ON ST. AEMILIANUS, MARTYR,
AT DUROSTORUM IN MYSIA OR BULGARIA.
In the year 362.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Aemilianus, Martyr, at Durostorum in Mysia (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR P. B.
§ I. The place of martyrdom; the cult; the church at Rhabdus, and the miracles.
Durostorum, a city formerly of Lower Mysia, situated near the Danube, was famous everywhere among the ancients under various names: for what by Ammianus, book 27, chapter 4, by Jerome in the Chronicle, and by others is called Durostorum, At Durostorum, by others is named Dorostolon, Durostolon, Dorostena, Drista, Rhodostolon, etc., as may be seen in the Geographers. It was formerly the seat of a bishop; but, according to Ferrari in the Geographical Lexicon, now a village of Bulgaria; nay, an ample city, the capital of Dobruja, in the region of Bulgaria, and in which the prefect of the Turks resides, says Baudrand, who asserts it to be Silistria; but to this opinion most geographical maps do not agree, which greatly distinguish Durostorum from Silistria or Silistra. Further, Durostorum, although, as I have already said, it properly belonged to Lower Mysia or Moesia, is nevertheless sometimes found attributed to Thrace: namely, there Thrace is taken more widely, as it is a diocese, and contains six provinces—Europa, Thrace, Haemimontus, Rhodope, Lower or Second Mysia, and Scythia; as Ammianus Marcellinus too takes and describes it in the place cited before.
[2] This city was a fruitful parent of Martyrs, as may be seen more than once in the Acts of the Saints; St. Aemilianus suffered, to the Latins formerly, and on this very day it carried up to the heavens many, whom the most ancient Hieronymian Martyrologies note in Florentini, and of whom the first (for of the others it has already been said above) is our Aemilianus; whose cult therefore is also very ancient among the Latins. The Usuardine records relate the same on this same day in these words: "In the city of Durostorum, of St. Emilianus"; nor does Usuard mention his fellow Martyrs; so that you may deservedly doubt whether he transferred his memory into his Martyrology from the Hieronymian codices, or rather from elsewhere. Usuard was followed by others more recent, and especially the Roman, which has thus: "At Durostorum in Mysia, of St. Aemilianus the martyr, who in the time of Julian the Apostate, under the governor Capitolinus, cast into a furnace, received the palm of martyrdom." Nor was our Saint known to the Martyrologists alone, but also to the Latin Fathers, as may be seen in St. Jerome in the Chronicle at the 2nd year of the emperor Julian, and St. Prosper in the entire Chronicle in Labbe's New Library of Manuscript Books, volume 1, page 43. See also what Baronius, at the year of Christ 362, number 80, and Tillemont in the Persecution of Julian, article 12, think St. Ambrose wrote concerning him. The words will be given below, number 12.
[3] and celebrated in the Greek Fasti. Among the Greeks the memory of this holy Martyr is much more solemn; which is clear from the office and Odes composed with an acrostich upon it by Joseph, and from the historical elogium, which on this day, the XVIII of July, are read in the printed Menaea; whence are transcribed the things which on the same day are recorded in the Anthology of the Greeks and in Maximus of Cythera. That elogium I would here give; but since we have edited another somewhat more excellent one, in Greek only, in the Synaxarion of the Emperor Basil at the end of the first volume of this month, I shall be content to exhibit that one in the next number rendered into Latin, and at the same time to note the things in which it differs from the Menaea. The verses, moreover, which the Menaea sing to Aemilianus, sound thus:
Αἰμιλιανὸς εἰς πυρὰν βεβλημένος, Χριστῷ παραστὰς τέρπεται σὺν ἀγγέλοις. Ὀγδοάτῃ δεκάτῃ φλογὶ Αἰμιλιανὸς ἐβλήθη.
In Latin:
Aemilianus, delivered to the flames, now, Christ being present, rejoices among the angels. On the eighteenth Aemilianus enters the fires.
The same day the Typicon of St. Sabas, and the Menology of Sirletus in Canisius, and the Menology of Grottaferrata edited at Rome in the year 1677, and the Slavo-Russian one, as also the Greek-Moscow Ephemerides given in volume 1 of May, and the Martyrology which we have in an Arabic-Egyptian manuscript, and all the others which I have seen, consigned to the memory of St. Aemilianus; but among the rest stands out the Synaxarion, of which I was just speaking, of the Emperor Basil, whose Greek text I render into Latin thus:
[4] An abridgment of his Acts from the Synaxarion of the Emperor Basil. In the same month (July) on the XVIII day. The contest of the holy Martyr Aemilianus. The Martyr of Christ Aemilianus, sprung from the city of Durostolum in the Mysia of Thrace, was under Julian the apostate. And when he was the slave of a certain heathen, but himself a Christian, seizing an opportunity, he took a hammer, and entering into the temple of the idols, demolished all the statues, and scattered the sacrifices. But the idolaters, ignorant of the author of this deed, seized a certain husbandman, whom they began to beat, and to drag to the governor. Then the holy man
seeing this, delivered himself up, saying: "I am he who did this." Led therefore to the governor, he accused his folly, in that he had placed confidence in vain idols. And when by this reasoning he had moved him to wrath, he was gravely beaten with rods; and when even then he persevered in the confession of Christ, he was cast into the fire, and in the midst of it, blessing and glorifying God, he sent forth his holy soul. These things the Basilian Synaxarion, from which the printed Menaea differ in these points: 1. That for "Durostolum" they write "Rhodostolon," and add the name of the governor, or rather vicar, Capitolinus (Καπετολίου βικαρίου), under whom St. Aemilianus suffered. 2. That they say he broke the idols in the night-time (ἡσυχίας). 3. That they assert not one husbandman first seized, but others in the plural. 4. That they narrate Aemilianus beaten with βούνευρα, that is, with ox-sinews. 5. Finally, that, cast into the furnace of fire, and persevering in it unburned, he delivered his spirit to God; concerning which matter I shall speak below.
[5] But it is to be noted that at the memory of this our Martyr on this day the Supplement notes—which here is in manuscript, appended to the printed Menaea from the Synaxaria of Sirmond and the manuscript of Chifflet: Ἡ δὲ τούτου σύναξις τελεῖται ἐν τῷ μαρτυρείῳ αὐτοῦ τῷ ὄντι ἐν τῇ ῥάβδῳ. "But his festival is held in the church sacred to him, which is at Rhabdus." Concerning this church Codinus has this, On the Origins of Constantinople, in the Paris edition of 1655, page 51: "The gate of St. Aemilianus received its name from the neighboring temple of St. Aemilianus, which formerly was a small oratory. But when under Constantine the Great the rod (ῥαῦδος or ῥάβδος; whence the name of the place) of Moses was brought into the city, the Emperor on foot received it in this place, and built a great church of the holy Mother of God, where he deposited it. And he enlarged the temple of St. Aemilianus." Almost the same writes the Anonymous in Banduri, volume 1 of the Eastern Empire, page 49.
[6] From these things Tillemont gathers (timidly, however, and doubtfully, not of another, as is his wont) that Rhabdus, or the church of which is here the discourse, is not of our St. Aemilianus, but of some other more ancient one; since ours lived much later than Constantine the Great. But I see nothing that greatly confirms the Tillemontian inference: since it may be said either that those more recent Greeks are hallucinating, when they attribute the restoration of the said church to Constantine the Great (and certainly Tillemont himself greatly lowers their authority in these matters in the Life of Constantine the Great, article 66; and that church is not seen in region 7, to which it ought to have belonged in the map exhibiting Constantinople as it was under Honorius and Arcadius, in Banduri in the vestibule of volume 2 of the Eastern Empire); or, if Constantine truly made that church ampler, it is called by the cited Authors the church of St. Aemilianus by prolepsis; since in the time of Constantine it was called only Rhabdus or by some other name; and afterward only received the appellation of St. Aemilianus, either because the relics of the holy Martyr were brought to it after the times of Julian the apostate, or for some other cause.
[7] And certainly of what St. Aemilianus, in the end, was this temple, but of this St. Aemilianus; if it was not of ours? For that one, whoever he is, must both have been a martyr, and among the Greeks, and especially at Constantinople, most celebrated; a martyr, I say: for this, besides the word μαρτυρεῖον above, is asserted by Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the Life of Basil the Macedonian, and Cedrenus in the Compendium of Histories, Paris edition of 1647, page 588; the words of the former are, §80: "But (the Emperor Basil) seeing the church of the holy martyr Aemilianus at Rhabdus, not far from the buildings of the holy Mother of God, falling to ruin through age, repaired it anew, with a work turreted and gabled on both sides." That he was most celebrated among the Greeks, who could doubt, and that he was wont to be honored with singular cult at least at Constantinople, to whom a church, magnificent with imperial work, was dedicated within Constantinople itself, which lent its name even to a neighboring gate of the city? But besides this our Aemilianus, we find only one single St. Aemilianus martyr in the Greek fasti, on the XI of December; but one who is venerated not alone, like ours, but jointly with three other fellow-Martyrs; and one indeed so obscure, that he appears neither in the Menology of Chifflet, nor in any of our manuscripts; and that in the very Menaea, printed especially for the use of the church of Constantinople, only a very brief commemoration is made of him among his other companions, not even his name being expressed in the verses, much less the time or place either of cult or of martyrdom. There can therefore be no doubt that the church mentioned pertains to our St. Aemilianus alone, as the Supplement cited in number 5 has it. But in what region of the city it was situated, see in Banduri in the second geographical map among those prefixed to volume 2 of the Eastern Empire.
[8] and his relics are famous for miracles. But our Saint is invoked not only as a martyr, but also as a frequent worker of miracles: for thus the Menology of Grottaferrata addresses him on this day: Κρατυνθεὶς ὑπερτάτως παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, εὐκλεῶς ἐτροπώσω τοὺς τυραννοῦντας· καὶ τῶν θαυμάτων τὴν χάριν δεξάμενος, τοῖς ἐν ἀνάγκαις ἀῤῥήτως προϊστάς, Αἰμιλιανὲ πανόλβιε· διὸ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν δυσώπει τὸν Κύριον. "Wondrously strengthened by the Lord, thou gloriously didst rout the tyrants; and having obtained the grace of miracles, ineffably thou presidest over those who are in necessities, most blessed Aemilianus: pray therefore for us to the Lord." The printed Menaea call him a Martyr "who now illumines the whole world with miracles." In the same place Joseph in the acrostic Odes attributes to him the power of repressing the untamed motions of concupiscence, of driving away incurable diseases, and evil demons; and a little below, Ode 6: Μύρων ἀναβλύζει, he says, τὸ ῥεῖθρον ἡ τῶν λειψάνων θεία θήκη σου, πανόλβιε γενναῖε Μάρτυς, καὶ καταργεῖ τὰ δυσώδη πάντοτε τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀῤῥωστήματα. "The sacred casket of thy relics gushes with a stream of unguents, most blessed and noble Martyr, and ever purges away the foul-smelling sicknesses of men." Thus far concerning the cult and veneration of St. Aemilianus; now I proceed to the Acts.
§ II. His Greek Acts of martyrdom, and their slight authority.
The Acts which we here give in Greek were copied from a very ancient Vatican manuscript codex, number 866: Our Acts build up the fabulous edict of Julian; nor of a better stamp than are almost most other Greek ones; nay, even somewhat worse; so that I almost thought they should be omitted. The Author creeps along tediously; as bold in inventing miracles as he is alien from history and a right estimation of the reckoning of times. To begin from the beginning; how absurd are the things narrated in number 1 concerning the edicts by which Julian commanded through all the cities subject to his empire, that the prefects of the places should diligently inquire after the Christians, and remove those found by various torments? So far is it from being true that that tyrant made such edicts; that he rather always directed all his industry to this, that he should not seem to afflict anyone with punishment on account of the profession of the Christian faith. He envied the Christians, forsooth, the glory of martyrdom; and therefore when he destroyed them, he always strove to allege other causes than that of the faith alone; for instance, that they had overthrown the temples or altars of the idols; that they were said to have stirred up seditions; and several of that kind. Go, if you please, to Baronius especially at the year of Christ 362, Tillemont in the Persecution of Julian, and others everywhere; nay, to Julian himself, both elsewhere, and in epistle 52 given to the people of Bostra on the Kalends of August, and so in that very year in which a few days before our Aemilianus had died; where he again forbids the heathen magistrates to inflict any violence on the Christians; as those whom he pronounces worthy of pity rather than of hatred, unless they have committed some other crime.
[10] Our author also strikes against chronology in the same number, [nor do they rightly place the martyrdom in the year 363, on the 3rd of September,] when he refers the Acts of St. Aemilianus to the fourth consulate of Julian, or the year of Christ 363, from the day XVI of July, as it has in number 5, to the III of September, as he narrates in number 11. For although Capitolinus could have raged against our Martyr even in that year; yet it can by no means be believed that he dared this after he had learned of the death of Julian, and the succession in the empire of Jovian, whose remarkable piety in the Christian religion and hatred of idolatry he could not be ignorant of; but he must have learned these things in the Thraces before September, since they had happened before the month of July. But neither is it at all probable that the martyrdom of St. Aemilianus fell in that year; first indeed, because according to all authors, he suffered under Julian; then, because according to all the Martyrologists, even the most ancient of both the Latin and the Greek church, his birthday, that is, the day of martyrdom, is the XVIII of July; whereas Julian ceased to reign and to live in the year of Christ 363 from the day XXVI of June. Therefore, dismissing not only our author, but also the Chronicles of Jerome, of Theophanes, and the Alexandrian, which consign the same year as he, it seems that we must here adhere to St. Prosper, who in the entire Chronicle, both edited and in our most ancient manuscript, writes thus: "Mamertinus and Nevitta (being consuls, that is, in the year of Christ 362) Aemilianus is burned at Durostorum by the Vicar for the overturning of the altars"; which are the very words of the Hieronymian Chronicle, in which St. Prosper corrects the year wrongly noted.
[11] In the second number Capitolinus seems to be established as prefect of Durostorum only; Capitolinus was not prefect; but Vicar of Thrace, since in number 9 the father of St. Aemilianus is said to be the prefect of that city, who certainly was not Capitolinus. But surely Capitolinus presided not over one city, Durostorum, nor over one province, Mysia, but over all Thrace, as Theodoret says, book 3, chapter 3, where, when he places Durostolum in Thrace, which is properly a city of Lower Mysia, he manifestly shows that Thrace is taken by him more widely, as was explained in number 1: Capitolinus therefore was not prefect of Durostorum, but Vicar of Thrace; and by this title he is called by St. Jerome, St. Prosper, the Alexandrian Chronicle, and the printed Menaea. But concerning the Vicar of Thrace and his insignia consult, if you please, the Notitia of the Dignities of the Roman Empire with the Commentary of Panciroli, book 1, chapter 132. Further, the idea of Capitolinus which our author here exhibits agrees well enough with what, unless I am much mistaken, St. Ambrose pronounces of the same, cited above in number 2: where, reproving Theodosius, that he was meditating vengeance upon a bishop and the Christians, who had burned a synagogue, he has this among other things:
[12] "How many are ready to offer themselves to such a choice; since they remember that in the time of Julian he afterward hateful to all and wretched who cast down an altar and disturbed a sacrifice, being condemned by a judge, made a martyrdom? Therefore that judge who heard him was never afterward held otherwise than a persecutor: no one thought him worthy of a meeting, no one ever of a kiss.
Who, unless he were already dead, I should fear, Emperor, lest you take vengeance upon him: although he did not escape the heavenly vengeance, surviving his own heir." Baronius believes, as I warned before, and indeed very probably, as Tillemont adds, thinking the same, that no other Martyr is here designated by Ambrose than this our Aemilianus: it remains therefore that by his Judge he describes no other than Capitolinus. Who, therefore, Julian being dead, as I think, was compelled before his death to yield his goods to his heir, and thereafter to pass a wretched life in want, hateful to all. I know that these things are applied by Theodoric Ruinart, in the Sincere Acts of the Martyrs, page 581 of the second edition, to another Martyr whom the emperor Julian wished to judge by himself; but from the words cited it is openly established that another judge is here noted than Julian himself; and so also another Martyr than the one whom Ruinart thinks is understood. But why I think these things were said by Ambrose concerning Aemilianus and Capitolinus, this chiefly effects, that the martyrdom of our Saint, for the overturned impious altars in the time of Julian under Capitolinus the Vicar, is known to have been known and celebrated in those times among the Latins, as is clear from the Chronicles of Jerome and Prosper; which can be said of no other, so far as I know.
[13] What the condition of St. Aemilianus was. I know not also (to pass over lesser things) whether it is sufficiently credible, what our Acts assert in number 9, where St. Aemilianus, already torn over his whole body with scourges, is then first asked whether he is a slave or free? And he answers that he is the son of Sabbatianus, prefect of the very city of Durostorum. This certainly I find nowhere else written. That he was the slave of a certain heathen the printed Menaea affirm, with the Basilian Synaxarion above in number 4: on the contrary Theophanes makes him ἀπὸ στρατιωτῶν, of the military order; unless perhaps the punctuation is corrupted, and for ἀπὸ we should read ὑπὸ, as is read in the Alexandrian Chronicle both in the old and in the more recent edition, in which nothing is said of the condition of St. Aemilianus. Tillemont, however, in the Persecution of Julian the apostate, article 12, prefers that the Alexandrian Chronicle be corrected from Theophanes, rather than the latter from the former: perhaps because that twin ὑπὸ in the Alexandrian Chronicle might seem cacophonous, when it is said, Αἰμιλιανὸς, ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν πυρὶ παραδοθεὶς ὑπὸ Καπετολίνου Οὐικαρίου, "Aemilianus, cast into the fire by the soldiers under Capitolinus the Vicar." However it be; whether he was a soldier or a slave, is not sufficiently clear. I would believe him to have been either of the two, rather than a son of the prefect of Durostorum unknown, in Durostorum itself, to the Vicar and the lictors, and such a one that he could be taken for a slave by the Vicar.
[14] Whether he remained unharmed in the fire. Now what shall I say of the prodigies related in this martyrdom? That is great indeed, which is built up in number 10, where St. Aemilianus is said to have remained unburned in the midst of the flames. The same thing, I confess, the great Menaea narrate in their elogium, and those who followed them. The Basilian Synaxarion above says this one thing, that in the midst of the fire he blessed and glorified God; which could be done for a while in the very casting or falling into the fire; whence it does not follow that the Martyr remained unharmed. In the Sirletian Menology in Canisius there is not a word on this matter; much less among the ancients who made mention of this martyr; I gave the words of St. Prosper, the same as St. Jerome's in the Chronicle, in number 10, by which our Saint is roundly said to be burned. Theodoret, Ecclesiastical History, book 3, chapter 3, says: "Moreover at Durostorum, which is a noble city of Thrace, Aemilianus, an unconquered athlete, was cast into the pyre by Capitolinus, governor of all Thrace"; nor does he add anything else; as neither does the Alexandrian Chronicle in the preceding number; nor Theophanes, at the year of the Divine Incarnation, according to the Alexandrians, 355; nor Nicephorus Callistus; although a writer of the fourteenth century: for in the Ecclesiastical History, book 10, chapter 9, he asserts only this: "But at Durostorum of Thrace, Capitolinus, prefect of Thrace, burned alive Aemilianus, an unconquered athlete." Judge from this, Reader, how recent are the asserters of this prodigy.
[15] But that which in the same number the Acts commemorate concerning the ministers consumed by the flame bursting forth from the furnace, Other episodes of the Acts are fabulous. who would easily believe this, with our sole Author as witness? To me indeed these things seem rashly transferred here from the history of Daniel, chapter 3. Finally, the things related in number 11, since they have again only this author, how much credit they deserve, there is no need to say. Certainly he had not depicted Capitolinus above as such that he could seem to have tolerated a Christian wife, much less to have been so far compliant to her in her religion, that he should grant her the body of the Martyr condemned by himself to be buried. But concerning the integrity of the holy body, which he here repeats; as also concerning the time of the martyrdom, I have said enough above. For the rest, as regards the substance of the history of St. Aemilianus, our Acts do not omit it: for we have given the same cause of martyrdom; the same punishment of fire, under the same Emperor, and the same Vicar of Thrace, already proved from antiquity. But the rest, which we have not touched, let them be worth as much as they shall seem to each: since it is no less difficult to refute the particulars than to confirm them, more ancient monuments failing on both sides. Now I subjoin the Acts themselves, such as they are, faithfully translated indeed by me, but with a style adapted to the Greek exemplar.
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. AEMILIANUS, BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR
From a very ancient Vatican manuscript codex, number 866.
Aemilianus, Martyr, at Durostorum in Mysia (S.)
BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.
Βασιλεύοντος τοῦ ἀσεβεστάτου Ἰουλιανοῦ, πονηρὸς διωγμὸς, καὶ μεστὸς θυμοῦ πνεῦμα καὶ παγίδος κατὰ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ στρατιωτῶν διεγείρετο· ὁ προλεχθεὶς οὖν Ἰουλιανὸς προστάγματα εἰς πάσαν πόλιν προανεβάλλετο, κελεύων, ἵνα πάντες κατὰ πάσαν πόλιν καὶ χώραν μετὰ μεγάλου φόβου φυλάξουσιν, ὅπως, ἐάν τις Χριστιανὸς εὐρεθῇ, ἑκατέροις βασάνοις καταξανθεὶς, ἀπολεῖται· Τούτῳ τῷ ἀσεβεστάτῳ προστάγματι, τετάρτῳ τῆς ὑπατίας αὐτοῦ χρόνῳ, τοῦτον τὸν νόμον φυλαχθῆναι ἐπηγγείλατο· τούτοις τοῖς ἀπατηλοῖς προστάγμασιν ἀνατολὴν καὶ δύσιν τῷ αὐτῷ τυραννικῷ θυμῷ κατὰ τῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ δούλων ἐστρατεύετο.
[2] Καὶ γὰρ Καπετουλῖνόν τινα ὀνόματι, φθορέαν ὄντα, τὸν νοῦν φαῦλον, ἔτι ἐπιτυμητὴν χύσεως αἱμάτων, καὶ πόθον ἔχοντα ἐν εἰδώλοις, τόπον πραιφεκτουρίας αὐτοῦ ἐξέθετο εἰς πόλιν Δωρόστολον, ἥτίς ἐστιν Μεσία χώρα· ἀπεστάλη οὖν ὁ προλεχθεὶς Καπετουλῖνος εἰς τὴν προονομασθεῖσαν πόλιν· εἰσελθὼν οὖν εἰς τὸν ναὸν, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς θεοῖς αὐτοῦ προσενέγκας θυσίας, ὑπέστρεψε εἰς τὸ ἴδιον πραιτώριον. Τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος, ἀπὸ τῆς τάξεως ἀπειλὰς κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐκίνει, λέγων οὕτως· Εἴ ἐστι Χριστιανὸς ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει, ἀποστρεφόμενος τὰς θυσίας τῶν θεῶν, τῇ ἐμῇ παῤῥησίᾳ διαλεχθήτω· ἡ τάξις εἶπεν· Μὰ τὴν ἐξουσίαν ἡμῶν· πάντες οἱ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει διάγοντες, τοὺς ἡμετέρους θεοὺς προσκυνοῦσιν, καὶ ἀδιαλείπτως, μετὰ πάσης τιμῆς, θυσίας αὐτοῖς προσφέρουσιν. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Καπετουλίνος, καὶ μεγάλης χαρᾶς ἐμπλησθεὶς, ἐκέλευσεν πάντας τοὺς μεγιστᾶνας αὐτοῦ εἰς συμπόσιον κρατῆσαι, λέγων πρὸς αὐτούς· Πάνυ θεωρῶ ὑμᾶς σπουδαίους περὶ τοὺς θεοὺς, καὶ ἄξιόν ἐστιν, ἵνα ταύτῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ εὐφρανθῶμεν.
[3] Ἀριστώντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἅμα τοῦ Καπετουλίνου, περιβλεψάμενος ὁ μακάριος Αἰμηλιανὸς, καὶ ἰδὼν καιρὸν εὔθετον, δι᾽ ἧς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω ζωῆς διέλθη διὰ τὸ εἷναι αὐτὸν Χριστιανὸν, οὐ μόνον ἐνώπιον θεοῦ καὶ ἀγγέλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνθρώποις γνωστὸν, ἵνα διὰ τοῦτο πᾶσι φανερὸν γένηται, ἔχων καὶ τὸν τίμιον σταυρὸν διαπαντὸς ἐνδεδυμένον τὸν θώρακα τῆς πίστεως, ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενναῖος στρατιότης, τοῦτοις τοῖς ὅπλοις περιεζωσμένος, εἰς τὸν ναὸν τῶν εἰδώλων εἰσελθὼν, καὶ ἐπάρας σφύραν σιδηρὰν, ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶν πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτόθι εὐρεθέντα εἴδωλα συνέτριψεν, καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια κατέστρεψεν, καὶ τὰς χυχνίας συνέθλασεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσας τὰς σπονδὰς, καὶ τὰ ποτήρια αὐτῶν ἔχυσεν· καὶ μηδενὸς γινώσκοντος, ἀνεχώρησεν.
[4] Τοῦτο δὲ γενόμενον ἰδὼν ὁ ὑπηρέτης τοῦ Καπετουλίνου, ἔδραμεν μετὰ ἀκροτάτου φόβου ἀπαγγέλλων ἄπαντα τὰ κατὰ τὸν ναὸν γεγονότα, λέγων πρὸς αὐτόν· Μὰ τὴν μεγαλειότητά σου· ἐὰν τὴν κεφαλὴν μου ἀποτέμνῃς, ἐξουσίαν ἔχεις ἐπὶ τὸ γεγονός· αἰσχρόν ἐστιν ἀναφέρειν σοι· ἐν τῷ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἐνορθωτήτους εἰς τὴν ὑπηρεσίαν τῆς ὐμετέρας μεγαλειότητος, εἰσελθών τις εἰς τὸν ναὸν, πάντας τοὺς θεοὺς συνέτριψεν, τὰς θυσίας διεσκόρπισεν, καὶ τὰς μεγάλας λυχνίας συνέθλασεν, οὐ μὲν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήρια ἐξέστρεψεν, καὶ τὸ ποῦ ἐπορεύθη, οὐ γινώσκω. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Καπετουλῖνος ἐταράχθη, καὶ μετὰ μεγάλου θυμοῦ ἔφη πρὸς τὸν ταῦτα ἀναγγέλλοντα, ἐν τάχει τοῦτον ζητήσατε, καὶ εὐρόντες ἀγάγετέ μοι, ἵνα αὐτὸν ἀπολέσω, ὅστις ἄν εἴη.
[5] Τότε ἐξελθόντες οἱ ὑπηρέται, εὗρόν τινα γεωργὸν, ἐρχόμενον ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους, ὅντινα συλλαβόντες ἔδηραν, καὶ εἰς τὸ πραιτώριον τοῦ Καπετουλίνου παρέστησαν, ὅντινα θεασάμενος ὁ μακάριος Αἰμηλιανὸς, εἶπεν ἐν ἐαυτῷ· Εὰν κρύψω τὸ γεγονὸς, γενήσεται ἡ σωτηρία μου ναυάγιον· ἐπειδὴ ἤγγικεν ὁ καλέσας με διὰ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ἀθάνατον αὐτοῦ βασιλείαν· καὶ ταῦτα διαλογισάγενος, προσήνεγκεν ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ μέσον, καὶ κρατήσας τὰ φράγελλα τῶν ὑπηρετῶν, ἤρξατο λέγειν· φείσασθε αὐτοῦ, αἰτοῦμαι, φείσασθε, ὅτι οὗτος οὐδὲν ἥμαρτεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώ εἰμι, ὡς λέγετε, πράξας· κρατήσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ στρατιῶται, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν, βαλεριανὸς καὶ μαξέντιος, ἐν δεκάτῃ χώρᾳ τοῦ Κλαυδίου, ἡμέρᾳς, ὥρᾳ τρίτῃ, ἑξ καὶ δεκάτῃ τοῦ ἰουλίου μηνὸς, μεθ᾽ ὕβρεων εἰς τὸ πραιτώριον τοῦ Καπετουλίνου ἤνεγκαν, ὅστις ἐν δημοσίω τόπῳ καθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, ἐκέλευσεν εἰς τὸ μέσον αὐτὸν ἀγαγεῖν.
[6] Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν· Τίνος ἕνεκεν πράγματος ἔνοχος εὐρίσκεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὗτος; ἡ τάξις εἶπεν· Αἰτοῦμεθα τὴν λαμπρότητα ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν γαληνότητα τῶν δεσποτῶν ἡμῶν τῶν αὐγούστων, ὁ στρατὸς αὐτῶν θεοῖς ἀθανατοθυσίας προσφέρων, εὐρέθη ούτος ὁ Αἰμηλιανὸς εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν ναὸν, οὐ μόνον τὰ θυσιαστήρια, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἐπιτεθείσας ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς θυσίας διεσκόρπισεν· διὸ διδάσκομεν, ἵνα τὰς τῶν θεῶν ὕβρεις ἐκδικήσητε, καὶ τοῦτον τὸν μεμιαμμένον σκληροτάτοις βασάνοις ἀπολέσητε. Τότε ὁ Καπετουλῖνος θυμοῦ πλησθεὶς, ἔφη· Βραδέως ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν ἡ τάξις, καὶ διὰ πλείστων καιρῶν τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ χαλινοὶ ἐχαυνώθησαν, ἵνα καὶ εἰς τὴν ὕβριν τῶν θεῶν προσεγγίσῃ, διὰ τοῦτο τῷ θειοτάτῳ δημοσίῳ Χρυσίου λίτραν μίαν ἀποδώσει.
[7] Τότε τοίνυν λέγει ἐν πρώτοις τῷ μάρτυρι: Τί σοι τὸ ὄνομα; Ὁ ἰσχυρώτατος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀθλητὴς εἶπεν· Εἰ τὸ κοινὸν ὄνομα ἐπιζητεῖς, Αἰμηλιανὸς λέγομαι· εἰ δὲ τὸ τέλειον ὄνομα ζητεῖς, Χριστιανόν με εἶναι νόμιζε. Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν· Εἰπὲ, ἄνθρωπε ἄτυχε, τίς σὲ ἐπλάνησεν, ἵνα τοῖς ἀθανάτοις Θεοῖς τοσαύτας προσενέγκῃς ὕβρεις; Ὁ ἅγιος Αἰμηλιανὸς ἔφη· Ὁ θεὸς,
καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου προσεκαλέζατό με, ἵνα τούτους τοὺς ὄντας ἀψύχους καταπατήσω, ἵνα φανῇ πᾶσιν, ὅτι λίθοι εἰσὶν ἄνευ ψυχῆς, κωφοὶ, καὶ βωβοὶ, ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδεμία φθέγξεως λαλιά· γνώρισον οὖν ὅτι ὕβριν οὐκ ἐποίησα. Ὁ θεὸς δὲ πάντα ἐποίησεν· οἱ οὖν θεοί σου, οἱ μηδὲν ποιήσαντες, ἀπολέσθωσαν· Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν, Σὺ εἶ, ὁ τὰ θυσιαστήρια ἐξέστρεψας; Ὁ ἅγιος Αἰμηλιανὸς εἰπεν· Ἀξίως ἡ θεία γραφὴ λέγει: Ὅμοιοι αὐτῶν γένοιντο οἱ ποιοῦντες αὐτὰ, καὶ πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς.
[8] Τότε ὀργισθείς Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν· Ἐκδύσαντες αὐτὸν, τανύσατε, ἵνα γνῶ, ὅτι πραιφέκτῳ παρίσταται μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἀποδυθῆναι αὐτὸν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πραίφεκτος· Εἰπέ μοι οὖν, τίς σὲ ἠπάτησεν, τοιοῦτο βδέλυγμα προσενέγκαι τοῖς θεοῖς; Τότε ὁ μακάριος Αἰμηλιανὸς μετὰ μεγάλης παῤῥησίας ἀπεκρίθη πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἰδοὺ, προεῖπον, καὶ πάλιν λέγω σοι, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἡ φυχή μου προσεκάλεσαν με, ἵνα ἀκαθάρτους θυσίας ἐξολοθρεύσω. Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν τοῖς ὑπηρέταις· Ἁρπάσαντες αὐτον, ἰσχυρὰς πληγὰς ἐπίθετε, ὅπως γνώσηται, ὅτι ἡ ἄκαιρος αὐτοῦ γνώμη οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ὠφελεῖ, οὐδὲ ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν χειρῶν λυτρώσηται αὐτόν· ἐν τῷ οὖν ἰσχυρωτέρως τύπτεσθαι αὐτὸν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πραίφεκτος· Εἰπὲ σὺ, ἄτυχε, τίς σὲ ἐπλάνησεν τοῦτο ἐπιτηδεῦσαι; Ὁ μακαριώτατος Αἰμηλιανὸς ἔφη αὐτῷ· Εἶπόν σοι, ὄτι οὐδεὶς, εἰ μὴ ὁ Θεὸς και ἡ ψυχή μου, ἐποίησέν με, ἴνα τὰ ἀκάθαρτα εἴδωλα συντρίψω, καὶ τὰς βδελυκτὰς ὑμῶν θυσίας καταπατήσας ἀποῤῥίψω. Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν· Βλέπετε, ὑπερηφάνως ἡμῖν λαλεῖ· μεταστρέψαντες αὐτὸν, εἰς τὸ στῆθος δήρατε, ἵνα γνῶ, ὅτι πάντες οἱ τοῖς νόμοις τῶν αὐτοκρατόρων ἀνυπήκοοι τοιούτοις κολαστηρίοις ὑπόκεινται.
[9] Ἐν τῷ οὖν τύπτεσθαι αὐτὸν νεύροις ὠμωτάτοις ἐπὶ ἱκανὰς ὥρας, ὁ πραίφεκτος εἶπεν· Φείσασθε αὐτοῦ, και ἐπαύσαντο οἱ τύπτοντες. Τότε λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πραίφεκτος· Δοῦλος εἶ, ἢ ἐλεύθερος; Ὁ ἅγιος Αἰμηλιανὸς εἶπεν· Δοῦλος μέν εἰμι Χριστοῦ, υἱὸς δὲ ὑπάρχω Σαββατιανοῦ τοῦ πραιφέκτου ταύτης τῆς πόλεως. Καπετουλῖνος πραίφεκτος εἶπεν· Οὐδέν ἐστιν, ὃ νομίζεις κληρονομῆσαι, ὦ Αἰμιλιανέ· πόσῳ μᾶλλον τοῦτο, ἐν ᾧ ἡ σωτηρία τῶν ἀνθρώπων προσεγγίζει, ὅτι κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἀποτολμήσας, τοῖς θεοῖς ὕβρεις προσήνεγκας. Τί οὖν τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ σώματός σου βοηθήσει σοι; ὅτι κατεφρόνησας ταῖς βασάνοις ἀντιπαλαῖσαι, ἵνα πᾶσιν σεαυτὸν χειρότερον ένδείξῃς· διὰ τοῦτο, ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι μελετήσωσιν, καὶ διὰ σοῦ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι πλανηθῶσιν, σὺ μόνος ἐν τῇ φλογὶ τῆς καμίνου ἐμβληθήσῃ· ὁ δὲ σὸς πατὴρ λίτραν μίαν ἁργυρίου ἀποδώσει τῷ δημοσίῳ, δι᾽ οὕτινος, ἀμελείας τοιοῦτος εὑρέθης.
[10] Τότε οὖν οἱ ὑπηρέται κρατήσαντες τὸν μακάριον ἀθλητὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ Αἰμηλιανὸν, ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐξήγαγον ἐγγὺς τοῦ χείλους τοῦ Δανουβίου ποταμοῦ, ὅπου ἦσαν ἑτοιμάσαντες τὴν πυρκαΐαν, ὅστις αὐτοῦ διὰ τῆς καρτερίας στέφανος γέγονεν. Τότε ὁ ἰσχυρώτατος ἀθλητὴς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἀἰμηλιανὸς ταῖς ὑπηρέταις εἶπεν· Ὑποστέξατέ μοι βραχὺ, ἕως ἂν ἱκετεύσω τὸν θεόν μου. Καὶ εὐξαμένου, καὶ πληρώσαντος τὴν εὐχὴν, συλλαβόντες αὐτὸν οἱ ὑπηρέται, ἐνέβαλον εἰς τὸ πῦρ, νομίζοντες αὐτὸν παραχρῆμα γενέσθαι τέφραν. Τὸ δὲ πῦρ γρωρίσαν τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρα, οὐ κατέφλεξεν αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ σῶον, καὶ ἀκήρεον διεφύλαξεν. Τοὺς δὲ ὑπηρέτας τοῦ καπετουλίνου, τοὺς πλησίον, περιῆρεν ἡ φλὸξ, καὶ Κατέκαυσεν· ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ δεδοξασμένος μάρτυς Αἰμηλιανὸς, ὅτι τὸ πῦρ οὐχ ἥψατο αὐτὸν, ἀλλὰ σῶος διέμεινεν ὁ Ἅγιος, ἐδόξασεν τὸν θεὸν, καὶ στραφεὶς κατὰ ἀνατολὰς, κατεσφράγισεν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀτενίσας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, εἶπεν· Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, δέξαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου· καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν, ἐκοιμήθη ἐν εἰρήνῃ.
[11] ἡ δὲ γυνὴ τοῦ Καπετουλίνου τοῦ πραιφέκτου, οὖσα Χριστιανὴ, παρακληθεῖσα παρὰ τῶν συμπολιτῶν αὐτῆς, ᾐτήσατο παρὰ τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἁγίου Αἰμηλιανοῦ, ὃν τὸ πῦρ οὐ κατέφλεξεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ θεὸς διὰ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, σῶον διετήρησεν· ὅτε οὖν κατηξίωσεν λαβεῖν τὸ ἅγιον λείψανον, ἐκέλευσεν ἅμα τῶν ἰδίων πολιτῶν Χριστιανῶν, καὶ εὐλαβῶν ἀνδρῶν, μετὰ ψαλμῶν, καὶ ὕμνων κηδεῦσαι τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἁγίου, καὶ ἀξίως στεφανήτου μάρτυρος Αἰμηλιανοῦ ἐν τόπῳ ἐπιλεγομένῳ Γηδινᾶ, ὡς ἀπὸ τρίτου μιλίου τῆς πόλεως καλουμένης Δωροστόλου, ἀξίως τιμήσαντες, τιμιωτάτῳ μύρῳ χρίσαντες, ἔθεντο ἐν λάρνακι· ἐμαρτύρησεν δὲ ὁ όγιος τοῦ Χριστοῦ Αἰμηλιανὸς μηνὶ Σεπτεμβρίῳ, τρίτῃ, Βασιλεύοντος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· μεθ᾽ οὗ δόξα τῷ Πατρὶ, ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι· νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
The edicts of Julian the apostate, While the most impious Julian was reigning, a foul persecution, full of fury, stirred up even a spirit of snares against the soldiers of Christ. The aforesaid Julian therefore sent ahead edicts to every city, commanding that all, throughout each city and place, should watch with great fear, that, if any Christian were found, he should perish, torn with repeated torments a. By this most impious edict, in the fourth year of his consulate, he ordered this law to be kept. By these deceitful decrees he warred against East and West, with the same madness with which the tyrant himself raged against the servants of Christ.
[2] and, making little of the threats of Capitolinus, Vicar of Thrace, For to a certain Capitolinus by name, a man full of debauchery, wicked in mind, greedy of shedding blood, and most devoted to idols, he assigned the place of his prefecture b in the city of Durostolum, which is in the province of Mysia. The Capitolinus of whom I have spoken was therefore sent to the city just mentioned; and when, having entered the temple, he had offered sacrifices to all his gods, he returned to his praetorium. But on the next day, sitting as usual before his tribunal, he threatened the Christians through the administrators of justice c in these words: "If there be any Christian in this city, who turns away from the sacrifices of the gods, let him argue with me in that liberty which I grant." The ministers of the judge said: "By the power made over to us! Whosoever dwell in this city venerate our gods, and unceasingly offer them victims with all honor." Hearing these things, Capitolinus, full of great joy, ordered all his nobles to be summoned to a banquet, saying to them: "I perceive you to be very zealous for the gods; and it is fitting that we pass this day in gladness."
[3] he overthrows the altars of the idols. While they were feasting, and Capitolinus with them, the blessed Aemilianus, looking around, and seeing that the occasion was opportune for attaining the reward of the heavenly life—because he was a Christian, not only in the sight of God and of the Angels, but also known to men: that by this it might be made clear to all, being always clothed with the precious cross, the breastplate of faith, like a truly noble soldier of Christ, girded, I say, with these arms—entered the shrine of the idols, and seizing an iron hammer, with his own hands broke as many idols as were found there, and overthrew the altars, and shattered the candelabra; nay, he also poured out all their libations and cups: and, with no one observing, withdrew.
[4] When the minister of Capitolinus detected this deed, And while inquiry is made after the author of the deed, he ran up to report whatever had been done in the temple, with the utmost anxiety, addressing him thus: "By your magnificence! If you wish to punish me capitally for what has happened, you have the power. I am ashamed to report to you: while we were attentive to the service of your magnificence, someone entering the shrine broke all the gods to pieces, scattered the victims, and shattered the great candelabra; nay, he even overturned the altars, and where he escaped to, I indeed know not." Hearing these things, Capitolinus was troubled, and, kindled with grave wrath against him who bore this message, said: "Forthwith seek him out, and when you find him, bring him to me, that I may destroy him, whoever he is."
[5] Then the ministers, going forth, came upon a certain husbandman descending from the mountain, that he may free another, St. Aemilianus of his own accord betrays himself; whom, seizing, they beat with scourges and dragged to the praetorium of Capitolinus. When the blessed Aemilianus saw him, he said within himself: "If I conceal the deed done, my salvation will make shipwreck: since he has drawn near who invited me through death to his immortal kingdom." And weighing these things with himself, he brought himself forth into the midst, and, seizing the scourges of the lictors, began to say: "Spare this man, I beseech, spare him: for he has committed no sin here; but I am he who did the things which you say." The soldiers, that is, Valerianus and Maxentius, having seized him, in the tenth region of Claudius, on the sixth day, at the third hour, on the sixteenth of the month of July, led him with insults to the praetorium of Capitolinus; who, occupying the tribunal in a public place, ordered him to be brought into the midst.
[6] Capitolinus the prefect said: "For what deed is this man found guilty?" and brought to the Vicar, The ministers of the tribunal said: "We, his soldiers, who worship the immortal Gods with sacrifices, implore your dignity, and the serenity of our Lords the Augusti: this Aemilianus was found, when he had entered the temple, to have scattered not only the altars, but also the victims placed upon them: therefore we make this known, that you may avenge the injuries of the gods, and remove this defiled man with the harshest torments." Then Capitolinus, stirred with wrath, said: "Too late have the ministers admonished us, and for a very long time the reins of Christianity have been slackened, so that he has even proceeded to the insult of the gods: wherefore let him pay one pound of gold to the most divine treasury."
[7] Then indeed he first said to the Martyr: "What is thy name?" and having freely confessed the deed, The most valiant Athlete of Christ answered: "If thou requirest the common name, I am called Aemilianus: but if thou demandest the perfect name, know me to be a Christian." Capitolinus the prefect said: "Say, unhappy man; who seduced thee, that thou shouldst inflict such atrocious injuries upon the immortal gods?" St. Aemilianus replied: "God and my own soul incited me; that I might trample upon those truly inanimate things, that it might be made clear to all that they are stones without soul, deaf and maimed, in which there is no utterance of a voice. Know therefore that I have done no injury. But God created all things; let therefore thy gods perish, who created nothing." Capitolinus the prefect said: "Art thou he who overthrew the altars?" St. Aemilianus said: "Rightly does the divine Scripture say: Let those who make them become like unto them, and all who trust in them."
[8] he is ordered to be stretched and beaten with sinews, Then, angered, Capitolinus the prefect said: "Stripping him, stretch him out, that he may feel that he stands before a prefect." But after he had been stripped, the prefect said to him: "Tell me therefore; who deceived thee, that thou shouldst commit so execrable a thing against the gods?" Then the blessed Aemilianus answered him quite freely: "Behold, I have already said, and again I say to thee, that God and my soul were the authors to me, that I should scatter the polluted sacrifices." Capitolinus the prefect said to the ministers: "Seize him, and lay heavy blows upon him; that he may understand that his foolish opinion will profit him nothing,
nor deliver him from my hands." While therefore he is most vigorously beaten, the prefect says to him: "Say, wretch; who seduced thee to attempt this?" The most blessed Aemilianus reported to him: "I have told thee, that none but God and my soul persuaded me to break the impure idols; and, trampling upon your detestable victims, to cast them away." Capitolinus the prefect said: "Behold, he speaks to us proudly. Turn him over, and tear his breast with scourges; that he may learn that all who refuse to obey the laws of the Emperors are subdued by punishments of this kind."
[9] and, condemned to the pyre, Meanwhile, while he is beaten with the hardest sinews for many hours, the prefect said: "Spare him"; and those scourging ceased. Then the prefect addresses him thus: "Art thou a slave, or free?" St. Aemilianus said: "A slave indeed I am of Christ; but the son of Sabbatianus, prefect of this city." Capitolinus the prefect said: "Vain is that which thou hopest to obtain, Aemilianus; but much more vain, that thou hopest for that in which the salvation of men is placed: since, having dared to insult the laws, thou hast affected the gods with injury. What then will the greatness of thy body profit thee? Since thou darest to contend with torments; that thou mayest show thyself worse than all. Wherefore, lest others also meditate any such thing, and through thee, in thy name, be led into error, thou alone shalt be cast into the flame of the furnace; but thy father shall pay one pound of silver to the treasury, through whose negligence thou wast found such a one."
[10] in it he dies unharmed, the lictors being burned up. Then therefore the ministers, seizing the blessed athlete of Christ, Aemilianus, led him outside the city near the bank of the river Danube, where they were preparing the pyre, which through his martyrdom became his crown. Then the most valiant athlete of Christ, Aemilianus, said to the ministers: "Bear with me a little, until I have prayed to my God." And his prayer being made and completed, the lictors, seizing him, cast him into the fire, thinking he would immediately be turned to ashes. But the fire, recognizing the Martyr of Christ, did not burn him, but preserved him safe and whole. But the ministers of Capitolinus, who were near, the flame took up on every side, and consumed. And the glorious martyr Aemilianus, perceiving that he was not touched by the fire, but that the Saint remained unharmed, glorified God, and turning to the East, signed himself with the cross, and, with eyes fixed on heaven, said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit"; which said, he fell asleep in peace.
[11] The Vicar's wife renders him the last rites. But the wife of Capitolinus the prefect, who was a Christian, being asked by her fellow-citizens, requested from her husband the body of St. Aemilianus, whom the fire had not violated, but God through his grace had preserved whole. When therefore it seemed good to take up the sacred remains, she ordered that, through her Christian fellow-citizens and pious men, with psalms and hymns, the last rites be rendered to the body of the Saint and worthily crowned martyr Aemilianus, in a place which is called Gedina d, about the third milestone from the city which they call Durostolum; and, venerating it according to its merits, having anointed it with most precious unguent, they placed it in a coffin. But the holy Aemilianus of Christ made his martyrdom in the month of September, on the third day, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning; with whom is glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.