Phileas

CONCERNING SAINT PHILEAS, BISHOP OF THMUIS, AND SAINT PHILOROMUS, MILITARY TRIBUNE, AND VERY MANY OTHER MARTYRS AT ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT,

In the year 304.

Preliminary Commentary.

Phileas, Bishop of Thmuis, Martyr at Alexandria in Egypt (S.) Philoromus, Military Tribune, Martyr at Alexandria in Egypt (S.) Many others, Martyrs at Alexandria in Egypt.

By the author G. H.

Section I. The Episcopal see of Saint Phileas, the place and time of his martyrdom, the Acts, and the works written by him.

[1] Thmuis, an ancient city of Lower Egypt, is according to Ptolemy in Book 4 of his Geography, chapter 5, the metropolis of the prefecture or nome of Mendes, to which the neighboring mouth of the Nile, the Mendesian, either gave its name or must acknowledge having received it from the city. In subsequent times that city was numbered among those of Augustamnica Prima, under the metropolis Pelusium, concerning which and the tract of those regions we treat below in the Life of Saint Isidore of Pelusium. Whether Thmuis has perished, or whether it was the place where Migni is now seen, is unknown. Bishop Phileas governed the Church of Thmuis during the reign of Diocletian, whom we have often said was raised to the Empire in the year of the Christian Era 284, about the month of September, from which the Egyptians begin their epoch of the Martyrs. We have said that the fatal edict against the Christians was issued by him during those days when the sacred memory of the Lord's Passion was being celebrated, in the eighteenth year of his reign, the year of Christ 302 — which Eusebius, in Book 8 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 3, writes was the nineteenth of his reign, being accustomed himself to count individual years from the Paschal month. When a most grievous persecution soon arose throughout the whole Empire, and especially in Egypt, Saint Phileas was taken from his own Thmuitan flock and confined in prison at Alexandria, as will be related below, for an extended period. The letters of Saint Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, then in exile, which we shall cite below, addressed to Saints Phileas, Hesychius, Theodore, and other Confessors detained in prison, also require some length of captivity — and especially the letter of Phileas himself to his own people of Thmuis, concerning the illustrious contest of very many Martyrs completed before his own, contained in the Acts at number 3. Therefore we defer his martyrdom to the twentieth year of Diocletian, the year of Christ 304, in which we judge Phileas to have suffered in the month of February, since the following April Diocletian, wearied by the Christian cause, which he was unable to suppress, laid down the Empire to lead a private life.

[2] Concerning the history of the martyrdom of Saint Phileas, Rufinus, Priest of Aquileia, writes in Book 8 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 10, according to the editions produced by Joannes Scalla in 1479 and Godfrey Baussard in 1526: "I found the passion of this Martyr Phileas, excellently written up in the histories of Gregory, and he disputed so admirably before the impious concerning the Divine religion that he even cited the death of the philosopher Socrates, which he endured at Athens for the truth, as a testimony before them." These Acts, hitherto unedited, we have obtained from three manuscript codices: one belonged to Nicolas Belfort, a Canon Regular in the monastery of Saint John the Baptist de Vinea at Soissons; a second we have long had, granted by the most religious men of the ancient monastery of Saint Maximin near Trier; from the third, which is preserved among the Canons Regular of the monastery of Büderich in Westphalia, in the diocese of Paderborn, Joannes Gamansius of our Society transcribed the same Acts for us. In the last two codices only those things are contained which we present in the second chapter. From the Belfort volume, what we give in the first chapter is supplied — and nearly everything is found in the same words in the Ecclesiastical History of Rufinus, perhaps for the most part added during his revision. Saint Jerome confirms the same Acts in his book On Illustrious Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 78, with these words: "Phileas, from the city of Egypt which is called Thmuis, of noble birth and no small wealth, having undertaken the episcopate, composed a most elegant book in praise of the Martyrs; and after a formal disputation held against the Judge who was compelling him to sacrifice, he was beheaded for Christ." All these things are contained in these Acts; whence we conclude that their author Gregory was a contemporary of Phileas himself and observed the disputation in person, as the words in the prologue — "done in our times, and in our presence" — indicate.

[3] This book in praise of the Martyrs is his letter written to his own people of Thmuis, cited below at number 3, which both Eusebius and Nicephorus inserted into their Ecclesiastical Histories — the former in Book 8, chapter 11, the latter in Book 7, chapter 9. Honorius also mentions it in his work On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 79, in almost the very words of Saint Jerome. Concerning the same, Trithemius writes in his work On Ecclesiastical Writers: "Phileas, Bishop of the city of Thebes in Egypt, a man both noble and most learned, no less distinguished for his character than for his knowledge of the Scriptures, after many labors and the publication of various treatises for the benefit of the faithful, at last became a Martyr for the faith of Christ under the Emperor Maximian, and flew to the heavens. Of his writings there survives a disputation held against an unjust Judge, in one book, and On the Praise of the Martyrs, in one book. Other things he wrote are unknown to us, although many are reported by the Fathers. He flourished under the Emperor Maximian, in the year of the Lord 240." So Trithemius, into whose number, written in Arabic numerals, we conjecture a typographical error has crept, and that instead of the year 240, the year 304 should be read. The disputation of Saint Phileas against the Judge is contained in the Acts written by Gregory, together with his Letter. The Emperor whom Trithemius names is Maximian Herculeus, whom Diocletian took as his colleague in the Empire — first as Caesar in the year 285, then created Augustus the following year, and finally, induced by the authority of Diocletian, he laid aside the purple on the same Kalends of April of the said year 304 and became a private citizen along with him.

[4] Moreover, what Trithemius writes — that Phileas was Bishop of the city of the Thebaid — seems to have been drawn from certain manuscript codices of Saint Jerome. For Suffridus Petrus, as Antonio Possevino testifies in his Sacred Apparatus concerning Saint Phileas, noted that in the Martinian manuscript codex "Thebais" is found in place of "Thmuis," as also in the Sigeberg manuscript codex. Possevino adds that this was the reason why those heretics, who stitched together compilations rather than libraries, made two men named Phileas: one Bishop of the Thebaid, the other of Thmuis — at which point Possevino tacitly censures Gesner and Simler. To say nothing of the fact that the Thebaid is not a city but a region, which we have accurately described on January 17, Section 1, in the Life of Saint Anthony. All of these were perhaps given occasion for error by reading Eusebius and Nicephorus without sufficient attention. For since Eusebius, in Book 8, chapter 9, had immediately before treated of the Martyrs of the Thebaid who suffered in the said persecution of Diocletian, with no distinction of places prefixed, he describes various contests which he himself saw while then in Egypt, and adds the martyrdom of Saints Phileas and Philoromus — of the latter we treat at number 6 below in the Acts. It is worthwhile to add the words of Eusebius from the said Book 8, chapter 9 in the Greek (chapter 10 in the Latin), where he writes the following, which Nicephorus transcribed from him.

[5] These Martyrs were indeed worthy of admiration; but those seemed preeminently admirable who, though distinguished by wealth, nobility, glory, eloquence, and knowledge of philosophy, nevertheless counted all these things as nothing for the sake of true piety and faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Such was Philoromus, a man who had attained no common magistracy, but was appointed to manage the Emperor's affairs at Alexandria; and who, not without great glory and honor (as is the Roman custom), attended by a bodyguard, daily rendered judgment on the disputes referred to him. Such also was Phileas, Bishop of the Church of Thmuis, a man truly outstanding both in the civil institutions of his country and in the ministries of the Church, and eminent in the disciplines of philosophy. When very many relatives and other friends had besought these two men; when, moreover, men of the first rank who held authority had entreated them; when the Judge himself at last had urged them to take pity on themselves and care for their children and wives — they could in no way be persuaded by the prayers of such men to be in any degree attracted by desire for life or to utterly disregard the divine laws concerning the confession and denial of our Savior. Rather, with virile courage and a mind worthy of philosophers — nay, with a piety worthy of God — bravely opposing all the Judge's threats and insults, both departed this life by the cutting off of their heads. So far Eusebius. All these things are read below in the Acts, attributed almost exclusively to Phileas. Since Saint Philoromus administered the Emperor's affairs at Alexandria, he was then joined to Saint Phileas after he assumed his protection before the Judge. Moreover, since Phileas, in the letter written to his Thmuitan flock, narrates the martyrdoms performed at Alexandria according to Eusebius, he clearly indicates that he was in prison custody at Alexandria, where he wrote this letter before the final sentence was pronounced upon him in court. After reciting this letter in chapter 11, Eusebius continues in chapters 12 and 13 to narrate some illustrious Martyrs of Palestine, and finally concludes: "About the same time" (referring to the time when he had reported several Martyrs struck by the sword about the ninth day before the Kalends of April), "two of the Emperors — of whom one, Diocletian, held the first and highest rank of the Empire, and the other, Maximian Herculeus, held the second after him — transferred themselves to a certain private mode of life." This, we have said, happened on the Kalends of April.

[6] Eusebius again mentions Saint Phileas in the same Book 8, chapter 25, to which is given this title: "Concerning the Prelates of the Church who, by the shedding of their blood, demonstrated the true piety they professed." And he begins thus: "In these times, therefore, illustrious and distinguished Martyrs, adorned with great glory throughout the whole world, both rightly astonished the spectators everywhere with the greatness and strength of their minds, and by their righteous deeds set before the eyes of all the remarkable signs of the truly divine and inexplicable power of our Savior. But to pursue each one by name in the narrative seems as lengthy as it is scarcely possible. Nevertheless, among the Ecclesiastical Prelates who suffered martyrdom in famous cities, let us inscribe first of all, as upon pillars erected to the memory of the devout, Anthimus, Bishop of the city of Nicomedia, a witness of the kingdom of Christ, who met death by being punished with capital punishment. Among the Martyrs of Antioch, let us inscribe Lucian, Priest of that Church, easily the most outstanding for his pious manner of life, who at Nicomedia also, in the presence of the Emperor, openly proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of Christ, first by a speech of apology, then by his deeds... Among those who died nobly and gloriously at Alexandria, in the rest of Egypt, and in the Thebaid, let Peter, Bishop of Alexandria itself, a divine ornament of those who were Teachers and Masters of true religion in Christ, be cited first in this place; and along with him the Priests Faustus, Didius, and Ammonius, perfect Martyrs of Christ. Likewise Phileas, Hesychius, Pachomius, and Theodore, Bishops of the Churches that are in Egypt, and other outstanding men besides these, well-nigh infinite in number, who are celebrated in the speech of many throughout the churches of every region and place where they lived." So far Eusebius. Looking to this passage, Saint Jerome, at the place mentioned above on Ecclesiastical Writers, affirms that Phileas was beheaded for Christ under the same instigator of the persecution in Egypt as Lucian at Nicomedia — whom in the preceding chapter he had recorded as having suffered under the persecution of Maximinus, which was in fact that of Maximian. We treated of Saint Lucian on January 7 and shall treat of Saint Anthimus on April 27, whom the same Eusebius had recorded in chapter 6 as having died in the same persecution of Diocletian, with his head cut from his neck for the testimony of Christ — the sentence of death having been pronounced by Diocletian's colleague Maximian, whose Acts make mention of it. Whence it is clear that in the said chapter 25, Eusebius, with a certain recapitulation, reviews the more distinguished Prelates of the Church who suffered martyrdom in that persecution which Diocletian, having begun it himself, handed on to his colleagues and successors as though a hereditary possession together with the Empire; and, having placed first, according to Baronius at the year 310, number 23, by the prerogative of excellence, Peter of Alexandria with the Priests of the same Church above the other Egyptian Bishops, he then adds others who completed their martyrdom before Peter: Phileas, Hesychius, Theodore, and Pachomius, concerning whose feast-day we shall treat below.

[7] Saint Peter, according to Eusebius, Book 7, last chapter, near the end, "flourished with the highest distinction for twelve continuous years in the Episcopate of Alexandria. After having spent nearly three years before the time of the persecution in governing that Church, he led the rest of his life with harsher discipline and greater severity, and looked after the welfare of the Churches with all care and zeal; and on that account, in the ninth year of the persecution, he was presented by God with the distinguished crown of martyrdom by the cutting off of his head." His Acts, as reported by Baronius at the year 306, number 52, from two Vatican manuscript codices, relate that Saint Peter voluntarily departed from Alexandria when he was being sought for death, lest on his account the city of Alexandria should be thrown into tumult by the resistance of the Christians. He then lay hidden for a long time, both in Palestine and in adjacent islands, meanwhile strengthening his flock by letters — and especially Phileas, Hesychius, and Theodore, whom he calls the Standard-bearers and Teachers of all the Confessors who were held in prison, more than six hundred and sixty in number. When he heard that they had completed their martyrdom, he testifies that he was filled with immense joy, for whose contest he had always interceded with God in prayer. These details are from the manuscript Acts, hitherto published incompletely.

Section II. The commemoration of Saints Phileas and Philoromus in the sacred Calendars; the homeland of their companion Martyrs.

[8] Since the city of Thmuis is a name unknown to Europeans and departing from the common combination of Latin syllables, it was more readily subject to greater corruptions and errors of copyists, especially in Martyrologies and other manuscript books. Hence it is corruptly read as Thimus, Thymus, Thynnis, Thynuis, Thynius, Thymnis, Thannis, Taphnis, Thumois, Thmois, Theonis, Chanai, etc. We have already spoken of the word "Thebaid." "Fileas" and "Filoromus" are also written in many codices. First, in the most ancient Roman Martyrology, which bears the name of Saint Jerome, it reads: "At Thimoi, of the Bishop Filias with his daughter." The Reichenau manuscript: "Of the Bishop of Timue with his daughter." We hesitate here in uncertainty, since the Acts mention the wife and children of Saint Phileas, whether perhaps some daughter obtained the crown of martyrdom together with her father. However, inclined by the silence of the others, we more safely conjecture that it is an error and should be read: "Of Phileas the Bishop with Philoromus." Another error is in the ancient Trier manuscript of Saint Martin's: "In Egypt, of Phileas, Bishop and Confessor" — whereas it is certain that he was put to death. In another ancient manuscript of the Monastery of Saint Riquier, which is attributed to Bede: "In the city of Thymnis, the passion of Blessed Philatas, Bishop of the same city, and of Philoromus, Tribune of the Roman soldiers."

[9] Nearly the same things, but more correctly and fully, are read in the ancient Roman Martyrology edited by Rosweyde: "In the city of Egypt, Thmuis, of Blessed Phileas, Bishop of the same city, and of Philoromus the Tribune, and of innumerable Martyrs." The same is read in the Cologne manuscript at Saint Mary ad Gradus. But the Prague, Utrecht Saint Mary, Liege Saint Lambert, Antwerp Professed House of the Society of Jesus, and other manuscripts largely agree with the printed Bede in these words: "In the city of Egypt called Thmuis, the passion of Blessed Phileas, Bishop of the same city, and of Philoromus, Tribune of the Roman soldiers, with whom also an innumerable multitude of the faithful from the same city, following in the footsteps of their Pastor, was crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian." Notker interposes from the Acts these few words about Saint Philoromus: "Who, admiring the constancy of the Bishop and pursuing it with praises, was likewise beheaded with him." Omitting these, Usuard, Bellinus, and others add at the end: "As the eighth book of the Ecclesiastical History relates." In the Cologne manuscript of the Carmelites they are called Bishop Philippeus and Tribune Filosmus. In another ancient manuscript from Italy, later brought to Lorraine, only Blessed Florian the Martyr is mentioned — the name perhaps corrupted from both. The innumerable multitude of the faithful is added in both Martyrologies. But what is said above to be the persecution of Diocletian is omitted by some and called by others the Decian persecution — a great error, since the persecution initiated by Decius preceded this one of Diocletian by fifty years. The author of the manuscript Florarium and Ado have the tenth persecution, as Augustine calls it in Book 18 of the City of God, chapter 52, Orosius in Book 7, chapter 27, and others. The words of the Florarium are: "In the city of Egypt called Thymnis, the passion of Blessed Phileas the Bishop and Philoromus the Tribune, in the time of Diocletian and Maximian, Roman Emperors, in the year of salvation 305, under the tenth persecution, in the first year thereof. Then also in the aforesaid city, just as their Pastor Phileas aforesaid, all the Christians were beheaded in a field adjacent to the walls."

[10] Ado, concerning the multitude that accompanied them, reports more fully from Rufinus, Book 8, chapter 9: "In the city of Egypt called Thmuis, the passion of Blessed Phileas, Bishop of the same city, and of Philoromus, Tribune of soldiers, with whom also an innumerable multitude of the faithful from the same city, following in the footsteps of their Pastor, was crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Diocletian. For when a most savage Governor was sitting in judgment, innumerable peoples of the faithful were brought before him. He ordered each of them in order, as they confessed themselves Christians, to be beheaded; and as they competed eagerly and voluntarily, after making their confession, to submit to the sword, that inhuman and cruel man, moved neither by the contemplation of their numbers nor by the magnanimity of their virtue, nevertheless ordered them all to be led out and beheaded. But they, steadfastly and bravely, with joy and exultation, seized the present death as the beginnings of eternal life. When the first were being slaughtered, the rest did not surrender their spirits to sloth or torpor; but singing psalms and chanting hymns to God, each awaited the place of his martyrdom, so that while doing these things they might breathe out their last breaths in the praises of God. O truly wonderful and worthy of all veneration was that flock of the blessed, that company of brave men, that crown of the splendor of the glory of Christ! This crown was adorned by the most precious of all stones and the noblest gem; this company was led by a more illustrious leader; this flock was graced by a nobler Pastor. His name was Phileas, who was Bishop of the city itself. He drew the nobility of his first origin from heavenly things, according to the virtue of his soul; but of earthly things, as far as the world is concerned, he had held the first honors in the Roman commonwealth. Educated also in the learning of liberal letters, and excellently trained in all the exercises that pertain to the virtue of the soul. Since he had very many relatives and kinsmen, noble men, in the same city, he was frequently led before the Governor; and was urged to yield to his admonitions, to have regard, at the entreaty of so many and so great relatives, for his wife, and to be persuaded to consider his children, and not to persist in his undertaking. But he, as though a wave were dashing against an immovable rock, spurned the words of the chattering, strained his spirit toward heaven, held God before his eyes; reckoned his parents and relatives as the holy Martyrs and Apostles. There was then present a certain man commanding a squadron of Roman soldiers, named Philoromus, who, seeing Phileas surrounded by the tears of his relatives and wearied by the Governor's cunning, yet unable to be bent or broken in any way, exclaimed: 'Why do you vainly and superfluously test the constancy of this man? Why do you wish to make unfaithful one who keeps faith with God? Why do you compel him to deny God in order to comply with men? Do you not see that his ears do not hear your words, that his eyes do not see your tears? How can one be moved by earthly tears whose eyes behold heavenly glory?'"

After these words, the anger of all was turned against Philoromus, and they demanded that he undergo one and the same sentence as Phileas. To this the Judge gladly assented and ordered both to be beheaded. These blessed Martyrs suffered under the tenth persecution. All of this is from Ado: the earlier part from Usuard, the rest from Rufinus. At the end we have added "the tenth persecution" from the manuscript codices of Lobbes and Saint Lawrence of Liege; in place of which, in the Therouanne codex and another in Rosweyde, the "Decian persecution" was read, for which Rosweyde substituted "of Diocletian" — less aptly, as it was then repeated a second time.

[11] What Ado narrates at the beginning from Rufinus, we have already given on January 5, for the feast-day of the Martyrs slain in the Thebaid under Diocletian. But Rufinus himself, following Eusebius, having previously treated of the Martyrs of the Thebaid, as though to distinguish these from those, interposes these words: "We ourselves also, at the same time, while we were traveling in the regions of Egypt, saw with our own eyes how, as a most savage Governor sat in judgment, innumerable peoples of the faithful were brought before him," etc. From this Ado pursues his eulogy, believing that Phileas and Philoromus died at Thmuis, because of the city of Thmuis prefixed in the Martyrologies. These often indicate not so much the place of the passion, but rather that the sacred relics of the Martyrs were deposited there, or churches particularly dedicated to their cult, or finally that the Martyrs had flourished there in some ecclesiastical or civil dignity. Again, Ado, about the middle, after the words "Phileas, who was Bishop of the city itself," omitted what Rufinus added and what is repeated below in the Acts: "which is called Thmuis" — by which he indicates that another city, in which the passion took place, is understood. Eusebius clearly names that city as Alexandria. Indeed, another place of torment from Thmuis is required by these words of the Judge to Phileas, at number 5 below: "Remember that I have treated you with honor; for in your city I could have done you wrong" — which Phileas accepted with gratitude.

[12] The earlier Martyrologies — the aforementioned ones of Saint Jerome, the Trier, and the Centula manuscripts — do not add companions besides Philoromus. But the ancient Roman Martyrology of Rosweyde and the Cologne manuscript of Saint Mary ad Gradus report only innumerable Martyrs, perhaps so that there might be some memorial of those whom Saint Phileas commemorates in his letter to the Thmuitans, inserted in the Acts; and whom Saint Peter of Alexandria, mentioned above, calls the Standard-bearers and Teachers of all the Confessors who were held in prison — and Rufinus, Ado, and others call Phileas the Pastor. So also Galesinius in his Martyrology: "At Thamna in Egypt, of Saint Phileas the Bishop and Philoromus the Tribune, Martyrs, with whom an innumerable multitude of Christians, under the Emperor Maximian, having steadfastly undertaken the contest for the praise of Christ, was crowned after being variously put to death." Constantius Felicius reports it thus: "Philoromus the Tribune, a most learned man, was appointed by the Emperor Diocletian, to whom he was very dear, in the Magistracy of Alexandria among the Egyptians; and Phileas the Egyptian, a man endowed with great learning, Bishop of Thmuis, were beheaded with many others for the confession of Christ." Along with Bede, Usuard, Ado, and others, the Roman Martyrology makes this multitude consist of Thmuitans, in these words: "At Thmuis in Egypt, the passion of Blessed Phileas, Bishop of the same city, and of Philoromus, Tribune of soldiers, who in the persecution of Diocletian, when they could not be persuaded by relatives and friends to spare themselves, both offered their necks and merited palms from the Lord; with whom an innumerable multitude of the faithful from the same city, following the example of their Pastor, was crowned with martyrdom." In the Acts, according to the Büderich codex, Saint Phileas is presented to Culcianus together with an innumerable multitude of the faithful of his city, whom the Judge, ordering each one in turn who confessed himself a Christian to be beheaded, at last addresses the Bishop with these words: "Phileas, sacrifice to the gods," etc. The words about the confession of individuals, taken by Ado above from Rufinus, are there referred to various Egyptians.

[13] Saints Phileas and Philoromus are celebrated with the Ecclesiastical Office in the Roman Breviary compiled under Paul III by Cardinal Francisco Quinones of the title of the Holy Cross, and revised in the same: in which the third Lesson at Matins is proper, largely abbreviated from Rufinus. It adds that Phileas, on account of his many writings and the great reputation for his holiness, was made Bishop by the great consensus of his fellow citizens, and that he discharged that office most holily for many years. In the Utrecht Breviary printed at Leiden in the year 1518, Saints Phileas and his companions are venerated with the Common Office of Martyrs.

[14] The commemoration of Saint Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, is celebrated, as we said above, who sent a letter to Phileas and other Bishops confined in prison. The Greeks treat of him on November 24; the older Latins all on the following day, November 25, and add that along with him many other Bishops from Egypt were put to death — nearly six hundred and sixty, together with Clerics and laymen. On the same day, however, being impeded by the solemnity of Saint Catherine, later writers transferred his cult to November 26 — as Bellinus, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and others, and more fully the Roman Martyrology, with the name of Saint Phileas also added, in these words: "At Alexandria, the birthday of Saint Peter, Bishop of the same city, who, being adorned with all virtues, was beheaded by the command of Galerius Maximian. There also suffered at Alexandria in the same persecution the holy Martyrs Faustus the Priest, Didius, Ammonius, and likewise Phileas, Hesychius, Pachomius, and Theodore, Egyptian Bishops, with six hundred and sixty others, whom the sword of persecution raised to heaven." Phileas is joined with others killed at Alexandria, whom the passage of Eusebius cited above had united, also repeated, according to Baronius, with a certain recapitulation.

ACTS

written by Gregory, a contemporary, revised by Rufinus the Priest, published from three manuscripts.

BHL Number: 6800

By the contemporary author Gregory, from Rufinus.

CHAPTER I

The persecution of Diocletian. The captivity of Saint Phileas, and his letter to the Thmuitans.

[1] As we are about to write the passion of the most glorious Martyr Phileas, we have thought it not unfitting to commit to memory a few things among many that were done in our days, and especially those done in our presence, when the Blessed one himself suffered, so that the reader may know in how hard times the Lord reserved the martyrdom of so steadfast a man. For to describe how wonderfully and how magnificently the word of Christ and the doctrine of piety had advanced throughout the whole world before the persecution of our time, and to what a height it had ascended, surpasses our powers. Yet it can be known even from this: that certain Roman rulers both gave our people the opportunity to govern provinces and administer justice, and allowed their wives, ministers, and entire households not only to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but also to live in the faith with all confidence and freedom — so that they called those people their intimates of whom they were certain that, on account of the faith of Christ, they would harbor no treachery. Such was the most famous Dorotheus in the chamber of the Kings, who on account of the faith of Christ was held most faithful in all things; whence he merited to be preferred to all others in honor and love. With him also were Gorgonius and the rest who were faithful in the Lord — whether those who held the highest honors within the palace, or those who merited to be preferred above others for governing provinces by reason of their faith. Indeed, who could worthily describe the multitudes of peoples assembling within the churches, and especially the innumerable throngs gathering on feast days in every place — when not even the ancient buildings sufficed, but houses of prayer were daily expanded, so that their vastness seemed to encompass the size of cities?

[2] This crown, indeed, a more precious stone and nobler gem adorned; a more illustrious teacher led this company; a nobler pastor graced this flock. His name was Phileas, who was Bishop of the city itself which is called Thmuis. He drew the nobility of his first origin from heavenly things, according to the virtue of his soul; but of earthly things, as far as the world is concerned, he had held the first honors in the Roman commonwealth. Excellently educated also in the learning of liberal letters and in all the exercises that pertain to the virtue of the soul, he so embraced this newest philosophy — which is the first of all according to God — that he surpassed all who had preceded him. To support this, although it may seem a digression, it does not appear absurd if we briefly insert into this work some passages from his writings, in which he recalls the passions of the Martyrs. Writing, then, to the Thmuitans — that is, to the people committed to his charge — he says among other things:

[3] "The blessed Martyrs have furnished us with examples of these good things, who, enduring in the contests together with us, as they had been instructed from the divine Scriptures, keeping the eye of their mind fixed upon God, desired death for piety without fear. For they considered unceasingly that our Lord Jesus Christ, having become man for our sake, taught us this: that we should struggle against sin even unto death. Since He Himself did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself even unto death — the death of the cross. Following His example, the blessed Martyrs endured all torments and punishments, lest they should stain the conscience of their faith; for indeed the perfect charity that was in them cast out fear. If I wished now to enumerate the virtues of their endurance and to set forth the strength of their constancy, I have not such abundance of speech, nor do I think these things would seem credible to any except those who beheld with their own eyes what was done. For they were exposed to all who wished to inflict punishments at their pleasure; and if anyone, having devised in his leisure some new kind of punishment, brought it forward, it was permitted to inflict it. Some, therefore, were beaten with clubs, others with rods, others again with whips, some were stretched with leather thongs, or hung up with ropes. And it was the endeavor of each tormentor to invent a new kind of punishment. After this, some were hung up with their hands bound behind their backs, and stretched on the rack, their limbs being torn apart. To be scraped with iron claws was considered old and light. Even if that kind of punishment had been applied to anyone, not only were their sides torn, as is customary with robbers and murderers, but the claw reached to the belly and thighs and shins and even to the nails. Nor was the face, the countenance, and the forehead left free from torments. And this was added above all: that after human bodies had been mangled without any humanity, they were exposed in public, stripped not only of clothing but even of skin, and became a cruel spectacle to all who passed by."

[4] "^e Some they left bound to columns, with their arms twisted behind their backs. And those who were hung up before the Governor were kept not only for the time when they were being examined or tortured by him, but nearly the whole day while other cases were being heard, on the rack — in the hope that any one of them might fall from the firmness of his resolution through the continuance of unceasing punishment. ^f So great was their cruelty, and all human feeling had so utterly fled from them, that after the whole body had been consumed by torments or beatings, the victim was ordered to be dragged naked by the feet back to prison, and with his feet locked in stocks, still with fresh wounds, he was cast upon the ground strewn with fragments of broken pottery. Meanwhile, very many who persevered steadfastly and bravely unto death brought no small shame upon the inventors of the wickedness for the cruelty they had vainly attempted. Others, having recovered their bodily health, voluntarily provoked their dispensers of punishment to renew the contests. These men, ashamed to recall them again to the torments and terrified by their very boldness, ordered them to be beheaded. ^g"

CHAPTER II

An illustrious confession of Christ amid the torments. The martyrdom of Saints Phileas and Philoromus.

[5] These are the words of the true Philosopher in the Lord, the blessed Martyr Phileas, which he wrote while in chains and shut up in prison, to the Church committed to his care — by which he made his companions fellow sharers in those Martyrs and partners of the heavenly crowns. But now it is time for us to come to his open encounter with the Judge. ^a Phileas having been placed upon the platform, Culcianus the Governor said to him: "Can you now become sober?" Phileas replied: "I am always sober and live soberly." Culcianus said: "Sacrifice to the gods." Phileas replied: "I do not sacrifice." Culcianus said: "Why?" Phileas replied: "Because the sacred and divine Scriptures say: 'He who sacrifices to the gods shall be rooted out, unless it be to the Lord alone' ^b Exodus 22:20." Culcianus said: "Then sacrifice to the Lord alone." Phileas replied: "I do not sacrifice. For God does not desire such sacrifices. For the sacred and divine Scriptures say: 'Why do you offer me the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I am full; I do not want the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of lambs and the blood of goats; nor if you offer fine flour.'" One of the Advocates said: "Are you now disputing about fine flour, or are you now fighting for your life?" Culcianus the Governor said: "In what sacrifices, then, does your God delight?" Phileas replied: "God delights in a clean heart and sincere senses and sacrifices of true words." Culcianus said: "Sacrifice now." Phileas replied: "I do not sacrifice, for I have not learned to do so." Culcianus said: "Did Paul not sacrifice?" Phileas replied: "No! God forbid." Culcianus said: "Did Moses not sacrifice?" Phileas replied: "It had been commanded to the Jews alone to sacrifice in Jerusalem to God alone. But now the Jews sin by celebrating their solemnities in other places." Culcianus said: "Let these vain words cease, and at least sacrifice now." Phileas replied: "I will not defile my soul." The Governor said: "Is it our concern here about the soul?" Phileas replied: "About both the soul and the body." Culcianus said: "The care of what body?" Phileas replied: "Of this body." Culcianus said: "Will this flesh rise again?" Saint Phileas replied: "Certainly." Culcianus again said to him: "Did Paul not deny Christ?" Phileas replied: "No. God forbid." Culcianus said: "^c Swear this to me." Phileas replied: "It is not commanded to us to swear. For the sacred Scripture says: 'Let your speech be Yes, yes; No, no' Matthew 5:37."

[6] Culcianus said: "Was Paul not a persecutor?" Phileas replied: "No. God forbid." Culcianus said: "Was Paul not an ignorant man? Was he not a Syrian? Did he not dispute in Syriac?" Phileas replied: "He was a Hebrew, and he disputed in Greek, and he had the greatest wisdom above all others." Culcianus said: "Perhaps you are going to say that he even surpassed Plato." Phileas replied: "Not only was he wiser than Plato, but indeed than all the philosophers. For he instructed the wise. And, if you wish, I will recite his words to you." Culcianus said: "Sacrifice now." Phileas replied: "I do not sacrifice." ^d Culcianus said: "Is there a conscience?" Phileas replied: "Yes." Culcianus said: "How is it then that you do not keep the conscience that pertains to your children and wife?" Phileas replied: "Because the conscience that pertains to the Lord is more eminent. For the sacred and divine Scripture says: 'You shall love the Lord your God who made you' Deuteronomy 6:5." Culcianus said: "Which God?" Phileas extended his hands toward heaven and said: "God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, the Creator and ^e Maker of all things visible and invisible and unspeakable, who alone is and remains forever and ever. Amen."

[7] ^f The Advocates were forbidding Phileas from speaking at length to the Governor, saying to him: "Why do you resist the Governor?" Phileas replied: "I answer him concerning what he asks me." Culcianus said: "Spare your tongue and sacrifice." Phileas replied: "I do not sacrifice. For I spare my soul. Moreover, not only Christians spare their soul, but pagans also. Take the example of Socrates: for when he was being led to death, with his wife and children standing by him, he did not turn back, but most readily received death though old." Culcianus said: "Was Christ God?" Phileas replied: "Yes." Culcianus said: "How were you persuaded that He was God?" Phileas replied: "He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear; He cleansed lepers, raised the dead, gave speech to the mute, and healed many infirmities. A woman who had a flow of blood touched the fringe of His garment and was healed; the dead were raised; and He did many other signs and wonders." Culcianus said: "Is God crucified?" Phileas replied: "He was crucified for our salvation. And indeed He knew that He was to be crucified and to suffer insults, and He gave Himself to suffer all things for our sake. For the sacred Scriptures had foretold these things concerning Him, which the Jews think they possess but do not possess. Let whoever wishes come and see if it is not so." Culcianus said: "Remember that I have treated you with honor, for in your city I could have done you wrong; but wishing to honor you, I did not do so." Phileas replied: "I thank you, and grant me this perfect grace." Culcianus said: "What do you desire?" Phileas replied: "Exercise your rashness; do what has been commanded you." Culcianus said: "So you wish to die without cause?" Phileas replied: "Not without cause, but for God and for the truth." Culcianus said: "Was Paul God?" Phileas replied: "No." Culcianus said: "Who then was he?" Phileas replied: "A man like us, but the divine Spirit was in him, and in the Spirit he worked powers and signs and wonders."

[8] Culcianus said: "I bestow upon you the favor of your brother." Phileas replied: "And you, grant me this perfect grace: exercise your rashness and do what has been commanded you." Culcianus said: "If I knew that you were in want and had come to this madness, I would not spare you. But since you have great substance, so that you could sustain not only yourself but nearly the whole province, therefore I spare you and advise you to sacrifice." Phileas replied: "By not sacrificing, I spare myself." The Advocates said to the Governor: "He has already sacrificed in ^g the school." Phileas said: "I certainly have not sacrificed; but you may truly say that I have offered sacrifice." Culcianus said: "Your wretched wife looks to you." Phileas replied: "The Savior of all our spirits, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve in chains, is Himself powerful — He who called me into the inheritance of His glory — to call her also." The Advocates said to the Governor: "Phileas is requesting a delay." Culcianus said to Phileas: "I give you a delay, so that you may deliberate with yourself." Phileas replied: "I have often deliberated, and I have chosen to suffer for Christ." The Advocates and the court officials, together with the guardian and all his relatives (for he had very many relatives and kinsmen, noble men, in the same city), embraced his feet, begging him to have regard for his wife and to take care of his children. He, as though a wave were dashing against an immovable rock, spurned the words of the chattering, strained his spirit toward heaven, held God before his eyes, reckoned his parents and relatives as the holy Martyrs and Apostles.

[9] There was then present ^h a certain man commanding a squadron of Roman soldiers, named Philoromus. He, seeing Phileas surrounded by the tears of his relatives and wearied by the Governor's cunning, yet unable to be bent or broken in any way, exclaimed, saying: "Why do you vainly and superfluously test the constancy of this man? Why do you wish to make unfaithful one who is faithful to God? Why do you compel him ⁱ to deny God in order to comply with men? Do you not see that his eyes do not see your tears, that his ears do not hear your words? One cannot be moved by earthly tears whose eyes behold heavenly glory." After these words, the anger of all was turned against Philoromus, and they demanded that he undergo one and the same sentence as Phileas. To this the Judge gladly assented and ordered both to be struck by the sword.

[10] When they had gone out and were proceeding to the customary place of execution, the brother of Phileas, who was one of the Advocates, cried out saying: "^k Phileas requests an abolition." Culcianus, calling him back, said: "^l Have you appealed?" Phileas replied: "I have not appealed; God forbid. Do not listen to this most wretched man. I give great thanks to the Emperors and to the Government, because I have been made a co-heir of Jesus Christ." After this Phileas went out. When they had arrived at the place where they were to be slain, Phileas stretched out his hands toward the East and cried out, saying: "My dearest little children, all you who worship God, watch over your hearts, for our adversary goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. We have not yet suffered, most beloved; now we begin to suffer; now we have begun to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Attend to the precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ; let us invoke the immaculate, the incomprehensible One, who sits upon the Cherubim, the Maker of all things, who is the beginning and the end, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." When he had said this, the executioners, carrying out the Judge's orders, drove out the indefatigable spirits of both by cutting off their heads with the sword — by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God forever and ever. Amen.