ON SS. AGATHONICUS, ZOTICUS, THEOPREPIUS, ACINDYNUS, SEVERIAN, ZENO, AND PRINCEPS THE SENATOR, MARTYRS,
IN BITHYNIA AND IN THRACE,
UNDER MAXIMIAN.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Agathonicus, martyr, in Thrace (S.)
Zoticus, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Theoprepius, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Acindynus, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Severian, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Zeno, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Princeps, senator, martyr, in Thrace (S.)
BY J. P.
§ I. Announcements from the sacred records of the Greeks; their eulogy; some observations upon several of these martyrs; Agathonicus more famous than the rest.
[1] Various calendars of the Greeks assign on this day the annual memory of these holy martyrs, Their memory in the Greek calendars yet in such a way that not all of them express the names of all together. For the Typicon which is called that of St. Sabbas, and also the Sirmond-Chifflet Supplement, have made mention of Agathonicus alone; but the great printed Menaea and the Menology of Sirlet name the first five in their announcement; to whom in the eulogy of the Basilian Menology there is added Zeno, who is also marked elsewhere, and is found in the Martyrdom which will be given below. The Menaeon of Chifflet sets Ἀγαθονίκου, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ, that is, Of Agathonicus and of his companions; the Menology of Sparwenfeld writes, and of his friends. The Menaea of which I was speaking praise each of our champions with these little verses, if you except Princeps the senator. And first it sings of Agathonicus, alluding to his name, which denotes "good victor" or "distinguished by victory," to which it adds the day of his death.
Ἀγαθονίκου κλῆσις ἀψευδεστάτη, Χρηστὴν βοῶσα τοῦδε νίκην ἐκ ξίφους. Ἔκτανε δευτερίῃ ξίφος εἰκάδι Ἀγαθόνικον.
Truly was the name given to Agathonicus, Marking from the sword his notable palm. The twenty-second day cuts down Agathonicus by the sword.
[2] Three other champions the Menaea praise without name.
Τρεῖς καρτεροῦντες μηχανήματος βίαν, they are honored with verses in the printed Menaea: Τὰς μηχανὰς λύουσι τοῦ παμμηχάνου.
While bravely they endure the force of the engines, The three undo the wiles of the contriver of all wiles.
But of Severian these are composed in the same place:
Ἐν μάρτυσι τμηθεὶς τὸν αὐχένα ξίφει Σεβηριανὸς τάπτεται στεφηφόρος.
Severian, among the martyrs, after his head Was cut off, bears the garlands of martyrdom.
The last two verses suit St. Zoticus, who, as we shall presently see, is said to have been condemned to the cross, and they allude to Simon of Cyrene.
Ἰδοὺ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν καὶ Κυρηναῖος ἄλλος Οὐκ ἀγκαρευθεὶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκὼν σταυρὸν φέρων.
Behold with us another Cyrenean comrade: But not compelled — willingly bearing the cross.
[3] Their eulogy. Further, they have a eulogy in the said Basilian Menology, which after the usual manner is here given translated from the Greek, and runs thus: Eutolmius the count, being sent by the emperor Maximian from Nicomedia into the province of Pontus to make away with the Christians, came to a mart named Carpe, and, finding there Zoticus with his disciples professing Christ, slew them. Then, returning to Nicomedia, and being informed that the prince through a certain Agathonicus was drawing the heathen away from the worship of idols, he sent soldiers and seized both, with not a few other Christians, and dragged them with him into Thrace to the emperor. And when he had come to a place whose name was Potamon, he slew Zeno, Theoprepius, and Acindynus, who could not walk. But at Chalcedon he slew holy Severian; and holy Agathonicus, with the remaining captives and with the prince, being severely beaten at Byzantium, he led away as far as Selymbria, where Maximian was staying, and there cut off his head with those of his companions. The name Ποταμῶν, which is in the Greek, means "of the Rivers." There are moreover two eulogies extant, one indeed in the great Menaea, and the other in the Menology of Sirlet. In the latter it is said of Eutolmius the count that, when he had found holy Zoticus with his disciples preaching Christ, he condemned him to the death of the cross … But when he came to that region which is called by the name of River, he killed St. Zeno, Theoprepius, and Acindynus with catapults. And when he was near Chalcedon, he killed St. Severian — the manner of death not being expressed. But St. Agathonicus with the rest of the prisoners, and with the prince himself …, when he had come to Lilybaeum …, was beheaded with the Prince and other Christians. Like things are related in the eulogy which the great Menaea have. But what is meant by "with catapults"? In the said Menaea it is καταπέλταις. By this word our Rader in his Latin translation of the Menaea, which we have in manuscript, understood the shooting through with javelins. For he thus has: When Eutolmius the count had come to the place which is called Potamus or river, he made away with Zeno and Theoprepius and Acindynus — because, on account of the blows or wounds received in the earlier examinations, they could not walk — by piercing them with javelins.
[4] But Gallonio in his book On the Torments of the Holy Martyrs, chapter 2, says: It is explained by what death some of them were killed; Catapulta is sometimes taken for a warlike engine made for casting arrows, as ballistae for casting stones: but here it is taken for an instrument of torturing. Hence Suidas says it is a kind of torment, "with bonds for the hands, with catapults for the feet." And Plautus, "I will twist you on the rack likewise, as catapults are wont." Thus Gallonio upon the passage which he brings forward from Josephus's book On the Maccabees in Latin, in these words: The attendants dragged him bound to the catapults: and when they had bound him to them by the knees, and had fastened these with iron nooses, they bent his loin about a rounded wedge; about which, being wholly beaten back around the wheel, he was broken. Du Cange in his Greek Glossary likewise understands by the word καταπέλτης an instrument of torture; and he adds examples which may be seen in him. Now from the eulogies cited some other things must be observed concerning our martyrs.
[5] In the title which we have prefixed above to this Commentary likewise the name is weighed you see, reader, that a senatorial prince is named, who nevertheless is not found in the announcements cited before. But we have reckoned him among the other martyrs from the eulogies of the Menology of Sirlet and of the great Menaea, and from the Martyrdom which we are afterwards to give in Greek and Latin. In the said Menaea, however, he is called prince without any other title. But someone will ask whether the name Princeps be the man's proper name or an appellative. The occasion of this question has been given us by the new Latin interpreter, who in the eulogy which briefly contains the contest of the holy martyr Agathonicus and of his companions, and which is found in Greek and Latin in the edition of the Basilian Menology which the most eminent Cardinal Annibale Albani caused to be printed most elegantly and magnificently at Urbino in the year 1728 in three volumes, but interpolated — who, I say, that interpreter, renders the name πρίγκιψ in Latin Princippus, so that he seems to take it for a proper name. But that it is an appellative is indicated by the Acts which we shall below commit to the press, where at number 1, after it had been said, ὅτι πρῶτος πρίγκιψ etc., that the first prince had believed in Christ, namely at Nicomedia, these things are subjoined at number 2 concerning St. Agathonicus: Οὗτος καὶ τὸν
πρίγκιπα τῆς ἐνταῦθα συγκλήτου ἀνέπεισε. He also induced the prince of the senate which is there, etc.
[6] The Martyrdom of St. Agathonicus, which we have in manuscript from the Ambrosian codex: of another martyr. Εὐτόλμιος τὴν Νικομήδου κατέλαβεν, έν ᾗ καὶ μαθὼν, ὡς ὁ ταύτης πρίγκιψ διά τινος Ἀγαθονίκου σοφοῦ προσηνέχθη Χριστῷ. Eutolmius came to Nicomedia, in which, when he had also learned that the prince of it had been brought to Christ through a certain wise Agathonicus, etc. In the copy from the Vatican library, which is also with us, and which I read to be marked C. 1671: Καὶ διδαχθεὶς, ὅτι ὁ πρωτοπριγκιψ ἐπείσθη Χριστῷ, which the Latin interpreter thus renders — whose transcript, marked from the Vatican library codex no. 6188, I have before me: But when he had learned that the first prince of that region followed the faith of Christ, etc. But if anyone desires more examples, let him consult Du Cange in his Glossary to the writers of middle and low Greek, where he will see that the noun πρίγκιψ is an appellative, and not a proper name. Take from this two testimonies out of the many which he brings forward: one indeed from Moschopulus, πρίγκιψ, ἀξιώματος ὄνομα, that is, prince, the name of a dignity; and the other from the manuscript Martyrdom of St. Menas the Egyptian: Πηγάσιος τοὔνομα, πρίγκιψ, τὸ ἐπώνυμον. Pegasius by name; prince, by added name, so to speak, or, as the Latins say, by appellative. Further, concerning this dignity Du Cange, cited above, may be consulted also in his Latin Glossary. Many appellative names of this kind may be read in his Greek Glossary. By way of example I subjoin these few: namely δούξ, duke; δουκάτον, the prefecture of a duke; κουβικουλάριος, chamberlain; σχολάριοι, scholarians; κορνικουλάριος, cornicularius; to which add Κόμης, count; which last occurs below in the Acts. Thus far concerning that anonymous prince, whom the Acts say to have been converted to the faith of Christ by St. Agathonicus. But now let us supply those same Acts from another quarter, from the public veneration which posterity paid to St. Agathonicus.
[7] The public veneration of St. Agathonicus Upon this matter two testimonies are at hand. In our Sirmond-Chifflet Supplement to the printed Menaea these things are noted: Τελεῖται δὲ ἡ αὐτοῦ σύναξις έν τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ αύτοῦ μαρτυρείῳ, τῷ ὄντι ἐν Καινουπόλει, καὶ ἐν τῷ μαρτυρείῳ τῆς ἁγίας Θεοδώρας ἐν τῇ Ξυροκέρκῳ. And his solemnity is kept in his most holy martyrium, which is in Cænopolis; and in the martyrium of St. Theodora in Xyrocercus. These places Du Cange explains in his Constantinopolis Christiana. Cænopolis, he says in book 4, page 153, Καινοῦπολις, a church so called, is placed in the ninth region in the description of the City: "It contains within itself two churches, Cænopolis and Homonoea." The Alexandrian Chronicle also mentions it under Arcadius, page 716, with no indication except of situation, intimating that it stood not far from the Forum of Theodosius. Of the etymology of the name nothing occurs to me, unless perhaps that it was first built in the new, as they called it, city, when the boundaries of old Byzantium were extended farther by Constantine the Great. For Ξυροκέρκῳ I suspect we should write Ξυλοκέρκῳ, which place may be called in Latin Circus ligneus, the wooden Circus. The praised Du Cange in book 2, page 107, says: There was besides another Circus, called Xylocircus, built near St. Mamas on the bank of the Sthenus; concerning which the learned author has gathered more in the same place, and observes among other things that this place was outside the city … which was no other than that which Constantine the Great, before he had adorned Byzantium, had set up outside the city, framed of planks and timbers, as Sozomen is authority, book 8, chapter 22.*
[8] is illustrated. Another monument, no less illustrious than ancient, concerning the sacred honors by which St. Agathonicus became renowned at Constantinople, is brought forward by the same Du Cange in book 4, page 119, in these words: The church of St. Agathonicus, built in the dromic form by Constantine the Great, according to Cedrenus page 284, Nicephorus Callistus book 7 chapter 49, and Codinus in the Origins page 38, from the unpublished Origins of Constantinople; then raised in a narrower form by Justinian, according to Procopius book 1 On Buildings, chapter 5 (chapter 4 in my copy), as we have noted in the Description of the church of Sophia, number 1. The same Codinus and an anonymous author in the Constantinopolitan Collection, pages 85 and 91, write that it was renewed first by Anastasius and then by Justinian, and that in it for 57 years patriarchs sat, and four emperors were crowned, and that at last it was enclosed within the great palace, to which it lay adjacent, under Tiberius, the father-in-law of Maurice. … Further, beside this church stood a statue of the empress Verina, as Suidas observes under the word Βηρήνην, which the unpublished Origins of Constantinople say was set up μετὰ τὸν ἄνοδον τῶν ἐκεῖσε Βαθμίδων (that is, after the ascent of the steps which were there), while the emperor Leo her husband was still living. But lest the "dromic form," mentioned above, delay anyone, Du Cange in book 3 of the Constantinopolis Christiana, page 7, thus explains it: The form of the Constantinian church was dromic, that is square, but rather oblong: for so most of the more learned judge δρομικόν is to be taken, although Allatius disagrees. More there.
[9] Further, the notable splendor of that church is set forth by Procopius, On the Buildings of Justinian, book 1, chapter 4, page 15 of the royal Paris edition which came to light in the year 1663, where concerning the praise of that basilica he says much indeed in few words, yet leaves more to be understood by the reader. The church of St. Agathonicus, he says, draws my discourse to itself, and does violence to me who have neither voice nor words fit for the subject. Content with having made mention of it, we leave its brightness and its magnificence perfect in every part to be recounted by others, whose mind is vigorous enough for speaking and not yet quite wearied. Since these things are so, the reader ought not to wonder that the cult of St. Agathonicus and of his companions passed from the Eastern to the Western church, of which matter we shall now treat.
Annotations* that is, a sacred building.
§ II. Their veneration among the Latins; the place of their martyrdom; their Acts.
Their cult among the Latins: In various records of the Latin Martyrologists our champions are commemorated on this day also. Galesinius announces them thus: In Greece, of the holy martyrs Agathonicus, Zoticus, Theoprepius, Acyndinus, and Severian, who in the most grievous assault of Maximian against the Church of Christ, as most keen defenders, having given illustrious testimonies of virtue and of Christian piety in every contest, bore away the palm of a noble martyrdom. Molanus in his additions makes very brief mention of the holy martyr Agathonicus alone, in the edition of the year 1573. The Roman Martyrology celebrates their annual memory in these words: At Nicomedia, the passion of the holy martyrs Agathonicus, Zoticus, and their companions, under the emperor Maximian and Eutholomius the governor. As regards the place of their arena or martyrdom, here, reader, are the following observations.
[11] Galesinius announces our champions in Greece; the Roman Martyrology at Nicomedia. the place of their martyrdom: But since their cult was propagated from the Greek calendars to the Latins, I do not see that I must have recourse to any other source than the Greek Acts, in order that the place in which they completed their martyrdom be assigned. On the faith therefore of those Acts we have placed them partly in Bithynia, partly in Thrace: for one part of them is written to have obtained the crown of martyrdom here, and the other part there. But of the other places in which their constancy was proved we shall treat in the Annotations to those same Acts, which may be consulted by the reader. Here are some other observations for you, namely upon the various manuscript copies of the Acts which are with us.
[12] That one which we designated above from the Vatican library notice is given is entitled thus: Μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀγαθονίκου, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῳ. The Martyrdom of St. Agathonicus and of his companions. And it thus begins: Ἐν ἀρχῇ διδάσκων τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ μαθητὰς Θεὸς Ἰησοὺς ὁ Χριστὸς, ἔλεγεν· Ἇιμα δίκαιον βοᾷ πρός με Ἄβελ. In the beginning, while God Jesus Christ was teaching his disciples, he said: The just blood of Abel cries to me. To the other transcript which is with us, taken from the Ambrosian codex f. N. n. 152 (concerning which see at the martyrdom of Maximus), the title is: Μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Ἀγαθονίκου. The Martyrdom of the holy martyr Agathonicus. And the beginning: Μαξιμιανοῦ τοῦ τυράννου τὴν βασίλειον ἀρχὴν, ὡς οὐκ ὤφειλε, κατὰ τὴν Νικομήδους διέποντος, ὁ κόμης Εὐτόλμιος τὴν κατὰ Χριστιανῶν ἐξουσίαν ἐλάμβανε. While the tyrant Maximian was administering the royal power — would that he had not! — in the city of the Nicomedians, Eutolmius the count received authority against the Christians. That codex is elsewhere often indicated by us in this month; concerning which more is treated on the XIII day of the same month in the preliminary Commentary on St. Maximus, §10, number 80; where also there is mention of the writer, a certain monk Laurence in the monastery of Rossano, which is in Calabria.
[13] of the various Another copy has been transcribed from a manuscript codex of the Imperial library of Vienna: concerning which see us elsewhere. Consult Lambeck, book 8 of the Commentaries on that library, page 205. There also is indicated an Encomiastic Oration on the great holy … martyr Agathonicus. This too we have from the aforesaid codex. The narrative of that panegyric thus begins: Λαμπρά μὲν τὰ τῆς ὑποθέσεως διηγήματα, λαμπρότερα δὲ καὶ τῆς κατ᾽ αὐτὴν θείας πανηγύρεως τὰ προβλήματα. Splendid indeed are the narratives of the subject proposed for writing; but more splendid are the treatments of the divine panegyric upon it. And that eulogy extends to fifteen pages, abounding as it does rather in words than in matter; and since these things are contained briefly in the Acts which we are about to give, there is no need to have recourse to a lengthy panegyrical oration, and to detain — not to say weary — the reader with a wordy and Greekish discourse. The Martyrdom from the Vatican codex assigned before is also long enough, comprising namely almost twelve pages. The Ambrosian is much shorter; the Vienna one the shortest of all. Finally those three copies are alike in substance.
[14] copies of the Acts: The Vienna one pleases us best by its brevity: which accordingly it has seemed good to us to present in Latin in preference to the other two. The title is set to it in our Greek transcript: Μαρτύριον ἐν συντόμῳ τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Ἀγαθονίκου, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ. A compendium of the martyrdom of the holy martyr Agathonicus and of his companions. But upon that passage in which, at number 2 of that same Martyrdom in our copy, St. Agathonicus is said to be the offspring of Asclepiades the governor, I note these words from our Ambrosian transcript, which he himself answers to Eutolmius the count: Οἱ θεοί σου βδελύγματά εἰσὶ, δαιμόνων ἀπατηλῶν ἀφιδρύματα· ὧν καὶ Βαβύλας ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ μάρτυς ἐπὶ Νουμεριανοῦ κατέπτυσεν ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, καὶ δὴ καὶ Ῥωμανὸς κατεγέλασεν ὁ μάρτυς, ὃς καὶ τὴν θεόλογον ἐκείνην άποτέμνεται γλῶσσαν πρὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐπάρχου Ἀσκληπιάδου, νηπίῳ τηνικαῦτα ὄντι μοι, καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῖς καθορῶντι τὰ πεπραγμένα.
[15] Τότε γὰρ καὶ Ἄνθιμος ὁ κλεινὸς τὸν διὰ Χριστὸν ἀγῶνα ἐπὶ Μαξιμιανοῦ τοῦ τυράννου τετέλεκεν, ἐλέγξας τὴν αὐτοῦ κακογνωμοσυνην καὶ ἀθεότητα· ἅτινᾳ δὲ ταῦτα καλῶς ἐγὼ μνηθεὶς, σὺν
ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ, καὶ τῇ τεκούσῃ προσῆλθον Χριστῷ. a particular observation on the conversion and family of St. Agathonicus. Which I thus render into Latin: Your gods are abominable things, the images of deceitful demons: which Babylas the pontiff and martyr also despised at Antioch under Numerian, and which indeed Romanus the martyr derided, whose tongue of divine speech was likewise cut off by Asclepiades the governor, my father, while I, then a little child, beheld with these very eyes the things that were done. For at that time also the renowned Anthimus completed his contest for Christ under the tyrant Maximian, rebuking his malice and impiety. And I, rightly mindful of all these things, came to Christ with my whole household and with my mother. These things are in the transcript just mentioned: which, whether they were there transcribed from a more ancient copy, or were afterwards inserted by interpolation, I have thought could here be taken account of by us. Further, concerning St. Babylas, bishop of Antioch, the XXIV day of January may be seen; but of Romanus the martyr, also of Antioch, whose tongue was cut off, the Roman Martyrology treats on the XVIII day of November; where he is indeed said to have suffered under Asclepiades the prefect; but since it is there noted that this happened in the time of the emperor Galerius, how was St. Agathonicus then a little child, who under Galerius, as has been said above, contended for Christ? The same is the case with St. Anthimus, bishop of Nicomedia, whom I suspect to be indicated above, and of whom we treat on the XXVII day of April, where he is placed in the persecution of Diocletian.
Martyrdom
By an anonymous author,
from a codex of the Imperial library of Vienna, collated with other manuscripts. Translated by John Pien.
Agathonicus, martyr, in Thrace (S.)
Zoticus, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Theoprepius, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Acindynus, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Severian, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Zeno, martyr, in Bithynia (S.)
Princeps, senator, martyr, in Thrace (S.)
Ὁ ἅγιος μάρτυς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἀγαθόνικος, ὑπῆρχεν ἐπὶ τῆς βασιλείας Μαξιμιανοῦ. Ὅστις Μαξιμιανὸς ἀπέστειλε κόμητά τινα ὀνόματι Εὐτόλμιον ἐκ Νικομηδείας ἐπὶ τὴν Ποντικὴν χώραν ἕως Νεοκαισαρείας· ἔνθα καταλαβὼν, καὶ ἀναζητήσας τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς, κατῆλθεν. Καὶ διὰ τοὺς ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ χαλεποὺς ποταμοὺς ἐμβὰς εἰς πλοῖον, κατέλαβε Βιθυνίαν είς ἐμπόριον λεγόμενον Κάρπιν· Κᾳκεῖ τὸν ἅγιον Ζωτικὸν σὺν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, ὁμολογοῦντας τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου, ἀπέκτεινεν, οὕς τινας οἱ Χριστιανοὶ κατέθηκαν έν τόπῷ ἐπισήμῳ. Ὁ δὲ ἄρχων τὴν δημοσίαν βαδίσας ὁδὸν, ἦλθεν εἰς Νικομήδειαν, καὶ διδαχθεὶς, ὅτι ὁ πρῶτος πρίγκιψ ἐπίστευσε τῷ Χριστῷ διά τινος Ἀγαθονίκου σοφοῦ, καὶ διάγει ἐν ἀγρῷ καλουμένῳ Κυβέρων αὐτοῦ Ἀγαθονίκου ἐπιστρέφοντος καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἕλληνας εἰς τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ πίστιν, κελεύει βαρεῖαν δύναμιν στρατιωτῶν πορευθῆναι, καὶ ἀγαγεῖν αὐτούς.
[2] Ὁ δὲ προθύμως μετὰ τοῦ πρίγκιπος δοξάζων τὸν Θεὸν, ἐπορεύετο. Ὅθεν οἱ στρατιῶται εἰδόντες τὸ πρόθυμον τῆς εὐγενείας τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, ἐν τῇ πίστει τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐφείλκοντο. Ὡς δὲ ἀπῆραν ἐκ Κυβέρων, ἀφίκεσθαι εἰς Νικομήδειαν, ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ἐνουθέτει τοὺς στρατιώτας, ἐπιγνῶναι τὸν προαιώνιον καὶ ἀληθινὸν βασιλέα Χριστόν. Φθασάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν πύλην τῆς πόλεως Νικομηδείας, καθίσας ὁ κώμης ἐν τῇ βασιλικῇ ἐν τόπῳ καλουμένῳ Λαύσῳ, ἐξέτασιν ἐποιεῖτο, λέγων· Ποῦ εἰσὶν οἱ τὰ θεσπίσματα τῶν βασιλέων ἐξουθενοῦντες; Οἱ ταξεῶται εἶπον· παρίσταται τῇ λαμπρότητί σου Ἀγαθόνικος, ὁ κορυφαιότατος ἐν Χριστιανοῖς, γένους μεγίστου Ἱππασίου τοῦ μεγάλου ἔγγονος, γέννημα δὲ Ἀσκληπιάδου τοῦ ἐπάρχου, σὺν μητρὶ διάγων ἐν κώμῃ Κυβέρων· οὗτος καὶ τὸν πρίγκιπα τῆς ἐνταῦθα συγκλήτου ἀνέπεισε, σὺν αὐτῷ θρησκεύειν τῷ Ἐσταυρωμένῳ.
[3] Ὁ κόμης λέγει· Ὁμολόγει, Ἀγαθόνικε, εἰ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει. Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος Ἀγαθόνικος τῇ προσούσῃ αὐτῷ ἐκ Θεοῦ σοφίᾳ ἀρξάμενος διηγεῖσθαι ἐκ τῆς θείας γραφῆς, ἐξέπληξε τὸν ἄρχοντα, καὶ πάντας τοὺς συγκαθημένους αὐτῷ, ἐπὶ τῇ θεοπνεύστῳ σοφίᾳ καὶ θεολογίᾳ αὐτοῦ. Ὅθεν ἐκέλευσεν μαστιχθῆναι αὐτὸν, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἀπάρας ἀπὸ Νικομηδείας ὁ ἄρχων, ἐπὶ τὴν Θράκην πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ἀπήρχετο, κελεύσας καὶ τοὺς ὁμολογήσαντας τὸν Χριστὸν, δεσμίους ἀκολουθεῖν αὐτῷ, ἵνα ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐρωτηθῶσι· καὶ ὅσοι ἐξ εὐγενῶν καὶ ἐν ἀξιώμασιν ὑπῆρχον, τούτους μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν* ἦγεν· τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ξίφει ἀνεῖλεν εἰς πλῆθος ὑπάρχοντας.
[4] Καὶ ὁδευόντων αὐτῶν, ἐδίδασκε πάντας τοὺς πιστοὺς ὁ ἅγιος Ἀγαθόνικος, καὶ ὑπέμνησκε τὰ θαυμάσια τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἃ ἐποίησεν εἰς αὐτοὺς διὰ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ· ὅπως πάντες οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες, καὶ ποικίλαις κατεχόμενοι νόσοις, τῇ ἐπικλήσει μόνῃ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐθεραπεύοντο· καὶ ἔλεγεν· Ἴδετε, ἀδελφοὶ, πῶς ἐστιν ἀγαθὸς ὁ φιλάνθρωπος ἡμῶν Θεὸς καὶ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός. Τοῦτον οὖν ποθοῦντες, καταφρονήσωμεν τῆς προσκαίρου ταύτης ζωῆς, καὶ μὴ πτήξωμεν τὰς ἀπειλὰς τῶν ἀθέων εἰδωλομανῶν. Ἰδὼν οὖν ὁ ἄρχων, ὅτι οὐ παύεται νουθετῶν Ἀγαθόνικος τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ δεσμώτας, ἅμα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν γενομένων εἰς αὐτοὺς βασάνων μὴ δυναμένους βαδίζειν, ἔτι ἐπερωτήσας, καὶ μαθὼν τὸ ἀμετάθετον αὐτῶν τῆς πίστεως, καταπέλταις αὐτοὺς ἀνεῖλε. Ἐτελειώθησαν οὖν οἱ ἅγιοι Ζήνων, Θεοπρεπὴς, καὶ Ἀκίνδυνος, οἱ ἐν τριβουνάτοις τῶν Νεοκαισαρέων διαπρέψαντες, ἐν χωρίῳ λεγομένῳ Ποταμοὺς, τὸν στέφανον τῆς δικαιοσύνης παρὰ Χριστοῦ κομισάμενοι· οὓς προσέταξεν ὁ ἄρχων μετὰ τῶν δεσμῶν αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ εἰρημένῳ τόπῳ τεθεῖναι.
[5] Ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ ἄρχων πλησίον Καλχηδόνος, ἀνεῖλε τὸν ἅγιον Σευηριανὸν, παῤῥησίᾳ κηρύττοντα τὸν Χριστόν. Περασάντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν Θράκην, παραστὰς ὁ ἅγιος μάρτυς Ἀγαθόνικος σὺν τοῖς ὑπολοίποις ἁγίοις, τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου τοῦ Βυζαντίου, κᾳκεῖ τὸν Χριστὸν ὁμολογήσας, καὶ στηλιτεύσας τὴν πλάνην τῶν εἰδώλων, τύπτεται σφοδρῶς. Ἔπειτα ἀπάγεται πρὸς Μαξιμιανὸν, ἐν Σιλυμβρίᾳ διάγοντα ἐν τόπῳ λεγομένῳ Ἄμμους· κᾳκεῖ πάλιν μετὰ παῤῥησίας τὸν Χριστὸν ἀνακηρύξας Θεὸν, καὶ στηλιτεύσας τὴν ἄνοιαν τῶν σεβομένων τὰ εἴδωλα, μετὰ πολλὰς τὰς τιμωρίας, τὴν διὰ τοῦ ξίφους ἀπόφασιν λαβὼν, ἀπετμήθη τὴν κεφαλὴν σὺν τῷ πρίγκιπι, καὶ ἄλλοις πλείστοις Χριστιανοῖς. Τελεῖται δὲ ἡ μνήμη τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Ἀγαθονίκου μηνὶ Αὐγούστῳ κβ᾽. Ταῖς οὖν πρεσβείαις τῶν ἁγίων σου μαρτύρων Ἀγαθονίκου, Ζωτικοῦ, Ζήνων,* Θεοπρεποῦς, Ἀκινδύνου, Σευηριανοῦ, καὶ πρίγκιπος τοῦ συγκλητικοῦ, ζῶσον τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν, ὅτι εὐλογητὸς εἰ εἰς τοὺς ἀιῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
St. Zoticus with his companions is slain in Bithynia: The holy martyr of Christ Agathonicus lived under the reign of Maximian a. Which Maximian sent a certain count b, Eutolmius by name, from Nicomedia into the province of Pontus as far as Neocaesarea. When he had come thither, and had sought out the Christians, he returned. And because the rivers on the way were difficult, he embarked on a ship and put in at a mart of Bithynia which they call Carpe: and there he slew holy Zoticus and his disciples, who confessed the name of the Lord: whom the Christians laid in a notable place. But the governor, proceeding by the public road, came to Nicomedia; and being informed that the first prince c had believed in Christ through a certain wise Agathonicus, and was living on an estate whose name was that of the Cyberi d, and that Agathonicus e himself was converting other heathens also to the faith of Christ, he bids a mighty force of soldiers set out thither and bring them to him.
[2] But he went with great spirit, glorifying God together with the prince. St. Agathonicus is questioned by the judge, Whence the soldiers, beholding the eager and noble disposition of the man, were drawn to the faith of Christ. And while they were departing from Cyberi toward Nicomedia, he instructed the soldiers on the way, that they might know Christ the true king, and before the ages. When they had come to the gate of the city of Nicomedia, the count, sitting in the royal hall which was in the place called Lausus f, held an examination, saying: "Where are they who set at naught the edicts of the emperors?" The governor's officers said: "There stands before your brightness Agathonicus, who holds the chief place among the leaders of the Christians, sprung from the family of the great Hippasius g; but the offspring of Asclepiades the governor, who lives with his mother in the village of the Cyberi. He also has persuaded the prince of the senate which is there to worship the Crucified along with him."
[3] Then the count said: "Confess, Agathonicus, whether these things are so." who leads him with the rest into Thrace, But holy Agathonicus, beginning by the wisdom given him from God to relate things out of the sacred Scripture, struck the governor and all his assessors with amazement at his divinely inspired wisdom and at his knowledge of divine things. Whence he ordered him to be beaten with scourges: and after that the governor, departing from Nicomedia, betook himself into Thrace to the emperor, having commanded that the confessors of Christ, in bonds, should accompany him, in order that they might be questioned by the emperor: and as many as were remarkable for nobility or dignity he led with him; but the rest, who were many in number, he made away with by the sword.
[4] where Zeno, Theoprepes, and Acindynus are crowned with martyrdom: While they made their journey, holy Agathonicus taught all the faithful, and made them mindful of the wonders of God which the Lord had wrought upon them through his Saints: how all who were sick and were held by various diseases were healed by the invocation of Christ alone; and he said: "See, brethren, how good is our kindly God and Lord Jesus Christ. Desiring him therefore, let us despise this temporal life, and let us not fear the threats of those who worship not God, and are mad with love of idols." Seeing therefore that Agathonicus did not cease to admonish those who were bound with him, and that on account of the torments inflicted on them they could not walk, the governor repeated his questioning; and, knowing that they persisted unchangeable in the faith, he destroyed them with catapults h. And so were consummated the holy Zeno, Theoprepes, and Acindynus, who had been honored with tribuneships among the people of Neocaesarea, in the place called Potamus i, bearing away the crown of justice from Christ: whom the governor commanded to be laid, together with their bonds, in the aforesaid place k.
[5] as also Severian; and at last Agathonicus with the others. But when the governor had come near Chalcedon, he ordered holy Severian to be slain while he was freely preaching Christ. And when they had completed their journey into Thrace, the holy martyr Agathonicus, together with the remaining Saints, appeared before the senators of the council of Byzantium, and there, professing the faith of Christ and inveighing against the error of the idols, he is severely beaten: then he is led to Maximian, who was staying at Selymbria l in the place called Ammos [m]. And there again, freely proclaiming Christ as God, and censuring the madness of those who worship idols, after many torments, receiving the sentence of beheading, he was beheaded together with the prince and very many other Christians. And the memory of the holy martyr Agathonicus is kept in the month of August, on the XXII day. By the intercession therefore of your holy martyrs Agathonicus, Zoticus, Zeno, Theoprepius, Acindynus, Severian, and Princeps the senator, save our souls; for you are blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
* perhaps μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ
* Ζήνωνος