipov = the clergy.

^ Gk. = But he thus rescued by a miracle went off to lay before the king
the wonderful power of the Lord and hope of the Christians.

^ Tivt TTfiiroiGftis ;

^ Gk. = Such age as is thine wants no counsellor, but should give itselt
good counsel and not disobey (irapaKovetv).

^ €1 ji^ -yap eavTov -yevg Kal rx\% {nroX-^xj/ews (rov, -yvwctti, tis Io-ti.

114 Monuments of Early Christianity.

which impends ? " Trajan said : " Yea, it is neces-
sary for thee to speak and in particular to say
what will help thee." Phocas said : " The power
of thy authority, O Trajan, is it given to thee from
God, if at least thou hast come to know Him that
bestowed the gift on thee ? " Trajan said : *' My
empire is given me by the many gods,^ to whom
it is right to sacrifice. It is right therefore to give
due honour to our saviours, and on that account
are we bound to sacrifice because of our salvation."
Phocas said : " It is just and right, O Emperor, to
sacrifice to Almighty God and to obey His com-
mands ; but withal we ought to obey the govern-
ment, not unto impiety, but unto true religion."
Trajan said : '' Wast thou summoned hither to
philosophise, or to sacrifice ?" Phocas said : " To
whom hast thou to sacrifice, or to what gods ? "
Trajan said: "To Asklepius." Phocas said:
"" Where is this god of thine ? Show him to me
that I may behold him." XII. And when they had
come into the temple of the idols, Trajan said :
^' Lo, here are the gods who preserve all." Phocas
said : ** I say unto thee. Ho, thou stock and
stone, dost thou desire to eat, dost desire drink,
dost desire to dress, dost desire to smell, hast
thou need of sacrifices ? Behold thy gods are
vain ; they stand erect and sit not down ; they
have open mouths and speak not ; we pray and
they hear not ; eyes have they, yet see not ;
hands, yet they take not up the offerings. Wilt

^ In the Greek &irb 0cfiv simply.

The Acts of S. P hoc as. 1 1 5

thou that I destroy one of them ? yet are they in-
capable of exacting redress for the deed ; they
grieve not, nor call upon the autocrat to succour
them. And were he summoned, then the god is
proved to be powerless. A god who needs man-
kind to assist him in avenging himself, how can
he save mankind? Behold, O Emperor, the
emptiness of thy religion."

Trajan said : " Thou hast astonished us by thy
words. Wast thou not a sailor, and didst thou not
worship Poseidon?" Phocas said: *' I was not
only a sailor, but a captain of sailors, and in all
things I am piloted by the Lord and offer up
such sacrifices as are meet." XIII. Trajan said :
'' We, too, would know to whom thou art will-
ing to sacrifice." Phocas said : '' Thou canst not
know, for it is written : ''Ho, cast not your
pearls before swine." Trajan said : *' Then we
are swine as thou sayest."^ Phocas said : '' 'Twere
fortunate if ye were dumb beasts, for then ye
would not fall under judgment as worshipping
yonder stones, for which the dumb brutes have
no concern at all. But tell me, which is the better,
thou that hast all that power of thine, or they
w^ho give no answer to what ye say ? " Trajan
said : '' We command that thou be hung from a
tree, and we will see what thy vain philosophy
avails thee." Phocas said : ''I, if I be hung from
a tree, will be above all mountains and winds with
the Lord ; but thou along with thy gods wilt be

1 The Gk. adds Pi«0dvaT€, **thou wretch."

1 1 6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

in hell in outer darkness, and then wilt thou know
that the God in heaven is mighty." XIV. So they
excoriated ^ his body all over, yet he did not make
the denial, nor was any utterance heard from his
lips, but only his lips moved in prayer. And
when he had finished his prayer and uttered an
Amen, there was a noise from heaven, and a voice,
which said : ''Be of good cheer, Phocas, for I am
with thee. Behold for thee is prepared a place
in the garden along with the holy pontiffs and
with those who deny not Me and My Father.
But Trajan shall go to the place that thou hast
portended, there to undergo tortures eternal."
Then Trajan was smitten with fear and ordered
the saint to be taken off the rack, and commanded
four guards to watch him.^ And they took and
put him in prison and he was fixed very securely
in the stocks.

But the saint continued to praise and glorify
God ; but they shut the doors and kept watch
outside the prison. XV. And about midnight the
saint fell to praying, thus:^ ''Jesus, Son of God,
Christ Lord, whose name is holy. Lord of angels
and of every name that is named ; Shepherd of
spiritual sheep, keep Thy flock firm, drive away
the many-footed wolf, who seduces and ravishes

^ <nra0it6|i.cvov Kard irav {liXos.

' The Greek adds : "and one centurion by name Priscus."
» Gk. Kvpic *lTi<rov Xp^crre, tov (jLcydXov Ocoii vU, xb A^iov Kal &|&pi]Tov
Iv dv6p»irots fivofia, th KvPcpvt^TiKOV ^v irtXd'yco-iv 6vo)ia, rb iroifJiavTiKbv
kv irofjjico-iv 6vofia, 0€bs dyY^Xwv, Otbs apxa-yY^^v, Ocbs irdvTos 6vd|JtaTos
6vopia^o|i^vov, iroi|JLi]v t«v XoYtKwv <rov irpopdrwv, T^pT]<r6v o-ov rb
iroCfJiviov do-vXov.

The Acts of S. P hoc as, 1 1 7

them. Yield not aught to him in Thy labours.^
Let not the wild boar destroy Thy vine planted
by Christ ; let it not pollute Thy holiness, as did
Nebuchadnezzar. Let not the many-spotted
serpent bespot Thy spotless dove. Let not the
all-spotted contaminate Thy servants with the
parching blast of the south. But preserve Thy
vineyard, which Thy all-powerful right hand hath
planted.-^ Suffer not thy cross ^ to be destroyed,
which with Thy great and precious blood thou
didst win. Suffer not Thy ark to be wrecked,
of which thou alone wast captain and pilot.^ I
thank and glorify Thy Father and Thee, that
Thou wilt make me worthy this day to sup with
Thee, for I shall come unspotted to Thy couch.*
Drive me not without on this day in my coming
to Thee. Keep my spirit, as Father, as God, as
Lord, as Shepherd, lest there breathe upon ^ me
the dragon, and lest his feet dance upon me.
For he could not persuade me by gold or silver
to lose the precious pearl. But lo, I have
abandoned all, that I may possess thee alone,
that art all-precious, thee. Lord, the pitiful, the
light-giving.^ Bring me near to Thy Father.
Lead me in by the narrow door into the temple
of the King, and to Thee be glory and to Thy
Father and to Thy Holy Spirit.^

* €ls Tovs <rovs TOTTovs. What follows as far as *' right hand hath
planted " is omitted in the Greek.

2 dY€\T]v= "flock," instead of "cross."

'' The Gk. omits this clause. ■* iraorTov. ^ <rup'^(rT|. ^ lirt<|)avT].

7 6x1 8id o-ov T| 8o|a tw ixcYdXco 9ec5 Kal irarpl <rvv ofyCw irvcvuaTi vvv
Kal els TOVS alwvas.

1 1 8 Monuments of Early Christianity.

XVI. And when he had said the Amen, the
prison was opened and a torch ^ was Hghted in
the fortress. When the soldiers saw it, they
rushed in, and throwing themselves at his feet,
they sought of him the washing of the font.*
And the blessed bishop took the men and went
y as far as the edge of the sea outside the city,
and gave them the seal in Christ,^ to whom also
the Lord manifested Himself Having come and
having fulfilled all the law, we entered again into
the prison.* And at dawn all the multitude of the
city mustered in the public place, looking forward
to the martyr-struggle of the blessed Phocas.
And Trajan called him into the court and said :
"Sacrifice to Poseidon."

Phocas said : *' To demons I sacrifice not."
Trajan said : "Are the gods demons, and we too } ^
Tell me then what other god is there left ? "
Phocas said : "He that gave thee thy authority.
For ye are dumb irrational animals, and know
not the benevolent God." Trajan said: "T hen
jsacrifi^e^at least to thy God." Phocas said : "My
TJod needeth liaught, except only prayer and
fasting and holy hearts. For all things that have
come into existence are His creatures. He giveth
breath to all things that are and to whatever
shall hereafter come to be." XVH. Trajan said :

* The Gk. has : ** more than ten thousand lamps."

* TO Xovrpov. ^ TTJv 4v Xpto-Tw (r(|>pa7C8a.

*• irop«v8^vT€S %\ Kttl iroCTi<ravT€S rd KareL tov vdjtov clo-qXGov irdXiv
els tAv "A-yiov.

* Gk. — •• we swine."

The Acts of S. Phocas. 119

" Now hast thou begun to philosophise. Sacrifice
to the gods, for crucified god there is none."
Phocas said : '' Thou hast heard the voice of the
Crucified One, and wast terrified. If He should
be stirred up against thee, who shall be able to
withstand Him.'^ For His threatening consumes
the mountains and His wrath dries up the sea."
Trajan s^id : '' Thou knowest not to whom thou
speakest, or with whom thou hast words." Phocas
said : '' Because I know with whom, on that
account I sacrifice not. But no word more art
thou going to hear from me ; do whatsoever thou
wilt. But this I avow to thee, that I am a
Christian." 1 XVHI. Trajan said: ''The baths
are being heated for thee, and lo, the water is hot.
This three days has no one opened them, and
into them I bid them throw thee." And Phocas
made the Lord's sign upon himself, and entered
into the bath, and it was like a brick glowing
among gleaming fires. And the blessed one
stood there in the midst, and began to praise
God and say : *' I thank thee. Lord, Lord, that
Thou hast made me worthy because of Thy name
to be tormented and imprisoned and bound and
subjected to many trials. And now, my Lord,
send Thy angel and save me from the hand of
Trajan, lest haply the enemy say : ' Where is
their God?'" And having finished his prayer.

^ The Greek adds a miracle here : " Trajan said : I bid thee be cast
into unquenchable fire, and I will see if thy God will take thee out. And
when he had been cast in and had made three hours in it, they took him
out, and he was just as if they had freshly cast him in."

1 20 Monuments of Early Christianity.

and said the Amen, he surrendered his spirit at
sunset.

Then Trajan bade open the baths, and having
entered in, he found the remains of the body of
the holy Phocas like a fragrant rose,^ and like the
frozen ice and like fragrant and precious oil.
And the baths were cool, just as if they had not
been heated at all. XIX. Trajan gazed on the
body of the blessed Phocas, and fell to meditating
on so long-suffering a faith, and he cried out and
said to the soldiers who were with him : '' Truly
there is no other God, except the one alone
who is in heaven." And he became afraid, and
trembling quitted the baths. But Phocas appeared
to him on the threshold, and said to the despot
Trajan: **Go to thy appointed place, unto that
impossible abyss. For to me is opened the
garden of delight, but to thee is opened the pit
of destruction as for thy idols. But there is not
for thee a time of pardoning,^ but only three days.
For much righteous blood has been shed in thy
lifetime." And Trajan went to his palace in
terror, and was in great tribulation, suffering from
a violent fever, and betaking himself in pain to
his litter, he was devoured of worms and so per-
ished.^

XX. Such was the uprightness of life and
bravery in martyr-struggle which the blessed

^ vdpSov eiJirvovv, «s |ivpov iroXvripiov Kal ws KpvoToAXov ireirrj-yrfs.

Cp. the Apocalypse of Peter, § 3, in which we read of the Blessed that :
rd 7dp <r<tf)iaTa avrwv -fiv XevKorcpa irdo-T]? Xiovos Kal cpvOporcpa iravTos
^<$8ov ; and see M. R. James' Apocrypha AnecdotUy p. 150.
' lv8o<ri$. ^ (rKo\i]K6Ppa>Tos 'ycv^p.tvos <|6|n{<v.

The Acts of S. Phocas. 121

Phocas was the first to display in Pontus,^ and it
is related unto this day. A captain of sea-farers
and a shepherd of all good sheep was he, and
his martyrdom is true, and is glorified and bruited
abroad in the regions of Armenia and Pontus and
Paphlagonia. ('An apostolic man did he show

himself to us, and as from some squadron of the
saints ^ he took the standard of victory and the
earnest of -the life to come as promised by the
Lord God.^J To whom glory and power for ever

and ever. Amen.

^ irpcoTOS T«v 6V IIovTw XttXciTai ?a)S Tf]S (r^|i6pov T||i6pas YvpcpviiTT]?
T(3v va-oTiXdiv, XaXTjTos kv iravrl t<5 Kdo-p.a>. GO rb p-aprvpiov Tf]S
d9Xir](re(os XaXciTat 8o|a?6fJi€vov iv tois KXi|ia<ri ttjs *Ap|Jt€vias.

2 €ls Ti>V XOPOV TWV a^CwV [J.€TaT€0eCs.

^ The Gk. has : " by Christ, to whom glory and power and adoration,
with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and ever, and for all eternity.
Amen."

ACTS OF S. POLYEUCTES.

INTRODUCTION.

The Greek text of these Acts, of which the Armenian is a
translation, has been pubhshed from Paris MSS. of it in a
volume called : Polyeucte dans Vhistoire. Etude^ par B. Aube,
Paris, 1882. I owe the following remarks on these Acts to
M. Aube's introduction.

There are signs that the text of these Acts, as we have it
now, can hardly be contemporary. For example, it is alleged
therein that the martyr suffered under the
Emperors Decius and Valerian. Now these Date and form
Emperors were not together. And the Acts, of these Acts,
if they were really contemporary, would
hardly contain such an error. In the appendix moreover of
the Greek MS. 513, which is mainly followed by the Armenian
version, the persecutions of Decius, Valerian and GaUienus
are all confused together under the one appellation of the
" first persecution in the East." The author of such a con-
fusion could not be contemporary. The introductory words,
"a certain Nearchus," also militate against

such a view. It must further strike a reader ^°^ contem-
1 T T , XT 1 1 porary m this

as somewhat odd that Nearchus survived to form.

tell the tale of his companion's martyrdom.

But in spite of all these solecisms, these Acts are certainly

based on an early account sent round, according to regular

custom, to the churches, to be read aloud on the feast day of

the saint. On such feast days a homily commemorative of the

deceased saint's virtues was delivered in church, and it is clear

that the following piece is such a homily, and that it was so

read as early as a.d. 363 ; for the exordium suits the years

A.D. 363-5, when Julian was dead and Christian emblems once

more figured on the standards of the army. The earhness of

1 24 Monuments of Early Christianity.

the homily is good evidence of the antiquity of the document
embodied and embedded in it ; as is also the care exercised
by the old Latin translator of the fifth or sixth century to
eviscerate the document. The metaphrast had the same text
as we have in the Greek MSS. collated and published by
Aubd, but he curtails the homiletic exordium.

We meet with notices of this martyr in several ancient
writers. For example, Gregory of Tours {H.F.^ vii. 6 in fine^
De Glor. Martyr,, § 103) mentions him ; and in the fourth and
fifth centuries many churches were dedicated to him, one at
Melitene as early as 377 ; another in Constantinople before the
end of the fourth century (Gregory of Tours, De Glor. Martyr.,
% 103) ; a third in Ravenna according to Tillemont, Mem.
Eccles., t. iii. p. 426. Sacred lamps have also been dug up
bearing the inscription -rov ayiov HoXvokto^ on the site of the
ancient Coptos in Upper Egypt, which probably belong to
the fifth or sixth century. The ancient Coptos was also called
Cana, or Ghana. Perhaps Cana neos = New Cana, and was
the place alluded to in these Acts as the city of the Cananeots.

The last section of these Acts contains the testimony of
Nearchus the friend of Polyeuctes, which I believe to be
genuine, although the paragraph which precedes it, and which
mentions Philoromus, is clearly an interpolation of the fourth
century. The homilist in his exordium plainly refers to the
original document or Acts which he is about to read out to his
congregation ; some of his sentences even quote the letter of
the document. This proves that we have here an earlier
document embedded in the homily. In the same way the
Acts of Theodore the Soldier, along with the testimony of
Abgarus his notary, are embedded in a homily, and so pre-
served to us.

The Armenian Text agrees very closely with the Greek MS.
513 of Paris edited by Aube. In some places the Greek text
explains obscure passages in the Armenian.
The Armenian I have translated the latter rather than the
version. Greek direct, because I think that the ori-

ginal document which the Armenian used
frequently gave another text than the Greek MSS. preserve ;

Ac^s of S. Polyeuctes. 125

for I doubt if all the differences of the Armenian are merely
due to loose translation.

The story of Polyeuctes is familiar to many, because it has
been dramatised by Corneille, whose tragedy however hardly
bears comparison with these Acts in real
pathos and dramatic representation. Indeed, Corneille' s
: , . . r ^ , -r ^ r drama OH

m his portraiture 01 the martyr s wiie and 01 Polyeuctes.

his relations to her, the French dramatist went
out of his way to be insulse and offensive.

The doctrinal drift of these Acts, so far as there can be said
to be any, is of a gently heretical type. For Polyeuctes is
saved and goes to heaven without having
received baptism or any other of the sacra- Doctrinal ten-
ments, and his dialogue with Nearchus tends ^^t b 1^^^
to make it clear to the reader that none of orthodox.

these things are really essential. If a man
only have faith, then he will go to heaven like the thief on the
cross. Such doctrine was strong meat for a later age, and
accordingly we find it toned down in the old Lation version
edited by Aube. The dialogue between the saints is largely
recast to make it more orthodox, and instead of the passage
on page 139, we have the following, —

Ad fontem autem uitse sic fideliter uenire, salutare probatur,
ita etiam non accedere procul dubio creditur. Quibus autem
imminet persecutor, nee suppetit facultas adeundi mysterium,
sed sub uno et eodem temporis spatio, et conuersionis causa
ex divina inspiratione agitur et persecutionis discrimen inten-
datur, his profecto fidei anchora arctissime tenenda est, ut,
cura defuerit fidei famulatrix aqua, sacramentum baptismatis
proprii sanguinis aspersione compleatur.

UNIVERSITY

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY POLYEUCTES.

By now has the bounteous grace of God and
likewise His might been manifested unto all
through the holy martyr Polyeuctes. Now are
the heathen ^ cast down and full of sorrow, and
they that put their hope in their soulless idols
and went astray after their graven images are put
to shame. In so much as they have been com-
pelled against their wills by the divine might to
become imitators of the holy Polyeuctes, in order
that unto God the Creator and Maker of all, in
accordance with divine writ, every knee may bend,
of them that are in heaven and on earth and
under the earth. For the tidings of the divine
power have been brought to men, and are in
recent events ever more and more praised and
glorified. For lo ! the blessed Polyeuctes, who f
was esteemed a heathen in life and religion, even '»
he on a sudden set himself to confirm the religion /
of Christ. He that was soldier of an earthly/
king, in the twinkling of an eye fiouted his humaa
warfare and with all zeal elected in place thereoA
to bear the armour of Christ, and decked his)
brow with the never-fading crown, symbol of his\
struggle bravely borne. '

For the Saviour summoned him to His own

^ Gk. the HeUenes.

ia6

Acts of S. Polyeuctes. 127

( kingdom by a certain revelation, and bade him
doff the earthly cloak of war which he wore, and
array himself instead in the martyr's garb of
mystery and ineffable honour. Yea, He bade him
put off his sordid earthly cloak of unbelief, that
he might don that of the holy martyr, which is
more honourable and holy and pleasing to God.
Then with self-born zeal the blessed one hastened
forth at the summons of the Saviour, and by his
very readiness forestalled the call, spurning at
once and unhesitatingly all that is earthly and
human. Him neither wife nor children, nor store
of riches nor military discipline, nor honour and
high command, nor any human glory and great-
ness could^ draw away from the true service
of God. (For he esteemed more highly the life
and citizenship of heaven, and gave up without
delay of one moment the life of foolishness and
Idolatry for the true and spotless worship of God)
But what Is even more wonderful in the economy
of hi*s salvation is this, that the saint Polyeuctes
was living with the very daughter of the Perse-
cutor. And this Persecutor was inducing all others
by his violence to worship idols, but he could not
bend the good resolution of the saint. Wherefore
he then took his daughter and her children, and
brought them to him ; wishing by means of them
to humble and ensnare him. But he remained
firm and Immovable In the faith of Christ, and
spurned the ties of his human kinship and affec-
tions ; striving only to follow and serve the
heavenly King, who had chosen him out to be

128 Monuments of Early Christianity.

his own soldier. Nor was it without divine pro-
vidence that he was even in this Hfe pressed into
the service of the camp, in spite of the many
hardships which the life entailed. For God wished
from the first to test the martyr's resolution and
prove him, as pure and choice gold is proved in
the furnace ; and therefore He threw him from the
first into a life of warfare, such as many deemed
likely to displease him. But instead he was
proved by means of this very life on earth to be
a faithful and firm servant of God. And, lo and
behold, it was just by reason of his good conduct
and devotion to arms, that he became a martyr,
and passed from the humble army of this earth
to yonder greater one.

O pious martyr, all holy, witness of God revered
in all places, of whose memory we all weary not.
O Godlike martyr and true, who bestowedst so
much more honour and glory on the human race,
than thou didst derive therefrom. For thou didst
trample on the head of the serpent, even as did
also the holy martyr Thekla, and Perpetua^ who
ascended along that brazen ladder, which led to
heaven, until she reached her Saviour. Unerring
are the prophecies in all that they foreshadow.
For the prophets knew that the trials of this
earthly life are many and wearisome, and that
they encompass the race of Christians. And after
a long and honourable ^ life on earth a man will

* The Armenian omits the reference to Perpetua, but retains that to the
ladder. There must therefore be a lacuna in the text.

* The Arm. = dishonoured.

Ac^s of S. Polyeuctes, 129

yet scarcely be able to reach heavenly honour.
Well, along this ladder the blessed Polyeuctes
ascended. He likewise smote the head of that
same dragon, and spurned idols, mounting up-
wards by the mysterious and ineffable ladder ;
and thus in miraculous wise he confirmed the
utterance of the apostle, who says, that by faith
they shall quench the power of fire and shall
shut up the mouths of lions.

O armour of the heavenly faith, which the
sword of Satan could not touch! O pupil of
Christ, tried by fire, true and genuine soldier !
Thus it is that for his virtue and true faith he is
-eternally honoured in deathless memory, as one
who is still near to us. Wherefore this day will we
celebrate the true festival of his birth, and so reap
the fruit of his deeds, in order that he may bestow
iUpon each of us his helpful and goodly prayers.

What gift then shall we offer to the saint com-
parable to that which he bestowed on us? How
shall we display our gratitude for the love of
God manifested unto us, and prove our goodwill "^
Let us dance our customary dances, if it be our
pleasure so to do ; and let us recall to memory
the deeds of the saint and all that regards his
history. Thus we shall ^y. in our minds the very
words he spoke and participate in his holiest
memory agreeably to the document, and shall be
able to establish our souls in the true faith.

Now the origin of his martyrdom was as
follows. A certain Nearchus, for that was his
name, and Polyeuctes the blessed martyr, were

130 Monuments of Early Christianity.

called brethren ; not as being so by blood rela-
tionship, but as being so by choice and love of
each other. And because of their true friendship
for one another they were called comrades and
familiar friends, while according to the mysterious
will of God they were proved to be sharers of
His mysteries. Now Nearchus was a Christian,
but the blessed Polyeuctes in matters of religion
reckoned himself a Greek, though he was such in
name only, for he was not far from the true faith,
and was destined to transcend many dubious
Christians in his fervour in its behalf. How
wonderful is the divine economy ! For before
the Saviour came to dwell among us, sent down
by God from heaven to earth for our salvation,
all men sat in the gloom of idolatry and in the
depths of impiety. But at the advent of the
Saviour, all on a sudden rose up as it were out
of a steep well from their idolatry. My brethren,
think of that advent ! Think of the faith of
Polyeuctes, of the king coming down from heaven
to dwell among us, of His soldier who freely ran
to serve Him. What then was the trial which
the martyr underwent ? What was the occasion
of the call which summoned him from Paganism
to bear witness all on a sudden immediately after
the advent of the Saviour ?

Decius ^ and Valerian were abusing the authority

* I omit here some flowers of rhetoric given in the Armenian and
absent from the Greek MS. 513. The passage omitted incidentally states
that Polyeuctes suffered on the fourth day after the Lord's appearance to
him.

Ac^s of S. Polyeuctes. 1 3 1

committed to them by God in an impious manner ;
and with the cruel violence of despots had enacted
a new law, to the effect that those who consented
to sacrifice to idols should be advanced in the
service, while those who should refuse to sacrifice
were to be put to death by beheading.

Now on the publishing of this iniquitous edict
against the Christians, Nearchus the friend of the
martyr was in confusion and bitter straits ; and
he sighed and wept continually, and shrank from
his usual converse with Polyeuctes. The latter
was surprised and was moved to sympathise with
him ; and several times he went to him and asked
him the reason of his sorrow. But the other
found it not easy to answer the questions of the
holy martyr ; who, after a spell of silence during
which Nearchus remained plunged in profound
grief, repeated the question as follows : '' What is
this mood of thine, so unlike the warmth of frank
and open friendship ? Hast thou renounced thy
old friendship, that thou dost not deign to answer
me ? Have I given thee any cause to sorrow or
shrink from me in this wise ? "

It was only then and with difficulty after re-
peated questionings on the part of the martyr,
that Nearchus unbent and began to speak and
say : '* Because I foresaw the separation between
us which this impious and iniquitous edict will at
once bring about, therefore, O Polyeuctes, I kept
silent, because henceforth we cannot maintain
our old friendship for one another."

Then the holy Polyeuctes answered him and

132 Monuments of Early Christianity.

said : "O Nearchus, thy words to me are contrary
to all that I hoped or expected. For even though
we are about to be parted by death, still no one
can dissolve the bond of friendship and love which
unites us." Nearchus said to him : **Aye, this is
just what I was brooding over, that the separation
I had in mind is something above and beyond
that entailed by human death." But when the
holy Polyeuctes heard this, he fell on the neck of
Nearchus and prayed and besought him to tell
him the reason of the impending separation. But
Nearchus, when he received the supplications of
the holy martyr, wished to tell him all, but was
prevented by the difficulty he felt and by his
tears, and full of confusion, he gazed at Polyeuctes,
and such was his affliction that he threw himself
on the ground. And the holy Polyeuctes could
not bear to see this, yet was at a loss how to
console him, and he thought that perhaps he
had taken offence in some way at his friend ; and
accordingly he fell to reflecting thus : " Surely I
have not incurred reproach in the blameless life of
Nearchus." So after reflection, he said : " Surely
no one has traduced Nearchus, and it is not for
that or because of any calumny or loss of property
that Nearchus is plunged in dejection and tears.
I am ready, said the holy martyr, to help him in
such case, and to bear accusations and death for
my true love of Nearchus. Nay, had I even a
child, I would not spare him, if I could indulge
my love of Nearchus. Faith, I would reckon it
lower than my love of him, and would sacrifice

/■

The Acts of S. Polyeuctes. 133

all to keep my affection for him whole and un-
impaired."

And when Nearchus heard such language from
the holy martyr, he rose up, and with difficulty
opened his lips, for he was much weighed down
with care and sorrow. And he began to speak
thus : *' O Polyeuctes, on the morrow are we to
be parted from one another } " But Polyeuctes
could not believe the words of his friend, but was
much perplexed and disturbed at his strange
agitation and at his shedding so many tears, and
he besought him to say what had happened to
him, and what reason he had for speaking in such
a manner. And after he had besought him many
times, Nearchus began to tell him with many
tears about the iniquitous edict against Christians.
And when the other heard of these iniquitous
edicts, he rallied his spirit, and resolved to become
a spectator of God and of heaven. Moreover
he recalled the revelation which he had received,
and found that it had been concurrent in time
with the edict. And forthwith he was filled
with grace, and began to tell Nearchus about
it. ''This day," he said, '' I beheld, O Nearchus,
our Lord Jesus Christ, whom thou worshippest
in holy wise and with fear and trembling. He
approached me, and stripped off me the filthy
human cloak which I wore, and clad me with
one far more precious, and bright as light, and
flashing with gold ; and at the same time that
He thus arrayed me He bestowed upon me also
a winged horse." When Nearchus heard this he

1 34 Monuments of Early Christianity.

rejoiced exceedingly, and said to his friend : " I
trow that thou also hast a knowledge of Christ,
the God in heaven, who is for ever and ever,
and is rich with heavenly riches, and who appor-
tions His grace without stint or grudge to all
who call upon Him." And in reply Polyeuctes
said: ''Yet when did I forget my Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ ? And whenever thou
hast told me about Him, did I not listen with
wonder and admiration ? And whenever thou
hast read to me the Divine Scriptures, have I
not on hearing them forthwith shed tears and
trembled ? Although I was not in name called
a Christian, yet by disposition and in reality I
was eager to range myself among the servants
of the Saviour ; for everywhere and always was
I anxious to put to shame the vain folly of idols,
with their false and crafty deceit."

And when Nearchus heard this, his soul was
filled with rejoicing, and he said to the blessed
Polyeuctes : " With regard to the foul and false
idols, we are compelled now to sacrifice to them
by the iniquitous emperors ; and for those who
may refuse to sacrifice, and resolve to serve
Christ, it is ordained that they should die by
the sword. What then dost thou now say, O
Polyeuctes .'* Restrain me not from weeping,
and from lamenting on account of thee, for I
y am in doubt whether I shall not lose thee on
account of my love. For a presentiment came
over me that thou wilt submit to the edict of
the Emperor /for thou art not yet a perfected

The Acts of S. Polyeuctes, 135

Christianjand thou wilt be compelled to sacrifice
to idols.'

But when the blessed Polyeuctes heard this
there was kindled in his soul an impulse towards
God, and with his fleshly eyes he looked to
Nearchus, as if he were vexed, and he caught
him by the hand, and said : *' These then were
Thy apprehensions, O Nearchus ? Were these
from the first the opinions Thou entertainedst of
me ? How couldst Thou harbour such a presenti-
ment about me, Thou who on every occasion
wast wont to read to me the divine and ineffable
mystery, and I, when I heard it, repudiated the
foul and abominable images ? How then, O my
comrade Nearchus, have we been content until
now with the knowledge of that which is fleshly,
while we have ignored all along the spiritual and
ineffable through which we converse with God ?
Why then do we not carry out our feelings, O
Nearchus, or why do we not proclaim publicly
and before all the world the faith which is in our
Lord Jesus Christ ? "

But Nearchus was aroused as it were from
sleep by the words of the blessed Polyeuctes,
and rallied his soul, and said to the saint : ''To
me, O Polyeuctes, neither wealth, nor military
honour, nor the life of this world appears more
precious than the life of Christ. Nay, I would
fain give the preference to immortality, and salva-
tion, and eternity, over life that is human and
transitory." But Polyeuctes, on hearing this,
resolved to test the faith of his friend, and

136 Monuments of Early Christianity.

explore his resolution. So he said to him :
" And art thou not sparing, O Nearchus, of this
honour ? " ^ But the other thinking that he asked
this question seriously, and not merely to try
him, replied : " If thou only knewest the honour
which I have had bestowed on me^ by Christ,
and the progress He has vouchsafed to me ! "
(For He spoke openly and spiritually with him,
and even in accordance with the divine will
guided him in his resolutions.^) The holy
Polyeuctes said to him : " Thou imaginest that
I am ignorant of the progress which thou hast
made in Christ, and the honour which awaits
thee from Him. But before thee, O Nearchus,
have I made progress with the Saviour ; for this
very day have I received from the Saviour,
through a revelation, a heavenly and royal cloak.
But I would fain put to thee one capital question
of a spiritual kind ; for I have a fear and sus-
picion in my mind, lest if I should come to the
Saviour unbaptized,* He should not receive me
with the rest into His spiritual host. Is it then
possible for those who are not baptized, neither
have partaken of the holy mystery, to be found
acceptable to God ?"

But Nearchus, seeing what was in the mind
of the blessed Polyeuctes, forasmuch as he was

* The Gk. runs, Kal o* 4*<^^ <»"o^ ^ N^x*» '*^i« TOMiim|« &((as.

* The Arm. adds ** at home."

3 The Gk. MS., followed by AuW, omits the words bracketed.

* The Arm. — " imperfect." The Greek has Avev tcXctwv xal ftv<rm-
pCttv, "without the rites and mysteries."

The Acts of S. Polyeuctes. 137

not yet actually a full Christian, and had had no
experience of the divine mystery, resolved to
spur him on to yet greater faith, and he reminded
the saint of the divine writings, and exhorted him
with still greater urgency to believe. And he
began to address him thus : *' Spare thyself," he
said, ** Polyeuctes, all apprehension on this point.
For God is able, as the divine writings say, tc^
raise up children to Abraham from these very
stones ; that is because of a choice and decision,
which was neither hoped for nor expected, he
can make the very Gentiles soldiers of Christ,
For behold, dearest friend, unto all the Gentiles ^
the doors of heaven are opened, and the ap-
proaches to deathless salvation are not shut to
any one. Although a man may have believed
but for a little time, yet for that little he shall
receive a great reward, if his faith be genuine.
This is why the Saviour also in the gospel com-
mands that the same reward should be given to
the labourers who had entered the vineyard in the
first, and ninth, and eleventh hours ; signifying
that even though you come in unto the Lord at
a late hour you shall receive the same reward as
the rest." And when he heard this Polyeuctes
recollected a passage which accorded with what
Nearchus had said, and he said : '* In truth I
once heard you read from the Divine Book that
some of the labourers worked for a single hour

* The Gk. has irdo-iv ?0v6<riv dv^coKxai, and just before tovs €| €9v»k
avOpcoirovs. In the homiletic exordium the words 'EXXtivwrjxos and
EXXT]ves were used to denote paganism and pagans.

138 Monuments of Early Christianity.

only and that to them the Saviour commanded
the very same reward to be given as to those
who had borne the heat and burthen of the day."
And Nearchus said to him: *'Yes, and thou
mayest remember yet another history, of a kind
to stir and urge thee still more strongly to be-
lieve, and this is from the history of the Lord.
Bethink thee of the thief ^ who was crucified on
the right hand side ; what did He say to the
thief who was crucified on the left, and who
reviled the Lord ? * We suffer jusdy for what
we have done, but our Saviour was guiltless and
■sinless of the cross,' and as he said this he
turned and said, * Remember me, Lord, in Thy

^ The story of the penitent thief is told in Luke's gospel only, which
was therefore in the hands of Nearchus. In Luke, however, the term
.xaKovp-yoC is used, not \T]<m^s, whence we may perhaps infer that Nearchus
had Mark or Matthew as well. John's gospel simply says &XXovs 8vo.
Luke does not add that it was the thief on the right hand of Jesus who
repented and that it was the one on the left who scoffed. This is either an
addition of the Acta, or drawn from some form of the gospel which we
have not got. The Greek text runs, according to MS. 1449 : *I8ov -yap
T<^ Xrjo-Tp, Tc3 Ik 8c|i<i>v avrov irpo<niXci)9€VTi Kal X^-yom* 'Hficis fi€v
d|ia)S T»v cavTuv dfiapritSv eKTivvvojJLCV SCkus, 6 8^ Swr^p t)|jlwv dvafrtos
Av Kttl dvafjidpTT]Tos, 8id t£ lo-xavpovro ; Kal irpbs tovtois elirtiv
MvTi<r0TiTi p.ov, Kvpic, €v TT) Pa(riXe£«ji. o-ov, cv6lo)S 6 2a)Tif|p dircKpCvaro
irpbs avxbv 2-^p.cpov |X€t tjiou ^o-g kv tw '7rapa8€£(ra>. MS. 513 has a
variant &^ia «v lirpd|ap,ev diroXap-Pdvonev, 6 8^, so agreeing with the text
of Luke, and also cl-rrdvTOS for tlirwv, and firav ^0t[|S \v t^q Pa<rtX€C<f <rov.
The Armenian text follows MS. 513 in the first of these variants, but for
the rest follows MS. 1449. Though it is fuller than either text, and
corresponds to the following Greek : irpoo-tiire -ydp tw Xtjo-t-jJ tu> Ik Sc^Cwv
irpoo-riXctfOlvTi Kal Xlyovri ti5 X-qcrr-g t<5 i% dpicrrcpwy irpoo-riXwOcvTi Kal
pXa<r<{>T)p,ovvTi- 'Hjicis p.iv k.t.X. Also after Kal irpbs tovtois tlie
Armenian adds words similar to those found in the Codex Bezce, oTpa<|>«l$
-irpbs Tbv Kvpiov, The Textus Receptus of the N.T. has 6Tav IX0t]S Iv t^q
^o-iXc£<;i, but Codex Bezoe and other sources omit firav IXOi^s. The
-coincidences of the text of the Martyrdom with the Acta I'ilati are very
striking, e.g. the Act. Pil. have OTav ^XO^s, and have utr' lp,ov Iv r. irap. €i.

The Acts of S. Polyetictes. 139

kingdom.' And then what answer did the Lord
make unto him ? For his simple and unpretend-
ing faith what great things did He not promise
him ? for He said, ' This day art thou with Me
in Paradise.' Dost thou see, O Polyeuctes, what
great good tidings He bestows in return for how
short a spell of faith ? Lo, according to the
gospel, if a man possess faith, even though it be
small, he is yet able to move mountains." ^

And thereat the blessed Polyeuctes cried out,
and said : " And is it possible, O Nearchus, for
men to attain unto such things without baptism ? "
Nearchus replied : ** Everything is holy to the
holy, as again the Divine Scriptures say.^ But
to those who are defiled in their will nothing is
holy, because their mind and consciences are
destroyed. Behold, we see the Lord, when they
brought to Him the blind that they might be
healed, had nothing to say to them about the
holy mystery, nor did He ask them if they had
been baptized ; but this only, whether they came
to him with true faith. Wherefore He asked
them, 'Do ye believe,' He said, 'that I am able
to do this thing '^, ' With genuine love of man
did He manifest His power, and addressing to
them a single word he commanded their fleshly
eyes to see, and immediately their eyes were
opened."

^ The Greek has *I8ov •yap ttio-tis dXtiOivTJ, k&v (JiiKpd tvyx^vt],
o\6K\T]pa 6pT), Kara to Eva-y-yeXiov, |Ji€6£orTT]<riv. This recalls I Cor. xiii.
2, rather than the equivalent passage in the gospel, Matt. xvii. 20.

2 2 Tit. i. 15.

140 Monuments of Early Christianity.

Then on hearing these things the blessed
Polyeuctes rallied and encouraged his soul ; and
he forgot all earthly concerns, and said, crying
out on a sudden : ^ *' I have been one with Christ
from the beginning, and He will care for me
and guard me. For I have renounced all mortal
things, and henceforth 'tis meet that I should bear
witness (i.e. be martyred) for Christ's sake. But
the law of the Saviour was made manifest before-
hand, which taught us, saying, * Whilst thou wast
still being formed in thy mother's belly I knew
thee ; and before thou camest forth from the
womb I loved thee.' Therefore it is manifest
that He has called me into heaven. For behold,
the heathen who hate God ^ saw the Lord Jesus
appear and standing near me, saw my face shining
with the resplendent light of His countenance.
Now, therefore, it is time for us to depart ; go
and read the unholy edict of the Emperor."

And when the blessed Polyeuctes read it, he
began to make mock of such human legislation
as that, and seizing the writing he tore off a
portion' of it. And after that, looking in another
direction, he saw the idols, referred to therein,

* The Greek has, "Let us then agree with Christ to be martyred
(liOfTvp-fjo-ai), O Nearchus, by whom indeed we are also foreknown («^ S'^
/cal irporYV(>}(rp.€6a). For His code of law teaches, saying, Before I formed
thee, etc." irpb tov |j.c irXdo-aC <r« ^v KoiXCq., iirioTajiaC <rc, Kttl irpo toO
4(cX0civ 4k lA-^Tpas, ^^laKd <r€.

' The Greek texts are here different and confused, but both MSB. omit
this reference to the heathen. MS. 513 has ret Ocidrcpa ^vTdto|icvov
4avr6v pX^trw k.t.X. ** I behold myself having a vision of diviner things,
and I have a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ standing near me."

• Greek — tore it into bits.

The Acts of S. Polyeuctes, 141

being borne on high into the temple, where
they usually were, and they were decorated with
boughs and leaves in order that men might be
deceived by such a show, and come to behold
the so-called gods. Such were the idols at which
the holy Polyeuctes looked, and beholding, he
was filled with divine scorn and began to mock
at them. And every one voluntarily approached
the idols ; but he seized every one of the figures
in turn and hurled them to the ground, and in an
instant crushed and ground them all to powder.

And when this happened his father-in-law,
Felix, came up, who had been appointed perse-
cutor by the iniquitous emperors, and he was
dumb-foundered at what had been done by the
holy Polyeuctes, and said to him : "I have lost
both my children, and now I, Felix, am bereft
of children. For I who formerly was proud, and
boasted of my children and son-in-law, am now,
alas ! childless ; for no one henceforth will take
pity on Polyeuctes, not the gods, nor the autocrat
emperors, seeing what sort of deeds he has dared
to commit, breaking and destroying all our gods."
But Polyeuctes said : " Long ago I have spurned
them, and now have demonstrated their impo-
tence by actual deed. But, O Felix, see if you
have any other gods, and, if so, make haste to
bring them forth, in order that I, the servant of
God, may insult and annihilate them."

Then Felix turned to the saint, and said to
him : *' Concern thyself, O Polyeuctes, to live
yet a little while, and seclude thyself quietly, in

[42 Monuments of Early Christianity,

order that thou mayest behold thy wife before
thou diest." But the holy Polyeuctes reasoned
according to the divine wisdom, and replied :
" What wife or child have I to look upon ^ save
only those spiritual and heavenly ones whom
Christ has made ready for me ? But if thy
daughter would follow me, let her also follow
me in my resolve, and display a zeal that is
blessed and glorious. But if she has any other
intentions, then shall she be overtaken by the
same fate as thy so-called gods." But Felix
wept when he heard these words, and he saw
that Polyeuctes had cast off all human ties as
alien. He said to him : '* But thee, O Polyeuctes,
the trickeries of Christ have deceived." And the
holy Polyeuctes said to him : ** I admit that by
His power He has drawn after Him my mind
and will. For Christ has such irresistible might
that He has brought me under His ineffable sway
and detached me from the folly of idols, nor has
He disdained to make me His chosen soldier."
And as he spoke these words he was himself
filled with the divine and heavenly power.

Then he was given over to the persecutors
and their servants, who smote him piteously on
the lips with green switches. But the saint cared
not at all for this torture, for he beheld Him who
was crucified for him standing near him. Then
the saint with deep indignation began to say ta
Felix as follows : '* O thou foul, and unholy, and

* voCav 4^4^ YwaUca ij WKva ^vrdloiMu

The Acts of S. Polyeuctes, 145

abominable mystery-monger,^ who art the minister
of kings miserable and of brief span, why dost
thou try to cajole me with thy crafty tears, who
in thy secret heart art full of guile ; because of
my wife and children dost thou try to drive me
from the hope of Christ. From this day forth
weep not for me, Polyeuctes ; but if thou be-
lievest me, 'tis thyself that thou must weep for,
who art destined by thy foul and disgusting
services to the children of this world to be con-
demned to darkness and the eternal fire."

And when the blessed Polyeuctes had said this
much, he dismissed the things of earth and be-
took himself to the contemplation of heavenly
things alone. And at that time(a certain woman^)
whose name was Paulina, ran up in haste, with
tears and full of sympathy, and said to the holy
martyr : '* Why art thou mad, O Polyeuctes,
or who hath befooled thee into such hardihood,
and into doing such deeds as to destroy the ten.
and two gods .^^ " But the blessed Polyeuctes
ridiculed the words of (his wife^nd said to her :
'' What if I have destroyed your dozen of gods ;
have you not then met with other gods on the
face of the earth ? However, if thou wilt obey
me, O Paulina, follow me in my resolution, and
believe, and have regard for thyself, in order that
instead of this transitory life thou mayest receive
the life which is eternal and deathless." And
after using these words, as well as many others

^ (i,v<rTa7a»Y^.

144 Monuments of Early Christianity,

spiritual and full of mystery, he ceased.. And
many unbelievers, when they beheld his un-
^ blenched and inflexible faith, were confirmed in
the faith. And then all the body of the perse-
cutors met together and decided that the blessed
saint should be put to death by beheadal.

The holy martyr knew of this unholy com-
mand, and contemned the tortures of the human
body ; nay, he welcomed them as the road to
perfection ; ^ and he stood full of joy awaiting the
sentence of death, for he was rejoicing with the
Saviour in heaven. But because he was full of
sympathy, as long as he was in the flesh he con-
tinued to converse with us, and actually addressed
the brethren who stood by him, as follows : " I
see," he said, **a certain youth leading me on,
and eager to converse with me, and he teaches
me to forget and pass away from human things.^
Therefore it is clear that I am about to die in
the Lord, and it seems to me that by means of
His precious blood in a mysterious manner the
seal both of the divine baptism and of Christ is
herein set upon me."

But Nearchus never forgot his friendship and
love. For they were in their bodies twain one
spirit and one life. Then the martyr gazed
•on Nearchus, and said : ** Farewell to thee, and

* irpoK<nrds.

' The Greek ""The martyr then of Christ, being about to be consum-
mated and to receive through His holy i blood in mystical and ineffable
wise the divine baptism and the seal of Christ, did not forget his friend-
ship for Nearchus." Note the representation of Jesus as a youth.

The Acts of S. Polyeuctes. 145

forget not, my brother, the ineffable joy that is
mine and thine." ^ And these last words he left
behind him, as it were a seal set upon Nearchus ;
and himself was slain with the sword. Then the
brethren buried his precious and holy body with
honour in Melitene, a city of the Armenians, and
bestowed it on them as it were an eternal heritage
of their own. The saint was buried on the fourth
day after the Sabbath ; ^ forasmuch as it was also
meet that he should end his life on such a day.
For in all respects he showed a faith that was
four-square in its strength and unshakeableness.
And thus they laid to rest his holy body ; but
his precious blood Nearchus caught in clean
napkins, and took it to the city of the Cananeots
(as some precious heirloom, and they treasured
it up as a weapon of salvation for all from far
and near).^

All this was wrought, in the days of Decius
and Valerian, in the East, during the first persecu-
tion.^ And be it known, the first saint who
suffered was Stephanus, in Jerusalem ; and the
second was the holy Philoromus, in Alexandria ;
and the third saint was Polyeuctes, in Melitene,

^ p,VT]|x6v€V€ T«V d'7rOpp'<]T(tfV l^fACOV <rvv9T]Kcov.

2 6v Ti|J.€p<5t T€Tpd8t, evvoLTT) Tov 'lavovapCov p.T]v6s.

^ Greek omits words bracketed.

* The MS. 1449 has ^v t<S irpwraj 8ia)-y}j.(5 Tfjs dvaToXtis, after which it
adds, " in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom glory and might
with Father and Holy Spirit now and ever for eternity. Amen." This
MS. does not contain the words which follow : " And be it known, etc."
These are only found in MS. 513, and in the Armenian. Aube points out
that they must be an interpolation of the fourth century, since Philoromus
suffered 305 a.d.

146 Monuments of Early Christianity.

before the fourth of the indiction of the month
Aratz/ in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ,
to whom power and glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

^And after the holy Polyeuctes had suffered,
I, the humble Nearchus, gave the records of
the same to Timotheus, the Cananeot, and to
Saturninus, and adjured them by the judgment
of Christ and by the triumph in Christ of the
holy Polyeuctes, that they would year by year
keep his day, and read the record with care.
But Timotheus received that record, and de-
posited it in the church, wherein it is read twice
a year, on the fourth day before the ides of
January,^ the day on which the holy Polyeuctes
suffered, and on the eighth day before the calends
of January,* when his holy blood was deposited
in the city of the Cananeots. But may the
beneficent God who presides over the contests
of His martyrs, establish us also and make us
the foundation stones of His churches in Christ
Jesus, imperishable God, with the Holy Spirit,
to whom glory and power for ever and ever.
Amen.

* The Greek MS. 513 has irp^ reo-ardpuv *I8a)v 'Iavovc4>£o»v. The

practice of reckoning dates by Indictions (or terms of fifteen years) only
came into vogue in the reign of Constantine. To import it into the reign
of Decius is an anachronism. The Armenian perhaps explains the curious
expression of MS. 1449 : ^v rifji^pi;. TCTpdSi, twdrQ tov 'lavovopCov )iiT]v6s.
The word ivvdr-g is a corruption of 'IvSiktCwvi.

' This paragraph also is only in the Armenian, and in MS. 5^3 > ^^^ '"^
MS. 1449. In the Armenian, owing to a break in the text, it ends at the
words "in the Church." This paragraph probably belongs to the third
century. ' i.e. January 10. * i.e. December 25.

THE ACTS OF SAINT EUGENIA.

INTRODUCTION.

The history of Eugenia has never, Hke that of Saint Polyeuctes,
been dramatised, though it abounds in characters and positions
well adapted to a French stage. In trans-
lating it I have followed the Armenian Various Texts
version, which gives a more ancient form of
the text than either the Greek Acts of the metaphrast or than
the old Latin version made probably by Rufinus the presbyter
of Aquileia, about a.d. 400. A comparison of these three
forms of the text shows that we have in them three distinct
stages of its development, of which the Armenian is the earliest,
the old Latin intermediate, the metaphrast's the latest. In
my notes I have been content to indicate the divergencies of
the old Latin version only from the Armenian, for it was not
worth while to enumerate the many omissions, amphfications,
substitutions and additions by which the metaphrast, after his
manner, adapts the older narrative to the taste of his tenth
century readers. Similar examples of his method are pre-
sented by the Acts of Theodore, of Callistratus, and Demetrius.
One palmary proof of the superior antiquity of the Ar-
menian form of these Acts of Eugenia lies in their frequent
references to the history of Thekla. Eugenia
sets herself from the first to copy Thekla, The Armen-
whose history, falling by chance into her ' Text ^^

hands, leads her to break away from the
yf polytheism of her parents, to espouse virginity and don male
attire. She refers to the history of Thekla
as being an inspired book, and the writer As proved by
of these Acts more than once imitates that ^^ Thekla
history. In a subsequent age, when the old
Latin Version was made, Thekla had become a somewhat

148 Monuments of Ea7'ly Christianity.

heretical saint, and accordingly all references to her and to
her Acts were obliterated, and references to S. Paul and
his Epistles substituted. The metaphrast's recension has yet
more markedly been freed from references to the heretical
saint.

The poems of Venantius Fortunatus, however, a poet of
the second half of the sixth century, juxtapose the names of
Eugenia and Thekla in a way that suggests that he had before
him the Acts in the same early form as the Armenian, e.g.^
we read, Carmina, Ed. Frid. Leo, Berol., 1881, Monum. Ger-
man, historica, tom. iv., pars prior, p. 192 :

Unde magis, dulcis, hortamur ut ista requiras
Quae dedit Eugenise Christus et Alma Theklae.

Fifty years earlier, Avitus, Bishop of Vienne, in his poem,
De laude Cas fifaf is {Migne, Patrol. Lat.^ vol. lix., col. 378 B),
gives an outline of the story of Eugenia agreeing in all respects
with our text. ^

In regard to a history written with so much evident literary

art as these Acts, the first question that suggests itself is : Can

any of it be true ? Has it any basis in fact ?

Credibility of jg j|. ^^^ ^ ^ ^^^ rather skilful romance ?

It must be allowed that there is a basis of
fact underlying the story ; for, (i) of one or another of the
actors in it, viz: Philip, Eugenia, Protus, Hyacinthus, and
Basilla, there is to be found mention in the very earliest
catalogues of saints, e.g. in the old Syriac menologion trans-
lated by Wright, in the kindred list of
Proved by Jerome and in the fourth century Depositio
modern dis- Martyrum.
covenesmthe / / rr., , , /- t^ j tt

Roman Cata- (2) The actual tombs of Protus and Hya-

combs. cinthus were found by Father Marchi, in 1845,

in the Catacombs of Basilla. It cannot be
mere chance which unites all three names both in the cemetery
and in the legend.

• I owe these references to an art. by Dr. Franz Gorres on " Das
Christenthum u. der Rom. ^idcaX" in iht Jahrbiicher fur Proiist, Theol.
—Leipzig, 1844.

The Acts of S, Eugenia, 149

How then does the history of Eugenia cohere : i. with
itself; 2. with independent records ?

(i) The internal chronology of these Acts
is clearly impossible. Philip is sent as o^^^°^°^2cts
Eparch to Egypt in the seventh consulate impossible,
of Commodus, i.e. 196 a.d. ; and Eugenia is
then aged sixteen. After two years and three months Eugenia
is made superior of the monastery. We may allow two or
three years to elapse before the charges of Melania bring her
before Philip. After that Philip is bishop for one year and
three months. When Philip became bishop, the Christian
church — there was only one — in Alexandria had been closed
for eight years. These are all the indications of date given
by the Armenian up to the end of § 19, when Eugenia, with
her mother and brothers, returned to Rome after the murder
of her father Philip. Such as they are, they agree with the old
Latin version, which says that Philip, at the date of his death,
had been Eparch between nine and ten years, and that Severus
and Antoninus Caesar ordered him to be slain ; for in 205-206
these were the reigning emperors. Note that the Armenian
speaks of the emperors in the plural, but without naming
them. The eight years during which the churches had been
shut carry us back just to the date of Philip's mission from
Rome. The Armenian text explains that he was sent out to
set affairs to rights according to Roman customs; and this may
mean that Christianity was to be repressed. The old Latin
and the metaphrast explicitly say so ; but they add that the
Jews were more rigorously treated by Philip than the Christians,
an amplification of this part of the text due perhaps to a vague
recollection of the Edict of Severus, issued a.d. 203, by which
Jews were forbidden to make proselytes and Christians to
make converts.

So far, the narrative, as given either in the Armenian or in

the old Latin form, is consistent with itself.

It ceases however to be so when the heroine /T^P^^iT,

, . -^ . f. -r that of the

arrived in Rome, in 5 20. Let us enumerate i^g^ chapters.

some of the points of difficulty which now

obscure the narrative.

•^eSE^UBR^-J-

1 50 Monuments of Early Christianity.

1. Avitus and Sergius, sons of Philip, whom the Emperor
had just had murdered, are welcomed by the Senate. This
is unlikely, seeing that their father had just before been
murdered by order of the Emperor.

2. One of them is made Consul, or Proconsul, in Carthage,
the other Vicarius Africae. Now we first meet with the latter
title in the Notitia dignitatum, and 409, Codex Theodosii
7, 15, T. Of course the title may have existed earlier, and
Mommsen {^Das Romische Militarwesen seit Diocletian^
Hermes, xxiv., p. 200), hints that it was earlier than Dio-
cletian. It cannot however be as early as 210 a.d. On the
other hand we actually find in the consular lists that Pompei-
anus and Avitus were both consuls a.d. 209. If Avitus was
sent by the Senate to govern the consular province of Africa
rather later than 209, which is Hkely enough, we have here a
confirmation of the Acts. For if Avitus was about the age of
his sister Eugenia, he may have been of sufficient age in 209.
The Acts, however, rather hint that he was younger, or anyhow
not very senior to her. The mention of a Pompeianus, as
Consul, A.D. 209, also agrees with the Acta, for he may easily
be the Pompeius to whom Basilla, a kinswoman of the
Emperor, was betrothed.

3. The rest of the chronology is less possible. Basilla,
whom the story requires to be a young virgin, is, according to
the Armenian, a kinswoman of Callus, and, at the same time,
a contemporary of Eugenia. But C. Vibius Trebonianus
Gallus succeeded Decius towards the end of a.d. 251, when
Eugenia would have reached the age of seventy-one years.
Yet the story represents her as martyred in the bloom of
youth, and her mother survives her, and her brothers are still
young men ! The absurdity is still greater if with the old
Latin and the metaphrast we read the Emperors' names under
whom they all suffered, as Gallienus and Valerian, who reigned
together 254-260. In a.d. 260 Eugenia would have been
eighty years old. 4. The Armenian, moreover, hints that one
Nestor was bishop of Rome at the time of the martyrdom of
Eugenia, of Basilla, and of the eunuchs, and that this bishop
hid himself on hearing of the condemnation of Cyprian by

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 151

the Consul Maximus. Now this condemnation was in 258,
on Sept. 14. The Latin substitutes for Nestor, CorneHus the
Pope of Rome, who suffered Sept. 14, a.d. 252.

According to the old Latin version the eunuchs Protus
and Hyacinthus are tried before Nicetius, Urbi Praefectus.
According to the Armenian, Eugenia is brought before Anictus,
Prefect of the City. There is nothing to prevent there having
been a Prefect of the City of the name Anicetus or Nicetus,
though I can find no trace of him.

There is but one explanation of the chronological discords

of the latter half of the piece. It is this : The events narrated

must belong to the first half of the third

, Y. ^ V. ^ o ■ r Anachronisms

century ; but about a.d. 280, a recension of of the story

the document was made in which it was at- due to a late
tempted to connect the martyrdom narrated recension of it
in it with the great persecution of Decius; for ^ °280 *
the latter was then fresh in men's memories,
and eclipsed the recollection of earlier persecutions. In the
same way the memory of the persecution of Decius was, in
some parts of the Roman empire, eclipsed at a later time by
the persecutions under Numerian. Thus we find the martyr-
dom of Babylas which Eusebius puts in the reign of Decius,
set down in the exordium of the Acts themselves to the time
of Numerian. And after every fresh outburst of fury against
the Church there was a tendency at work to connect the
memory of the older and already popular saints with the most
recent of the crises through which the Church had passed.
Such an explanation as the above is favoured by the disagree-
ment which we find within the interpolated part itself. Thus
the Armenian names Gallus as the kinsman of Basilla, so
implying that her death took place in his reign ; the old Latin,
on the other hand, mentions Gallienus and Valerian in the
most explicit way. Again the Armenian makes Nestor bishop
of Rome ; the Latin has Cornelius, the well-known corre-
spondent of Cyprian. Of Nestor we have no mention in any
other source. Perhaps he was an anti-Pope early in the
second century.

Returning now to the first part of the narrative, let us see

152 Monuments of Early Christia^iity.

if we can trace any of the persons named therein in inde-
pendent history. We have no mention by name of a Prefect
of Egypt appointed at the end of the reign

No trace in ^f Commodus and named Phihp. From the
general his- , . ,. __^^t^_^ , , ..

toryofPhiUp, introduction to Part XXIX. (the Inscrip-

tiones ^gypti) of Boekh's Corpus (tom. iii.,
P- 3i3)> we learn that about 184 a.d. M. AureHus Papirius
Dionysius became Prefect of Egypt, and was, through the
enmity of Cleander, the Prefect of the Praetorium, deposed,
apparently by Commodus. In 194 a.d. M. Ulpius Primianus
was appointed. He was succeeded a.d. 202 by Metius Laetus,
and he a.d. 204 by Atianus Aquila, he in turn by Flavins
Tatianus a.d. 215. It has been supposed by Labus that
Primianus was preceded by an unknown prefect who held his
office but for a short time. In the above list there is no
room for Philippus, unless the very name Philippus be a cor-
ruption of Ulpius. It is possible that Philip was only the
name adopted by the prefect, whoever he was, when he became
a Christian ; for it was customary to take a new name on
being converted, and it is by this new name that a person
would be handed down in Christian legend. Another way of
surmounting the difficulty would be to suppose that Philip was
not prefect of Egypt, but only one of the judges whom the
emperors sent out to superintend all judicial processes in
Alexandria. The Armenian, however, styles Philip Eparch,
and the Latin Prefect. We know from Eusebius, Hist. Eccles.^
Bk. vi., Chap, i, that there was a persecution of the Christians
at Alexandria during the reign of Severus, in the first years of
the third century, in the course of which Leonides, the father
of Origen, perished, along with many others. The focus of
this persecution was Alexandria, though it extended to the
Thebaid. This may have been the persecution in consequence
of which the church in Alexandria had been shut up for eight
years ; but no prefect of that date held office for ten years.

We read that Eugenia was betrothed to Aquilius, son of the
Consul Aquilius. This agrees fairly well with the consular
lists in which we find an Aquilius to have been Consul in
a.d. 168. His son might have been betrothed to Eugenia

The Acts of S. Etigenia. 153

in the year 195. Of the Bishop Helenus, called in the Latin
form, Bishop of HeliopoHs, we know nothing. But our know-
ledge of the bishops even of the great sees,
like Rome, and Alexandria, and Ephesus is ^^^ some of
very fragmentary and incomplete for the Actors" adLit
first three centuries. This fact would also of being iden-
explain the absence of Philip from the list of tified. in his-
the bishops of Alexandria. There seems to °^cords ^"

have been a question whether he was a pro-
per bishop, to judge from the somewhat apologetic language in
which the Latin version mentions his appointment. Perhaps
the assurance from heaven given in a dream to his wife Clodia,
that God had given her husband a place among the sacred
pontiffs in heaven, points in the same direction. We probably
should read between the lines of such an assurance. It may
have been a reason for dropping him out of the list of
bishops or overseers of the church of Alexandria, that his wife
and family were so prominent in the legend ; whereas the
usage of the Church at a very early time required that the
Patriarch of Alexandria should be celibate. It has been
objected to the entire story of Eugenia, that there were no
monasteries in the neighbourhood of Alexandria as early as the
end of the second century. Here again the paucity of our
records is such, that we must not pronounce dogmatically
against the possibility of there having existed in Egypt some
such establishments. Philo of Alexandria describes such a
colony of pious men and women, living to-
gether as monks and nuns, over the Lake Early Mon-
Marea near Alexandria, as early as the first ^^^.^° Institu-
half of the first century ; and these settlers Alexandria
so closely resembled the Christians that probable.

Eusebius imagined they were converts of St.
Mark. There is no mistake so great as those commit who
imagine that they have an exhaustive knowledge of all the
religious movements that went on in Alexandria in the first
century, and who therefore pretend that Philo's description is
a forgery of the third century and really meant as an apology
for the Christian monastic institutions of the late third century.

154 Monuments of Early Christianity.

There is nothing to be said in favour of such a view, and it
rests on nothing except the assumption, that we know every
detail of the rehgious Hfe of Egypt in that age so thoroughly
as to be able to impugn the genuineness of any one of Philo's
most characteristic writings, which may chance to tell us some-
thing which we have not learned from other sources. We may
with great plausibility suppose that the community which Philo
describes had lasted on and become Christianised, for the
transition from the one to the other was easy. To some
extent therefore the legend of Eugenia and the description
left by Philo confirm one another. There can be no doubt
that the growth of such monastic communities was natural in
the climate of Egypt, and we know of the existence of similar
institutions among the Egyptians as early as
Signs of anti- ^^e third century before Christ,
quity m these ^, -^ , • . , .

^ctg^ There are some other pomts m the Ar-

menian narrative which smack more of the
second century than of the third or fourth. There is first the
position accorded to the Acts of Thekla, which
e.g. Position are actually called a sacred book. Now the
^^^Acte of ° Church was beginning to suspect these Acts
Thekla, as early as the time of Tertullian. Secondly,

there is the extreme simplicity of the dogmatic
teaching, and the stress laid on the moral teaching of Christ.
^^^ Eugenia does not instruct her monks to be-

Absence of lieve in the birth of Christ from the Virgin
dogmatic Mary, or in the Trinity. Humility and ab-

mg. stention from use of oaths are the staple of

her teaching. Rufinus, or whoever was the author of the old
Latin version, omits the precept against oaths, and evidently felt
so much the absence of orthodox dogmatic teaching in the
narrative, that he undertakes to supply it ; and in my note
on ch. 27 I give a specimen of the way in which at the end
of the fourth century older documents were brought up to
date. Thirdly we have in the Armenian text a quotation from
the Gospel, where Eugenia opened it at ran-

-«.T^m^ -^^^ ^ dom and read it aloud, so remarkable in its

N. T. citation. ^ ^ , ' . . ^

form as to deserve a passmg notice. I

print it as it must have stood in the original Greek.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 155

Iiyo-ovs etTTev rots ^a.drirai%^ otSare on o\ apxovT€<s twv Wvmv
KaraKvpLOvrriv, kol ol fxiyaXot Kareiovcnd^ovcnv avToyv. ov\ otJrco? he
ecrrat Kat ev vixiv. a\X o? eav ev v/xtv ^cAt; irpuiTOS yevecrOai, ccrro)
€cr;)(aTOS i^/xcov Kat StaKOVOS Travrwv.

This agrees in part with Mark x. 42-44. But notice
how vv. 43 and 44 are fused together and juxtaposed with
Mark x. 31, where alone we find the saying, that the first shall
be last. In Matthew we in the same way find scattered and
apart these texts which Eugenia in her gospel found set to-
gether in one whole. It looks as if we had here the remini-
scence of some older gospel, for the context forbids us to
believe that it is merely a bit of inaccurate citation. The old
Latin version and the metaphrast conform the citations to the
canonical texts.

In the Philosophumena of Hippolytus, ix. 1 2, we read of an
eunuch priest of the name of Hyacinthus, who was a trusted
agent of Marcia, Christian concubine of the
Emperor Claudius. By her he was sent to Possible testi-
Sardinia to release the Christian convicts in polytus

the mines of that island.

In the Depositio Martyrum of the 4th century we have the
entry : x. Kal. Oct. Basillae Salaria Vetera Diocletiano ix. et
Maxim iano viii. Coss. P. AUard {La Persecu-
tion de Diocletian) says that this date marks ^,-^^i?^^^®^?^
11,1, 1 r the Depositio

the burial and probably the martyrdom of Martyrum.

Basilla. This is inconsistent with the legend,

which expressly represents the eunuch to have taught the

faith to Basilla. Probably the date in the Depositio Martyrum

is not that of the martyrdom of Basilla, but of the transference

of her remains to the same cemetery in which Protus and

Hyacinthus were interred. In ch. xix. of these Acts the name

Perennis is given as that of the prefect who succeeded Philip and

contrived his assassination. Perennis was

Prefect of the Praetorium under Commodus, . ,-??-®^*^°^ «
. , , . . ' m the Acts of

and was together with his son assassinated Perennis.

in Rome long before Commodus ever

entered on the sixth consulate, during which he sent out

Phihp to Egypt. The difficulty is not removed even if we

156 Monuments of Early Christianity.

follow with Baronius the reading of the metaphrast, and sup-
pose that Philip's mission was in the sixth year of the reign of
Commodus. The simplest way of explaining this anachronism
is to suppose that Perennis was introduced into the narrative
at the time of its recension, about a.d. 280, by one who was
familiar with the name of Perennis as that of the prefect
under Commodus who sentenced to death the martyr
Apollonius.

It will be seen from the notes to what an extent the Latin
version supphes details not in the Armenian. It adds not only

names like those of the emperors in chs. 17

Character- ^^d 18, or of Helenus the uncle of Basilla,

istics of old . , 1 ^ .. 1 .L u- 1

Latin version. ^"^ c^- ^5, but it supplies topographical

details in ch. 29 as regards the cemetery

of Eugenia. It exaggerates, as when in ch. 4 the multitude

escorting Helenus is stated to be over 10,000. It also, like

the metaphrast, introduces many citations from the canonical

scriptures which are not in the Armenian form. If a conjecture

may be allowed, I would suppose the Latin form to be a

version made at Rome about a.d. 400. The text from which

it was made was in substance identical with that which the

metaphrast used, and already substituted the Epistles of Paul

for the Acts of Thekla. The Armenian form is earlier than

„, . . the text used by the Latin translator and the

The Armenian , . . , ,. _

the earliest metaphrast, but is not the earliest text. I

text we have, should conjecture also that the earliest text
yet only of a y^Qxii only so far as ch. 19 inclusive, for so
recension. ^^^ ^^^^ -^ ^^^q narrative fresh and lifelike,
and free from chronological inconsistencies. This earliest
narrative may have been composed in Alexandria early in the
third century. The nucleus of chs. 20-30 may have been also
written about a.d. 225, but about fifty years later a recension
was made of the last part of the tale, fitting it in awkwardly
with the great persecution of Decius. The Armenian is a
first draft of this recension of about a.d. 275 or 280, the Latin
form and the metaphrast represent a second draft of the same.

ACTS OF S. EUGENIA.

The martyrdom of the virgin Eugenia, and of
her father Philip, and of her mother, and of the
brothers whom she had.

I. In the course of his reign over the great city
of Rome, the Autocrat Commodus, in his seventh
consulate, despatched the influential and famous
Philip to the city of Alexandria to bring back to
obedience and submission to government the land
of Egypt, in order that all might bow to the power
of his edicts, and his alone. This Philip, along
with his wife Clodla, and their two sons Avitos
and Sergius, and Eugenia their daughter, came
from Rome to Alexandria, and he forthwith set
in order the province of Egypt in accordance
with Roman customs.-^ II. Now his daughter,
Eugenia, was sixteen^ years of age, and shone so
much on account of her singular intelligence,
being instructed in both Greek and Roman letters,
that she excited the wonder of philosophers.

^ The Latin adds that Philip : " Cunctis quidem magicam curiositatem
sectantibus finem imposuit, ludgeos uero nee nuncupationem nominis habere
permisit, Christianos autem procul ab Alexandria tantum debere esse
constituit. Ipse uero plus licet philosophorum amicus quam fautor idolorum,
Romanis tamen superstitionibus, ac si religiosus cultor, instabat, non
rationi, sed tradition! concordans." The phrase, "over the great city of
Rome," used above, shows that these Acts, at least in their earliest form,
wtre not composed in Rome. The Arm. spells Avitus Apitos.

2 The Greek and Latin Acts say fifteen years.

IS7

158 Monuments of Early Christianity,

Now one day her father asked her if she would
marry Aquilinus/ a consul. Eugenia answered
and said to her father : " The honour of chastity
is more choiceworthy than wedlock."^ But they
strove to beguile her holy soul by all sorts of
promises and tricks.

Now it chanced that there fell into her hands the
history of the holy Apostle Paul and of the blessed
Virgin Thekla, ^ and as she read it in secret, day
after day, she wept, the more because she was
subject to heathen parents. But when she went
on reading day by day the history of the holy
Thekla, it occurred to her to imitate her conduct ;
and having made her choice in the depths of her
soul, she set herself to study the teaching of the
Christians. III. And she besought her parents
to allow her as a favour to leave the city and
visit a certain country place ;* and it chanced that
as she was on the way in her litter, revolving in
her innermost mind the life of the blessed Thekla,^

^ The Latin has Aquilius, son of the Consul Aquilius.

2 Eugenia's answer in the Arm. is obscure. I have given what I be-
lieve to be the sense. The Latin gives it thus : Maritus moribus, non
natalibus eligendus est. A husband is to be selected for his character and
not on account of his birth and family.

^ The Latin and Greek Acts ignore Thekla. The former runs : per-
venit ad manus eius beatissimi Pauli Apostoli doctrina.

"* The Latin has : Et quoniam iussi fuerant Christiani ab Alexandria
urbe discedere, rogat parentes ut spectandi gratia permitteretur praedia sua
in suburbano Alexandrioe posita circuire.

The Arm. says nothing of this prohibition to Christians to live in
Alexandria.

' The Greek and Latin again omit this reference to Thekla, and instead
of it introduce the incident narrated in the next §, as if that suggested
Eugenia's address to her eunuchs. The Latin and Greek thus transpose
§ § 3 and 4.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 159

she said to her eunuchs, Protus and Hyacinthus :
'' You must surely know all that the poets invent
about the so-called false gods, ^ and all that the
philosophers say about the true God ? Do we
find even in these such truth as is set forth in
this divine book about God ? " 'Tis a very gro-
velling and counterfeiting mind which believes in
carved stones or seeks aid from wooden images
made with hands." ^ But whilst they were in this
mind, they began to reflect and speculate about
the true God and about divers religions, and
they decided in their souls that there is nothing
preferable to this power.

And as they were engaged in such arguments
and reflections as these, they heard some Christ-
ians who were worshipping say, '' All the gods
of the heathen are devils, but the Lord made the
heavens." And when she heard these words,
Eugenia bade them halt her litter, and for a long
while her mind was full of awe, and she said :
''How apt is this testimony to the holy book,^

* Literally " no-gods,"

2 This speech of Eugenia's is very different in the Greek and Latin
texts : Scio vos mecum litteris eruditos et digna simul et indigna hominum
legimus gesta, philosophorutn quoque syllogismos vano labore constructos
studio scrupulosissimo transegimus : Aristotelica argumenta et Platonis
ideas, et Epicuri sectas, et Socratis monita et Stoicorum, and so forth.

The Armenian text has much more the tone of a third century document
than this.

^ Note how for a second time the Acts of Thekla are here referred to as
a "holy book." The Latin makes one speech out of this and the pre-
ceding speech ; and instead of this reference to the Acts of Thekla, has
as follows : Igitur iubet conferre sermonem : et apostolus legitur, et
propheta laudatur ; fit concordia fidei, et qua arte ad penetralia sapientias
(livinse absque sui separatione perveniant, consilio ardenti definitur.

1 6o Momiments of Early Christianity.

which we have met with in pursuing our road, and
have learned of the vain perniciousness of the
harmful and misleading cults. But come, let us
carry out what has occurred to me, let us see
if we cannot in this way compass so lofty a
design. Or how long are we to wander round in
the cycle of unsubstantial words, arguing vainly
about the true God and about unanimity of faith.
Here is a plan by which we will be able to achieve
the blessed flight we look for, and repel the
savagery of the devil, and embrace the faith of
Christ.'*

Then Eugenia said to her eunuchs Protus
and Hyacinthus as follows : '' The honour which
springs from man made me your mistress, but
wisdom hath made me your sister. Now, there-
fore my brethren, with one soul and with all
unanimity let us cast away the empty glory of

Dominam me, inquit, vobis usurpata potestas attribuit, sed sororem sapi-
entia fecit. Simus ergo fratres, sicut divina sapientia ordinavit, non sicut
se iactat humana temeritas. Pergamus pariter ad Christianos, et sicut
ordinavero properemus. Helenum audio dici episcopum, cuius est habitatio
ilia in qua die noctuque audiuntur Deo suo cantare, quos etiam nos, quoties
transimus, psallentes audimus. Sed hie episcopus variis dicitur ecclesije
suae occupationibus detineri. His autem qui in divinis laudibus vacant,
Theodorum quemdam presbyterum constituit, cuius tanta miracula nar-
rantur, ut etiam caecos suis orationibus illuminet, et doemones effuget, et
infirmantibus afferat sanitatem : sane ad diversorium huius congregationis,
in'quo Deus canitur, nuUam patitur venire feminarum. Hoc ergo consi-
terans, tondere me arbitror, etc. This narrative presupposes an intimate
knowledge of the Christians on the part of Eugenia. The Arm. does
not ; nor does it mention Theodorus. It moreover represents as her motive
for cutting her hair and dressing as a man, the desire to emulate Thekla.
The Latin and Greek texts, since they eschew mention of Thekla, have to
invent another motive. They accordingly introduce the touch "nuUam
patitur venire feminarum.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. i6i

human honour, and hasten to the service of the
true God, that we may not be undone by the
opposition of the adversary. But do you divest
me of the tresses of my hair and make your-
selves ready at dawn. Perhaps this very night
will be our departure, in order that our journey
to the men of God may prosper. And you must
walk, the one to the right and the other to the
left ; and so put me down from the litter unper-
ceived, and then let the litter go empty. But we
three will then hasten to the men of God." And
they approved of the plan, and at dawn every-
thing was done according to the plan.

IV. Now Christ gave His grace to reward their
faith. For it chanced just as she descended from
her litter, the holy bishop Helenus^ was making a
progress along the road, along with a multitude
that were singing a psalm and saying altogether
with one voice : "The paths of the just are straight,
the paths of the holy are made ready."^ Then
Eugenia said to Protus and Hyacinthus,
"Behold ye the might of the psalmists .f^ Con-

^ The Latin has : Et quia mos est apud Egyptum, quando circumeunt
monasteria Episcopi, psallentium eos sequatur exercitus ; supervenit idem
Helenus Heliopolis episcopus, et cum eo amplius quam decem millia
virorum. Contrast this with the Armenian, in which the narrator him-
self simply says " a multitude," and puts the natural exaggeration,
" thousands," into the mouth of Eugenia. In the Latin it is the narrator
who is quite definite, "amplius quam decem millia." Gorres, accepting
the Latin as the original form of text, finds in this statement an argu-
ment against the antiquity of these acts : " Widersinnig ist ferner die
Mittheilung, damals waren die Bischofe bei ihren Besuchen in den Klostern
von tausenden von Christen ^begleitet gewesen." This argument is
abolished by the Armenian text.

'^ Isa. xxii. 7.

1 62 Monuments of Early Christianity.

sider if that which ye heard from the Christians,
who were singing a psalm to their God, be not
intended as a sign unto us ; for just as we were
pondering over the true God in our minds, we
heard from the men of God, as they worshipped,
the words : ' All the gods of the heathen are
devils, but the Lord made the heavens.' And
lo ! at the very moment when we separate our-
selves from the worship of idols, thousands have
met us saying with one accord, ' Straight is the
path of the just, and ready is the path of the holy
ones.' Come then and let us mingle with the mul-
titude of them that give praise, and we shall be
reckoned to belong to their ranks, and we will
enter as participators with them into their truth,
t'hough it be late evening."

V. And so they united with the worshippers
and began to ask, who was the aged man who
alone in the midst of the multitude sat under an
umbrella.^ Then they heard from one of them
that he is Helenus, the bishop, who in his child-
hood frequented the monastery of the Christians,
and who destroyed the wild beasts of the neigh-
bourhood.^ '' But," he continued, "why do I

' The Latin has : qui solus vehiculo aselli uteretur in medio populi
sequentis et precedentis.

* The Latin has : Helenus episcopus, ab infantia Christianus : qui dum
infantulus in monasterio cresceret, tantas sanctitatis virtutibus augebatur,
ut si quando missus fuisset ignem e vicino petere, ardentes prunas vesti-
mento deferrct illaeso. The very same story is told by Rufinus in the very
same words of the monk Helenus in the second book of the Lives of the
Saints. This fact only proves (as Rosweyd notes) that Rufinus was the
author of the Latin text of the Acts of Eugenia, and does not warrant the
argument based on it by Gorres and Baroniu? against their antiquity. That

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 163

speak of or relate his virtues of long ago, when
only a little time back a certain wizard called Iras^
came and tried to turn away the people from the
holy books, and ventured to oppose with counter-
feit arguments the holy bishop Helenus. And the
holy bishop discerned his deficiency of under-
standing, but being unable to undo him in argu-
ment, said before all the multitude : ' Of what use
is it for us to wrestle in argument with this son of
perdition and unbeliever?^ He who believes not
in that which is set before us in the midst, not
only does not raise the fallen,^ but by his vain
teaching he ruins and does violence to those who
have been so raised. But I will first try to save
him (and shew him) that there is a God who
governs all things rightly and who by the hand of
me, His humble servant, reveals the unspeakable
message of His might." And he said : ' Therefore
let there be kindled in the middle of the city * a
flaming fire, and before your eyes let us both enter
it without shrinking, and let him who is not con-
sumed be believed to be His true worshipper.'

the Armenian omits the miraculous incident and gives a different one
empties such an argument of all weight.

^ The Latin and Greek call the wizard by the name Zareas, and add that
he tried to pass himself off as a bishop sent by Christ to teach ; statements
barely consistent with the fact which they also relate, that he de Scripturis
divinis populum seducebat.

2 Instead of what follows the Latin has : Et ait ad populum : Pauli
apostoli in hac parte monita omnino tenenda sunt ; dicit enim Timotheo
discipulo suo, and then cites 2 Tim. ii. Noli verbis contendere ; ad nihil
enim utile est, nisi ad subversionem audientium.

' Eccl. iv. 10,

* The Latin has : in media Heliopolis civitate.

164 Monuments of Early Christianity.

And the entire people approved of this resolution,
for a large part of them believed in the magician
and took his side. Now immediately the fire was
lit and flamed up, the holy bishop Helenus bade
that both enter it without fear. But Iras the im-
postor said : ' Not so, but let us each go into the
midst of it separately ; and do you go first and
foremost, for it is you that proposed it.' Forthwith
the holy Helenus raised his hands to heaven, and
weeping, said:^ 'Thou knowest, O Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of the living God, who didst appear
fourth in the furnace to the three children, that I
was not covetous of human glory, but only of the
salvation of Thy people, unto whom Thou hast
made me worthy of praise, and whom the betrayer
seeks by means of his minister to lead astray from
the just path over a precipice. For the sake of
their salvation I willingly enter this fire, trusting
firmly that I shall find Thee there shedding Thy
dew upon me, so that the fire may not touch me
who remember Thee.' And when he had said this
he crossed himself, and went into the fire, and
stood in the midst of the flame a long while, and
was in no wise hurt by the fire. When the multi-
tude beheld the superb miracle, they took Iras,
and although he resisted, they threw him into the
fire, and he began to burn. And the blessed
Helenus, although his tortures were well deserved,
none the less made haste and rescued him still
alive ; and he was insulted by all and left on the

* The Latin omits the prayer which ensues.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 165

spot. And he whom ye see yonder continually
glorifies God."

VI. Then Eugenia, with her eunuchs Protus
and Hyacinthus, fell on her knees, beseeching the
holy Helenus^ to confirm them also in the faith ;
and they besought him that through him they
might become acquainted with the Lord. But he
said to them : " Devote yourselves of a habit to
praising Him at dawn, in order that there be
granted a joyous vision to thee by His grace."
But Eugenia besought him to pray for them.
'' For," said she, " we three are Romans by
birth, and have abandoned the worship of idols,
and in pursuit of thee have come hither." VH.
And while they were relating their story the old
man was silent, because he had seen in a dream
all that they were about to tell him. But while
he was meditating, they came to the spot and

^ According to the Latin, Eugenia fell on her knees at the feet not of
Helenus, but of him that had related to her the story of Helenus. She prays
him to bring her before Helenus. He answers that he will do so after the
bishop has entered the monastery and rested awhile. Eugenia with her
eunuchs then enters the monastery with the rest of the throng. It con-
tinues thus, cap. VII.: Perfectis igitur matutinis laudibus, paullulum re-
quievit episcopus, et iussit sibi ad sextam prasparari, ut divina mysteria
celebraret, ut dum sextam coepisset, nona ad refectionem ieiunantium
opportune perveniret. Requiescens autem episcopus, somnium vidit, in
quo ad simulacrum feminse ducebatur, ut illi sacrificaret. Tunc dixi,
inquit, in somnio his qui me tenebant. Permittite me ut loquar cum dea
vestra. Et cum me permisissent loqui, dixi ei : Cognosce te creaturam
Dei esse, et descende, et noli te permittere adorari. At ilia his auditis,
descendit, et secuta est me, dicens : non te deseram, quousque me creatori
meo restituas et conditori. The narrative continues that Eutropius, with
whom Eugenia had already spoken, now approached Helenus and told
him of the tres pueri fratres who had left their idols and come thither.
* ' Christo servientium numero in isto monasterio se sociari desiderantes.'
The Latin then continues in fair accord with the Armenian.

1 66 Monuments of Early Christianity.

found a reverent man, who had been with him,
whose name was Eutropius. He said to him :
" There are come and stand in our presence three
youthful brethren who have denied the worship of
idols. They desire to serve Christ the Saviour
and pray to be enrolled in the congregation of
believers ; who are fain to be made worthy by
means of thy holiness of repenting and of being
made participators in the pure faith."

Then the holy Helenus said : ** We thank Thee,
Lord Jesus Christ, for having made me worthy to
attain unto this and to witness this which Thou
lately revealedst to me through grace and by Thy
holy will." But they came in to him and offered
prayers ; and he, when he had finished his prayer,
took Eugenia by the hand along with the others,
and said : ** On what pretence chiefly did ye wish
to visit the humble servants of God .-^ However,
inform me of why ye are come on a visit to me,
for I would fain hear, that I may reap the fruit of
your proposal." The wise Eugenia made him
answer, and said : " We were convinced that the
nature of God cannot dwell in wood and stones,
and we were discussing among ourselves apart,
which is the true religion, in which the worshipful
and heavenly God acquiesces, when we heard a
sound at this spot ; for you were w^ith one accord
singing a hymn and saying : * All the false gods
of the heathen are devils, but the Lord made the
heavens.' Invited by these wise wyds we aban-
doned the service of idols, and came in haste
hither along with a multitude. We follow your

The Acts of S. Ettgenia. 167

reverence, believing in God and desiring to be
associated with them in your pious faith and
true counsels. But there is one brotherhood
between the three of us, and one of us is named
Protus and another Hyacinthus, but I am called

XEugenius." Said the blessed Helenus : ''Well
wast thou called Eugenia, for 'tis a noble act of

y thine to pass through combats achieved to the
Lord. But know thou this, that God has already
revealed to me concerning thee, Eugenia, whence
thou art and whose daughter thou art and who
are come with thee ; ^ all this the Lord showed to
me, and how these men were encouraged by thee
to come to God." And the holy Helenus bade
them spend three ^ months in the church and in
the convent, and then he made them because of
their true faith worthy of holy baptism. And
after that he sent them to the convent and con-
fided them to the principal thereof, but he told no
one the real facts.

VI IL But now let us return to the time when
Protus and Hyacinthus took Eugenia and sent
back the litter home empty to her mother. Well,
her household thought that Eugenia was come,
and they all rushed out full of joy to meet her.
But when they did not find her in the litter they

^ According to the Latin Helenus turned to the eunuchs and said : In
corpore servitutis positi, ingenuam dignitatem animi tenuistis fortiter et
tenetis. Unde vobis, me tacente, Christus dominus loquitur, dicens :
Amen, amen, 4^o vobis, iam non dicam vos servos, sed amicos (Joan
XV.). It is noticeable that this quotation from the canonical N.T. is
absent in the Armenian.

2 The Latin does not specify the time which elapsed before baptism.

1 68 Monuments of Early Christianity.

with one accord began to weep and lament. And
there was a tumult and disturbance all over the
city, and there was huge lamentation and violent
sorrow, and everyone was plunged in profound
grief. The parent mourned for a daughter, and
the brothers for a sister, the slaves for a mistress,^
and everyone of the citizens mourned because of
the parents' bereavement and of the affliction
which had befallen the family. Never before
had such a catastrophe befallen them, and they
sent about to every government looking for
Eugenia, and they questioned the seers, and
sought out the ventriloquists and offered victims
to the idols, and they all began to declare that
Eugenia had been translated by the immortal
gods. And the father credited this,^ and ceased
to mourn, opining that she was now really num-
bered among the gods, and he set up a statue to
her of pure gold. But her mother Clodia and
her brothers Avitos and Sergius could not cease
at all from their grief, but continued to mourn
most bitterly.

IX. But Eugenia disguised as a man remained
in the aforesaid monastery, locked in spiritual
union with Protus and Hyacinthus. And they
progressed so much in the divine love in Christ,
that in two years' time they took into their
minds the whole book.^ X. But in the third

* This is imitated from the Acts of Paul and Thekla, ch. lO.

* This is the germ of the Bishop Helenas' dream as given in the Latin
text.

* Latin : omnes Scripturas dominicas memoria retineret. The Latin

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 169

year while they were still pursuing such a life,
the elder ^ of the monastery died and passed
from this world to his Lord. And after his
death it seemed good to all the brethren to ap-
point the blessed Eugenia to the principalship.
But Eugenia declined, for she was restrained by
scruples of conscience and felt that a woman
ought not to be head of a congregation of
men of God. And yet she feared to become a
source of aversion and strife and turpitude to
those who invited her to take the post.^ Then
they all with one will and accord assailed her,
and she returned them the following answer again
and again : ''In the congregations of Christians
ye said that Christ will of His own accord define
that which is to be according to His pleasure.
Wherefore, if ye so command, let the gospel be
brought forward, and let us open and read it, and
whatsoever command first meets the eye, let us
give ear thereunto." So they brought the holy
gospel, and the blessed Eugenia took it and
adored, and they all held their peace and prayed.
Then she opened and read the place in which it
is written : " Jesus said to His disciples, Ye know
that the rulers of the heathen are lords, and the
great ones oppress them. But let it not be so in
your midst also ; but he that shall among you

continues with a long and stilted eulogy of Eugenia, not given in the
Armenian.

^ Latin : abbas qui praserat fratibus in monasterio.

* The Latin simply has : timens ne omnes unanimiter deprecantes
sperneret.

1 70 Monuments of Early Christianity.

desire to become first, let him be least of you and
servant of all." ^ But after she had read this,
Eugenia said : '* Make up your minds upon this
model that I shall be so."^

And all the brethren sharing her persuasion,
she assumes the title of principal in order not to
grieve them. For they all besought her to remove
the anxiety of the convent and she acquiesced.

But she made herself a pattern of humility ; and
herself discharged in excess all the services which
the juniors were required to perform for her, such
as bringing water from the well, cutting wood,
keeping the floor clean and ministering to all the
wants of the brethren. But she also made her-
self a little room at the door of the monastery,
that she might not appear to be better off in any
way than the other associates. And when they
came to evening service^ they would find her
already come, and there was not one of all the
brethren who was found to transcend her in
humility. At all seasons she devoted herself, and
was accessible to the brethren, and would exhort

^ Latin : Et revolvens codicem venit ad locum, et coepit legere, dicens :
Dixit lesus discipulis suis : Scitis quia principes gentium maiores sunt his
quibus dominantur, et principatum eorum gerunt (Matth. xx. 25) Apud
vos autem non est sic, sed si quis in vobis vult primus esse, sit vester
ultimus : et si quis inter vos voluerit esse dominus, sit vester servus (Lucse
XXV. 25).

* Ecce inquit et vestris iussis obtemperans, decrevi primatum suscipere,
et Domini iussionibus obedire, ultimum me vestrze charitati constituo.

^ The Latin translator here sees his chance : et tertiie, sextse, nonce,
vespertinis vel nocturnis atque matutinis horis tam cautissime insistebat,
ut videretur iam perisse Deo, si horarum vel quidpiam spatii absque
divinis laudibus aliqua prceteriisset. On the other hand the Latin omits
what follows about Eugenia's teaching the brethren not to use oaths.

The Acts of S. Eugenia, 171

and advise them continually not to say anything
to anyone under oath, but to use sober speech ;
and she would say to them : *' Let us learn from
His commands how much reverence we the ser-
vants of God ought to shew. Let us therefore
be careful to have in our hearts all due zeal and
enthusiasm, for In no wise ought God to be neg-
lected by us ; for It is In this wise that a man
denies his Lord, who teaches others to do what
He has forbidden." So when they learned from
her all this, they were confirmed in the faith, and
from morning to night th^ remitted not the study
of the divine writings. (^But she was so precious
to God that she could cast out devils, and to
the sick healing was through her vouchsafed by
Go^

A I. There was a certain wife of one of the
senators whose name was Melani,^ that had
suffered a long time from a quartan ague. She
came to Eugenia, who made the sign of the Christ
on her breast^ and dispelled all the languor of her
sickness and raised her up whole. And after
that the blessed Eugenia hastened to the convent.
Xn. Melani returned and continually called
Eugenia, and she in a spirit of pity would go to
her. And Melani, not knowing that she was a
woman, longed to behold Eugenia from a corrupt

^ Melanthia in the Greek and Latin. "Matrona quaedam Alexandrina,
caeteris matronis prsestantior, nomine Melanthia.

2 Lat. " quam cum beata Eugenia oleo perunxisset." In the sequel the
Latin represents Melanthia as sending silver cups full of money to EugeniR,
which she returns.

XJNIVERSITT,

172 Monuments of Early Christianity.

motive ; and not because she had been healed by
her intercession, but because she believed her to
be a man, she would send to her such unholy-
messages as this : '* Why dost thou smite and waste
thyself with vain labour, destroying all the bloom
of thy youth ? Surely God does not love melan-
choly. Does He really bid all men to pass all
the time of their life without joy or relaxation ?
Not so ; but do thou come and let us enjoy the
gifts of God, lest as those who have turned un-
grateful, we account ourselves unworthy of the
gifts of God. Wherefore for thy own benefit
comply with my demands, so that thou mayest be
with me and put an end to all this thy hard toil,
and that we may enjoy a brilliant and fair time.
And thou shalt be lord of all my possessions, yea,
and shalt be lord also of my person. For I am
of high and splendid rank and of distinguished
family, and my wealth is enormous ; ^ and I do
not think that I shall offend before God, if thou
wilt become my husband, and casting away melan-
choly enjoy a good time."

This and the like was the pleading of Melani,
but the holy Eugenia arose to avoid such deadly
and destructive words, wishing to save the other* s
soul from the suffocation of death, and signifying
to her how vile a thing is worldly desire. For

* The Lat. adds : dignitas generositatis est mihi : hoc anno absque
filiis viduata sum, succede pro eis in facultatibus meis, et non solum rerum
mearum, sed meus esto iam dominus. The Arm. does not represent
Melanthia as a widow, but in this detail the Latin may be more correct,
for it would not have lost the opportunity of adding adultery to her
offences.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 173

while a person thinks to gain something by means
of temporal desire, he robs his soul of perpetual
love and of the delights which pass not away.
And it is in no wise right to embrace fleshly de-
sires, for by means thereof the traducer flatters us
in order to shatter and destroy the spirit of man.
But to these words addressed to her by the blessed
Eugenia, Melani turned a deaf ear and would not
listen to them, for she was possessed by a spirit
of bitter shamelessness, as it is written : '' Into
the malicious soul wisdom entereth not."

But Eugenia endeavoured in every way to save
her from death and destruction, and shunned her
company. But Melani pretended that she was
sick in body, and besought the blessed Eugenia
to visit her as one sick. And then when the
saint had come in and sat down in her chamber
with her, Melani ventured to approach her with
secret embraces of a shameless kind and began
to allure her to impiety with unholy words. Then
the blessed Eugenia understood the deceitfulness
of the evil demon and the wickedness of the tra-
ducer that was in her, and stretching out her right
hand she made the sign of the cross on her fore-
head, and with a loud cry and violent tears and
groaning she began to say : " Right fitly wast thou
named Melani, for the blackness of sweaty vice and
the filth of wickedness exudes and drips from thee ;
for thou art a daughter of darkling sins and a
leader of destruction and a darling of Satan, a
flame of lust and a sister of unrighteousness,
doomed to unending death, a daughter of eternal

1 74 Monuments of Early Christianity,

Gehenna, a fountain darkened and clouded with
shameless desire, an enemy of God, a welcomer
of the devil. Away with thy madness from the
servants of Christ." ^

XIII. But when Melani heard this she flamed
up with wrath and she could not contain her
shame, and she was afraid lest the rumour thereof
should reach many ears and she herself become
an object of scorn in the eyes of the multitude.
So she went to Alexandria, and in the public
court laid her complaint before the E parch ^ Philip
to this effect : " I fell in with a certain unbeliev-
ing youth, who called himself a Christian. Him
I summoned for my health, for it was rumoured
that he can assist the sick. But when he was bid
come near me, he began to use obscene and
shameless language to me and tried to seduce
and outrage me. But why should I use many
words } For he was the aggressor and dared to lay
hands on me as if I were a slave, so that if there
had not happened to be in my chamber a certain
One of my slaves, who saved me from being over-
mastered by his violence, he would probably have
carried out his vile desire on my person."

But when the E parch heard this he was very
angry and sent a large force of soldiers, and
ordered that Eugenia and all who were with her
should be bound in iron fetters,^ and after a few

* The above narrative is much abbreviated in the Latin.

* In the Lat., prrefectus.

* The Latin exaggerates here as usually : Deponuntur itaque onines in
vinculis : et quia unius carceris eos non ferebat locus, per diversas custo-
dias dividuntur.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 175

days, the number of which he fixed, be brought
into court before the people in the theatre, so
that he might hear what they had to say, and
then order them to be thrown as food to the wild
beasts. So when the time came, the blessed
Eugenia and all her associates were brought in
iron fetters into the court in the presence of all.
(And the multitude, not knowing the righteousness
of their cause, cried out against them, especially
those who were on the side of Melani. For the
multitude had various minds, and some cried out
to burn them with fire, and some to throw them
to the wild beasts, and others cried out for them
to be subjected to all kinds of tortures^

XIV. Then the Eparch silenced the crowd, and
had Eugenia set before all and interrogated her
thus : "What temerity led thee to act so insolently?
Thou wast visiting from afar Melani that hath
the rank of our national senators and was nigh
unto death, and thou didst enter in unto her in
the guise of a Christian, as being skilled in the art
of healing, and then didst thou invite this free-
born woman to acts of wanton iniquity. Surely
your Christ does not enjoin on you any such
deeds ? or is this the service of your confession,
to work the works of perdition ? "^

Then Eugenia made answer to the Eparch, and
said : ''I have prayed earnestly for this false in-

^ The Latin does not give these words from '* Surely your Christ," to
'* perdition." In the rest of ch. XIV. the Latin differs a good deal from
the Armenian and is more diffuse, but there are no differences of con-
sequence.

176 Montcments of Early Christianity.

dictment which has befallen us. I was resolved
to overcome my scruples, and reserve for the
future Judge this infamous fiction ; for true holi-
ness need not fear aught that malice can bring
against it ; nor again can chastity conjoined with
holiness lie hid, for it will reap not only the
praise of men because of its light and splendour,
but also the honour of rev/ard from its God. For
the chastity of the wise is kept safe and in inno-
cence, by those who have made it theirs by strenu-
ous effort, and it nobly guides the soul of the
Christian as it were to the love of God. XV.
For I will reveal before all that which I have
concealed in my bosom. For I am a woman by
sex, and because I could not attain my desire and
serve God as I deemed necessary and in fair
security on account of being a woman, therefore
I disguised myself as a man, and in a just and
fitting way concealed my charms ; in emulation
and after the example of my teacher Thekla,^
fleeing from what is destructible and fleeting I was
resolved to attain to the good things of heaven.
It was to win such glory and to satisfy my crav-
ing after the Divine virtues that I disguised the
frailty of my sex under male attire. For this
cause and because I was pricked with a longing

^ "As before so here the Latin eliminates Thekla: **Tanta enim est
▼irtus nominis Christ!, ut etiam femince in timore eius positae virilem obti-
neant dignitatem ; et neque ei sexus diversitas fide potest inveniri superior,
cum beatus Paulus apostolus, magister omnium Christianorum, dicat quod
apud Dominum. non sit discretio masculi et feminre, omnes enim in Christo
unum sumus (Galat. iii.). Huius ergo normam animo fervente suscepi, et
ex confidentia quam in Christo habui nolui esse femina.

The Acts of S. Ettgenia. 177

after Divine worship I took the form of a man,
in order that in masculine wise I might bravely
keep my virginity intact."

—When she had said this she rent the garment
with which she had attired herself from her head
downwards, and exposed her hidden countenance^
and her beautiful virginal breasts. But for one
jmoment only, and then she hastily veiled them
[again with her rent garment. And, continuing,
she addressed the Eparch and said : " Thou art
my father after the flesh, and Avitos and Sergius
are my two brothers. But I am thy daughter
Eugenia, who for the love of Christ spurned the
things of earth along with my two servants, who,
behold, are here, Protus and Hyacinthus, my
eunuchs, who along with me have joined the
ranks of Christ's army. And I pray that Christ
may draw thee to Himself with such power, that
under my teaching thou mayest before all men
become in Christ a conqueror of all desires ; even
as I myself trust to be kept safe and scatheless
even to the end."

XVI. A nd jhereupon the father recognised his
daughter, and the brothers their sister ; and they
ran before all and embraced her, and with tears
they clasped each other in their arms. And forth-
with one ran and told her mother Clodia ; and
she on hearing it rushed pell-mell in her hurry
and came post-haste into the theatre, and quick as
lightning they snatched up a gold-embroidered

^ The Arm. is here obscure, and hterally = et incognitos uultus faciei,
manifestabant pulchra pectora uirginis.

178 Monuments of Early Christianity.

shawl and attired Eugenia in it against her will,
just to shew to all who she was. And then
they raised her aloft and carried her away, and all
the multitude shouted out, saying : " There is one
Christ, one Lord, one true God of the Christians."
But the bishops and elders along with a great
congregation of Christians were standing by the
theatre and kept a fast until such time as they
should be slain, when they hoped to gather up
the relics of the saints, that they might wrap them
up and bury them. But even they came into
the theatre glorifying God, and with one voice
cried aloud, saying : " Thy right hand, O Lord,
is glorified in its might ; Thy right hand, O Lord,
hath scattered ^ Thine enemies." But they lifted
her up on high for all to see, that none might
ignore her wondrous purity. And while all gazed
a sudden fire came down from heaven and con-
sumed Melani and all her household. And when
they furthermore saw this, great joy mingled
with fear filled the multitude, and they opened the

+ church which had been closed for eight years, and
the Christians won the confidence of all. More-
over Philip the Eparch was baptized, as well as
his sons Avitos and Sergius. Her mother also,
Clodia, was baptized along with her handmaids,
and (an innumerable number of heathen turned
Christian.^j And all Alexandria was like a single
church.

* Lit. pulverised.

' The Latin adds that Philip restored their privileges to the Christians,
et miltit relationem ad Severum imperatorem de Christianis, et memorat

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 1 79

XVII. Now at that time all the elders were lead-
ing and governing the church, because he that was
previously chief guardian of the divine laws had
departed to the Lord. So they made him {i,e,
Philip) bishop and he greatly honoured the
church, even as it had become worthy of honour.
But he also continued to administer the govern-
ment ; for he had the power and authority of
E parch, and his successor was not yet arrived.
But at once the Egyptians took the cue from
him and forsook the folly of idols and turned to
Christ, and in all the cities churches were opened
and day by day Christianity flourished and
increased.

XVIII. But when all this took place under the
guidance of the grace of God, the devil, who is
jealous of the good and is teacher of evil and
co-worker therein, inspired certain of the heathen
who were chief men in the city, and caused them
to go and prostrate themselves before the em-
perors ^ who were then ruling, and to pour out
before them a tale of envy and hatred against the
holy church and the god-fearing bishop Philip.

XIX To supersede Philip was sent an Eparch,
whose name was Perinos, who had orders from
the emperors, in case things were as reported, to

satis reipublicse Christiaiios prodesse, ideo debere eos absque persecutione
aliqua in urbibus habitare. Consentit relationibus Imperator. Of all this
the Armenian knows nothing.

1 The Latin gives their names : Severo et Antonino Augustis. The
Alexandrians complain that Philip has restored their privileges to the
Christians, and that cum none anno in fascibus irreprehensibiliter admini-
straverit, nunc decimo anno perdidit omnia.

1 80 Monuments of Early Christianity.

slay Philip. Now Perinos came, but was not
able to effect this, because Philip was beloved by
all the multitude of citizens. So he sent certain
men to him disguised as Christians, who entered
the church, and, finding Philip therein engaged
in the service of God, they went up to him as if
to receive his blessing, and slew him just as
Zacharias was slain between the altar and the
shrine. But he filled the office of bishop one
year and three months, and as a martyr and con-
fessor passed away to the Lord.^
^ But Eugenia took the body of her martyred
father and laid it in the hospice, ^ which had been
built by her mother Clodia, near to a certain spot
called Tiranas, ^ which was a house of prayer of
her brothers for the glorification of the Lord
Christ, and they had built it in regal style on the
aforesaid spot. And when this had been done,
all who were near to the blessed Eugenia as well
as her mother and brothers with one accord joined
together and loosed unto Rome, led by the grace
of God.

XX. Wherefore Avitos and Sergius were wel-
comed with joy by the senators, so much so that

* The Latin omits the reference to Zacharias, and relates that Philip
lived three days after being stabbed. The metaphrast gives the name of
his successor and assassin as Terentius, probably a false spelling of the
name Perennius. We have the same false spelling of the name in the
Armenian Acts of ApoUonius.

* The Latin also relates that Eugenia established on the spot a monas-
tery for Christ's virgins.

» The Latin does not mention the place Tiranas, nor the shrine erected
by the brothers.

The Acts of S. Eugenia, i8i

the one of them became Consul in Carthage, and
the other was appointed Vicarius^ of Africa. But
Clodia and Eugenia went on living according to
divine counsels, and day by day they would ex-
hort others to the life of virtue, and brought
many persons to God, and they were marvelled
at by senators and virgins and were foremost in
zeal for Christianity. And one Basilia, a virgin,
who was a kinswoman of the Emperor Gallus, ^ of
great intelligence and famous for her wisdom,
came privily to Eugenia, and, having heard from
her the word of truth, believed so firmly that no
one could detach her from the faith. But because
she could not continually see the blessed Eugenia,
she took and accepted as if it were a free gift
from Eugenia her two eunuchs Protus and
Hyacinthus ; and in their company early and
late she studied the divine hymns and questions
and prayers and passed her days therein. Then
a certain bishop,^ a man fully perfected in holy
and divine precepts, came to Basilia and illumined
her with holy baptism as well as all who were
with her ; and jmintermittingly he instructed her
in the divine writings, confirming her in the
faith of Christ. XXI. And thus it was that all

^ The Latin and Greek have Vicarius Africas ; also Proconsul, not
Consul. The metaphrast makes Avitus Proconsul of Carthage and Sergius
to be Vicarius Africse. The Arm. has the spelling Bitaritos.

^ The Latin simply says : qusedam ex regis genere virgo, Basilia no-
mine, and does not mention Gallus.

^ The Latin names him, "Cornelius cum esset in urbe Roma sacrse
legis antistes," and just below "Cornelius papa urbis Romse."

1 82 Monuments of Early Christianity,

unanimously made such progress in the life of
virtue, that all were ready for martyrdom.^

XXII. But so long as the bishop sat at the
head of the church and led it, the Christians were
at peace, and there was no hostile agitation against
them. But Cyprian ^ when bishop suffered many
afflictions for the faith, and one Maximus by
name, a Consul, received an imperial command
by letter and slew him. But when the bishop
Nestor heard of the same he kept in hiding and
apart, for he was aware of many highly placed
Romans who were Christians in secret.

But one day Basilia came to Eugenia and she
welcomed her with much joy and said to her :
*' This day hath the Lord revealed to me, that
blood will flow over the rose-coloured image of
thy youth,^ which means that thou wilt suffer for
the confession of Christ and receive the crown
and symbol of victory." And the blessed Basilia
on hearing this raised her hands to heaven and
rejoiced in God with exceeding joy. And when
they had prayed and ended the Amen and were
sat down, Basilia said to Eugenia : *' For each of
us, as we see, our Saviour has revealed the crown
of glory, for as to thee concerning myself, so also

* The Latin here inserts many lines of commonplace eulogy of Eugenia,
Clodia and the eunuchs.

* The Latin has : Valeriano itaque et Gallieno imperantibus orta seditio
de Christianis est, eo quod Cyprianus Carthaginem everteret, et Cornelius
Romam. Data est ergo auctoritas ad Paternum proconsulem, ut Cyprianum
occideret. Cornelius autem quia a multis Romania etiam illuslribus fove-
batur erat in abditis.

^ The Latin omits this sentence.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 183

concerning thy departure from earth hath Christ
revealed to me. For I beheld that thou didst
receive a twofold symbol of victory from heaven ;
partly because of the struggle for virginity that
thou didst win in Alexandria, and partly because of
the shedding of blood which shall overtake thee."
XXIII. Now the blessed Eugenia was delighted
to hear thereof and called to her all the virgins,
who through her had in holy wise espoused the
life of spotless chastity, and invited them to share
her victory. And after finishing her prayer, she
lifted up her voice and spoke to them as follows :
" Behold the time of vintage, when the ripe fruit
is gathered in, ^ for ye are my bowels^ of pity and
grape-clusters sprung from me. Convoy me first
away and then make yourselves ready with watch-
ing. For this is the chief proof of virginity, to
liken yourselves to the angels and to draw nigh
unto God. For this excellence is love of the life
to be, and mother of modesty, teacher of holiness,
mistress of repose from care and guide to joy ;
the goal of virtue and crown of faith, succour of
hope and guardian of honour, glory of the soul
and rest eternal, inviting us to the goods and
leading us on to the kingdom of heaven. There
is not therefore any difference in the labour which
it will be for us to abide in our virginity and holi-

^ In Latin : Ecce vindemise tempus est, quo succiduntur botri, et
pedibus conculcantur, sed post heec regalibus conviviis apponuntur.

2 The Latin has : Et vos palmites mei, et meorum viscerum botri, estote
parati in Domino.

184 Monuments of Early Christianity.

ness.^ For these are the seductions of the world
and fleeting joys. By reason of which those here
below are encompassed with woes and tears. For
they rejoice a man's heart to begin with, but at
the last they overtake and thrust him into torture.
In the present they lull him into repose, that they
may doom him to eternal torments. Wherefore
my honourable virgins, who have so bravely run
with me in the race of virginity, remain ye firm
in the love of God in which ye now stand and
enhance it yet more. For that was a time of
lamentation, when ye were caught in folly. But
ye have been filled with the unfading joy by
Almighty God.^ But I will commit you to the
care of the Holy Spirit, and I trust that in His
kingdom He will prove you perfect and spotless.
But keep me ever as a pattern before your eyes,
having in mind the teaching of me that am lowly
and following the same all your days.

Such was the tenour of the exhortations which
she addressed to them ; and after kissing them all
with tears she further said : '' Farewell, my sis-
ters, for Basilia and Eugenia depart from you in
the flesh." XXIV. And at the same time one of
the maids of Basilia came to Pompeius, to whom
she was betrothed, and said to him : *' Dost thou
know, that my mistress Basilia, who was engaged

* In Latin : Nihil ita nobis laborandum, nihil ita est enitendum, nisi
cum virginitate vivamus, aut quod est gloriosius, pro virginitate etiam
moriamur.

* Tempus flendi temporaliter, sine fastidio et horrore sufferte, ut tempora
gaudii eterni cum omni possitis dilectione suscipere.

The Acts of S, Eugenia. 185

to thee, has been cajoled by Eugenia, and has
utterly refused to wed thee ? " ^ XXV. When
Pompeius heard that, he was Inflamed with wrath,
and he came and wished to enter the chamber in
which was Basilia with Protus and Hyacinthus
engaged in prayer and praise. XXVI. Then they
took Protus and Hyacinthus, and put pressure
on them to sacrifice, threatening, if they refused,
to give them to the sword. But they sturdily
refused to comply, so they inflicted all sorts of tor-
tures upon them. And after enduring many tor-
ments they suffered the death-penalty by the sword.
And so they died in the holiness of martyrdom.^

^ The Latin has : Quia te dominam nostram Basillam novimus ab im-
peratore meruisse, sextus et eo amplius est annus quam tu in tenero setatis
anno ut postea acciperet distulisti ; sed patruelem eius Helenum scias esse
Christianum, et hanc ita factam Christianam, ut tibi omnino non nubat.
It goes on to relate that Basilia was wont to kiss the feet of the eunuchs,
and that Pompeius on learning of all this statim concurrit ad Helenum
patruelem eius, quia et nutritor eius erat et tutor. Helenus replies that
Basilia is grown up and must decide herself. After learning of her refusal,
Pompeius omni pene senatorum favore usus presents himself before the
Emperor and urges that Eugenia has brought novos deos from Egypt, and
that the Christians iura ipsius naturae pervertunt, separant coniugium, gra-
tiam sponsarum sibi associant ; et dicunt iniquum esse, si sponsum suum
sponsa accipiat (a common and well-founded form of complaint against
Christian teachers of that time).

In ch. XX VI. the Latin goes on to relate that decrevit Gallienus
Augustus ut aut sponsum suum Basilia acciperet, aut gladio interiret. She
replies that her bride is Christ, and is at once put to the sword. Of
Basilla's death the Arm. says nothing, though in the Latin it occurs before
that of the eunuchs. It should be noticed that the metaphrast has Protas
instead of Protus as the eunuch's name, while the Armenian has Proteus.
I have adhered, however, to the Latin spelling Protus.

' The Latin has iubet eos decollari Nicetius urbis prsefectus, but they
were first brought to sacrifice to a statue of Jove, which immediately fell
down and was broken. This miracle is not in the Armenian. The meta-
phrast also gives the Eparch's name as Nicetius. ^ ^^

/^ ^ OF THE *^ ^

(UNIVERSlTfi
V OF ». y

1 86 Monuments of Early Christianity.

XXVII. Next they seized Eugenia as well/ and
tortured her before Aniktus, prefect (Eparch) of
the city. XXVIII. And he commanded her to
come and sacrifice to Artemis. But the blessed
one came to the spot and entered into the temple,
and having come opposite the image and having
spread out her hands to heaven, she remained in
prayer a long while. And when she had finished
her prayers, forthwith the image of Artemis fell
down and was broken into such fine fragments
that even the dust thereof was not apparent.^
But they did not comprehend the power of God,
but thought that such things took place through
the arts of wizards, so they commanded that a
big stone be hung round her neck and that then
she should be thrown into the Tiber. But the
moment they threw her in, the bonds were
broken and the stone fell from her and sank.
And the holy Eugenia remained on the surface of
the water. And all the Christians when they
saw the miracle were filled with great joy, and

* In this ch. the Latin puts a long defence of herself into Eugenia's
mouth : Polliceor tibi quod ars nostra vehementior magis est : nam magis-
ter noster habet Patrem sine uUa matre, et matrem absque patre. Denique
sic eum genuit Pater, ut omnino feminam nunquam sciret ; sic eum genuit
mater, ut masculum omnino non nosset : hie ipse uxorem habet virginem,
quze illi quotidie filios creat . . . quotidie suam carnem eius carnibus
coniungit. Oscula eius circa eam sine intermissione sociantur et cet. We
then read that: " Audiens hoec Nicetius, obstupuit" — not unnaturally !
The metaphrast concocts a different speech about demons and magic, and
attributes it to Eugenia.

* The Latin is not content with so everyday a miracle, but relates that
there was an earthquake and that the temple, foundations, idol and all,
sank and vanished, only the altar being left, which was at the door, and
before which Eugenia stood.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 187

uttered hymns of praise, saying : '' This is God
who is with Eugenia and saves her from destruc-
tion ; the same God who was with Peter in the
sea and saved him from being engulphed." But
the water bore Eugenia up, and she reached the
bank, and she came out and stood on the dry land.
XXIX. Then they seized her a second time
and put her in prison and ordered the royal
baths to be warmed, which were called Tiberian
(or *' whose name was Tiberianus") ^ And they
heated them so that they glowed like hot iron ;
and then they ordered her to be thrown in and
consumed by the flame. But the moment she
entered, the nre went out, so that they were not
able after that to heat the royal baths by com-
mand because of the icicles which formed in
them. And when the grace of God triumphed
over these means and wrought so mightily in
behalf of Eugenia, they ordered her once more
to be imprisoned. So they threw her into a dark
house without bread or water, and all the house
was illumined. And the blessed one was in the
prison twenty days, and a light shone there every
day. Then an angel of God appeared to her
and strengthened her, and said : '* Be of good
cheer, Eugenia, servant of Christ ; for the Lord
Jesus Christ, whom thou servedst with all thy
heart, has sent me to thee, saying : ' Be of good
cheer and be strong, for on this day I receive

^ The I-,atin has : in thermarum Severianarutn fornacibus. The meta-
phrast does not give this piece of information.

1 88 Monuments of Early Christianity,

thee into heaven, when thou hast fulfilled the
course of victory.' " ^ And on the very day of
the birth of Christ, they sent an executioner, who
came and slew her in prison. And when the
Christians heard thereof, they gathered together
and took the body of Eugenia, and wrapping it
up carefully laid it in a special place, not far from
the city opposite the road which was called
Latina.^ XXX. But her mother Clodia went and
(^ sat over the tomb and wept ; but the blessed
"^ Eugenia appeared to her ^ and said: "Rejoice
and be glad, mother mine, for the Lord Jesus has
led me into joy and into the resting-place of His
saints. And He has set my father in the ranks
of His holy pontiffs ; but thyself He will wel-
come in peace on the forthcoming Lord's day.
And do thou instruct thy sons, my brothers, to
keep safe the seal of Christ, whereby they may
be worthy to receive the heritage of His saints."
And it came to pass when Clodia had returned to
her house, she taught her sons all the commands

^ The Latin makes Christ Himself appear, bringing for her in His hand
panem nivei candoris et immensae suavitatis et gratiae.

^ The Latin has : non longe ab urbe via Latina in prcedio eius proprio,
ubi multorum sanctorum ipsa sepelierat membra. The metaphrast simply
has : In a place not far from Rome, and the road is called the Roman road.
In Kraus' Roma Sotteranea, p. 547, we read that the Cemetery of Eugenia,
called also of Apronianus, is situated on the Via Latina. No trace remains
of the church which contained her relics, until Stephen VI. (V.) transferred
them to the Church of the Apostles inside the city. Boldetti thought that
he had found the entrance to her catacomb a quarter of a mile outside the
Porta Latina, where the road bifurcates, and where on the right hand
under the Casa and Vigna Moiraga there was to be seen an old but ruined
catacomb.
' The Latin adds, of course : cum multo populo virginum.

The Acts of S. Eugenia. 189

which the blessed Eugenia had given. And on
the Lord's day at the hour of the completion of
the sacrament, while she was in church and was
offering prayer, she gave up her spirit into the
hands of Christ, the Lord of all spirits.-^ And
when she had thus died, her sons Avitos and
Sergius took her and laid her beside their sister.
But they themselves progressed in zeal for the
Lord with all virtue, so as to detach many of the
heathen from their unholy sacrifices and turn them
to the faith of Christ ; and hallowing them with
holy baptism, they were themselves made worthy
to imitate the lives of their parents and blessed
sister, and mingled in the ranks of the saints.
And may we also become worthy to enjoy the
kingdom of heaven and praise God, Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. For to Him must all life
give glory, and every knee bend of those in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, that
every tongue may confess Him who is above all,
and to Him belongeth glory for ever and ever.
Amen.

^ The Latin does not relate the death of the mother Clodia, though it
gives the daughter's prediction that it will be Die dominico.

ACTS OF S. CODRATIUS.

INTRODUCTION.

The Saint Codratius, according to the Menologium of Basil
Porphyrogenitus, suffered in Nicomedia under Decius and
Valerian. His festival is celebrated on the
ninth day of May, under which in the Bollan- ^he Armenian
dist Collection (May 2, p. 362) is to be found ^^^ matted
all that is known of him apart from the Ar-
menian Acts, which I now translate for the first time. A
Greek Synaxarium, translated by the Bollandist editor, gives
a meagre outline of what the Armenian contains. The Bol-
landist editor remarks as follows : Haec autem elogiorum
diversitas reperta in Synaxariis, mutuos defectus quadam
tenus supplentibus, omnino persuadet exstitisse olim, quae
forte etiam nunc alicubi lateant, prolixiora martyrii Acta, unde
Singuli Auctores Synaxariorum diversa ilia Elogio decerpserint.
In the Armenian we have probably preserved to us the mis-
sing document here referred to. The Latin notices name the
Saint Codratus or Quadratus.

The miraculous element in these Acts is very small and may
easily be referred to the subjectivity of the Christians who wit-
nessed the martyr's trial and recorded its
details. On the whole the narrative seems tirely credible
very genuine, and Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in
his Historical Geography of Asia Minor (p. 180), refers to the
meagre Latin form of the Acts, as given in the Bollandist Col-
lection, in support of his contention that the port of Prousa
was called Csesareia.

These Acts contain little that is of doctrinal interest, except
the single statement of the martyr that after ten days he will
be in Paradise. I cannot find in any other source indications

192 Monuments of Early Christianity,

of this belief, that the journey occupied exactly ten days ;
though it was a common belief that a certain period must
elapse. Codratius, like S. Phocas and in similar words, is in-
vited to sacrifice to Poseidon.

The name of the Consul in these Acts before whom Codra-
tius is tried is named in the Armenian, Prineos. In the Latin
forms the name is spelt Perinius, which must be the same as
Perennis, for the Greek spelling was Ilcpci/vtos. This is sus-
picious, seeing that Perennis was Prefect of the Praetorium
under Commodus, and was murdered a.d. 185. However it
may have been a fairly common name. O. Hirschfeld {Rd?n-
ischen Venvaltungs-geschichte^ I-j p. 228) notes that the name
of a son of Perennis, Legate of Pannonia, has been erased in
an inscription of the year 185, but he had perhaps other de-
scendants. The Acts of Eugenia, probably by an anachron-
ism, refer to a Perennius as having been Prefect of Egypt early
in the third century. The Acts of Codratius also mention a
judge Maximus, whose position in the proconsular court must
have been that of adsessor. A Quaestor is also named; but it is
impossible to identify any of these personages, so scanty is our
knowledge of the Fasti of the Roman provinces. The date
prefixed to the Acts, " under Decius and Valerian," must refer to
the whole period of persecution which continued from Decius
to Valerian. The same heading attaches to the Acts of Poly-
euctes of Melitene.

MARTYRDOM OF SAINT CODRATIUS.

In the time of Decius the Emperor, and of Vale-
rian, the Christians were carried off from many
cities and taken to Nicomedia, the metropolis of
Bithynia, and were cast into prison. And there
they were kept under custody and were dragged
before the court. If they consented to eat of the
unclean meats offered to idols, they were then re-
leased without torture and sent to their respective
homes. In consequence whereof great terror fell
upon the Christians of the above-mentioned city,
and some hid themselves in the mountains and
some in the fields. But there were goodly cham-
pions and worthy servants of God, who, with good
courage, walked about the city with great joy,
saying, *' O that we may be worthy to glorify
God by an avowal of His love for man ! "

And there was one of them whose name was
Codratius, who was of goodly stature and fair
to see, and eloquent, and was held in great dis-
tinction by all men, and was the leader of all in
his reverence to God, and was ardent in his faith.
He approached the turnkey and the soldiers, and
gave them much money, that they would allow
him to minister to the prisoners, his brethren who
were in prison, and to dispense to each of them
his due of care. So he went boldly and ceased not

194 Monume^its of Early Christianity.

from going in unto them ; and thus he encouraged
those who were of good heart and willing, to suffer
martyrdom for their Lord. And he besought
them to remember him without fail ; but the
weak in heart, and them that were cast down,
he encouraged, and comforted, that they might
not have fear, but rather rejoice the more. And
he told them that most men do not leave this life
at their own good pleasure, but with great trouble
and in pain, and yet here in this transitory life
they have not met with rest, and they have not
forestalled nor made themselves worthy of the life
to come. But he who mortifies himself for the
sake of God, wins many and great goods both in
the temporal life and in the life to come. All this
he did as champion of the faith.

Now the Consul of that province came forward
and sat down in public on his throne of judgment,
and ordered the servants of God to be brought
before him. And when they came and stood be-
fore him, the Consul said to them : '' Let each of
you tell his name and his race, his rank and his
country." But the blessed Codratius could not
restrain his enthusiasm and his religious fervour ;
but on a sudden, at that very moment, came for-
ward to hasten to the Lord. And pushing himself
forward in front of all the brethren, because he
was last of all, and without anyone constraining
him so to do, he leaped forward, fearing lest some
one of those who had already engaged in the
struggle should faint in heart before the torture,
and deny his faith. For he saw some of the

Acts of S. Codratins. 195

brethren pale and stupefied by the diverse tortures
they had undergone, and he feared that they might
yield in their resolution. So he came forward to
assist them, like a noble champion and knight of
Christ that he was. And before they could any
of them make answer, he said : '' We are called
Christians, this is our name ; but there is one
honour for all of us and one freedom ; we are
servants of Jesus Christ, our heavenly King,
and of the unseen God ; and our city is the
heavenly Jerusalem, in which Christ giveth man-
sions to His true soldiers. Behold, thou hast
heard everything." But the Consul wondered at
the man's boldness, and said to the turnkey :
*' Bring forward this presumptuous man, let us see
what his impudent arrogance will benefit him."
But he of his own freewill pushed the brethren
this side and that, and boldly stepped forward,
and crossed himself, and said to the Consul : '' Of
my own free will I stand before thee, O Consul,
having made myself the antagonist of thy father,
Satan. I am ready to meet all means to which
thou mayest resort against me. Therefore do
what thou wilt, for thou shalt learn from the very
trial of them that the soldiers of Christ are invin-
cible ; for we have taken upon us His seal, and
are willing and ready to combat thy machina-
tions."

But the Consul said : '' Tell me, thou miscreant,
first thy name and thy rank and fortune."
Codratius answered, '* Hear first that we are
Christians ; but fortune we know not, for we are

196 Monuments of Early Christianity,

servants of our Lord Jesus Christ." The Consul
said : ** It is not meet that thou shouldst call thy-
self a Christian, because, if so, the edict of the
Emperor slays thee. But since I behold that
thou art a clever man, and of fair seeming, where-
fore I think that thou must be of great family.
Therefore obey me, and I will write about thee to
the Emperor, and will win for thee a judicial post,
if only thou wilt sacrifice to the gods." But Cod-
ratius answered : '' Hold thy barbarous tongue, O
Consul ; there are not many gods, but one God
our Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom is all, and we through
Him." The Consul said : " Nay, but there are
many gods, and there are twelve chief gods, in
whom thou must trust, and to them do homage."
But the Holy Codratius made answer by citing the
words of Homer (//., ii. 204) : '' 'Tis not a good
thing, a many of rulers, let there be one ruler."
And the Consul said : '' Aye, but there is another
passage which thou hast not seen, so turn thy
regard to this further verse." Codratius said :
*'What verses?" The Consul replied, ''Those
which Homer utters about Poseidon, how that he
mustered the clouds, and stirred up the sea with
all the winds and canopied it with mists ; and the
Father of gods on high thundered frightfully, and
Poseidon came and shook the earth and the city
of the Trojans and the ships of the Achaeans.
Much also did he say concerning Zeus, what deeds
of valour he wrought. Dost thou behold his
greatness ?" Codratius replied : " Is it all true or

Ads of S. Codr alius, 197

false, that which Homer said about them ? " The
Consul replied, " It is true." Codratius answered:
"" And all that he said concerning their foul de
sires and adultery, and their filthy and lewd de-
baucheries ? Must we believe that all this was said
truly, when it is conduct which becomes not the
gods, but only becomes madmen and disgusting
beings ? And I blush for thee, that thou permit-
test thyself to worship the semblance of foul
devils, abandoning God. And if thou wilt, I will
convince thee from the lips of thy own poet, that
they are filthy demons." The Consul answered :
" Thou hast begun to scold and abuse, and I fear
lest the king may be angry with me, because I
have permitted thee in my forbearance thus to
speak. But however I will at once make away
with this presumptuousness of thine." Codratius
said : ** What thou callest my presumptuousness,
neither thou nor thy king nor anyone else shall
be able to take from me."

Then the Consul bade them strip him and
pinion him upon a board, and beat him with blud-
geons, and ask him saying : " Tell us thy name."
But he gave them no answer. And the Consul
said to the turnkey : '' What is he called ?" But
they say : '' Codratius is his name, and moreover
he is of a great family." The Consul said :
** Spare him then, and raise him up from the
block." And he said to him : " O good fellow,
what is this that thou hast done, allowing thy
rank to be insulted '^ " And he called him near
unto himself, and said to him : *' Consent to obey

1 98 Monuments of Early Christianity,

us, and do not abase thy rank and family by the
superstition of the Christians, by which thou art
ensnared." Codratius answered : " I have chosen
to be an outcast from the house of God rather
than dwell in the tents of the sinful," Then said
the Consul : " Obey me, and sacrifice to the gods,
since thou art equal in rank to the great Senate
of the Romans, that thou mayest not die like one
of the evil doers. Thou knowest the edict of the
emperors, and of the great Senate, how many
thousands they are of good men, that have re-
solved that not a single one of the Christians
shall live." Codratius replied: '' Blessed is the
man who hath not walked in the councils of the
impious and in the paths of the sinners ; that
hath not stood, nor sat, in the seats of the wanton."
The Consul said : " Do not deceive thyself with
metaphors, O Codratius, for this edict touches all
Christians alike, whether a man be poor or rich,
whether humble or of high rank ; the tribunal
spares no one." And Codratius replied : *' It is
as thou sayest, for the book that is given by God
also says : ' neither bondsman nor free, neither rich
nor poor, neither Barbarian nor Syrian, neither
Greek nor Jew, for we are all one in the Lord.'
But I pray thee to carry out upon me the edict of
thy emperors and of the Senate ; for I am a
Christian, and my family and my rank depends
upon my Lord, who keepeth whole my bright
renown, and not upon them who are to-day, but
to-morrow are not." The Consul said : ** Obey
me, and sacrifice, and rejoice in the good things

Acts of S. Codratius. 199

of life, and in the brightness of this dayHght."
And having thus spoken, the Consul wept, and
drew deep sighs, and wiped his face with a nap-
kin. But the brave Codratius said : " Shed not
thy tears, for they are the odious malice of the
serpent and of Beliar who slayeth men. O thou
ravening wolf, thou canst not devour the ser-
vants of God." Maximus the judge said : '' Out
on thee, wicked man ; my august master pities
thee, and thou revilest him." '' Codratius an-
swered : " Let him weep for himself and for the
day of his birth, for I am no fitting object for his
tears ; but who art thou that speakest in his
presence 1 The Consul is enough for us ; but if
thou wishest to judge me, the Lord will prevent
thee." Asterius, the Quaestor, said : " I swear by
thy good Fortune, my lord Consul, if thou thus
permittest him, he has no reverence for the Auto-
crat and Emperor, but will revile him and insult
the gods, and bring upon us great peril." Codra-
tius answered : "■ Well saith the scripture that is
sprung from God : ' wherefore were the heathens
puffed up and the peoples filled with vain thoughts?
The kings of the earth were arrayed against me,
and its rulers were gathered against the Lord and
His anointed.' For behold even now Christ is
judged by impious and vain rulers." The Con-
sul said : '' Strip yonder boaster and again smite
him, that he may obey our lords the emperors."

But the blessed one in his torment thanked the
Lord, and said : '' Glory to Thee, my Lord God
Jesus Christ, that Thou hast made me worthy,^

200 Monuments of Early Christianity,

who am unworthy and sinful, to bear these tor-
tures for Thy holy name, in order that I too
may become a partner with Thy servants. I
thank Thee, Lord, and falling before Thee I
pray Thee, my God, fulfil my career in Thy holy
name, and set upon my confession the seal of the
grace of Thy Holy Spirit. Bestow upon me an
understanding mind, and unswerving faith ; make
me wise with Thy immeasurable wisdom ; watch
me with Thine eyes. Thou that art on high.
Now is the time of my deliverance and of my
being holpen ; now is the time of Thy promises.
Receive my prayers, that I also may be
glorified by Thy holy name. Fulfil my calling,
guide aright my desires, bring me near unto Thy
father ; avow me as Thine before Him, O my
Lord Jesus Christ."

But the torturers helped one another to scourge
him, and five times they took one another's
places, till the flesh of the back of the holy
martyr was raised up a palm's breadth, and the
blood flowed down like a river with shreds of His
flesh. The Consul said to him : '' Dost thou yet
believe then in the gods.^" But the blessed
Codratius answered: ''The idols of the heathen
are gold and silver, the works of men's hands ;
mouths have they and speak not, ears have they,
and may not hear ; nostrils have they, but shall
not smell ; hands have they, and may not feel ;
feet have they, yet walk not ; and their throats
shall utter no speech. Like unto them shall be
they who make them and all who put their trust

Acts of S. Codr alius. 201

In them." Then Prenios, the Consul, said :
*' Methinks thou wouldest deceive us, since thou
utterest such dark words ; but obey me, and
sacrifice to the gods." The holy Codratius
said : '' Since thy light appeareth to be darkness,
and thy truth to be folly, hear a bright and clear
saying ; be it known unto thee, that I reverence
not thy gods, and do not obey the edict of Caesar
and of the Senate. Do then quickly whatsoever
thou wilt do, and send me on my way direct to
the heavenly King." The Consul said: *'Thy
horoscope hath dealt out unto thee a great share
of shamelessness. I swear by the gods I will not
spare thee; but with new-fangled tortures and|
with a cruel death I will destroy thee."

And then he waited for a day and bade all the
Christian prisoners to be cast into prison. And
they brought with them the blessed Codratius,
and they took potsherds ground small, and
sprinkled them on the ground, and stretched out
the saint, and placed a single great stone upon his
loins, and made fast his feet and hands in the
four holes of the stocks, and fastened chains to
his neck. And he lay there many days. But
the blessed Codratius, like the noble martyr that
he was, endured these bitter and pitiless tortures
with piety and fortitude, and swerved not from
the faith of Christ. And the Consul set out on a
journey to the city of the Niceans, and ordered
that the holy martyr be brought In his train.
And as he entered the city, he had the saint led
in front of him. But the saints walked In great

/ ^ OF THE *^

(tTNIVERSITT

202 Monuments of Early Christianity,

joy, among whom was also the blessed Codratius,
like a goodly warrior boasting in his strength.
So he entered the battle array in the sheen of his
armour, and looked sternly on the hideous fray ;
and by the mere look of his terrible countenance
struck panic into the phalanx of his enemies.
Thus also Codratius bore his manacles as if they
were a fair badge of honour, and he made merry
and was of good cheer and to the fore. So that
the Greek philosophers wondered at the fortitude
of the Christians and at their endurance, and
said : ''Truly this faith of the Christians and this
ever-present hope of theirs, is a great thing ; on
account of which they thus endure torture and
pain." And many of them believed in the Lord. "
And when they had set the saints before the
magistrate, he ordered them to bring forward the
holy Codratius ; and when he was set before his
tribunal, the Consul said to him : '* Sacrifice to the
gods, O Codratius." But the holy Codratius
said : '' I am a servant of Christ, who declares by
the prophets that the gods who made not heaven
and earth, shall be destroyed." The Consul said :
" It is incumbent upon thee to obey the edicts of
the emperors, and not of Christ whom thou callest
God." Codratius answered : " I believe in my
Emperor Christ, and not in men, who know not
God ; it is written that we should pray for them,
but in no wise at all sacrifice to them. For what|
good do ye do to the Caesar, if ye sacrifice to foul
idols ; nay, rather ye even do much harm, especi-
ally to yourselves." The Consul said : " If thou

Acts of S. Codratius. 203

prayest for the Emperor, It is right that thou
shouldest also listen to his commands and be
obedient to them, for it is written for thee, to
give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and
unto God the things that are God's." Codratius
answered: "All fitting debts upon earth, and what-
soever is right, that will I fulfil unto the Caesar ;
but unto my God I strive to fulfil every service
of reverence which is due to Him. The Emperor
has commanded us Christians either to sacrifice
or to die ; and we are ready for the sake of the
confession which is in Christ to die, not once
only, but a thousand times." Then the Consul
said : '' Dost thou see how many multitudes of
Christians have sacrificed to the gods } " Cod-
ratius answered : ** Yea, more than all of them
am I good and wise, if I sacrifice not. But, how-
ever, where are they who have sacrificed, for I
would fain behold them." Then the Consul
ordered that they should be led before him ; and
when they were come, those who had denied
their faith, the blessed Codratius fixed upon them
a glance full of passion and Indignation, and said
to them : " Ye miserable wretches, wherefore
have ye thus fallen suddenly into trangression,
and given yourselves over to Satan, abandoning
your rank and station, and denying the Lord
Jesus Christ, who for our salvation became our
ransom and bought us with His blood } Have
ye not learned the resurrection of the dead, and
how that Christ cometh a second time with glory
and with hosts of angels, to judge the just and

204 Monuments of Early Christianity.

the sinners ; and to lead the just into life eternal,
but to cast the transgressors into fire everlasting
and into outer darkness, where the worm endeth
not, and where there is weeping and gnashing of
teeth ? What answer will ye give in the peril of
that day, when the hosts of the angels will stand
before Him in fear and trembling, and will quail
at the sight of us and of the dread tribunal ?
Open the eyes of your heart and know from what
ye have fallen. Ye have abandoned the Eternal
King, and have sold yourselves to be worthless
slaves, who, finding your Lord without, smite and
slay his fellow servant; whom the Lord when He
Cometh shall cut asunder and give their portion
to the infidels. Learn ye, what ye have done
from fear of temporal tortures, how that ye have
given yourselves over to everlasting tortures.
Look ye to yourselves for that which shall hap-
pen to you at the hands of the just Judge.
Have ye not heard the voice which said : ' Fear
not them who slay the body, but cannot slay the
soul ; fear rather Him who is able to destroy
soul and body in Gehenna ' " '^

When the blessed Codratius said this, they all
with one accord began to cry out with loud voice
with tears and to say : *' We were afraid, master,
of torture, and we were ensnared like the sense-
less animals, and like sheep that are hemmed
in among wolves. Our sins have found us out
and surrounded us ; we wished to live the
temporal life, and we have died to the eternal
life. But what we shall do now in our wretched-

Acts of S. Codr alius. 205

ness, this we know not." But the blessed Cod-
ratius was filled with great joy over their return,
and seeing their tears said to them : " Be of ]
good cheer, brethren, for our Lord Jesus Christ
is full of noble pity and is compassionate ; He is I
free from vindictiveness and merciful. With
many tears, cast yourselves before Him ; and
stand up even now firm in the confession of;
Christ, and by His blood shall each of you be!
saved from his sins. Even though once ye re- ]
jected Him with the flesh, yet now be valiant in \
spirit and conquer."

But they raised a great lament and bewailed]
themselves for a long time, and cast themselves
on their faces on the ground, and poured dust
over their heads, and beat their breasts with
stones ; and so terrible was the spectacle, that
not the Christians only joined in their lamenta- '
tions, but the very heathens and the pitiless j
soldiers ; so that one would have thought that
the very stones cried out and sorrowed with
them. For the whole city was aghast at their
lamentations, and there was gathered together to
the place a multitude of men and women and
of children, of Jews and of heathens, and of
Christians, who were in hiding, so that the streets
and the alleys and the roofs were filled with the,
multitude of them. But the Consul was wroth
thereat, and ordered that the blessed Codratius
be hung up and flayed, and the torches be applied
to his side. But the brave Codratius recked
nothing of the torture, but with great boldness

2o6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

exhorted them to be brave, and said : " Thus is it
right, brethren ; pray unto the Lord without ceas-
ing, for He is merciful and hears you." But they
said : " We are not worthy to name the holy
name of Christ, because we have offended Him."
But he strengthened them, he the holy martyr,
and kept saying : " Cry aloud, brethren, cry
aloud ; our Lord and God is kind ; He draws
nigh to those who cry out unto Him for help.
Despair not, brethren, but come near unto me,
and ye shall be emboldened and trust in the Lord."
And they ran and fell down before him in violent
trouble, and the whole multitude of those who
were come to see wept.

But the holy Codratius lifted his eyes to heaven
and cried aloud with tears and said : ** O Lord,
thou God, who art great and terrible, kind and
full of noble pity, who didst send forth Thy only
born Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to shine upon
us as the Sun of Righteousness, and didst illumin-
ate us who were before in darkness, and didst
through Him reconcile us unto Thee, and didst
call us who were before in darkness to a holy
calling ; O merciful One, and compassionate,
long-suffering and full of pity, and true, who
passest over our sins and wipest out our proud
iniquities ; for Thy exceeding love of man, O
Lord, cast out him that is first in evil and slayeth
man, that hateth the good and is full of envy, Satan,
the father of idols, and prince of darkness ; and
receive Thy soldiers back, who for a little were
seduced by the snares of Satan, but have now

Acts of S. Codratius. 207

taken refuge in Thy all-powerful goodness. Be
not wroth with them, as with rebels. Albeit
they were wilful, they stand now unchanged.
And if Thou receivest them in Thy loving kind-
ness, receive me also as an offering for the sinful,
and make them worthy to mingle with Thy
heavenly and true host, and shew to them a sign
in Thy goodness, that Thou hast not abhorred,
but hast pitied and received the repentant. O
Lord Jesus Christ, hear me Thy servant, and
instead of them take my soul, that Thy holy
name may be glorified for ever." And all the
brethren with one voice cried out aloud a great
Amen. And on a sudden the brands were ex-
tinguished, and the hands of the torturers flagged,
and a cloud of light appeared over the heads of
the 'saints, along with great darkness and grievous
smoke which spread itself over the heads of the
Consul and of the heathen ; so that the Consul
on his seat of justice, and all who were with him,
were aghast with fear, because they thought that
the city was going to be destroyed. And after a
long silence, a voice of angels was heard, who
praised and glorified God, so that all the Chris-
ians believed that there was great rejoicing in
heaven over those who had returned to repent-
ance. And after .two hours had passed, little by
little the darkness cleared away, and the heathen
began to see the light which was around the
saints. But those who were in iniquity began
with loud voice and lamentation to cry out to
God and say : ** We have sinned, O Lord, ex-

2o8 Monuments of Early Christianity.

piate our sins ; we have transgressed, be propi-
tious unto us." And the Consul came to his
senses, and ordered them all to be cast into prison,
and to be carefully guarded. But he ordered the
blessed Codratius to be taken down from the tree
and confined along with them ; for all this time
the goodly champion was hanging there. And
he commanded him to be watched carefully as
before. But the crowd of citizens followed after
the saint.

But on the next day the Consul took his seat
in the tribunal, and ordered that they should be
brought before him ; and he questioned them,
and examined them straitly, and having found out
their obstinacy and their immutable resolution,
he commanded that they should all be bound and
taken to their several villages and burnt alive.
And the saints went on their way with great joy,
glorifying God and thanking Him for their un-
looked-for deliverance. But the blessed Codratius,
along with certain of his companions, he bade
them take in front of him to the Hellespont. But
the multitude of the saints, according to the
command of the ruler, went to their respective
villages and died in Christ.

But the Consul came to the city of Apamea,
and, as he sacrificed to the foul idols, he ordered
the holy martyr to be brought before him. And
they brought first of all and before all the rest,
the blessed Codratius. Then said the Consul to
him : " Sacrifice therefore now to the gods, and
thou art delivered from the tortures, that await

Acts of S. Codratms. 209

thee if thou remain obstinate. Codratius
answered : "I am a Christian and I sacrifice
not to devils." And when the Consul saw all his
flesh lacerated, he wondered and said : ''But
what more shall I bestow upon this self-mur-
derer V But the soldiers hesitated to answer, for
they saw that tortures had no longer any power
to influence his body. Then he ordered that
haircloth should be brought and that Codratius
should be wrapped in it, and that a hole should
be made, and that he should be cast into it, and
there scourged with cords. And after one hour
he ordered him to be brought out of the cloth,
for he thought that he was dead. But he rose up
and stood before him ; and the Consul said to
him: ''Do you no longer feel the tortures .f*"
But the holy champion thanked God and said :
" Glory to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the
arrows of children but wound themselves, and
their power is weakened in them. It is Thou that
hast given me strength, my God, unto the glory
of Thy power." And the Consul was wroth and
said to him : " I will tear all thy limbs asunder
piece-meal, thou wretch, if thou still trustest in thy
wizardry." Codratius answered : " Blessed is the
Lord my God." The Consul ordered that he
should be again brought before him to Caesareia
on the Hellespont.

And when he came thither he sacrificed there
also to the foul devils as he had done at Apamea.
He commanded also that the blessed Codratius
should be brought before him, and began to

2IO Monuments of Early Christianity.

question him what he would have ; but finding
that the holy martyr was firm, he said : " Thou
hast had enough now of the tortures which thou
hast suffered, so come and sacrifice to the gods."
But the blessed Codratius said : '* Inasmuch as
thou didst mock me with these tortures, dost
thou really suppose that I shall obey thee ? "
Then the Consul ordered that he should be
stretched upon stones, and that they should put
upon his hands and feet enormous stones, and
beat him for a long time with cudgels. But the
blessed one in his torment sang psalms and said :
" Many a time they fought with me in my child-
hood, but mastered me not. On my back the
sinful smote me." And when he had finished the
psalm, the Consul said : '' Let him be beaten
longer, since he has not felt anything." Cod-
ratius replied : " Smite, smite my flesh, which
thou thinkest to torture ; for thou makest glad
my spirit in a way thou knowest not." Then the
Consul said: "Thou hast mastered, O wretched
one, an evil demon." Codratius replied : " I swear
by my Saviour Christ, that Jesus Christ my Lord
hath mastery over one still worse, and not over
one only, but over all his host. To Him be
glory everlasting." And the multitude of the
brethren sent forth the Amen.

The Consul was very wroth and leaving alone
the blessed Codratius, he ordered a certain two
of them to be taken and hung up and flayed,
namely, Saturninus and Rufinus, and he com-
manded that they be hung from one tree.

Acts of S. Codr alius. 211

Then they tore them with nails, until the inner
parts of them began to pour out. But they in
their torments uttered no word, but only besought
the holy Codratius and all the brethren who
stood near to pray for them. And last of all, the
blessed ones themselves fell to praying and said :
" Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God on high, send
unto us also help from Thyself and protect us
Thy lowly servants, our God, and give us endur-
ance and victory unto the end." And after a long
time when they gave no answer, for from the
stress of torture they were not even able to
speak, then at last the Consul ordered that they
be taken to the high road which leads to the
Hellespont, and there slain with the sword. And
thus did the blessed ones end their life. And
God-loving men met together and gave gold to
the executioners, and took their relics and bore
them to their respective cities, and with great
honour placed them in caskets. But the blessed
Codratius he ordered to come after him, along
with others also, to a temple of Apollo ; and when
he had come into the shrine of Apollo he began
to constrain the saints to sacrifice to the foul
idols. And he said to the blessed Codratius :
''Now therefore obey me, fellow, and forsake this
madness of thine. Wherefore dost thou insult
thy rank and family ; recognise the gods and
live, and I will bid the physicians take care of
thee. Offer sacrifice to Asclepius, and he will
heal thee ; fear the great Apollo, and the god
Hercules, and the king of all, Zeus, and the

2 1 2 Monuments of Early Christianity,

ineffable Ares, and the ruler of the sea, Poseidon.
Didst thou never embark in a ship and know
the fear of him ? ^ Do homage to the sun ;
surely he is not dead according to thy blasphemy,
even though he be not in the heavens." The
blessed Codratius answered : "I do homage to
the true and unseen God, and to His only born
Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. And
I dread His menaces, and I quail before His
all-powerful Godhead, and I will not deny the
name of His ineffable power. In dead idols I
believe not, and of devils I have no fear. I
despise the works of men's hands, and thee also,
who hast but a temporal power. For I, after ten
days, go to my Father, but thou wilt end thy life
in the bitterness of evil. For thou hast not
known the true God, thou son of Satan and
brother of Beliar, who sharest with foul devils,
more senseless than a hog, mad hound, blood-
drinking dragon, fiercer than the wild beasts that
devour men. Art thou not ashamed before such
a multitude as this, who taste not of anything }
The cooks are to be more respected than thy-
self, who, in name, are the servants of men ; for
they place the flesh of the slain animal in decent
manner drest for the benefit of men, and not of
devils. You sacrifice to stones, and you tear and
bite yourselves. But let one of them come for-
ward and take your offering, let him appear and
seek it of himself, and let him take and eat it.

Compare the address of Trajan to Phocas, p. 115.

Acts of S. Codr alius. 21

Let your gods that are made of stone say what
he wishes that anyone should sacrifice to him,
whether a goat, or a bull, or a fowl. Blush, ye
sons of shame, for ye are mad and think that we
are mad."

And when he had said this, the Consul ordered
the executioners to sprinkle vinegar and salt
water upon his wounds, and to rub him with a
rough cloth, and to bring red-hot irons and
plunge them into his sides. But the blessed
Codratius bore the pain bravely and fell to pray-
ing gently, and his lips alone moved ; and no
sound whatever was heard to issue from him.
But when the torturers were weary, he ordered
them to unfasten him. And on the morrow he
first of all bade them carry him to the Helles-
pont in a vessel (or basket).^ And after that the
Consul made a journey, and came to the river
Rhyndacus, where there met him a governor with
a crowd of common people, ostensibly to praise
him, but really for the sake of the servant of
God ; for he longed to see the blessed hero, the
fame of whose martyrdom had reached Asia and
all the land. And the Consul ordered them to
carry him to the village close at hand, which was
called the village of the Temple. And there he
dressed, and at daybreak he took his seat on
the tribunal, and ordered them to bring before
him the holy Codratius ; and all the crowd was

^ Or translate thus: "he commanded a vessel to be brought to the
Hellespont."

2 1 4 Monuments of Early Ch7nstianity.

gathered round and looked upon the heroic con-
test of the holy martyr. But the blessed one
shewed to the multitude a face full of joy, though
running with blood, according to that which is
written. *' The countenance of him that rejoices
in heart is joyful." Again he was carried by the
torturers ; for from the excess of the tortures
which he had suffered, he could no longer walk ;
but they bore him along the road in a cart. And
when the saint was brought before him, the
Consul said : *' Hast thou gained wisdom, O
Codratius, or art thou not yet healed of this
madness of thine .-^ " But the blessed one with a
loud voice replied : '* From my childhood am I
sane, and from my mother's womb am I the
servant of Christ."

Then the Consul made them bring an iron
brazier and set it upon the fire till it was like
fire, and commanded them to set the saint upon
it. But the blessed Codratius said : '* Away from
me, ye ministers of Satan ; of my own accord I
go." And making upon himself the sign of
Christ, he rose up. But they sprinkled in the
brazier pitch and oil. But the holy Codratius
began to sing a psalm, and said : " O God, look
upon me to help me, and O Lord, hasten to
assist me ; let them be ashamed and confounded
who sought my life : let them be turned back and
ashamed who will to do me evil." And having
finished his psalm, he said to the Consul : '' This
fire of thine is more liquid, and the iron of this
brazier is softer than thy heart." And when long

Acts of S, Codr alius. 215

time had passed by, and the fire came not nigh at
all unto the holy one of God, the Consul ordered
them to take him off the brazier and to bear him
a little way outside the village to a certain rising
ground, and there to behead him. And as they
carried the blessed Codratius, he continued to
sing psalms and to say : '' Blessed is the Lord,
who hath not given us to be the prey of their
teeth." And the brethren who stood by sang
psalms and went with him as far as the place
where he was to die. And having come thither,
and having thanked God, and having prayed for
a long time, then he finished his blessed course
in Christ. But the brethren took his holy body
and laid it carefully in a fitting place.

Let us continually glorify the Father and the
Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and
for ever and ever. Amen.

UlSriVERSIT'Sr,

ACTS OF THEODORE.

In the Bollandist Acta SS, the pieces relative to the martyr-
dom of S. Theodore are to be found under February yth (Feb-
ruary, vol. 2, p. 23 seq. and p. 890 seq.), where the Bollandist
editor calculates the true date of the saint's death to have been
A.D. 319, in which year the 7th of February was a Saturday.
But we must not try to be too precise in fixing the date, for
the earlier Armenian form of the Acts give the 27 th of August,
and the old Latin form assigns November 4th.

In the Acta SS. two forms of the narrative are given ; first, a
Latin translation of the metaphrast's recension of the Acts, and
then in the appendix of the volume an older Latin version
taken from the Codex 79, " Serenissimae reginse Sueciae," which
the editor without very good reason considered to be earlier
and more trustworthy than the metaphrast's form.

Both of these forms however agree together in three points,
(i) The first six sections, as far as § 7 of the Armenian give
particulars of the persecution of Licinius. There were slain,
we read, in that time four hundred martyrs and seventy
centurions and three hundred in Macedonia. (2) They also
relate at great length how Theodore in his youth slew a
dragon, which was the terror of his native town Eukhaita.
(3) In § 17 the saint is represented as delivering a long
sermon to Abgar and the rest of the brethren, in the course
of which he gave the instruction that his body be taken to
Eukhaita. In the Armenian text, points (i) and (2) are entirely
omitted and their place supplied by particulars of the saint's
training and promotion in the Roman service, and as to (3)
it is simply related that they took the saint's remains to
Eukhaita in accordance with instructions long before given by
the saint to Abgar.

2 1 8 Monuments of Early Christianity,

In the Armenian form we have probably a fourth century
homily delivered on some feast day set apart to the commem-
oration of the saint We gather from the exordium (§2) that
the church is still in danger of persecution ; so that this homily
was probably composed prior to a.d. 363, when all fears of
persecution ceased. The first six § § of the Armenian contain
nothing about the dragon, and are altogether more sober than
are the corresponding § § of the later forms of the narrative.
In general outline the last part of the narrative (§§ 7-18 inclu-
sive) is the same in all three forms. A comparison of these
§ § in all the three forms shows that the Armenian must be
nearest to the original form, from which are derived the meta-
phrast's and the early Latin form.

I think that the last part of these sections found in all three
forms, from § 13 as far as the words "with a sword "in § 17,
may be reckoned an interpolation inserted at an early time by
a hagiologist, who after the manner of his class was eager to
assure his readers that the persecutors after the saint's death
paid the penalty of their cruelty. According to the original
narrative the saint died on the cross. The words given to the
angel in § 13 : " Why then didst thou say that thou wast aban-
doned by me ? " resemble a later hagiologist's corrective to
^12, which has a very genuine ring about it.

The original Acts, no doubt composed by Abgar, the saint's
notary, must have begun about where § 5 of the following
begins, and have ended soon after the beginning of § 18,
omitting however the interpolation which I detect in §§ 13-17.
The document, however, which the metaphrast, the old Latin
translator, and the Armenian translator alike had in their
hands, already included this interpolation.

Prof. W. M. Ramsay has identified Eukhaita with the
modern Tchorum on the old road from Amasia to Nicomedeia
and in easy communication with Gangra and east of the Halys.
The Abb^ Duchesne has cited the Latin form of these Acts,
in proof of his contention that Eukhaita was west of the Halys.
Prof. Ramsay ( Geography of Asia Minor^ p. 318) answers that
" the Acta Theodori contain little or no local colour. His
history is divided between Eukhaita, Nikomedeia and Hera-

Acts of Theodore. 219

kleia (Pontica), which is said to be a city near the others." And
again (p. 321) the Acta Theodori "is really one of the most
contemptible documents in the entire Acta SS. It is quite
clear that nothing whatsoever was known about Theodore
except his name and a tale that he had slain a dragon." To
this criticism it is sufficient answer that the Armenian Acta, (i)
mention no dragon, but give instead thereof very probable and
sober details of the saint's life ; (2) say nothing of the proximity
of the three cities to one another, but on the contrary imply
that Herakleia was a very long way from Nicomedeia. The
saint could not spare the time from the affairs of his province
in order to visit his Emperor at Nicomedeia. Nor would the
latter have made the conduct of the war a pretext for visiting
the saint in Herakleia unless it had been a long distance.
Lastly, the Armenian proves Herakleia in Cappadocia to be
the city in question.

Thus the Armenian text rather supports Prof. Ramsay's
geographical views than not, and constitutes one more proof of
the danger of condemning a document until you have got back
to something like its original form.

I have supposed that the Armenian text is a fourth-century
homily in which are embodied the original Acts, just as the
Acts of Polyeuctes are embodied in a similar homily. Now in
the last § 19 the words: "Writing down the history of his
martyrdom and handing it on to future generations," seem
to imply that the Acts were being then for the first time
written down when the homily was composed. However these
words do not really preclude the view that the homilist made
use of an already existing record of the saint. He is simply
insisting on the general necessity of keeping alive the memory
of the martyrs by copying and distributing the records of them.
This last § 19 is absent from the metaphrast's recension and
from the earlier Latin form. It is anyhow inconceivable that
§ 12 should be anything but what it pretends to be, namely
the personal narrative of the slave and notary Abgar. It is a
passage instinct with genuine feehng, such as no hagiologist
ever composed in cold blood long after the events narrated.

THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY THEODORE
THE SOLDIER.

1. Unsearchable and wonderful are the heavenly-
gifts which the Creator has freely bestowed in
miraculous wise on the ranks of His holy martyrs.
Unspeakable is the patience with which they en-
tered and won the struggle, and too varied are
their virtues for it to be possible to relate them,
even for those who loved them and fought beside
them. Nor is it easy to tell even in metaphor of
the fair seeming and brightness of the richly bur-
geoning wreaths and of the unfading and varied
chaplets which they wove. It is hard to relate
how, by their strength in martyrdom, they
locked together and surrounded themselves with
the shields of the Spirit, and were tried like gold
which is tried in the fire. Thus they crossed over
the dark sea and turbulent of this wicked life,
and displayed their victory over the antagonism
of the devil. None of those who are in the
flesh can worthily commemorate their excellence ;
for the Divine Spirit alone is able to describe it.

2. Yet although it is beyond the compass of man
to relate it, we must not be altogether silent.
Nay, let it be told as according to the apportioning
of the divine grace of the Spirit one has ability to
publish it to pious souls. In order that by means

Acts of Theodore. 221

of the recollection of the valiant and spiritual
soldiers of Christ, the children of the church may
be awakened, and may aspire to enter into the
pavilion of rest to which they are called, armed
with the armour of God ; in order that in the
time of persecution, and when trials arise, they
may be able to participate with those who were
found to share the cross of Christ. 3. Let us
then begin the commemoration of this noble mar-
tyr of Christ, the holy Theodorus, albeit we are
not able to do full justice to his bravery and excel-
lence. Yet we may tell a little out of much. We
can say who he was, whence he came, and how
his martyrdom began and ended, and we will re-
late the story of the time of his persecution. For
he was not the Theodorus the Tiro,^ whose com-
memoration is held on the first sabbath of the
forty days' fast ; but our saint was his nephew,
and was held in high honour by the emperors
from whom he received a command in the army.
For he (i.e. the Tiro) was martyred under the
King Maximlanus, in the city of Amasia in
Cappadocia ; so that they were not far from one
another, either in point of time or of family.

4. But in the times of the lawless and impious
Emperor Licinius, a blazing storm of cruel perse-
cution swept over the church of God, and every-
where the altars all over the Roman empire were
heaped up with the molten images of devils, and

^ The Armenian spells Tyrion, Theodore the Tiro, or recruit, was a
saint much celebrated in Cappadocia. His Acts are not, so far as I know,
preserved in Armenian.

222 Monuments of Early Christianity.

in all places the edict of apostasy was circulated,
and commands of the following kind posted up in
every village and city with all sternness, to the
effect that they should do homage to stones, and
to trees fashioned by the hands of men, and that
they should offer up holocausts and sacrifices to
the so-called gods, and should content themselves
with foul food. And those who obeyed this edict
received honour and promotion from the Em-
peror, but those who refused to do so were com-
pelled, and were subject to stripes and to torture,
and punishment by sword and fire. For an inex-
tricable mist of darkness and disturbance encom-
passed us all, for they took many of those who
believed and gave them over to the judges, that
they might confine them in dark places, and sub-
ject them to cruel and pitiless tortures, and after
long tribulation die by the sword.

5. At that time there blazed forth a star of
dazzling brilliancy, a lamp that scattered its radi-
ance far and wide, and illuminated the mist and
darkness of idolatry, appearing victorious over all,
I mean the brave champion and soldier of the
King Christ, the holy Theodorus. For when this
edict of the impious and lawless Emperor Licinius
went forth, that all who believed in Christ should
be taken and thrown into prison, and bound and
subjected to intolerable privations and tortures ;
then the blessed and famous witness of Christ,
Theodorus, had been born of Christian and re-
ligious parents, in the village of Eukhaita. He
was brought up and trained in all good discipline

Acts of Theodore. 223

In Christ, and grew in stature and wisdom, and was
schooled in the teachings of religion. While he
was still in the flower of youth and prime of life, fair
to look upon and filled with all wisdom, he became
on that account the friend and intimate of the
kings and princes of that day. For in the wars of
the barbarians, the saint was ever victorious and
won all praise ; for which reason he received the
very highest honour in the army, and was pro-
moted to the very highest grade of command.
6. Now some malignant satellites of the devil
obtained the ear of the Emperor, and laid inform-
ation that the saint was a Christian, and not only
he, but his whole country and city ; " for under his
influence," they said, '' they have been perverted
by him along with your army, and have turned
away from the worship of idols, and have dis-
obeyed your commands ; they no longer keep the
mysterious festivals of the gods, nor do they taste
of their holy sacrifices." 7. When the Emperor
heard this, he was dumbfoundered ; and, though he
was full of wrath, he wavered in his counsels, and
did not know how he would be able to take in his
deadly net so conspicuous a man. He did not
think it suitable to write and summon him to come
before him, for he feared that he would see through
his crafty designs, and be afraid, and disregard his
commands. So he formed this plan, that he would
make the conduct of the war a pretext for his com-
ing to those regions, and so take him in the city
itself. And having formed this design, the lawless
prince determined to send some of his nobles to-

2 24 Monuments of Early Christianity,

gether with a force to Heraclea, a city of Cappa-
docia, where the saint dwelt. And he wrote to
him a letter in complimentary terms as follows :
" If it should be pleasing and acceptable to you,
come and see us, and do homage to our gods in
the city of Nicomedia, and come with a great
suite and with much pomp. But if there is any
reason to prevent you, it is meet that we should
come and see your district, and the city in which
you dwell, for we are very desirous to see you and
enjoy your good will." And when the captains
came to him, and brought the letter of command,
Theodorus took and read it, and was delighted
and thanked God ; for he had thought already in
his heart of declaring himself for the true religion,
and of becoming a witness of Christ ; and now
on a sudden the goodwill and pleasure of God
was about to be really accomplished. So on that
occasion he received the king's men with great
honour, and made them presents ; but he excused
himself from going to meet the king on the score
of the requirements of the province, and begged
them, and promised them riches, if they would go
and persuade the Emperor to come to the city of
Heraclea, bringing with him the full number of
his gods. "You will behold," he wrote, "all the
population of the town and country, and they will
be glad and rejoice, and will hold a great festival
with sacrifice and adoration." So the men went
back to the Emperor, and gave him the answer
which had been despatched to him. And this the
ruler took and read, and was deceived and taken

Ac^s of Theodore, 225

in by it, like an unreflecting child ; for he deter-
mined to set out for those regions, thinking in
his wickedness that all his designs were already-
accomplished. So forthwith he took a number of
cavalry, and arrived at the city of Heraclea. And
when the holy Theodore heard of the arrival of
the Emperor, he went out to meet him with great
pomp and rich suite. 8. But on that night, as
he slept in his house, the saint beheld in a vision
that the ceiling of his house was lifted up, and a
shower of corruscating sparks of fire descended
upon him ; and a voice was heard saying to him :
*' Be strong, and of good cheer, Theodorus, for I am
with thee." And when the saint woke up, he told
his dream to those who were nearest to him, and
said : " God is pleased that in this place my blood
should be shed for the name of Christ." And
then he arose and knelt down, and prayed ; and
when he had finished his prayer and wept, he
thanked the Lord.

9. And then he arose, and washed the fair glory
of his countenance, and put on precious raiment of
byssus, and he ordered them to equip his horses in
gold trappings. And then he rode out with his
horses and met the Emperor. And when he be-
held his ruler, he did homage to him, and after the
manner of kings, he wished him well, saying, " Hail
to thee, most powerful and autocratic Emperor, sent
by God." But the Emperor, when he heard this,
and saw the magnanimity of the saint, instantly
embraced him with much tenderness, and wel-
comed him fondly, and kissed him, and said :

2 26 Monuments of Early Ckristianity,

" Hail to thee, O prince, fair as the sun to look
upon, for it is meet that thou also shouldst reign
along with me." And they entered together into
the city along with the multitude of their men,
who had gone out to meet the king ; and he pre-
pared a resting-house in the royal quarters, deco-
rated after the manner of the palace, with canopies
and imperial throne. And when the Emperor
saw this he was overjoyed, and praised the city
and the citizens, and he bade Theodorus sit down,
and said to him : '' Behold, according to the prayer
that thou hast written to me, O Theodorus, I have
come as the guest and recipient of thy hospitality
to visit thee and thy city ; and I have brought with
me the most precious and the most illustrious of
our gods, in order that thou mayest worship them,
and offer sacrifice to them." The holy Theodorus
made answer, and said : *' O victorious and great
Emperor, thou hast done well in fulfilling the re-
quest of thy servant, by making us glad with thine
advent ; and yet more hast thou honoured us by
bringing with thee thy gods, in order that all may
behold them, and may be confirmed in the ordi-
nances of religion. But I pray thy highness to
rest a little from the labour of the journey, and to
give me thy most illustrious gods, all of them, in
order that I may take them to my house, and
anoint them with fragrant oil, and offer frankin-
cense to them, and cense them, and in order that
I may prostrate myself and offer sacrifice in my
own private house, and then after that may bring
them out into public before all, and sacrifice ; in

Ac^s of Theodore. 227

order that all men, marking and beholding this,
may be encouraged to emulate me in my piety."
And when the Emperor heard this, he was very
satisfied and pleased with the words of the saint,
and believed that which he had said. And he
ordered them to bring and give to him all his idols
fashioned of gold and silver. And the saint took
them, and carried them to his palace to put them
to rest. But he arose that night, and he broke
and ground to powder all those gods, and then he
took the bits and distributed them to the poor and
needy.

10. But after three days had passed, the prince
commanded that they should summon before him
the great Theodorus, and he said to him : '' O
most honourable and illustrious of the princes who
were before myself, and thou who hast been still
more promoted and honoured by my own majesty,
now therefore give proof of thy enthusiasm
and love which thou hast towards my gods and
towards us. Bring a sacrifice and offer it to them
before the whole people, in order that they may
all behold thee, and may fulfil our edict with all
readiness." But whilst the saint was on the point
of making answer to the Emperor, a certain man
stood forward who was a person of authority,
and whose name was Maxentenes,^ and said : '* O
noble prince, thou hast not known and understood
the treason of this impious general, nor how he
hath falsely deceived thy majesty in respect of

^ Maxentius in the Latin for

2 28 Monuments of Early Christianity,

thy all-victorious gods ; for yesterday night, going
forth from my quarters, I beheld a certain poor
man, who was going along full of joy, holding in
his hand the golden head of our great queen
Artemis."

When the Emperor heard this, he was much
enraged, and stood agape and could not believe
what he heard ; but he said to the saint : *' Is this
that they said true?" The saint made answer
and said : " Yes, it is true and just, I deny it not ;
for I have done justly what I have done. For
surely if thy gods have not been able to help
themselves, how will they be able to help thee ? "
Then the countenance of the Emperor changed
colour with rage, and filled with wrath he said :
" Woe to me, for I have been deceived like a
little child, and have been turned to ridicule before
the eyes of all. And now I know not what I
shall do or how I shall act ; for I who am emperor
and ruler of all these forces and of the world, have
come along with all my forces to be deceived at
the feet of this miscreant ; I have become the
shame of the province and of the city, losing all
my victorious gods." And when the holy Theo-
dorus saw the Emperor filled with such folly, he
laughed in his soul, and said : " O thou senseless
demon, filled full with all lawlessness, didst thou
not take note beforehand, that I was a Christian
and a servant of Christ ; how could I be deceived
by thy deceitful and pernicious edicts '^. But in
order that thou mayest know that thou art truly
tricked like a simple child, therefore have I shown

Acts of Theodore. 229

unto thee the weakness of thy gods, In order to
put to shame thy impiety. Thou art puffed up
with thy empty and transitory greatness, and thou
hast not any hope or expectation of the greatness
which passes not and of the Hght which is eternal,
and thou knowest not Him who gave thee thy
temporary greatness ; but thou art infatuated by
the crafty illusion of the devil, and darkened so
that thou mayest not see the light of the glory
of the only-born Son of God, and in the pre-
sumption with which the evil one inspires thee,
thou dost not know what thou sayest. But I
hold vain all this glory of created things, which
estrange a man from God, in order that I may
inherit immortal life, which eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, and which God has prepared for those
who love Him. But for thee and for thy material
gods is reserved the fire eternal, which is made
ready and kept for Satan and his hosts."

The Emperor said : " O insolent miscreant,
Theodorus, I could tolerate thy insults to me,
for as regards obedience to myself, thou shalt be
reformed ; but why hast thou insulted the gods ? "
The saint made answer and said : " Herein is the
very demonstration of thy want of wit, for thou
beholdest the nothingness of thy molten images
of demons, and yet after this thou hast the rash-
ness to give them the name of gods, who are like
horses and mules, for there is no understanding
in them, hewn out by the hands of mechanics."
II. And the Emperor was filled with wrath, and
said : '* Henceforth I will not tolerate thee, but I

230 Monuments of Early Christianity.

give thee over to miserable torture." And he
ordered the executioners to strip the saint, and to
stretch out his hands on fourfold pinions, and to
scourge him with green switches, without spare,
upon shoulders and chest and stomach ; and
they scourged the blessed one, so that the god-
less torturers were wearied and faint. And they
carded the flesh of the saint with their cruel
blows, and the blood poured forth from him.
And then the Emperor ordered him to be smitten
without spare on the neck with leaden hammers.
And as they smote him, he ordered that all that
was remaining of the body of the holy martyr
should be scraped with iron needles, and then
that fire should be brought and that they should
burn all the wounds in his body. So they burned
and roasted his whole body according to the
command of the Emperor. But the holy martyr
shewed yet more patience than before amid the
throes of his cruel anguish, and thanked God that
his desires were fulfilled ; and as if he reckoned
for nothing all this intolerable torture, he said
to the Emperor : " O thou minister and servant
of Satan, and enemy of all righteousness, dost
thou not see that thy torturers flag, and that thy
foolhardy pride is humbled, and thy violence
overcome, and thy father the devil Satan is put
to shame ; and however much my outer man is
destroyed by thy torture, so much the more is my
inner man renewed unto eternal life } "

But the Emperor was very wroth, and ordered
his soldiers to take the saint to prison, in order

Ac^s of Theodore. 231

that he might deliberate about him, by what death
he should slay him. And when they had cast
him into prison, after a few days he ordered him
to be brought before him ; and he tempted him
with many words and questioned him, but yet
could not persuade the blessed one. So then he
ordered them to crucify him, and he made the
entire number of his army shoot at him with
arrows. But the martyr of Christ with great
gladness went after the soldiers, and when he
came to the cross they bound his hands and feet,
and took and fastened him upon the tree. And
a number of soldiers shot at him with arrows,
and hit the face and eyes of the saint. But the
champion of Christ endured it patiently, and gave
thanks to God, and reckoned for nothing all the
anguish and pain. And after that they came
and mutilated his manhood, and all the multitude
that stood round wept, all of them. 12. And I
Abgar, the slave and secretary of the saint, who
had received his command to write down all,
point by point, when I beheld such cruelty, I
threw away my paper from my hands, and I went
and fell at his feet, weeping bitterly ; and the
saint, when he saw my tears, said to me in a
gentle but weak voice : " O Abgar, grieve not,
nor be remiss in thy task, but accomplish that
which thou hast begun, and obey me yet a little
longer that thou mayest see the end of my con-
summation, and write it down." And when he
had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven, and
said : '' Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, my God,

232 Monuments of Early Christianity,

who in Thy unspeakable goodness dost control
and arrange all things ; who also by the hand of
Thy only-born Son, and true and Holy Spirit, hast
bestowed upon me strength to bear ; for Thou,
Lord, didst erewhile make promise to me, saying:
*' I have not abandoned thee, but for all time I
will be with thee, and will save thee ; and now,

my God, wherefore hast Thou forsaken me,
and hast withdrawn from me Thy pity ? For the
wild animals have torn my flesh because I loved
Thy name ; the pupils of mine eyes have been
put out, and my flesh has been consumed with
fire, and my fingers have been crushed, and my
face has been altered so that it is no longer like
that of a human being, and my soul reels and
trembles with the fear of the tortures of the cross.
And now, O my Lord and my God, for Thee have

1 borne all this, being given up to fire and sword,
and to all anguish. Wherefore I beseech Thee re-
ceive my spirit forthwith, and refresh me according
to Thy good pleasure, for Thou art all powerful."

And when he had said this he was silent, for
all the members of the flesh of the martyr were
weak, and the hollow of his stomach was lacerated
and crushed because of the harrowing and of the
tortures inflicted. But the lawless and impious
Licinius, thinking that the saint was dead, ordered
his guards to remain there, in order that for a
whole day and a night his body might be exposed
upon the cross. 13. But in the first watch of the
night, an angel was sent from God, and took
him down from the cross and made whole all his

Ac^s of Theodore. 233

body, and said : " Rejoice and be strong, for the
Lord was with thee and is with thee, and shall
be for ever. Why therefore didst thou say that
thou wast abandoned by Me ? Forasmuch as the
course of thy martyrdom is accomplished, and
thou comest to the Saviour Jesus, and shalt receive
the indestructible crown in the kingdom of the
just." And when he had said this, the angel rose
up to heaven ; but the holy Theodorus, beholding
his body entirely healed of its wounds, lifted his
hands to heaven, and magnified the Lord and
said : " I magnify Thee, my God and my King,
and I bless Thy name for ever and ever." And
after praying for a long while, he uttered the Amen.
14. And at dawn early the Emperor called a
certain twain of his nobles, and said : '* Go ye
along with a force of men, and take down from
the cross the wretched body of yonder ill-starred
impostor, and drag it before me, in order that I
may command it to be placed in a coffin of lead
and cast into the depths of the sea, lest the
Christians should snatch it away, and take it and
honour it according to their custom." And when
the captains had gone, and while they were yet
afar off, they beheld the cross empty and void
of the body of the holy martyr, and they began
to gape with astonishment. Antiochus said to
Patricius : *' Verily it is true, that which the Christ-
ians say, that Christ after three days arose from
the dead, for now we behold this word of theirs
literally fulfilled." But Patricius ran to the cross
and beheld the holy martyr Theodorus sitting

234 Monuments of Early Christianity,

near to the cross with his body entirely healed,
and he began to tell the multitude of the great
miracles of God which had happened unto him,
so that both cried out with a loud voice, and said:
** Great is the God of the Christians, and there is
none other God but He." And they came and
threw themselves at the feet of the saint along
with the soldiers who were with them, in number
eighty and two, and they said : " We too are
Christians, and servants of Christ ; we beseech
thee, receive us who have gone astray through
ignorance from the path of truth, and pray in our
behalf to God the Creator, in order that He may
make us too worthy of the compassion of His
grace." 15. When the Emperor heard this, he
was exceeding wroth, and ordered the Consul ^
whose name was Cestus, to take three hundred
of his soldiery, and to go and behead them. But
when they had gone, they too, by the favour of
God, beheld the miracle of God, and believed
like the others in Christ. And there was there
a crowd and great multitude who all cried with
loud voice and said : " Great is the God of the
Christians ; He that hath done such wonders, He
alone is God. Come then, let us stone the lawless
Licinius ; for God is our Emperor, the God whom
Theodorus preached." And when this disturbance
arose, they began to raise a tumult one with
another, and there was much shedding of blood
in the conflict of the rabble. But a certain evil-

* The old Latin has Anthypatos, Pro-consul. I tind no Consul of the
name in Clinton's lists.

Acts of Theodore. 235

doer whose name was Leander drew his sword
and rushed upon the holy Theodorus ; but the
Consul saw this and drew back his hand, and
delivered the saint from him, and slew the lawless
Leander. But another, whose name was Merpas,
came forward amidst the crowd, and threw himself
upon the Consul, and drawing his sword slew
him. 16. But the blessed saint, when he saw the
disturbance and riot of the crowd, went into the
midst of them, and by his entreaties he appeased
the crowd ; and the multitude took the saint with
them and returned to the city with great joy.
And as they passed and came near to the doors
of the prison, in which were confined all who were
in bonds, these all cried out from prison and said :
*' Pity us, servant of God on high." But the
crowd, when they heard it, said : " Command us
that we at once pull down the doors of the prison,
and set free them that are confined therein." But
the saint restrained them from carrying out their
counsel ; and he himself approached the door and
prayed to God, and made upon it the sign of the
cross. And of its own accord it opened wide, and
their bonds were loosened, and those who were
confined came forth and threw themselves at his
feet, and gave thanks to God and to His saint.
But he said to them : " Go ye in peace each to
his own place " ; and many other miracles did God
accomplish by means of him, for the sick and the
suffering and they who were possessed by devils
were healed by his prayers.

17. And when the impious Licinius saw that

236 Monuments of Early Christianity,

all the people of the Greeks repudiated and cast
from themselves the worship of the gods, and
believed in Christ, he was very wroth, and sent a
force of soldiers, that they might go without the
knowledge of the multitude and cut off the head
of the saint ; and they went and at once executed
his command, cutting off the head of the blessed
one with a sword. And thus ended the victorious
and mighty champion of Christ, the holy Theo-
dorus, in the month of August, on the twenty-
seventh day thereof, to the glory of God.

But after the martyrdom of the saint, Abgar,
his slave, according to his command as he had
been aforetime commanded to do, took the body
of the saint and wrapped it in clean linen with
fragrant spices, and they laid it in a coffin and
took it and laid it to rest in his paternal inherit-
ance in the village of Eukhaita. 18. And the
multitude of the people of Heraclea followed the
relics of the saint with lighted tapers and fragrant
incense and spiritual songs, according to the
custom of the Christians, and laid it in its resting-
place. And many miracles were accomplished
by God by means of the tomb in which reposes
until to-day the relics of the saint, for those who
approach it with faith. For on the day of the
commemoration of the martyr, there comes a
multitude of people of all races, who keep his
memory with great honour and with offerings, for
God glorifies those who glorify Him. 19. For
this saint outshone the sun in splendour and with
inextinguishable brilliancy lit up a life of virtue

Ac^s of Theodore. 237

by his unblemished and correct faith, and repulsed
the lawless ruler with all his servants. He kept
his confession unshaken in the sure hope, and
in his own life glorified the living God. He as
martyr shared in the cross and in the death of
our Lord, who of his own free will submitted to
torture and death, and, following Him, offered up
his life as a fragrant offering and pleasing to Him.
For his true death was an expiation for angels
and men, a lifting of the curse and an act of
reconciliation to God. By the shedding of his
blood he extinguished the folly of the idolaters
and became a pillar of the faith, a seal of the
Church, a door to those who would enter into
heaven. He It is whom we honour by bearing
him In memory and by conducting his festival
with splendour ; writing down the history of his
martyrdom and handing it on to the generations
to come, that we may be ourselves witnesses to
him who bore witness, until we all come to Christ
who appoints the lists of martyrdom [ay wvoQeTr}<i).
He In our behalf for ever Intercedes with the
merciful God, that unto us also may be opened
the door of pity, so that we may enjoy with him
the goods which have no end. Those then who
In faith and fear and with all goodwill keep the
commemoration of the martyr of Christ, what-
soever they ask of the Lord, It shall be unto
them ; and they shall be partakers of the reward
of their works along with all the saints in Christ
Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power,
for ever and ever. Amen.

UNIVERSITY

ACTS OF S. THALEL^US.

INTRODUCTION.

The Acts of Thalelaeus are given in vol. 5 of the month of
May, in the Bollandist collection, p. 178; where there will be
found printed a shorter and a longer Greek
form of these Acts. The longer form is These Acts
quite worthless; but the shorter form, which ^^^ elenSnts'
is printed from a MS. at Florence (Cod.
xiv., PI. ix. of the Laurentian Library), agrees closely so far as
it goes with the Armenian ; and the Bollandist editor rightly
concludes, in view of the simplicity of the Greek and general
brevity which characterises it, that this form of the Acts was
composed with the help of the Proconsular Acts themselves.
The subscription of Tanebus given in the Armenian is not
contained in the Greek.

The Bollandist editor supposes the martyrdom to have
taken place during the reign of Carinus and Numerianus, be-
tween November 283 and March, 285 ; but we shall see that
there is good reason to set the date as early as the reign of
Hadrian.

In view of the graphic character of the exordium of these
Acts, as well as of the attestation at the end of the Armenian
form of them, of the slave Tanebos, it seems
hasty to deny to them any historical value. They belong to
The first question, which follows on the the reign of

J • • r \ 1 u- . • 1 u • r Hadrian,notof

admission of an actual historical basis tor Wumerianus.

them, is whether the martyrdom took place
under Hadrian or under Numerianus, more than a century
later. The Greek Acts begin thus : " In the consulate of
Numerianus the king." On the other hand, in the body of the
piece the martyr is invited to acknowledge the Emperor
Hadrian ; it is in the temple of Hadrian that the magistrate

240 Monuments of Early Christianity.

holds his court, and it is hard by the temple of the same
emperor that Tanebos buries the remains of the saints. It
is therefore certain that the events related took place under
Hadrian, if at all; and that some editor at the end of the
third century or early in the fourth prefixed the mention of
Numerianus. In the same way we have the date of the
martyr Babylas, who suffered under Decius, shifted in the
exordium of his Acts to the reign of Numerianus. Such a
falsification is most likely to' have taken place at the end of the
third century, before the persecution of Diocletian had effaced
in Antioch the memory of Numerianus. I have before noticed^
the tendency there was to defer the death of a popular saint,
so that he might appear to have suffered in the persecution of
which the recollection was uppermost in men's minds. Not
only is the later date incompatible with the mention of Hadrian
in the Acts, but the detailed account which Thalelaeus gives
of himself agrees best with the earlier date, ^gse or Aigai
was a seaport and arsenal of the Romans in the second cen-
tury. It lay opposite the modern port of Iskanderun, and
is to-day called Ayash (see Prof. Ramsay's Hist. Geog. of
Asia Minor, p. 385, who notes that there was there a temple
of Asklepius, which was destroyed by Constantine). In the
reign of Hadrian there would of course have been in so im-
portant a station of the Roman fleet a temple of the reigning
emperor, in which the governor would naturally hear a case of
majestas. But it is the hint which the piece gives of the re-
lations between Edessa and Aigai, which is decisive against
the reign of Numerian as the date of these Acts. The city of
Edessa was brought under the sway of the Romans in the
year 1 1 5 by Trajan, who struck commemorative medals with
the words on them : " Armenia et Mesopotamia in Potestatem
P. R. Redactse." Hadrian, we read in Spartianus : " Toparchas
et reges ad amicitiam invitavit, ... a Mesopotamia non
exegit tributum quod Trajanus imposuit " (Spart., Adrian^ 13,
17, 21).
Older numismatists believed that Hadrian actually struck

* See page 151.

Ac^s of S. ThalelcEits. 2\i

money in Edessa. But although M. Ernest Babelon has
shewn that this was not so, yet there is no doubt that during
his reign the Roman influence was paramount in Edessa, and
that a Roman resident of some sort was kept there. The
native prince Manou was the faithful friend and ally of the
Romans. These native princes were not called by the Romans
kings, but dynasts, phylarchs, or toparchs.
(Suidas, s. voce Phylarch.\ Procop., Bell. Under

Persic. 2, 12.) It is more than probable Numerianus
^, ^ . , , . c \j A • there was no

that m the reign of Hadrian a common Ro^anautho-

policy was pursued in regard to the Christ- pity in Edessa.
ians all over the empire, in the dependent
client states as well as in the regularly organized provinces.
It is thus quite conceivable that a fugitive from justice at
Edessa might be arrested at Anazarb and brought before the
Roman magistrate at Aigai. Whether the judge Tiberius or
Tiberianus of Edessa was a Roman officer or a servant of the
client prince of Edessa we do not know. Edessa is httle over
fifty German miles due east of Aigai, and there was a high-
road thence to Aigai by way of Zeugma, Castabala, and
Anazarb, which lay a little north of Aigai, among the moun-
tains of Cilicia. The concerted action hinted at between
the authorities of Edessa and Aigai was possible under
Hadrian, but under Numerian it was impossible ; for Edessa
had finally passed under the sway of the Parthians more
than thirty years before, when at the end of 259 Valerian was
taken prisoner on his way to relieve it. Such close administra-
tive connexion between Edessa and Aigai as these Acts re-
veal would be still more intelligible at the beginning of the
second century, after the year 216, when Caracalla turned
Edessa into a Roman colony. But this date would not suit
these Acts for a different reason : Abgar the Eighth who ruled
thirty-five years, from a.d. 179 to 214, was no doubt a firm
ally of the Romans, but inasmuch as he was a Christian the
apprehension and torture of Thalelaeus can hardly have fallen
in his period.

The Greek Acts published in the Acta Sanctorum are briefer
than the Armenian form, and give quite a different set of

242 Monuments of Early Christianity.

miracles. The story of the magistrate's throne sticking to his
hinder parts is peculiarly grotesque, and is absent from the
Armenian. The incident of the executioner hanging up a bare
tree occurs in both forms, and is very curious and wears a
Docetic air. The introduction of wizards to contend against
the martyr in magic is a not unusual motive in ancient Acts.

Anazarbos or Anazarba is called the metropolis in these
Acts. According to Smith's Diet, of Geography^ it acquired
this title from the time of Caracalla on, and was the chief town
of Cilicia Secunda. W. M. Ramsay gives some clues about
the place, Geog. Asia Minor^ p. 387. Lightfoot has a note on
it in \\\% Apost. Fathers^ iii. p. 138. FromA.D. 1 17-138 Cilicia,
including Tracheia, was an imperial province under a Praetorian
Legatus Augusti (W. M. Ramsay, Geog. Asia Minor ^ p. 376).
Under the reign of Hadrian Aigai took the title of Hadriana
in honour of a visit which that emperor paid it.

There are two Armenian MSS. of these Acts in Venice,

which supplement one another, the one containing the first

half, the other the last half of the text. They

Armenian overlap for about two pages in the middle

^^ Acte^^^^ and give slightly different texts. The
latter part of the Acts, including the list of
the names of the fellow-martyrs of Thalelaeus and the sub-
scription of Tanebus his slave is wanting in the Greek. If the
notice of Tanebus be part of the original Acts, then the
final words beginning, "Who truly," etc., must be a later in-
terpolation added probably by the same editor of the late
third century who, at the beginning of these Acts, introduced
the name of Numerian. This editor must have made his
recension before the year 310, otherwise on the same principle
on which he ascribes the martyrdom to Numerian, he would
have ascribed it to Diocletian.

MARTYRDOM OF S. THALEL^US.

In the reign of Numerlus,^ and when Theodorus
was judge, in the city of JEgd^, nine days before
the kalends, in the month Hori, which was the
twenty-third day of the month, the judge^ took
his seat in the Temple of Hadrian in the city of
^gse, and said : *' Summon hither the violator of
religion." The guards say : " Behold, here he
stands, we pray thee." Theodorus the judge
said to them : *' Where did ye take him, for I see
that his beard just begins to shoot, and that he is
resplendent with the bloom of youth ? " Denesius,^
the chief executioner, said : " As we were coming
to the metropolis Anazarb,* and were still distant
by fifty ^ stades, we saw him running in an easterly
direction ; ® and when he saw us, he hid himself
in the middle of a grove of trees. But we knew
he was a Christian, so we invoked the gods and
halted in the grove for forty days and forty

^ 6V viraTiltf. Tov Nov|j.cpiavov tov Pao-iX^ois 'q7€[J.ov€vovTOS ©coSwpov twv
AiyaCav irrfXcws, rfj irph ivvia KaXavSwv "Zirmii^plov, \iii]vhs vinp^ipiraCov
ciKoLSi Tpfrg. But the month Hyperberetasus began Aug. 24 in each year.

2 The text here has Thallos.

Judge: 'f\yi\id>v may = Consul. The Greek adds that this officer had
apprehended many because of Christ, whom he had scourged, drowned,
sawn asunder, beheaded or otherwise slain.

^ The Gk. omits Denesius and simply has r\ Td|is.

* *Ev TTJ *AvatapP<tf iroXet. Arm. may mean ''from the city of A."

^ 4>' = 500. ^ aub dvaroXwv.

343

244 Monuments of Early Christianity.

nights,^ till we found him hidden in an olive-tree ;
and when we took him in order to bind him he
began to fight with us, but we beat him with
bludgeons and broke his bones, and then we put
manacles on his hands and feet,^ and have brought
him to thee."

Theodorus the judge said to him : *' Of what
religion art thou, or of what rank, or of what city,
and what is thy name ?" Thalelaeus said : ''If
thou wilt learn of what religion I am, I am named
a Christian ; but if thou wilt learn how men name
me,^ I am called Thalelaeus, and I am from Leb-
anon,^ and I have believed in the Galilean, and I
am a friend of those of Jerusalem. My mother
is Romaniana, and my father Becosianus ; and I
am by profession a physician, and have become a
deacon of John the Bishop. And when there
were persecutions of the Christians, they all fled,*
and they took me alone and brought me before
Tiberianus ^ the judge of Edessa. And he sub-
jected me to cruel tortures,^ and three times he
had me scourged publicly and without mercy,
thinking that he would turn my mind and make
me deny God ; ^ but I called upon the Father, and

* The Gk. om. words "we knew" down to "gods," and for "forty
days and forty nights " have merely ^(i^pas iKavAs.

' The Gk. omits these details. ' ri Koivbv 6vo|ia.

* The Gk. runs : I am from the Lebanon, and as to my parents, my
father was called Berekkokius and my mother Rombyliana, and my
brother John. But he is also an underdeacon (inroSidKovos), and I
learned the physician's art, having been handed over to Macarius the
arch-physician.

* Gk. omits "they all fled." * Tiberius in Gk.
7 Gk. omits from " three times " to " God."

Acts of S. ThalelcEus. 245

the Son, and the Holy Spirit/ and He saved me
from his lawless hands ; and now I have come
and am brought before thy court, by which it is
allotted to me to die for the name of my God.
Do with me what thou wilt, for Christ is near
who helps me."^

The judge said : " Out upon thee, thou runa-
way; think not that thou art able to escape from
my hands." Thalelseus said : '' I believe in God,
that is Ruler of all, that He putteth not to shame
those who trust in Him in Christ, and those who
for His name, come to bear this testimony."
The judge said: With an awl do ye bore ^
through his ancles and pass cords through them,
and drag him over the city ; since he is a runa-
way, and lest he escape from the emperors."

And they began to do so, but they wearied
and w^ere not able to. Then came the chief
Lictor and said : ''We pray thee, O Lord, from
dawn until now^ have we laboured, but have been
able to do nothing." The judge said : "Begin to
work afresh, to see if ye can bore them through."
And Asterius the carpenter came, and said : " As
thou didst command, we have bored through his
ancles, and have fastened them with thongs."
Theodorus the judge said : " Bring hither the
runaw^ay."^ And they brought him in. Then said

^ Gk. adds '* the true God, the unerring, the creative, the good."
2 Gk. — " For 'tis right to die for Christ, whom I have to help me, the
heavenly God, " .

^ TpT]0-OV €V TpVirCLVT).

"* Gk.=from the third hour to the sixth.

^ The Greek omits from " Bring hither " as far as **my God."

246 Monuments of Early Christianity.

he to him: "Come and sacrifice to the gods
according to the command of the emperors, that
thou mayest be saved from the tortures that await
thee." Thalelseus said : ** I am a Christian, and
I do not worship idols, lest I should lose the
rewards promised me by God." The judge
said : '* Come, hang him head downwards, like one
of the mad knaves." But the servants of Satan
hung up the mere tree ; and the disciple of
Thalelaeus, Timotheus,^ said : " vSee what the min-
isters of Satan do." Thalelseus said : " Hush,
brother, for it is Christ who helpetbus, and maketh
their labour in vain." The judge said : " O wretch,
what is it ? did I not command you to hang
yonder man, and you have hung up and tortured
a mere tree,* and turned to ridicule the royal
commands." Asterius the carpenter said : "He
liveth, the Lord God of yonder believing man. I
do not transgress nor turn to ridicule your com-
mands ; but I too acknowledge Christ as king of
heaven and earth, in whom he also has his hope
and belief."

But Alexander the chief Lictor said : " Truly
we have seen a great glory by reason of this
blessed man, and we are not able to lay hands
upon him, because we too have believed in
Christ and are Christians, by whom receiving
the knowledge of the truth, we will become fellow-
sufferers of the holy Thalelaeus." But when the
judge saw this he was very wroth with them, and

^ Gk. has Theotimus. ' (vXov iKpc)id(raT« simply.

Acts of S. ThalelcBMS. 247

he roared like a lion and gnashed his teeth upon
them. But Asterius and Alexander fell to pray-
ing, and said : ''Lord God of the Christians, suffer
not that Satan should take captive and snatch
away the souls of Thy servants, who make their
confession to Thee." And when they had said
this, they fled from the presence of the judge.
But a certain Midos, from the court, came upon
them and slew them ; and then he came and
told the judge, saying : *' O Lord Judge, I came
upon them in the mountains, and took and slew
them with the sword, and cast forth their bodies
on the mountain, and the multitude saw all." ^

The judge said : '' Which dost thou prefer, O
Thalelaeus, to sacrifice to the gods and be saved,
or to die a miserable death ? " Thalelaeus said :
'' Thou canst not persuade the servants of God to
sacrifice to vain demons and to their images ;
and I have no fear of thy tortures, for Christ is
near to me, who is my hope, and He will snatch
me from thy tortures." ^ Then the judge was
wroth, and rose of himself to torture the blessed
one ; but his hands were withered. Then the
ruler prayed and said : '' I beseech thee, servant

* This episode is much shorter in the Gk., which has Medius. It
however adds that the mountain where Asterius and Alexander were-
captured was fifty stades from the city and was the same on which Thale-
laeus had been taken. Asterius and Alexander are called speculatores.

'^ Here the Gk. adds a miracle and relates that the judge rose up to bore
through the saints' ankles (as if that had not already been done), but his
throne stuck to his hinder parts and only fell off because of the saint's inter-
cession. Undeterred, the judge again rose up in wrath to bore through
the saints' ankles, and then his hands *6|T]pdv0T]<rav.

248 Monuments of Early Christianity.

of the true God, pray for me that my hands may
be healed." And when Thalelaeus prayed, his
hands were healed ; and all wondered and began
to say : ** Great is the God of the Christians."
The judge said : ** Let a ship-captain be called."
And when he came, he said : " Cast yonder man
into the ship and carry him to the city of Siprus,^
and there let him die, but let him not die by my
hands." Thalelaeus said : *' Thou didst make a
beginning, and from thee I receive my consumma-
tion " ; but they took him and threw him into the
ship. And as they were going on their way and
rowing, Thalelaeus said : *' Christ is able to turn
back the ship to the place where Theodorus
smote me." And as they went on their course,
there was a violent wind against them in the middle
of the sea ; and it turned back all the ships along
with that one in which was the holy Thalelaeus.
And when they came near to where there was
the tribunal, Thalelaeus cried out to the judge
and said : "Where then are thy gods, or where
is thy boasting 1 Behold, Christ hath turned
against thee and conquered thee, and hath
blunted the sting of Satan thy father."^

The judge said : '' Behold, how that he hath
bewitched us and caused the ships to flee." ^ And

* The Gk. does not name any city. According to it the judge simply
orders the saint to be taken out to sea and thrown in, " that he may not
die by my hands " («ls toLs x^'-P^'* H^o^)*

' Ace. to the Gk. the 8tJ)jiioi, or executioners, took Thalelaeus out to sea
as far as the judge ordered and then threw him in and returned. But the
saint shortly after presented himself before the judge, clad in a white robe.

' TcL ircXdY^ i^irfkww Kal Vjf&ds Xoi8op«k.

Acts of S. ThalelcEMs. 249

he ordered wizards ^ to be brought before him ;
and when they were brought in, Theodorus the
judge said : " What are we to do with him, for he
hath vanquished us with his wizardry ? Urbicus,
the wizard, answered : " This race of Christians
is full of sedition, and worthy of an evil death.
But do thou do that which I tell thee, and
quickly wilt thou destroy him. Make boards and
set sharp nails around as with a compass, and
nail the boards against the hair of his head ; and
then let him be dragged through the midst of the
city into the arena, and in that way the force of
his wizardry is broken. And thereafter let them
throw him to the wild beasts, that they may tear
his flesh." And then the judge in haste ordered
them to make a machine of nails and boards ;
and when they had made it they brought in the
holy Thalelaeus.^ And having spread out his
hands, he stood in prayer, and said: "O Lord
God, draw nigh to Thy servant, and vanquish the
evil designs of Satan, that Thy name may be
glorified in me, and that they may know the
impiety of their wickedness, and that it is no
wizardry, but the ineffable might of Thy God-
head." And when he had said this, they threw
him upon the tables and nailed them, and having
bound him, they dragged him through the middle
of the city to the arena. And the judge took his

^ Md-yovs.

2 The Gk. omits all mention of the machine of torture. Urbicus
merely advises that Thalelaeus be thrown to the wild beasts.

250 Monuments of Early Christianity,

seat in the Arena,^ and said : ** Let it be pro-
claimed, that this is he who hath joined the evil
cult of the Christians." The guards say : ** But
we think that he is dead." The judge said :
" Warm a brand and make it like fire, and pierce
his side, for fear that he trick us." But the blessed
Thalelaeus made upon himself the sign of the holy-
cross of Christ, and moved himself and leaped up,
and broke all the bonds with which he was
fastened to the nails ; and he stood up amidst
them, and spoke to the tyrant and said : '' Blessed
is God, who has raised me from the dead and
hath put to shame the worshippers of the idols."

Then the judge commanded that they let loose
upon him wild beasts ; and a lioness came, but did
him no harm. And next he let loose upon him
a leopard, but the wild beasts came and lay at his
feet and fawned upon him.^ And the holy Thale-
laeus with a loud voice said : " Blessed are they
who believe in Christ ; blessed are they who with-
out looking back shall offer themselves to make
confession of Him. Blessed are they who shall

* The Gk. uses the Latin word Arena. It says nothing about Thalelaeus
arriving at the arena dead. On the contrary, the moment he arrives there
he is brought before the judge, who says : " Wilt thou now sacrifice, or shall
I give thy flesh to the wild beasts ? " The saint in reply quotes the psalms
of David.

* At this point, according to the Gk., the judge rises and declares that
Thalelaeus has bewitched the wild beasts, but the audience rise and cry :
•' Great is the God of the Christians," and demand that Urbicus be thrown
to the wild beasts, which is promptly done. Then the saint goes to «ls
T<Sirov 4ir{<rn|M)v 6v6}iaTi "ESto-o-av f^ris e'oTt t»v Al'yaCwv ir<$Xcws ; on
arriving there, he falls to praynig, an earthquake supervenes, the multitude
rush to be baptized, and the saint dies. Of what follows in the Arm.
text the shorter Greek Acts contain nothing.

Acts of S. ThalelcBus. 251

give themselves to the torture for Christ's sake,
because they vanquish Satan." And when the
judge heard this, he said : '' How hath he be-
witched the wild beasts, by calling upon the name
of Christ." And he ordered them to bear him to
the wall of the arena, that all the population of the
town should stone him.

Then Thalelaeus cried out and said : " Al-
mighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, turn
away from me the threats of men, that they may
know that Thou alone art God, and that, besides
Thee, there is no other, and that I am Thy ser-
vant." And when he had said this and prayed,
the stones were turned back, and wounded many
of the impious ; but the saint was not wounded,
for he was overshadowed by the grace of Christ.
And the judge ordered him to be taken down, and
said to him : " Offer now sacrifice to the gods, for
by them art thou helped ; wherefore I also have
been patient with thee : but if thou wilt not, then
I swear by Asclepius,^ I will order thee to be put
to still more bitter torments." Thalelaeus said :
'* I am a Christian, and to demons I cannot sacri-
fice ; do as thou wilt, I have no fear of thy tor-
ments, since it is Christ who helpeth me."

Then the judge said : " Mix bitumen and rosin
and sulphur, and put it into an iron caldron,
and when it is boiling hot, then pour it over his
head." Thalelaeus said : *' I believe in my Lord
Jesus, who has helped me and will help me ; and

^ Note that there was a temple of Asclepius in Aigai.

XTNIVERSITlT

252 Monuments of Ea7^ly Christianity.

He it is who vanquishes thee through me ; but
thou art lawless, and blinded by impiety, so that
thou dost not see the help which Christ renders
me." Then they brought the caldron while it
was still boiling, and poured it over his head ; but
it was like cold water, and did not subdue him.
The judge said : '* By thy exceeding wizardry thou
dost conquer all men, and I have fears lest thou
shouldst bewitch us also, or persuade us." And he
bade them call Urbicus the wizard, and through
him he contended against the saint with all manner
of charms. But when Urbicus was vanquished in
all, the judge said : " Summon hither the enchan-
ters,^ Ilithopus and Karticur." And when they
were come before him, the judge said, *' What
shall we do with this Christian, for he will boast
that he has conquered us } Throw him therefore
among the wild beasts." But they said : *' Whole
days the wild beasts are here and have not tasted
him." Then said the judge : " Spare him not, but
cast him to the wild beasts that they may destroy
him." When they had cast him into the pit, the
wild beasts ran and fell at his feet, and licked his
feet and did him no harm. And there were in the
pit vipers and basilisks and horned snakes. And
the saint remained in the pit for three days and
for three nights and was ever glorifying God.
Then after three days the judge called the en-
chanters and asked them if the wild beasts had

' Another MS. has Lydus. At this point a second MS. used for the
last half of the Armenian printed text begins. It varies a little in its text
from the MS. from which the first part of the Acts is printed.

Acts of S. ThalelcBus. 253

destroyed that wizard. But the enchanters said :
''We pray thee, according to thy command, we
cast him Into the pit, and he has lain among the
wild beasts for three days and three nights, but
they have not touched him. And meanwhile he,
without ceasing, day and night, continued to praise
the name of the Lord his God."

Then the judge wondered, and ordered him to
be brought In ; and when he came In before him,
the judge began to try to catch him by words, and
said : '* Come hither, good man, sacrifice to the
gods, acknowledge Hadrian, the autocrat, and I
dismiss thee." Thalelaeus said : ''Even before I
told thee, and now I tell thee again, I am a
Christian, and I deny not my God, and I sacrifice
not to stone Idols that are senseless and to foul
demons. And as to Hadrian, an impious man,
why dost thou constrain me ; because I acknow-
him not, but that I say which I know, that he Is aj
lawless, and impious, and unholy and crafty^
man." Theodorus the judge said: "Thou
dost not escape from my hands, till I have exacted
from thee vengeance for the gods whom thou hast
blasphemed and Insulted, contemning our judg-
ments." Then he ordered a furnace to be heated,
and they heated It to excess. And there came one
Claudlanus ^ from the court and said to the judge :
" The oven hath been heated until It glows with
the white radiance of fire." Then the judge
ordered them to cast Thalelaeus into the furnace

* The other MS. here omits the name Claudianus.

2 54 Monuments of Early Christianity,

together with his seven companions who bore the
name of Christians, and whose names are the fol-
lowing : Narcissus,^ Thetius, Acastasia, Philadus,
Macarias, Theodula, and Anastasia. And the exe-
cutioners took Thalelseus and his companions who
had suffered many tortures for the name of the
Lord, and threw them into the furnace ; but they
continued to praise and glorify God, who made
them worthy thus to die and attain to the heavenly
crown. And they embraced one another, man
with man, and woman with woman, and they cried
out and said : " O Thou who wast the Protector
of the three children in the furnace, preserve us
that we remain scatheless in this fire, and receive
our spirits, O Thou that art holy and true ; and
set us in the ranks of Thy saints in the tents of
light, in order that we may without ceasing glorify
Father and Son and Thy Holy Spirit, now and
for ever. Amen." And having said all this, they
gave up their souls into the hand of the Lord.
And on a sudden there was a sound of thunder
and lightnings and heavy rains, and the fire was ex-
tinguished. But the judge fainted from fear, and
called out, saying : ** Woe to me, a sinner, because
I have offended God, and done ill to His saints."
And in a few days He was removed from life ; and
many believed on the Lord.

I, Tanebus, the slave of the Holy Thalelaeus,
took the bodies of the saints, and I laid them in a

* The other MS. gives Macarius, Thestus, Astenus, Philidus, Macaria,
Theodula, and Acastis. The MS. ends here from which the first part of
these Acts is printed.

Ac^s of S. ThalelcBus. 255

tomb at the head of the circus, near to the Temple
of Hadrian. Whereby God is continually glorified
in the sufferings of His holy martyrs, and bestows
healing upon spirit and flesh, to them that build
up the memorials of the saints, who truly glorify
the Lordship of the Three Persons and the single
Godhead, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

ACTS OF S. HIZTIBOUZIT.

INTRODUCTION,

The following piece is in the main historical and preserves an

interesting picture of the condition of the province of Ararat

during the last years of Chosrow. The

martyrdom of the saint fell in the forty-third these Acts

year of Chosrow, son of Kavat, or Kobad, as

Gibbon spells the name. This king reigned a.d. 531-579, so

the saint's death fell in the last part of the reign, about a.d.

574.

The opening statement, that during this reign the confession
of Christ was more than ever persecuted, is not altogether borne
out by the subsequent course of the narrative.
The two fellow-prisoners of the martyr answer Condition of
the judge that they were Christians by birth under Chos-
and upbringing, as if that were a sufficient row the First,
defence. We do not hear of their death, so
we may almost conclude that they were liberated after a further
short term of incarceration. The two men crucified with the
saint are declared to have been malefactors, and therefore did
not suffer as Christians. Indeed one is a Jew, whose offer,
when about to be crucified, to embrace Magism, is no indica-
tion that the Persian authorities were putting him to death
because he refused to become a fire-worshipper. If the touch
be anything more than a bit of spite against the Jews on the
part of the Christian narrator, it simply proves this, that con-
version to Magism earned for a Jew, condemned for some other
offence, a title to clemency. It is not clear from the narrative
why the executioners did not understand him. Probably it
was because he did not speak their tongue. The whole inci-
dent is likely enough, for the Persian realm was full of Jews.

258 Monuments of Early Christianity,

It is clear that the triple crucifixion of the three condemned

men on a hill, with their faces to the sun, was by way of a

sacrifice to the god of light and warmth.

Significance There was, it is true, a tendency on the part

of the triple r ,^ •. r . ^ . 1

crucifixion. °^ °^^ writers of martyrdoms to make a

saint's death resemble as much as possible
the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. This tendency has been
noticed by Lightfoot in his book on the Apostolical Fathers as
at work in the narrative of Polycarp's death. In the story of
the death of S. Theodore the Soldier the same tendency has
clearly led to the addition of some fabulous details. But we
need not therefore reckon as fabulous the triple crucifixion of
these Acts, for it was quite in accordance with the old Persian
custom of human sacrifice. Thus in Ctesias (frag. 36) we read
that the Egyptian usurper Inarus was crucified by Artaxerxes
the First between two thieves. Similarly Masabates (Plutarch,
Artaxerxes) the Eunuch, who cut off the head and right hand
of the usurper Cyrus, was by order of the latter's mother
crucified on three crosses. The number three was specially
efificacious in human sacrifices. Thus the Athenians before
the battle of Salamis sacrificed to Dionysus three Persian
prisoners of royal blood. ^ And in the legend of S. Pancrazio
of Taormina, the demon Falco whom the saint expels, has
had offered up to him by the city three spotless children every
year for 260 years. The Acts before us prove that such triple
human sacrifices were in vogue among the Persian fire-wor-
shippers as late as the end of Khosrow's reign. In stating
therefore that the martyr was offered up as a sacrifice the
narrative probably states no more than the truth. It is even
possible that this martyrdom was a survival of the festival of
Sakaea, of which we read in Arrian and Dio Chrysostom and

* I owe these parallels to my friend Mr. W. R. Paton who has suggested
with much probability that the crucifixion of Jesus was intended by the
Syrian soldiers, who performed it, as an expiatory sacrifice to a triple god.
His arrayal in a royal robe and diadem makes this almost certain, for such
was the regular ritual of oriental human sacrifice then and earlier, as we
know from Strabo, Arrian and Dio Chrysostom.

•*:

Acts of S. Hiztibouzit. 259

Strabo, at which it was usual to select some prisoner who had

been condemned to death, to surround him

for a short time with the insignia of royalty, , Ritual of

, . , ° . ^ . human sacri-

settmg a crown on his head and arraymg fice in Persia.

him in purple. When the hour of death
came he was deprived of his royal vesture, was scourged and
buffeted and crucified. It was very natural to select as a
piacular offering to the god a priest of the fire-worship who
had apostatised to Christianity. Perhaps even the vision of
the saint in prison, wherein some smote the saint on the head
with a rod till the blood flowed down over his eyes, while
others, three in number and radiant with light, set a crown of
jewels on his head, is a reminiscence of some similar ritual
procedure having been followed in regard to this saint. Per-
haps however this is to force a narrative which has the air of
being faithful and trustworthy in all respects. The city of
Twin or Dwin lay in the basin of the Araxes, not far from the
present monastery of Edschmiadzin. In the sixth century it
was the chief religious centre of the Armenians, and the seat
of their Patriarchate. We gather from this narrative that they
there enjoyed complete freedom of worship. It was however
an arch offence for a priest of the sacred fire to become a
Christian.

The details of the fire-ritual are very correctly given in these
Acts, as will be seen by a comparison of it with the following
description which I quote freely from the
work of Madame Zenaide A. Ragozin on Persian Fire-
Media : " The athravan or fire-priest stood ^^ c^tury.^
in flowing white robes, the lower part of his
face veiled with the paitidana or penom, to keep his . breath
from polluting the sacred fire. He stood before the atesh-gah
or fire-altar, which was a metal vessel placed on a low stone
platform and filled with ashes, on the top of which burned the
fire of dry and fragrant wood-chips. ... In one hand he
carried the khrafstraghna, an instrument of unknown form for
illing snakes, frogs, and ants ; in the other the baresma, a
undle of twigs, uneven in number — five, seven, or nine — prob-
ably divining rods, without which the priest never appeared

26o Monuments of Early Christianity,

in public." These rods were originally from the tamarind or
pomegranate tree ; and the modern Parsee priest has prosaic
ally substituted for them a bundle of rods of brass wire. The
offering made to the fire was a little wine, along with a few bits
of meat, and at the present day a little milk is offered in a cup
with cakes and fruit. The offering which the priests were
making in these Acts must have consisted of butter, probably
of ghee or clarified butter ; ^ otherwise the flames could hardly
have leapt up to the roof of the room in which they were cele-
brating their ritual. The picture of the fire-worship preserved
in these Acts is all the more interesting on account of the
scarcity of contemporary Persian records of the cult. The
name which the Parsee assumes upon conversion is Persian,
and Hizti the first syllable is the same as the familiar Yezid,
the Persian for God.

^ I owe this suggestion to the Rev. Dr. Mills, of Oxford.

MARTYRDOM OF SAINT HIZTIBOUZIT.

During the reign of Khosrow, son of Kavat, the
King of Persia, the confession of Christ was more
than ever persecuted ; and not a few were martyred
in Persia and at the royal court. At that time
there was a certain man Makhosh, a Magus of
that same land, from the region which is called
Bershapouh, from a village of the name of Koun-
arastan, whose parents were ministers of the fire-
worship, and who was himself from childhood
trained in Magism. And he was strong in counsel
and learned in all the lore and wisdom of the
fire-worshippers. He by a certain chance came
to the camp of the king, and witnessed the suffer-
ings of a certain holy martyr, whose name was
Gregorius ; and he marvelled at the boldness of
the champion of faith, and was emulous thereof,
and said, in his heart : '' O Lord God of the Chris-
tians, look upon me and shew me a path on
which to set my feet, and open to me the door of
pity along with Thy champion ; in order that I
may become worthy of Thy kingdom, who art
Lord of heaven and earth." But on the same
night a wondrous vision appeared to him ; for he
was as it were in a holy church, and a certain
man robed in white appeared to him and said :

" Blessed art thou, that thou hast become worthy

261

262 Momiments of Early Christianity.

of the light-giving church ; for thou shalt believe,
henceforth in God the Creator of heaven and
earth, and in His Son of like power with Him,
and in the Spirit who shares His works, and thou
shalt learn thereof from the tradition of the holy-
gospel." And he marvelled and understood the
dream, and believed with whole heart and said :
** The God of the Christians is a true God " ; and
thenceforth he repented of his magism.

He went thence into the land of Siuni, devoting
himself to the hearing of the holy scriptures ;
and after being there a few months he came to
Armenia ; and having come into the region of
Ararat, he dwelt in the chief town of the Ar-
menians in Dvin, accompanying a certain Ar-
menian who believed with^ the Magi and whose
name was Khosrow Peroz. But he (the saint)
treated his Magism with contempt and neglected
it. And it was in the winter time, in Mehekan,^
at the beginning of the Persian month, and ac-
cording to their custom, they were offering fatty
sacrifices to the fire in the palace of their co-
religionist. And the blessed Makhosh was stand
ing with them at the spectacle, with his mouth
closed with a mask. But the flame leaped up
from the fat and reached the roof of the house
and blazed up. Then the Magi gathered up the

* I have so rendered the word "hamakar." But I am not sure that I
have given the true sense of this sentence. Khosrow Peroz may have
been a convert to Magism from Christianity. His wife was anyhow a
Christian.

* Mehekan was the seventh month in the Armenian calendar.

Acts of S. Hiztibouzit. 263

sacrifice, and tried to extinguish the fire, but could
not ; and then they ran out and told what had
happened. But he that was governor of the Ar-
menians, when he heard the sound of the tumult,
came in haste to the door of the church, and
began to urge the officiating priests to take the
Holy Cross and bear it to the palace, if, per-
adventure, the fire might be driven back ; for he
in his straits believed against his will. Then the
ministrants took the symbols of the holy cross
and came quickly to the spot ; and when the cross
was come opposite the palace, the flame had
spread and was dying out everywhere. This
great sign was wrought by the precious holy
cross in the land of Armenia, to the joy of the
true worshippers and confusion of idolatry. Now
the wife of the co-religionist, when she beheld,
sent a great thankoffering to the attendants of
the wonder-working holy cross. But the blessed
Makhosh took to heart such wonders and broke
the rod^ wherewith he divined and cast it away,
likewise, also, the mask for his mouth ; and he
took and placed his censer in the hands of the
deacon and scattered incense before the holy
cross, so making manifest the faith which he had
in Christ. And he followed the attendants of the
cross and said : '* Pray to God for me, because I
too am a Christian." But when the Magi saw
this, they said to him, '' Why hast thou dared to
do this ? " The blessed one said : '* For a long

^ The Armenian signifies a bough or bundle o ftwigs.

264 Monuments of Early Christianity,

time I have confessed to the Christians, and was,
with reluctance, a Magus ; but now I openly preach
the faith which is in Christ ; and I will not any
longer minister to fire, now that I have seen all
those wonders."

The next day at dawn the Magi came before
the governor of the Armenians, who was called
Nikhorakan, and accused the saint. And when
he was brought before him, the judge said : " Woe
to thee, wretch, why dost thou forsake the Magism
of thy forefathers to become a madman and a
breaker of vows ? " The blessed one made answer
and said : '' I tell thee truly, O judge, concerning
myself, that during twenty-five years I have pro-
fessed a vain heresy ; but now I have come to
learn of the true God, and have put away the
polytheism of my forefathers. Wherefore, hence-
forth, the deceits of life shall not part me from
this faith, for I am ready to bear the appointed^
tortures." Then the governor was angry and
ordered the blessed saint to be scourged twelve
times over ; and he shaved off his beard and hair
and wrote out his sentence,^ and, binding him
hands and feet, he cast him into prison. But in
the prison the saint found a sharer of his plight
in one whose name was Nerses, who had been
bound for a long time in the prison because of
God. And from him the blessed one learned the
holy faith and twenty psalms ; and thus he wor-
shipped without ceasing and prayed to God.

* Apostasy from the fire-cult was therefore a recognised offence.
' The Arm. =:** quest ion," but I have given what must be the sense.

Acts of S. Hiztibouzit. 265

After a little time one named Nakhapet^ suc-
ceeded to Nikhorakan ; and when he had taken his
seat in the court of judgment, they brought Mak-
hosh before him. Said the Nakhapet : " How
hast thou dared to abandon the god of thy fathers
and to put thy faith in the unknown Christ ?" The
blessed one replied : " There is one Creator of all,
who hath regard to all doers of good works ;
Who saw that my soul was weary of the cere-
monies of polytheism, and guided me to a know-
ledge of the true God." Then the Nakhapet was
wroth and ordered him to be violently scourged,
and they bound him with iron fetters and cast him
into prison. And he remained in prison for an-
other three years, and he besought the priest that
he might receive of him the seal of the Lord (i.e.
baptism), and that he might be named Hiztibouzit,
which is, when translated. Given by God : that
is to say, saved by God, which name the Holy
Spirit pictured to them. By the which Spirit also
he was strengthened in prison, and he took and
gave his garments to the poor, and himself wore
goatskin and coarse sandals. And thus he con-
tinued to watch with prayer and fasting, singing
without ceasing the psalms of his fair religion.
But after the lapse of another three years, the
Nakhapet was succeeded by one whom they called
Knaric. A certain scribe of his came to the
prison and tried to ensnare the blessed one, and
said to him : '' For thee alone the land of the

^ Nakhapet is old Armenian for "prince." It is here less a proper
name perhaps than an official designation.

ttniversitt)

266 Monuments of Ea^^ly Christianity,

Arians was not sufficient, that thou hast gone
astray from Magism, driving thyself a captive
from the whole land, and straying from thy re-
ligion." The saint gave answer and said : '' All
who lack knowledge by nature wait upon the
craftsmen who have it, and the animals are the
slaves of their owners. Even so men ought to
serve God alone, their Maker. Wherefore I,
also, in my negligence have been the servant of
vanity ; but when God took pity on me, He took
my thoughts and enchained them with the love
of His commandments, and bathed them in the
hope of His grace, which the temptations of life
will not avail to change." But when the scribe of
the court heard this, he leapt to his feet with rage,
and began to beat him mercilessly with a club.
And he inflicted many other tortures of various
kinds upon the saint, that he might persuade him
to keep his Magism.

At that time the king heard of the much violence
and sufferings which his officers inflicted upon the
land of the Armenians, and he sent three rulers,
trusty men, to inspect the country ; the name of
one was Nati, which is called Drowandacan, and
of the second Peroz, who was chief Magus of the
district Rei, and of the third Choyap, who was a
royal minister ; and these came into Armenia and
worked many reforms. But on a certain day
they held a public assembly, and were sitting in
the court of justice about the edict of the king.
At that same time some impious men gave in-
formation to the rulers, saying : " There are three

Acts of S. HiztiboMzit. 267

men in prison who have abandoned our religion
and have embraced Christianity ; one Nerses, a
Rajik, and one Sahak, from Atropatacan, and Hiz-
tibouzit, a Persian." And they commanded that
they bring them before them. The chief Magus
said to Nerses : " Why hast thou become a Chris-
tian ?" The saint answered : " My mother was a
Christian, and from my childhood I was brought
up in the Christian faith ; I know not your religion
at all." Then they put the question to Sahak, and
he said : " From my childhood I had become a
Christian." But the blessed Hiztibouzit stood be-
hind, and in a weak voice he was singing the
sixth Psalm : ''O Lord rebuke me not in Thy anger,
neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure." And
the judge separated them, and said to Hiztibouzit :
" Woe to thee, wretch, why hast thou abandoned
the religion of light and believed in the dark and
obscure faith of Christianity, and that after thou
hadst zealously sacrificed to fire ?" The saint re-
plied : "Aye, after sacrificing, and I know Magism
better than thyself; and if thou command me to
speak and make it clear, thou shalt learn how
much better is Christianity than all the ceremonies
which I have explored and clearly comprehended.
Christianity alone has the power to save from the
terrible death." And when the chief Magus heard
this, he ordered his servants to rend the saint's
tunic and to tear off his cowl ; and they beat the
head of the blessed one and tore out his beard
by the roots. And once more they ordered that
the three blessed ones be kept safe for three days ;

2 68 Monuments of Early Christianity,

and after that they brought them up, but could
not persuade them. Then they confined them in
a single house without food ; and the chief Magus
gave orders to send up smoke all the night. ^ The
saints, in their torment, cried out and said : " O
God, look upon us to help us, and, O Lord, hasten
to assist us." And thus they continued to sing
hymns until the dawn. And they remained in
the prison ten days ; but on a certain night, on
the Lord's day, on the which Hiztibouzit was to
suffer martyrdom, a vision appeared to him. A
certain man had in his hand a rod, and touched
him on the head therewith ; and the blood flowed
down between his eyes. And then there appeared
three radiant men, who drove away the man who
struck him, and bringing a crown of choice pearls
set it on his head. But he was overjoyed and
told his companions ; and they knew^ that his hour
was come. And at early morn there came trusty
men to take the saints to the prison, and the
chief executioner came to the prison to lead him
away, and he bade farewell to his brethren and de-
parted. But as he went he continued to sing the
fourth Psalm, beginning it as he left the prison,
and going on till he came to the place where was
the court : "When I cried out Thou didst hear
me according to Thy righteousness, from my tri-
bulation didst Thou give me peace." And having
finished the psalm he came to the place of the

* Whether by way of torturing the confined saints or simply as a
religious function is not clear, nor is it clear who sent up the smoke.
Presumably the Magi with their censers.

Acts of S. Hiztibouzit, 269

court. And when the Christians heard, they all
ran together to behold the combat and victory of
the saint. But the holy HIztlbouzIt stood up
before the four judges. And they prepared three
crosses for those condemned to death. And when
these were brought forward, the chief Magus said
to the saint : " Dost thou behold yon trees, upon
which thou art about to die ? Have pity on thy-
self, neither persist In thy obstinacy." The saint
made answer : " Nay, all the more am I set firm In
Christ, who Is my hope ; but do thou fulfil that
which Is commanded thee concerning me." And
he ordered him to be crucified ; and the saint
with ready heart and joyful mind went to the
cross, and they took from him and deprived him
of what poor raiments he had. The blessed one
said : " This is as It should be, for my Lord's Son,
the only-born Saviour, when by His own will He
was crucified, was nailed naked upon the Cross,
in order that He might put on the nakedness of
our first father, who will give me also strength to
overcome In my body the deceits of Satan." And
having stretched himself out upon the tree he be-
gan to say the forty-third Psalm : " Arise, O Lord,
and help us and save us because of Thy name ; we
were numbered as sheep for slaughter." But when
the cross was set up the chief of the Magi sent
to him. In the hope that he might be converted.
But the saint spurned his message and gave no
answer ; and remained tied to the cross in the
crowded court, and they pierced his side with
arrows (or javelins).

270 Monuments of Early Christianity,

It chanced upon the same day that they crucified
two men condemned to death, and these they
crucified along with him. One of them was of
the tribe of Khoujik ; and he when he was brought
to the cross kissed the feet of the holy martyr,
and taking up the clay mixed with the blood
which trickled from the martyr, he plunged it in
his bosom. But the chief executioner struck him
on the head with his fist, and they crucified him
on the right hand of the martyr, and into him
they drove the javelin^ and so he yielded up his
spirit. But the other one was a Jew, who when
they brought him to the cross, cried out to the
judges : " Destroy me not, I embrace Magism."
But the judges did not understand him, and they
hung him on the tree to the left of the saint.
And the blessed one was thus offered up as a
sacrifice between two malefactors on a hill top,
opposite the sun and before all the multitude.

And therein lay a wonderful mystery ; for there
was remembered unto him the word of the Lord,
according to the true promise which says that :
*' He who belie veth in Me, the work which I do,
he also shall do, and still greater things than that."
And the apostle says : '* Whom Thou foreknewest,
Thou didst predestine to be sharers of the likeness
of the image of Thine own Son." And thus the
holy Hiztibouzit bravely suffered martyrdom in
the forty-third year of King Khosrow, on the
second day of the month Kalotz, on the Lord's

^ Cp. Jno. £v., 19, 34, and the Introduction, p. 258.

Acts of S. Hiztibouzit. 271

day, at the third hour. And it was ordered that
they should keep the body of the blessed one
upon the tree. But the faithful, by the help of
God, took the body of the saint and wrapped it
in precious raiment and deposited it in a resting-
place with brilliant honours, celebrating as a
festival with great joy the day on which the light
thus shone and rejoiced the souls of orthodox
believers ; inasmuch as it is meet to render
to the Saviour of all, Jesus Christ our Lord,
together with the one Almighty Father and Holy
Spirit, glory and honour now and for ever.

ACTS OF S. CALLISTRATUS.

INTRODUCTION.

The following martyrdom has hitherto been known through
the text of the metaphrast alone ; of which the Latin form
published in the Acta Sanctorum under
Sept. 26th (Sept. vii. 190) is no more than These Acts
a translation. From a comparison of the taiiedbv^Wie
Armenian text with that of the metaphrast metaphrast.
we are able to learn how much of its local
colour and freshness, as well as of the actual history and doc-
trine which it contained, might disappear from an earlier docu-
ment, when it was revised and cut down by the tenth-century
editor. The metaphrast's recension moreover seems to have
effectually supplanted all earlier texts ; for an early eleventh
century codex in the Bodleian library (Cod. Or. Baroc. 230)
merely gives the metaphrast's form just as it is printed in the
Migne's Patrologia Grceca. Nor is there any trace of an early
Latin form, though the Armenian text states that it was
originally written in that language.

There is a homily of Basil the Great (Migne, Patrol. Gr.
xxxi., p. 149) entitled : cis tov<^ ay iovi reaa-apaKovTa />iapTvpa9,
which some have referred to Callistratus and
his companions. But Calhstratus and his I^ot known to
r 11 4. jir^ J r • Basil the

fellow-martyrs were fifty and not forty m Great.

number, nor is there a single feature in
common between the very vague and rhetorical account of
Basil and these Acts. Basil does not mention a single name,
and all that we can gather from his homily is that forty soldiers
were, under some emperor who is not named and in some city
which is not specified, marched out naked on a cold winter's
night across a frozen lake, were exposed to the tortures of cold

2 74 Monuments of Early ChHstianity.

and then marched back and burned alive ; the mother of one
of them urging her son, who shrank back, to share the fate of
his comrades. It is clear that Basil's forty martyrs were not
those to whom our Acts refer.

There are many points of interest in this piece to which we
will now briefly allude. There is first the curious story of the
martyr's ancestor, Neocoros as the Greek
Allusion to calls him, or Ocorus according to the Ar-
Tradition as menian, who had been at Jerusalem an eye-
opposed to r y ^ -i \ • r

books. Witness of the death and resurrection of

Jesus, and then returning to his city had

bequeathed his testimony and teaching to his descendants.

Though we may rightly put aside as fable such a story, yet it

seems to indicate that in many regions, down to even late in

the third century, the Christian tenets were passed on from

father to son not through books, but by oral tradition.^ Had

this not been the case, such a story as the above could not

have found its way into our narrative ; for the idea of private

oral tradition as opposed to the written gospel must have been

familiar to the minds of the readers to whom these Acts were

addressed. Nor are there wanting signs of

Evidence of j.j^g j^j-g promulgation in some parts of the

earlv Acts to *

proves the ancient world of our present gospels. In

general dif- Africa, for example, we have the admission of

fusion of Cyprian that the apostolical teaching of the

anomca ^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^^ Jesus in the last Supper was

have been late, not known in the diocese of Carthage until

his own generation. This implies that the

synoptic gospels were not known in Africa before the third

century. Callistratus refers to the Gospel of John, but not to

the synoptics. In the Acts of Indus and Domna we hear that

the Acts of the Apostles and of the fourteen Epistles of Paul

were in the hands of the martyrs in question, but not it seems

^ Clem. Alex., Strom., lib. i. p. 275, ed. Paris. 'AXX* 01 ft^v Tf|v dXri^
Tfjs (laKopCas <rwtovT€S 8i8acrKaX£as irapdSoo-iv, €v0vs ciiro II^Tpou tc Kal
'laKwpov, 'ludwov n Kal IlavXov, rdiv clyCwv dirooToXwv, irais irapd
irarpos 4k8cx<$H^vos (oXC-yoi h\ ol irarpdo-iv 8p,oioi), tJkov 8f| <rvv 0€«{i Kal
</< i\^hs rd irpcyoviKd <K«iva Kal d-iroflrroXiKd KaTaBrjo-dficvoi <nr<pp*iTa.

Acts of S. Callistratus. 275

any written gospel. And it may be remarked that these two
saints celebrated their Eucharist with water, as did the Cartha-
ginian churches, until Cyprian promulgated among them the
" apostolical " teaching as to the use of bread and wine. The
hero of the Acts before us, Callistratus, seems in the same way
to have used water in his Eucharist ; so we may infer from the
passage on p. 292. All the passages relating to the diffusion
of the N. T. Scriptures which are contained in trustworthy
martyrdoms need to be carefully collected and the results
tabulated ; so as to gain an idea of what writings were diffused
and where. It would seem as if the martyrs often had the
apocryphal gospels. For example, Callistratus certainly had
the Descent into Hell and the Gospel of the Infancy, preserved
to us in Arabic and Armenian. S. Polyeuctes of Melitene
similarly must have had the Acts of Pilate or some such Scrip-
ture, which he called " the history of Christ." S. Eugenia at
Alexandria about 200 a.d. had a gospel, but her citation does
not agree with our existing gospels. And to speak generally,
it must strike every reader of the older martyrdoms that the
writings best known to the saints were not the canonical
gospels, but the Epistles of Paul and the Psalms. Of the
canonical gospels, that of John seems to have been diffused
before the others.

The statement met with in chap. III. (p. 293) of these Acts as
to the language in which they were first written presents dififi-
culty. The Latin words in which the cap-
tain addresses Callistratus are transliterated "Were these

in the Armenian, and the fellow-soldiers of 4-f *^ origm-
^ „. ' • c ^ cr ally written

Callistratus answer the question of the officer ^^ Latin ?

as to who is the delinquent also in Latin :
"bonus miles." Then the narrative continues; "which is
translated Callistratus. And the captain commanded him to
be brought before him, and said to him in the Roman tongue,
for the captain could not understand Greek, because the
Romans cannot at once speak Greek on account of the rich-
ness of the tongue. And he said to him : Quid dicunt socii
propter te, celerius die. Which is translated : What do thy
companions say about thee, quickly say. This history," the

mriV^ERSITY

276 Monuments of Early Christianity.

Acts proceed, " was written in the Roman tongue, et cet."
From the whole passage we learn —

1. That the captain only spoke Latin and did not under-
stand Greek.

2. The rank and file could answer the captain in Latin.

3. These Acts were originally written in Latin.

But we are left in doubt as regards the following points : —

1. Did the rank and file talk Greek among themselves, only
answering their officer in Latin ?

2. Was the language into which the Acts were " learnedly "
translated Greek ?

3. Who are the " we " for whom the Acts were translated
and who, on receiving them, disseminated them, retaining how-
ever the Latin words which still appear even in the Armenian ?

Question (2) must certainly receive an affirmative answer.
Question (i) is not so easy of answer. The use of the singular
verb: "for the captain did not understand Greek," perhaps
implies that the common soldiers did understand Greek and
were Greeks. Their names given in chap. VIIL are for the
most part Greek names. It is supposed by the BoUandist
editor that they came from the Greek city Chalcedon, oppo-
site Constantinople, and that the city of Rome where the
martyrdom took place is Constantinople. The Arm. reads
Chalcedon.

On the other hand, if so, why were the original Acts written

in Latin ? The statement that they were so, points rather to

Carthage as the region whence these recruits

WasCallis- ^^^ y^^^^^ \qV\^^ against their will, and to
tratus a
Carthaginian? Rome in Italy as the scene of the martyr-
dom. The metaphrast reads Kapx'i^<^»'-
Nor are we helped to a decision by the notice near the end
of the Acts to the effect that "a scribe of the court listened
to the words of Callistratus during the night, and wrote them
down on paper in shorthand and gave them to us and we
arranged truly the history of the meditation (? = ^irtriyScv-
/xaro?)." Is this " we " the same as the former '* we " ? Pro-
bably not. Rather it must be the author of the Latin Acts
who "arranged the history"; and the former '•^we'' must refer

Acts of S. Callistratus. 277

to the persons who got these translated into Greek and dis-
seminated them among the faithful.

I am inclined on the whole to think that the Carchedon of
these Acts was Carthage in Africa, and that the martyrdom
was in Rome. If the original Acts were in Latin, then
Callistratus must have spoken in Latin, and the shorthand
writer who took him down must have taken him down in
Latin. But this is unlikely to have been
the case in Constantinople. It is true that The Scene of
Callistratus in chap. v. is cast into the sea, t> ^^ ^^ q^
and that this could have occurred at Con- stantinople?
stantinople, but not in Rome. But firstly,
this entire incident is so mixed up with fable, that we are
probably entitled to regard it as an interpolation absent from
the original Latin text ; and, secondly, the forty-nine fellow-
sufferers of the saint are thrown into a lake, columbethra or
piece of artificial water, which was called Oceanus. There is
nothing to prevent there having been such a columbethra in
Rome, though I can find no trace of it in the works of
archaeologists. Could one identify this detail either in Rome
or Constantinople the whole question would be settled.

There is one statement which favours the view that
Constantinople was the scene of the martyrdom, namely that
" we built in Rome in the name of the Holy CaUistratus a
place of expiation for sinners and a meeting-house of union
for angels and men." For we hear of no Church of Callistratus
in Rome, but we do hear of one in Constantinople.

The above discussion has a bearing on the date at which

these Acts had assumed the form in which the Armenian

presents them. If Constantinople was the

scene of martyrdom, then as Constantine Date of these

Acts A D
did not invent the title of New Rome till 300-350.'

A.D. 325, these Acts must be subsequent to

that date. On the other hand if the old Rome was the scene,

then they may have been composed a little earlier. The

extreme importance attached to a right understanding of the

dogma of the Trinity indicates that they were composed

between a.d. 300 and 350. But one does not know whether

278 Montcments of Early Christianity,

or not to attribute the whole of these lengthy dogmatic

disquisitions to the martyr about to die. They impress me

personally as the genuine discourse delivered by him, merely

arranged and touched up by a second hand.

However this may be, these Acts still retain their value as a

picture of the mind and character of an early fourth-century

saint. Of peculiar interest is the admixture in his creed of

elements drawn from apocryphal gospels with those taken from

the canonical gospels, especially that of S.

Early doctrine John's. Of still higher interest is the early
of Purgatory . , ^ ^

in these Acts. representation we here get of a purgatory

of souls. The Mechitarist editor prefixes
thereto a note to the effect that it is not orthodox, and that he
only adds it because it is part of his old literature. It seems
indeed to be akin to Origen's beliefs, and it makes room for
the conversion after death of infidels by the grace of God
acting in response to the tears and prayers of their Christian
kinsfolk. I do not know of any other similar sketch of the
same age of the condition of the souls of the departed. Even
if it was not actually delivered by Callistratus, it yet has a
lasting value for the history of Christian opinion. We may
indeed say of these Acts as a whole what a great teacher, who
has lately passed from our midst, says of the Phaedo of Plato :
"How far the words attributed to Socrates were actually
uttered by him we forbear to ask ; for no answer can be
given to this question. And it is better to resign ourselves
to the feeling of a great work, than to linger among critical
uncertainties."^

For these Acts are, like the Phaedo, "a great work," and
express for us the genius of fourth-century faith as the Phaedo

expresses the genius of Athenian speculation

Their resem- \^ ^^ j^ge earlier by seven centuries. In

blances to .° ., ,.^1 . . ^,

Plato' sPhsedo. ^P^^^ ^^ ^'^^ ^'^"^ difference m time there is
much in common between the two works.
The scene is laid in both within the walls of a prison, and

* See Dialogues of Plato, translated by Jowett, 2nd edition, vol. i. p.
428.

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 279

the shadow and awe of impending, but undeserved, death
invests with a solemn earnestness the discourse in which each
teacher hastens to impart to a band of eager disciples his
last thoughts concerning the soul and the mysteries of the
life after death. The irony of Socrates has its counterpart
in the humility of the Christian Saint, in his distrust of his
own power to adequately set forth his saving truths. Neither
is the substance and net result of their teaching so very
different in the two cases, if we make abstraction of certain
intellectual peculiarities due to the diversity of their ages.
Yet there is one great difference.

In Socrates we listen to the voice of a fellow-explorer, to the
voice of one who speaks to us not with an air of authority, but
with arguments, in order to persuade us
and win our rational assent. His appeal lies Contrast in
to our private judgment, as does the appeal spirit between
r ^ 1 .u- 1 • . A Greek Philoso-

01 every real thmker ancient or modern. phers and

But in Callistratus' addresses we seem to Christian

listen to the voice of a church that is willing Church,

to enlighten us, but not to argue with us ;
that has truth to impart, but only in a dogmatic fashion; that
demands our assent, but only as a despotism demands obedi-
ence from its subjects.

For the appeal of a fourth-century theologian lay not to the
free reason and judgment of men, but to their submissive
faith. And if it be borne in mind that the

pagan cults of the third and fourth century Secret of the

, . . , . , success of the

were, as theories of the universe and as early Church.

moral systems, far inferior to Christianity,

that they were losing their hold on the best minds and

were everywhere crumbling to decay, it will be seen that the

authoritative and infallible air and attitude assumed by the

Catholic Church was not only warranted by the intrinsic

superiority of its moral and theoretic teachings, but was better

calculated than any other to lead to success and conquest of

the world. Men in doubt, who felt the insufficiency of their

inherited paganism, drifted naturally towards a church which

allowed of no doubts, and which by professing to be divine

28o Monuments of Early Christianity.

and always the same, still seems to offer a ttov o-tC) to all who
wish to act and must act; but who do not think, either
because the cares of life press on them and leave no leisure,
or because they are too timid to face the problems of the
Infinite.

In conclusion, a few words may be allowed in regard to the
tortures inflicted on martyrs. The punishment of laying a
man down on his back and pouring water down his throat

through a funnel, which we hear of in these

The torture ^^^^ ^^^^ j.^^^ ^^ jg^g|. j j^^^g ^^^ ^^^ ^j^j^

inflicted on . , , . rr^, , , - r

early martjrrs. ^^ '" ^"X other Acts. 1 he whole question of

the rationale of the punishments and tortures

to which the Christian confessors were subjected is an obscure

one and has not been fairly worked out, mainly owing to the

assumption made by nearly all writers, that Christians were

treated in an exceptional manner and not merely as other

criminals. The ancient Greeks, who were

Superior more humane than the Romans in these

humanity of matters, never tortured free citizens. Even

ancient Greeks ^h^ thirty Tyrants at Athens, who were in

to Romans . ^ ■' . / , ,

and Christian ^ subsequent age notorious for cruelty and

Church. usurpation, were restrained either by their

own humanity or the public feeling of
Athens from inflicting any other penalty on their most hated
opponent Socrates, than painless extinction by a cup of hem-
lock. Had Socrates suffered as a Christian martyr at the
hands either of the Roman Government or of any of the so-
called orthodox Christian Churches of a later day, he would
probably have been first subjected to the most revolting tortures
and at the last burned alive. None but slaves could be
tortured in ancient Greece, and they under restrictions which
must have mitigated their treatment. For example, the party
claiming to torture a slave had to make good to his owners
any harm done to him.

Now the end aimed at in torture was to make a slave give
the evidence wanted by one or the other of the parties in a
lawsuit. It was purely judicial and it was only applied to
slaves who might be called on to give evidence in a law

Acts of S. Callistratus. 281

court. They were tortured just as we have oaths admin-
istered to us, and their evidence was not
supposed to be of any value unless given End of

under torture of some kind. It was usually torture was
first applied in a private chamber, before the evidence°from
slave was produced in the open court. It witnesses.

is proof of the extraordinary hold which this
belief had on the mind of the best of the ancients, that
Aristotle and Cicero held it firmly.

During .the republican epoch of Rome and under the early
emperors free citizens were never subjected to torture ; but
under the worse emperors who succeeded,

their exemption ceased, at least in the case ■'■* "^^^ ^*

^ . J r • ^ u • u .u first confined

of those accused of majestas or high-treason. ^^ slaves.

But the torture was only for the purpose of
extracting evidence from them. The idea of torturing men
by way of punishing them for their religious opinions was
alien to the Roman mind. It was the Christian Church that
first instituted religious persecution in the true sense of the
phrase, i.e.^ as punishment of purely speculative tenets.

Now there can hardly be a doubt that Christians were
tortured for the same reason that slaves were tortured, namely
in order to extract evidence required of them,
and to force from them certain admissions. Torture of

That this is so is clear from Pliny's letter ^f-^^^ Chris-
(96) to Trajan asking for guidance in regard ^ judiciuL ^

to "cognitiones de Christianis." He writes
thus: "Interim in iis qui ad me tanquam Christiani deferebantur
hunc sum secutus modum. Interrogavi ipsos an essent Chris-
tiani. Confitentes iterum ac tertio interrogavi, supplicium
minatus : perseverantes duci iussi. Neque enim dubitabam,
qualecunque esset quod faterentur, pertinaciam certe et inflex-
ibilem obstinationem debere puniri." Later in the same letter
he writes: "Quo m.agis necessarium credidi ex duabus ancillis,
quae ministrae dicebantur, quid esset veri et per tormenta
quaerere. Nihil aliud inveni quam superstitionem pravam
immodicam." Trajan answers that the Christians "puniendi
sunt, ita tamen ut qui negaverit se Christianum esse idque

282 Monuments of Early Christianity.

re ipsa manifestum fecerit, id est supplicando dis nostris,
quamvis suspectus in praeteritum, veniam ex paenitentia
impetret." Hence it is clear that the torture applied by
Pliny was simply judicial, in order to extract a statement from
the accused adverse to Christianity, a denial of their faith, or
else to get at the truth about so obscure a religion. These
Christians therefore suffered as witnesses in the strict sense.
The design of the judge was to make them say what they were
wanted to say. They were not tortured as Christians, but as
witnesses called on to give evidence in a law-court. It was an
easy and natural mental transition from the conception of a
Christian suffering as a judicial witness to that of him as wit-
nessing by his suffering to the truth of the faith.

It is not easy to say when the word fxaprvp acquired the new

sense of a Christian confessor, who had shed his blood for the

faith. It seems to bear this sense in Acts

The word xxii. 20 ; Rev. xvii. 6, and perhaps Ep. to

martyr got its ^^5 ^ii. i. In Rev. iii. 14 fxaprvs bears

sense about ^^^ sa.n\e sense. Perhaps the Acts and

A.D. 100. Revelation and Hebrews were not written

till the end of the first century, and that is
why this use occurs in them when it occurs nowhere else in
the N.T. The apostles are witnesses of the resurrection (Acts
ii. 32), and Jesus is Himself the witness to God. And the
latter use seems already to have been so long and so generally
recognised as the sense Kar' i$o)(r}v of the word that the martyrs
of Vienne, in Euseb. 5. 2. i, in their humility disclaimed the
title.

The tortures inflicted on martyrs were in the main those of
which we hear in earlier times as inflicted on witnesses, espe-
cially on slaves. In Cicero we hear of the candentes lamime
or red hot plates, which we often read of in the martyrdoms.
The eculeus or horse-rack was also used to martyrs. The
magistrates as a rule threatened their Christian victims before
applying torture, and the prisoner could always escape the
penalty by conforming to the pagan rites, by sacrificing to the
statue either of the emperor or of the gods. In all cases the
objection of the Christians to do what was demanded of them

Acts of S. Callistrahis. 283

seems to have been dictated by their monotheism. The Jews

all over the empire would have had the same scruples and

would certainly have died rather than violate

them. Hence it is clear that the persecution The command

of the Christians had nothing to do with ^° sacrifice
, . 1 • . . . r ^ , r ^ mere test of

their monotheistic rejection of the cult of Christian

the emperor and of pagan rites in general, opinion.

and the command to sacrifice and swear by
the emperor's genius was chosen by the authorities as an easy
and convenient test of the sincerity of their convictions. If
their refusal to sacrifice and to conform to the state religion
had been the real gravamen against them, then the Jews would
have been equally liable to prosecution and martyrdom.

In what then did the offence of the Christians lie, if not in
their haughty rejection of popular cults ? What was it about
the new religion which made even the pro-
fession of the name of Christian a capital For their

offence? Here is a question which seems offence lay

, , ^ - . not m their

never to have been answered quite satis- monotheism

factorily. Jewish monotheism was from the
first recognised and tolerated by the Romans as a respectable
cult. "Judaeorum sola et misera gentilitas unum et ipsi deum,
sed palam, sed templis, aris, uictimis coerimoniisque coluerunt,"
says the opponent of Christianity in the Apology of Minucius
Fehx (ch. 10, 4).

I believe that the original prejudice against Christianity was
purely social and popular and well-merited. It sprang from
the flagitia of the Christians, and these con-
sisted of the many actions and abstentions -^^^ ^^ their
r .• u T--U.U r\.. anti-social

from action by which they were felt to menace tendencies •

the whole structure and permanence of so-
ciety and of recognised social institutions. Let us enumerate
some of them.

I. There was first that rejection of family ties and relation-
ships which accompanied the belief that the world was speedily
and any day coming to an end. Young men and maidens
were taught not to marry, husbands and wives not to co-
habit and beget any more children. Eunuchism, because of

284 Monuments of Eaidy ChHstianity.

the kingdom of heaven, was even tolerated by the very

founder of the reh'gion. And all this just at a time when the

most thoughtful and patriotic of the Romans

e.g. their ^^g^e deploring the decay of population all

family ties ^^^^ ^^ empire, and were even making laws

against celibacy and holding out rewards to

married men with families.

2. There was the interference with family relations. The

first duty of the convert was to the body of ecstatic religionists

with whom he had been induced to ally himself All the most

sacred duties of the old world were to yield to the necessities

of that body : " Another of the disciples said

in their unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and

wit^h^fa^r ^"^y ""y ^^^^^^- -^"^ J^^^^ ^^'^^ ""^^ ^'"^'
relations Follow Me ; and leave the dead to bury

their own dead." That is to say, none but
those who believed in His Messiahship and in the imme-
diate inauguration by Him of the kingdom of heaven, were
really alive. The rest of mankind were dead and the convert
had no duties towards them. " Think not that I came to send
peace on the earth : I came not to send peace but a sword :
For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law : and a man's foes shall be they of his own
household. He that loveth father and mother more than Me
is not worthy of Me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more
than Me is not worthy of Me."

Even if this open trampling on the oldest and most sacred
of human instincts and affections was not actually inculcated
by Jesus of Nazareth, it was certainly urged by the millenarist
society which He founded, or it would not be so prominent
in all the gospels. It must have excited sorrow and indigna-
tion in thousands of hitherto happy and united households.
Unfortunately the Church has destroyed the works of profane
observers like Celsus, from whom we could have formed an
idea of the havoc wrought. In the story of Thekla, who in
response to the new teaching throws over her betrothed lover,
abandons her sorrowing family and unsexes herself by leaving

Acts of S. Callistj-atus. 285

her home disguised in male attire, we have recorded what must
have been a typical case.

3. Nor did the Christian nihihsm destroy the ties of senti-
ment and affection alone. The early Church was a com-
munistic society, and those who joined it handed over into
the control of its officers whatever private means they pos-
sessed. We to-day are not slow to resent the action of
brothers or sisters who joining some re-
ligious society, with whose methods and comm^Tsm,
creeds we have no sympathy, make over to

it property which in the natural course of things would have
benefited ourselves and our children. Parallel cases there must
have been by tens of thousands between the years 50 and
150 A.D.

4. Along with the rejection of family ties and affections
there went a refusal to fulfil the leading duties of citizenship.
The converts to Christianity refused to bear arms and defend
civilization from its external enemies. Their refusal to take
oaths in itself prevented them from serving as soldiers ; for the
armies took the sacramentum afresh with the accession of each
new emperor. It also prevented them from entering the
public courts of law either as judges or parties to a suit.

5. A modern divine has said that a modern state which
should attempt to regulate its external policy purely according
to the precepts of the gospel, that should

turn the other cheek to the smiter and re- in their

resist not evil, could not endure even for a . elevation of
' . T 1 improvidence

short time. Justice and morality however and poverty-
is not of one kind for a state and of another into virtues,
for the individual; and if we have to-day
achieved a level of prosperity and comfort for all classes, far
short, it is true, of what is desirable, yet much above anything
the world has yet witnessed, it has certainly not been achieved
by a following of the gospel precepts to take no thought for
the morrow and to imitate the lilies of the field, which toil not
neither do they spin. On the contrary, the latter phrase is ap-
plied nowadays by democratic leaders in reproof of an indolent
aristocracy. The early Christians dreamed that the morrow

286 Monuments of Early Christianity.

would bring the millennium ; there was therefore no need to
take thought for it, no necessity to lay up riches on earth.
Such teaching must quickly lead to misery and destitution
among those who literally practise it, and the saints of Jeru-
salem, who perhaps strove to do so longer than did other
congregations, soon became a burthen on the Christians of
other regions.

6. Repudiation and ridicule of other religious cults was of
course no less characteristic of the Jews than of the Chris-
tians. But then in the Jews it was not part
in their more of a general moral and social nihilism. The
propaganda, J^"^^^^ monotheistic progaganda moreover
could not make way like the Christian, be-
cause it imposed circumcision on the proselyte; for which
reason, as Renan has pointed out, it spread more among the
women than among the men. This explains how it was that
the Jews, hated as they were by the populace, were yet never
the objects of penal legislation. Their religion was never put
under ban and a systematic attempt made to extirpate it.
They were dreaded less, because their propaganda was slower,
and still more because its missionaries did not preach that the
end of the world was at hand, and persuade people to behave
as if it were really so. The Jewish religion moreover was more
open and public, and in its sacrificial system resembled other
cults. The Christians on the other hand

o'i'thtirrTtes^ ^"^PP*=d "P 'heir rites in mystery. They
met by night and were pledged not to re-
veal the secrets of their religion. A long catechumenate
was necessary in order to baptism, and one who was not
initiated could no more witness their rites or join in their wor-
ship than an Englishman can at the present day enter a
Hindoo temple. As late as the middle of the third century
Babylas, bishop of Antioch, endured martyrdom rather than
allow the Emperor Decius to enter the church when the con-
gregation was met therein.

The teaching of early Christianity was thus altogether sub-
versive of ancient society. So it would be of modern society,
and any one set of people who should literally carry it out in

Acts of S. Callistratus. 287

their conduct would very soon come into conflict with estab-
lished law and morality, and would certainly descend sooner
or later into beggary and destitution. A system of ethics in-
spired by the belief that the existing order
of things is shortly to succumb and by an Early Chris-
abrupt peripety give way to a kingdom of tianitywas
, . ^ , . , / , ° , subversive of

neaven, m which angels and superhuman society.

agencies will supersede the slow and arduous
methods and industry of this earth, — such a system will not
much avail us until the promise is fulfilled ; we shall be fortu-
nate if it does not put us into much useless conflict with the
old and permanent constitution of things. Into such conflict
the early Christians fell. They were regarded, and rightly, as
enemies of the human race. If it is possible to endorse any
judgment of the past we may endorse this one of the authori-
ties of the Roman empire.

The Christians waited and waited for the heavenly bride-
groom who was to come like a thief in the night. Gradually
the form of their enthusiasm changed, when
the world continued its course undisturbed It was soon

as before and yet no signs of the second ^°^^®^ *° °°^-
, All,, . promise with

advent. And then they began to compromise ^i^e world

with the world which was after all so stable,

and they laid up their old millenarist system of faith and

morality " like a pattern in the skies." They recognised it to

be an ideal too good for the earth, and " the virgins began to

marry, "^ and the men to accumulate riches, and to serve in the

armies of the Empire, and in time they forgot all about the

precept "Swear not at all," and frequented the law courts like

other people, and left to posterity the entire Corpus iuris

ciuilis,^

But the early period of Christianity had lasted long enough

for it to become the fixed and justifiable belief of ancient

society that a Christian was a perverse being who believed the

^ In this connection we may note how the phrase "to leave the world
(Koo-fJtov)," which in an earlier age simply meant to become a Christian,
came in the third or fourth century to denote the monastic life.

288 Monuments of Early Christianity,

end of all things to be imminent, and was therefore ready to
subvert and sweep away every institution,
yet not before social and political. Dynamite and ex-
it had estab- plosions apart, the Christians of this first
reputation for ^g^ resembled the most extreme of the
Flagitia. Russian nihilists, and it cannot be denied

that the Roman government had as good
grounds for trying to eradicate them as the Russian has
for trying to make an end of nihilists. Of the history of
Christianity between a.d. 40 and 120 we have few direct
monuments, because people who thought the end of the world
was at hand did not want to write history.^ They did not look
forward to posterity ; indeed they did not believe in it. All
their care was to get themselves ready for the imminent crisis.
When a conviction is once ingrained in a society and in a
conservative bureaucracy that a particular set of people are
dangerous, it is difficult to remove it. The Christians little
by little parted with their early dreams, and began to com-
promise with the world and live like sober citizens. But it
needed generations to pass away before the belief died out for
which they had at first given ground that they were enemies of
the human race.

^ Another reason why so little of the earliest Christian literature has
survived is, that it was too impregnated with wild Chiliastic dreams to suit
post-Nicene readers, who therefore took no trouble to make copies of it.
Even Papias on this account seemed to Eusebius to be <r4><$8pa (r|i.iKp6s
Tov vovv. The Greek Irenoeus has vanished for a similar reason. Paul's
letters and the gospels have remained, because they were saner than other
writings of the first age.

THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY CALLI-
STRATUS, AND THE FORTY AND NINE
MARTYRS THAT WERE WITH HIM.

I. In the times when Diocletian was emperor,
there was much fury on the part of the heathen ;
and not only did they, because they knew not
God, work destruction to their own selves, but
they tried to seduce all men to conform to their
unholy cult. And those who did so conform,
especially those who were in high places, not only
received honours from the Emperor, but also
made much parade of themselves in the great
army. But those who avowed their faith in
Almighty God, and in His word, and in the Holy
Spirit, were subjected to interrogatories, and to
torture, and so received the speedy crown and the
honour of the glory ; but, humanly speaking,
their flesh was consumed with evil and cruel
tortures.

II. In that time, first and alone, the brave
athlete of Christ, w^hose name was Callistratus,
in the city of Rome, took unto himself the crown
of victory ; and in solemn and sturdy combat he
raised the standard of victory for them who had
believed in the Lord. For this Callistratus was
a soldier of the band which was called Chalcedon ;
because these came after the band of the

290 Monuments of Early Christianity.

Acombiti,^ which was In Chalcedon, men whom
they brought against their will to Rome, according
to the law of conscripts. But Callistratus was of
the district of Chalcedon, of free family, and of
one that was benevolent and was filled with divine
wisdom ; and his great-grandfather, Okorus,^ had
been in Jerusalem in the days of our Lord Jesus
Christ, under Pilate the judge. This Okorus had

* Acombiti is a barbarism for Accubiti.
The metaphrast reads here : —

KciXX£<rTpaTos, 8s rfjs KapxilSoviwv [x^v <S)pfi.T]TO, onreipa tjj twv XoXev-
8(3v X€"YO|x^vx] KarciXtYlvTos, cv 'Pwjji-g, -y^vo^icvos %\ <rvv oXu tw rd'yjJLaTi,
Kop.i8f| veoXcKTos wv.

Under the Earlier empire every Roman citizen was liable to military service
and could be forced to serve, unless he found a substitute or vicarius (Trajan
ep. to Pliny, 30). There was thus no special law making every man liable
to service. From the age of Diocletian onwards, there was a growing
tendency to substitute a money payment for the levy of recruits which a
province had to supply, and to take as soldiers only such men as desired to
serve. So Mommsen {Hermes, vol. 24. art. : " Die romische Militarwesen
seit Diocletian " ) remarks, that the words of Ammianus, 21. 6. 6 : Sup-
plementa legionibus scripta sunt indictis per provincias tirociniis were true
under the old system ; under which, however, professors and doctors
were exempted (Modestians, Dig. 27, i, 6, 8 : |Jif| els oTparefav
KaToX^-yeorOat dKovras). The reference to the law of conscripts may thus,
in these Acts, be retrospective and glance at a system of compulsory military
service which was gradually falling into disuse, as in the fourth century it
actually did. In the inscriptions of an earlier period (second century)
there are references to several Cohortes Chalcidenorum (see Mommsen,
Observ. Epigr., Berlin, 1884, pp. 19;?, 194). But there is only one inscrip-
tion (C. /. L. 2, 2,103) which mentions a Cohors Chalcedonen. In it
Mommsen would change the reading to Chalcidensis. These Acts confirm
the inscription in question. Of a Cohors Carthaginensis after the meta-
phrast's reading nothing is known. In what sense this Cohors " came
after" the Accubiti I do not understand. I presume that the Accubiti were
a cohort privileged to attend on the person of the emperor, a bet! chamber
force, as the term implies. The word occurs in the inscription of Diocletian
regulating prices. Bread and bacon were the regular rations of a Roman
soldier in that, as in earlier epochs. The reading XoXcvSmv or XaXav8MV
for Accubiti I do not understand. ' N«<i>K6pof in the metaphrast.

Acts of S. Callistratus. 291

seen the Saviour on the cross, had witnessed His
death and burial in the tomb, and His resurrection
from the dead, and He beHeved and was baptized
on the day of the holy Pentecost, at the descent
of the Holy Spirit on the holy Apostles, and
He had believed with the Galileans ; and he had
come to his city and there taught his children and
his grandchildren to put their hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ ; and they learned one from the other
and kept up the lore^ in which their great-grand-
father instructed them, right on to the blessed
Callistratus. He alone was a Christian in his
band ; and at every hour he would glorify the
Lord by means of the words of the Holy Spirit.

\\\. Now on a certain night Callistratus arose
and offered prayers to God ; but certain of his
fellow-soldiers noticed this, and began to say to
him : " It is not fitting that thou alone shouldst
be childish among us all ; be persuaded therefore,
and come to the image of Zeus, and take frank-
incense and blood, and sprinkle them upon it, and
become along with us dear to the gods. But if
thou wilt not, then blame us not, because we must
needs inform our captain of all that thou doest."
But the holy Callistratus made answer and said :
" My brethren, why hath Satan filled your minds }
I have not harmed any one of you, nor have I
oppressed any one of you ; in war I am along
with you ; in the register of names I am perhaps
classed before you, but on parade I do not

^ ((JLTTOpeviiaTOS.

292 Monume7its of Early Christianity.

separate myself from you, nor in the squadron do
I pass you by. What reason then have ye now
to speak evil of me, this I know not ; but this I
know that ye have not power to cut me off from
the unspeakable benevolence of Jesus my Saviour
and from His orthodox worship ; not only have ye
no power to do so, but not even many more like
unto you can do so. Let Christ who bore witness
before Pontius Pilate, and of whom my great-
grandfather Okorus was an eye-witness, testify
unto this for me."

When they heard this, they rose at dawn and
informed Presentinus the captain, saying : *' One
of the number of thy soldiers who are under thy
control, rebels against the worship of the gods,
and calls a certain one who is named Christ His
King and God, and he acknowledges Him
crucified ; but he also takes upon himself to
pray and fast, and all his rations of pork and of
good bread he gives to them that need it, and
he himself once a day eats dry bread, dipping
it in water ; but lest he should inspire many of
thy soldiers to revolt with him, therefore we
have laid information before thy serene Majesty."
But Presentinus said : ** Who is he, and what is
his name?" And they said: "Bonus Miles,"
which is, being translated, Callistratus. And
the captain ordered them to bring him before
them ; and he said to him in the Roman tongue,
for the captain did not talk Greek, for the Romans
cannot at once talk Greek, because of the richness
of the tongue. And he said to him : "Quid dicunt

Acts of S. Callistratus, 293

socli tul, propter te, celerius die." Which, being
translated, is : ''What do thy comrades say concern-
ing thee,quickly tell us." This history was written
in the Roman tongue, and thus it is that they
pronounced the words, who knew the language
and translated them, and gave them to us ; and
we, without altering them, sent them on to all
places, which have Christ before their eyes in
faith and holiness.

Callistratus made answer and said : Let them
say, O my Lord, what more they have to say con-
cerning me ; for I know of nothing wrong to impute
to myself." Presentinus said to the slanderers:
" What do ye know concerning Callistratus, boni
militis '^. " But they said : " Nay, rather let your
serene Majesty command him to sacrifice to the
great god Zeus, and thou shalt know then his per-
verse disposition." So the captain said : " Sacrifice^

Callistratus, to the god Zeus." Callistratus said:
" I offer the sacrifice of praise to the great God
who made heaven and earth and everything in His
wisdom ; who fashioned man out of dust, and
fixed his destiny eternal and inviolable ; for I
know not the gods made by hand, but I walk as

1 have learned. For it is written : ^ ' All the idols
of the heathens are demons, but the Lord made
the heavens ; ' and this also : ^ ' The idols of the
heathens are gold and silver made by the hands of
the sons of men.' I therefore, O lord Count, do
not worship or pay homage to the work of men's

* Ps. xcv. 5. 2 ps, cxiii. 4.

294 Monumeftis of Early Christianity.

hands ; but since I am thy enlisted soldier, and
am under thy hand, I have obeyed thee in war
and in drill and in all service ; surely thou hast
not authority over my soul also, that it should
serve thee ? God forbid!" IV. Presentinus said :
"Here, O Callistratus, there is no need for rhetoric,
but we have to talk about obedience ; wherefore
comply and sacrifice, that thou mayst not compel
me to destroy thee in a cruel manner. But I
think that thou too knowest, that when I arrest
any man by force, before torturing him, I consume
him with my roarings." Callistratus said : " Thy
roaring and thy threatening is but transient ; but
the wailing and the gnashing of teeth is eternal.^
For if I deny my Lord Jesus Christ before men,
He will shut me out. He the Master of the house,
and there shall be weeping of eyes and gnashing
of teeth."

Then the captain ordered that he should be
pinioned and beaten with clubs, until eight men
had taken their turn at it. And as they beat him,
the holy Callistratus said : " I have sworn and have
resolved to keep the judgments of thy righteous-
ness, O Lord.^ We were very faint, but do thou
revive me, according to Thy word,^ nor suffer the
destroyer and the many-headed beast to rejoice
over me ; but strengthen me, Christ, and be unto
me a tongue, in order that I may answer, and a
physician, in order that my wounds may be healed ;

* Matt. viii. 12. * Psal. cxviii. 106.

• Psal. cxviii. 107.

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 295

for many pangs have I in my flesh because of
these torments."

But when the captain saw his blood gushing out
in rivulets upon the earth, he ordered them to
cease from beating him ; and he said to him :
''Sacrifice, O Callistratus, to the gods, in order that
thou mayest be saved from instant tortures ; for I
swear by Artemis, crowned with rays, and by all
the company of the gods, unless thou obeyest me,
I will cut thee into bits, and the dogs shall devour
thy flesh and the lions lick up thy blood." Callis-
tratus said : "I hope in the King of Heaven, in
God, that He will bring me out of the mouth of
the lions, and save my helplessness from the hands
of the dogs, in order that not I alone of this thy
band may praise Him ; for I have expectation that
by opposing Him, and going out against Him, I
shall raise the standard of victory over the Devil,
who incites thee against me. V. Then the captain
ordered them to pound up potsherds and to scatter
them beneath him, and to stretch the saint on his
back, so that the potsherds might lacerate his back
and his wounds. And they placed a funnel in his
mouth, and he ordered them to pour water with a
jug into his mouth. But the brave champion of
Christ suffered these tortures with courage. And
when he had risen up, he said : " O God of Abra-
ham, Isaac and Jacob, give me strength to meet the
artifices of the devil ; and save me from him, lest
he destroy me, and lest he find a vantage-ground
against me."

The captain said : '' Sacrifice, O Callistratus, to

296 Monuments of Early Christianity.

the gods ; otherwise I will take away thy life,
that others of this band be not also lost through
thee." The holy Callistratus said : " Unworthy
man, and shameless, thou art eager to do combat
for the flock of Satan, thy master, not knowing that
this flock belongs to my Christ. But I hope in
the King of Heaven, in my Lord Jesus Christ,
that however much thou mayest struggle in behalf
of the Devil, yet I shall take him captive, and shall
snatch them from the number of thy forces, and
illuminate them, and establish the Church of Christ
in the middle of this city." But the captain said :
* * Out on thee, unholy one, and thrice miserable ;
behold my command is urgent before thine eyes.
This instant my government orders me to cast
thee into a sack, and to seal up its mouth, and to
take and throw thee into the middle of the sea.
How then canst thou establish the Church of
Christ, or when wilt thou illuminate any of the
number of the bands of my soldiers ? " And he
ordered them to bring a linen sack, and to throw
him into it, and he sealed the mouth of the sack
with lead, and he gave it into the hands of the
crew, and the crew bore it into the middle of the
sea, about forty furlongs, and threw it into the sea.
And the captain stood on the shore of the sea,
until the sailors came. But the sack went down
and was caught in a hollow of the rocks ; and
even while he was under the sea Callistratus
offered up prayers, saying : ** O God, invisible and
unsearchable, unattainable and unutterable, whose
throne of glory cannot be declared, before whom

Acts of S. Callistratus. 297

all things tremble and quail, whose threats consume
the mountains, and whose name and title cleaves
asunder the abysses, before whom the sea shrinks
abashed along with the rivers and the whales, who
didst search out the heart of Jonas and didst
receive his prayers when he came forth on the
land, even though he was imprisoned as it were in
everlasting bonds, and didst rescue his life from
destruction ; now also receive the prayers of me,
who am a sinner, and in distress, and let my
prayers come to the temple of thy holy glory ;
save me from this present oppression, for thou
hast known my works even from my childhood.
Thou knowest, O Lord, that I desired to establish
Thy Church in the midst of this city ; be my
fellowworker for good, because Holy is Thy
name forever."

And after he had offered his prayer, the sack
chanced upon a narrow passage between rocks,
and was torn asunder, and a certain fish^ of the
dolphin tribe took him and bore him upwards
from the depths to the shore of the sea, and laid
him down upon the sands, and then it turned
round and fled back into the sea. But when the
soldiers and their captain beheld him, they were
much dismayed. But Callistratus began to sing
a psalm and said, " I descended into the depths
of the sea, and the cataracts engulphed me ; ^ but
I was not disquieted, and cried out,^ for Thou
hast heard the voice of my prayer ; Thou hast

1 According to the metaphrast two dolphins.

2 Ps. Ixviii. 3, 4. 3 Ps. XXX. 23.

298 Monuments of Early Christianity.

torn asunder my sack, and hast established me
in gladness."^ VI. Then forty and nine of the
soldiers fell down before the blessed Callistratus,
saying : " We pray thee, servant of God on High,
save us from the vanity of this world, for we also
are Christians ; for great indeed is the God of the
Christians, who hath brought thee out of such an
abyss ; He is able also to help in battle whomso-
ever He will, for He alone is God." The holy
Callistratus said : '' My Lord Jesus Christ shall
deliver you, and henceforth ye shall see the king
of Heaven."

And he prayed thus : " Lord, who hast Thy
dwelling for ever in unapproachable light, look
upon this Thy flock which is in Thee, and pre-
serve them, because Thou art merciful, continually,
and for ever." VH. But Presentinus said, ''I
swear by the sun, by the Emperor, this fellow is
full of exceeding wizardry, for he hath cloven
asunder the sea, and hath tricked these men."
And he said to him : '* I will oppose this wizardry
of thine ; grant me a little while, and thou shalt
know who is Presentinus, and who is the God
whom thou servest." And he sat down upon his
judgment-seat, and ordered them to bring rods,
and he caused the forty and nine men to be
scourged one after the other. But they said,
** Lord Jesus, this torture we endure for Thy
sake ; help us, O God, the Saviour, and give us
strength to bear it ; preserve also our shepherd,

* Ps. xxix. 2.

Acts of S. Callistratus. 299

Callistratus, in order that he may teach us per-
fectly, for we are as it were dumb animals, and
have not the knowledge of Thy will. Look
graciously upon our salvation, for blessed is Thy
name for ever."

VIII. But thereupon the unholy captain ordered
them to be put in prison, in order that he might
think about them : for he was very grieved at
having lost fifty men out of the number of his
soldiers. And when they came into the prison,
the holy Callistratus began to establish with prayer
the forty and nine men, whose names are the fol-
lowing:^ Acacius, Domnasius, Bibianus, Basiliscus,
Bemarchus, Dorotheus, Gerontes, Alpius, Anthi-
mus, Aragseos, Anictus, Bitalius, Grigorius, Geor-
gius, Gigandius, Genadius, Domninus, Dulcimius,
Dometianus, Dedalius, Dalmatius, Eusebius,
Evagrius, Elsiidius, Eutolius, Evarestus, Eva-
grius, Tharasimides, Theodorus, Therasius, Ly-
simachus, Lambliricus, Liminus, Constantinus,
Canditianus, Heliages, Hysicus, Heliodorus,
Memnus, Milinus, Madrinus, Marcianus, Nicatius,
Nicolaius, Olombrius, Utripeus, Olipeus, Xan-
thius. All these fell down before the holy Callis-
tratus, and sought of him the knowledge of Christ.
But the holy martyr of Christ spread out his
hands to heaven, and spoke thus : " O God, who
hast made everything, who art the all-wise Lord
of all, who art praised by the numberless hosts of
angels, who art perfect Creator ; O God of our

^ The metaphrast omits the names. I give the Arm. spelling.

300 Monuments of Early Christianity,

fathers, look down upon this Thy flock ; come
unto us, and be among us ; fulfil, O Lord, Thy
faithful promise, that where two or three are
gathered together in My Name, I am there in
the midst of them.^ Hear us, O King of eternity,
scatter, O Lord, the flame of the devil. Remove,
O Lord, the furnace of fire, that it may not rise
higher than forty and nine cubits ; ^ in order that
all the heathens may see Thy glory, and may
glorify Thee, O King of eternity. Vouchsafe
unto me, O Lord, wisdom and knowledge, in
order that I may cause Thy servants to believe,
and bring them before Thee ; for blessed is Thy
Name for ever."

And they all with one accord uttered the Amen ;
and one of them, whose name was Dalmatius,
arose, and said to the holy Callistratus : '* I pray
thee, my lord Callistratus, make us Christians, and
teach us the word of God, that we may not be
ever in doubt. Show us our hope and our future
help. Recount to us all the wisdom of God, in
order that we too may, by the grace of Christ,
be glorifiers of Him along with Thee. For our
fathers did not ever teach us the paths of right-
eousness." Then said unto them the holy Callis-
tratus, *' Children mine, and dear brothers, may
the Lord give you grace and pity, and may my
God bring to light your desire. May the God of

* Matt, xviii. 20.

• In the descent of Christ into hell (see Tischendorf, Evang. Apoc), the
Saviour causes the flames to retreat. The passage in the text may refer to
some such legendary belief.

Acts of S. Callistratus. 301

heaven and earth fill you with all goodness ; for I
know that ye have an exceeding desire to hear
the commandment of God. Now, therefore,
since ye are athirst for righteousness, may the
Lord fill you and intoxicate you and satiate you
with the all-good and sufficing grace of the Holy
Spirit, and with all the hope which ye have in the
Lord Christ. But yet, my friends, I am unworthy
and weak to tell of the unapproachable depths of
the thoughts of God, but let each of you ask what
he will, and make prayer for me ; because I
hope in the Lord Jesus Christ that, through your
prayers, the Lord may give me speech to open
my mouth boldly, and to speak clearly as an in-
terpreter the plan of the economy of Christ."
Then Bemarchus fell down before him and asked
him, and said : *' I pray thee, sir, tell me, how God
is understood and known, and in what way He
begot Christ, or for what reason and why the
Jews crucified Him and slew Him."

IX. The holy Callistratus said, " God is light
without shadow, invisible and unapproachable ;
He hath neither beginning nor end ; life without
term, eternity without change, this is He. He
has neither limits nor place, but in all things He
is everywhere, and there is nowhere a place in
which He is not. No one is before Him, nor
after Him, nor yet beside Him. He is an un-
knowable, an unintelligible nature. But for our
weakness He is called light and life, reality, im-
mortality, eternity, might, wisdom, mind, and
whatsoever other names are heard in the holy

X '^^^ OF THE *^ >

Ctj:£ftvEHsiTY;

302 Monuments of Early Christianity.

books. Father and Son, spotless birth and un-
searchable ; the Word from the heart of the
Father, and indivisible from the Father, Offspring
inseparable, as is the light from the sun ; Son, but
not created, nor yet fashioned, and not in a lower
degree, nor subservient, but sharer in reality and
in being, and sharing in His quality of being
without beginning. For ever in the bosom of the
Father, according to the holy John, the evange-
list, who saith, ' From the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was God ; He was from the be-
ginning with God. Everything was through
Him, and without Him was nothing which has
been made. Through Him was life, and the
life was light unto men, and the light was ashine
there in the darkness, and the darkness appre-
hended Him not.' And ag^ain, 'God hath no one
seen at any time, except the Only Born, who is in
the bosom of the Father,' and the Holy Spirit,
who emanated and proceeded from the Father ;
though not born, as is the Word, but an emana-
tion and an effulgence of the eternal light ; not
made, nor yet lower than Father and Son, but
coequal with them, and sharing their substance
and partaking equally with the Father and Son.
All substance of the Father is of the Son, except
that He is not begetter, but begotten ; and all
substance of the Son is of the Holy Spirit ; ex-
cept that this is not begotten, but emanation ; yet
not that which sends forth the emanation, but
that which has emanated ; and through unity, by
reason of His Godhead, He is equal in honour

Acts of S. Callistrahis. 303

with Father and with Son, and there is one glory
and one Godhead of the Trinity, one beginning-
less eternity of Father and Son and Holy Spirit ;
three Persons in their completeness, one self-hood
and rule, one will and one counsel. It is wholly
vision, it is wholly light, it is wholly hearing,
wholly life, all this and whatsoever name and title
else, by which we who are made of clay, call Him
according to our weak understanding. One they
are and equal, and on a level ; except that there
is Father, and there is His Offspring, the Word,
and the emanation likewise of Him, the Holy
Spirit, in three perfect persons.

" Therefore the holy and co-equal Trinity willed
and established everything. The Father, by
means of the Word, through the Holy Spirit,
made heaven and earth, and divided the heavens
with fire and the earth with water ; He made also
the light, according to which He also created the
heavenly host ; and parted waters from waters,
and shot out the foam-flakes of His firmament.
And the earth He adorned with things which
blossom and grow, and the firmament with the
sun and moon and stars ; the earth, too, with
four-footed animals and creeping things and with
fishes did he fill, and the air with birds, according
to the command which He gave to earth and
waters to bring forth the breath of life.

"And when He had established all things by
the power of His awful Godhead, which hung the
heavens from nothing, and laid the earth upon
nothing, and made all the elements real out of

304 Monuments of Early Christianity.

nothing ; then at last He fashioned man out of
dust, according to the image of His own Immor-
tahty, and gave Him free will to rule withal over
all creatures which are below heaven. And He
gave him a dwelling in the sinlessness of the
garden of delight, and promised to advance him
to yet greater glory, if he would be obedient to
His law in a little thing. But Satan was an angel
formed first, and created in the heavens ; and be-
cause he was full of pride, and rose up in spiritual
revolt against the Omnipotent God, therefore he
fell from his glory. And he was jealous of man,
and in his guile he sowed polytheism by making
him taste of a fruit ; and because man desired to
be equal to God, God deprived him of his glory,
and cast him out of the paradise where he was
cherished by God. But forasmuch as he was the
image of immortal God, Satan was not able nor
had strength to efface him, and utterly destroy
him ; but, by reason of his free will and of his
craft, he fought against the race of men, and
polluted them with all kinds of evils, with murder
of their brothers, and with lawless unions. And
the first race who did not obey the preaching of
the just Noah, were therefore destroyed by a
fiood ; and there only remained Noah and his
children, eight souls. After that, by reason of
their building the tower, their tongues were sepa-
rated one from the other, and race by race, so
that they were seventy and two races in number
over the whole earth. And after that, Satan
prompted them to worship idols, and to pollute

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 305

themselves with the worship of everything, as
you now behold — worship which the Lord will
remove and destroy from among us. And thus
he sowed the first seeds, and made the beginning
of polytheism, when he said to Eve, ' Ye shall be
gods ' ; so leading men to vain worship ; and the
whole earth was in great sin.

"■ And the great God was moved to pity them,
and He chose the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob ; and their seed He took to Himself as
His chosen people. And them He brought out
of Egypt by the hand of Moses, and gave them
laws, which laws also Satan destroyed, for they
made a calf in the desert, and polluted themselves
with abominations. And the second time in pity
He gave them priests and prophets ; but they
believed not in them either, because of the
promptings of Satan ; neither were they schooled
or corrected by tribulation or slavery, or invoca-
tion by name of the angels ; ^ and the whole earth
with one accord was perverted, and followed after
Satan, seeking from him the fulfilment of their evil
wishes. But God, in His noble pity, had com-
passion on the race of men, and sent His only-
begotten Word into the world, who hallowed the
virgin Miriam, and dwelt in her, and (she) con-
ceived inviolate without the seed of man, and
without concupiscence, of herself fashioned an
incorruptible body, according to the leader of the

^ =l'iriKXiri<r€i a^Y^Xwy. The Essenes bound themselves by oath not to
reveal to unbelievers the names of the angels. Comp, Paul, Ep. to Eph.

3o6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

angels, Gabriel, who said, ' The Holy Spirit shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Most High
shall overshadow thee ; for that which shall be
born of thee is holy, and a Son of God ; and they
shall call His name Jesus, because He shall save
His people from their sins.' AndHe was conceived
incorruptible, and was born incorruptible, yet was
wrapped in swaddling clothes, and was laid in the
manger of the brutes as if He were man ; by the
magi He was honoured with sacramental gifts, by
the shepherds He was glorified, who sang with
the angels ; ' Glory in the highest to God, and
on earth peace, good will to men.' He was cir-
cumcised as man, He was presented in the temple
as man, but the aged Simeon besought^ Him as
from God. He was driven by persecution into
Egypt, and there He turned the city of idol-
worshippers to a knowledge of God.* Thence
He returned, and dwelt in Galilee in the city of
Nazareth.^

* Probably the original reading here meant " regarded him."

* This incident is related in the apocryphal Gospel of the Infancy.

' This entire chapter IX. is by the metaphrast compressed into a
single page. The Incarnation is also set forth rather differently. God
sends His only-born Son, and arranges that Me should become man like
ourselves, without, however, giving up His essential divinity (avrd ri
ctvak 6€<Js) ; in order that He might by the screen of flesh and human form
deceive the devil who had deceived us, and that the latter, supposing that
He was only attacking man, might be drawn into a conflict with God. (tvo
Tip Tqs cropKos-irpopXTinaTi Kal tx) &vdp(i>iriv|] p-opil)-!] rhv i^fids dira-Hja-avra
8<Xcd<rQ, Kal dv6p<tfir<(> oUficvos irpoo-paXciv, 6«p 7r(pkir^<rg. 8 8^ KalY^ov<.)
This explanation of the Incarnation as a divine ruse to catch the devil was
very common. We meet with it again in the Acts of Eustratius (Migne,
Patrol. Gr.y ii6, p. 493). There the Divine Word ^Wx^ '»< •")« cfyCat
irapO^vov p,^ rpaircls t^ 6«i6tiiti, dXXd (^op^<ras tJ|v toO irpopdrov Sopdv
8td t9|v toO XvIkov irp6o8ov, i.e.. He dons the sheepskin to lure the devil on.

Acts of S. Callistratus. 307

'* But let not one of you stumble and say that
Christ took His origin from the Virgin ; for, ac-
cording to the flesh, He appeared from the Vir-
gin, but according to His Godhead, He is equal
to the Father, as I said above. And let not one
of you say that He brought His flesh and body
from heaven, for He derived it from the Virgin.
Nor let any one of you say that He was merely
God or merely man, but rather that He is God
and man, God in the flesh, and man in His God-
head, not confounded nor changed. For He says
in the Proverbs : ^ ' The Lord acquired Me the
beginning of all paths in His works, before that
the abysses were, before the fountains of the
waters, before all the hills He hath begotten Me ;
when Pie made ready His throne, I was with
Him. I it was with whom He was rejoicing.'
But with regard to the flesh. He says that the
mystery of the incarnation of Christ was, before
the world came into being. However, He was
fashioned incorruptible from the Virgin. This
same only-begotten Word of the Father, who was
incarnate by the holy Virgin, was silent for thirty
years ; but after that He was baptized by John in
the river Jordan. And as He went up out of the
water, the heaven was opened to Him, and the

"For if," continues Eustratius, "God had simply struck down the devil
with His heavenly might, as He might have done, but as I cannot, then
He would have enabled the devil to explain his defeat by saying, ' I con-
quered man, and was conquered by God.' " Kal evairoXd-yilTos fl-v tiirT^pxev.
The devil is assumed to be too stupid to penetrate the divine disguise.
^ Prov. viii. 22 seq.

3o8 Monuments of Early Christianity.

Holy Spirit descended in the visible form of a
dove upon Him ; and the Father from on high
bore witness to His body that could be seen,
saying : ' He is My beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased.' This John saw and marvelled, and
hesitated to baptize Him ; but the Lord said to
him : ' Grant this now, for thus it is meet that we
should fulfil all righteousness.' As the sinless
John, son of the high priest Zachariah, bore wit-
ness to Christ, and said : ' Behold, Christ, the
Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the
world.' For He was named Jesus from His
birth, whom the angel heralded to Mary, but
Christ from the anointing of the Holy Spirit,
which came down into the Jordan in the likeness
of a dove. And after this. He was tempted by
Satan, but vanquished the tempter in a threefold
manner ; for He was for forty days without food,
and the God who was united and joined in Him
with man, enabled the man to triumph over vain
glory and pride, and avarice and love of wealth.
He walked among us yet another three years,
and preached the good tidings of the kingdom of
heaven. On the blind He bestowed sight, the
lame He made to walk, the lepers He cleansed,
demons He cast out, the legion He gave to the
deep sea, the dead He raised, and healed all
other pains and diseases ; and many other works
of power and greatness He wrought. But they
did not receive Him, neither did they believe in
Him, as saith the holy evangelist John, namely :
' He came to His own, but His own received

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 309

Him not,' and in all ways mankind went out after
nothing and found nothing.

*' But our Lord Jesus Christ for this reason
came to suffer, in order that He might break the
power of Satan. Sitting upon a young ass. He
entered into Jerusalem, after He had summoned
from the grave, where he had lain for four days.
His loved Lazarus. He preached beforehand
the destruction of hell, and therefore also the
young men of the Jews went before Him with
branches of palm and sang : ' Hosanna in the
highest, blessing to the son of David, peace upon
earth and glory in the highest." And He, even
before this, had upon Mount Tabor, given a fore-
type of the mystery of His resurrection, with the
testimony of Moses and Elias. And He came to
Jerusalem on the great day of the Passover, an
old and lawful festival, and on that day He also
washed the feet of the disciples, and made them
sharers of the holy mystery, and dispensed to His
disciples His body and His blood. And having
come to the cross. He was nailed upon it by the
lawless Jews, and confirmed the word of the
prophets who foretold concerning Him in their
preachings. But at His crucifixion the sun was
darkened and the rocks were riven, the earth was
shaken, and the veil of the temple rent in twain.
And at the same hour in which Adam went forth
from the garden, in that same hour He gave the
robber entrance into the garden, saying to him :
' This day shalt thou be with Me in the garden.'
He went down into hell alone, but went forth

3IO Monuments of Early Christianity,

thence with a great multitude ; He loosed them
that were bound by Satan, but him He bound in
darkness with bonds that shall never be loosed,
and He brought to light the treasures of dark-
ness. He rose from the dead on the third day.
With the same incorruptible body He ascended
into heaven, and with the same body He sat
down on the right hand of the Father ; and He
Cometh with the same body to judge all crea-
tures.^

** But then, O my brethren, those who were
taken in madness were miserable ; but now, by
means of the cross of Christ, they have been
raised to ineffable glory. But he who shall deny
Him before men, is given over into the hands of
hell. But think ye not that they are few who
believe in Christ, but many those who worship
the work of men's hands ; for I hope in our Lord
Jesus Christ that this faith of ours will be so
multiplied, that it will be rather spread abundantly

^ All the extra-canonical details in the above are omitted by the meta-
phrast.

For the binding of Satan op. the Descensus Christi, pars II. ch. viii.
(xxiv.) ; Et Ecce dominus lesus Christus . . . catenam suis deportans
manibus Satan cum cello ligauit, et iterum a tergo ei religans manus
resupinum eum elisit in Tartarum et cet.

I cannot find in any apocryph the detail that the crucified thief entered
Paradise at the very hour in which Adam left Paradise. The entry of the
thief into Paradise is described in the Descensus Christi. These legends
are all to be found in the Testaments of the Patriarchs (Test. Levi, itj') :
KaC-yc avrds d,vo£|ci toLs Ovpas tov mxpaStfo-ov, Kal o-T-Zjo-ti Tf|v dir€iXov<rav
^op.<|>aCav Kard T0v'A8d|i, Kal Swo-ci rots d^Cois <|>a'YCiv ^k tov ^vXov rt)s
|^o>f)S, Kal irvcv^ia d'ytwo-vvrfs {(rrai lir' avrois. Kal h B<XCap 8c6V]<rcTai
wit' avTow, Kal 8(d(r€i ^^ovcrCav tois t^kvois avrov tov iraTciv kitX t4 irovT|pd
irv(v|xaTa.

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 311

over the face of the whole earth. But do ye,
my friends, stand strong in this faith, which I
have taught unto you, with candid heart, as to
genuine brethren."

X. And when the saint had finished the sum-
mary of his argument, Heladorus^ rose and asked
him and said : " I pray thee, my lord Callistratus,
when a man dies, what becomes of his soul, where
does it go, or what does it do, or where does it
dwell, whether in torment or in repose ? " The
holy Callistratus said : '' As Christ rose from the
dead, so also must we rise and stand before His
judgment-seat ; and each of us will have to give
answer according to his works, according as they
are good or bad, in the day of reckoning. But
the garden is made ready for them that are
worthy of Him. Now when his last day comes
upon a man, angels come to him ; and when they
see the soul of the man, if he is just, they rejoice,
and they take it with psalms and hymns, and
carry it eastwards,^ and they carry it past six

* Heliodorus in the Greek.

2 For the belief that the soul went eastwards cp. Eusebius, H. E. , 430.
19, where a martyr puzzles the judge Firmilianus by saying that he was
going to the heavenly Jerusalem, the country of the pious (tTarpiSa t«v
evcrcpuv) and that this K6i(r6ai irpbs avrais dvaroXais Kal irpbs dvi<rxovTt

TJXlo).

For the belief in the seven heavens consult the Testamentum Levi,
chs. p' and y' and the Vision or Ascension of Isaiah, passim. In Origen,
de Principiis^ 83, we read : Denique etiam Baruch Prophetse librum in as-
sertionis huius testimonium vocant, quod ibi de septem mundis vel coelis
evidentius indicatur.

Origen also seems to have believed in an intermediate stage of existence
or purgatory, as an interval between death and day of judgment such as
CaUistratus taught. In it the soul is not yet rejoined with the body, and

3 1 2 MonuTuents of Early Christianity,

spheres (or circles), past the storehouse of hail
and snow, past the streams of rain, and past all
the regions of storehouses, and past the spirits of
wickedness which there are in the air ; and they
carry it in to the seventh circle, and set it down
full opposite the glory of God, and he adores God
in the seventh circle below the firmament ; accord-
ing to the preacher, who saith, that the flesh shall
return to the dust whence it was created, but the
spirit shall return to God who gave it. And the
spirit, having returned by means of the provi-
dence of the angels of God, beholds the garden
and the reward apportioned to its good works,
and is glad with the hope of what is to come.
However, without the body the spirit cannot re-
ceive its reward ; but remains there and glorifies
God in silence. But the places of their abode
are below the firmament, above the sun. For
when Christ died and descended into hell. He
veiled His Godhead with His spirit ; for His
Godhead remained inseparable and undivided of
body and of soul. But when He had robbed hell,
and liberated the spirits which were in prison,
and given them over into the hands of the Father,
then He gave them a dwelling-place in the air,
below the firmament, in a place which was put

is escorted by angels who ** leftd the soul " (\|n;x°''Y<^<'^^)- Cp. Origen, de
Princ, 105 : Ut etiamsi quis ex hac vita minus eruditus abierit, probabilia
tamen opera detulerit, instrui poterit in ilia Jerusalem sanctorum civitate,
id est, edoceri et informari, et effici lapis vivus. See E. R. Retlepenning's
note on the above passage, and for the transition to this class of belief from
the earlier millenarism cp. Martineau's Seat of Authority in Religion^ p.
570.

Acts of S. Callistratus, 313

high and lifted out of reach of the power of Satan,
and of the wickedness of the air. For the evil
powers of the air fight for our spirits, and for that
reason our spirits are transmitted by means of
angels and issue forth into regions high above the
dwelling-place of the devil and of his host. But
just as a good spirit is conveyed by means of
good angels, so also an evil spirit is conveyed by
means of bad angels ; not that angels are bad, for
the devil alone is bad, and the demons who com-
ply with his bad wishes ; but because men are
evil doers and because of their impure courses,
their angels also are in name called bad. Thus
let us understand it : one soldier is sent by the
king, to praise and do honour to the good and
virtuous, but to slay and torment the evil-doers.
Now in one and the same way, the angels of
some men are good and of others bad, because
of their respective actions. Thus the angels
are good and fond of man, and minister to the
complete fulfilment of the will of the benevolent
God, being holy and pure. When therefore the
sinner dies, the angel takes this spirit, and bears
it away in sorrow and grief, being ashamed of
its works. Then at once there come upon him
the demons of the air dancing, and they raise a
war, and they name him as their own, and they
clap their hands and leap. But the angel drives
them back and murmurs fiercely against them,
and so passes by them, and brings the spirit up
to the seventh circle, underneath the water-borne
firmament, and stations it there full opposite the

^^ OFTHE _.

314 Monuments of Early Christianity,

glory of God, and then does homage in reverence
before God. As it is written also in the psalm :
* All the races which Thou hast made shall come
and prostrate themselves before Thee, they shall
make Thy name glorious for ever.' And by
means of the angel the spirit beholds the place of
judgment and the reward of his works, and he is
grieved and perpetually laments the destruction
of his soul. For when the spirit is separated
from the body, it comprehends and beholds the
future more clearly than if it were before its eyes.
But until the judgment comes, the spirits re-
ceive not their rewards nor their torments ; how-
ever, they know from their own deeds what they
are going to receive, and apart by themselves
they rejoice or sorrow, and with still voice they
praise God in security. But the just are filled
with desire to see the day of requital ; but the
sinners look at the deeds they have done, and
they sorrow and lament, knowing full well what
torments they are going to suffer in the day of
judgment. But by the Divine goodness, patience
and rest is bestowed on both sides until the day
of reckoning. But to the Christians there is
great hope even after death ; for if there are any-
where parents or brothers, or children, or relatives,
or anyone at all who is a Christian and who is
compassionate, and who offers up prayers or con-
secrates oblations and alms, so gaining the inter-
cession of the saints, they can thus consign to
this great place of rest him who looked forward
to torments. For God is propitiated and remits

Acts of S. Callistratus, 315

the sins of them who have fallen asleep by means
of the offering of Christ, which is sacrificed upon
the holy table for the salvation and for the life
and for the pardon of the living and the dead.
But, my brethren, deceive yourselves not in your
hearts, nor suppose that at the time of death the
just man has received the rewards of his right-
eousness, or the sinner the sentence of his re-
quital. For how can this be ? For our bodies
remain here, but the soul passes alone and by
itself into the afore-mentioned place. For if there
be no resurrection, and if our bodies do not rise
from the tombs and stand before the awful tri-
bunal, and receive each according to its works,
how would it be possible for the sinful flesh to be
destroyed, and the soul alone judged. Perhaps a
man might string together reasons, putting upon
the body the harm of a man's sins. The just
therefore cannot receive their reward, nor the
sinners their torments, until the coming of that
day, concerning which Paul saith : * The trumpet
sounds, and the dead shall arise in the twinkling
of an eye.' For, as Christ died, so He also arose
with the same incorruptible body ; not that it
became incorruptible after His resurrection, God
forbid ! for rather He put on Himself incorruptible
from the Virgin, the sinful body of Adam, and
absorbed and sunk its corruptibility in His God-
head, and with the same body thus made Divine,
He died and rose. Even as my great-grand-
father Okorus accurately heard and learnt in
Jerusalem from the holy apostles, who, with their

3i6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

own eyes, saw Him upon the Cross, saw Him
laid in the sepulchre, saw Him risen from the
sepulchre ; and when He came to His disciples in
the upper chamber, wherein He made good the
deficiencies in faith of Thomas, my great-grand-
father Okorus saw him ; and when the Holy
Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost he be-
lieved and was baptized by the holy apostles. I
therefore learnt this from his tradition, and from
the holy evangelists, and from the apostles, and
from the prophets before them. But that which
I teach you I say truly in Christ, and lie not, that
as Christ rose, so we shall rise with the same
body incorruptible, and shall stand before the
tribunal of Christ, and shall enjoy the fruits of our
respective works, according to the just and im-
partial award of Christ.

'* But this also I. teach you, brethren, that when
they rise from the dead, after that there is not
any expiation or remission of their sins, nor any
intercession, for the door of the kingdom is shut
to them who have not entered here in the body.
As therefore ye henceforth know all this, my
brethren, be ye zealous in good works, and hasten
to enter before the door be shut." ^

XI. Domitianus made answer and said: "What
dost thou say, my lord Callistratus ? Surely,
then, those who sin are not judged at all in this
world, and receive not here their requital, but for

' The entire § X is in the metaphrast compressed into a section of twenty
lines.

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 317

all the day of judgment is reserved to the other
world ?" The holy Callistratus replied : '' God is
long-suffering and very compassionate, He desires
not the death of a sinner who repents of his sins,
and who is conscious of his transgressions, and
acknowledges them, and falls down in prayer be-
fore God, lamenting, and saying from the bottom
of his heart : " O God, expiate my sins," and who
thenceforth does righteousness. Though his sins
be many, he is able to wipe them out by means of
prayer, and fasting, and almsgiving ; to him God
remits them, God who is benign and not revenge-
ful, and who desires that every man should live,
and come to a knowledge of the truth. But if
any one pollute himself for a long time in many
sins, and blaspheme God, if he shall rob and stint
the orphans, and oppress the widows, swearing
falsely, and ridiculing them, adding extortion to
extortion, and usury to usury, and if he grow rich
out of his injustice, and treasure up his own dam-
nation ; if, in addition to all . this, he also should
soil himself with adultery, and with the abomina-
tion of all kinds of fornication, then the benevolent
God looks upon him to see if he lingers and
tarries over his evildoings, and after that He will
apportion unto him in remembrance of his evil
deeds, w^hen he can no more be turned away from
evil. And the life of such a one shall be de-
stroyed, and his goods shall be plundered, and his
body shall be destroyed, and taking with him his
evil deeds alone, he shall pass miserably out of
life, unburied in his own land ; his orphans shall

3 1 8 Monuments of Early Christianity.

be plundered, and his life shall leave no trace of
itself. This is the portion of them that are
puffed up by their riches which they have gained
by injustice, and who have not walked according
to the commandments of God. But if a man be
poor, and walk in the like evil path, he is troubled
with miserable woes, being full of sin during his
life, and the might of God is in no way a help to
him ; for God hates evil-doers, who return not
from their evil paths. And such a one is found
to have lost his riches, and to have forfeited all
the good things of life, and even his bare wants
of the body are not supplied to him. And if his
life be prolonged, it is still more pitiable ; and
unless he devote himself to prayer, and do right-
eousness, he is miserable beyond all men. For
straightway there come upon him tribulations and
afflictions from which there is no escape, anguish
that is intolerable, and all the means of life fail him.
And frenzy, and care, and many other troubles
befall him, and consume his flesh like a viper, and
like a basilisk suck his blood ; and he is the prey
of detestable woes, leprosy and scurvy, and he
shall desire only his daily fare, and shall not find
it, and he shall be hateful and despicable to all, a
laughing-stock, and source of scoffing, an eyesore,
and a butt to all beholders ; ambushes shall come
on him whence he knows not, and he shall be
smitten with unforeseen accidents. Yea, and
many such take their own lives, and mercilessly
massacre themselves on account of the woes that
they cannot endure, and their memory is miserably

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 319

effaced from their life. So is it for the poor man
who soils himself with many sins, and regards
not the commandments of God. But there is
also another fate which may befall both classes,
both those who live in evil doing and are rich,
and also those who are poor. For God is merci-
ful, and may grant them on earth long spell of
health, and to suit His ends, even bestows un-
broken prosperity in all directions ; bodily health,
fruitfulness of lands, fecundity of animals, respect
and honour from great and little alike, life alto-
gether without care, and long and glorious, an old
age of pomp and honour, glory and praise, and a
blessed death, and a great and famous funeral.
And yet one who lives such a life as this, and does
not walk in the commandments of God, which are
light, and give light to the eyes ; who rather con-
taminates himself all his time with savagery and
cruel actions, and does not thank God nor glorify
Him with good actions, nor recognise Him as the
Giver of good things, fearing Him as is right and
lawful to do, but who is ungrateful to God, and
when he has good things vouchsafed to him by
God's grace, reckons it to his own merit ; let not
such a one have any rejoicing, for all the more
will he be tortured in Gehenna, like the rich man
who heard Abraham say, ' Thou hast received thy
good things in thy lifetime, and a great gulf is
between me and thee.' But David also says,
' Requite to my neighbours sevenfold into their
bosoms their insults with which they have insulted
Thee, O Lord ; ' and again, ' I saw the impious

320 Monuments of Early Christianity.

man growing up and overtopping, all like the
cedars of Lebanon ; I passed, and he was not ; I
sought, and his place was not found ; ' for their end
is seen in the bottom of the pit, according to Him
who talks in parables. This is the lot of every
sinful man. whether he be rich or poor, who
enjoys the good things of God, but doeth not His
will. And, moreover, because of them there is
tribulation upon the earth, either the onset of
enemies, or sudden death, or famine, or hail, or
any other of the afflictions on account of sin which
befall all men at once, like the flood or the fire
which consumed Sodom. For when a sinner in-
flames the wrath of his Creator, then the Divine
anger descends upon him, like an involuntary re-
pentance of sin.

'* And now, since ye are new in the faith, and
have not read the holy books ; for it is written in
the Book of Kings about Achab and Jezebel,
because they inflamed the wrath of God, the
Creator of all, by their idolatry, and extortions,
and robbery; they slew His prophets, they de-
stroyed His altars ; one prophet alone was left,
Elias by name, who was consumed with the zeal
of the Almighty God, and he, by his prayers,
curbed the clouds that they should not give rain,
and hindered the dew from heaven, that no shoot
might rise from earth according to its nature ; for
the word went forth from Elias, and shut up and
closed the boundaries of the eternal, so that for
three years and six months there was no rain,
neither did the fountains play and spring up,

Ac^s of S. Callistratus. 321

because they were dried up. All creeping things
also dwindled, the four-footed animals and the
birds, for the Lord was wroth ; and all blossoms
and plants which were upon the earth were dried
up. All the beauty of the earth was consumed,
the earth was rent asunder to its depths by the
drought, and all the kings and mighty ones of the
earth staggered. The heavens rang like brass,
and the earth roared like a heifer, and all living
things repented against their wills because of the
exceeding famine. But the word of a single pro-
phet had command over all this, who built an altar
to God, and brought down water from heaven,
and cut off the false prophets of Baal, eight hun-
dred and fifty men, and so appeased God's wrath,
that after that the door of His pity was opened
upon the earth. Such were the afflictions which
happened because of the sins of men ; for they are
chastised, even though they do not understand ;
for God acquits not the impious, because He is just
and powerful. But He does not destroy them at
once, because He is pitiful and long-suffering, and
He is indulgent to the wickedness of men, in the
hope that they will return to repentance. But
if they continue in their sins without turning.
He destroys them utterly, as He did Rehoboam
and Bassa and Achab, the princes of Israel, who
with their families were effaced with dishonour.
But those who turn from their wickedness and
repent, to them He vouchsafes remission of their
sins, as He did to Manasses, King of Judea, and
to Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon. But him

322 Monuments of Early Christianity,

who insults God, God destroys ; as He did Sene-
cherim and Antiochus, the kings of Assyria.
Thus, then, it is that God chastises some of us
here, and some of us in the future. Therefore,
my brethren, let us follow after virtue, in order
that we may be glorified with Christ, both here
and in the future."

Then Evarestos made answer, and said : "My
lord Callistratus, is it according to the number
of days that God terminates the world, or is it
according to chance ? Otherwise, how is it that
men die unexpectedly, either by hunger or thirst,
or on the sea, or in rivers, or in the fire, or by any
other of the accidents which may bring about dis-
solution of the lives of men ; or it may be that
one comrade slays another, or a man dies by the
agency of a demon, or suddenly } But when a man
dies either in his youth or in old age, is the tale of
his days fulfilled ? And so, too, with those who
fall in war, for, behold, many of our host fell in
the war with the Persians ? " The holy Callis-
tratus said : *' Learn ye also concerning this, my
brethren ; for at the beginning God said to Adam,
* Dust thou wast, and to dust shalt thou return.'
And at the same time the edict of death went
forth upon men from their birth, even to their old
age. And not only is death ordained unerringly
by nature, like other things that are weighed and
calculated ; but the knowledge thereof is in the
hands of God alone, who is the Lord of life and
death. Not that it is ordained that all should
reach to old age ; for many a time a father has

Acts of S. Callistratus. 323

died in his youth, but his sons have reached an
extreme old age ; and the sons have died In
youth before their fathers, as happened in the
very beginning, for Adam lived nine hundred and
thirty years, and Seth, his son, nine hundred and
twelve, but his other son had not yet arrived at
even a hundred years when he was slain by Cain
his brother. But death Is appointed for all ; not
but what there are some who are given a long life
because of their just works, while to others God
shortens life because of the excess of their sins ;
and In the case of some He pities their tears, and
adds to their life, as in the case of Hezeklah, and
for others He lengthens life because of the prayers
of widows and orphans, and sometimes parents be-
cause of the tears of children, and children because
of their parent's tears, have been brought back
from death. And there are many requirements ^
of the world, on account of which He adds to the
life of men, both adds and takes away. But the
blow of death also falls upon men because of
their sins, sometimes by the sword, sometimes by
fire, sometimes by water, or in some other way of
those in which the blow can fall. But a man may
contend against us in argument, and say that he
will not die because his day has not yet come,
and for that reason he will boldly venture to
go upon the sea when it Is stormy, or Into a
river that is in flood, or on a snowy mountain, or

^ There is something wrong here with the Arm. text, of which I make
sense as I can.

324 Monuments of Early Christianity.

on a scorched plain, or among wild beasts, or he
will take harmful food ; in such cases death comes
not as a surprise and ambush, nor is it accidental,
but it is a wilful dissolution of life, and they who
so act are reckoned with those who die by their
own sin. But there are also other forms of death,
from the temperament of the body, from cold, or
bile, or blood, or some other of the accidents by
which life is dissolved. But as I said before,
death is appointed to that life in man which he
shares with the plants, and therefore, the Lord
said, * Pray that ye be not led into temptation,' for
ye must at all times pray diligently, and say, * Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil
One.' For many are the snares which are set by
the Evil One ; for throughout our lives he lays
deadly ambushes in rivers, in fields, in mountains,
on the plains, in the fire, at the hands of a wicked
man, by a man's own act in strangling himself
through his irascibility, as in the case of Judas
and Achitophel ; and in many other ways he lays
deadly snares, and death is fated for him that is
caught. But we must pray to God continually to
preserve us from evil accidents, and in His grace
bestow upon us a good end. There are also
other forms of death, as when a stone should fall
from a wall through ignorance, or the branch of a
tree may fall upon us, or we may be butted by an
ox, or thrown from a horse, or we may tread upon
a sword, or meet a wild beast, or be bitten by a
viper ; all these are evil accidents, and they occur
because man is puffed up with his strength, so

Acts of S. Callistratus. 325

that God remits His aid, and then man becomes
ridiculous, and falls into all kinds of deadly snares ;
wherefore It Is necessary that ye should be watch-
ful, and pray to God, for he who prays to God
with all his heart, to him the very snares become
a source of good, as Paul said : ^ 'He will with
the temptation also make the way of escape, in
order that we may be able to suffer It.' But there
is not allotted to Satan any foreknowledge, but he
knows very little of the time of man's death.
However, he abides continually in the evil man,
and If the pity of God did not prevent him in the
case of each man, he would destroy all men to-
gether. And on account of this the Lord says,
' Be careful, lest your hearts be weighed down
with dissoluteness, or drunkenness, or worldly
cares, and that day come suddenly upon you, as
an ambush is sprung upon all men who dwell
over the vj^hole face of the earth. Be watchful,
and for ever make prayers, that ye be accounted
worthy to escape from all that which Is to come,
and to stand before the Son of man ; ' but death
In war is open and not secret, for every one who
takes a sword in his hand and goes Into war,
either slays another or himself dies ; but If he
survives and Is left whole, the providence of God
has intervened. All the time of man's life, there-
fore, is destined, but all sorts of snares beset him
during his life. But if a man humble himself, and
prostrate himself before God, he Is delivered from

^ I Cor. X. 13.

326 Monuments of Early Christianity.

them ; for although even his body be exacted of
him, yet his spirit goes rejoicing to its Creator, in
the way in which I before described.

" But let us, brethren, stand firm, for I trust in
Christ, that by His hope we shall all overcome the
machinations of the devil, and receive the emblem
of victory. Listen to me, my brethren, in case it
befall me to die before you. Forasmuch as ye are
intimate with me, I would have you know that
many a time Satan fought with me in my youth ;
but I hope in my Lord that now he will be worsted
by me ; for much alms have I given, and was
proud as if I had won the whole realm. For
when a man gives alms, he saith not, ' I have
proffered but of that which God gave me,' but
rather, is puffed up, as if he had given what was
his own, and declareth that he hath done some-
thing great. Nay, rather have we received the
command to minister to the poor, and we ought
so to give, that what our left hand doeth our right
should not know. That is to say, let not the devil
on the left hand steal away the grace that the bet-
ter hand wrought. But do ye, my dear friends,
be on your guard, because all this is of the devil,
for he opposeth everything that is good. For
many a time hath he been able to filch away my
mind, when he saw that I was praying with tears
to God my Helper. At such times he would dis-
tract my mind, and would agitate all kinds of
earthly cares, and intrude them on my soul, and
would prompt me to gape and yawn. But I
spurned him, and thus the adversary was not able

Acts of S. Callistratus. 327

to steal me away. For God takes account, not
only of those who sing hymns and pray in the
churches, but also of the very steps and foot-prints
of those who, with sincere faith, enter into the tem-
ple of God. And whatsoever a man wishes to ask
he knows beforehand, and vouchsafes the prayers
which are according to His will ; and wheresoever
there is a man who bends the knee, and prays
with his whole heart, unto him God hearkens, and
will give all that he needs with free grace. For if
thou sayest, ' Have pity upon me, O God,' He
knows thy meaning, and understands that which
thy words represent. Therefore, dear friends, it
profits the adversary nothing when he desires to
snatch away our understanding, and intrudes all
sorts of thoughts among our prayers. But who is
there of men who knows not this : that man is
prompt to sin, and wearies not therefrom, and is
eager to transgress ; but in prayer he is weak and
idle, and remiss, and is faint and drowsy, and
thinks that all this is a natural affection, instead of
being an invention of the devil ? But understand
this, my brethren, that all these things are inspir-
ations of the evil one, from which we must flee, and
with faithful diligence, glorify God, who made the
heavens and earth, the sea, and all that is in them."

Lysimachus made answer, and said : " My lord
Callistratus, did God really make the heavens and
earth, the sea, the moon, and the stars ? "

The holy Callistratus said : ''Did I not tell you
that, even while ye learn or pray, ye slumber ?
Did ye not apprehend what I said before, in an-

328 Momiments of Early Christianity.

swer to the question of our brother Beniarchus ?
But come, do you tell me, then ; How did you learn
about them from your fathers ? or how did ye
reverence those things made with hands which ye
used to call God ? " They made answer all at
once, and said : " We learnt thus, that the heavens
came into being of themselves, and so also the
earth, and that the sun is the god of gods, because
he gives light, and that the stars are images of the
gods."

The holy Callistratus replied, '' Learn also con-
cerning this, my brethren, lest Satan trip you up.
All this world which is visible is the creation of
the heavenly and single and beginningless and in-
create Holy Trinity, and of the single Godhead.
For it founded heaven and earth. It drew the
heavens across like a tent, and stretched them out
like curtains, and by its word, fixed and made
sure the watery firmament, and vaulted it, so that
it was round like a ball ; and established the earth
above the waters, and the waters upon nothing at
all. And the earth trembles and is afraid at His
presence ; for He made rifts in the firmament and
above the illimitable expanse of the torrents of
ocean, which has under itself all the elements, the
upper and the nether ones. Likewise He made
also the stars, and set them in the vault-like firma-
ment to illumine the darkness. But the sun, by a
law which never ceases, runs his courses ; for he
goes forth from the region of the portals of the
east, and he travels along the south, revolving like
a wheel, till he comes home to the west, and there

Acts of S. Callistratus, 329

he enters the portals of the west ; and then forth-
with darkness covers all things as the night is
drawn over them.

"But when he has entered, and sunk below the
vast prison bars of the south, in the nether firma-
ment, he runs in the direction of the right hand,
until he reaches once more the portals of the East,
and masks the darkness with his light. So, also,
the moon fulfils her courses according to the same
law, waxing and waning as she approaches the
sun, or goes away therefrom in her period of thirty
days. And how can your teaching be true that
the sun is God '^ If he were God, how would he
obey the law, and be enslaved by it ? How could
he suffer, and be subject to affections, as when he
is sometimes covered with clouds, and sometimes
darkened .^ In the same way, also, the moon and
the stars likewise fulfil their courses according to
command. In one and the same manner, they all
leap up from the east, and they travel to the set-
ting of the sun, and they return to the right of the
north without entering the gates of heaven ; but
they revolve themselves in the firmament, and ful-
fil their entire courses by day according to the
order of each of them, until they reach the east
by way of the south, wherein are seen by us the
vestiges of their paths. But many concoct fables,
and say that the heavens revolve, whose words are
vain ; for the firmament is immovable. But many
of the stars run in a circular path, and some of
them are fixed, and have the rest of the stars to
turn round themselves ; as is the c^fssvtDBR>l^J^

V%NIVERSITT

CAUFORHi^

330 Momiments of Early Christianity.

northern stars, which are, by some, called Arcturus,
but by some Hephtasagiron ; but by the farmers,
it is called the Wain, and by sailors Bazmojth,
for these stars do not alter from their path, but
revolve where they are. But other stars have
a period of their own, in which they fulfil their
courses, as, for example, Aruseak (Venus) and
Mazaroth, and the Alosounk (? the Pleiades), and
Haik (Orion). Each of these obeys its period,
according as it was appointed to do ; as it was also
written : * The moon and the stars which Thou
hast established.' But the prophet, in speaking of
the firmament, does not mean that it is immovable,
and in that sense speak of its immovability ; but he
alludes to its strength, because they are subservient
to an invincible and unerring command before
their God. And now, my brethren, cast away the
vain preaching ; for God made all creation, but
He honoured man alone with His image, and
made everything subservient under his feet. And
it is meet for man to know Him, because, for his
sake, all creation was established out of nothing ;
for his sake the sun fulfils his unerring command,
and the moon her course, according to her com-
mand ; for his sake all the most ancient stars were
set in order, which men of vain understanding
called gods, giving them the names of animals,
as for example, of the Ram and the Bull, of
Capricorn, and the Virgin, and the Yoke, and so
forth. And they go on thence to conduct re-
searches of a kind, and profess to derive from them
seasons of plenty and famines ; and they also de-

Acts of S. Callistratus. 331

clare that the fortunes and the terms of men's lives
are ordered by them, in order that they may de-
ceive men with empty words. But these constel-
lations are appointed to make clear to us the
various seasons, and to indicate to sailors their
path over the sea. For man's sake were
made the rivers and the mountains, and every
blade of grass, and every plant. By the word
were they manifested upon the earth ; but man
alone, on the earth, was honoured with the image
of the immortal and benevolent God who made
him. But he yielded to deceit, and fell into sin,
and became mortal, and was ensnared by the out-
ward appearance of the evil one, and by his false
and empty flattery. And now, brethren, it is a
great task all over this earth for man to save his
soul. But let us labour to receive the token of
victory in war, wherever there is contention with
the devil, and let us boldly defy the evil warrior,
and let us be found to have conquered his lawless
pride, and he shall be worsted by us, and fall,
never to rise again ; but we, having escaped from
the delusions of life, shall receive the crown of un-
dying glory from our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, to whom is glory for ever and ever.
Amen." ^

XII. And when he had said this, he was silent
for a while, for it was late even-tide ; and the
whole night long he remained in prayer until the
dawn. But there was a certain scribe of the

^ The metaphrast abridges § XI. into 40 lines.

332 Monuments of Early Christianity.

law-court, who was near to the prison, and he
listened to the discourse of the holy Callistratus,
and wrote it down in shorthand on paper, and
gave it to us ; and we set in order with all ac-
curacy the record and outline of his thought.^
But at dawn the captain Presentinus took his seat
upon the throne of judgment, and commanded
them to be brought before him. And they
brought them into the great court in which were
set up many images of idols. There were
mustered together not only the captains of the
force, but the whole number of the soldiers. The
captain said : *' How is it, O Callistratus, hast thou
schooled thyself and those of the king's soldiers
that were inveigled by thee 1 Hast thou in-
structed them to sacrifice to the gods, and save
themselves from the torture "^ " The holy Callis-
tratus said : '' As to myself, I have given this
answer and adhere to it, that nothing shall
persuade me to forsake Christ my hope ; but as
to them, they are themselves grown up, and of
full age, so ask them." The captain said : " What
do ye say, who have been deceived, and have
assented to this babbler.'*" They made answer
and said : *' O unworthy man, and shameless, if
thou wilt still keep us on the list of thy band, we
shall not resist ; but as to our worship and
religion, we believe in the King of heaven and
earth, in the God of all, and in His Offspring
Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, for He is

^ The metaphrast omits these details and says nothing of the scribe.

Acts of S. Callistratus. 333

God in three persons, a Trinity, but one Godhead,
and one power ; without flaw is He, and full of
wisdom, which is and was and abides for ever, as
our teacher Callistratus taught us." XIII. But the
captain commanded that they should be scourged
with green switches ; and after the scourging he
ordered them to be bound hand and foot and
dragged all of them to the edge of a lake,^ and
said to them : '' Sacrifice to the gods, for if not,
ye shall be drowned in the waters." But they
said : " We believe in the true God, do thou what
thou wilt." But when they were about to be
thrown into the great lake, which was called
Oceanus, the holy Callistratus fell to praying and
said : '' God eternal, who art unapproachable and
all-powerful, who didst establish the heavens by
Thy might to be Thy throne immoveable for
ever, and the earth to be Thy footstool ; look
upon this Thy flock, and be among us and save
us from destruction, and grant that these waters
be unto these men for the baptism of regeneration.
Make them worthy to be washed with the eternal
and pure baptism, unto the casting away of the
vanity of the old man, and unto their participation
with those who labour for Thy cross. Grant us,
O Lord, to come unto Thy treasuries, by means
of this washing, in order that we may be fellow-
workers with Thy Holy Spirit in these waters.
For glorious is the name of Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen."

^ Gk. has : KoXv^jL^-qOpav wKcavbv oiiro) Ka\ovfj.£VOV.

334 Monuments of Early Christianity.

But when they had said with one accord Amen,
they threw them bound into the water ; and in
the same moment the bonds of the saints were
loosed, and they came to the top of the water and
passed on to dry land, resplendent with the grace
of the Holy Spirit. And as they came out of the
water, there went forth a voice from Heaven
saying : '* Be of good cheer. My loved ones, for
I am with you ; be ye glad, for, behold, I have
made ready for you a place in My kingdom.
Rejoice, for I have written your names in My
record in the Book of Life." And there was
terrible thunder and a great earthquake, so that
the images of the idols fell down and were broken.
But when we saw^ the light which shot forth
over the heads of the saints, and heard the blissful
voice along with the earthquake and the breaking
of the idols, we believed, — we, the soldiers, a
hundred and five of us. Then the lawless
Presentinus was taken with great fear, and he
ordered them to be led into prison. And when
they had entered into prison, the holy Callistratus
again taught them, and said : '* Men and brothers,
behold the Lord hath summoned us to Himself.
For I received baptism from my very youth, but
now He has called you also ; arise, therefore, and
let us pray." So they raised their hands and he
began to say : '* Lord, Lord, how wonderful is
Thy name for ever, who, before all things didst
with Thy infinite word establish all things ; who

* The metaphrast has *• They saw," depriving this part of the narrative
of its personal character.

Ac^s of S. CallistratMS. 335

art the Lord of indestructible and invisible and
flawless treasures ; preserve this Thy flock, and
deliver it from the mouth of the lion, and lead
it into eternal salvation. And make us worthy
to die in Thy confession. Save us spotless and
pure from the sin-loving life. Bring us in at the
narrow gate into the royal temple, that we may
praise with holy and unresting voices the all-
blessed name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever."

XIV. But the lawless and impious captain,
Presentinus, took counsel with a vir ducenarius,^
and sent into prison and beheaded them, for the
soldiers of Christ were fifty in number. And the
saints died in the month Hori,^ on the twenty-
seventh day thereof But we soldiers who be-
lieved when we saw the vision of the wonders,
and were baptized in the name of Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, we came privily in the night,
and we took up the relics of the saints, and laid
them in a proper place. ^ Wherefore the Lord

^ The metaph. has 'Ytpto AovKivapio) i.e. Uiro Ducenario. Ducange
[Glossarium] explains Ducenarius thus : Dicitur qui duobus militum centuriis
praeerat, sicut uni centurio. The Armenian has " vir pholarius " which I
cannot explain. I have therefore followed the Greek text.

2 The metaph. has September.

^ The conclusion runs thus in the metaphrast : **And they raised a
temple to them, with which few can compete in splendour ; and it stands
in the middle of Rome, the most queenly of cities. But they also found
a paper {\a.pTr\v) in the prison, on which the teaching and forthshadowings
of the martyr Callistratus were written down. And after his death Marinus
also was martyred, a man of great eminence and fame and culture. He
shewed the most manly fortitude to the end, to the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ, whom befits all glory, praise and worship, now and ever, world
without end. Amen."

^^6 Monuments of Early Christianity.

made us worthy to establish His church in Rome
in the name of the saints, and we built in the
name of the holy Callistratus a place of expiation
for sinners, and a meeting-house of union for
angels and men ; for the glory and worship of the
All-holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

ACTS OF S. DEMETRIUS.

INTRODUCTION.

I HAVE chosen this piece as the last of my collection, rather
on account of the interesting letter of the Bishop of Thessa-
lonica which accompanies it in the Armenian
text, than for its own merits. Not that it is inThese^A^s
without a certain interest of its own ; for it
has a good deal of local colour, and the outline of the teaching
of Demetrius w^hich it contains has about it a noble simplicity
and directness which reminds us of the Apology of Apollonius.
The date of the saint's martyrdom cannot be earlier than 305
A.D. ; and it is therefore a matter for surprise that the Acts
contain no reference to the doctrine of the Trinity, as is usual
in martyrdoms of this date. Still more re-
markable is it, that in the brief outline of the Primitive
saint's dogmatic teaching, Christ is merely their Chris-
said to have been born in an ineffable tian teaching,
manner without reference being made to the
Virgin Mother. Such a silence is rare except in Acts of the
second century. The combat in the arena between the strip-
ling Nestorius and the giant gladiator Lygeos may have been
modelled on the legend of David and Goliath ; and the pro-
phecy ascribed to Demetrius is sufficiently quaint, as coming
from the lips of a saint. The story is perhaps an allegory
destined to convey to the reader the disgust with which the
gladiatorial games inspired the Christians, one of the first-fruits
of whose triumph under Constantine was the abolition of these
degrading spectacles. The learned Tillemont, however, was so
shocked at the idea of a saint inciting his pupil to do combat

337 "7

^^S Monuments of Early Christianity,

with a gladiator, that {Monument. Ecdes.y p. 639) he argues
the incident to be an invention later than the ninth century.
The Bollandist editor (Ada SS., ad diem 8 Octobris Tom iv.)
admits it to be an invention, but points out that a history of
the saint at least as old as the eighth century and probably of
the seventh already contains it

There is a slight historical error in the appended letter of

the Bishop of Thessalonica, in which the Emperor Justinian is

spoken of as the father of the Emperor

Their con- Maurice. For the latter was no kinsman of

demnation of , .• • j 1 u -l • • o

relic- Justmian, and only began to reign in 582,

mongering. seventeen years after Justinian's death. The
phrase however may be honorific only, and
mean nothing more than " your majesty's predecessor." It is
in any case not enough to discredit the authenticity of the
letter. In an age which set so much store by the relics of
saints, no one would have invented so dignified a rebuke to a
relic-mongering emperor ; much less have inserted it in the
history of a martyred saint. We do not know who is the
writer who thus inserts the letter of Eusebius in his narrative ;
nor can we be certain that the Acts of the martyr Demetrius
which precede his narrative are from the same pen.

In the Armenian martyrology the narrative of the miracles
wrought through the dead saint is continued through two
more chapters, which I have not thought it
ab t^eioW) necessary to translate. These two chapters
which I give do not recount anything later
than the reign of the Emperor Maurice. It is therefore prob-
able that the writer of the narratives lived either in his reign,
which terminated in the year 612, or soon after, and that the
entire narrative which is in the form of an address to the faith-
ful, was composed early in the seventh century for delivery on
the feast day of the saint. What is remarkable about it is the
admission, that at that early date the true place of interment
of any one of the many martyrs who had suffered under Dio-
cletian in Thessalonica was unknown to any one, and the
memory of them lost, with the sole exception of the saint
Mamrinus.

Acts of S. Demetrius, 339

In Migne's Patrologia Graca (vol. 116) much space is

allotted to the Acts of this saint, and the lengthy dissertation

of Byaeus is reprinted from the Acta SS.

The Acts are found in two forms, namely, Genealogy of

, ^ the texts of

that of the metaphrast of the tenth century, these Acts.

and in an earlier recension by some anony-
mous writer, to whom in my notes I refer as Gk» Anon, The
relations of the three forms of the Acts, viz., the Armenian,
the Gk. Anon., and the metaphrast, are worth examining, for
they present in a very striking way the power of growth in-
herent in a hagiological writing. Thus the Gk. Anon and
the metaphrast contain the following miracles absent from the
the Armenian : —

1. That of the scorpion (see note on § VI.).

2. The cure of Leontius (see note 3 on § XVI.).

3. The miraculous passage of Leontius over the Danube in
the §§ added in the Greek forms.

4. Lupus and the royal ring. The Armenian quite ignores
Lupus (see note 6 on § XIII ).

Byseus thought that the Gk. Anon, made his recension in
the seventh century, and that the metaphrast's form is a simple
amplification of the same. This is certainly the case as regard
nine-tenths of the metaphrast text \ but it is not the case all
through, and in one passage (see note 2 on § XV.) it is the
metaphrast and not the Gk. Anon, who retains the text which
we find in the Armenian. A diligent comparison of the three
texts reveals the same phenomenon elsewhere, but less
markedly. We are thus precluded from supposing that the
metaphrast used the Gk. Anon, and that alone as the basis
of his form. He must have had a document which closely
resembled it, and like it contained the miracles which the
Armenian omits ; yet in some few points truer to the original
document than is the Gk. Anon. The following diagram
therefore brings before the eye the genealogical relations of
the three forms : —

TERSITY

340 Monuments of Early Christianity

A. Original Acts.

B. Armenian Form
of 5th or 6th century.

C. Transitional form of unknown
date, with miracles added.

D. Greek Anonymous,
probably of 7th century.

E. Metaphrast's recension
of loth century.

Of these B is by far the simplest and nearest to A. C is a
hypothetical form necessary to explain the existence of D and
E. I have not put B in the direct line of transmission because
it omits some very probable details, such as that Lyaeus was a
Vandal by birth, which we find in D and E. The Armenian
translator may easily have omitted such a point, as also certain
topographical details which are contained in D and E^ because
they were not of a kind to interest or edify his countrymen.

S. DEMETRIUS.

I. At this time there was much wickedness in
high places, and Maximianus the emperor, the
enemy of God, was in the city of Thessalonica,
where the ministers of religion were subjected to
every kind of torture. For he was sunk in the
depths of idolatry ; so that he made strict search
and enquiry after those who had embraced the
religion of God, and imprisoned and tortured
them. But of the Christians who were in the
city, some took the advice of the wise Paul, and
bowed their heads before the storm, and hid them-
selves for a season ; but others were more cour-
ageous, and publicly avowed their faith in the
middle of the crowded city. II. Of the latter,
there was one whose name was Demetrius,^ a
brave and virtuous man, who had no fear of the
death allotted by nature to us. He spurned the
terrible threats of the Emperor, and openly avowed
himself to be a Christian ; and in and out of season
with the greatest boldness he taught the saving
Name, which he upheld in his own soul, to all who
came near him, in accordance with apostolic com-

^ According to the Gk. Anon, and metaphrast, Demetrius was €k
•ylvovs T<3v ircpiSoltov, Kal tt[s <rvyK\i\TOV PovXt|S vrrdp\<av, cKO-KeirTtop
TO irpwTov <rTpaT€vard|X€vos Kal dvOviraros yiyovcos ttjs *EX\d8os, Kal
viraTov wpaCwva ^Xa^ev vtrh rov Pao-iXe'ws Ma|nxiavov.

341

342 Monuments of Early Christianity,

mands. Now this saint was very learned in the
divine scriptures ; and would expound before all
the life-giving mysteries which were hidden in
them, and this, too, was part of his teaching —
that it was his disobedience which caused the first
man to go astray from the truth ; wherefore also
we became liable to death, and idolatry entered
into the world. For this cause, also, the allwise
Word, God, born in ineffable wise of God the
Father, came into the world, having put on flesh }
and He shone forth as the light of the world. He
lifted up the fallen, and raised up the sunken, and
found the lost, and made us pure from all the filth
of sin. And not only did he do these good
works, but he also taught unto all who received his
word, the righteousness of holiness, gentleness
and tranquillity, love and peace, to despise what
is transitory, and, in the hope of what is to come,
to welcome the earnest of life that is eternal, and
passes not away. HI. With such language the
saint would comfort all who came to him ; and in
consequence many came to him because his fame
was spread abroad in many places. At that time

* Vj irdvo'o<f>os Tov Otov Ad-yov Kard <rdf Ka mtpovcrCa. The outline of
the saint's teaching, as given in the Armenian, is almost identical with that
of the (ik. Anon. ; the metaphrast garbles it, introducing more pro-
nounced dogmatic, and omitting the moral elements, e.g. t«^S dprov. . . .
Tw irarpl orvvdvapxos Xo-yos, oCt€ -His Otd-rriTos Airoo-rds Kal (rdpKa Xa^wv
«K irapO^vou. . . . Kal t| <|>^(Jut] iravraxov t6v &v8pa iraptTrcfi-irc K-qpvTTOvra
T^v TpidSa.

The Gk. Anon, adds that Demetrius taught €v -rn ^^^r* {i.e. in
Thessalonica) xaXKcxn-iKfJ Xcyopi^vi] o-rod, ?v6a Kal clwOti rds o-vvd8ovs
vouur6ai inrb rds tov ky^v'i &T]p.o(riov XoxrrpoO (nro'yaCous Kajidpas. Such
details evince an early and close knowledge of the city.

Acts of S. Demetrius. 343

then, the officers of the Emperor went about in
search of the Christians ; and having taken the
blessed Demetrius, they brought him before Maxi-
mianus the enemy of God, as if they had taken
some great quarry. IV. Now it happened that
the Emperor just then was going forth to take his
seat in the arena of the city, in order to witness
the gladiators, who were going to exhibit in the
sight of all the common people ; and the place of
the arena was fitted up with scaffolding, and was
itself built of cut stone, in order to contain those
who came and sat therein. ^ And there was there
a man by name Leos, strong of limb, and power-
ful as a giant. ^ V. He was the terror of all when
he fought in the shows ; but in his life he was
reckless and murderous, and was therefore a special
favourite in the eyes of Maximianus, who reckoned
him among his foremost champions, because in
that land there was none found like him. When
therefore the Emperor entered the circus, the exe-
cutioners set Demetrius before him. VI. And
the Emperor, after asking him if he were a
Christian, commanded that they should take him
close up to the portico of the baths, where a red-
hot fire was kindled ; for the baths were close to
the Court of Justice.^ VII. Then he bade them

^ Gk. Anon, and metaphrast say nothing of the cut stone, but the
former has as follows : Ikci ■ydp avT<3 7rap€(rK€ija(rT0 8ia tivwv <rav£8<«)V
'n'epiir€<{>paY(tcvos KVKXcp kv {{xl/ei Kpe|JLdp.€vos, 6 84x.€(rdai ixeXXcov tovs Iv
avTw €lo-i6vTas. The metaphrast gives similar particulars later on.

^ The Gk. Anon, spells the name Avatos, and says he was a Vandal,
who in the ludi had slain many both in Rome and Sirmium.

^ Here the Gk. Anon, and the metaphrast, add a miracle. As the

344 Momiments of Early Christia^iity.

bring Leos into his presence, and a herald made
a public proclamation, asking who was willing to
engage in combat with him, and promising great
rewards. Then there rose up in the middle of
the court a young man, whose name was Nestor,
a Christian, who had formerly gone to the blessed
Demetrius, to ask him to pray for him ; and he
had blessed him, and prophesied : *' By the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ thou shalt conquer Leos,
and by reason of Him art thou martyred."^ VIII.
The young man laid aside his garments, and
binding round himself a single loin-cloth, he
leaped into the level of the arena, full opposite
Maximianus, and championed Leos to do combat
with him.

But when the Emperor saw his tender age, he
wondered, and called Nestor to himself, and
began to give him good advice, saying : " I know,
little son, that because you would fain be rich and
because of your poverty, you are so eager to lose
your life at the hands of Leos, a man mighty and
strong of limb. But I am sorry for the come-
liness of your youth, which is graced with all
beauty ; and therefore I give you much wealth ;
only give up this desire of yours to do battle with

saint sits confined under the portico (K04iiOLpa) of the baths, he sees a scor-
pion about to sting him. He makes the sign of a cross over it, and it
instantly dies. Then an angel appears and crowns the martyr with a
crown, saying : " Peace to thee, athlete of Christ, be strong and of good
courage. "

* The Gk. Anon, and tlie metaphrast have : Kal rbv Avatov viK-f|<rciS,
Kal inrip Xpurrov (Jtctprvp^o-cis. The metaphrast elaborates this incident.
The Anon, agrees better with the Armenian.

Acts of S. Demetrius. 345

one who is powerful as a giant, and who conquers
all ; and depart rejoicing in your own fair looks." ^
IX. Then the stripling, Nestor, was in no wise
deceived by the promises of the Emperor, nor in
any way took his advice, nor had any fear because
of the praise bestowed upon Leos. For he trusted
alone in the prophecy of Demetrius, and he
drew his strength from the might of Christ, and
he therefore answered the Emperor thus : " I, O
Emperor, am not come hither for the sake of
wealth, or of the life that passes, but that I may
prove myself a choicer man than Leos, and be-
cause I shall attain to the better life." And when
the Emperor and all his great men of state around
him heard this, they were filled with anger, and
considered that the words of Nestor were mere
braggadocio ; so they incited Leos to fight with
him, and to give him a death blow, so that he
might die at once. X. And then when they met
one another face to face, the stripling Nestor, made
strong in spirit,^ hurled himself at Leos, dashed
him to the ground, and in a moment slew him.^
XL But the Emperor, seeing this, was very
wroth, especially when he ascertained that Nestor

^ The Gk. Anon, and metaphrast have : Kal Xapoiv &iri0i hctA tov t^v
diroXavcov Kal t«v xPIH'-^twv.

^ The Gk. Anon, has : iroi^o-as rbv twoTrotbv o-ravpov €v tt} KapStc;..

The metaphrast omits.

^ The Greek § is much longer, for a prayer is put into Nestor's mouth :
" O God of Demetrius Thy servant, and Thy loved Son Jesus Christ, who
didst subject Goliath the alien to the faithful David, do Thou Thyself cast
down the boasting of Lyaius and of the tyrant Maximianus." The meta-
phrast gives a similar prayer, but does not mention Demetrius.

34^ Monuments of Early Christianity.

was also a Christian ; and instead of bestowing
upon him the rewards which by proclamation he
had beforehand promised to any one who would
fight in the arena with Leos, he ordered the youth
to be beheaded as a Christian.^ Thus the Em-
peror was very vexed at what had taken place,
for he was sorry for the death of both ;* and he
accordingly rose from his throne with a sad coun-
tenance, resolved to go to his palace. XII. Then
some evil speakers came and maligned Demetrius
to him, saying that he was the origin of it all ;
whereat the Emperor was so incensed, that he
became like a wild animal, and commanded the
saint to be transfixed with a javelin, there in the
very Court of Justice.^ And thus died the saint,
making a goodly confession of Christ, on the 26th
day of the month of October.* XIII. But Maxi-
mianus the enemy of God, ordered his holy body
to be thrown out to feed the wild beasts and
birds ; and then some brethren, who were
reverent, and loved the martyrs, came in the

* In the Gk. Anon, the Emperor accuses Nestor of YOT^reCcu Nestor
replies that an angel really wielded his sword. He is then beheaded, ^v
TOis 8\»TiKOis Tf]S ir^Xcws nip€<riv ^v Tg ^irovofiatofiivr) yj^wrix^ irvX^,
by the hand of Menutianus, a protector (TrporcKTopos), and so receives
the crown of martyrdom. The metaphrast gives a similar, but more
elaborate, account of Nestor's death ; omitting, however, the topographical
details supplied by the Anon.

' The Gk. Anon, omits this touch, which being favourable to Maxi-
mian's character, may be genuine.

^ The Gk. Anon, and metaph. say in the vaults of the baths.

* The Greek omits the date, but adds a § about Lupus, the saint's ser-
vant, who took T^ 6pdpiov of the saint and cauglit his blood in it ; also
dipt in the blood a royal ring, which then wrought cures. Lupus also is
martyred. Similarly the metaphrast.

Ac^s of S, Demetrius. 347

night and stole his body, and bore it away,^ and
buried it in a certain house in the city, there to
wait for a while until the Lord should visit and
reveal the relics of His saints.

But after a little while great signs and acts of
power began to occur unto those who called upon
the holy martyr to help them ; and thus the cures
which were wrought in the name of the saint
came to be known far and wide. XIV. Then a
certain Leontius,''' a God-fearing man, who be-
longed to the land of Illyria, a bishop, came to
Thessalonica ; and he acquired the house in which
were the relics of the saint ;^ and finding it narrow

^ The Gk. Anon, says they buried the body deep down under the
rubbish heap on which it had been cast. The metaph. that they buried it
on the very spot where the saint was executed.

^ According to the Gk. Anon, and metaphrast Leontius was tis dvi^p
Tovs eirapxiKOvs tcov ' IXXvpCwv KaTaKocrp,<5v Opovovs.

^ According to the Gk. Anon. Leontius, being miraculously cured of
his di.sease. threw down the porticoes or vaults (Ka^Jidpas) of the furnaces
(Toav Ka(JLivft)v), as also of the hot baths ; and cleared away the public
entrances and shops (STip-oo-itov cjjlPoXwv Kal irpoirtvcov), and raised a
solemn house (irdvo-cirTOv oIkov) to the martyr. It is in the metaphrast
that we here find the original of the Armenian : Kal tov (xiKpov oIk£o-kov
OS TO tepbv €lx€ TOV (xdpTvpos o-«(xa cirl Ppax^os KOfiiSfj Kal ottcvov
TOV crxif||xaTOS 6vTa, tois TrcpipdXots t€ tov Xoon-pov Kal tw o-Ta8i<p dirct-
XT)[ip.€vov, KaTao-Tpe\j/as avTos, ds vabv avTw tw do-Tti 0€a-o-aXoviKT]S k%
avTwv l8€tp,aTO t«v KpiririScov 6s Kal vvv opaTai. The metaphrast in the
loth century could not have seen the original church, which was burned
down in the 7th century.

The Greek forms add two §§ relating how Leontius took a garment
(xXap.v8a) drenched in the saint's blood, and returned homewards to
Dacia. But he could not cross the Danube because of the wintry weather.
Then he had a vision of the saint, after which he mounted his chariot and
drove across the Danube, dryshod, to Sirmium, where he deposited the
relic in the church of Demetrius, near the shrine of Anastasia.

In the above the geography is confused, for, though Dacia was across
the Danube, Sirmium was not. Vehicles can cross the Danube when it is
frozen, but Leontius possessed the car of Neptune.

34^ Monuments of Early Christianity,

and confined, he threw it down, and enlarged
the place, and sanctified it, and built a magnificent
temple in honour of the saint's name, wherein
great acts of healing were wrought, to the glory
and praise of the All Holy Trinity, and of the
consubstantial nature of the Father, and Son, and
Holy Spirit, now and for ever and ever. Amen.

II. A history of the wonders which took place through the
holy Demetrius ; how that after a long time, in the days of
Justinian and Maurice, emperors of the Greeks, search was made
for his relics.

Let us now, dear brethren, glide over a long
period of time, and relate the miracles which took
place through the God-clad martyr Demetrius.
In order that a little attention to a few details may
give you an understanding of many ineffable works
wrought by the almighty power of Christ through
His saints. Now on every occasion when the
saints died, the Christians, who loved the martyrs,
were careful to take their bodies and inter them in
a secret spot, in order that the foul smoke of the
sacrifices of the heathen might not come nigh
them to pollute them. And for this reason their
tombs are sometimes certainly known, but some-
times not so ; even though we see beautifully
decorated shrines erected in their memory by
certain pious people. So it is in Thessalonica,
where although a great many martyrs lie hidden
and although their shrines are shown, and among
the rest that of the blessed Demetrius, celebrated

Acts of S. Demetrius. 349

for its miracles ; yet their real tombs, and the
spots consecrated by the relics of these same
saints, are not anywhere to be found, with the sole
exception of the holy virgin Mamrinus. But in
the time of the pious emperor Maurice, by his
reverent and devout wishes, search was made for
many saints who had died in Thessalonica, and
especially for the holy Demetrius, because of the
great fame of his miracles ; and a letter was
written to the blessed Eusebius, who was at that
time Bishop of Thessalonica, asking him to send
to the Emperor some part of the relics of the
blessed saint Demetrius. On which occasion
Eusebius wrote the following letter in answer to
the Emperor: "We know full well, O Emperor,
that your request is dictated by the true faith
which you have in the holy martyrs of Christ.
But while informing your reverence of the faith of
the Thessalonicaeans, and of the miracles wrought
among them, I must yet in respect of this request
of yours, say that the faith of this city is not of
such a kind, as that the people desire to worship
God and to honour His saints by means of any-
thing sensible. For they have received the faith
from the Lord's holy testimonies, to the effect that
God is a spirit, and that those who worship Him
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And
for this cause there are hidden in this city all the
bodies of the saints, so as to be altogether out of
the ken of man. And this is what your pious
father, Justinian, who was filled with the same
devout zeal as yourself, found to be the case by

350 Monuments of Early Christianity.

actual trial. For he in martyr-loving mood wrote
a letter to my predecessor in the bishopric of the
city, such as your worship has written to us, ask-
ing for some part of the relics of the holy martyr
Demetrius, which it was his pious and royal
desire to enshrine. So they went and dug into
the shrine of the holy martyr, and dug into the
floor of the church, where they thought had been
laid the remains of the saint. And the bishop
entrusted such a work to God-fearing priests, of
whose merits he was well assured. But when
they had made the hole deep enough, and others
stood round w^ith psalms and hymns, and lighted
tapers, and fragrant incense, they wanted to dig
still further, when suddenly a fire issued from
within and filled all the hole they had dug, and
enveloped without burning them ; and they heard
a voice which said : ' Cease henceforth from any
more tempting the power of Christ, which is united
with the bones of the saints.' But they were
filled with fear and trembling, and took clay from
the hollow, and sent it to the Emperor, and ac-
quainted him in writing with the wonders which
had happened.

** This then, O Emperor, took place in the reign
of the pious Justinian, your father. And we in
the same way have sent to your devout majesty a
portion of the same blessed clay, which was laid
in the chest in this church with a view to the
healing of the sick. This we pray your majesty
also to welcome gratefully, and to receive it without
misgiving ; as if therein you had with you the

Ac^s of S. D erne trills. 351

entire martyr, as beseems your faith. And by
trial of it, you will learn its wonderful properties,
and will not deem us to have been disregardful of
your pious majesty. Glory be to Christ for ever
and ever. Amen."

ADDENDA.

Note to page 30. — In the Neue Kirchliche Zeitschrift, vi.
Jahrgang, 10 Heft, October, 1893, Professor R. Seeberg has
republished the Apology of Apollonius, using the German
translation made by M. Burchardi for Prof. Harnack. His
notes contain much useful matter.

Page 36, line i. — Prof. Seeberg remarks that the prede-
cessor of Perennis was named Tarruntenus, and that a remin-
iscence of this may underlie the Armenian reading " Terentius."
It is noticeable in this connection that the metaphrast's text
of the Acts of Eugenia in the same way gives the name
Terentius as that of the successor of Philip the Martyr, in
the eparchate of Egypt, where the Armenian and old Latin
have Perennius, the Greek form of Perennis (see page 180).
Tarruntenus shared with Perennis the office of Prefect until
the year 183. He occupied a position so subordinate to that
of Perennis, that he is not so likely as the latter to have tried
Apollonius. But if he did, Apollonius must have died two
years earlier than is usually supposed.

Prof. Seeberg's conjecture that Terentios is a mistake for
Tarruntenus, who was prefect under Commodus, a.d. 182-3, is
confirmed by an uncial Armenian Codex of the Xlth. century,
No. 88, of the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, in which the
name is transliterated Tarrintinos. Apollonius must therefore
have suffered at the very beginning of the reign of Commodus.

Page 40, § 13. In regard to the edict of the senate, referred
to in this section, and again in § 23, it is to be noticed that in
the Acts of Codratius (page 198) there is a similar reference to
" the edict of the Emperors and of the Great Senate, that not
a single one of the Christians shall live." On § 23 of the Acts

353 A A

. r^^ OF THE A

•oniveksitt;

354 Addenda.

of Apollonius, Harnack and Seeberg, compare TertulL, Apol.
4 : " definitis dicendo : non licet esse nos^ et hoc sine ullo
retractu humaniore praescribitis."

Page 41, § 18. Prof. Seeberg explains the references in
this § from Pausanias i, 24, 2 : Kcivrat 8c c^s SXKai re ctKovcs
Ktti HpttKXcovs. . . . *A6r]va. tc icTTLV dviovcra c/c t^s
K€<f>a\rj^ Tov Aios. lo-rt 8c koI Tavpo<s avdOrjixa tt}? ^ovXrj<: rrjs
€V Apcto) Trayu) c^* otu) 8c av€Or)K€V rj fiovXrjy ttoXXol av Tts c^cAwv

ClKtt^Ol.

Page 76. In addition to other references explicatory of the
nature of Alexander's crown, I owe the following to Mr. Rush-
forth, viz. Suetonius Vita Domitiani, ch. 4 : " Instituit et quin-
quennale certamen capitolino lovi triplex, musicum equestre
gymnicum, et aliquanto plurium quam nunc coronarum. . . .
Certamini prsesedit crepidatus purpureaque amictus toga Grae-
canica, capite gestans coronam auream cum effigie lovis ac
lunonis Minervseque ; adsidentibus Diali sacerdote et collegio
Flavialium pari habitu, nisi quod illorufti coronis inerat et ipsius
imago. Therefore the priests of the worship of the reigning
Caesar had his imago or medallion fastened in their wreaths.
The offence committed by Thekla becomes quite clear, and the
severity of the sentence passed upon her intelligible. It can
hardly be denied that the Armenian and Syriac texts in pre-
serving this detail about Alexander's wreath, which the other
texts omit, have kept a proof, no less convincing than those
which Prof. Ramsay has discovered, of the authenticity of
these Acts of Thekla. The more closely they are examined,
the more clearly does their value as a contemporary record
reveal itself.

Page 146. That the memorial feast of S. Polyeuctes was
kept on Dec. 25 is good proof that this homily was delivered
before a.d. 400 ; for after that date Dec. 25 was reserved to
the newly instituted festival of the birth of Jesus Christ.

INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS.

N.B. — Italics signify that the reference is to the introductions; n.
at foot of page.

: notes

Abgar, notary, 217, 219, 231.

— King of Edessa, 24i.
Acombiti or Accubiti, 290.

Acts of Saints, the Dialogue in,
often genuine, 6, 276 ; read pub-
licly at their Festivals, 103, 123 ;
in early times addressed to special
Churches, 97, 103 ; continually
re-edited, 151.

Adam, hour of his leaving the gar-
den, 309.

Africanus, loi, 105 foil.

Aigai, 2JiO foil., 243.

Alexander, 76 foil.

— Martyr at Aigal, 246.
Allard, P., 155.

Alexandria, Church in, 1^9 ; Mon-
asteries near, 153.
Anastasia, M., in Aigai, 254.
Anazarb, 24I, 242, 243.
Angels, Good, 313.
Anicetus Prefect, (or Nicetius), 186.
Apamea, 208.
Apollonius of Tyana, 62.

— M., his creed, I4, 46 ; his Stoic-
ism, 29 ; form of his trial, 33 ;
on Sacrifices, 39 ; his Acts com-
pared with those of Phocas, 99.

Apparitions of Jesus as Paul, 72,
73 and n. ; to Polyeuctes, 133,
136, 140, 142, 144; to Hizti-
bouzit, 268.

Aquilius Consul, 152, 158.

Ararat, 262.

Arians, Land of, 266.

Aristotle, 108.

Armenian Martyrology, 2 ; age of
the Arm. texts, 3, 69, 89, 97,
102, 124, 147, 156, 242, 339,
360.

Armenia, Christianity in, 267 foil.,

261 foil.
Arrian, 268.
Artemis, worship of, in Asia Minor,

228 ; in Rome, 186, 295.
Asterius, M., at Aigai, 245.
Astrology, condemned, 330.
Athenians, worship ox- head, 41

and n.
Atropatacan in Persia, 267.
Aube, B., his edition of Greek

Acts of Polyeuctes, 123 foil.
Augustine, Saint, half a heathen,

11.
Avitus, his Poems, I48.
Avitus Consul, son of Philip M.,

150, 157.

Babelon, Ernest, 24I.

Babylas, M., of Antioch, his date,
161.

Baptism provided escape from Hell-
fire, 17 ; of Thekla, 67, 82, 86 ;
Thekla demands it of Paul, 75 ;
a fulfilment of the law, 101, 118 ;
not essential to salvation, 125,
136 foil. ; of companions of Cal-
listratus, 334.

Baresma, 269, 263.

Baronius, Annals of, 2.

Basil the Great. Homily on the 40
Martyrs, 273.

l^asil of Seleukia, 63.

Basilia or Basilla, M., 181 foil.

Becosianus or Berekkokius, 244.

Beliefs, Early, about Paradise, 115,
191, 192, 311 foil.

Bemarchus, M., 301.

Bernard, S., his miracles, 7.

Bezse, Codex, i^Sn.

355

356 Index of Names and Subjects.

Bithynian Persecution under Trajan,

90 foil., 105, III.

Bollandist Acts, 3\ reject Acts of

Thekla, 89.
Bread, Salt, and Water, 75 {.see

Eucharist).
Burchardi's German version of Acts

of ApoUonius, see Addenda.
Burning alive of Thekla, 56, 73 ;

of Phocas, 120.
Byceus on S. Demetrius, 33d.

Caesar's genius, to be sworn by,

95.
Ca;sar-shaped crown worn by pre-
sidents of Caesar worship, 76 and

«., see Addenda.
Caesareia on the Hellespont, J9J,

209.
Callistratus, 213 foil. ; his Church

in Rome, 336.
Cananeots, 12Jt, 145.
Carthage, 276.
Castelius, pro-consul, 52.
Catacombs, Roman, IJfS.
Catholic Church, the phrase not in

Poly carp's Acts, -^
Caucasus, ancient gods exiled

thither, 12.
Chalcedon, the Cohort, 289, 290.
XaXav8«v, 290.
Chosrow, son of Kavat, 251, 261,

266.
Choyap, a Persian, 266.
Christian, the name penal, 43 and n.
Christians and Ancient Art, 10 ;

their iconoclasm, 13, 141, 227 ;

attitude towards sacrifices, 39 ;

hunted down under Trajan, 102,

105 ; in Persia, 257 foil., 261 ;

true reasons why they were per-
secuted, 283 foil.
Chrysostom,Pseudo-, onThekla,57,

60 n.
Chrysostomus Dio, 258.
Claudius' Speech on Gallia Comata,

6 ; kinsman of Tryphaena, 51.
Clodia, 157 foil.

Codratius or Quadratus, 191 foil.
Commodus, 37 foil., llfi.
Communism of Early Christians,

2J&5.
Conscripts, Law of, 290 n.
Conybeare and liowson on Thekla,

Ji9, 50.

Coptos or Cana in Egypt, 12J!^.

Corneille's Polyeucte, 125.

Cornelius, bp. of Rome, 151.

Cornutus and Philo, 9.

Creed, Early forms of, IJ^, 33, 46,
99, 154, 337, 342.

Crossing, Practice of, 119, 344 n.

Crucifi^ God, 108, 119.

Crucifixion, Triple, its significance,
258 ; its details imitated in Mar-
tyrdoms, 258.

Ctesias, 258.

Cyprian, 182, 274.

Cyrus, 258.

Dancing among Early Christians,

129.
Daphne, Grove of, 52, 53.
Decius, and Valerian, their edict

against Christians, 131, 193.
Demas, 61 foil.
Demetrius, S., his creed, I4, 337,

342.
Demons of air, fight for a dead

man's soul, 313.
Demosthenes, no.
Denesius' executioner, 243.
Depositio Martyrum, 155.
Descensus Averni, Gospel of, 310.
Devil, The, 326, 327.
Dio Chrysostomus, 258.
Diocletian, 289, 338.
Domitian, Name Christian became

punishable under, 7.
Dove-worship and Holy Ghost,

42 n.
Ducenarius, Vir, 333 n.
Dwin or Twin, 259.

Earthquakes in Martyrdoms, 96,

112.
Edessa, 24O foil., 243.
Egypt, Prefects of, 152 ; early

monasteries in, 153.
Egyptian Superstition, 42 and n.
Elias, 320

Elvira, Synod of, 13.
Eucharist, Primitive form of, with

bread and water and salt, 75 and

n., 274.
Eugenia imitated Thekla, ^, 59,

147, 154, 161, 176.
Eukhaita, 217, 222.
Eunuchs as Priests, 155 ; as

Martyrs, 160.

Index of Names and Subjects. 357

Eunuchism inculcated in Gospel,

2J^ ; by Philo, 2J^ n. ; by Justin

M., 2J^n.
Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., 4 ; on Apol-

lonius M., 2d \ on Firmilianus

M., 311.

— bp. of Thessalonica, 337 foil.
Eutropius, 166.

Faith alone needful to Salvation,

137.
Falconilla, name late, 53, 55.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

formula used, 48, 244, 262.
Felix, Minucius, on Hell, 16 ; on

Sacrifices, 38 n. ; his teaching

compared with Apollonius, 44 n.

— father-in-law of Polyeuctes, 141.
Fire-worship, 259, 261 foil.

Galatarch, 53.

Galatia, the Province, 98.

Galilean, the {i.e. Jesus), 244.

Galileans, 291.

Gallienus, Emperor, 150.

Gallus, Emperor, 150, 181.

Gladiatorial Games, 337, 343 foil.

Gorres, Dr. Franz, 148.

Gospel, in what sense anti-social,

19, 283 foil.
Gospels, Apocryphal, 138 and n. ;

early, 155, 169, 278, 306, 309,

312 ; their diffusion in early

times, 274, 275.
Greeks, the ancient, their humanity,

280.
Greek Ail and Early Christianity,

10. {See Iconoclasm.)
Gregory of Tours, 124.
Guardian Newspaper, 30 n.

Hadrian, 239 foil., 253 ; temple of,

in Aigai, 243, 253, 255.
Hardy, G. E., 102.
Harnack, Professor A., 30 n., 32,

Helenus, bp. of Heliopolis, 152,
161 foil.

Heliopolis. 152, 161.

Hell, the Spoiling of, 310.

Hell-fire, Belief in, pre-Christian,
15 ; how made use of by Chris-
tians, 17.

Heracleia in Cappadocia, 219, 225.

Hermogenes, 61 foil.

Hieronymus quoted, 31.

Hindoos, 13.

Hippolytus, Com. on Daniel, on
Millenarism in Pontus and Syria,
21, 22; Philosophumena, 155.

Hiztibouzit M., 260, 265 foil.

Holy Ghost compared to dove in
Philo, 42 n.

Homer quoted, 196.

Horoscopes, 201, 323.

Human Sacrifice, 258, 270.

Hyacinthus, 148, 159 foil.

Iconium, 52.

Iconoclasm of Early Christians, 13,

141, 227.
Idols, 41, 114, 159, 200, 226 foil.
Ignatius, his epp. compared with

Acts of Phocas, 100.
Incarnation, a divine ruse, 306 foil.
India, Paganism of Modern, 13.
Indictions, 146 and «.
Indus and Domna, 374.
Iras or Zareas, a wizard, 163.

Jesus of Nazareth, addressed his
teaching to Monotheists only, 7 ;
represented as a youth, 144 ; a
human sacrifice, 258.

Jews, Christian spite against, 257,
270 ; why not persecuted like
the Christians, 286.

John, the bp., 244.

Josephus on Oaths, 37 n.

Justin Martyr, his imperfect mono-
theism, 9, 11 ; on oaths, 37 n. ;
on name Christian, 43 n.

Justinian orders a search for the
relics of S. Demetrius, 349.

Lapsed, Treatment of the, 203.
Latin Acts translated into Greek,

276, 293.
Latin Version of Acts of Thekla,

59.
Latin Version of Acts of Eugenia,

156, 159 foil.
Latina, Via, 188.
Law fulfilled in Baptism, The, 101,

118.
Lectra, The Name, 53, 56.
Leontios, a bishop of lllyria, 347.
Licinius, 217, 224 foil.
Lightfoot on Bithynian Persecution,

50 foil., 258.

35^ Index of Names and Subjects.

Lioness defends Thekla, 8i.
Lipsius, his text of Acts of Thekla

criticised, 59.
Lucretius on Hell, 15.
Lyaeos or Laus or Leos, a gladiator,

337 foil.
Lystra, 62.

Macarius M., in Aigai, 254.
Magism, -?59, 261 foil.
Mahommedans, 13.
Manou, king of Edessa, J?^2.
Makhosh, M., 261 foil, {see Hizti-

bouzit).
Mamrinos M., of Thessalonica,

349.

Marcia, 155.

Marriage, repudiated by Jesus, 23 ;
by early Christians, 283 ; by Paul,
24 ; in Peter's Acts, 26 ; Platonic
among early Christians, 25.

Martyrs upheld right of private
judgment, 1 ; deprived of their
goods, 44, and «., 112 ; relics of,
venerated, 145, 178, 236, 271 ;
nature of tortures inflicted on,
279 foil. ; meaning of word, 281.

Martyrdoms, re-edited in each age,
151.

Maxentius, 227.

Maximianus, 341 foil.

Maximus, Consul, 182.

Mary, Virgin, 14, 305 foil.

Maurice, the Emperor, asks for
relics of S. Demetrius, 338, 348.

Mehekan, the mouth, 262.

Melani or Melanthia, 171 foil.

Melitene, 145.

Metaphrast, j^^ Simeon.

Military wService refused by Chris-
tians, 285.

Millenarism of Gospel, 19 foil.,
286 ; and marriage, 23, 58, 287.

Mills, Dr., 260.

Miracles in Acts often interpolated,

4 ; how to be regarded in N.T.,

5 ; of St. Bernard, 5.
Miracles of Healing of the Blind

(Matt. ix. 28), 139.
Mommsen on Bithynia, 94 ; on

Cohors Chalcedon, 290 n.
Monasteries in Egypt, 153, 162,

168 foil.
Monotheism of Jews, 41 n. ; no

offence in Roman Empire, 283.

Monotheistic Propaganda of Paul

and Philo, 8.
Montanism, 58.
Myra or Merou, 54.
Mysteries, Ancient, Relation of

Christianity to, 17.
Myths, Pagan, related of Christian

Saints, 18, 297.

Nakhapet, a Persian governor, 265.
Narcissus M. at Aigai, 254.
Nati called Drowandacan, 266.
Nearchus, 129 foil.
Nebuchadnezzar, 117.
Neocorus, 274 (or Ocorus), 290,

315. 316.
Nerses M., 264 ; a Rajik, 267.
Nestor, bp. of Rome, 150, 182.
Nestorius of Thessalonica, 337 foil.
Nicseus, 201.

Nicomedeia, 193, 218, 224.
Nihilism of early Christians, 284

foil.
Nikhorakan, a Persian governor,

264.
Numerianus, Emperor, 151, 239,

243-

Oaths forbidden, 37 and «., 285.
Oceanus, name of a Columbethra in

Rome, 333.
Onesiphorus and Paul, 61.
Oral tradition, 274, 290, 315 {see

Neocorus).
Origen on Seven Heavens, 311 «.
Orthodoxy, Standard of, fluctuated

in early Church, 5, 14 (5^^ Creed).

Pancrazio, S., 11.

Parable of Vineyard and Labourers,

137-

Paradise, 192, 311 foil.

Paton, W. R., 258.

Paul, addressed his teaching to
Polytheists, 8, 9 ; inculcates
virginity, 25, 58, 34, 67 ; be-
lieved in approaching end of
world, 58 ; his personal appear-
ance, 62 ; his beatitudes, 63 ; on
marriage, 63 ; on baptism, 63 ;
accused of wizardry, 52, 68 ; his
defence, 69 ; appears to Thekla
as Jesus, 72, 73 «. ; his creed,
99 ; his epistles, early diffusion
of, 275.

Index of Names and Subjects. 359

Paulina, 143.

Perennis, prefect, 155j 35 n. , 30 ;

(or Perinos eparch of Egypt,

179) ; (or Perinius consul in

Bithynia, 192, 201.
Peroz, a Magus, 266.
Perpetua, S., 128.
Persian Fire-worship, 259^ 262

foil.
Peter's First Ep., 97.
Phsedo of Plato, 278.
Philadus M. in Aigai, 254.
Philip eparch of Egypt, 149.
Philosophers and Christianity, 45,

106, 108, 202, 279.
Philo as missionary of Monotheism,

5, 9 ; his Therapeutae, 20, 76 n.

153 ; on oaths, 38 n. ; compares

Holy Spirit to a dove, 42 n.
Phocas, 89 foil. ; his prayer, 99 ;

his creed, 99, -i 10 ; his Acts

addressed to certain Churches,

96 foil., 103.
Pilate, Acts of, 138 w.
Pliny Z'^n., 90 foil. ; his letter to

Trajan unknown to author of

Acts of Phocas, 93 foil., 281.
Plutarch on Hell, 15 ; on crucifixion

of Masabates, 258.
Polyeuctes, Acts of, their heterodox

tendency, 125, 137 foil.
Polycarp, Acts of, and phrase

Catholic Church, 4 ; resemblance

of, with Acts of Apollonius, 33 ;

with Acts of Phocas, 95 foil.,

258. ^
Polytheism and Paul, 8.
Pompeianus (or Pompeius) Consul,

150, 184.
Pontus-Bithynia, 98.
Poseidon, 118, 212.
Prayers for dead, 314.
Prefects of Egypt, 152.
Private Judgment, right to, upheld

by martyrs, 1 ; attitude to it of

later Church, 279.
Presentinus, a captain, 292 foil.
Prophecies of Jesus, 47.
Protus M., U8, 160.
Prousa, port of Caesareia, 191,
Psalms, use of, 159, 265.
\j/vya-y«Yo£, Angels, 313.
Purgatory, 3 14 foil.

Ragozin, Zenaide A. , 259.

Ramsay, W. M., 50 foil., 98, 191,
240, 242 ; on position of Eu-
khaita, 219.

Rajik, 267, see Nerses.

Rei, a district of Persia, 266.

Relics of Martyrs venerated, 145,
178, 211, 233, 236, 271, 336,

338, 347, 349.
Resurrection of the body, 315.
Rhyndacus, river, 213.

Roads in Asia Minor, 50, 51, see

Ramsay.
Roman Empire, stimulated growth

of Monotheistic belief, 17.
Rome, ' 'the great city of," 35 «., 1 57.
Romeliana or Rombyliana, 244.
Rufus, M., 210.
Rushforth, G. McN., 76 «., see

Addenda.

Sacraments not essential to Salva-
tion, 136 foil.

Sacrifice, human, 258, 270.

Saksea, Persian festival, 258.

Satan bound by Jesus, 310.

Saturninus M., 210.

Seal of Christ = baptism, 75, 118.

Seeberg's edition of Acts of Apol-
lonius, see Addenda.

Seleukia, 88.

Senate, Roman, Acts of, 7 ; Apol-
lonius tried before it, 2>^ ; its
decree against Christians, 40, 43
and Addenda.

Sergius, 150, 157.

Seven heavens, 311 foil.

Severus, baths of, in Rome, 187.

Simeon, Metaphrast, 147, 217, 273,

339, 340.
Sinope, 101.

Socrates ridicules Athenian re-
ligion, 42 ; compared to Jesus,
47 ; death of, 278.

Son, relation of, to God the Father
suggested by Roman institutions,
18.

Syriarch, 53, 55, 76 «.

Tacitus, 6.

Talmud, 42 n.

Tanebus, 239, 254.

Temple, Village of the, on the

Rhyndacus, 213.
Terentius or Perennis, 35, 180 and

Addenda.

36o

Index of Names and Subjects,

Tertullian on Thekla, 4, 154!.
Testaments of XII. Patriarchs, 310,

311-

Thaleloeus, 239 foil.

Thamyris, 64 foil.

Thekla, her Acts, a divine book,
59, 15i, 159 ; has relief of her
and Paul at Edschmiadzin, 60 ;
her rank as an Apostle, 60 n. ;
her Acts, 61 foil. ; asks Paul for
baptism, 75 ; her modesty, 81 ;
baptises herself, 82, 86 ; visits
Seleukia, 88 ; dresses as a man,
86 ; her Acts rejected by Bol-
landists, 89 ; referred to, 128,
154!, 158, 176; her Acts imitated,
168 ; her folly, 284.

Theodore M., 258^ 216 foil. ; the
Tiro, date of his festival, 221.

Theodorus, Hegemon in Aigai, 243.

Theodula M. in Aigai, 254.

ecoo-£pf]S, 55.

Thessalonica, Theatre at, 343; the
brazen Stoa, 342 n. ; the baths,
347 n. ; the golden gate, 346 n. ;
shrine of its saints, 348.

Thief, penitent, 138 and n.

Tiberianus or Tiberius, Roman
judge in Edessa, 241, 244.

Tiberian (or Severian) baths in
Rome, 187.

Tillemont, 337.

Timotheus, a Cananeot, 146.

Tiranas, a Church in Alexandria,
180.

Titus and Onesiphorus, 61, 62.

Tombs of Martyrs, lost in the sixth
century, 348 foil.

Torture of Martyrs, 280 ioW., 294,
295-

Tradition, Oral Christian, its trans-
mission, 274, 291.

Trajan, conflicting views of his
attitude towards Christianity, 90
foil. ; his edict that Christians
were not to be hunted out, 102,
105 ; worshipped, 105 ; tries and
condemns Phocas, 113 foil. ; his
death, 120.

Transubstantiation, origin of belief
in, iO, 11.

Trebizond, Dia, Apollo and Arte-
mis worshipped there, 12.

Trinity, a late dogma, 14, 64 and
«., 277, 302 foil. ; the formula
used, 255.

Tryphsena, 50, 53, 55, 77 foil.

Twin or Dwin, in Armenia, 259.

Urbicus, wizard at Aigai, 249.

Venantius, Fortunatus, 148.

Vergil on Hell, 15.

Vicarius Africas, 150.

Virgin Mary, 14,' t,o$ foil., 337.

Virginity, 25, see Paul, 58, 64, 67.

Wizards, 72, 209, 249, 252, 298.
Word of God, made universe, held

by Phocas, 109; by Demetrius,

342.
World, approaching end of, belief

in, 18 foil., see Mdlenarism.
— Renunciation of, 18 foil., see

Gospel.
Wright, Prof., his translation of

Syriac Acts of Thekla, 59.

Zacharias, 180.
Zenonia, 61.

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