ON THE HOLY MARTYRS FLORUS AND LAURUS, PROCULUS, MAXIMUS, AND OTHERS,
IN ILLYRICUM,
Perhaps in the second century.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Their cult, translation, Acts, and the time and place of their martyrdom.
Florus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Laurus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Proculus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Maximus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Other MM. in Illyricum
BY J. P.
The memory of SS. Florus and Laurus is indeed illustrious from the sacred calendars of the Church, both Latin and Greek, Their cult among the Greeks, but not from Greek Acts of good repute — a matter of which we have so often, and with the fullest justice, complained elsewhere, and are compelled to complain again and again. Let us therefore first establish the cult of these two Martyrs, and let the others be spoken of afterward. Accordingly, SS. Florus and Laurus are marked on this day by the Typicon which is called that of St. Sabas, by the Sirletian Menology, by the Synaxarium of the Emperor Basil, by our Arabic Martyrology (in which, by an error, Leprus is put for Florus), by the Slavo-Russian Menology of Sparwenfeld, by Chifflet's Menaeon, by the Turin Manuscript, and by Sirmond's Synaxarium; to which add the great printed Menaea, which honor them with these three little verses:
Δίψει τελευτῆς τῆς ὑπὲρ Θεοῦ Λόγου Χωροῦσι Φλῶρος καὶ Λαῦρος πρὸς τὸ Φρέαρ. Φλώρῳ ἁμ᾽ ὀγδοάτῃ δεκάτῃ Φρέαρ εἰσέδυ Λαῦρος.
Florus together with Laurus, in the thirst of martyrdom, Seek out the well, and fall for the Word of God. With Florus, Laurus enters the well; both together go down.
Namely on the eighteenth day, as it stands in the Greek verse, of this month of August. Of the manner in which the course of their martyrdom was completed we shall speak later. The same Menaea devote to the praises of these Saints the chief parts of this day's sacred Office, a Canon also having been composed concerning them, whose acrostic is this:
Τερπνὴν ἀνυμνῶ Μαρτύρων ξυνωρίδα.
I sing the praises of a comely pair of Martyrs.
[2] For the rest, that they were honored with a special cult at Constantinople is handed down by our transcript among our other papers which we preserve, their relics at Constantinople. which is noted as having been taken from the Manuscript Synaxarium of Sirmond; from which I copy these words: Τελεῖται δὲ αὐτῶν σύναξις ἐν τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ αὐτῶν μαρτυρείῳ τῷ ὄντι πλησίον τοῦ πανσέπτου ναοῦ τοῦ ἁγ. ἀπ. Φιλίππου, καὶ ἐν τῇ εὐαγεστάτῃ μονῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ τοῦ Παντοκράτορος, δι᾽ αὐτὸ ἐκεῖσε μετατεθέντα τὰ ἅγια αὐτῶν λείψανα. Which run thus: Their solemnity is celebrated in their most holy oratory, which is near the venerable church of the holy Apostle Philip, and in the most holy monastery of Christ the Savior Pantocrator (that is, the Almighty), for the reason that their holy relics were translated thither. Concerning the monastery of the Pantocrator, Du Cange has gathered various things in his Constantinopolis Christiana, book 4, page 80; and treating, on page 116, among the sacred buildings dedicated to the holy Apostles, of the monastery of St. Philip, he says: That it was near the monastery of Florus is handed down by Gregory the deacon in the Life of Basil the Younger, chapter 56. Constantinople therefore had also a monastery called by the name of Laurus, of which frequent mention is made among the Byzantine writers, as Du Cange observes on page 156. But concerning the sacred remains of both our holy Martyrs, of which mention has just now fallen, he affirms that their relics were uncovered under Constantine the Great and were carried into the city, καὶ ἀπετελέσθησαν ἐν τόπῳ, ᾧ νῦν κατάκεινται, as it stands in the Synaxaria at the XVIII of August. On which matter it is said in their elogium, which is had in Greek from the Menology of the Emperor Basil at the end of volume 1 of August, and which we here render into Latin after our custom:
These were twin brothers, stonemasons by craft. their elogium: But after their masters had accomplished their martyrdom for Christ, they left their dwelling at Constantinople and came into Illyricum, where, seeking out certain quarries under the governor, they plied their craft. Then they were sent by him to Licinius, from whom they received money to raise a temple to the idols. But the money they gave to the poor; the temple, however, they built: and when it was finished, they broke the idols and consecrated it in honor of Christ. Licinius, on learning the matter, cast them into a deep well, in which they gave up their souls to God. But in the time of Constantine the Great their precious relics were made manifest and were carried off to Constantinople, and laid in the place where they now rest.
[3] [The public honor paid both to them and to others among the Latins: and to others likewise among the Greeks.] Their public veneration was propagated among the Latins also: for thus are they inscribed on this day in the Roman Martyrology: In Illyricum, of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus, of the stonemason's craft, who, when their masters Proculus and Maximus had accomplished their martyrdom, were plunged into a deep well under the governor Licio, after many torments. I pass over Galesinius, who also notes them. But their companions, who are marked neither in the Roman Martyrology nor in Galesinius, the Greek calendars commemorate, and mention is made of them in the Acts of SS. Florus and Laurus. The Menology of Sirletus announces them thus: On the same day, the holy multitude of the poor, who, when the idols had been broken, were consumed by fire. Chifflet's Menaeon also makes mention of them; add the great Menaea published by the press, which follow them with this distich:
Πένητες ἄνδρες πλοῦτον εὗρον ἀθρόον, Τὸ σύντροφον δὸς εἰς τὸ πῦρ λελοιπότες.
Poor men have found at once abundant wealth, When on the pyre they leave their nursling flesh.
Concerning these Martyrs, consult the Acts, about which I shall now inform the reader.
[4] I have before me a fivefold copy of them. And one indeed which is marked as belonging to the Vatican library, The longer Acts and as taken from codex 1671, with this title: Βίος καὶ μαρτύριον τῶν ἁγίων Λαύρου καὶ Φλώρου μαρτυρησάντων ἐν Οὐλπιανᾷ τῇ πόλει ἐν χώρᾳ Δαρδανίᾳ. That is: The Life and Martyrdom of SS. Laurus and Florus, who underwent martyrdom in the city of Ulpiana in the region of Dardania. It begins: Καλῶς διδάσκει ἡμᾶς ὁ ἁγιώτατος Παῦλος λέγων· Ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε. Rightly does the most holy Paul teach us, saying: Pray without ceasing. The narrative is long, the substance of the matter of altogether slight authority, the credit of the author untrustworthy — a man who, striving with great effort to build up authority for his own tale, thrusts upon readers a piece of work of such a sort that it deserves to be relegated to the fabulous potteries of the Greeklings, so often already condemned in our Work.
[5] For after he had related the Saints' martyrdom accomplished in the well, a specimen of which is given I, Alexius, he says, a sinner, one of the order, diligently noted these deeds down on sheets, and afterward transferred them into a single volume, and delivered them to be kept by a certain Christian woman named Sophronia; who, dwelling near that well, secretly worshiped the Lord until the day of her death. But I, a humble man, praying at a certain hour of noon above their tomb for the remission of my sins, and returning thence to my cell, slept a little; and at once there appeared to me the glorious and most holy men Laurus and Florus, just as I had seen them while yet alive. And they say to me: Hear, Alexius: as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. To this is added the rest of the Saints' conversation with him, in which they foretell that under the reign of Theodosius the Great the churches of the orthodox would be opened, and their own bodies made manifest by the Lord to men — after thou, they say, hast gone hence and returned — and would be laid up in the churches. Alexius wakes, turns the matter over with himself, returns to the tomb, prays; the Saints appear to him again, and besides other things which they utter in their discourse with him, they mention that there had been shown them by God a man who dwelt in the region of Africa, in the city of Carthage, through whom He would preserve it. The event answered to the prophecy: for God appeared in Africa to the man foretold, saying, Arise quickly and go like a bird into Illyricum, which is in the region of Dardania, and approach the city named Ulpiana. And lest he should hesitate in doubt, both because he was of a declining age and because he lacked a guide to the place, the example of Habakkuk being set before him, who was sent from Judea to Babylon to Daniel, the Lord tells him that He too will send His angel — if we are to believe that trifler Alexius aforesaid.
[6] What then followed? That man does as he is bidden: on the Sabbath he goes forth from his city, they are examined is raised a little from the earth into the air, and is borne with such prodigious speed over the sea and the whole road that on the following day, which was the Lord's Day, he was found — both he himself and his companion or servant — in the very place to which the Lord had directed him. Believe it, posterity! For deeds so marvelous, if we are to admit them as genuine and true, require a greater testimony than that of this counterfeit Greekling Alexius — or, to speak more correctly, of this shameless and foolish impostor. And what he afterward relates concerning the finding of the bodies of SS. Laurus and Florus seems to us of so bad a stamp that it is not worth while to transcribe it here at greater length. But for what further reason we set no store by this writer of the Acts, and mark his history with a black pebble, the reader will see from the following observations, in which we intend to chastise his absurdities, drawn together out of his longer narrative.
[7] He relates, then, that in the reign of Hadrian men were sent in every direction to search out the Christians, to call them away from the worship of the true God, and are rejected and to draw them over to the idols; and that not long after, the noble champions of Christ Proculus and Maximus, masters of SS. Laurus and Florus in the stonemason's craft, were crowned with the wreath of martyrdom — at the time of whose martyrdom, the same writer indicates, those two disciples hid themselves. Then, through circuitous turns and speeches, he recounts the Acts and martyrdom of those same disciples. The emperor Hadrian was proclaimed in the year 117 of the common era, whom in the year 138 Antoninus succeeded:
whence it follows, first, that if you consider what has just been said out of our writer, the martyrdom of SS. Proculus and Maximus (and consequently, as it seems, that of SS. Florus and Laurus also) took place in the second century of the same era. It follows, secondly, that this masked Alexius lived in the second century, since he asserts that SS. Laurus and Florus appeared to him such as he had seen them while yet alive, from what was set down above at number 5. See now how little coherent with the person he falsely assumes, and how ill-connected with the very matters he records, are the things he invents. For in the apparition of the Martyrs made to himself, of which I have spoken, he brings them in speaking with him thus: Make our martyrdom known to Christian men: because afterward, and not many years hence, the name of Christ shall take increase throughout the whole world: αὔξει τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ, as it stands in the Greek text; and, under the reign of Theodosius the Great, the churches of the orthodox shall be opened.
[8] A neat combination, forsooth, of time and circumstance! as apocryphal. Theodosius the Great began to reign in the year of Christ 379; and in the year 380 we read that he transferred the churches of Constantinople and their revenues from the Arians to the orthodox (one may consult what is found in the French author's History of the Emperors, volume 5, under the emperor Theodosius I, article 8, page 207, and in our own work at the IX of May, in the Life of St. Gregory Nazianzen, page 407). But the increase, or the enlargement or propagation, of the Christian name throughout the whole world as far as it extends, does not seem capable of being referred more suitably to any other time than to those days in which, after that most celebrated victory won over Maxentius by the emperor Constantine the Great in the year 312, the worship of idols was abolished, the faith of Christ propagated in every quarter, the orthodox Church adorned with the most illustrious honors and increased with the amplest growth. And that this martyrographer had these times in view is suggested to me in some measure by the Imperial transcript of Vienna, which expressly sets down both the end of the persecution and Constantine. We therefore reject the Acts of this pseudo-Alexius as apocryphal.
[9] Other copies are reviewed. Another transcript of the martyrdom and of the finding is at hand, taken from codex 821 of the same Vatican library, as it is there ascribed. The narrative is shorter than that of the preceding copy, of which we have spoken, and therefore at least less bad. It begins thus: Ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐμπνευσθεὶς ὁ ὑμνῳδὸς ἐν προφήταις. The singer of hymns among the prophets, inspired by the Holy Spirit. I said that this narrative is at least less bad than the preceding; for I cannot call it good and genuine, since in it too the same Alexius plays his part who came upon the stage in the former — not to mention other things which are of such a kind that I judge them altogether to have issued from the same or a like weaving-shop of the Greeklings, and therefore to be kept from the press. Besides these two transcripts we have one which is marked Library of the Grand Duke, shelf 9, codex 33, with this beginning: Ἰδοὺ καὶ ἄλλη δυὰς ἀδελφικὴ ἡμῖν εἰς λόγον τὸν σήμερον ὑπόθεσιν πρόκειται. Behold, yet another fraternal pair is set before us to be spoken of, the subject of this present day. This is better than the two copies already described, for the reason that after the narrative of the death of SS. Florus and Laurus no fabulist Alexius occurs there on occasion of their finding, which is said in the same place to have happened when the persecution was ended and the scepter of empire had passed to Constantine the Great. We have moreover a transcript from a codex of the Imperial library of Vienna, of which mention has already been made more than once on the earlier days of this month, and will be made again in those that follow: it is exceedingly brief, and begins thus: Οἱ ἅγιοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ Λαῦρος καὶ Φλῶρος ὑπῆρχον ἀδελφοὶ δίδυμοι, λιθοξόοι τὴν τέχνην. The holy ones of Christ, Laurus and Florus, were twin brothers, stonemasons by craft. It does not please us, both on account of the introduction of Alexius, whom I have mentioned before, and on account of other faults under which it labors. Nor indeed does the copy of the Martyrdom from the Ambrosian codex N. f. n. 152 seem genuine and of good repute. For these five transcripts, of which I have just now given notice, exhibit among themselves such marks of resemblance as plainly betray that they have drawn their origin from the same workshop. Of these, however, we have chosen to render this last into Latin and commit it to the press.
[10] What, then, will you determine concerning the time of the martyrdom from such documents? The time of the martyrdom, If they were of better repute, it might be attached to the second century, since Proculus and Maximus, the masters of our Martyrs, are said to have suffered under the emperor Hadrian. The Slavo-Russian Menology of Sparwenfeld again goes astray here in the matter of time, when it affirms: These lived in the year CCCXV, brothers, stonecutters, cast into a deep well by Licinius the persecutor, where they died. For at that time indeed Licinius lived as emperor and persecutor of the Christians; but, apart from the fact that Pagi in his Criticism at the year 316, number 11, observes that the emperor Licinius did not persecute the Church before the year 319, and that the Martyrs who are said in the Martyrologies or the Acts of the Saints to have suffered in the Licinian persecution were not put to death before that year — it is by no means ascertained by us who that Licinius may be who is named in the Acts of our Champions, as we shall say in the Annotations. We, according to what we have premised above concerning their masters Proculus and Maximus, have set at the beginning of our Preliminary Commentary perhaps in the second century: perhaps, I say, because the things which are circulated about them in any of their Acts whatever are of so small authority, or of none.
[11] There remain also some things for us to note concerning the place of the martyrdom. and its The Roman Martyrology announces our Athletes as in Illyricum, as we have seen. In the Acts they are related to have come into the region of Dardania, which is in Illyricum, and to have entered the city of the Ulpiani, etc. Then they are said to have been sent to Licinius, that they might build a temple to the gods: but I do not find in the transcript which we give to the press to what city they were sent thence, nor where they accomplished their martyrdom. Our transcript from the library of the Grand Duke indicates that their bodies were buried in the region of Dardania, which is in Illyricum, so that from these words it may be gathered that in that same place the crown of the contest was won by them. From our twofold Vatican Manuscript I gather that they belong to the Ulpiani. But because the Acts are so wretchedly composed, we cannot rest upon them with sufficient security on this point. Yet it will do no harm if we briefly illustrate the places just designated.
[12] place: the copy of the martyrdom which is here given. Cellarius, in his Notitia orbis antiqui, book 2, chapter 8, after exhibiting Ulpianum in the map at page 346, together with Illyricum and Dardania, writes thus on page 368: Toward the south, likewise about the boundary of the two Moesias, lie Ulpianum and Scupi. Procopius, in book 4 On the Buildings of Justinian, chapter 1, page 67 of the royal Paris edition, has these words: There was among the Dardanians Ulpiana, an ancient city; whose walls, when they were so far decayed as to be of no use, he demolished for the greatest part and thereupon restored, and, gathering many ornaments, so ordered the city as it may be seen today, and named it likewise by a Latin word the Second Justiniana. Ortelius's Geographical Thesaurus also may be consulted concerning this place. The site, says Cellarius on page 368, is rather uncertain. With the common opinion Baudrand interprets it as Prisren, Briet as Pyroth; others carry it back further to the east. Further, that Ulpianum is not to be confounded with another of the same name in Dacia, of which the same Cellarius treats in the place cited, page 379, and which is represented in the map just mentioned. Here now are the Acts from the said Ambrosian codex N. f. n. 152, as it is marked in our Greek copy, where there is also added: See the Life of St. Maximus. The codex in which that Life is contained has been treated of in this volume III of the present month, on the XIII day, in the Preliminary Commentary on St. Maximus, §10, number 80, where its author also was spoken of; whose name and place we here prefix likewise to the following Martyrdom, since we altogether think that it is the same codex which was designated there, although only by the marks N. 152. The place cited may be consulted.
MARTYRDOM
By Laurence, monk of Rutium in Calabria, from the Ambrosian codex N. f. n. 152. Translated by J. P.
Florus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Laurus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Proculus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Maximus, M., in Illyricum (St.)
Other MM. in Illyricum
By Laurence, monk of Rutium.
Καὶ τὸ τῆς καλῆς ξυνωρίδος ταύτης τῶν αὐταδέλφων διὰ Χριστὸν μαρτύριον Λαύρου, φημὶ, καὶ Φλώρου τῶν ἀηττήτων εἰς προθεῖναι ταῖς φιλομάρτυσιν, οὐκ ἐπαίνετον μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίαν ὠφέλιμον. Ἔχει γὰρ μετὰ τῆς μαρτυρίας πολὺ καὶ τὸ χάριεν· οὗτοι τοιγαροῦν οἱ θαυμάσιοι δίδυμοι τοῖς γεννήτορσιν τίκτονται· τῷ τε καὶ ὁμοφρόνως τὴν ἀρετὴν μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων ἠσπάζοντο, καὶ ὁμογνώμως τοῖς αὐτῆς κάλλεσιν ἐνετρύφων· τὴν λιθοξόων δὲ ἐκπαιδεύονται τέχνην· Πρόκλος αὐτοῖς καὶ Μάξιμος οἱ διδάσκαλοι. Ἀλλ᾽ οὗτοι μὲν τὸν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ τελέσαντες καλῶς ἀγῶνα, καὶ τὸν τῆς νίκης στέφανον ἐκομίσαντο. Λαῦρος δὲ καὶ Φλῶρος οἱ γενναιότατοι τὰς ἐν Βυζαντίῳ καταλιπόντες διατριβὰς, τὴν τῆς Δαρδανίας χώραν ἐν τῷ Ἰλλυρικῷ κατέλαβον, καὶ τὴν πόλιν Οὐλπιανῶν εἰσιόντες, παρὰ Λυκῶνι τῷ ἡγεμόνι τὴν οἰκείαν τέχνην εἰργάζοντο. Ἀδριανὸς ἐβασίλευε τότε. Χρόνων οὖν οὐκ ὀλίγων παρεληλυθότων Λικίννιος, ὁ τῆς βασιλίσσης Ἐλπιδίας υἱὸς, γράμματα στέλλει πρὸς Λυκῶνα, Λαῦρον αἰτῶν καὶ Φλῶρον τοὺς ἀοιδίμους, (περίφημοι γὰρ οἱ ἄνδρες,) σταλῆναι πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ, φησι, ναὸν οἰκοδομήσειεν τοῖς θεοῖς πρός τε κάλλος καὶ μέγεθος τοῖς ἁπάντων ἀξιοθέατον ὀφθαλμοῖς.
[2] Στέλλει τοίνυν ἐκεῖνος αὐτίκα τούτους πρὸς αὐτὸν σὺν ἑτέροις οὐκ ὀλίγοις ἐργάταις, καὶ ὁ Λικίννιος ἀσμενέστατα τούτους ἀποδεξάμενος, τὴν οἰκοδομὴν αὐτίκα τοῦ ναοῦ διαγράφει, καὶ χρήματα τούτοις δίδωσι πλεῖστα καὶ φιλοτιμίας ἄλλας εἰς τὸ ταχέως ἅμα καὶ καλῶς τὸ ἔργον ἐκτελεσθῆναι, προσυποσχόμενος καὶ ἕτερα δώσειν, εἴγε κατὰ νοῦν αὐτῷ καὶ σκοπὸν τὸ ἔργον τελέσειαν. Ἄρχονται τοιγαροῦν τῆς οἰκοδομῆς οἱ γενναῖοι, ἡμέρας καὶ μὲν εἴχοντο τοῦ ἔργου, νυκτὸς δὲ ταῖς εὐχαῖς ἐσχόλαζον καὶ δεήσεσι, καὶ τὰ χρήματα τοῖς ἐνδεέσιν οἱ κάλλιστοι παρεῖχον ἐργάται. Πλὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἄρχονται καὶ τῶν σημείων οἱ Μάρτυρες. Ἀναστασίου γάρ τινος τῶν βδελυκτῶν εἰδώλων ἱερέως υἱὸν, Ἀλέξανδρος ἦν ἡ κλῆσις αὐτῷ, ἐκεῖσέ που παρεστηκότα, λίθου τις ψηφὶς ἐκπηδήσασα τὸν ἕνα τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀπετύφλωσεν. Ἐφ᾽ ᾧπερ ὁ πατὴρ, οἷα πατὴρ, ἀδημονῶν καὶ λυπούμενος, τῷ Λικιννίῳ κατὰ τῶν αὐταδέλφων γνωρίζει τὸ πρᾶγμα· καὶ ὃς ἀκούσιον εὑρηκὼς τὸ ἁμάρτημα, ἀφῆκεν αὐτοὺς τῆς εὐθύνης. Ἀλλ᾽ οἱ Ἅγιοι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον λόγοις πρότερον τὴν πίστιν καλῶς ὑποθέμενοι, ἐπειδὴ συγκατατιθέμενον εὗρον, ἀποδιδοῦσι τούτῳ τὸ φῶς ἐν Χριστῷ· καὶ θαῦμα γίνεται τῷ πατρὶ, καὶ πιστεύει καὶ
οὗτος, καὶ τῇ Χριστοῦ ποίμνῃ προστίθεται σὺν υἱῷ.
[3] Ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανέλθωμεν. Τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τοῦ ναοῦ τέλος ἤδη λαβούσης, καὶ τοῦ Λικιννίου βδελυγμάτων τοῦτον πληρώσαντος, οἱ Καλλίνικοι μιᾷ τῶν νυκτῶν τοὺς πένητας ἐκείνους, οἷς ἐδίδουν τὰ χρήματα, συναγαγόντες, καὶ κηροὺς ἀνάψαντες τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον κατέλαβον ψάλλοντες, προηγούμενον τὸ ὅπλον ἔχοντες τοῦ σωτηρίου σταυροῦ. Εἶτα σχοίνους τῶν εἰδωλικῶν τραχήλων ἐκδήσαντες εἰς γῆν, (φεῦ τοὺς θεοὺς) κατέῤῥαξαν, καὶ συντριβὴν αὐτῶν μεγίστην εἰργάσαντο. Καὶ ἦσαν οὕτω δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς αἰνοῦντες τὸν Κύριον· οὐκ ἔλαθε τὸν Λικίννιον τοῦτο (Πῶς γὰρ;) καὶ συσχεθῆναι πάντας κελεύει, καὶ κάμινον ἀναφθῆναι μεγάλην, κἂν ταύτῃ τούτους ἅπαντας πλὴν τῶν αὐταδέλφων βληθῆναι. Γέγονε τοῦτο, καὶ Θεῷ τὰ πνεύματα παρέθεντο χαίροντες.
[4] Ἄγει τοίνυν τοὺς Μάρτυρας ὁ Λικίννιος εἰς ἐξέτασιν, αἰτιᾶται τὰ πεπραγμένα, συγχωρεῖν αὐτὰ λέγει, εἰ μόνον θύσαιεν τοῖς θεοῖς. Οὐ πείθονται· καὶ ξέει τούτων ὠμοῖς νεύροις τὰς σάρκας ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὡς αἵματος ἅπαν ἐκεῖνο πληρωθῆναι τὸ ἔδαφος. Εἶτα στρατιώταις αὐτοὺς παραδοὺς πρὸς τὸν ἀνθύπατον ἀπαχθῆναι κελεύει. Ἀγόμενοι τοίνυν καὶ ἕτερον τελοῦσιν οὐκ ἔλαττον τοῦ πραχθέντος κατόρθωμα· τοὺς στρατιώτας αὐτοὺς, δέκα δὲ ἦσαν τὸν ἀριθμὸν, πρὸς τὴν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν μετάγουσι πίστιν, καὶ ψυχῶν οἰκοδόμοι δειχθέντες, καὶ μᾶλλον οἱ Μάρτυρες ὁμῶς παραστάντες τῷ Λυκῶνι, τί ἄρα καὶ εἴη τὰ πεπραγμένα τούτοις ἠτάζοντο. Καὶ οἱ Ἅγιοι, τὸ ἔργον ἐτελέσαμεν, εἶπον, τὸν ναὸν ἡγιάσαμεν, τοὺς θεοὺς συνετρίψαμεν, τοὺς στρατιώτας, οὓς ὁρᾷς, τῷ Χριστῷ προσηγάγομεν, καὶ νῦν ἑστήκαμεν πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἐξουσίαν. Ποίει τοίνυν τό σοι παριστάμενον. Ἤκουσεν ὁ ἀνθύπατος, καὶ τότε μὲν φυλακῇ τούτους δίδωσι. Πρωΐας δὲ γενομένης ἄγει πάλιν μόνους τοὺς Ἁγίους εἰς τὴν ἐξέτασιν, καὶ εἰ μὴ θυσίαν τοῖς θεοῖς, φησι, σήμερον προσενέγκοιτε, διαφόροις ὑμᾶς βασάνοις ὑποβαλὼν, οὕτω πικρὰν ὑμῖν τελευτὴν προσενέγκω.
[5] Καὶ οἱ Ἅγιοι· Πᾶν εἴ τι καὶ βούλει ποίει, ἀνθύπατε· ἡμᾶς γὰρ οὐκ ἔξεστι τὸ σύνολον τῷ σῷ θελήματι καθυπηρετουμένους. Μὴ τοίνυν τρίβε τὸν χρόνον, μηδὲ λόγους κίνει πτηνῶν δίκην οἰχομένους ἀφ᾽ ἡμῶν. Τότε κελεύει τοῦ δαίμονος ἐργαστήριον ὁ κατάρατος ἄρχων ἔν τινι βαθυτάτῳ φρέατι τούτους ἀποῤῥιφῆναι. Ἤχθησαν οὖν κατὰ τὸν τόπον οἱ Μάρτυρες καὶ στάντες εἰς προσευχὴν, Κύριε, εἶπον, ὁ Θεὸς τῶν δυνάμεων, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ σώζειν, ἐπάκουσον τῆς δεήσεως ἡμῶν, ὁ ζωῆς ἔχων καὶ θανάτου τὴν ἐξουσίαν, καὶ γενέσθω τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦτο λουτρὸν ἡμῖν παλιγγενεσίας τῇ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ σου πνεύματος χάριτι· πρόσδεξαι δὲ καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν ἐν εἰρήνῃ, καὶ ἀνάπαυσον ἡμᾶς ἐν χώρᾳ ζώντων ἐν σκηναῖς τῶν Ἁγίων σου· καὶ τοῖς ἐπιτελοῦσι δι᾽ ἔτους τὴν τῆς μαρτυρίας ἡμῶν μνήμην, χάρισαι τὰ πρὸς σωτηρίαν αἰτήματα καὶ ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.
[6] Ταῦτα εἶπον, καὶ φωνὴ κατηνέχθη τῶν οὐρανῶν, Δεῦτε λέγουσα πρός με· οἱ ἐργάται τοῦ ἀμπελῶνός μου, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς. Ταύτης τῆς φωνῆς ἐνεχθείσης, θάρσους οἱ Μάρτυρες ὑποπλησθέντες τῷ φρέατι ἐναποῤῥίπτονται, καὶ γῇ πολλῇ συγκαλυφθέντες τὰς ἁγίας αὐτῶν ψυχὰς ἀνέθεντο τῷ Κυρίῳ. Χρόνοι παρῆλθον ἔκτοτε πλεῖστοι, καὶ τοῦ διωγμοῦ παυσαμένου, καλλίνικοι Μάρτυρες, τινὲς τῶν φιλοχρίστων τὸν τόπον καταλαβόντες, οὗ δὴ τὸ φρέαρ ἦν, καὶ ἀνορύξαντες ἀνάγουσιν ὑμῶν ἐκεῖθεν τὰ λείψανα, εὐωδίαν οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ὅσην καὶ χάριν ἐκπέμποντα. Ὅτε δὴ καὶ Ζωτικὸς, ὁ τοῦ ἄρχοντος ἀδελφιδοῦς, τυφλοὺς ἔχων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, ἀνέβλεψε, καὶ βαπτισθεὶς ἐπίστευσεν εἰς Χριστόν· ᾧ πρέπει ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
Their birth, craft, masters, and journey to Licinius. To set forth before those who love the Martyrs the martyrdom for Christ of this fair pair — of Laurus, I mean, and Florus, unconquered brothers by the same womb — is not only praiseworthy but exceedingly profitable. For along with the laurel of martyrdom it has much of gracefulness. These wondrous twins, then, are born to their parents; accordingly they embraced virtue with one mind above all other things, and with concordant spirit delighted in its beauty. They were taught the stonemason's craft: Proculus and Maximus a were their masters. But these indeed rightly consummated their contest for Christ and carried off the crown of victory; while the most noble Laurus and Florus, leaving their dwelling at Byzantium, came into the region of Dardania, which is in Illyricum, and, having entered the city of the Ulpiani b, plied their craft under Lyco the governor. At that time Hadrian c was reigning. And when no long time had elapsed, Licinius, son of the empress Elpidia d, sends letters to Lyco, in which he asked that Laurus and Florus — most celebrated men indeed — should be sent to him, for this cause, he says, that they might build a temple for the gods e, which by its beauty no less than by its greatness should ravish the eyes of all.
[2] The building of the temple, their almsgiving, the restoring of an eye: He therefore sends them to him together with not a few other workmen; and Licinius, after receiving them with the utmost goodwill, without delay sketches out the structure of the temple, and bestows upon them very great sums and other gifts of a munificent will, that the work might be finished quickly and beautifully, promising that he would add still more if they should complete the work according to his mind and the end he had set himself. The noble men therefore begin the building, and by day they advanced the work; but by night they gave themselves to prayers and petitions, and these most excellent workmen laid out the money upon the poor. But thereafter the Martyrs begin to work miracles. For a small chip of stone, flying off, blinded in one eye the son of a certain Anastasius, a priest of the abominable idols, Alexander by name f, who was standing somewhere near. On which account the father, stricken with grief and sadness, being a father indeed, brings the matter before Licinius against the brothers; but he, when he had ascertained that the fault was not willful, dismissed them from judgment. But the Saints, when they had first rightly instructed Alexander in the faith by their words and had found him consenting with them, restore to him his sight in Christ. The father marvels, and himself also believes, and is joined with his son to the flock of Christ.
[3] the poor cast into the fire for the overthrow of the idols; But let us return to our present purpose. When the temple was now built, and Licinius was filling it with idols, those excellent Victors on a certain night gathered together the poor to whom they had given the money, and, having lighted candles, came to that temple with singing, the arms of the saving Cross going before them. Then, fastening ropes about the necks of the idols (the gods, forsooth!), they cast them down to the ground and broke them into fragments; and so through the whole night they praised the Lord. This did not escape Licinius (for how could it?). He orders them all to be bound, and a great furnace to be kindled, and all of them, the brothers alone excepted, to be thrown into it. This was done, and rejoicing they delivered up their spirits to God g.
[4] but the holy Brothers are called to examination, Licinius therefore summons the Martyrs to examination; he charges them with what has been done, and says that he will grant them pardon if only they will sacrifice to the gods. They do not comply; and he so tears their bodies with raw sinews that the whole pavement was sprinkled with blood. Then, handing them over to soldiers, he orders them to be led away to the proconsul. While they were being conducted to him, they perform another good deed, no less than that which they had already accomplished: they bring over to the faith of Christ the very soldiers (these were ten in number); and, showing themselves rather to be builders of souls, and at the same time Martyrs, they were asked, as they stood before Lyco, what they had done. And the Saints said: We have finished the work, we have sanctified the temple, we have broken the gods in pieces, we have brought to Christ the soldiers whom you see, and now we are in your power. Do therefore whatever comes into your mind. The proconsul heard these things, and for the time delivers them to prison. But when morning came he brings the Saints alone again to examination, and says: Unless today you offer sacrifice to the gods, I will subject you to divers torments and so bring upon you a bitter death.
[5] The Saints answer: Do whatever you will, proconsul: and then are cast into the well for it is by no means lawful for us to obey your will. Do not therefore waste time, nor stir up words which pass away from us after the manner of birds. Then the accursed governor, that workshop of the demon, orders them to be thrown into a certain very deep well. The Martyrs, being brought to the place and giving themselves to prayer, say: O Lord, God of hosts, our God, God of salvation, hear our supplication, thou who hast power over death and life; and let that water become for us a laver of regeneration through the grace of thy good Spirit. Receive also our souls in peace, and make us to rest in the land of the living, in the tabernacles of thy Saints; and to those who keep the yearly memory of our confession, grant favorably their petitions, such as lead to salvation and to eternal life.
[6] When they had said this, a voice came down from heaven, saying, [they are cast in. The finding of the bodies and their fragrance: the enlightening of a blind man.] Come to me, ye laborers of my vineyard, and I will refresh you. When this voice had been uttered, the Martyrs, filled with confidence, are cast into the well, and, covered over with much earth, commended their holy souls to the Lord. After many years thereafter had passed, and the persecution had ceased, O laureled Martyrs, certain of the worshipers of Christ came to the place where the well was, and, the earth being dug up again, they bring forth thence your sacred bodies h; which gave out such fragrance and grace as cannot be told in words. At which time also Zoticus, the governor's nephew by brother or sister, who had blind eyes, received his sight, and being baptized believed in Christ: to whom belong glory and dominion.