Arethas of Najran and Companions

ON SS. ARETHAS OF NAJRAN AND COMPANIONS: ARETHAS AND RUMA AND FOUR THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY COMPANIONS, AND AZKIR AND CYRIACUS AND THIRTY-EIGHT COMPANIONS, AT NAJRAN IN ARABIA,

IN THE YEAR DXXIII.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Arethas, martyr in the city of Nagran in Arabia (S.)

Reuma, martyr in the city of Nagran in Arabia (S.)

The IVMLII companions, martyrs in the city of Nagran in Arabia (SS.)

BY E. C.

§ I. Arabia ancient and modern. The riches and commerce of Arabia Felix down to the first Christian centuries: ruins and monuments of its former splendour.

It is incredible how vast a region formerly came under the name of Arabia. Arabia, a very vast region, For it stretched into Syria, Mesopotamia and Egypt itself. And in Egypt indeed a double Arabia must be distinguished, says our Eckhel [Doctrina numorum, part I, volume IV, page 102, edition of 1828; compare Wesseling, Commentary on the Synecdemus, page 543, Bonn edition.]; one is the tract which, for one ascending from the Delta, is enclosed by the Nile and the Red Sea, in which the Porphyrites stone is produced… The other was a nome placed outside the Delta on the eastern shore of the Nile, whose head was Phacusa, as Ptolemy testifies. Towards Palestine and Syria, besides the lands of the Philistines, the Arabs gradually penetrated, and for several centuries before Christ they inhabited part of the city of Gaza Stark, Gaza u. die philistäische Küste, page 232 and following, Jena 1852.; to Arabia too the ancients assigned all the land beyond the Jordan [Cellarius, Geography, volume II, page 570, edition of 1773; Wesseling at the place cited, page 532.], and as far as the Euphrates, where it washes Syria. Towards the east it was not bounded by the Euphrates, but the Scenite Arabs occupied Mesopotamia itself beyond the river, and Xenophon in the Anabasis called it Arabia; Pliny finally gave the same name to the upper part of Mesopotamia, where Carrhae and Edessa are situated. To all which lands must be added the immense Arabian peninsula, which is surpassed by no other except the Indian, and which it almost equals in surface Hoffmann, Beschreibung der Erde, volume I, page 977, Stuttgart 1832.. Recent geographers attribute to it 150,000 square French leagues; 48,000 German miles [The same, ibid.; Jomard, Etudes géogr. et histor. sur l'Arabie, page 88, Paris 1839.]. That this may be more readily admitted, it will help to remember that the Arabian Sea, from the strait of Bab-el-mandeb to the port of Suez, stretches to fully five hundred leagues, and that Arabia stretches to nearly as many from the same strait of Bab-el-mandeb to the strait of Ormuz.

[2] it is divided in different ways by the geographers. The ancient geographers, Eratosthenes, Strabo, Pliny, divided the whole of Arabia into Felix, by which name the whole peninsula itself was designated; and into Deserta, which comprised the vast regions lying to the north, of which we have spoken. Ptolemy is said to have been the first to introduce the threefold division, by mentioning Arabia Petraea (which adjoins the Red Sea towards the north and reaches to Palestine) Jomard, page 87.; but of Arabia which is at Petra Dioscorides of Anazarbus already makes mention a century before Compare Cellarius, page 569.. Ptolemy has been followed by the more recent geographers, except the Arabs; by whom his threefold division has been either ignored or neglected. The more recent writers, however, greatly contract Arabia Felix, and designate by that name only that part of the peninsula which is called Yemana; since for the rest the Arabic word Yemana signifies felicity Compare Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XII, page 720., and Yemana, although other parts of Arabia too, for example the lands of Oman, Hadramaut, Asyr, etc., do not lack their riches, yet surpasses the rest in fertility. But the Arab geographers, and after them Niebuhr, Jomard, Ritter and others, bring forward no other divisions than those of the various regions and peoples; of which we have just indicated some.

[3] On Arabia Felix and its riches, from Diodorus Siculus, Chiefly of Yemana our discussion will henceforth be, since that is the region which was formerly called Homeritis, or by the Arabs Hamyar; in which St. Arethas with his companions obtained the crown of martyrdom. But the reader must be advised at this place that, since the geography and history of Arabia have been in a certain way made new from about the middle of the preceding century and especially from the beginning of this one, our work cannot any longer lack the new light that has come. For before the journey of Niebuhr and the travellers who followed him, and until the most celebrated men Reiske, A. Schultens, de Sacy, F. Movers, Th. Wright, F. Fresnel and most recently A. P. Caussin de Perceval brought out of the darkness or weighed so many Arabic monuments, it is scarcely credible how little known Arabia was. For which reason it has seemed best here to dwell a little more than usual on its antiquities and geography. By which it will come about that what up to now has become known almost only to learned men skilled in Oriental matters and acquainted with several languages will reach the minds of many: which we judge to be no slight benefit of the language that we use in this work. We therefore gather together here some things on the old kingdom of Yemana, both ancient and previously known, though long since neglected, and recently discovered or observed, by which they may be illustrated. The situation of Yemana, both old and present, is of this kind: to the west and south it adjoins the Red Sea, to the east the Indian Ocean; towards the north it stretches to the inner mountains and desert plains that lead down to the Persian Gulf. It was also called Sabaea, or Saba, under which name it was in antiquity most celebrated for riches, aromatics and gems. It was held to be the proper region of myrrh and frankincense; and there were many very ample forests of aromatic trees of this kind. It abundantly produces, says Diodorus Siculus, the calamus and fragrant rush and other matter of an aromatic nature; it breathes out, finally, fragrances of leaves of every kind; and it is filled with the various odours of distilling tears. Myrrh certainly and the frankincense most pleasing to the gods, which is carried from there through the whole world, the extremities of Arabia (that is Arabia Felix) produce. Moreover the grasses and shrubs of costus and cassia and cinnamon, and other things of the kind, grow to such depth and luxuriance that, whereas among others they are rarely placed on the altars of the gods, among these they furnish material for kindling ovens; and whereas elsewhere only tiny particles are shown, here slaves strew beds at home with them.

[4] Strabo, Agatharchides, Pliny, Cinnamon, excellent in its wonderful utility, grows there, and resin and very fragrant terebinth in abundance. The mountains produce plentifully not only firs and pitch-pines, but also cedars and what they call Boraton. There are also many other kinds of fruit-bearing plants, which present a juice and odour pleasant to those who come near. For the natural disposition of the earth contains in itself vapours suited to odorous fumigations. Therefore in some places of Arabia, when the earth is dug, sweet-smelling veins are found, the search for which affords enormous quarries here and there. These things Diodorus says of Arabia Felix Diodorus Siculus, volume I, page 161 and following, Amsterdam 1746., adding that gold too is dug there, and stones of every kind, commended both by the variety of colour and by the transparency of their brightness; and that it is fertile in flocks of every kind. No less do Strabo, Solinus, and he to whom greater credit should be conceded, Agatharchides, in the Periplus of the Red Sea, extol it See Bochart, Geographia sacra, book II, chapter 26.. Pliny, Natural History, Book XII, having mentioned cardamom, thus continues: Next in kinship would be cinnamon, were it not fitting first to point out the riches of Arabia, and the causes that gave it the surname of Happy and Blessed. Its chief products then are frankincense and myrrh; the latter common also with the Troglodytes: frankincense belongs to none besides Arabia, and not even to the whole of Arabia.

And presently, relating how ample the aromatic forests are, The length of the forests, he says, is twenty schoeni; the breadth half of it. The schoenus extends, by the reckoning of Eratosthenes, to forty stadia, that is, to five thousand paces: some have given thirty-two stadia to each schoenus. And since a thousand paces are equivalent to 1473 of our metres [Lelewel, Pythéas géographe, page 71, Brussels 1845; compare Ukert, Geographie, volume I, part 2, page 75, Weimar 1816.], these aromatic forests would have been about 148 kilometres long, 74 wide.

[5] and the Arabic writers. But that the Latin and Greek writers speak more magnificently of old Arabia Felix than is fitting there is no doubt; let the Arabs themselves be heard for a little, who, though they treat of their own affairs, are not surpassed in amplification by foreigners. The authors of ancient chronology, says Masoud or Masudi (made to speak Latin by Albert Schultens), have handed down to memory that the land of Saba was the richest of all Yemana in produce, the most abundant in fertility; most watered and cultivated with gardens and woods; most spacious in fields, with beautiful buildings and plantations laid out in order; most frequent also in canals of water, and most adorned with flowers. Its journey lay open for one riding diligently for more than a month with this pleasant view in length, and as much in breadth. And he who thus either rode or went on foot proceeded among gardens, from the beginning until he reached the farthest border, so that neither did the sun strike his face nor did the shade pass from him; because the land was covered by the culture of houses and trees, which prevailed everywhere and girded all things round. Therefore its inhabitants passed a most sumptuous and soft life; in a most luxurious and sumptuous state; with a most heaped abundance of produce; and with sweetness of breeze and purity of air, and a largely poured out copiousness of waters: and also with unconquered power; and with a harmonious government, by which the kingdom was brought to its summit. The descendants of Joktan did not cease there to lead this most blessed life, until God sent on them the Flood of el Arim [Masudi, History of the flood of el Arim, by which Saba was overthrown. In A. Schultens, Historia imperii veteris Joctanidarum, page 161.].

[6] [The rupture of the dam of Mareb. On the pride of the kings of Homeritis, and on the fertility of the region.] By these last words Masudi records the very great inundation that took place in Arabia Felix when the dams were broken by which the waters were held between the mountains near the city of Mareb. This flood Reiske [On the most ancient epoch of the Arabs, Sail ol Arem, that is, the rupture of the dam of Mareb, page 26.] and Gosselin [Recherches sur la géographie systématique et positive des anciens, volume 2, page 112.] maintain to have happened about the year of Christ 35, de Sacy between the years 150 and 170 [Mémoire sur divers événements de l'hist. des Arabes avant Mahomet. Mém. de l'Acad. des Inscrip. volume XLVIII, page 543.], and finally the most recent historian of the Arabs, A. P. Caussin de Perceval Essai sur l'hist. des Arabes avant l'Islamisme, volume I, page 88, Paris 1847., about the year of Christ 120. The riches of the inner Arabs are hinted at by an Arab geographer in these words: In pride, boasting and arrogance they surpassed the other peoples of Arabia In Bochart, Geographia sacra, book II, chapter 26.. Their pride was shown chiefly by the kings in building palaces and temples, and then in every manner of living [Agatharchides in Wright, Early christianity in Arabia, page 5; Diodorus Siculus, book III, chapter 47, page 215.]. Heraclides writes that the expenses of the kings for each day were fifteen Babylonian talents Heraclides in Athenaeus, book XII., namely of silver: which are equivalent to 133,900 present francs. Finally Diodorus Siculus comprises all the praises of the ancients in these few words. This nation of the Sabaeans, he says, excels not only the neighbouring Arabs, but all other mortals in riches and every abundance of precious things Diodorus Siculus at the place cited.. We add, by way of finishing touch, that how fertile Arabia Felix formerly was cannot be certainly estimated from its present condition. For, as the celebrated chemist Liebig recently observed, the upper part of the earth, which they call vegetal, is gradually exhausted; and therefore not only Judaea, but neither northern Africa nor Sicily are what they were in antiquity to the Romans. Egypt alone, where it is watered by the Nile, perpetually renews its fertility from its nourishing waters. Some say, however, and perhaps not without merit, that the wells which they call artesian were known also to old Arabia: by the benefit of which some tracts turned out fertile. But I should scarcely believe that they were frequent there, since they are not mentioned by the most diligent writers Strabo, Pliny, Agatharchides and others [Compare Acta SS. volume IX of October, page 46 (t); Ritter, volume XIII, page 132; Photius, Codex 80, page 191, Rouen 1653.].

[7] [On the enormous and most ancient commerce of Arabia with the whole of western Asia.] The Romans long believed that all the riches of Arabia Felix were proper to this land, nor did they suspect that many were brought from elsewhere. Therefore a great many of their emperors attempted to subjugate Arabia, but with unhappy effort. For, as a recent writer says, to bring war on inner Arabia there is need of many camels, and to have camels, Arabia must be possessed. Moreover the Sabaeans carried on a double commerce, one by which they obtained many things for themselves from the Indies and Ethiopia, and of which history is almost silent; the other by which they sold on to others, especially the Phoenicians, both their own and the acquired goods. Of the most ancient commerce which was carried on between these two peoples not a little has been collected by the recent historian of the Phoenicians, the celebrated Movers [Das phönizische Alterthum, Book III, chapter XI: Phönizisch-arabischer Handel, page 272 and following, Berlin 1856.]. The commerce of the Arabs, he says, both as it was in itself, and still more on account of its so great antiquity, is among the things in history most worthy of admiration. It is founded on the greatest communication between the maritime regions of both western Asia and eastern Africa and India. Nor does Arabia itself possess these riches, on account of which from ancient times it has obtained the fame of a region among the richest and happiest of the ancient kingdoms, neither gold, namely, nor gems. Indeed its most celebrated aromatics were not proper to it, but were brought from afar, from Africa, from India and from further Asia. Arabia, since it is midway between the richest Eastern regions and those Western ones which cultivated the arts, for example Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia and Egypt; and since besides it lacked in itself whatever is delivered to trade, and at the same time ships and what is necessary for distant voyages, shone forth in antiquity only by that commerce by which goods were carried across from one of its sides to the other. What came from the west across the Arabian Gulf, or from the east across the Persian, the Arabs carried with their caravans through uncultivated and desert places to Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt; in which lay all their commerce in the ancient world.

[8] It had many goods of its own. Thus far the said historian; but this cannot be conceded to the learned writer, that Arabia had no goods of its own, and what follows, that it exported nothing of its own. For recent travellers in Arabia Felix have seen myrrh Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, volume I, page 208, Paris, 1779., aloes [Niebuhr at the place cited: Wellsted in Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XII, page 359, Berlin 1846.], cassia, which the ancients seem not to have distinguished from cinnamon Ritter, volume V, page 823 and following; volume VI, page 125., frankincense [Haines, Wellsted in Ritter, volume XII at the place cited; Niebuhr at the place cited, page 202.], balsam Niebuhr at the place cited, page 204. and other aromatic trees Ritter at the place cited, page 358 and following.; and have reported the land to be most fertile Niebuhr at the place cited, page 215 and following.. Indeed what Herodotus Book III, number 107. and Pausanias In Bochart, Geography, book II, chapter 26. relate of serpents, that they lie under aromatic trees, has been observed by the most diligent Sapeto in neighbouring Ethiopia [Sapeto, Viaggio e missione cattolica frai Mensa, i Bogos ecc. page 267, Rome 1857.]. Finally as regards frankincense, Chr. Lassen, whom we know to be pre-eminently skilled in Indian matters, observes that it is called Arabian in the Indian books In Ritter, volume XII, page 369 and 371.; and to this day, while the frankincense tree is already familiar to the Indians, and its frankincense is used by them, yet Arabian frankincense comes into the western ports of the Malabar coast. Nor have the inner Indians long known their tree, or what is produced by it Ritter, ibid.. That the Jews too used Arabian frankincense is taught both by the name lebonah, very like the Arabic luban, and by the passage of Jeremiah among others: To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba? Jeremiah VI, 20. Herodotus too, in Pliny Book XII, number 39., relates that the Arabs paid a thousand talents of frankincense each year to the king of the Persians; nor is it understood how the Arabs would have had to buy all this from elsewhere. Finally at Rome, while navigation of the Red and Indian Seas was flourishing, many aromatics were called Arabian Compare Mém. de l'Institut, volume V, page 134 and following, Paris 1821., and known is the expression of Plautus: To smell Arabian. That gems are found in Arabia many testify, but of gold there is room for doubt Niebuhr at the place cited, page 198., although most of the ancients similarly write it.

[9] On the trade of the Arabs from the sacred codex; In truth, however, the trade and riches of ancient Yemana (whether they are to be ascribed to the things that are proper to it or grow in it, or, what is more likely, to foreign goods also, which were exchanged with the neighbouring peoples on every side) were manifestly worthy of admiration. Let the sacred writings be heard on the riches of the Sabaeans, some passages of which we recite in one course: And the queen of Saba, having heard of the fame of Solomon … and entering into Jerusalem with a great train and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, came to king Solomon. .. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones; there was brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon. III Kings X, 1, 2 and 10. That the riches of the kings of Asia at that time were very great is established from many things Compare Movers, volume IV, page 39 – 56., and the historian of the Phoenicians estimates that the 120 talents of gold which the queen of Saba brought were worth 3,120,000 thalers Ibid. page 48., or 11,580,000 francs: or rather ten times the force of money; since gold was worth so much more in the age of Solomon than now. And indeed it must be conceded that the Asiatic talent was of pounds

125, and twice as great as the Attic [Compare Académie des Inscriptions, Mém. volume XXVIII, page 663 and following; 699 and following; Du Cange, Glossarium infimæ græcitatis, under Ταλαντον. Etc.]; or was worth at least 100,000 French francs. For 125 Roman pounds equal 40 kilograms; and a kilogram of pure gold sells today at 3,437 francs. But it must be recalled that a pound of gold is now worth 15 pounds of silver, whereas in antiquity in the East it was worth only 12 pounds of silver. In other passages of Scripture not a little is read on the riches and commerce of the Arabs: The kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts to the Lord God. Psalm LXXI, 10 — The multitude of camels shall cover thee, Jerusalem, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha, that is, of western Arabia; all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense. All the flocks of Cedar, or of the southern part of Arabia Deserta, shall be gathered together unto thee; the rams of Nabaioth, that is, of Arabia Petraea, shall minister to thee. Isaiah LX, 6. — To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba? Jeremiah VI, 20. — Arabia and all the princes of Cedar, they were the merchants of thy hand, the prophet addresses Tyre; with lambs and rams and kids they came to thee, thy merchants. The sellers of Saba and Reema, that is, of the province of Oman, between the Indian Sea and the Persian Gulf, they were thy merchants; with all the best spices, and precious stones, and gold, which they set forth in thy market. Ezekiel XXVII, 21 and 22.

[10] on the roads by which they with their camels These are most certain testimonies of the commerce and riches of Arabia in ancient times; but it seems that there should be presented here besides, in summary, what the geographer Ritter and especially the late historian of the Phoenicians have collected on the roads by which the Sabaeans with their camels carried on commerce in western Asia. In which way not only will the verses of the sacred codex and the assertions of the writers be before our eyes, but we shall in a manner be present at the very journeys of the Sabaeans when they went to Babylon, Nineveh and Tyre. And these things pertain to our Acts (from which historical and geographical inquiries are, as is known to all, not alien) chiefly on two heads: first, because from so great a commerce of the Sabaeans with Palestine and Syria it will be understood how it came about that so many Jews formerly lived in inner Arabia, and indeed from the most ancient times. For when St. Arethas with his companions suffered martyrdom, the kingdom of the Homerites was Jewish, and the persecuting king was a Jew. Next, since the said commerce lasted for many centuries after the birth of Christ, the reason will be perceived why the Christian religion, almost from its rise, must have penetrated into Arabia: although very few monuments survive to prove the truth of the matter.

[11] trade From Arabia, then, there led to Palestine, Phoenicia and Syria a good many roads, by which camels carried aromatics, gems, gold and silver into those regions. And in the first place many goods were carried through the Red Sea to the Heroopolitan and Aelanitic gulfs Strabo, book XVI, page 1080, Oxford edition., by which it is bounded towards the north, and of which the former was more in use in the most ancient times, namely before the age of Solomon. From there the Arabs alone with their camels took the goods, along the wall by which Egypt was divided from the kingdoms of the East, to the Mediterranean Sea, as far as the place called Casion, sacred to Jupiter Ibidem.. It was situated not far from Pelusium, at the mountain of the same name; and from there the goods were put on board the ships of the Phoenicians, or carried further by the land road. For to this place reached the manifold roads that led from any part of Asia to Egypt Herodotus, book III, chapter 5.: first namely from the region of Edom, later called from the Nabataeans Strabo, ibid. page 1081 and 1103., along the Red Sea, which road also led down from Saba; next from inner and central Arabia; third from the most celebrated emporium of the Persian Gulf, Gerrha, in the ancient region of Dedan [Movers, page 305; Strabo, page 1089 and following; Isaiah XXI, 13; Ezekiel XXVII, 15 20.], and likewise from Regma in the present province of Oman, through the deserts of the far peninsula Ritter, volume XII, page 125; Movers, page 303.; fourth from the northern end of the Persian Gulf, where Nebuchadnezzar, who is also said to have transferred the Gerrhaeans there from Chaldaea in place of the Dedanites, built the emporium of Teredon Movers, page 308.; fifth, from Babylon to Egypt there was a straight and short road through the desert, though less known than the others Ib. page 305.; sixth, there was another tending to the same place, but twice as long Ib. page 245.; seventh, the most celebrated was that which from Tyre and Damascus Ib. page 244; Ritter, volume XV, page 161 and 354., along the eastern side of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, went up into Egypt Ritter, volume XIV, page 137., and served also those who, coming from upper Syria and Mesopotamia to Damascus The same, volume XV, page 13; Movers, page 244 and following., went on to Arabia or Egypt Ritter, volume XIV, page 88 and following.; and those too who had come to Damascus by the Palmyrene road Movers, page 245.: since Palmyra was the centre of the roads that led to the west from the middle Euphrates region [Ibid. and page 145; Ritter, volume X, page 1090; Appian, Civil Wars, book V, chapter 9.]; eighth finally, by another road camels reached Egypt from Phoenicia and Syria, namely through Galilee, Samaria and Judaea, and thence through the emporia of the Philistine and Egyptian coast, Gaza, Rhinocolura, Pelusium and Casium [Ritter, volume XIV, page 137 and following; Stark, Gaza u. die philistäische Küste, page 563 and following, Jena 1852; Strabo, page 1079 and following.]. This road was found not so long ago by Robinson, or it was recognized as not different from the Roman road which is marked on the Peutinger table Ritter, volume XVI, page 94; Movers, page 290..

[12] carried on in western Asia. Besides the Red Sea there were also land roads, by which goods were carried from Saba to the northern kingdoms, of which one passed along the Red Sea through Edom, or Idumaea, as has been said, and came to Petra, in subsequent times the chief city of the kingdom Strabo, page 1093 and 1109.. From Petra one road led through Rhinocolura into Egypt, another to Gaza, a third from the east of the Dead Sea to Jericho, Damascus and Palmyra Pliny, Natural History, book VI, chapter 32; Movers, page 291.; a fourth to the Gerrhaeans Strabo, page 1103.. Towards the east the goods of the Sabaeans, Regmaeans and Dedanites, or Gerrhaeans, were similarly carried by a double road into Assyria and Persia, the one by land along the Persian Gulf, the other by sea; and they reached Teredon and Charax, at the head of the gulf, and from there either along the eastern side of the Tigris Strabo, page 1047 and 1051. as far as Nineveh Compare Nahum III, 16., Nisibis and Haran, or Charrae; or to the western side of the Euphrates through Babylon Compare Jeremiah LI, 44; Ezekiel XVII, 4. as far as Thapsacus Strabo, page 1059 and 1061. and Haran: and the camels brought back other goods on their return to their own region Pliny, book XII, number 40.. On all the said roads almost only the Arabs with their camels carried goods, whether their own or those of the Phoenicians and other peoples [Pliny at the place cited; Strabo, book XVI, page 1062, 1074, 1080, 1090 etc.; Movers at the place cited, page 128.]. For what cause the Arabs exercised this quasi-monopoly in western Asia from the most ancient times we gather with no trouble; for those so great solitudes which merchants had to traverse were inhabited by them alone; and then it was only by camels, which were rare in the other kingdoms of Asia, that they could be crossed Compare Movers at the place cited, page 128 and following..

[13] [Some other things worth noting on the commerce of the Arabs, especially the Sabaeans;] Hastening to other things, we here briefly set down some matters on the commerce and riches of the Arabs: 1° No people before the birth of Christ, except the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, was so devoted to trade as the most ancient people (Genesis X) of the Jectanids, or Sabaeans; and the Sabaeans are older than the Phoenicians themselves. Indeed Herodotus and Strabo represent that the Phoenicians drew their origin from the Sabaeans Compare Ritter, volume XII, page 46, 136 and 864.. 2° We know that King Solomon collected his immense riches not only from the tributes of conquered peoples, or of his own subjects; but from the trade which he himself carried on III Kings IX, 26 – 28; X, 11, 22., as other ancient kings, and from the customs on goods that came to his kingdom or passed through it Ibid. X, 15.. To which we note that these customs were received chiefly from Arab merchants; and then that the condition of the kings of Saba was in many respects like that of Solomon: for they too at one time conquered almost all the peoples of Arabia, and were no less than Solomon devoted to commerce. 3° The recent historian of the Phoenicians writes that the Arab peoples who were devoted to trade surpassed all others in abundance of gold, as the Phoenicians themselves were first of all in abundance of silver Movers, Book III, page 53.. And although the Arabs seem to have obtained their gold for a great part from Africa Compare Journal Asiatique, volume III, page 202 and here and there, Paris 1829., yet many, after Gesenius, judge that the region of Ophir, to which the fleets of Solomon and Hiram sailed, was situated in Homeritis In Ritter, volume XIV, page 366 – 431.. For, besides very many other things that can be brought to this point, in Homeritis dwelt Ophir, son of Jectan (Genesis X); and that regions borrowed their name from the descendants of Noah is known everywhere. 4° Finally this must not be granted to the historian of the Phoenicians, that the ancient Arabs had no navigation. For the proof of this assertion is lacking, and not a little can be opposed to it [Compare Jomard, Etudes sur l'Arabie, page 120 and following; Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XII, page 517, 616 and following and here and there.]. But these things do not pertain here.

[14] but persisted But not only in the most ancient age of the patriarchs and of the kings of Israel and Judah were the riches of the Sabaeans, or, as they began to be called about a century before Christ, of the Homerites Caussin, Essai, volume I, page 63., celebrated; but we certainly learn that their most flourishing state persisted down to the birth of the Saviour and beyond

from Strabo and Pliny, who lived at that time. For many things on Arabia, besides those he had borrowed from Eratosthenes, Strabo drew from the report of Aelius Gallus, who in Strabo's lifetime, in the year 24 before Christ, was sent by the emperor Augustus into Arabia with an army, and reached as far as Mariaba, or Mareb, the royal city of Saba, and perhaps further Jomard, page 144; Ritter, volume XII, page 292.. This Strabo confesses: The latest expedition of the Romans, he says, which was made into Arabia in our time under the command of Aelius Gallus, has shown a great many peculiarities of that region. This he thereafter describes from what was observed, and notes among other things that the King celebrates many banquets continually with the greatest display, and that golden cups are used at them: by which is confirmed what Heraclides wrote above; that the houses are made of precious stone (οἰκησεις δε δια λιθων πολυτελεις) See the note of Falconer, page 1112.; that the region is productive of all things, except oil. Of things, he says, some are imported, others by no means; some are native, gold, silver and very many of the aromatics, bronze and iron, and purple cloth, and storax; and saffron and costus: engravings and statues and pictures they have from elsewhere Strabo, book XVI, page 1107 and 1112, Oxford 1807..

[15] in the first Christian centuries At the beginning of the first Christian century there lived also Pliny the Elder, who similarly declares that he had Aelius Gallus as his guide in describing Arabia Pliny, book VI, chapter 32.; he says moreover solemnly: Arabia, to be set after none of the nations Ibid.. What the cause of the expedition of Aelius Gallus was Strabo openly confesses: The emperor had heard that they had already for a long time been very rich, exchanging their aromatics for gold and silver and precious stones, and spending nothing on things imported from elsewhere Strabo, book XVI, page 1107.. And this last point Pliny expressed more clearly: On the whole the richest of peoples, he says, as those among whom the wealth of the Romans and Parthians chiefly settles, selling what they take from the sea or the forests, buying nothing in return Pliny, book VI, chapter 32.. And an argument among others is what he writes in book XII, chapter 41: But the sea of Arabia is happier still: for from it it sends pearls. And at the lowest reckoning India and the Seres and that peninsula take from our empire every year a hundred million sesterces (that is 20,000,000 francs). So much do delights and women cost us. For this reason, as has been said, kings and emperors attempted at various times to subjugate Arabia Compare Jomard, page 142 and 157.. To the opulence of the Arabs, says Strabo, Alexander too may be cited as a witness, who, as it is reported, had determined to make it his royal seat after he had returned from India Strabo, page 1113..

[16] and long after. Ruins and inscriptions discovered in Arabia Felix. The rule of the Greeks and Romans in Asia and Egypt does not seem to have harmed the commerce of the Arabs so much, since from then on their goods began to be carried into Europe also. But an enormous disaster was brought on the Homerite kingdom and its trade by the rupture of the dam of Mareb, above at number 6; after which the city of Saba, or Mareb, the royal city of the Homerites, was deserted, and many tribes migrated towards Syria and Mesopotamia. In the rest of Arabia too the trade was gradually lessened down to the Islamic times, in which all commerce of Europe with Asia and Africa was interrupted. And the commerce which had remained among the peoples of these parts themselves, amid manifold wars, when the road to both Indies was found, and with the revival of communication and intercourse between Asia and Europe, was bound to perish by degrees, and Arabia to be reduced to its present poverty. From these things it is not surprising that much gold was still preserved at the beginning of the sixth century in the royal city of the Sabaeans, or Homerites: as will appear from the Acts of St. Arethas to be published below See Acts, number 37.. For although their trade had then greatly cooled, yet, because the access of a hostile army to that place has been very difficult at all times, they had never been plundered. Today only monuments of the old splendour exist Compare Ritter, volume XII, page 11.. For in recent journeys there have been seen enormous marble buildings, and many ruins of cities; among which the late traveller Wellsted saw a marble wall half an English mile long Jomard, page 124 to 128; Ritter, volumes XII and XIII here and there.. Happier still, because bolder, in the year 1843 was the French traveller Thomas Arnaud, who inspected the ruins of old Mareb, which was first called Saba, and of its most celebrated embankment (called in the Himyaritic tongue el arim, in present Arabic el sed, or sed Marib, that is the embankment of Mareb) [De Sacy, Mém. de l'Institut, volume XLVIII, page 498 and following; Ritter, volume XII, page 75.], by which the waters were held between two mountains Ritter, ibid. page 765.. There have been found also a great many Himyaritic inscriptions, of which Thomas Arnaud alone, among the ruins of Mareb, copied sixty, and communicated them to learned France Ibid. page 75 and 84..

* Golfe de Suez.

* Golfe d'Akaba.

§ II. The Homerite tongue, inscriptions, common origin with the Ethiopians. The idolatry of the Arabs; the temple of the Caaba. The arrival of the Jews.

[The Himyaritic script was derived from the script of the Phoenicians and Syrians. The inscriptions recently discovered] Since there was so great a commerce between Phoenicians and Arabs, no one will wonder that the letters of the inscriptions discovered in Arabia Felix in the year 1837 by C. Cruttenden and in the year 1843 by Th. Arnaud are the same as those of the Phoenicians and Syrians. This was maintained in a special dissertation by the learned Gesenius Ueber die Himyar Sprache und Schrift, Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung, July 1841., and after him by the celebrated J. Bird, writing among other things on the Himyaritic alphabet: The Semitic origin of the Himyaritic letters and their derivation from the script of the Phoenicians is inferred also from what Masudi (otherwise Masoud, an Arab writer) reports in the Meadows of Gold, and likewise other Arab historians, that the Joctanids, or the offspring of Khatan, or Joktan, who inhabited southern Arabia, spoke the tongue of Syria or Syriac, namely before the various dialects had coalesced into the present Arabic tongue [Compare J. Bird, Origine de l'alphabet Himiarite et de l'alphabet Ethiopien, in Nouvelles annales des voyages, 1845, volume 2, page 196 and following; Sapeto, Viaggio, page 55.]. And Strabo writes that in the sea that washes Arabia Felix there were colonies of the Sidonians, Syrians and inhabitants of the island of Arvad [In Bird at the place cited, page 204; Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 603.]. Philologists at one time believed that the Himyaritic inscriptions were to be read from left to right [Bird, page 201; Sapeto, in Nouv. Annal. des voy. year 1845, volume II, page 106; Caussin, volume I, page 78; De Sacy, Mémoires de littérat. etc. volume L, page 253.], contrary to what all the Semitic peoples do. But from a certain Himyaritic codex of the Berlin library, most happily discovered and collated with the inscriptions, it is now certainly established Caussin, volume I, page 79. that the Himyaritic tongue was indeed sometimes written βουστροφηδον, but generally and commonly from right to left. It cannot be denied, however, that the written monuments of this once celebrated and most ancient people are rare. So too we see that most other peoples committed very few written monuments to posterity before the age of Alexander the Great; and, what you may wonder at, the most cultivated Phoenicians and Carthaginians themselves, between whom and the Sabaeans there was some likeness, rarely did so.

[18] [do not seem to be older than the Christian era. The likeness of the tongue to the Ethiopic and the common origin of both peoples.] The said James Bird judged At the place cited, page 202 and 205. that the Himyaritic inscriptions are not older than two hundred years before the birth of Christ; indeed he ascribes them rather to the first Christian centuries: which opinion was proposed in the same year 1845 by the learned missionary Joseph Sapeto Nouv. Annal. des voy. at the place cited; the same, Viaggio, page 59.. The same men add that the Himyaritic tongue does not differ much from the Ethiopic tongue, or Gheez, either in words or in letters. And although several inscriptions have since been interpreted by the most skilled men Roediger and Fresnel, both opinions just mentioned must still be retained, until a greater light shines [Compare Caussin, volume I, page 78 and following; Fresnel, in Journal asiatique, volume XVI, page 266 and 277, Paris, 1850.]. Moreover the learned attribute this likeness of the tongues not only to the rule of the Ethiopians in Homeritis Compare Sapeto, Viaggio, page 58 and following., or in turn of the Homerites in Ethiopia, but to the common origin of the peoples [Compare Ludolf, Commentary, page 50, 57, 68; Valesius on book II, chapter 24 of Sozomen; Sapeto, Viaggio, page 447.]. That most celebrated man Charles Lenormant, whose recent death we greatly lament, before the Ethnological Society of Paris, of which he was president, brought forward a great many arguments for which the race and arts of the Egyptians and Ethiopians were to be called Asiatic, or Indo-Semitic Nouv. Annal. des voyages, 1846, volume IV, page 343 and following.. Which the celebrated Courtet de Lisle afterwards attempted to establish at more length and happily [Ibid. year 1847, volume I, page 326 and following; compare Lepsius, ibid. 1845, volume III, page 333; Jomard, Etudes sur l'Arabie, page 165 and following, Paris 1839; Journal asiatique, volume XV, page 376 and following, Paris 1850.]. And they add that the Asiatic peoples came into Ethiopia, and thence into Egypt, through Arabia and the strait of Bab-el-mandeb. By which is confirmed that ethnographic observation, that the commerce of ancient peoples generally took its rise from their migrations. Of the Ethiopians it will be necessary to speak at the 27th day of October, when the Acts of St. Frumentius will be given, and then, besides the most praised work of Joseph Sapeto, there may perhaps already be of use the very many Christian and other inscriptions which Lepsius collected in Nubia At the place cited, page 339 and 343. and which philologists seem not yet to have well understood.

[19] The antiquity of the Sabaeans. The Jectanid Sabaeans and the Cushite Sabaeans; Arabia Felix was therefore for many centuries called Saba, because in it dwelt the offspring of Saba, son of Yectan, or Jectan, son of Heber, who through Sale and Arphaxad was begotten of Sem, son of Noah (Genesis X, 25) [Compare Caussin, volume I, page 39 and following; Calmet, Dict. de la Bible, under Saba; Bochart, Geographia sacra, book II, chapter 15 and 25 and following.]. But the same Arabia Felix was also inhabited until the eighth century before Christ by the Chamite Sabaeans, or the offspring of Saba, son of Chus, son of Cham: which has been aptly shown by the late and most diligent

historian of the Arabs, A. P. Caussin de Perceval Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes avant Mahomet, volume I, page 42, Paris 1847., whose work has especially pleased men skilled in Arabian matters Compare Journal asiatique, volume XVI, page 265, Paris 1850.. From which it is concluded that the empire of the Homerites, in the sixth century of which we are writing, was the most ancient of all the East; and that their royal house, which had come from Himyar the Jectanid, and was extinguished by the slaying of Dhu Nowas in the year 525, lasted longer than any other in the whole world Compare Caussin, Essai etc. volume I, page 40, 54 etc.. Moreover the name of Saba, son of Yectan, is written by the Hebrews with the letter Schin, or Sjin, but that of Saba, son of Chus, with Samek; and thence the distinction neglected by the other peoples has been carefully preserved by the Hebrews: The kings of Sjaba and Saba shall bring gifts (Psalm LXXI), as the Hebrew truth has it; that is, the kings of the Yectanid and Cushite Sabaeans. The queen of the former was the queen of Saba [Compare Bochart, Geographia sacra, book II, chapter 26; Caussin, volume I, page 44 and following.] who visited Solomon; of the latter there is mention several times in the prophet Isaiah: I have given Egypt for thy atonement, Ethiopia and Saba for thee (XLIII, 3), that is, the Cushite Sabaeans; and again: The labour of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature, shall come over to thee (XLV, 14). In all which the Cushite Sabaeans are distinguished from the Ethiopians.

[20] these seem to have migrated into Abyssinia about eight centuries before Christ. But after the times of Isaiah the name of these Sabaeans no longer appears in the Bible, nor is there discussion except of those Sabaeans whose name is written with Sjin. What is to be inferred from this? Had the Cushite Arabs lost the appellation of Sabaeans, or had they departed from the lands which they had inhabited for many centuries together with the Yectanids? It seems to me that the doubt is solved, says the celebrated Caussin, by what is commonly admitted today, and was shown by Ludolf [Historia Æthiopica, book I, chapter I, and Commentary on the history, page 57 and following and 201 and following.] as far as is sufficient, that the kingdom of Abyssinia was founded by an Arab colony. I incline strongly to this, that those colonists were the Cushite Sabaeans, who, either all or for a great part, on account of wars or other circumstances, were compelled to leave Arabia. The Abyssinians would thus have been born of Cushite Arabs, and mixed with African Cushites [Caussin, Hist. des Arab. volume I, page 44; compare De Sacy, Mém. de l'Acad. volume L, page 280.]. The same writer then inquires into the traditions of the Arabs themselves; and finds that to the people of the Aditae, who dwelt in Arabia Felix beside the Yectanid Sabaeans, and whose king Locman built the most celebrated embankment of the city of Saba, or Mareb, all that has been said of the Cushite Sabaeans, and the very omission of the name from the eighth century before Christ, are pre-eminently fitting. Which explanation of the community of tongue, colour [Jomard, Essai sur l'Arabie, page 174, Paris, 1839; Arnaud, in Journal asiatique, volume XV, page 380, Paris 1850. Etc.] and ancient name Compare Ludolf, Commentary on the Ethiopic history, page 228. between the Homerites and Abyssinians, and of the rule of one people over the other, which the monuments point out as not infrequent, seems to me above all to be like the truth.

[21] The Jectanid Sabaeans from the 1st century before Christ called Homerites; Many centuries later, and not long before Christ, the Yectanid Sabaeans began to be called Himyarites, and by the Greeks and Romans Homerites. Of which thing this is the origin. Abdshams-Saba, king of the Sabaeans, who reigned about the year 700 before the birth of Christ, begot the sons Himyar and Cahlan, of whom the former succeeded his father; but after Himyar the rule was divided among several, chiefly between the sons of Himyar and Cahlan: and the name of Sabaeans persisted, until by King Arith, or Arethas, of the offspring of Himyar, about a century before Christ, all the tribes of Arabia Felix were joined into one. From then on its inhabitants were no longer called Sabaeans, but Himyarites, and the name of Homerites begins to be used by the classical writers not long after. Strabo was the first, namely, about the year 24 before the birth of Christ, narrating the expedition of Aelius Gallus into Arabia, to use this appellation of the people In Caussin, volume I, page 63; compare Ritter, volume XII, page 41..

[22] their idolatry, veneration of Abraham, the supreme God. As regards the religion of the Arabs, the greater part of them, down to the times of Mahomet, was given to paganism. They used circumcision, however, since many of them were begotten of Abraham, of whom there was great veneration among the Arabs in every age [Calmet, Dict. de la bible, under Circoncision; Caussin, volume I, page 171, 197, 270, 274.]; and from the remotest times many Jews dwelt in Arabia. They worshipped a great many gods, and the several tribes, indeed houses, revered some god before the others. A certain philosophical school of France, thirty years ago, taught that idolatrous peoples worshipped one God, and held their other gods as inferior and subject; which, while as a universal statement it is utterly false, seems to some extent to be capable of being said of the Arabs dwelling around Yathrib and Mecca. Of all the Arabs this is reported by Abderrahman-Soyuti, commentator on the Koran In Caussin, volume I, page 270., who flourished in the sixteenth century D'Herbelot, Bibl. orient., under Sojuthi.; and Pococke seemed to himself to detect traces of a monotheism of this kind in the histories of Herodotus In Caussin, page 174; compare Herodotus, book III, chapter VIII.. For in Hedjaz, a province of Arabia, to which belongs Mecca and its most ancient temple of the Caaba, there lived a part of the Ishmaelites Caussin, ibid. page 161., the offspring of Abraham, and thither there had come, as the centuries went by, an enormous multitude of Jews. From the veneration of Abraham, therefore, which was very great among the Ishmaelites, and from the doctrines of the Jews, it had come about that they believed in a supreme God.

[23] [The antiquity of the Caaba and the city of Mecca; the Caaba, pantheon of the Arabs: their Sabaeism.] But in the first place it is not known how ancient the temple of the Caaba is; for the first of all to make mention of it is Diodorus Siculus, who began to write after the slaughter of Julius Caesar, a little before the birth of Christ, and that in obscure words: A most sacred fane there (among the Banizomenes, dwellers by the Red Sea) is held in the highest religion by all the Arabs Diodorus Siculus, book III, chapter 44.. It is gathered next from the traditions of the Arabs (for they have no historian older than Mahomet, indeed down to the middle of the eighth century their learned men committed everything to memory, and only then began to write annals and histories) [Compare De Sacy, Mém. de l'Institut, volume V, part 2, page 30 and following; Caussin, volume II, page 197.], that the temple of the Caaba was overthrown by rain and inundation, under the chieftains of the second Djorhomite dynasty, who began to reign about the year 75 before Christ. From which the historian of the ancient Arabs rightly infers that a monument thrown down by rain-waters and very small could not have been built by a cultivated and powerful people, but was built by the rude Ishmaelites of the province of Hedjaz The same, volume I, page 175, 195.. Nor must it be omitted, what has been certainly demonstrated by recent investigators of Arabian antiquities, that the city of Mecca, so celebrated for pilgrimages, is not older than the fifth century after Christ. For before, in the valley where it was built in this century, nothing was to be seen besides the temple of the Caaba, which the Arabs venerated by day, withdrawing by night The same, volume I, page 236.. From all which what some have judged, as J. Bruce reports, manifestly collapses, that the Caaba was founded by Sesostris, king of Egypt, and that he was adored there Bruce, Voy. en Nubie et en Abyssinie, volume I, page 588.. This temple seems in the last centuries before Mahomet to have been called Bayt-Allah, the House of God; but it was at the same time the Pantheon of the Arabs; for 360 images of gods were placed upon or around the Caaba, besides the black stone See Acta SS. volume IX of October, page 21, number 22. and the images which were venerated in the building itself together with the likeness or image of Abraham [Caussin, page 270; Ritter, volume XII, page 21; Assemani, Chronicon orientale of Peter Rahebus, page 253 and following, Venice 1729.]. Very many Arabs also worshipped the stars, especially the sun; others the moon, others the planet Jupiter or Mercury, others finally the star Aldebaran, or Canopus, or Sirius [Pococke, Specimen hist. Arab. in Caussin, volume I, page 349; Assemani at the place cited, page 255.]. In which matter they seem to approach the opinions of the Tsabaeans, or Ssabaeans, who chiefly worship the stars; of whom there is mention in the Koran, and about whom there has been no little dispute [D'Herbelot, under Sabi; Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 609 and following; compare Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier und Ssabismus, Petersburg, 1856, 2 volumes.].

[24] Opinions on the arrival of the Jews in Arabia There were many Jews in Arabia from the most ancient times; especially in the northern part around Yathreb, or Medina; from which they afterwards penetrated into Homeritis: and it has already been said above that the martyrs whom we celebrate obtained the palm under a Jewish king of Homeritis. On their arrival in Arabia there is not one opinion: The author of the book Alagani, says Abulfeda, says that the Jews dwelt in Khaibar and other places of the Arabian province of Hedjaz from the time when Moses sent an army against the Amalekites, who dwelt in Khaibar, Yathreb and other places of the same province, and ordered them all to be slain at the mouth of the sword, and life to be granted to no one. The said army went out therefore against the Amalekites, and overcame them and killed all, except the son of the king, whom the victorious Jews brought with them into Syria. By then Moses had died, and the children of Israel said to their brethren: You have not obeyed what was commanded you, and therefore you shall not dwell with us. Hearing this, they say: Let us return to the subjugated region, whose inhabitants we have killed. They returned therefore to Khaibar and Yathreb, and dwelt there until the arrival of the tribes of Aus and Khazradj, whom the inundation of the dams (of Saba, or Mareb, in the second century after the birth of Christ) compelled to leave Yemana. Others, however, say that the Jews came into Hedjaz when they were overcome by Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem was destroyed Abulfeda in De Sacy, Mémoires de littérature, volume XLVIII, page 595.. The same concerning Moses is reported by Ibn-Khaldun after the book Alaghani; but it has been noted by the Arabs themselves that these things agree with the Amalekite king Agag, whom the army of King Saul spared against the commands of Samuel I Kings XV; De Sacy, page 596, note (g)..

[25] [various; it is more likely that they came after the overthrow of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar: afterwards others joined them.] The most excellent among all the historians of the Arabs, Ibn-Khaldun, who recorded the opinions of various persons, brings forward these besides: one by which Joshua, Moses having now ended his life, is said to have brought war on the Amalekites; another, which adds to the preceding that King David fled to the Jews of the city of Khaibar, and reigned there for a few years, until Absalom was slain: from which time, the Arab writers say, the Jews of the province of Hedjaz remained devoted and subject to the house of David and the kings of Judah; finally a third, which is more common and more likely than the others, and was just recorded by Abulfeda, teaches that the Jews came into Hedjaz when, their king Zedekiah being overcome by Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem being overthrown, they fled from the army of the Assyrians. This opinion Anthony d'Abbadie applies also to the Ethiopian Jews, or Falasha, and says it should be preferred to the others Revue de l'Orient, volume VII, page 233, Paris 1845.. From the various opinions it is natural to deduce, says the celebrated Caussin de Perceval, that the Jewish colonies in Arabia grew together from several and very ancient emigrations, and they seem to have received new increases, either when Pompey subdued Judaea, in the year 64 before Christ, or when Jerusalem was overthrown by Titus, or the Jews were chastised by Hadrian, in the years of the Christian era 70 and 136 Caussin, volume 2, page 641 and following; De Sacy, page 596.. The Arab tribes of Aus and Khazradj, whom Abulfeda mentioned above, became neighbours of the Jews about the year 300 of the same era.

[26] [They came into Homeritis long before the 3rd century, whatever the Mahometan writers may say.] But Khaibar and Yathreb, or Medina, are far distant from Homeritis. The question then is when the Jews came to it. The matter is not known for certain, but it is narrated by the historians of the Arabs in this way. The king of Himyar, or Homeritis, Abu-Carib, who reigned from the year of the Christian era 200 to the year 236, having led his army against Yathreb, or Medina, was taught the religion of Moses by the Jews, and from a pagan became a Jew; in which his whole army is said to have imitated him. Then he took Jewish doctors with him to Yemana, and persuaded many Himyarites to despise idols and to judaize. This origin the Arab writers attribute, with many interwoven fables, to the Judaism of the Homerites [De Sacy, in Mém. de littér. volume XLVIII, page 584 and following; Caussin, volume I, page 92 and volume II, page 647.]. Certainly a part of them professed it in the fourth century, as Philostorgius teaches us. But for my part I should scarcely doubt that the beginnings of Judaism in Homeritis are much older than the Christian era. Jews almost innumerable from the seventh century before Christ, as the common opinion has it Sapeto, Viaggio, page 40 and 55; d'Abbadie where cited above., dwelt in neighbouring Ethiopia; between which and Homeritis there was perpetual commerce. And the same is testified of Egypt by Philo the Jew, who wrote before the Jewish wars of Vespasian and Titus and the new dispersion, and whose passage I am surprised has been neglected in the history of the Jews of Ethiopia and Arabia: Not less than ten hundred thousand (1,000,000) Jews, he says, dwell in Alexandria and the surrounding region, from the descent to Libya as far as the borders of Ethiopia Philo, Against Flaccus, Works, page 971, Paris 1640.. Add Josephus, recording similar things in several places. Since moreover so many Jews still dwell in various parts of Arabia, sometimes occupy whole villages and from time to time have their own chiefs Niebuhr, Description de l'Arabie, volume I, chapter IV, page 36., it cannot be that many Jews did not penetrate into Arabia Felix with the Sabaean merchants, who traversed the whole of western Asia and the northern region of Africa, from Judaea, Egypt and Ethiopia. However that may be, we are taught by the Acts of St. Arethas and other most secure monuments that at the beginning of the sixth Christian century they were so many in number there that the kingdom of the Homerites soon became Jewish.

§ III. The rise of the Christian religion among the Arabs; their apostles.

[On the rise of the Christian religion in Arabia; many of the fathers think that the Magi came from that region: and after them Baronius, Assemani and others.] Before we speak of the persecution that arose on this occasion against the Christians, in which St. Arethas and his companions were presented with the crown of martyrdom, it seems that we should inquire when the first seeds of the Christian religion came to Arabia. For up to now in our work, since monuments were lacking, scarcely any discussion has been brought in on the ecclesiastical history of that region; except very briefly at the 7th day of February, when St. Moses, bishop of the Saracens, in the fourth century, is venerated, and at the 19th of the same month, where Henschen collected some things on the very many martyrs who fell by the sword of the Saracens in Arabia Deserta in the sixth century. For this reason it is our intention to supply here (since the discussion will scarcely return to the history of Arabia before the 19th day of December, on which St. Gregentius is venerated) what is lacking in our Acts. And in the first place we briefly discuss the apostles of Arabia, of whom Assemani has collected not a little from the Syrian writers, and other things have been made more certain from knowledge of the regions. Let the Magi then stand first in order, whom not a few fathers say came from Arabia; among others Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Tertullian in the book against the Jews and in book III against Marcion, and Epiphanius in the Compendium of doctrine, adhering to that passage of the Psalms: The kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts (Psalm 71). That these words are to be understood of the Messiah, says Baronius At the year 1, number 25., both our interpreters and also a good many rabbis equally assent; as also the other things that are written by Isaiah (chapter 4): The multitude of camels shall cover thee (Jerusalem), the dromedaries of Madian and Epha, etc. Madian, says Jerome on this passage, and Epha are regions beyond Arabia (namely Petraea; between which and Sabaea, more strictly so called, lie Madianitis and the region of the tribe of Epha, who was the son of Madian. Genesis XXV), and the whole province is called Saba. To this opinion, that the Magi came from Arabia, Baronius adheres, and adds other reasons: Again Balaam, who had foretold this prophecy of the star: A star shall rise out of Jacob (Numbers XIV), although he himself was a Mesopotamian, living at Haran (as he himself declares saying: Balac, king of the Moabites, has brought me from Haran), yet it is established that he prophesied in Arabia concerning the star that was to rise. For Moab, of which Balac was king, who hired him for pay, was, as Jerome relates On Hebrew places, and on Isaiah XV., a city and province of that name in Arabia Deserta, to the east of the Dead Sea. Having then proposed other things on this matter and mentioned and weighed the opinion of those who have maintained that the Magi were either Chaldaeans or Persians, the same writer finishes his little disputation in these words: If the space of time of the arrival of the Magi is considered, namely of thirteen days, as, he says, we shall demonstrate at more length a little below [At the year 1, number 34; but compare Patrizi, De evangeliis, book III, dissertation 27, chapter 3.], anyone can very easily perceive that they certainly came not from Persia or Chaldaea, but from eastern Arabia Baronius at the year 1, number 27.: or from the lands of the Maaddenes and northern Sabaea, since its kings were to bring gifts to the Messiah (Psalm 71), and the gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew II) pertained to the commerce of the Arabs, especially of the Sabaeans, above at number 3 and following. From the words of Baronius Assemani without any hesitation deduces: The Magi therefore were the first to bring the light of the Gospel into Arabia Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 391..

[28] That this is likely has recently been shown at length by F. X. Patrizi. This argument has been treated anew with his accustomed erudition and skill by F. X. Patrizi, of our Society, from whose dissertation XXVII, On the Magi who visited Christ [Patrizi, De Evangeliis, Book III, page 315 and following, Freiburg im Breisgau 1853.], we here extract some things. Having listed some fathers besides those whom we mentioned in the preceding number, For there were in Arabia, he says, those whom the Greeks and Latins call magi [Pliny, Natural History, book XXV, §5; see Patrizi at the place cited, page 313, numbers 23 – 27.], and known is that magus Bar-jesus in the Acts of the Apostles Acts XIII, 6., whom the very appellation “Elymas” proves to have been an Arab; for this Luke himself renders “magus” Ib. 8.: and it is the Arabs in whose speech “elimon” signifies magus. Moreover it has been handed down to memory by more than one monument that the Arabs were formerly noble for the love of wisdom and the studies of nature, and so of astronomy. Porphyry relates that Pythagoras, for the sake of acquiring wisdom for himself, went to the Arabs also [In Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian, book X, page 341, Spanheim edition, 1696.]. Solomon is said to have excelled in wisdom all the “bene Kedem,” that is the Sons of the East III Kings IV, 30, otherwise V, 10., namely the Arabs, as will be shown below. The prophets commemorate the wisdom of the Idumaeans Jeremiah XLIX, 7; Abdias 8. and of the Ishmaelites Baruch III, 23., of whom the former had their seats in Arabia Petraea [Strabo, book XVI, page 760, Casaubon edition, compare book XVIII, page 803; Reland, Palæstina, book I, chapter 12.], the latter were numbered among the peoples of Arabia [Josephus, Antiquities, book I, 12, §4; Rosenmüller, Scholia on Genesis XXV, 12 – 18.]. But a notable monument of the wisdom prevailing among the Arabs survives in the book of Job, whom it is by far the more likely opinion to have been an Arab Rosenmüller on Job, Prolegomena V.. For in that book discourses are exchanged breathing a certain singular wisdom and the study of all nature, from which you may see images and likenesses sought everywhere by those whom the writer introduces as speaking, and at the same time mention of the sky and stars thrown in, and knowledge of astronomy very frequently disclosed [Job III, 9; IX, 9; XXII, 12; XXV, 5; XXVI, 13, compare Virgil, Georgics I, 203, 244 and Rosenmüller at this place; Job XXXI, 26; XXXV, 5; XXXVII, 9, 18; XXXVIII, 7, 31, 32, 33, 37.]. But the gifts offered to Christ by the Magi too seem to suggest that we should call them Arabs. For that these gifts were native fruits of the region from which the Magi came is altogether likely, not to say beyond doubt. But in the other regions from which others think the Magi set out, in Chaldaea, I say, and in Persia, no gold

is dug, but it is dug in Arabia [Strabo, book XVI, page 777, 780, Casaubon edition; Pliny, Natural History, book VI, §32, number 8; book VII, §57, number 6.], and especially Pliny speaks of “the Sabaeans most rich … in mines of gold” Book VI, §32, number 18., which the authority of the sacred writers confirms [II Paralipomenon IX, 14; Psalm LXXI, 15, compare 10; Isaiah LX, 6; Ezekiel XXVII, 22.]. Having set forth similar things on frankincense and myrrh, on which enough has been disputed above, Finally the East, he says, in Hebrew “Kedem,” is used in the sacred scriptures for Arabia [Genesis X, 30; Rosenmüller, Scholia at this place, and Gesenius, Thesaurus philologicus criticus at this word, number 2.], as Patrizi proves at length, and similarly that the sons of the East, among whom Job was great Job I, 3., designate the Arabs. Finally, these things, he says, are surely enough for it to be believed that the name “Kedem, the East” designates chiefly Arabia in the scriptures. In another place Patrizi at the place cited, page 336. he praises many fathers who judged that the Magi drew their knowledge of Christ who was to rise from the prophecy of Balaam Numbers XXIV, 17., among whom are Origen Against Celsus, book I, number 60., Eusebius Demonstratio evangelica, book IX, a little after the beginning., Basil [Oration on the holy generation of Christ, §5.], Diodore of Tarsus In Photius, codex 233 at the end., Ambrose On Luke, book II, §48. and Jerome On Matthew II, 2.. But he does not omit to pursue the rights of Persia to claim the Magi for itself At the place cited, page 317., and indeed he finally writes: That the Magi came from Arabia is perhaps less probable than that they came from Persia Ib. page 335.. Not a few Christian writers indeed thought so; but in favour of many stands St. Justin, who was born in Judaea and surpasses all in age. The interpretation too of the prophecies of which we have spoken especially favours Arabia; and it seems to me that with the passing of time the other opinion took increase from this, that it was believed (especially after the Romans prevailed in the East and above all after Constantine the Great) that there were no Magi outside Persia. But down to the arrival of Pompey in Syria, from the long rule of the Medes and Persians there is scarcely any doubt that they were frequently to be found in almost the whole of western Asia Compare Patrizi at the place cited, page 312, number 22 and following.. Finally, on the language used by the Magi, may it be permitted to propose something here: many peoples of the Arabs, namely, were understood by the Jews of Jerusalem Compare below, number 78; Acta SS. volume IX of October, page 51, number 16.; not so the Persians, since their tongue, altogether different from the Syro-Chaldaic, is for the greatest part Indo-Germanic. By way of finishing touch I shall not omit to set down here this note of the learned man: The first, says Patrizi At the place cited, page 321., who expressly called these Magi kings, as far as can be gathered from the writings of the fathers that survive, was perhaps Caesarius of Arles in the sixth century, in whose oration on the Epiphany we read these words: “Those Magi are said to be three kings Works of Augustine, Maurist edition, volume V, Appendix, sermon 139, number 3.”; perhaps, I say, both because the author of this oration is not altogether certain, and because the Maurists held that word “kings” suspect and marked it with the censor's stroke. In which case not even that age would suggest a writer in whom the express appellation of kings is found applied to designating the Magi. All these things having been weighed, if the Magi were Arabs, as seems to me the more likely opinion (whether they were chiefs, or rather phylarchs, or not), I should believe that they were of the Nabataeans, dwellers on the far end of the Red Sea [Strabo, book XVI, page 1081, 1103, Oxford edition. Compare above, numbers 11, 12.], a people that had grown together out of Chaldaeans and Idumaeans Quatremère, in Ritter, volume XII, page 138.; their tongue was nearest to that of Jerusalem, and their commerce most flourishing down to the birth of Christ Ib. page 136, 138 and following.: since with the passing of time they had for a great part succeeded to the place of the Sabaeans.

[29] [St. Peter the catechist of the Arabs on the day of Pentecost; among their apostles is listed St. Paul,] However it may be with the Magi, of whom it does not fall to us to attain certainty, the Arab Jews who at the first Pentecost after the resurrection heard the apostles speaking in their own tongue the wonderful works of God Acts II, 11., and many of whom will have been among those baptized by St. Peter (since Judaea is nearly enclosed between Arabia Deserta and Petraea, and many Jews must have come to Jerusalem from such near regions), these, I say, will doubtless have carried the faith they received to both Arabias. Of these St. John Chrysostom says Homily II on the Acts of the Apostles.: Peter is held to be the chief catechist and stood forth as the first preacher of the word, and first gathered the church, and that not from the Jews of Jerusalem and those living round about, but from Parthians, Medes, Phrygians, Libyans, Egyptians, Arabs, strangers of Rome and others. And he who was appointed by the Lord the pastor of all began to gather sheep from all nations. St. Paul, after he was converted at Damascus, went away into Arabia (Galatians I, 17), namely that near Damascus, which is also part of Arabia Deserta; and this is concluded both from the fact that the ancients assert that Damascus itself is and was of the Arabian region [Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, Migne, Greek Patrology, volume VI, column 659.], and from the words of St. Paul: I went into Arabia, and again I returned to Damascus. For the people of Damascus, weary of the weakness of the kings of Syria, had surrendered themselves to Aretas, king of the Arabs, as Josephus testifies. Another Aretas, king of Damascus, likewise an Arab Compare Eckhel, Doctrina numorum, volume III, page 330, Vienna 1828., St. Paul himself mentions. But since we do not know how long he stayed in Arabia Deserta, and he seems rather to have prepared himself for the apostolate by a solitary life, he cannot on this account be called its apostle.

[30] [as also several others: St. Matthias is to be omitted. The eunuch of Queen Candace was not an Arab.] Not a few other saints are listed by Assemani Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 17. among the apostles of Arabia; but here we omit some, since in due time it will be necessary to speak of them in our work, namely of St. Thaddaeus the apostle at the 28th day of October; of St. Andrew at the 30th of November; of St. Thomas at the 21st of December; and of St. John the evangelist at the 27th of the same month. These being omitted, Assemani names besides SS. Matthew, Bartholomew, Matthias, the deacons Philip and Timon, Addaeus or Thaddaeus of the 72 disciples, and a certain Maris, who likewise flourished in the apostolic age. As regards St. Matthias the apostle, some have maintained that he preached the faith in the Ethiopia near Egypt, but on a very slight foundation, as will be shown in the following volume, in the commentary on St. Frumentius; but that he brought the Gospel into Arabia no one, so far as I know, besides Assemani has attempted to establish See Acta SS. at the 24th day of February, page 432.. In regard to Philip the deacon the same writer manifestly errs, when he says: Of the same region (of the Homerites of Arabia Felix) was the Ethiopian eunuch, a man of power under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was baptized by Philip the deacon (Acts VIII). For into African Ethiopia, which is called further India and Abyssinia, Frumentius first brought the Christian faith in the fourth century. For first, the name of Candace clung to the queens of lower Ethiopia, or Ethiopia properly so called, as Pliny testifies: They say that a woman reigns, Candace, a name that has already for many years passed on to the queens Pliny, Natural History, book VI, chapter 29.. And a queen of the same name is mentioned by Strabo, who wrote long before Pliny [Compare Acta SS. volume VI of August, page 7; and volume VI of September, page 196, number 7.]. Their royal city was Napata, as Lepsius teaches, then Meroe. The inhabitants of the region soon began to be called Nubades or Nubians; but in the inscription of Aizanas, king of the Axumites, or of Abyssinia, of the middle of the fourth century, they still come under the name of Ethiopians [In Lord Valentia, Voyages and travels to India… Abyssinia etc. volume III, page 181 and following, London 1809.]. Observe secondly that African Ethiopia is double, and that Abyssinia corresponds to upper or southern Ethiopia, which also was frequently called India. And of this Ethiopia St. Frumentius was indeed the apostle, as will be shown in the following volume against Nicephorus Callistus, the celebrated Thomas Wright and others.

[31] [On Timon the deacon, Thaddaeus of the 72 disciples, and his disciple Mares: this man in southern Mesopotamia] That Timon the deacon cannot be called the apostle of Arabia is plain from what Henschen wrote at the day on which he is venerated, the 19th of April Acta SS. volume II of April, page 619.; nor does Lequien differ, who, writing of the church of the Bostrians, the metropolis of the province of Arabia, says: Timon, one of the seven deacons, was made first bishop of Bostra or of the Bostrians (it is a city formerly of Moabitis, to the east of the sea of Tiberias, called today Busrah) Ritter, volume XV, page 968 and following., if we believe the catalogues of the seventy-two disciples of the Lord inscribed with the name of Dorotheus of Tyre or Hippolytus of Thebes, which are more fairly attributed to some Greekling of a later age. For the rest, in the age of Eusebius of Caesarea no such catalogue of the Lord's disciples existed, as he himself testifies in book 5 of the History, chapter 12: Των δ᾽ ἑβδομηκοντα μαθητων καταλογος μεν οὐδεις οὐδαμη φερεται Oriens christianus, volume II, column 853.. Of Addaeus or Thaddaeus of the 72 disciples, who seems to have reached some parts of Arabia Deserta, and was confounded by St. Jerome with Thaddaeus the apostle, it will be necessary to treat at the 28th day of October, that we may stand by the promises of our predecessors Acta SS. volume III of June, page 804, number 8.. Addaeus had two disciples, Aghaeus and Mares; the preaching of the latter is thus described by Amrus son of Matthew, epitomator of another Arabic writer named Maris son of Solomon, who shone about the year of Christ 1135: And Mares, he says, first at Radan (it is a city of Babylonia) Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 772., then at Modain (that is, in the double city; by which Arabic word the neighbouring cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon are designated) preached the faith with great labour and enormous care; for there was the royal seat of the Persians, and the inhabitants of that city were for the greater part magi: Soon at Dor-Kena and Cascara (these are names of cities not far from Seleucia); and for this one indeed he appointed a bishop, who was the first ordained in those regions: and therefore the primacy of all

it holds, and it is the guardian of the patriarchal see. Finally he betook himself to announcing the Gospel to all parts of the land of Babylon and both Araks (or Iraks, namely the Persian and the Assyrian) and of the Huzites (in Persia) and of Jamana (Arabia Felix) and the islands, and of Scenitic Arabia and Nagran (in which St. Arethas was crowned with martyrdom), and the islands of the sea of Jamana and of the sea of the Indies.

[32] and he seems to have preached the faith in certain parts of Arabia Deserta. Nor did he cease to go about all these regions, and to visit also the places in which Mar (that is lord) Addaeus had announced the faith, and there to catechize, baptize, teach, build churches, cure diseases, and work signs and prodigies; until he converted very many to the faith, and wonderfully propagated the Christian religion in those parts. Then, returning to Modain (Seleucia), he fixed and confirmed his domicile and patriarchal see in it, ordering that the catholicus (it is the appellation of the Nestorian patriarch of the East) should be ordained patriarch of the East nowhere else than at Modain. When he celebrated the sacred liturgy or made ordinations, he used a white pallium. He outlived Addaeus (or Thaddaeus), his companion in the charge of preaching, by thirty-three years; and when he was near death, he ordered that they seek a successor to him from the city of Jerusalem. He departed on the Friday of the second week of summer (or the ninth after Pentecost, on which day he is venerated by the Chaldaeans), on the 19th day of July, in the year of the Greeks 393, and was buried at the right of the altar in the greater church of Dorkena. On these things Assemani points out that Amrus son of Matthew, who is a writer of the fourteenth Christian century, measured the state of the church of Cascara, the patriarchal see of Seleucia, the pallium which he reports Maris to have used, and the day and year of his death, by the things that were done in his age by the Nestorian patriarchs in the East Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 20 and following.. What concerns us is only what Amrus narrates on the preaching of Mares in Arabia Felix and in the city of Nagran. But in these things he spoke beyond his master and guide, Maris son of Solomon. For the passage of the latter too is brought forward by Assemani Ibid. page 22.; in which nothing is to be found on the said parts of southern Arabia. Elias of Damascus, a writer of the ninth century, says that only the borders of the Arabs were imbued with the faith by Addaeus and Mares Ibid. page 5.; that is, unless I am mistaken, certain parts of Arabia Deserta. We therefore desire to know from what source Amrus drew what he added to the narrative of his master on the preaching of Mares in Yemana and its city of Nagran or Negran; but until older and safer monuments come forth we can in no way trust these things. Of Mares and Aghaeus, disciples of Addaeus or Thaddaeus, it will be possible to speak either at the 28th day of October, or if it ever falls to us to publish in our work the ephemerides of the church of the Syrians, or the patriarchate of Antioch.

[33] The Sabaeans or Homerites were called also Ethiopians That Assemani was too ready in admitting apostles of Arabia has been hinted at above; which I do not doubt should be pronounced of what he writes concerning St. Matthew: From the same menology, he says, of the emperor Basil Part 2, page 197, Urbino, 1727., and from what we have said above of the Ethiopians and Indians, it becomes plain that the Homerites, peoples of Arabia Felix, were those Ethiopians and Indians to whom Bartholomew and Matthew… announced the faith of Christ Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 592.. That these Homerites were Ethiopians, or rather were so called by the ancients, we concede, and it will not be useless to show it briefly: that what we have discussed above on the community of tongue and perhaps origin between that people and the Abyssinians may be illustrated: and besides that what Eusebius and Jerome have written on SS. Bartholomew and Pantaenus may be better understood. Arabia Felix then, or the land of the Homerites, from Herodotus Book 7, chapter 70, page 339, Paris 1844., Strabo, Stephen the geographer, Theodoret and very many others, could be called Asiatic or eastern Ethiopia: For the Ethiopians so called are divided in two, nature herself intervening, by the Arabian Gulf Strabo, book I, page 51, Oxford, 1807.. Stephen, On Cities: Ὁμηριται ἐθνος Αἰθιοπων, the Homerites, a people of the Ethiopians. Theodoret has similar things in several places, especially where he writes of the Sabaeans: Σαβα ποιον ἐστιν γενος; Of what kind of people is Saba? He replies: Αἰθιοπικον, Ethiopian, adding: They say that they are situated on this side of the Indian Sea. And they name them Homerites, and they are opposite the Axumites. And between these and those is the sea. Their queen was that admirable woman whose zeal Christ praised Matthew XII, 42; Luke XI, 31., etc.

[34] As by the name of Ethiopia, so too by that of India both regions, Arabia Felix and Abyssinia, or the whole of African Ethiopia, and Indians. The Ethiopians of Africa were also themselves called Indians. were designated. Of Arabia the matter is manifest. Philostorgius, book II, chapter 6, as Photius testifies, called the Homerites Indians: And these Indians, he says, were formerly called Sabaeans, from the city of Saba, which is the head of the whole people; but are now called Homerites. And in book III, chapter 4, he writes that the region which the Homerites inhabit is called by the Greeks great and happy Arabia. Similarly Theophanes, at the year of the mundane era 6064, called the Homerites Indians: δια το πρεσβευσαι τους Ὁμηριτας Ἰνδους προς Ῥωμαιους. And Theophylact Simocatta, who was writing at Constantinople at the beginning of the seventh century, reporting certain things pertaining to the people of the Homerites, adds these words: Ἰνδικον δε το γενος, και Ῥωμαιοις (or the Greeks of Constantinople) ὑπηκοον Book III, page 132, Bonn 1834.. With these agree Eusebius, Cedrenus and the old geographers Arrian, Nearchus, Aethicus and Julius Honorius In Wright, Early Christianity in Arabia, page 29, London 1855.. But that the Ethiopians too were not infrequently called Indians is again plain from the historians and other writers: Νειλος μεν ὁ ποταμος, ἐξ Ἰνδων ἐπ᾽ Αἰγυπτου φερομενος, δικα τεμνει την ἐκεινῃ γην, ἀχρι ες θαλασσαν. κ. τ. λ. Procopius, On Buildings, book VI, page 331, Bonn 1828.. Most clearly Servius on Virgil, Georgics II, 116: We take India to be the whole region of Ethiopia. The same is taught by John, bishop of Asia, below at number 113; and there may be read Job Ludolf discussing this matter more at length in the Commentary on the Ethiopic history Page 75 and following..

[35] St. Matthew preached the faith not in Homeritis, but in Nubia, Let us now return to St. Matthew, who Assemani writes preached the Gospel to the Asiatic Ethiopians, or Indians. But we observe that he has no weight of reasons by which he should incline to one opinion rather than to the other; for he incautiously followed Tillemont, who judged that no part of African Ethiopia received the faith before St. Frumentius. Let there be read what our Stilting wrote on the apostolate of St. Matthew at the 21st day of September, on which he is venerated: in which he not only washes away Tillemont's objections, but demonstrates at length what had already been proposed by Ludolf, that St. Matthew was the apostle of northern Ethiopia, or Nubia; of which part was formerly called Sennaar Acta SS. volume VI of September, page 206 and following.. Finally it is helpful to observe generally with Ludolf that most of the ancients imagined India for themselves as it pleased them, so that to them India is nothing other than some unknown and remote southern region, whose special name is not known Ludolf, Commentary, page 76.. For, as the same man adds, they knew rightly neither the beginning nor the end of India. Wherefore Procopius writes in the sixth century of the Saracens of southern Arabia: Μεθ᾽ οὑς δητα γενη των Ἰνδων ἐστιν: After these follow the peoples of the Indians On the Persian War, book I, volume I, page 100..

[36] it appears from Eusebius But if it cannot be concluded from ancient monuments that the apostle Matthew preached in Arabia, many things suggest this of St. Bartholomew; who, as the same Stilting shows at large after others, is the same as Nathanael Volume V of August, page 7 and following.. Let us hear Eusebius narrating the deeds of Pantaenus, a Christian philosopher, who also himself is counted among the apostles of Arabia: Such ardour of spirit, he says, is the same man (Pantaenus) reported to have shown towards the word of God, that he stood forth as a preacher of the Gospel of Christ to the nations of the East (τοις ἐπ᾽ ἀνατολης ἐθνεσιν), advancing even to India itself (μεχρι και της Ἰνδων στειλαμενον γης). For there were a number of evangelists of the word of God even then, who, enkindled by a certain divine emulation, hastened after the example of the apostles to contribute their zeal to the building up of the faith and the increase of the divine word. Of whose number Pantaenus is said to have penetrated even to the Indians (εἰς Ἰνδους ἐλθειν λεγεται), and there to have found the Gospel of Matthew, which had already preceded his arrival, among certain persons imbued with the knowledge of Christ: to whom, namely, Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, had formerly, as the report goes, preached, and had left the Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew letters; which indeed is recorded to have been preserved down to the aforesaid times. This Pantaenus then, after many splendid deeds, finally presided over the school of Alexandria; where partly by living voice, partly by writings, he set forth the treasures of the divine dogmas Eusebius, book V, chapter X..

[37] and especially from Jerome that St. Pantaenus was sent to Brahmanic India: St. Jerome has similar things in the book on ecclesiastical writers, chapter 36: Pantaenus, a philosopher of the Stoic sect, according to a certain old custom in Alexandria, where from Mark the evangelist there were always ecclesiastical teachers, was of such prudence and erudition, both in the divine scriptures and in secular literature, that he was sent into India also, at the request of the legates of that people, by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria (about the year of Christ 190) Tillemont, Mémoires, volume III, page 172.; where he found that Bartholomew, of the twelve apostles, had preached the coming of the Lord Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew, which, written in Hebrew letters, he brought back with him on returning to Alexandria. These passages of Eusebius and Jerome are recited also by Stilting in the Acts of St. Bartholomew, and he contends that they are to be understood of Gangetic or Brahmanic India, conceding however that St. Bartholomew preached in Arabia Felix also. To which point he shows that that India was known to Eusebius and Jerome Volume V of August, page 22 and following.. As regards Jerome, he not only knew it, but affirms in express words that St. Pantaenus went to it: Pantaenus, a philosopher of the Stoic sect, he says in letter 70 Migne, Patrology, volume XXII, column 667., on account of the glory of his outstanding erudition, was sent by Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, into India; that he might preach Christ among the Brahmans and the philosophers of that people. Which passage of Jerome is to be joined with the preceding,

in which, writing of the India to which Pantaenus went, he added: Where he found that Bartholomew, of the twelve apostles, had preached the coming of the Lord Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew, etc.

[38] [there, or in Homeritis, he found the Hebrew Gospel used by St. Bartholomew. He seems to have preached in India on this side of the Indus.] This then is beyond doubt from Jerome, that legates came from Brahmanic India to Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, and that St. Pantaenus was sent there. Secondly, it seems similarly certain from Jerome that in this very Brahmanic India St. Bartholomew announced the faith, and that his Hebrew codex of the Gospel of St. Matthew was found. To which latter conclusion, however, some things can be objected. And first indeed, that St. Bartholomew, by the consent of many, can be called the apostle of Arabia Felix and preached the Gospel in it; as will presently be shown. Next, if he went to Brahmanic India, as is likely, that it was nevertheless not the arena of his martyrdom; since nearly all attribute this glory to Armenia Volume V of August, page 27.; to which no one has thought that the presbyters of Alexandria were called by the Indian legates (who reached Alexandria by the Indian Sea and the Arabian Gulf, or perhaps carried on the camels of the Arabs). From which it occurs to ask thus: Why should not St. Bartholomew rather have left his Hebrew codex among the Sabaeans, or Homerites, who used a Semitic tongue, near to the Hebrew, and among whom it is likely that Jewish merchants dwelt; than among the Indians, speaking a tongue different in every way? However that may be, we judge that St. Bartholomew reached that India which is on this side of the river Indus, to which he could easily have come from Arabia across the strait of the Persian Gulf whose name is Harmozon, commonly Ormuz, or by the Indian Sea. And from there we judge that he passed over to Armenia through Persia and Parthia: of which regions there is mention in the history of his martyrdom Ibid. at the place cited..

[39] he was the apostle of Arabia also: a passage of Rufinus is explained, That St. Bartholomew announced the faith in Arabia is taught by very many ancient writers, nor has any of them expressly denied it: In that division of the world, says Rufinus, book X, chapter 9, which was celebrated by lot by the apostles for preaching the word of God; when different provinces fell to different men; to Thomas Parthia or Persia, since the Parthians at that time occupied nearly all this kingdom; and to Matthew Ethiopia, and adjoining it hither India (that is Arabia Felix, which was called India much more frequently than African Ethiopia) is said to have been assigned by lot to Bartholomew. Between which and Parthia, in the middle, but by a long tract farther in, lies further India, inhabited by many and various tongues and peoples. In which with others in Pliny, book VI, chapter 20, he extends this India about as far as the Persian Gulf. Which, as far remote, no ploughshare of apostolic preaching had marked, concerning which it will be said in the Acts of St. Thomas the apostle. Which nevertheless in the time of Constantine received the first seeds of the faith from some such cause. A certain Metrodorus, a philosopher, for the sake of viewing places and exploring the world, is said to have penetrated further India, etc. Invited also by whose example a certain Meropius, a philosopher of Tyre, wished for a similar cause to go to India, having with him two little boys, whom he was instructing in liberal letters, as being his relatives. Of whom one, who was the younger, was called Edesius, the other Frumentius, etc.

[40] [in which he does not distinguish Brahmanic India from African India, or Ethiopia.] In these words Rufinus openly distinguishes two Indias, the one hither, adjoining Ethiopia, which we have said corresponds to southern Arabia, and in which St. Bartholomew preached the faith; the other further, which is situated between the hither one and Parthia, or eastern Persia: and which we do not doubt corresponds to India on this side of or around the Indus. Then he writes of Metrodorus: He is said to have penetrated further India; which from what precedes is to be understood of the Brahmanic. For the rest, this is asserted in express words by Cedrenus at the 21st year of Constantine: A certain Metrodorus, a Persian, he says, under pretext of philosophizing, betook himself into India to the Brahmans Volume I, page 516, edition of 1838.. But Rufinus in what follows, where he writes that Meropius went to the same India with the two boys Aedesius and Frumentius, and that through these it received the first seeds of the faith in the time of Constantine, no longer distinguishes that further or Brahmanic India from Abyssinia, which was also itself called India. Although he relates that Frumentius went on to Alexandria, and, after he had been consecrated bishop by St. Athanasius, returned to his own India. Here then Rufinus sins and badly understood Aedesius, the brother of St. Frumentius, whom he addressed at Tyre. For it is most certain that St. Frumentius was the apostle of Abyssinia; as will be more richly established in the following volume. In this passage, therefore, which has seemed to the learned men Ludolf Commentary etc., page 76., Pagi At the year 327, number 14 and following. and not a few others almost impossible to unravel, Rufinus has shown himself little acquainted with geography.

[41] [Socrates and Theodoret imitated him. The opinion of the celebrated Letronne. Bartholomew the apostle of the Homerites from Philostorgius.] Socrates copied Rufinus almost word for word in book I, chapter 15: Thomas obtained Parthia…, Matthew Ethiopia; Bartholomew received by lot India, which borders on it. But inner India (which is called further by Rufinus), which very many barbarous peoples inhabit, etc. Theodoret too follows Rufinus in book I, chapter 22, correcting his master in nothing, and the India to which Meropius went with Frumentius and Aedesius, and which Rufinus called further and Socrates inner, he himself calls the last: την ἐσχατην Ἰνδιαν. That Metrodorus and Meropius did not go to Brahmanic India, but only to Abyssinia, the celebrated Letronne judged, I know not for what reason Mém. de l'Institut, volume X, page 236 and following, Paris 1833., and that the narratives of all can be reconciled by comparing with one another the words: Further India, ἡ ἐνδοτερω Ἰνδια, ἡ ἐσχατη Ἰνδια, etc. In which matter he spent useless labour; for if this is admitted, after Cedrenus and the fairly open narrative of Sozomen, that Meropius first went to Brahmanic India, and on his return (by the customary road, namely the Arabian Gulf) put in at a certain port of Abyssinia, or African India, all things are easily understood, and the words retain their proper signification. But that the discussion may turn again to St. Bartholomew, that he was the apostle of the Homerites was most openly taught among the ancients by Philostorgius: of whom Photius has these words in the excerpts, book II, chapter 6: The impious Philostorgius, a follower of the Arian heresy, says that the inner Indians who were converted to the worship of Christ by the preaching of the apostle Bartholomew profess the unlike substance of the Son… And these Indians, he says, were formerly called Sabaeans from the city of Saba, which is the head of the whole people; but are now called Homerites. With Philostorgius, if less in words, yet openly in substance, agrees pseudo-Dorotheus in the catalogue of the apostles: Bartholomew the apostle, he says, to the Indians who are called happy (Ἰνδοις τοις καλουμενοις εὐδαιμοσι), having preached Christ, and having given them the Gospel of Matthew, etc. [Chronicon paschale, page 435 in the appendix, Paris 1688; compare Sophronius in Fabricius, Bibliotheca ecclesiastica, part I, page 225, Hamburg 1718.]. This Dorotheus is followed by the Menology of the emperor Basil, written in the tenth century, in which similarly St. Bartholomew is said to have set out into happy India Menologium Græcorum by order of Basil etc. part 2, page 197, Urbino 1737..

[42] Seeds of the Christian religion were brought into Arabia by merchants also. But that in the apostolic age some seeds of the faith were carried from Palestine by merchants into Arabia, as we have hinted above, is altogether likely. The camels of the Arabs seem indeed to have come a little more rarely to Syria from the time when the Romans took possession of this kingdom, as the celebrated F. Movers deduces from the words of Strabo Die Phönizier, volume 3, page 144 and 291., but soon the fear of the victors decreased, and they betook themselves according to custom to the fairs at Hebron, which is called by Jerome a most celebrated market Commentary on Jeremiah, chapter 31, and on Zechariah, chapter 11., and to others. For Sozomen writes in the fifth century of the place of the Terebinth, about two and a half kilometres from Hebron Compare Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XVI, page 222. and forty-five towards the south from Jerusalem: In which place true history testifies that the Son of God, together with two angels sent against the Sodomites, appeared to Abraham, and foretold to him the son who was to be born. There moreover in summer time a celebrated market is held every year by the inhabitants of that place, and by those who live further off, Palestinians, Phoenicians and Arabs. Many others also come together there for the sake of trading, partly to sell, partly to buy. For this feast is celebrated with the greatest attendance of all: of the Jews, because they boast of Abraham as the founder of their people; of the pagans, because Angels came there; of the Christians, finally, because at that time he appeared in the likeness of a man, who long afterwards, born of a Virgin for the salvation of the human race, showed himself manifest to all Sozomen, book II, chapter 4.. Here is the opinion of the theophanies of the Son of God under the old law, to say so in passing, most manifestly proposed. Of the journeys of the Arab merchants St. Jerome writes about the beginning of the fifth century Letter 129 to Dardanus, Migne, Patrology, volume XXI, column 1104.: These are they who according to the character of the places are called by different names, and from Mauretania through Africa and Egypt, Palestine and Phoenicia, Coele-Syria and Osrhoene, Mesopotamia and Persia, make their way to India. By these journeys of the Arabs we do not doubt that seeds of the Christian religion were from time to time brought into the peninsula; especially when in the reign of Constantine many churches began to be built through the whole empire, and episcopates erected: and in the cities of the East the Christian cause not only flourished, but even ruled.

[43] [St. Hippolytus, called of Porto, was bishop of no Arabian city. Christian names in the history of the province of Hedjaz in the 1st century; signs of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Virgin in the Caaba.] Yet of the Christians of the Arabian peninsula in the first centuries of the Church we know scarcely anything, besides what we have collected on St. Bartholomew and Pantaenus. For St. Hippolytus, the most celebrated writer, who is venerated on the 22nd of August and who they said held the episcopate of the Roman Port, Stephen Le Moyne Varia sacra, volume I, in the Prolegomena, Leiden 1685. did indeed think was bishop of Adana (commonly Aden) in Yemana, from these words alone of Philostorgius (of which the discussion will return below at number 52): ἐν ᾡ “Ῥωμαιων ἐμποριον” ἐτυγχανεν … καλουσι δε το χωριον Ἀδανην, ἐνθα και τους ἐκ Ῥωμαιων ἀφικνουμενους ἐθος ἠν καθορμιζεσθαι. But after Ruggieri's dissertation on the see of St. Hippolytus In Migne, Greek Patrology, volume X, from column 395. and the inquiries

recently made into the book Φιλοσοφουμενων [Compare Döllinger, Hippolytus und Kallistus, page 53 and following and 89, Regensburg 1853.], no wise man will suppose this. But neither was Hippolytus bishop of Bostra, the metropolis of Arabia, or of another city of Arabia Deserta. A number of persons believed that he was, from an obscure passage of Pope Gelasius; but Cotelier aptly showed that the words of Gelasius came from a misunderstanding of Rufinus [Cotelier, Monumenta ecclesiæ Græcæ, volume II, column 639; compare Döllinger at the place cited, and M. P. Cruice, Hist. de l'église de Rome sous les pontificats de S. Victor etc., page 322, Paris 1856.]. In the second series of chiefs of the tribe of Djorhom, to whom the custody of the Arabs' temple of the Caaba was committed, and to whom some authority belonged over the province of Hedjaz, or at least over its part called Tehama, there comes out in the sixth place Abd-el-Masih, son of Bakila. But here a surname is detected, says the historian of the ancient Arabs Caussin, volume I, page 195 and following, and 198., and he seems to have been called by the true name Amr, or Amrus. And he reigned by the same historian's reckoning from the year of Christ 76 to 106. But the surname is very notable, since it signifies servant of the Messiah, that is, of Christ. From which it is natural to conjecture, says the same man, that besides the idols Christ himself was at that time worshipped in Hedjaz. This is strengthened by a very singular matter which el-Azraki reports from sincere tradition, reaching, as they say, to eyewitnesses: that images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, carved on a certain column of the temple of the Caaba, were adored by the Arabs in the pre-Islamic centuries [Compare Burckhardt, Voyage en Arabie, Eyriès edition, volume I, page 221; Ritter, volume XII, page 36.]. The same is reported by Harewi Travels of Ibn-Batouta, page 51. and by a recent writer of the life of Mahomet [Noël Desvergers, Vie de Mahomet, page 132; the same, Arabie, page 134, Paris 1847.].

§ IV. Christian kings of the Homerites; the embassy of Theophilus the Indian; the royal city of Taphar.

Abd-Kelal, a Christian king of the Homerites, in the 3rd century; In Homeritis before the sixth century, in which the persecution of the Jews arose, there were several Christian kings, as the historical monuments of the Arabs show. The first to be deemed worthy of this title, in the third century, is Abd-Kelal, son of Amr Dhu-l-Awad, if Abulfeda is to be credited, or son of Mathub, as Hamza of Isfahan teaches; and he reigned in Homeritis from about the year 273 to 297. He embraced the religion of Christ, says Hamza In Schultens, Imperium Joctanidarum, page 33., concealing it however, and not daring to profess it openly. To which Ibn-Khaldun and others add that Abd-Kelal was converted to the faith of Christ by a certain Syrian who had come to his court; but that, since there were at that time no Christians in Arabia Felix, the Himyarites, when his worship was discovered, rebelled, and killed the Syrian who had turned him away from their idols [Ibn-Khaldun in Caussin, volume I, page 107; Thalebi, Tabacat-el-Moluk, and the Liber Ennucat, ibid.]. That he was previously a pagan we also learn from the Himyaritic inscriptions of Mareb, which Cruttenden collected; by the first of which the said king is signified, as the learned geographer C. Ritter teaches after C. Roediger, the interpreter of the inscriptions Erdkunde, volume XII, page 82.: and Fulgence Fresnel seems to agree, who interpreted the same inscriptions from the more accurate edition of Th. Arnaud In Caussin at the place cited.. That first inscription runs thus: Abd-Kulalam (F. Fresnel: Abd-Kelalam) and his wife lent me (the name is not given) the temple, and his sons now yield it to me. — They have confirmed their words by invocation of the divinity. May their house enjoy goods of fortune by the help of the gods. And this gift was made in the month Charib of the year 537. If the sons of Abd-Kelal, king of Homeritis, are here signified, they use an Arabian era, which will have begun about 200 years before Christ. For Marthad, or Morthid, son of Abd-Kelal, reigned in Homeritis from about the year 330 to 350 [Caussin, page 111; De Sacy at the place cited, volume XLVIII, page 554; Hamza, page 35.]: but the learned observe that the eras of the Arabs before Mahomet were very many. For the rest this inscription, in whatever way it is to be understood, is by no means opposed to what has been said on the conversion of King Abd-Kelal; since, as all the historians represent, he tried to conceal it from his subjects.

[45] [in the reign of his son Marthad they judge that there took place the embassy of Theophilus the Indian,] In the reign of Marthad, who is called Morthid by A. Schultens and de Sacy, son of Abd-Kelal, it must be said that there occurred the embassy of Theophilus, whom Philostorgius calls an Indian, but St. Gregory of Nyssa a Blemmyan (ὁ Βλεμμυς Θεοφιλος) Against Eunomius, book I, Migne, Greek Patrology, volume XLV, column 263.; both which appellations and the whole history of the legate having been weighed, since from the island Διβῳ, whose inhabitants were called Indians, he was sent as a very young man to Constantine the Great as a hostage, we do not doubt that Theophilus was born on some island of the Arabian Gulf or of the adjacent Indian Sea. Which opinion was first proposed by Peter von Bohlen, professor at Königsberg, not unknown to learned men for his skill in the Sanskrit tongue and several other Oriental ones. And he judges that the Διβουν of Philostorgius is Socotra, called in Sanskrit Dvipa sukhatara, or the happy island; from which Sanskrit or Indian word he judges that the Greek name of the island of Dioscorides, by which the Greeks call it, came forth Das alte Indien, volume II, page 139 and following.. And these things seem deservedly to be approved by more recent writers [Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, volume I, page 748, in Nève, Revue des sources nouv. pour l'ant. chrét. en Orient, page 71, Louvain 1852.], since we know from Ammianus Marcellinus Ammianus Marcellinus, book XXII, chapters 7 and 10. that an embassy came from the island of Socotra to the emperor Julian; and from Cosmas Indicopleustes [Cosmas Indicopleustes, book III, in Migne, Greek Patrology, volume LXXXVIII, column 170.] that about the year 530 it had many Christians. They are not, however, approved by the learned Letronne, who conjectures that Διβουν is an island of the Arabian Sea called Dhalak, at the gulf of Adulis and latitude 15° 40' [Compare Ritter, Erdkunde, volume I, page 238; Valentia, Travels, volume II, page 31 and following; Letronne, Mém. de l'Acad. volume X, page 247 and following.]; whose inhabitants were or could be called Blemmyes [Compare Quatremère, Mémoire sur les Blemmyes, page 129 and following; Sapeto, Viaggio e missione cattolica fra i Mensa ecc. page 60.], and which is similarly great, as Nicephorus calls Διβουν, or Διαβουν (ἐστι μεγαλη) Ecclesiastical History, book IX, chapter 18.; and that this was such may also be deduced from the narrative of Philostorgius. These things being premised, let the historian of the Arians be heard, narrating what Theophilus, bishop of his sect, did in Homeritis in the middle of the fourth century; and setting forth what the condition of the region was at that time.

[46] who was sent by the emperor Constantius to the Homerites: Philostorgius says that Constantius, who held the empire from the year 337 to 361, sent legates to those who were formerly called Sabaeans but now Homerites. This people is of those who were born to Abraham of Cetura: in which Philostorgius errs. See numbers 19, 21. And the region which they inhabit, he writes, is called by the Greeks great and happy Arabia, and reaches to the outermost ocean. And its metropolis is Saba, also called Mareb, from which city the Queen formerly set out to visit Solomon. And that people is of the circumcision, and is circumcised on the eighth day. They sacrifice also to the sun and moon and to native gods. No small multitude of Jews too is mixed with them. To these then Constantius sent an embassy, with the design of bringing them over to true piety. Accordingly he resolved to win over to himself the king of that people by magnificent gifts and the bland persuasion of words, and through him at once, having obtained the opportunity, to scatter there the seeds of religion. He asked also that it be permitted to the Romans sailing there, and to those inhabitants of the region who wished to be converted to the faith of Christ, to build churches. He also gave the legates a great quantity of money to spend on building churches. And the chief of this embassy was Theophilus the Indian. He had formerly, while Constantine was administering the empire, as a very young man been sent as a hostage by the Divaeans (παρα των Διβηνων) to the Romans. Their region is the island Divus (Διβους). And its inhabitants too are also surnamed Indians. Moreover he writes that this Theophilus, when he had lived long among the Romans, formed his manners to the highest perfection of virtue, and embraced the true opinion of God; and he testifies also that he chose the monastic life and was promoted to the rank of deacon, Eusebius laying his sacred hands on him.

[47] his attempts to propagate the Arian heresy among them. But these things were earlier. Afterwards, when he had undertaken to go on this embassy, he was adorned with the episcopal dignity by the men of his communion. Moreover Constantius, wishing that embassy to be magnificent and very pleasing, sent two hundred most noble horses from Cappadocia put on board ships, and many other gifts, partly to win admiration, partly to allure minds. Theophilus, then, having come to the Sabaeans, tried to persuade the prince of the people to worship Christ and withdraw from the error of the pagans. And the usual fraud and malice of the Jews was compelled to hide itself in the deepest silence (on Judaism growing strong in Homeritis especially from the beginning of the third century after the birth of Christ, see above from number 24), when Theophilus, by wonderful works performed, had shown again and again that the faith of Christ was invincible. And the embassy obtained a happy outcome, since the prince of that people passed over with sincere mind to true piety, and built three churches in that region, not however from the money which the legates had brought with them from the emperor, but from those expenses which he himself with eager spirit supplied from his private money, striving to display a greatness of spirit equal to the wonderful works of Theophilus. On which conversion of the king of the Homerites there will be room for doubt below.

[48] It is shown that the Tapharon of Philostorgius and of the Acts of St. Arethas And of those churches he built one in the metropolis of the whole people, which they call Tapharon. Tapharon is the present Dhofar (Dhafar, Zhafar, Zafar), of which Edrisi wrote in the middle of the twelfth Christian century Géographie d'Edrisi, volume I, page 148, Paris 1836.: Dhofar is the metropolis of the tract of Ihasseb, and was formerly reckoned among the greatest and most celebrated cities, in which the kings of Yemana had their seat. There were seen there the palaces of Zeidan, but now only ruins; and the inhabitants have greatly decreased in number. They preserve, however, the remains of their former fortune;

and they are sufficiently furnished with cultivated fields and the palm tree to sustain life. Edrisi had been preceded by Masudi, a writer of the tenth century, who says that Zhafar was the royal city of the Homerites, adding nothing, however, on its situation. Firuzabadi knew two cities Zafar, one near Sanaa in Yemana, the other near Mirbat in Hadramaut: and several have mentioned the latter, writing that it adjoins the sea, namely opposite the island of Socotra. But none of these says that it was at any time the royal city of the Homerites. Of these Djawhari, and especially Abulfeda, have spoken of the two places indiscriminately Ritter, volume XII, page 255 and 259.. And since the Mahometan traveller Istachri, and especially Ibn Batuta, extol maritime Zafar not a little, Fulgence Fresnel, a man most skilled in Arabian matters, did not hesitate to assert that this was the royal city of the Himyarites Lettres sur l'Arabie, in Journal Asiatique, 3rd series, volume 5 and following.. He who shortly afterwards wove together most accurately the history of the ancient Arabs, the most celebrated A. P. Caussin de Perceval, did not touch this geographical doubt: on which matter his aforesaid rival congratulates him Journal Asiatique, volume XVI, page 266, Paris 1850.. But no one will wonder at this who knows that the writer pursues only the bare history of the early Arabs; surely a troublesome matter, as is plain from the attempts of so many learned men: and that he took from the other things no more than seemed to him necessary for his end.

[49] is the present Dhafar Wherefore I shall not seem rash if, after the effort of one skilled man, I wish to weigh again the site of Taphar, the royal city of the Homerites; the more so because I am driven to it by the Acts of St. Arethas soon to be published, in which there is mention of it in many ways. I observe, then, in the first place that those who say that Taphar was the royal city, Philostorgius, the author of our Acts, and of the Arabs, Masudi and Edrisi, nowhere add that it was maritime. Next Djawhari, who first brought in some confusion, attributing the woods and precious stones of maritime Zhafar to that Zhafar which is situated inland and was the royal city of the Himyarites In Ritter, page 255 and 261., can by no means thus favour Fulgence Fresnel. Indeed Abulfeda too, while he records very many things on the port of Zhafar, after Istachri, adds, according to Edrisi, that it is also situated in Tehama of Yemana, and only 24 parasangs, or 72 Arabic miles, which are somewhat greater than present English ones, distant from Sanaa. This then is the third and most evident reason, that Edrisi describes Zhafar, the royal city of the Homerites, with no mention of a port or the sea, among the cities of inner Homeritis, in the sixth part of the second climate; and presently adds: From Dhofar (or Zhafar) to Damar, 36 miles; which Abulfeda contracts to 24, or 8 parasangs. From Damar to Sana, 40 miles… From Dhofar to Mareb, three stations: at which place it must be noted that the station of Edrisi is very often twice as great as the customary stations of the Arabs Compare Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XII, page 196., and that the celebrated traveller Thomas Arnaud, who in the year 1843 set out from Sana itself and visited Mareb, reached it only on the sixth day of the journey, although carried by camels.

[50] in inner Yemana. These things being premised, we rightly infer 1° that the Tapharon of Philostorgius and of our Acts, the royal city of the Himyarites, is the very Dhofar or Homeritic Zhafar of the more recent Arabs, and that it is situated in inner Yemana. 2° That it was in that place of Yemana in which Niebuhr saw the ruins of a certain Dhafar Description de l'Arabie, volume II, page 71., namely near Jerim; he by no means doubting that it was the Dhofar or Yemenite Dhafar of Edrisi and Abulfeda. For the measures just reported fit excellently with the ruins of Dhafar, as they are marked on his geographical map of Yemana. The same was visited in the year 1810 by U. J. Seetzen, who saw the foundations of the most ancient palace mentioned by Edrisi, and Himyaritic inscriptions, of which Niebuhr had already given notice. To this Himyaritic Zhafar pertains the proverb that occurs in the book Sahhlahh, of the tenth Christian century: Whoever enters Zhafar ought to know Himyaritic, or ὁμηριζειν; by which the Ishmaelite Arabs were warned that their own tongue was of no use at Zhafar. Fresnel wished in vain to understand this of the maritime city of the same name. For that Himyaritic was the tongue of inner Zhafar is certain from the inscriptions discovered there by the unhappy traveller Seetzen, which were the first of all to reach Europe In Ritter, volume XII, page 745.. But at maritime Zhafar no inscriptions have been seen; and the tongue Ehhkili, knowledge of which we owe to Fresnel, and which the inhabitants use, differs not only from the Ethiopic, but also from the tongue of the Himyaritic inscriptions [Compare Ritter there, page 47 and following; Bird, in Nouvelles annales des voyages, 1845, volume II, page 202 and following.], approaching rather the tongue of the Hebrews and Phoenicians. And this is the reason, unless I am mistaken, why the same learned man, recently interpreting the Himyaritic inscriptions of Mareb brought from Arabia by Thomas Arnaud, seems to have been silent on the Ehhkili tongue In Ritter, volume XII, page 862 and following; Journal Asiatique, 1845..

[51] Churches built at Taphar. It seems manifest to us, therefore, all these arguments having been drawn out and weighed, that Tapharon, the royal city of the Homerites, is Dhafar or Zhafar of inner Homeritis. But indeed, to return now to the narrative of Philostorgius, from it and from the Acts of St. Arethas this difficulty arises: that of the church which Theophilus the Indian built at Taphar, a century and a half later, there is no mention. For in the later monument we read these words at number 38: Then King Elesbaan, returning to the royal city, which there above at numbers 35 and 37 had been called Taphar, and digging the earth with his own hands for seven days, began the most holy church that is now seen. And he announced all these things as soon as possible to the most holy archbishop of Alexandria, and through him to the emperor Justin. And the archbishop consecrated as bishop a certain holy and orthodox man, and sent him to the Homerites and to King Elesbaan. Who, coming, sanctified the temple which King Elesbaan had built, and baptized all the inhabitants of the cities and neighbourhood. And from this it is plain that the church built at Taphar by Theophilus, as we readily admit from Philostorgius, had at the beginning of the sixth century long since been levelled to the ground by the idolaters, or given over to profane uses.

[52] [Theophilus also built churches at Adana and in a certain emporium of the Persian Gulf; his other journeys and deeds.] The Arian writer continues: And another church Theophilus built in that place in which there was a Roman emporium facing the outer ocean. And this place is called Adane, to which all who come from the Roman dominion are accustomed to put in. This is the present Aden; which in the year 1839, when it was taken by the English, from the devastations of the neighbouring Arabs, was peopled by no more than 600 inhabitants, but today enjoys 10,000. A third church finally, says Philostorgius, he built in another part of the region, where there is a celebrated Persian emporium, situated at the mouth of the Persian Sea, which is there. That the city of Hormuz, or Harmuza in Karamania, is signified here, is written by Assemani Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 602. and after him Neander Geschichte der christlichen Kirche, volume II, part 1, page 250.; but this is not certain, since Philostorgius does not say that the church was built in the Persian emporium itself. But Theophilus, so he continues, when he had arranged each thing among the Homerites as he could and as the condition of the time allowed, and had dedicated the churches, and adorned them with what ornaments he could, sailed to the island Divu, ἐπι την Διβου νησον, which we indicated above was his fatherland. And he went on to other regions of India; and corrected many things that were not rightly done among them. For they both heard the lessons of the Gospel sitting, and carried out some other things to which the divine law was opposed. But Theophilus, when he had corrected each thing among them according to a more holy rite and more acceptable to God, confirmed also the dogma of the Church. For concerning the worship of the divine Deity, says this impious man (Philostorgius, who is here deservedly accused of impiety and lying), they needed no emendation, as those who from the remotest antiquity most constantly professed the Son to be of another substance from the Father.

[53] [The time of the embassy: he more probably came in the reign of Wakia, son of Marthad.] This embassy of Theophilus is recorded by Philostorgius midway between what took place in the year of Christ 341, after Athanasius was driven from Alexandria, and the year 346, before the same Athanasius betook himself to the emperor of the West, Constans, brother of Constantius. For this reason it must be said to have taken place about the year of Christ 344, or perhaps some years later. And the celebrated Caussin judges that at that time there reigned among the Homerites Marthad, otherwise Morthid, son of Abdkelal; and this man we have said above was a Christian. To Marthad are ascribed twenty years of reign, namely from the year 330 to 350. He is commended for wisdom, greatness of spirit and power; he was merciful to the poor, most munificent to all. The Arab writers do not, however, represent him as a Christian; relating only how tolerant he was of the worship of any of his subjects; and how by his permission each might embrace what he wished, provided they were devoted to his rule. Therefore the said embassy of Theophilus seems to be drawn back to the reign of his son Wakia, who de Sacy writes reigned from the year 345 to 370 Mém. de littér. volume XLVIII, page 545., but the late historian of the Arabs only from the year 350. Thalebi, in the book Tabacat-el-moluk, writes that he was first a follower of the Jewish religion, then of the Christian, and finally wavered in mind between the two. However the matter stands, we know that his reign was very disturbed; and indeed Masudi writes that this disturbance began in the reign of Marthad, and lasted forty years. From elsewhere we learn from a Greek inscription of the middle of the fourth century, which Henry Salt discovered at Axum, that at that time the king of Ethiopia ruled over the Homerites or a part of them.

[54] The condition of Homeritis and Abyssinia at that time. Here is the beginning of the inscription, of which more in the following volume:

Λειζανας βασιλευς Αξωμειτων και Ομηριτων και του Ραειδαν και Αιθιοπων και Σαβαειτων και του Σιλεη και του Τιαμω και Βυγαειτων και του καεου βασιλευς βασιλεων υιος θεου ανικητου Αρεως Ατακτησαντων κατα καιρον του εθνους των Βουγαειτων απεστειλαμεν τους ημετερους αδελφους Σαιαζανα και τον Αδηφαν τουτους πολεμησαι κ. τ. λ. Valentia, Voyages, volume III, page 182 and following, London 1809.

That is: Aizanas, king of the Axomites and Homerites and Raidan and the Ethiopians and Sabaites and Silee (Zeila?) and Tiama and the Bugaites and Tocai (?), king of kings, son of Mars, the invincible god. The people of the Bugaites having rebelled on some occasion, we sent our brothers Saiazana and Adephan to war them down. At about the same and

like titles as Aizanas is adorned Tazena, father of St. Elesbaan, who reigned about the year 500, in the Ethiopic inscription which the learned missionary Joseph Sapeto found and interpreted at Axum [Nouv. Annales des Voy. year 1845, volume II, page 300; compare Dillmann, Zeitschrift der D. morgenl. Gesellschaft, volume VII, page 356.]. Here is its beginning: By the virtue of God who stretched out heaven and earth, the eternal Lord, who has established as king Tazena, son of Ala-amieda, a man of Halen, king of Aksum, and Hamer (Homeritis), and Raidan and Saba (an Ethiopian tract) and Selken and Tzaiom, and Ban, and Cassu, etc. Moreover by the title of Aizanas as king of the Homerites there are declared what Masudi writes on the disturbances of Homeritis in the reigns of Marthad and Wakia; and at the same time perhaps the easier access of Theophilus the Indian to their lands. For Aizanas not long afterwards became a Christian, as writers infer from the letter which the Arian emperor Constantius wrote to him and his brother Sazanas, in the year 356 or a little before; which St. Athanasius recites in the Apology to Constantius himself Migne, Greek Patrology, volume XXV, column 635.: and by it the emperor strives to induce the tyrants of the Axumites to send Bishop Frumentius, namely the same whom we have said was the apostle of Abyssinia, to Alexandria to George the pseudo-patriarch. What has been said so far, I say, confirms to some extent what Philostorgius wrote on the embassy of Theophilus; of which the first editor of Philostorgius, the learned James Godefroy, has these words: Which narrative, borrowed by Nicephorus, as I have said, from Philostorgius, Baronius held suspect at the year 354, numbers 14, 15, 16; since no others among the historians mention the same besides. I add that Philostorgius seems scarcely consistent with himself in everything, as is gathered from a comparison of chapter 6 of book II and chapter 4 of book III. Finally these things were written by Philostorgius with no other end than in favour of the Arians. Let us follow Philostorgius, who is not altogether false at least, or in all things, etc. Godefroy, Theodosian Code, volume IV, page 620, Leipzig 1740..

§ V. The Christian history of the tribes of western Arabia Deserta. St. Hilarion the apostle of Arabia Petraea and St. Euthymius of the Scenite Arabs; the latter founded the church of the Parembolae.

Why a summary of the Christian history of Arabia Deserta is given here. After the emperor Constantius and Wakia, who the learned men de Sacy and Caussin judge reigned in Homeritis down to the year 370, the monuments supply absolutely nothing on the condition of the Christian cause in inner Arabia, down to the beginning of the sixth century. Yet that it flourished in the fifth century in those parts of Arabia Deserta which adjoin Palestine and Egypt on the one side and the Euphrates on the other, many monuments represent. Nor is there any doubt that on account of the most frequent commerce between the Arabs of the peninsula and those who were called Scenites, the Christian religion was both sustained and greatly propagated in inner Arabia. For this reason, and because the kingdoms of Arabia Deserta, which were long very flourishing, are never passed over by the historians of the Arabs Compare Caussin, De Sacy, Noël Desvergers, Wright, Ritter, etc.; and finally because, as has been said, their history was not known when our predecessors were writing: it has seemed necessary to touch briefly on what in it concerns the Christian cause and especially hagiography.

[56] [On the Christians among the Salihites of Arabia Deserta down to about the year 205.] From the Arabian peninsula, both on the occasion of the rupture of the dam of Mareb (above at number 6) and for other causes, various tribes passed at various times into Arabia Deserta, that is into the deserts of Syria and the Euphrates region, called also western Irak. About the year of Christ 190 the Salihites, or Benu-Salih, came from Tehama, on the Red Sea, to Irak; in which reigned Odheyna, who several historians maintain was among the forebears of Septimius Odenathus, husband of the most celebrated Zenobia, queen of Palmyra [Compare Caussin, volume II, page 190 and following; Biogr. Univ. volume XXXI, under Odenath.]. A little later, about the year 205, other Arabs, called Ghassanids, came from inner Arabia to that part of the Syrian desert which is near Bostra; in which then the aforesaid Salihites, or a part of them, already subject to the Romans, were residing. That these Salihites were Christians is reported by the Arab writers Ibn-Khotaiba, Ibn-Hazm and Masudi Caussin, ib. page 213; Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XII, page 108., but that is doubtless to be understood of the times that followed. The Ghassanids, overcome by the Salihites, were forced to pay them tribute and to pass over to neighbouring lands Caussin, ib. page 203.. But since both lived under the rule of the pagan Romans, it cannot be that these peoples were Christian before peace was restored to the Church.

[57] [In the cities of Arabia Deserta in the 3rd century there were many Christians, as is shown] But although it can in no way be said that they were Christians universally, yet not a few of them were Christians; which we certainly know of the inhabitants of the cities. For Bostra, which is called by Ammianus Marcellinus, just as Gerasa and Philadelphia, a huge city of Arabia, and by Hierocles in the Synecdemus its metropolis, had its bishops at least from the beginning of the third century: as we learn from the history of Origen. For he, when this century was not far advanced, betook himself several times into what the geographers have called Arabia Deserta, from zeal either for preaching or for defending the Catholic faith. On these things, since they pertain to the Christian history of Arabia, Eusebius must be heard: About the same time, he says, Ecclesiastical History, book VI, chapter 19, while Origen was staying at Alexandria, a certain soldier, arriving, brought letters to Demetrius, bishop of the church, and to the prefect of Egypt, from the governor of Arabia (παρα του της Ἀραβιας ἡγουμενου, who was a Roman, not an Arab), by which he asked them to send Origen to him at once, to communicate his doctrine to him. Sent therefore by them, Origen went on into Arabia. And not long afterwards, the business for which he had come being finished, he returned to Alexandria. These things took place about the year 217. In this year, says Tillemont, in the reign of Macrinus, the governor of Arabia was a certain Gellius; but in the following year, about the end of the same reign, Reanus was adorned with that dignity Mémoires, volume III, page 522.. In chapter 20 of the same book Eusebius writes these words on Beryllus, bishop of Arabia: At the same time many churchmen excellent in doctrine were flourishing… Among these was Beryllus, bishop of the Bostrians in Arabia, who besides letters and lucubrations left also various monuments of an elegant talent.

[58] [from the history of Origen. On Beryllus of Bostra and the synods held in Arabia in the 3rd century.] And in chapter 33 of the same book VI he records that Beryllus fell into heresy and was corrected by Origen: At that time, that is in the reign of Gordian, Beryllus, of whom it has been spoken above, bishop of the Bostrians in Arabia, perverting the ecclesiastical rule, attempted to introduce certain new things alien to the Catholic faith; daring to assert that our Lord and Saviour, before he lived among men, did not subsist in the distinction of a proper person: nor had a divinity of his own, but only the Father's residing in him. And when a great many bishops had held questionings and disputations against him on this matter, Origen, being asked along with the rest, first indeed conversed familiarly with him, to find out what the man's opinion was. But after he clearly understood what he was saying, he refuted his error: and by the reasons and demonstrations brought forward, taking the convicted man as it were by the hand, he led him to the way of truth, and called him back to his former sound opinion. There exist today, says Eusebius, the published monuments both of Beryllus and of the synod gathered on his account; in which are contained both the questions proposed against him by Origen, and the disputations held in his church, and each thing that was then done Compare Fabricius, Bibliotheca Græca, volume XII, Harles edition, page 365.. Beryllus had at Bostra his church and presbyters; and from what is said of the synod other cities of Arabia too, for example Philadelphia and Gerasa, seem already then to have had their bishops Compare Rufinus, Apology, book II, Migne, Patrology, volume XXI, column 599.; but perhaps they were bishops without a see and of those chorbishops who were bishops of the true name: as in the fourth century there was still Bishop Asterius, who lived at Petra Oriens Christianus, volume III, column 723.. Origen was compelled to go to Arabia a third time also, and again on account of disputes over dogma; from which it becomes plain that as the third century advanced there were a great many Christians in Arabia Deserta, or at least in its cities: At the same time, says Eusebius, in chapter 37 of the same book VI, that is, in the third year of the emperor Philip, or a little after, about the year of Christ 246, others again in Arabia stood forth as authors of a certain dogma altogether alien to the truth. For they asserted that the souls of men in the present world perish and are corrupted together with their bodies: but that at the time of the resurrection they will return to life again at the same time with the same bodies. A not small council having therefore been convoked on this account (namely of fourteen bishops) Compare Fabricius at the place cited., Origen was again asked there also, and having set up a disputation on that question before the whole multitude, he contended with such strength that those who had previously fallen into error changed their opinion. We have deliberately omitted the heresy of Monoimus, on which the book Φιλοσοφουμενων discourses at length. For although Monoimus was an Arab (Μονοἳμος ὁ Αραψ) Migne, Greek Patrology, volume XVI, part 3, column 3358., it is by no means established that he published or propagated his heresy in Arabia. You might say that Monoimus was a disciple of Justin Martyr, just as Tatian, but that he likewise abandoned his master's opinions; for having set forth the doctrine of Monoimus, the author continues in these words: Τατιανος δε, και αὐτος γενομενος μαθητης Ἰουστινου του μαρτυρος, κ. τ. λ Ibid. column 3363.. At Bostra other bishops were conspicuous besides Beryllus, among whom Titus, called of Bostra See Migne, Greek Patrology, volume XVIII from column 1065., all of whose books against the Manichees have recently been rediscovered Nève at the place cited, page 81., part of which were reckoned lost; and Antipater, some of whose writings likewise have been preserved Migne at the place cited, volume LXXXV from column 1755..

[59] [On the Christians among the Salihites and Ghassanids in the later 3rd century and the following one; they could found no monasteries in this age: the people of the Ghassanids began to be converted] The Salihite Arabs, who had come more recently, gradually themselves too began to inhabit cities, and from among them, after Zenobia of Palmyra had been taken off to Rome by Aurelian to adorn his triumph, some chiefs, or phylarchs of the Arabs of Syria, are represented as having been taken up: of whom some

they say were Christians, especially a certain Dawud, or David, who had settled at Medaba [Compare Robinson, Voyage en Palestine et en Syrie, volume II, page 252, Paris 1838.], not far from Jericho; and this is to some extent confirmed by his name, unusual among the Arabs Caussin, volume II, page 200 and following.. The Ghassanids, who had come from Homeritis itself [Abulfeda and Masudi in De Sacy, Mémoires de littérature, volume XLVIII, page 572 and following; Pococke, Specimen etc. page 77.] into Syria, having won a victory over the Salihites and their prince Dawud, obtained the phylarchy of Syria from the Romans in preference to them; which they judge took place a little after the year 292, Diocletian holding the empire. The first princes of the tribe of the Ghassanids were Djafna, or Djofna, from about the year 205; Amrus, son of Djafna, from the year 248; and Thalaba, son of Amrus, who about the year 300 obtained the dignity of phylarch. That these three were Christians is written by Abulfeda and Hamza of Ispahan, and they add that they founded monasteries in Syria, Deir-Hali, Deir-ejjub and Deir-Hind; as they ascribe others also to those who thereafter held the phylarchy [Ritter, volume XII, page 108 and following; Caussin at the place cited, page 213.]. But to these things we can scarcely or not even scarcely give credence. For although it was shown in our work a few years ago that monasteries flourished in some places even while persecutions raged Volume VIII of October, page 426 and 842 and following., who would believe that the Christian religion was then practised by the very princes of the Ghassanids, and, what is far more wonderful, that monasteries were erected, without this having been recorded by Eusebius, a bishop in neighbouring Palestine, and other historians of the churches of the East? There may not have been lacking Christians among the Salihites and Ghassanids of Arabia Deserta, since there were many among the old inhabitants of the cities of that region, and besides they lived as it were surrounded by the Christians of Palestine, Syria, the tract of Edessa, Mesopotamia and Persia [Compare Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 38 and following.]; but we judge that the conversion of the people and its phylarchs took place gradually from the peace granted to the Church in the reign of Constantine, and that it was greatly advanced about the middle of the fourth century.

[60] [especially by Constantine the Great. Mawia, Christian queen of the Ghassanids, and St. Moses] This the following things suggest. First of all the whole Roman world then became Christian; and since the Ghassanids were not only neighbours of the Romans, but also allies or in some way subject to them, and the barbarians revered the emperor Constantine, the conversion of the phylarchs recorded by the historians of the Arabs as made earlier is likely to have first taken place at this time. Next, to the council of Nicaea, in the year 325, there subscribed bishops of the kingdom of Ghassan, Nicomachus of Bostra, Cyrion of Philadelphia, Gennadius of the Esbundi (Hesebon), Severus of Dionysias, Chilon of Constantia; from neighbouring Second Phoenicia, Magnus of Damascus, Anatolius of Emesa and Marinus of Palmyra; and from the Arabian cities of Palestine, Peter, bishop of Aila. These bishops, moreover, when Constantine became monarch of the empire, enjoyed great authority and easily led many pagans of their diocese to the true faith. Third, in the reign of the emperor Valens, about the year 372, Mawia or Mavia, queen of the western Saracens, or Ghassanids, revolted from the Romans, and made war on them so vigorously that they were compelled to propose peace Rufinus, book XI, chapter 6; Sozomen, book VI, chapter 38.. When Mavvia, says Rufinus, who at that time was staying in Egypt or Palestine, had worn down the Roman army by frequent wars, and, many having been slain, had turned the rest to flight, being entreated for peace she promises that she will not embrace it otherwise than if a certain monk named Moses should be ordained bishop for her people, who, leading a solitary life in the desert near her parts, had become magnificently known by his merits and virtues and the signs which God did through him. Her petition, made known to the Roman prince, is ordered without any delay to be fulfilled by our generals, who had fought unhappily there.

[61] their bishop. Thereafter they had Christian kings. Socrates writes in book IV, chapter 30, that this Moses, who is venerated among the saints, and whose Acts were published by our predecessors at the 7th day of February, was a Saracen by race; from which, as from the narrative of Rufinus, it is plain that not a few among the Ghassanids were Christians in the reign of Valens, namely towards the year 370. Of Mavia, however, whether she was a Christian before the war with the Romans, there is room for doubt. For Theodoret, who flourished in neighbouring Syria in the following century, reports that Mavia, after many battles fought, first made a treaty with the Romans, then, having received the light of divine knowledge, asked that a certain Moses, who dwelt on the borders of Egypt and Palestine, be designated bishop for her people. On the contrary Theophanes writes that she was a Christian from the beginning: Having brought Moses with her, he says, Mavia made many of the Saracens Christians. They report that she was Christian by religion, Roman by race, but, carried off among the captives, greatly pleasing to the king of the Saracens for the beauty of her face, she in this way obtained the power of the kingdom Theophanes, volume I, page 101.. But what he relates of her race will seem difficult to believe. Whether all the kings of Ghassan after Mawia were Christians has not been certainly ascertained; but that they were is suggested both by the perpetual wars with the Saracens of Hira, almost all of whose kings, until the hypocrisy of Mahomet arose, were pagans, and who were subject to the empire of the Persians; and by the treaty and friendship with the Romans, or Byzantine emperors. Moreover not a few kings of Ghassan are represented as having founded monasteries; and finally that after Mawia all were Christians is manifestly enough taught by A. P. Caussin, especially acquainted with the early history of the Arabs Volume II, page 228..

[62] Brought to the faith especially For the rest, how they were gradually brought over to the faith Sozomen teaches us in these words: The Christian religion too, he says, the Saracens, or Ghassanids, embraced not long before the times of this emperor whose deeds we are describing, namely Valens. And they were brought over to the faith of Christ by the conversations of priests and monks, who in the solitudes neighbouring on them gave themselves to philosophy, and shone with holiness of life and miracles. Sozomen then narrates by way of specimen how Zocomus the phylarch and his tribe came to the faith: It is reported, he says, that their whole tribe passed over to the religion of Christ at the time when Zocomus, their phylarch, received baptism for a cause of this kind. Being childless, he was brought by the fame of a certain monk to come to him, to converse with him; and began to deplore his calamity. For among the Saracens, and among all the other barbarians, as I think, the procreation of children is of great account. The monk told him to be of good courage, and having made a prayer, sent the man away, promising that a son would be born to him, if he was willing to believe in Christ. And afterwards, when God had shown the promise in reality, and a son had been born to Zocomus, he himself then received the sacrament of baptism, and brought his subjects to receive the same. And from that time they represent that tribe as happy and numerous, and formidable to the Persians (from which it is manifest that it was of the Ghassanids) and to the other Saracens Sozomen, book VI, chapter 38.. The phylarch Zocomus, whom Nicephorus calls Zacomus, seems the same Caussin at the place cited, volume II, page 215 and following. as a certain Arcam, of the race of Thalaba and Djafna, kings of Ghassan, who, although he himself is not read to have been king, yet perhaps ruled in some part of the kingdom; and he flourished before Valens, in the reign of Constantine the Great or of his sons.

[63] by monks. St. Hilarion, apostle of the southern Ghassanids. Since at this place we are writing of the conversion of the Scenite Saracens to the faith and of their apostles, there pertain here both what my colleague recited from Sozomen in the preceding volume Acta SS. volume IX of October, page 62, number 8.; and very many things from the Acts of St. Hilarion that were published there. For Baronius writes not without merit that this saint laid the foundations of the faith among the Saracens At the year 372, number 103.; and Tillemont judges that he can be called their first apostle Mém., volume VII, page 567, Paris 1706.. Which, however, are to be understood especially of the Saracens dwelling between Palestine and Egypt; chiefly of the city of Elusa, in which St. Hilarion brought many Saracens to the faith. To the conversion of Majuma, not far from Gaza, he seems also to have contributed very much Acta SS. at the place cited, page 20 and following: and 51, number 16.; which city, from what has been said above at number 1, was without doubt partly Saracen. St. Hilarion departed from life in the year 371, at which time Mawia, queen of the Ghassanids, embraced the Catholic faith: and from then on priests and monks will have obtained fruit among them with easy labour. And that is the reason why thereafter in the Lives of the Saints of Palestine and Syria, where there is discussion of the conversion of the Saracens to the faith, the narrative is to be understood almost only of the Saracens of Hira; which otherwise is easily perceived from the writers themselves.

[64] [St. Euthymius, another apostle of the Scenite Arabs. On a colony of the Arabs of Hira] In the year 405 St. Euthymius, monk and priest, took refuge at the monastery of Pharan, beside the road which leads from Jerusalem to Jericho; and when he began to flourish there with the fame of sanctity, he obtained many disciples, and founded very many monasteries in the neighbourhood. That he, and St. Hilarion, and St. Simeon Stylites, were the three chief apostles of the Scenite Arabs is not to be doubted. What was done by St. Euthymius to the benefit of the Saracens Cyril of Scythopolis, his biographer, most worthy of credit and almost contemporary, proceeds thus to narrate: What pertains to the old Terebon, he says, all the ancient fathers narrated to me in agreement; but his grandson, who has the same name, the most celebrated prefect of the Saracens of this region, that is of the colony of Saracens of Hira which St. Euthymius had established, reported the matter to me more accurately. This old Terebon, then, grandfather of the younger, when he was very young and under puberty, struck by a demon, withered in his whole right side from head to feet. And his father, called Aspebetus, spent much money and helped him nothing more. Moreover this Aspebetus, being a pagan and tributary of the Persians, namely an Arab of Hira, came into the dominion of the Romans by treaty in this way. At the beginning of the persecution then raised in Persia about the end of the reign of Isdegerd, about the year 418, when the magi wished to seize all the Christians, they stationed prefects of the subject Saracens on all roads, that none of the Christians living in Persia should flee to the Romans.

[65] [founded by him; on the occasion of the persecution of Isdegerd 1 they had departed from the lands of the Persians] But Aspebetus, being prefect at that time, when he saw this savagery and inhumanity stirred up against the Christians by the magi of the city, moved with pity, no one

of the Christians did he hinder from flight. Indeed, having compassion on them, he helped them, although he practised the religion of the pagans from his forefathers. Accused therefore before King Isdegerd, taking his half-withered son Terebon, with all his kindred and substance he fled over to the Romans; and Anatolius, then prefect of the East, receiving them, subjected them to the Romans by a sanctioned treaty, and appointed Aspebetus prefect of the Saracens subject by treaty to the Romans who were staying in Arabia. And so when they had pitched their tents in Arabia, the youth told his father a vision that had come to him in a dream. And he without delay, taking his son with a multitude of barbarians and attendants, carried by faith, came to the place indicated by the dream, where the holy men Euthymius and Theoctistus dwelt. And the brethren, seeing the band of barbarians, were seized with fear. But Theoctistus of blessed memory, noticing the timidity of the disciples, himself approached the barbarians, to whom he said, etc… Theoctistus of blessed memory reported these things to the great Euthymius, who was living in retreat; and Euthymius, reckoning it an impiety to resist divine visions, came down to them, and with prayers earnestly poured out to God, by marking him with the sign of the cross restored Terebon healed. Then all the barbarians believed in Christ, and when St. Euthymius had instructed them, they were baptized by him.

[66] Their leader Aspebetus is ordained bishop. And Aspebetus, whose name was Persian, and whom, I know not for what reason, Metaphrastes writes was a Greek [Acta SS. volume II of January, page 305, number 18; Cotelier, Ecclesiæ Græcæ monumenta, volume II, page 216.], he renamed Peter; whom he also first baptized. And after him a certain Maris, his wife's brother, both excellent in erudition and flourishing in the splendour of riches, then Terebon and others he baptized. And when he had kept them with him for forty days, and had enlightened and strengthened them with the divine word, he dismissed them no longer Agarenes, or Saracens and Ishmaelites, but made sons of Sara and heirs of the promise, and through baptism transferred from slavery to freedom. And Maris, Terebon's uncle, did not again withdraw from the monastery; but renouncing the world he remained there for the rest of his life, and greatly pleased God. And all his goods, which were indeed many, he furnished for building and enlarging the monastery Analecta græca, page 19 and following, Paris 1688.. St. Euthymius then withdrew for some time, seized by love of quiet; and when he had returned, he baptized many Saracens again and again. These, then, having so greatly multiplied, says Cyril, and spread out into various camps (εἰς διαφορους παρεμβολους), our great Father Euthymius, sending to Juvenal, patriarch of Jerusalem, asked for the ordination of a bishop. And when Juvenal had promised this, he sent him Peter, father of Terebon, as fitted for leading souls to salvation: and so Peter is ordained in Palestine the first bishop of the camps (των παρεμβολων ἐπισκοπος). And one could see a multitude of barbarians who came to the great Euthymius and were baptized, and were taught to adore God, the ruler of all. And so much for the Saracens.

[67] [This colony, called Parembole, is overthrown by the Thalabite and Hirene Saracens;] There must not be omitted at this place what Cyril writes on the Parembole in the additions to the Life of St. Euthymius. These were indeed missing in the codex of the genuine Cyril which B. Montfaucon published, but they were preserved in his μεταφρασει by Simeon, called Metaphrastes: whose narrative was believed to be Cyril's own by Baronius At the year 509, number 8., Henschen, Cotelier, and, what you may wonder at, long after the Maurist edition, by M. Lequien himself Oriens Christianus, volume II, column 763 and following.. At the beginning, namely, of the reign of Anastasius, in the year, as it seems, 491 or 492, war was being waged in eastern Syria between the Ghassanids and those of Hira; whose king Aswad was finally conquered and slain. About the same time Syria had been invaded by Arethas, son of Amr-el-Macsur, of the people of Kinda, with the Thalabite Arabs; who, carrying on a long devastation, joined himself now to the Arabs of Hira, now to the Romans: until in the year 502 Anastasius made a treaty with him [Caussin, volume II, page 65, 69 and following, and 291; Theophanes, page 222; Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume I, page 276.]. To the invasion of these Thalabite or Hirene Arabs must be referred what Metaphrastes narrates after Cyril: In the following years, he says, when Anastasius had received the empire after Zeno, and the barbarians, that is the pagan Thalabites or Hirenes, had made an incursion and had devastated and ravaged a great part of the desert, they overthrew also the very tents of the Agarenes, which the great Euthymius had recently fixed for them. Then those of them who were more distinguished raised others for themselves around the monastery of the monk Martyrius, and erected churches. But when the barbarians again attacked them, they slew some, and carried off others captive; and some they drove into other villages, namely those who came out of this unexpected danger superior, since this incursion of the barbarians there had been great and most grievous [Cotelier, Monumenta, volume II, page 307; Acta SS. of January, volume II, page 322, number 125.].

[68] [but it is soon restored. On Angaeus, count of the Parembole, and Aspebetus, or Peter, its bishop.] To the same Arethas the Thalabite, and to Aswad, king of Hira, must doubtless be referred what the same Metaphrastes has at number 143 (or Cyril, since he changes not so many things in his metaphrasis): When the prefects of the tribes subject to the Roman empire, Arethas, who after the year 502 could be and is called subject to the Romans by the contemporary Joshua the Stylite Bibliotheca orientalis, volume I at the place cited., and Asuades, who is wrongly called subject here, perhaps by an error of Metaphrastes, had taken up arms and war against one another, the barbarians, often scattered through the desert, both plundered money and overthrew houses… At one time therefore, as we sat before the entrance of the monastery, so Cyril speaks, there approached two certain barbarians; and with them there was also a Christian, Thalabas by name, a kinsman of the Agarenes who had formerly been baptized by Euthymius: bringing a demoniac barbarian from their multitude, etc. And he was cured at the tomb of St. Euthymius. And Aswad, king of Hira, is conjectured in the History of the ancient Arabs Caussin at the place cited, page 67. to have been slain in the year 491; but from the narrative of Cyril his death seems to need putting back a year or two. Moreover that the Parembolae, or camps of the Saracens, were restored after the plundering which took place at that time we learn from the synodal letters of John, patriarch of Jerusalem, against Severus the Monophysite heretic; to which there subscribes in the year 518 Valens, bishop των Παρεμβολων Oriens Christianus at the place cited, column 770.. I do not doubt that the count of the same Saracen camps in the year 523 was that Angaeus, son of Zet, whom our Acts of St. Arethas mention at number 25 in these words: In the presence of Angaeus the count, son of Zet, Christian ethnarch of the whole camp, or of all the military colony, της πασης παρεμβολης. And concerning Peter, bishop of the camp of the Saracens, who before baptism was called Aspebetus, Cyril adds that he went to the synod of Ephesus in the year 431, and that St. Euthymius enjoined him as he departed that he should in every way follow Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, and Acacius, bishop of Melitene, who were orthodox and fought against impiety Analecta græca, page 40 and following.. Which it is manifest from Cyril's narrative that he also did. Indeed he was one of the three prelates, says Lequien Oriens Christianus at the place cited, column 769., whom the fathers delegated both to Nestorius and also to John of Antioch Labbe, Councils, volume III, column 453 and 639., to invite them to the synod. Finally he subscribed to all the decrees of this synod: Πετρος ἐπισκοπος Παρεμβολων ὑπεγραψα Ibid. column 541 and 692.. And from these things this most flourishing colony of Christian Saracens becomes known enough. And that in the same age of the synod of Ephesus a great many cities of Arabia Deserta had their bishops will be taught by the often praised work, the Oriens christianus Oriens Christianus, volume II from column 854; volume III from column 722..

[69] [St. Sabas cultivated the Ghassanid Saracens; the city of Medaba was then long Christian.] The most illustrious monk of Palestine, St. Sabas, whose monastery is still seen at the torrent Cedron, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, lived for some time under St. Euthymius and was sent by him to the neighbouring monastery of Abbot Theoctistus. In the course of time he was ordained priest by Sallust, patriarch of Jerusalem, and appointed archimandrite of all the anchorites of Palestine. Of him Eutychius, a writer of the tenth century, writes: That eminent Saba, who turned our desert into cities, and made it inhabited, who is the star of Palestine Selden edition, page 137; in Th. Wright, Christianity in Arabia, page 83.. He did not a few things to the benefit of the Saracens Cotelier, volume III, page 235, 239, 290 and following., but since most were Ghassanids and Christians, it is nowhere said that he converted Saracens to the faith. I wonder therefore that the celebrated Thomas Wright writes At the place cited, page 84. that he led to the Christian religion the city of Medaba (above at number 59), to the east of the Jordan and not far from Jericho. For it was inhabited by Ghassanids and was at that time long since Christian Compare Lequien at the place cited, column 769 and following.: Medaba is a city situated to the east beyond the Jordan, says Cyril of Scythopolis, subject to Arabia, whose inhabitants used to come to our holy father, drawing many benefits for the soul, and offered wheat with pulse to his monasteries and lauras, etc. Cotelier at the place cited, page 290.. Elsewhere he writes that Gaianus, a disciple of St. Euthymius, was appointed bishop at Medaba by Antipater of Bostra In Lequien, ib. column 771.; which took place shortly after the synod of Ephesus. Below there will be discussion of St. Simeon Stylites, who was an Arab by race Cosmas in St. Ev. Assemani, Acta martyrum, volume II, page 261., and flourished at the same time as St. Euthymius.

§ VI. The desert of the Palm Grove and its Christian phylarch Abu Charab; the island of Iotabe, its chief and bishops; the Arab prince and poet Imrulcays, prefect of the Palestines.

[The emperor Justinian is presented with the desert of the Palm Grove by Abu Charab.] Between the kingdom of Ghassan and the Arabian peninsula there was a vast and desert region, called Phoenicon or Palmetum, which was presented by its chief Abocharabus, or Abu-Carib, to the emperor Justinian: which gift is also mentioned in the Acts of St. Arethas that we publish below. Of it Procopius writes in this way: This eastern shore of the Red Sea immediately after the borders of Palestine is held by the Saracens, old inhabitants of the Palm Grove (οἱ ἐν τῳ Φοινικωνι ἐκ παλαιου ἱδρυνται), which spreads far and wide in the inland region, and produces nothing else but palms. This the prince of the Saracens living there, Abocharabus, presented to Justinian Augustus; by whom

he was set as phylarch over the Palestinian Saracens, and kept the region always untouched by hostile force by the terror of his name, since he was reputed formidable and most vigorous equally among enemies and among the barbarians subject to him. And now indeed Caesar is lord of the Palm Grove in word; in reality he cannot in any way take possession of these regions. For the land towards the middle is altogether without men, and lies waste for itself; and it extends a journey of ten days, namely towards the east, nor does anything commend the Palm Grove except the appellation of gift; namely that Abocharabus gave it and Caesar received it with a grateful mind. Thus far on the Palm Grove [On the Persian War, book I, 19; likewise On Buildings, book I, 8; compare Bochart, Geographia sacra, book II, chapter 22.]. This passage of Procopius (in which the Latin interpretation of our Maltret had to be corrected here and there) will soon serve for determining the time at which the history of the martyrdom of St. Arethas was committed to writing.

[71] [the Christian phylarch of the Arabs in Arabia Petraea. Incursions of the Saracens into the Sinai peninsula.] On the same man the historian of the Arabs notes that the name Abocharab, or Abu-Carib, designates Homerite race, and that this prince ruled the Homerite tribes of Djodham and Lakhm, or rather a part of the latter; for the other part of the Lakhmites ruled at Hira, or Hirta, on the Euphrates: and that he had his seat in the lands of the Madianites. I do not doubt that this Abocharab was a Christian, since he was appointed phylarch by Justinian, not only of the Palm Grove, but also of Third Palestine, in which the cities of Petra, Arindela, Areopolis, Elusa and very many others had long since been made episcopal [Hierocles, Synecdemus, page 398, Bonn 1840; Ritter, Erdkunde, volume XIV, page 103 – 137.]. Moreover the tribe of the sons of Kelb, which dwelt in Arabia Deserta to the east of the Palm Grove, was also itself Christian and subject to the Greeks, or their ally. And it can be said not without merit that the Christian religion in the whole of Arabia Petraea, which corresponds also to Second and Third Palestine and the lands of the old Nabataeans [Above at number 11; Quatremère, Mémoire sur les Nabatéens, page 3 and 86, Paris 1835.], gradually began to rule from the middle of the fourth century [Ritter at the place cited; Acta SS. volume IX of October, page 20 and following; ibid. volume III of February, page 644 and following; Stark, Gaza u. s. w., page 619.]. Yet the Arabs dwelling towards the north of the peninsula along the Red Sea seem scarcely ever to have followed the law of the Gospel, and from them came forth Compare Ritter at the place cited, page 31. those Saracens who about the year 373 killed 40 monks on Mount Sinai. At the same time the barbarian Blemmyes broke out of Egypt into the desert of the same Sinai peninsula, called Raithu, at the gulf named of Suez; and there, the monastery having been devastated, whose ruins are seen today, 5 kilometres from the port of Tor, or Tur, and 80 from Mount Sinai Compare Ritter, volume XIV, page 13., 39 monks were slain. And both these bands of martyrs are venerated together on the 14th day of January. About the year 395 very many monks were slain by pagan Saracens near Thecua in Palestine, six miles to the south of Bethlehem; on which occasion Cassian wrote the sixth of his conferences, entitled: On the Slaughter of the Saints. From which it becomes known that at that time there were many Christian Arabs there: Whose bodies, says Cassian, although we knew them to have been seized with such veneration both by the bishops of that region and by the whole people of the Arabs (in which note the advance of that people, with the passing of time, towards the north) See above at number 1. and laid up among the relics of the martyrs, etc. Compare Acta SS. volume VI of May, page 754.. These martyrs are venerated on the 28th day of May. Those who about the year 400, while St. Nilus was leading a solitary life on Mount Sinai Acta SS. volume I of January, page 953 and following and page 1113., fell upon the monks of the place were manifestly pagans; and they had as king Amman, joined by treaty to the Greeks of Constantinople, which seems to have escaped the learned geographer Ritter Volume XIV, page 8 and following and 15.. He reigned to the south of Third Palestine, not far from Elusa Compare Tillemont, Mém. volume XIV, page 204, Paris 1709., or, as has just been said, in the far part of the Arabian peninsula. This third band of martyrs of the Sinai peninsula is venerated on the same day as the preceding, the 14th of January [Acta SS. volume I of January, page 936, 953 and 966; compare Baillet, Vies des Saints, volume II, page 177 and following, Paris 1739.]. Not long afterwards, in the year 411, there was a new incursion of the pagan Saracens into Palestine, at the time when St. Jerome, living at Bethlehem, was writing the commentary on Ezekiel: which being interrupted, he was compelled to flee [St. Jerome, letter 126, in Migne, volume XXII, column 1086; compare Tillemont at the place cited, volume XII, page 660.].

[72] On the island of Iotabe, and its chief Amorcesus, In the same century, about the year of Christ 473, the island of Iotabe, in the Red Sea, of which there will be mention below in the Acts of St. Arethas, was presented by the emperor to a certain Scenite Arab. The course of events, that it may become known what then was the condition of the inner Arabs, who dwelt beyond the Palm Grove and the Tauren mountains Photius, Bibliotheca, codex 3., we excerpt from the Embassies of Malchus the rhetorician: In the seventeenth year of the reign of Leo the Butcher (of Christ 473), he says, when there seemed to be an enormous disturbance of affairs on every side, there came a certain priest of the Scenite Arabs, whom they call Saracens, of those who are Christians among them; of whose coming this was the cause. When in the time of Theodosius a very great war had arisen between the Persians and Romans, they settled the matter by a treaty. In that treaty it was provided that neither should admit Saracens who were under the faith and dominion of the other, if perchance anyone revolting should attempt to contrive a new state of affairs. Among the Persians was Amorcesus, of the Nocalian race, or Imrulcays, that is, Amr-el-Cays of the people of Akil, as it seems, and of the tribe of Kinda of Arabia Felix [Caussin, volume II, page 289; Arri, Storia degli Arabi, page 126, in Caussin, ibid.]; he, whether because he was held in no honour among them, or he thought it better to inhabit the region of the Romans, leaving Persia, migrated into Arabia neighbouring the Persians. Making excursions from there, he carried on plunder and other hostilities against none of the Romans indeed, but against the Saracens whom he met everywhere before his feet. Thus increasing his power, he gradually grew, and subjected to himself one of the islands which obeyed the Romans, Iotabe by name, of which he took possession when he had expelled the collectors of tithes. And so, collecting tributes, and having driven off many spoils also from the neighbouring villages, he got for himself no small sum of money.

[73] [who was also appointed phylarch in Arabia Petraea; and on the bishops of the island.] Then he greatly desired to be a confederate of the Romans, and prince (φυλαρχος) of the Saracens who live under the Romans in Arabia Petraea. For this reason he sends to the emperor Leo Peter, bishop of his (read, his own) people (πεμπει… Πετρον ἐπισκοπον της φυλης της ἑαυτου), to obtain these things from the emperor if in any way he could. When he came and had spoken with the emperor, the emperor received his words, and at once called Amorcesus to him. Which indeed he both thought and did most inconsiderately. For if he had determined to create him prince (φυλαρχον) of that people, he should have commanded this from afar, that the empire of the Romans might always be a terror to him. .. He ordered him also to take part in the senate which he summoned, and, what was the foulest disgrace of the Romans, a chair to be placed for him beside himself before all the patricians, on the feigned ground that he had been persuaded to become a Christian (ὁτι δη χριστιανος ἀνεπεισθη γενεσθαι). Finally he dismissed him, after he himself had presented him with a golden image magnificently adorned with gems; and he ordered all who were enrolled in the senate to confer other gifts on him also. And the island, of which we have made mention above, he not only left in his power, that he might possess it without controversy; but he added many other villages too. When he had adorned him with these benefits and had appointed him phylarch, as he had wished, he dismissed him, elated and proud, and such a man as would not be of profit to those who had kindly received him. Thus far Malchus, a most excellent writer, in the judgment of Photius, codex 78, of the end of the fifth century. Lequien believed that Iotabe was an episcopal city of Palestine, because its bishops are listed among the bishops of the Palestines in the acts of the councils Oriens Christianus, volume III, column 711.; or rather he was altogether ignorant of the island of Iotabe: for he reports also the subscription of Anastasius, bishop of the island of Iotabe, which is read in the Acts of the council of Constantinople of the year 536, Ἀναστασιος ἐπισκοπος νησου Ἰωταβης, and is forced to neglect it. From which it came about that he listed Peter, the bishop who ruled the Christian subjects of Amorcesus on the island of Iotabe, as has been reported above by the historian Malchus, among the bishops of the Parembole, or camp of the Saracens Ibid. column 770.. But these Saracens lived in First Palestine, between Jericho and Jerusalem, as has been said above, and had come from the kingdom of Hira on the Euphrates; nor could they in any way be ruled by the same bishop as Amorcesus, chief of the island of Iotabe. These three then are known bishops of the island of Iotabe, which we learn from C. Ritter is today called Tyran Erdkunde, volume XIV, page 19; compare volume XIII, page 223.. Marcian, who subscribed to the synod of Chalcedon in the year 451; the aforesaid Peter, who in the year 473 was sent by Amorcesus to Constantinople; and Anastasius, who took part in the synod of the same city of the year 536.

[74] [Caysus, prefect of the Palestines, is the same as Imrulcays, most celebrated poet of the Arabs; Procopius's narrative on Caysus.] Nonnosus reports in Photius, codex III, that both he himself and his father Abramen, or Abraham, and his grandfather too, whose name he does not disclose, were sent by Justinian to a certain Caysus, who presided over the Chindeni and Maadeni (Χινδινων και Μααδηνων) in Arabia; and that he, summoned to Constantinople, received from the emperor the prefecture of the Palestines (των Παλαιστινων) to administer; namely after the death of Abocharabus (number 71), about the year of Christ 536. From which it is natural to conjecture that Caysus either became a Christian or pretended to be; otherwise Justinian, as one very zealous for promoting the Catholic cause, would not have appointed him prefect of Christians. It seems certain, however, that this Caysus of Nonnosus is the same as Imrulcays [Caussin, volume II, page 92, 233, 317; Hammer-Purgstall, Litteraturgeschichte der Araber, volume I, page 292.] (or Imriolcays, as J. v. Hammer-Purgstall contends one should write), son of Hodjr, son of Harith (Arethas), of the kings of Kinda and Maad, who was the chief poet of the Arabs before Mahomet Hammer-Purgstall, ibid.; and one of whose poems is counted among the Moallakat, or among the seven most celebrated poems older than Mahomet, which were formerly seen hung up

(moallakah, hung up) in the temple of Mecca. But this Imrulcays, or Imri-al-Cays [The same at the place cited, page 284; compare D'Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. under Amri al Kais.], who, being of Kinda, sprang from the Sabaeans of Arabia Felix, won a name not only by his poems, but also by dissolute manners and unhappy wars; nor could he ever obtain the kingdom and rule either of the Kindites or of the Maaddenes, although designated king of both by his father Hodjr or Hadjr (whom Theophanes names Agarus Volume I, page 218, Bonn edition.). As regards his manners, I should think that the Mahometans, who began to write only two centuries later, fashioned for themselves these and the fortunes of his life such as we know please them and as may become known to anyone from their books, especially the Kitab alaghani. More briefly than Nonnosus, but in some things more accurately, Procopius writes of Caysus, or Imrulcays: At the time, he says, when Hellestheaeus (Hellesbaeus, Elesbaas) was reigning in Ethiopia, and the Homerites were obeying Esimiphaeus, the emperor Justinian sent Julian as legate to them, about the year 530, asking through him of both that, for the communion of religion by which they were bound to the Romans, they should help them as they waged war with the Persians. .. And that the Homerites should set Caisus, a fugitive from his fatherland (the kingdom of the Maaddenes, or Madianitis), as phylarch over the Maaddenes, and with a strong army got together from those Saracens and their own people should break into Persia, or into western Irak, against Almundarus III, king of Hira. Caisus was a man sprung of phylarchic blood and excelling in warlike valour; but since he had killed a relative of Esimiphaeus, he had consigned his life to flight and solitude. Both kings indeed assented to the demands, and, having promised that they would do these things, sent back the legate liberally: yet neither fulfilled the promises and agreements.

[75] [Western Arabia Deserta became Christian in the 4th and 5th centuries; the Ghassanids and its other inhabitants were Homerites by origin.] From what we have disputed so far on the Christian history of Arabia Deserta two things follow: first indeed, that the Saracens of this Arabia, who were subject to the Romans, or joined by treaty, soon after peace was granted to the Church, as the fourth century opened, began to become Christians; and that in the fifth century all their princes, or phylarchs, as also the people itself, were imbued with the Christian religion. Second, that the same Saracens, especially the Ghassanids, and besides several lesser tribes and the Salihites themselves, who held the phylarchy of Syria before the Ghassanids, were by origin Sabaeans of Arabia Felix, begotten of Himyar or Cahlan [Caussin, volume I, page 7, 23 and following and here and there; volume II, page 202; Hammer-Purgstall, Literaturgeschichte, volume I, page 16.].

§ VII. The Christian history of the Arabs of Hira; St. Simeon Stylites the apostle of these and other Scenites.

[On Hira, an Arab city on the Euphrates, and its kings Almundarus III and Imrulcays.] To the east of Arabia Deserta another Arab kingdom, named from the royal city Hira, or Hirta, was given over to the Persians by treaty or allegiance, as the kingdom of the Ghassanids to the Greeks. Hira was situated on the right bank of the Euphrates, reaching in what they call latitude 32°, not far from Kufa and the ruins of Babylon. The Arabs of Hira, no differently from the Ghassanids, had for the most part come from Homeritis, as appears from the history of the kingdom, and all their kings were Sabaeans, or Yamanites, by origin [Caussin, volume II, page 5 and following; Ritter, Erdkunde, volume X, page 59 and following.]. And since besides these kingdoms of Ghassan and Hira adjoined the Arabian peninsula, and often brought wars upon it, and saw them brought upon themselves in turn from there, all the historians of Arabia pursue their fortunes. A king of Hira was Alamundarus, a deadly enemy of the Greeks, third of this name (otherwise Al-Mundhar, Al-Mundhir, Al-Munsir III), of whom there is frequent mention in the Acts of St. Arethas to be published below. Moreover some of the kings of Hira were Christians, and if credit is to be given to the historians of the Arabs whom Ibn-Khaldun praises In Caussin, volume II, page 47., the first to give in his name to the Gospel was Imrulcays, son of Amr, who reigned at Hira from the year 288 to 338. Which we judge should be explained rather than admitted. For at that time the Christian cause was already flourishing in Persia and Mesopotamia, as is manifest from Greek, Syriac and Arabic monuments [Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 38 and following; compare Fabricius, Bibliotheca Græca, volume XII, Harles edition, page 364.]; and it cannot be that frequent sparks were not sent from there into the adjacent kingdom of Hira. In the reign of Imrulcays I, therefore, the Christian religion increased in number at Hira, or began to become manifest: and from this was born the aforesaid opinion of the Arab historians, who are all later than Mahomet.

[77] St. Simeon Stylites, apostle of the Scenite Arabs, How much the Christian religion flourished in the kingdom of Hira, or Hirta, as the fourth century advanced and declined, we do not know; but at the opening of the fifth there was most celebrated in Syria St. Simeon Stylites, who we have said was born in Arabia Deserta; whose column, as Nicephorus and others testify, was 300 stadia, or 54 kilometres, distant from Antioch, and to whom Christians and idolaters flocked from the whole of western Asia: many of whom forswore their superstition. The fame of his sanctity flying through all shores, says Theodoret, who was writing while Simeon was still alive, all flocked together, not only neighbours, but those also who were many days' journey distant; some bringing paralytics, others asking health for the sick. .. And all thus coming from every side and the whole road imitating a river, one may see a sea of men in that place, receiving rivers flowing in from all directions. For not only the inhabitants of this our region, that is Syria, flock together (while Theodoret is writing this), but also Ishmaelites (Saracens), and Persians, and the Armenians subject to them, and Iberians, and Homerites, and those who are further in than these. There came also many inhabitants of the farthest shores of the West, both Spaniards and Britons, and Gauls, who hold the middle of these. There follows the passage on the cult of St. Simeon in Italy, which both Damascene, Oration III on Images, and the second synod of Nicaea, session 4, recite. And after a few other things Theodoret continues in these words: And the Ishmaelites, coming in troops, two hundred together, and three hundred, and sometimes a thousand, with loud voice deny their ancestral error, smashing the images they had worshipped before that great light, and forswearing the orgies of Venus (for they had long ago embraced the worship of this demon, namely of Astarte, a very well-known goddess of the Phoenicians, to whom men also were sacrificed; according to others, of Ozza or Lat, who were also themselves much worshipped by the Arabs) Caussin, volume II, page 101; Osiander, page 472, 483, 491., they are initiated into the divine mysteries, receiving laws from that sacred tongue, and bidding farewell to their ancestral manners, and rejecting the eating of wild asses and camels. And these I myself saw and heard, when they both renounced their ancestral impiety and gave assent to the Gospel doctrine.

[78] innumerable men of these peoples, by example and preaching From what follows it appears that those Saracens of the desert, or Scenites, were chiefly of those whom today we call Bedouins. And I once met the greatest danger too. For when he had ordered them to come to me and receive the priestly blessing, saying that they would receive the greatest fruit from it, these, rushing in with barbarian violence, some from the front, others from behind, others from the sides, dragged at me, and those who were farther off, climbing over the others and stretching out their hands, either plucked at my beard or tore my clothes. And indeed they would have killed me with their too violent onrush, had he not dispersed them all by raising a shout. He then points out that the column which bore such fruit and poured so great a ray of divine knowledge into the minds of barbarians was mocked by jesters (ὑπο των φιλοσκωμμονων); of which also he had written above: Wherefore I entreat those whom it delights to censure to put a bridle on their tongue, and not to let it be carried rashly: but to consider that the Lord has very often established such things for the benefit of the more sluggish. And he adduces wonderful things from the Bible that God ordered the prophets to perform. Those Saracens who flocked to Simeon (and, as will presently appear, they were not only of the Ghassanids, but also and perhaps in greater number of those of Hira) become better known from what the same writer subjoins: For another thing also of this kind was done by them: one tribe (φυλη) asked the divine man to send some prayer and blessing to their phylarch: but another tribe that was present opposed it, saying that the blessing ought not to be sent to him but to their own leader: for that he was most unjust, but their own a stranger to injustice. And after a long contention and barbarian altercation, they finally rushed upon one another. But I exhorted them in many words to desist: for the divine man could impart a blessing both to this one and to that. But these denied that he ought to obtain it, and those strove to cheat the other of it. And he, threatening them from above, and calling them dogs, with difficulty quieted the contention. And I have mentioned these things in order to show how great the faith of their spirit was. For they would not have thus raged against one another, unless they had believed that the blessing of the divine man had the greatest force. From this passage and from what Cosmas narrates of Naaman below at number 80, those Scenites seem to have used the Syriac tongue, as Theodoret himself, or some dialect of it. See the book of Quatremère on the Nabataeans.

[79] he converted to the faith; especially of those of Hira. I saw moreover another celebrated miracle done. A certain man entered (and he too was a phylarch of the Saracens) and prayed the divine head to bring help to a man whose bodily limbs had been loosened by paralysis on the road. And he said that he had fallen into this disease at Callinicum, which is a very great fortress (not far from Carrhae, in northern Mesopotamia Compare Ritter, Erdkunde, volume X, page 1123 and following.). When therefore the man had been brought into the midst, he ordered him to deny the impiety of his forefathers. And when he had willingly admitted this, and obeying had fulfilled the commands, he asked if he believed in the Father, and the only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. And when he had professed that he believed: Believing in these names, he said, rise. And when he rose, he ordered him to carry the phylarch on his shoulders as far as the bed itself. And he was of very large body. He, lifting him up, at once went away: and those who stood present roused their tongues to the praises of God. From which it is deduced that this phylarch of the Saracens came from Mesopotamia, and, as will presently be plain, more probably from that part which was subject to the Persians; for which reason he will have been of the Saracens of Hira, not of the Ghassanids. For although the latter also held the lands of those of Hira at the outset, as Masudi testifies Schultens, Imperium Joctanidarum, page 181., in the fifth and sixth centuries they seem to have

been driven back into Arabia Petraea from the north as well as from the east: and generally I think that the Saracens who visited Simeon Stylites and were converted by him to Christ were for a great part of those of Hira and subjects of the empire of the Persians. Which is not a little confirmed by what we now subjoin. Thus writes Cosmas, a disciple of the Stylite himself, in his Life, where he reports the saint's miracles; and this Life is to be numbered among the most precious monuments of Christian Syria.

[80] Naaman I, king of Hira, as he himself narrates to the prefect of Damascus, Memorable above all, he says, was what Antiochus son of Sabinus, prefect of Damascus, once narrated to the same Simeon Stylites in a great concourse of men. From which it becomes likely that Simeon had not then yet ascended his column, or that it took place before the year 423 after the birth of Christ: as will presently be shown at more length. Naaman, said the aforesaid Antiochus, prince of the Arabs (or Nooman I, king of the Arabs of Hira), came once into the solitude opposite Damascus: and since there was peace between the Arabs and the Romans, he invited me in friendly fashion to dinner. As we dined, and, as is usual, many things were talked over back and forth between us, the conversation fell on Simeon. Then Naaman: But I greatly desire to know, do you think that this man whom you call Simeon is a man or God? And when I had replied that he was by no means God, but a servant of God: Hear, he adds, the reason why I have asked this of you. When the fame of Simeon had pervaded our Arabia, and our men had begun in very great numbers to go to him; the chiefs of our people, suspecting that the Arabs, imbued by commerce of this kind with the Christian religion, would betray the fatherland to the Romans, advised me to forbid that pilgrimage as quickly as possible. Which I did, and promulgated an edict in the general assemblies of the whole people, threatening the penalty of death and the destruction of his whole family, if anyone should thereafter dare any such thing.

[81] [he is severely rebuked and chastised by St. Simeon, who appeared to him by night; thereafter he favours the Christians.] On the night following the dismissal of the assembly, as I slept in my tent, there suddenly came upon me the august form of a man, never seen by me up to then. Five youths, white attendants, followed him. Violently terrified at that sight I fell at the man's feet, almost lifeless with fear. But he, in indignation, at once cried out: Dost thou dare to keep the people of God from me, most wicked of mortals? At the same time, turning to his lictors, he orders that four should bind my hands and feet on this side and that; and that the other should beat me naked with whips, just as I lay on the bed, as savagely as could be. Nor was there anyone at hand to rescue me, weeping and desperately begging for help, from that frightful butchery: until, most atrociously beaten, at the same man's order I was at last released by those floggers. Then he, drawing his sword and addressing me with a fierce voice, added: Do thou henceforth beware again and again of turning anyone away from the oratory of Simeon: if thou obey not, I swear that I will cut thee and thy family limb from limb with this steel. Then I, taught by my danger, anticipated the light, to summon a new assembly, in which I abrogated that deadly and destructive edict; and I decreed that it should thereafter be lawful for anyone to go to Simeon, and pray before him, and give in his name to the Christian religion. To these things Naaman added: For my part, were I not subject to the king of the Persians, I myself would go to Simeon and become a Christian: for from that dread and most severe scourging a resulting sickness held me for more than a month. But now, after that edict, churches are built in our dominion, and among us bishops and priests are frequent and live unpunished; for by this edict I had sanctioned that it should be open to anyone, if he wished, to embrace the Christian religion, and that no one should be compelled by punishments to the old rites. As Antiochus narrated these things the whole assembly was stirred to celebrate the wonderful goodness of God: How exceedingly, they said, does the Lord exalt the virtue of those who serve him with pious and perpetual zeal St. Ev. Assemani, Acta martyrum Orient. etc., volume II, page 327 and following.! Thus far Cosmas in the Life of his master Simeon.

[82] [Naaman I becomes a Christian and departs from the court. The site of the city of Hira, the royal city of Naaman.] And Nooman, or Naaman, king of the Arabs of Hira, of whom he writes, is the first of that name; of whom the Arab writer Ahmad-el-Bauhaki, in Ibn-Khaldun, and the Persian historian Mirkhond In Du Beux, La Perse, page 317, Paris 1841. report not only that he favoured the Christians and built churches, but that he embraced the Christian religion. Several write that he forswore idolatry, which comes to the same thing, since, on account of the circumstances of the narrative, no one has ever thought that he became a Jew. Nuweiri adds singular things of him In Schultens, Monumenta vetustiora Arabiæ, page 48.: He is said to have looked down one day from on high on everything around his citadel of Khawarnak; and to have said: Is it not so that all things which I see are soon to perish? He was answered: Yes indeed. Thereupon he said: And what utility is there in a thing that must end and perish? Then, putting off the kingdom, he put on haircloth; and wandered through the land. Adi-ben-Zeid mentions him when he says in a poem:

Truly the lord of Khawarnak came to meditation, when one day he looked out from on high; and meditation is a right guide.

His state delighted him, and the amplitude of his kingdom, and the sea (or river, in Arabic bahr) widely spread; and Sadir.

But touched in heart with religion, he said: What happiness has a man who is soon to return to death?

As regards the situation of the places, since the hill or mound called Nadjaf, on which Hira was built, has not yet been recognized by travellers, it is helpful to set down these few words from another old Arab author: Khawarnak was situated at a distance of three miles from Hira (Arabic miles, or five and a half kilometres); and Sadir in the neighbouring desert, namely a little to the west of Hira, where the border of the desert was. These citadels were built by Nooman son of Amrilkis, who is Nooman the Greater. The reason for building them is related thus. Iezdegerd, king of the Persians, son of Sapor, had no surviving children. He inquired therefore for a place whose air was more healthful, and the purity of Hira was greatly praised to him. He therefore delivered his son Bahram Giur to Nooman, and ordered him to build Khawarnak; it was built on the river Sindad in the space of twenty years Schultens at the place cited, page 56.. Three miles or a parasang to the east of Hira was built Kufa, at latitude 32°, as is plain from the most accurate geographical maps of H. Kiepert; and when it began to flourish, Hira was deserted. Hira adjoined a river which has now dried up Noël Desvergers, Arabie, page 77; Ritter, volume X, page 185 and following.. Writers represent that Arabic letters flourished greatly at Kufa, and that the Cufic characters were named from it.

[83] [The conversion of Naaman I took place about the year 417. On the fame of St. Simeon at the court of the king of the Persians.] On Naaman Hamza and Ibn-Khaldun add In Caussin, volume II, page 58. that when he left the palace, he forbade any of his ministers to follow, and that thereafter nothing was heard of him any longer. There succeeded to the royal dignity his son Almundharus, or Mundhir I, who had to take up, just as his father, the charge of educating the son of Isdegerd, king of the Persians, by name Vararanes, or Bahram. By which is confirmed what the historians represent, that he began to reign about two years before the death of Isdegerd, or in the year 418. Naaman, then, did not long abstain from conversion and flight, after the reported dream came to him and he narrated it to the governor Antiochus. For, as is gathered from Theodoret and the notes of Tillemont [Theodoret at the place cited; Migne, Greek Patrology, volume LXXXII, column 1470 and following; Tillemont, Mém. volume XV, page 359 and 880, Paris 1711.], St. Simeon first remained enclosed at Telanissus in a little house for three years, then came to the most celebrated summit of the mountain about the year 416, and there a very great concourse to him began to take place, even before he had ascended the very well-known column: which we know not only from Theodoret, but from all the biographers of Simeon. He finally ascended the column about the year 423, that his prayer might be the less impeded by so great a flocking of people. Between the years 416 and 419, therefore, took place what Naaman narrates to the governor Antiochus. To the same time are to be referred what Theodoret writes of the king and queen of the Persians: Simeon had enormous glory also with the king of the Persians, he says. For, as those who went to him as legates have related, he diligently asked what the man's life was, and of what kind his miracles. And they say that his wife too asked for oil blessed by him and received it as a very great gift. Indeed all the king's household, moved by the fame, although they heard many calumnies against him from the magi, both inquired accurately and, having examined the matter, called him a divine man. And the rest of the crowd, approaching the muleteers, and the ministers and soldiers, both offered money, and besought that they might become sharers of the oil of blessing. These things pertain more probably to the reign of Isdegerd, who ruled the Persians from the year 400 to the month of November of the year 420, and permitted the Christians to build churches through all Persia. Less rightly does Tillemont seem Mémoires, volume XV, page 368. to refer them to Vararanes V, his son, who was long a persecutor, and in whose reign the magi could never be altogether restrained from harrying the Christians.

[84] [Incursions of the Arabs into Syria and Palestine in the 5th century. The island of Iotabe is recovered by the Romans.] But to Vararanes, waging wars against Theodosius the Younger, and to Mundhir I, king of Hira, pertains what St. Isaac the Syrian monk writes in the second sermon on fasting: Let us put on sadness and lowliness of spirit (in this fast), lest we be covered with sackcloth in captivity. Let no one inflict damage on his fellow: for enough damages threaten all. Let no one afflict his companion with trouble; because straits press all on every side. On our borders is a heathen king (Vararanes). Locusts are grazing down our lands. The Hagarene (Mundhir or Almundarus), like a famished wolf, is robbing in our very regions, etc. In Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume I, page 227.. In the year 422 a treaty was entered into between the Romans and Persians, and a long peace followed. Thereafter down to the sixth century very few deeds of the kings of Hira pertain to ecclesiastical history. See, however, what has been said on their incursions and those of the Thalabite Arabs into Palestine and the Parembolae above at numbers 67, 68. In the year 496 Agarus, son of Arethas, and Gamalus (Hodjr, son of Harith, and Djabala), princes of Kinda, a province of inner Arabia, whose name is Nedjd or Nadjd, again devastated Syria, as Theophanes narrates at the year of the Antiochene era 5590. Thereafter down to the year of Christ 505, in which peace between the Romans

and Persians was composed, the incursions of the Arabs were very frequent. For in the year 498 Nooman or Naaman, king of Hira, also invaded Syria, or rather Euphratensis. But like the earlier ones, he too, having received a defeat from the Roman generals, was compelled to withdraw. Then Romanus, general of the Romans or Graeco-Byzantines, recovered the island of Iotabe, occupied, as we have said in its place, 25 years before by Amorcesus, or Imrulcays, prince of Kinda. Of which Theophanes writes in this way at the aforesaid year: And the island of Iotabe too, situated in a gulf of the Red Sea, which once paid great customs to the emperor of the Romans, but was then occupied by the Scenite Arabs, the same Romanus by most fierce battles made free again for the Roman merchants; and finally he granted them the island, on which they should dwell free and using their own laws, and pay the established customs to the emperor from the goods brought from India. From this island a great many ships were present in the fleet of Elesbaan, king of Ethiopia, which he prepared against Dunaan, the Jewish king of the Homerites.

[85] [On the events in Arabia Deserta and Mesopotamia at the beginning of the 6th century] In the year 500 new incursions were made into Phoenicia and Syria by the Arabs of the province of Nedjd, or central Arabia; until in the year 502 the emperor Anastasius, having sent to Arethas, king of central Arabia, the grandfather of the writer Nonnosus, as he himself reports in Photius Photius, codex 3., composed peace and a treaty Above at number 67.. And according to this indeed Arethas had to bring help to the Romans against Cavades, or Cobad, king of the Persians, who had recently attacked the Romans. For Nooman of Hira, the most powerful of the kings of northern Arabia, was devoted to the Persians; by whose help Cavades in the same year 503 took the city of Amida by storm. On these things Joshua the Stylite has much, presbyter of the monastery of Zuckin, near Amida (the present Diarbekr, on the river Tigris), but by fatherland of Edessa, who was then alive. In the year of the Greeks eight hundred and fourteen, he says, that is, of Christ 502, on the 5th day of October, a Saturday, Cavades began to besiege Amida. The Arabs, joined with the Persians, lay waste the province, as far as the city of Constantina or Tela… Then he orders Naaman, king of the Arabs of Hira, to invade the southern regions of the Haranites (around Haran, or Charrae) … On the 26th of the same month Naaman, setting out to the south, lays waste the whole region round about, from the city of Haran as far as the walls of Edessa … On the tenth day of January (of the year 503), either by the sloth of the guards, or by treason, as others have suspected, Amida is taken by storm, more than eighty thousand of the inhabitants being slain; besides those who were either drowned in the river Tigris, or thrown into wells, or consumed by another kind of death… The Arabs subject to the Persians, that is those of Hira, make an incursion into the city of Chabura, or Circesium, on the Euphrates, and these Timostratus, governor of Callinicum (otherwise Nicephorium, likewise on the Euphrates), excellently drives back.

[86] by the general Arethas, Naaman, king of Hira, and Cavades, king of the Persians. The Arabs too subject to the Romans, who are called Taalabenses (he should have said: confederates of the Romans. For those Thalabites were led by Arethas, king of Kinda, province of Nedjd, who had struck a treaty with the emperor Anastasius; preceding number), making an excursion into Naaman's dominion, drive off herds, slaughter herdsmen, and force Naaman's forces to withdraw into the inner parts of the desert. In the month of August of the year 503 Cavades made an excursion as far as Euphedia. There, standards being joined with Patricius, Naaman received a wound in the head and a number of the barbarians were slain in the first conflict… From here Cavades decided to move his army against Areobindus at the city of Edessa, driven on especially by Naaman, king of the Arabs, hostile to the Taalabenses. To whom a certain leader of Naaman's army, being a Christian, said: In vain you make for Edessa, which, fortified by the divine promises of Christ to Abgar, cannot be taken by any force. Then Naaman blazed up, raged, tore Christ with abuse, and threatened Edessa with heavier calamities than Amida had suffered: who, however, the wound he had received in the head from the soldiers of Patricius, as said above, opening anew, died after two days Assemani, Bibliotheca orientalis, volume I, page 272 and following.. No such promise of Christ to Abgar exists, as Evagrius observes in book IV, chapter 27; but since Edessa had so long resisted all the attempts of the Persians, this confidence flourished for a long time among the Christians of the East. Finally in the year 505 peace was agreed between the Persians and Romans, and it lasted until the year 522. From the year 505 the Arabs were restrained from their excursions, both by the Persians and by the Romans Joshua the Stylite in Assemani, page 281.; they were troublesome, however, from time to time to the anchorites of Syria and Palestine, as we read in their Lives.

[87] Irruptions of the Arabs of Hira in the year 502 and following. For of the irruptions of the Arabs of Hira which occurred in the year 502 and following years Cyril of Scythopolis makes mention in the Life of St. John the Silentiary; but in place of King Naaman he put Alamundarus Sicices, otherwise Sakikes or Sjakika: who was indeed the most celebrated of all the kings of Hira, very well known for his devastations, but did not reign except from about the year 513: At the same time, says Cyril, Alamundarus Sicices, who received the king's authority over the Saracens subject to the Persians, invaded Arabia and Palestine with great anger against the Romans, plundering everything, and carrying off many thousands of men into slavery, and doing many wicked things, after Amida had been captured, which we have said took place at the beginning of the year 503. These things created a difficulty for Henschen Acta SS. volume III of February, page 132 and following. and Pagi At the year 509, numbers 2 and 3., there being lacking when they wrote the Syriac and Arabic monuments from which the error of Cyril could have been corrected. And when a multitude of barbarians had been scattered through this desert, and those to whom the guarding of the desert had been committed gave notice that care should be taken against an irruption of the barbarians into the monasteries: the fathers of the Great Laura signified to the venerable father John that he should cease to live in the desert of Ruba, and should come to the Laura, and rest in his cell. And that divine John, who through quiet had tasted the divine sweetness, gladly followed it, and could not bring his mind to leave it, etc. In what follows Cyril narrates how the saint was preserved by a miracle from the incursions of the Arabs, until St. Sabas persuaded him to return to the Laura, in the year of Christ 509, after he had spent six years in the desert of Ruba. From which we learn that in the deserts of Syria and Palestine, even when peace had been composed between the neighbouring peoples, there were frequently made by the Arabs, not indeed warlike expeditions, but lesser irruptions and plunderings; just as are now made by the Bedouins. And thus is confirmed anew what has so often been said, that the Arabs of the desert have been the same in every age.

[88] Almundarus III, king of Hira, called Sakikes, seems About the year 513 there began to reign at Hira Mundhir III, otherwise Al-Mundhar, or Almundarus III, son of King Imrulcays III and of Maessema; and he held the royal power until the year 562, that is, as Procopius says, fifty years. By the same writer, who was contemporary with Almundarus, and by later Greeks, he is called Sekikes, and in the Acts of St. Arethas Sakikes; namely that he might be distinguished from princes of the people of the same name. For he derived his offspring, as the celebrated Caussin seems rightly to judge Volume II, page 54 and 77., from the former wife of Almundarus I, by name Sjakika. That Almundarus III embraced the Christian faith, which he afterwards cast away, seems not to be deniable. Of him Theodore, Lector of the church of Constantinople, a contemporary author, writes in this way. When Alamundarus, phylarch of the Saracens, had embraced the Christian religion, Severus (patriarch of Antioch, a Eutychian or Monophysite) sent two bishops to him, to infect him with the stain of his error. But God, forestalling this, brought it about that the phylarch was baptized by those who received the synod of Chalcedon.

[89] to have been a Christian at the beginning of his reign. Moreover, when those who had been sent by Severus attempted to hand on to the phylarch doctrine opposed to the dogmas of the right faith, Alamundarus devised a certain trick to refute their doctrine. For he pretended that he had received letters by which it was announced to him that the archangel Michael had died. And when they said that this could not happen: How then, the phylarch rejoined, did Christ, being only God, undergo the death of the cross, if he did not have two natures; since not even an angel can suffer or die? In this way the bishops of the party of Severus, suffused with shame, withdrew without saying farewell Theodore the Lector, Ecclesiastical History, book II.. This history Theophanes and Nicephorus Callistus excerpted from Theodore; but since it is certain that Alamundarus afterwards lived for many years as a pagan, some more recent writers have doubted of its truth. Yet Theodore the Lector was writing of events of his own age, which accordingly many knew. The times too agree: for Almundarus began to reign in the year 513, and the heretic Severus held the patriarchate of Antioch from the month of November of the year 512 until September of the year 517. Moreover that Alamundarus was a Christian is expressly testified by Abulfeda, who adds that he built churches at Hira: There, he says, was the seat of Naaman (I) …, and there Munderus, son of Amrilcais, that is Almundarus III, having embraced the Christian religion, built magnificent churches Abulfeda, Description of Irak, under Hira.. Finally the same is confirmed by the condition of the Christian cause in adjacent Mesopotamia, whose churches in the fourth and fifth centuries were most flourishing. A few of the very many things most worthy of reading that the learned Joseph Assemani has collected we have judged should be subjoined here, by which much light will be shed on the ecclesiastical history of the northern Arabs.

§ VIII. The propagation of the Christian religion in neighbouring Mesopotamia and Chaldaea; the Christians of Hira had long been Catholics.

On the condition of the Christian religion in Mesopotamia, Chaldaea and The Saracens who reached Mesopotamia, says Assemani, Chaldaea and the Persian Sea passed over to the Christian rites before the year of Christ 320, by the work both of the bishops of Edessa and Seleucia and of monks: that is to say a part of them, as is established from what has gone before and from what is about to be said. Sozomen Book VI, chapter 34; compare ibid. chapters 32, 33 and above at number 62. notes that by the monks who practised philosophy in Mesopotamia “nearly all the Syrians, and a very great many of the Persians and Saracens, were brought over to the Christian religion, drawn away from the superstitious worship of demons” Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 598.. Elsewhere, having briefly narrated the most cruel persecution of Sapor II, which lasted forty years, and in which so many Persian and Mesopotamian Christians were crowned with martyrdom, he subjoins this of his successor, who began to reign from about the year 380: Under Ardashir, or Artaxerxes, the successor of Sapor, peace was restored to the churches, and to the throne of Seleucia (and Seleucia was distant from Hira, or Hirta, about 30 hour-leagues), which had long been vacant after the martyrdom of Barbaseminus, Tamuza, or Tomarsa

was set as archbishop: which took place either in the year 363, or according to others 380, after the death of Sapor. To Tamuza, in repairing the ruins of the churches, gave his labour Brichjesus, or Bochtjesus, a deacon, who, as Maris and Amrus, historians of the Nestorians, testify, was slain under Bahram, or Vararanes, son of Sapor.

[91] Persia, in the fourth century, While the same Tamuza ruled the see of Seleucia there shone Abdas of Dorkena, who founded the monastery of Saliba, or of the cross, near the river Sansarus, and his disciple Ebedjesus, who built another monastery at Hirta (or Hira, the royal city of the Arabs subject to the Persians). He taught moreover the Nabathaeans (that is, as it seems, the Taghlebites Ritter, Erdkunde, volume X, page 64 and following., dwelling to the south of Irak in far Arabia, whom Abulpharagius calls Scenite Thaalabenses In Assemani, volume III, part 2, page 599 and 607., and writes that they were Christians) and the inhabitants of Matotha and Mesena (Mesena is an island at the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates, not far from Basra); and finally, created bishop of Dair-Meherak by Tamuza, he died in Mesena. Tamuza lived until the fourth year of Vararanes, that is of Christ 392. After a vacancy of the see of two years Cajuma, at the beginning of the year 395, took up the episcopate of Seleucia: and when he had sat for about five years, in a synod of bishops, at which St. Maruthas, bishop of Tagrit, was present as legate from the emperor of the Romans to Iezdegerd, king of the Persians, who in the year 399 had been substituted in the place of the deceased Vararanes, he voluntarily abdicated, Isaac being put in his place. Sapor the Third, successor of Ardashir, had created no trouble for the Christians. But that Vararanes the Fourth, his son, raged against the Christians is testified, besides Maris and Amrus, by Bar-Hebraeus, who affirms that Cajuma undertook to rule the church in that heat of persecution, and in the fifth year after, peace being restored to the Church under Iezdegerd, voluntarily laid down the episcopal dignity.

[92] in the fifth century, Assemani then praises many bishops and monks who shone in Mesopotamia at the end of the fourth century; among whom St. Maruthas shone forth, bishop of Tagrit, called today Tekrit, on the right bank of the Tigris (latitude 34° 35'); whose splendid deeds, says Balaeus, a Syrian writer, in the Roman and Persian empire, for the benefit of the Catholic faith, were recorded in literary monuments by Syrians, Greeks and Latins. How much the Catholic religion flourished at that time in southern Mesopotamia is plain from the synods held there. In the year 399, the first of Iezdegerd, a synod was celebrated at Seleucia, St. Maruthas being present. Then too at Babylon, no more than twelve leagues from Hira, there was restored a church in the lake of Daniel, as they called it; which the Jews had destroyed in the persecution of Sapor II or perhaps of Vararanes IV; and beside the church a monastery was founded. In the year 410 a synod of forty bishops was held again at Seleucia, St. Maruthas similarly being present, as also ten years later he took part in the synod that was held at Ctesiphon, on the Tigris, opposite Seleucia Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 59 and following.. From which and other synods of bishops it appears how much the Catholic religion flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries in southern Mesopotamia, which adjoins Arabia. Nor did it suffer great detriment from the persecutions of Iezdegerd I, Vararanes V and Iezdegerd II; but in the reign of Pherozes (Firuz), the heresies of the Nestorians and Monophysites began to be disseminated in Mesopotamia: and since the emperor of the Greeks Zeno favoured the Monophysites, Pherozes began to foster the Nestorians; and not distinguishing Monophysites from Catholics, he persecuted both.

[93] and in the sixth century. Milder were the following kings Balash and Cavades, during whose siege of Amida we saw (number 86) that a leader of the Arabs of Hira was one of the Christians. And Cavades indeed after the year of Christ 506, peace having been entered into with the Romans, or Graeco-Byzantines, began to favour all the Christians of his kingdom, more however the Catholics than the Nestorians, as we learn from Abulpharagius: in which disposition he was for twenty years, or until about the year 527, shortly before the death of Justin, when war began again between the Romans and Persians. And this lasted until the year of Christ 533, the seventh of Justinian, in which peace was again composed with Cosroes I, son and successor of Cavades. The spirit of this prince, who is also known as Cosroes Anushirvan, and held the kingdom of the Persians from the year 531 to 579, was various towards the Christians, according as he cultivated peace with the Romans or engaged in wars. In the four expeditions into the Roman empire that Procopius describes in book II, either he himself was harsh towards them, or his minister, the often mentioned Alamundarus III, a man great-souled but cruel. Peace was agreed several times, and in that which Cosroes entered into with Justinian in the year 562 he promised that the profession of the Christian religion would be free, as we learn from Menander: These things being thus decreed and confirmed, he says, separate agreements were interposed concerning the Christians living in Persia, that it should be permitted them to build churches, and to perform their rites without any fear, and to sing thanksgivings by hymns to God, as is usually done among us, and that they should not be compelled to take part in magical ceremonies, or unwillingly to worship and venerate those who are held among the Medes in the number of the gods. Nor on that account should the Christians dare to attempt to draw into our religion those who follow magical things. He obtained too that the Christians should have power to lay the dead in sepulchres, and to pay them due rites according to our custom Excerpts from the history of Menander, page 363, Bonn 1829.. Finally of Cosroes I Evagrius wrote about the year 594: They say also that towards the end of his life he was initiated with the sacred bath of regeneration Evagrius, book IV, chapter 28..

[94] [On the propagation of the Christian religion through all Asia in the 6th century.] On the condition of the Christian religion in central Asia at the beginning of the sixth century there deserves to be heard Cosmas Indicopleustes, who long acted as a merchant in India, Arabia, Ethiopia and other kingdoms, and wrote a topography about the year 540. It must be noted, however, that he does not discriminate heretics from Catholics, and is accustomed to extol with praises the patriarchs of Seleucia, who, while he was writing, had long since become Nestorians. For which reason La Croze and Assemani affirm not without merit that he himself too adhered to the opinions of these heretics. In the island of Taprobana, he says, (or the island of India called today Ceylon), towards inner India, where the Indian sea is, there is a church of Christians, where clerics and faithful are found: whether further also, I do not know. Similarly in Male, as they call it, or in Cauca-Mali, today Cochin Ritter, Erdkunde, volume V, page 587., where pepper grows. In Calliana, so they name it (Calliani, near Bombay) Ritter, ib., page 667; volume VI, page 29., there is a bishop, usually ordained in Persia, namely by the archbishop of Seleucia. Similarly in the island called of Dioscorides (Socotra), situated in the same Indian sea, whose inhabitants speak Greek, and are colonists brought there by the Ptolemies, successors of Alexander of Macedon, there are found clerics, sent there from Persia, where they are ordained: there also a multitude of Christians live. To which island I sailed, without however landing there; but I exchanged conversations with some of its inhabitants speaking Greek, who were setting out for Ethiopia. And likewise among the Bactrians, Huns, Persians, the other Indians, Persarmenians, Medes, Elamites, and in the whole region of Persia there are infinite churches; bishops likewise and Christian peoples in great number, many martyrs, monks and hesychasts (that is silentiaries; by which name he signifies solitaries, hermits and recluses): and similarly in Ethiopia, in Axum and in the whole region round about. Among the happy Arabs too, who are now called Homerites, in all Arabia, Palestine, Phoenicia… And likewise in the hyperborean parts… of the Spaniards, Romans, Franks, etc. Cosmas Indicopleustes in Migne, Greek Patrology, volume LXXXVIII, column 170..

[95] The condition of the common people at the beginning of a schism or heresy, But it is asked whether the Arabs of Hira, who were subject to the Persians, were Catholics; since both were under the archbishops of Seleucia; who from the year 498 or 499 were Nestorians Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, part 2, page 80 and here and there.. Since the discussion here concerns the beginning of the sixth century and the reign of Almundarus III, and the very beginnings of the Nestorian heresy in the archiepiscopate of Seleucia, we may make use of what Papebroch wrote on the faith of the Russians, in that age in which they thought now with the Greeks, now with the Catholics, at the pleasure of their bishops Acta SS. volume I of May, page V, number 18.: From this we understand, he says, how the common people know nothing of schism, and of the controverted articles of faith, learning by tradition received from their forefathers at home privately rather than publicly in church only those heads of the faith, and would that they were entire, which are necessary to salvation. And it can be added that when heretical bishops invade the sees of Catholics, the common people not only do not suddenly become heretical, but not even schismatic at the outset; and that what Baronius writes of a certain schism of the monks of Monte Cassino also occurs: Not as soon, he says, as some abbot or bishop is a schismatic, must all his subjects likewise be schismatics. The whole passage is recited above in this very volume Above, page 166, number 29..

[96] and that this obtained is shown in Persia That something similar happened in Persia and the neighbouring regions we are taught from what Menander writes of Sebochthes, a Persian and a worshipper of the Christian religion; who was sent by Cosroes I to Justin the Younger, after the Armenians and Iberians, revolting from the Persians, had passed over to the Romans: whose embassy they represent to have taken place in the year of Christ 571. For his speech, as it is read in the contemporary Menander Page 315, Bonn 1829., shows (the words are those of the elder Assemani) Bibliotheca orientalis at the place cited, page 91. that the Christians then settled in the region of the Persians were for the most part orthodox: Justin openly said that he had received into his faith and protection the Persarmenians who had revolted from the Persians, and that he would not overlook it if anyone did them injury, since they thought the same about religion as he himself. But Sebochthes, who excelled in prudence among the Persians, since he held the same opinion about religion as the Christians, again and again vehemently entreated Justin not to disturb what stood well… For as soon as they (namely the Romans) should invade the region of the Persians and advance even the shortest journey (μικροτατον ὁδοιποριας, as Niebuhr rightly has, in place of μακροτατον ὁδ.), they would find that all practised and embraced religion by no other rite than that which he himself practised. If they undertook to kill these, they would nevertheless afterwards be far inferior to them. Accordingly they would be drawing swords unjustly against Christians who thought the same as they: οὐ δητα οὐν χρεων κατα χριστιανων τους ὁμοδοξους θηγειν τα ξιφη. The old version of Cantoclarus had: For they would be drawing swords unjustly against orthodox Christians; which Pagi and Assemani adopted. But the more accurate version of Niebuhr does not produce a new sense, since we know that Justin

the Younger was tenacious of the Catholic faith, and that, unless the Persian Christians had for a great part been Catholics, Sebochthes the legate would not have spoken thus before the emperor. And if he could say these things in the year 571, they must have been much more true at the beginning of the same century, when Almundarus III began to reign at Hira.

[97] [and in the kingdom of Hira in the 6th century: the increases of the Nestorian heresy.] And from these and other things of this kind it becomes manifest enough that the Christians of northern Persia long remained Catholics; but that those who were nearer to Seleucia, the patriarchal see of the Nestorians, began sooner to be infected with the heretical plague. The Christians of Hira were doubtless long Catholics; for they were taught the faith in the third, fourth and fifth centuries, especially when Naaman or Nooman I was reigning at Hira, at the end of the fourth century; at which time, while Tamuza held the see of Seleucia Bibliotheca orientalis, volume III, page 613 and following., we have said (number 91) that a monastery was built by Ebedjesus near Hira or Hirta. But about the year 502 Abraham of Cascara, restorer of celibacy among the Nestorian monks, stayed for some time at Hira, and will not have omitted to preach the doctrines of his sect. Of whom Amrus writes in the Life of Babaeus, pseudo-patriarch of Seleucia: In those times there became known Mar Abraham of Cascara, the father of outstanding monks. .. Then he migrated to Hirta, whose inhabitants he brought back from the worship of idols Ibid. part 2, page 873.. About the same time Mar-Abas, called Patricius by the Greeks, whom Cosmas Indicopleustes greatly praises, forswearing the superstitions of his forefathers, was baptized at Hira, and in the year 536 was elected pseudo-patriarch of Seleucia. Of whom, however, it is not established that from the beginning, when he cast away idolatry and before he had stayed with Thomas of Edessa, he was not a Catholic. But there must be heard at this place, on the faith of the Persians, Simeon, bishop of Beth-Arsam, who was contemporary with Almundarus, and of whom mention has often occurred above. In the letter on the heresy of the Nestorians, which he wrote shortly after the year 518, having mentioned the glorious synod of forty bishops of the dominion of the Persians, which was held under St. Maruthas of Tagrit, and by which the orthodox faith was sanctioned: Which, finally, he says, is now followed and held as valid by thirty-three bishops of the region of Gurzan (that is Khorazan, near the Caspian Sea) with their kings and magnates; and also by thirty-two bishops of Greater Armenia of the Persians, with their marzabans (it is the name of a military dignity): and with the other bishops and Christian kings… Therefore we have separated ourselves from the communion of the Nestorians from the twenty-seventh year of King Pherozes (which seems to fall in the year of Christ 484) down to the present day, and we have pronounced and do pronounce anathema on them, etc. Ibid. volume II, page 357 and following..

[98] On Almundarus III, king of Hira; how much In these words Simeon praises no Catholic bishops of Chaldaea; and since we know that he was the head of the orthodox in the said region, it is likely that there were then either few Catholic prelates there, or none, and that it was for a great part given over to Nestorianism: and that Almundarus III himself, if at the beginning of his reign, that is about the year 513, he gave in his name to the Christian rites, was a Nestorian. Yet, besides that Theodore the Lector has nothing of this about him, from what is to be said below on the embassy of Simeon of Beth-Arsam to this very prince it will appear that even in southern Persia and the kingdom of Hira at that time Catholics were not lacking, at least among the common people. As regards Almundarus, there can be no doubt at all that thereafter in his expeditions he perpetually showed himself a pagan; although Baronius Roman Martyrology at the 19th of February, in the notes. and others, trusting to the testimony of Theophanes and Nicephorus, say simply that he became a Christian. How great evils he thereafter brought on the empire of the East down to the year 562, in which he was slain in an ambush laid for him by Harith-el-Aradj, or Arethas V, king of the Ghassanids Caussin, Essai, volume II, page 115., Procopius has committed to writing in the history of the Persian war: For both prudence, he says, and singular skill in warfare, and most constant faith to the Persians, and excellent vigour commended Alamundarus. For fifty years (Mundhir III reigned from the year 513 to 562) he brought the Roman cause to ruin, and forced it, as they say, to sink on its knees. For beginning his excursions from the borders of Egypt, he flew plundering over all that tract continuously as far as Mesopotamia, carried off and bore away everything, destroyed with fire whatever buildings he met, carried off many myriads of men, the greatest part of whom he killed on the spot, the rest he exchanged for great sums of money. Nor did he meet anyone coming against him. For he never broke out without reconnoitring; but so suddenly and so especially aptly to his plan, that for the most part he had already withdrawn with the spoil when the generals and soldiers, on first receiving news of the matter, were preparing to march against him. Thus when by chance they overtook him, the barbarian turned on his pursuers, and attacking them still unprepared and in disorder, easily routed and overthrew them.

[99] harmed the Roman empire. It happened at one time that those who were pursuing him all came alive into his power, not only soldiers, but generals too, Demostratus (otherwise Timostratus), brother of Rufinus, and John, son of Lucas, who afterwards ransomed themselves at a splendid price. In sum, the Romans suffered no more troublesome enemy than he; and this came about because he alone with royal power presided over all the Saracens who are contained within the borders of the Persian kingdom, and could break with his whole army into whatever province of the Roman dominion he wished. And no one either of those whom the Roman soldiers obey (these they call duces), or of those who preside over the Saracens confederate with the Romans, that is the Ghassanids, and are called phylarchs, was strong enough with his forces to oppose himself to Alamundarus; because the garrisons of the several regions yielded in strength to the enemy. Therefore Justinian Augustus had set Arethas son of Gabala (or Arethas V, son of Djabala III, king of Ghassan), prince of the Saracen Arabs, over a very great many tribes and had increased him with royal dignity, a new example among the Romans. None the less, indeed even more heavily, Alamundarus wore down the Roman cause, since Arethas in every irruption and battle either at once betrayed it, or acted unhappily: for it is not yet clear enough. So it happened that Alamundarus ravaged the whole East for a very long time; as one who prolonged his life very far Procopius, On the Persian War, book I, chapter 17, volume I, page 88, Bonn 1833.. All which are confirmed from the historians of the Arabs themselves [Caussin, volume II, page 88 and following; Wright, Christianity in Arabia, page 85, 101 and following.]. I note here in passing that the books of Procopius on Persian affairs were by no means published before the year 552, as Alemanni maintains Procopius, Bonn edition, volume I, page XXV.: and moreover that Procopius wrote the first three books on the Gothic war while the empress Theodora was living, or before the year 548 [Secret History, chapter 16, page 96, Bonn edition, and On the Gothic War, book I, chapter 4, page 25, Bonn edition.]; and afterwards the books on Persian affairs; since in these he records the death of Theodora On the Persian War, book II, chapter 30, page 300, Bonn edition., and, as we have seen, that of Almundarus himself: who after the year 552, in book IV of the Gothic history Chapter XI, page 507, Bonn edition., he writes was harried by Arethas and the Ghassanids. But to return to our own matters, these things having been disputed on the progress of the Christian religion in the kingdoms of Ghassan and Hira, and what seemed lacking in our work having been briefly supplied, we now pursue the ecclesiastical history of Homeritis; and since scarcely any monuments survive, what took place among the Ghassanids and those of Hira (since they were begotten of the Homerites and joined with them by perpetual commerce, intercourse and tongue) will teach us that followers of the Christian religion cannot have been lacking in eastern and southern Arabia in the fourth and fifth centuries. And if the seeds of the faith penetrated with more difficulty to the western coast of central Arabia, this must be ascribed to the neighbourhood of the temple of Mecca, which was celebrated among the Arabs long before Mahomet.

§ IX. The conversion of the people of Negran to the Christian faith and its time; Dhu Nowas, or Dunaan, obtains the kingdom of the Homerites: he becomes a Jew.

[A narrative of the introduction of the faith into the city of Negran, from Tabri, or Taberita,] After what we have described from Philostorgius on the journey of Theophilus the Indian to the Homerites, and the few things we have added on their kings Marthad and Wakia, no monument of the Christian history of inner Arabia comes forth down to the sixth century: except a certain narrative handed down by Mahometan writers. It contains the history of the conversion of the city of Negran, which we know to be the arena of St. Arethas the martyr, from paganism to the Christian faith. Which, although it is mixed with fables, must not be passed over here. Tabri, or Taberita, a writer of the ninth century, reports in the book Tarikh al moluk, which B. D'Herbelot called Tarikh al Tabari, that the citizens of Nedjran, or Negran, were for a long time, like the other neighbouring Arabs, given to idolatry; of whose worship he relates these singular things: They had, he says, outside the city a palm tree, very thick; and every year, on a fixed day, they celebrated a solemn feast: and on it the whole multitude gathered around the tree, and covered it with cloths splendidly woven with embroidery, and bringing their idols, laid them all down beneath it. They also went round it in supplication with sacred rites and poured out prayers. Then an evil spirit, or demon, addressed them from the midst of the tree; and when they had revered it, they returned home [Tabri in W. Ouseley, Travels in various countries of the east, volume I, page 369 and following, London 1819.].

[101] from the book Sirat errasul and Ibn-Khaldun; It happened afterwards, so the same Taberita continues, that a certain Syrian, named Faymun or Faymiyun (not Kaymum with the letter qaf, as is read in Ouseley), of the race of the apostles of Jesus, came into Arabia, and falling among robbers, was sold as a slave in the land of Nedjran. He brought over its inhabitants from idolatry to the true faith, especially by working a notable miracle. But these things are narrated more briefly than is fitting in what W. Ouseley excerpted from Taberita; and now, having brought forward some things from the most ancient author known to us who has written on this matter, we shall henceforth follow the very well-known book Sirat-errasul, and the splendid historian Ibn-Khaldun. There lived in Syria, they say, a pious man, named Faymiyun, who had renounced the world and followed the religion of Jesus. He travelled without ceasing; for as soon as the praise of his virtues had spread abroad anywhere, or the graces which heaven repaid for his prayers became known, he hastened away and passed elsewhere. He ate nothing but what he had obtained by his own labour; he observed the Lord's day religiously, from all work

manual, holding himself back. A certain man, named Salih, who had been seized by great admiration for his holiness and merit, became his disciple and devoted himself to his service. Wherever Faymiyun came, he soon healed the sick by the efficacy of his prayers.

[102] in which this is said to have been done by a certain Faymiyun, a Syrian. At length, fleeing the districts in which the grace of healing had created for him a troublesome celebrity, he came into the regions of Arabia, with Salih as his companion; when, falling in with a band of Scenites, or Bedouins, he was taken together with his associate. And they were led away to the city of Nedjeran, and there sold. Here the said books relate the same things about the idolatry of the Negranites and the cult of the palm tree as we transcribed from Taberita. Then they continue thus: He was bought by one of the leading men of the city, and lived with him. In whose house, when towards evening he withdrew to the chamber assigned to him and began to pray, a heavenly light illumined the chamber. His master, having once seen the prodigy in the middle of the night, was astounded, and inquired to what rites he was devoted. He replied that he was a Christian. But your worship, he said, is a gross error. This palm has no power, and would suddenly fall, if I should call upon God, whom I serve, against it. My God alone is God, to whom belong without division dominion and majesty. Call upon him then, the master exclaimed, let him destroy what we worship, and behold, we are Christians with you. Then Faymiyun purified himself; and when prayer had been poured out, God sent a burning wind, by which the palm was dried up to the roots and overthrown. On seeing this his master, and after him most of his fellow citizens, were converted to the Christian religion Ap. Caussin, tom. I, pag. 124 et seq.. Taberita, however, says that the tree, with root and leaves, was torn from the earth by prayer; and that by so great a miracle the people was suddenly converted, cast down all its idols, and became fervent disciples of Jesus.

[103] Another narrative, from the same Mahometan writers; Another history of this conversion is also read, differing in many points. There is said to have been a magician in a certain hamlet, not far from Nedjran, who taught his art to the young men of the city. A holy man, who by Ibn-Ishak, in the book Siraterrasul, is likewise called Faymiyun, arriving from a distant region, pitched his tent between the hamlet and the city. One of the young men, named Abdallah, son of Thamir, sent by his father to the magician with the others to learn his art, passing by the tent saw him praying and prostrate. Moved by the sight, he became the saint's disciple, acknowledged the unity of God, and professed the true faith. Then, being thoroughly imbued with Christian doctrine, he asked his master which, among the names of God, was the great name Cfr Reinaud, Monum. Musulm., tom. II, pag. 20. that worked miracles. The master replied: Son of my brother, this mystery is too sublime to be entrusted to your weakness. But Abdallah, not losing heart, tried to discover by himself what he desired to know with curiosity and ambition alike. Taking arrows, he inscribed on them all the names of God that he knew, and threw them one after another into the fire. All were consumed, except one, which bore the great name inscribed on it; this one threw itself out of the fire, in no way harmed.

[104] [in which the conversion of the Negranites is ascribed chiefly to Abdallah, Faymiyun's disciple.] Thus Abdallah learned the great name of God; and he at once announced to his master that he had found it. It is so indeed, son of my brother, he replied; you have found what I was hiding. Keep this knowledge of yours to yourself, and do not use it. But I doubt that you will comply with my counsel. Indeed, as soon as a sick man met Abdallah, he would say: Will you renounce idolatry? I will call upon God, and he will give you full health. The sick man would consent, profess the evangelical faith, and soon be healed by Abdallah's prayers. Thus all the Negranites who were labouring under some infirmity of health were restored to soundness, and gave in their names to Abdallah's worship. The prince who ruled over Negrana, when he learned how far the new worship was advancing, summoned Abdallah, and said: You are perverting minds and trying to overturn the religion of our fathers; therefore you deserve death. Then he ordered him to be cast down, head downward, from a high and precipitous mountain. When this was done, Abdallah rose up safe and sound. Then the prince ordered him to be thrown into a whirlpool of water; and when Abdallah came out unharmed once more, You can do nothing against me, he said, until you have renounced idolatry and have revered the God whom I preach. Then the prince, having pronounced the profession of faith that Abdallah set before him, struck him lightly with the staff he held in his hand. Abdallah fell lifeless, and the prince himself also died at once. Most of the Negranites, therefore, having beheld so many prodigies, acknowledged that Abdallah's religion was the true one, and embraced the Christian rites.

[105] [Several think this same man to be identical with Arethas the martyr; from which it would follow that the conversion began about the year 450.] Other writers, in Ibn-Khaldun and in the book Sirat-errasul, say that Abdallah, son of Thamir, was preserved alive amid these prodigious trials; and that he was the leader and pontiff of the Negranites when Dhu-Nowasus tried to compel them to renounce the faith of Christ and embrace the law of Moses. From this opinion, which the greater part of the Arab writers hold, it would seem to follow that Abdallah is our St. Arethas himself; to which a recent historian of the Arabs is not averse, and Walchius had taught the same long ago Novi Comment. soc. reg. Gottingensis, tom. IV, part. II, pag. 54. Gotting. 1774.. For it is sufficiently probable, says the distinguished Caussin, that Abdallah, son of Thamir, was of the tribe of Harith Ibn Caab, which had for a long time held the principality at Negrana; just as it is probable that St. Arethas, who by Simeon of Beth-Arsam is called the son of Caleb Below § XIV., was of the said tribe. These things I do not reject; yet I am surprised that no Arab historian assigns Abdallah, son of Thamir, to the tribe of Harith Ibn Caab, which was very well known and is mentioned in the history of Mahomet. Next, the stupid fables with which the Mahometans have adorned this history must certainly be cut away. Finally, since the Arab historians began to write only several centuries afterwards (although the annals of their country were diligently committed to memory), I suspect that the conversion of the Negranites has been drawn down to a more recent age than is right. But granting that Abdallah, son of Thamir, is the same as St. Arethas the martyr, what Ibn Omar Sjah writes in the book Kitab-ennucat el-Mutriba must nevertheless by no means be admitted, that all these things were done not long before Dhu Nowasus or Dunaan attempted to storm Negrana with a powerful army, that is, not long before the year 523: Dhu Nowas, he says, when he learned that a certain man who had come from Syria… had spread religion among the Negranites, drew up his army and set out against them Ap. Caussin, tom. II, pag. 128.. For St. Arethas in the year 523 was 95 years old, and if he is the same as Abdallah, since the latter had the monk Faymiyun as his master in his youth Above n. 103. and became a Christian with many other Negranites, it follows that the Negranites were converted to the faith about the middle of the 5th century. And this is confirmed both by the words of St. Ruma or Rumi, a Negranite by race and a martyr, who said in the year 523, addressing the women of Negrana: You know that I am a Christian, and my race, and my forefathers Below § XIII.; and by the dominion of the kings of Auxum, who had long been Christians Cfr Above n. 54 and n. 113.. It is confirmed most of all, however, by a notable passage of the Ethiopian synaxary called the Senkessar, to which our discussion will return below. For this book introduces St. Arethas addressing the tyrant Dunaan or Dhu Nowasus in these words: It is seventy-eight years since I have adored Jesus Christ my Lord, and I have reached the fourth generation. It will appear in its place that the Ethiopian Senkessar is most accurate in what it relates of St. Arethas. Moreover, many Ethiopians were living at Negrana when the holy martyr suffered, and two years later they again held the principality there. It is not seen, therefore, why credit should not be given to what is handed down by an Ethiopian writer in this place, since in other respects it agrees admirably with what we have so far brought forward from approved sources. Wherefore we say with the Ethiopian Senkessar that when St. Arethas suffered, that is, as will be shown, in the year 523, he had become a Christian 78 years before; that is, that his conversion is to be ascribed to about the year 445: and he was then a youth of 17 years. For this reason, when Sacy conjectures Mém. de littérat., tom. L, pag. 290. that the conversion of the Negranites took place at the beginning of the 6th century, or a little before, this is to be understood of the public conversion of the nation, but by no means of the individual conversions of citizens, which had been taking place without interruption for many years. For in the year 523 Negrana was in great part Christian; and we know that the conversion of a nation does not happen within a few years. This conversion itself, however, that is, the first public profession of the Christian faith by the Negranites, I judge to have occurred towards the beginning of the reign of Dhu-Nowasus; who, as Sacy writes, began to reign from the year 480, but as Caussin writes, who looked more deeply into the history of the ancient Arabs, from the year 490.

[106] But this happened chiefly about the year 500. And indeed I consider that the Christian religion was greatly spread at Negrana and in the neighbourhood for the first time when the king of Axum, Caleb, otherwise Elesbaas, or rather his father Tazena Above an. 54., having routed Dhu-Nowasus, who hid himself in the mountains of Yemana, began to rule over this part of the peninsula, as will be seen hereafter. That this came about while Anastasius was ruling the Romano-Byzantines, who held the empire from the year 491 to 518, is especially probable. For concerning the conversion of the Himyarites, or Himyarenes, to the Christian religion Theodore the Lector writes as follows, in book II of his Ecclesiastical History: The Immireni are a nation subject to the Persians, dwelling at the farthest bounds of the south. And from the beginning they had been Jews, ever since the queen of the south, who once came to Solomon. Afterwards they became Gentiles. But in the times of Anastasius they embraced the Christian religion and received a bishop. I should think that nothing else is meant here than the first victory gained in Homeritis by the Christian king Elesbaas, or his father Tazena, and the public profession of the Christian religion that followed there in consequence, and the conversion of many. Not a few other things recommend this opinion; and most of all the historical sequence of events itself, which must now be taken up from a little further back and established.

[107] Dhu Nowasus, having slain the tyrant Sjenatir, Dhu-Nowas or Dhu Nawas, whom most Greeks call Dunaan and the Syrians Dimion, began to reign, as has been said, about the year 490. The Mahometan writers relate not a few things about him; and since he was the author of the martyrdom of the Negranites, which not only in Arabia, but throughout the whole East

is most celebrated, he deserves to become known from the historians of his own nation. First Nuweirius narrates the following about the crime by which he obtained the kingdom of the Homerites. There reigned in Homeritis Laknia Dhu Sjenatir, not sprung from the royal family, a shameless man, given to the foul vice of sodomy. In this unspeakable practice, says Nuweirius, he long persisted, until there arose a young man born of the royal blood of the Homerites, whose name was Zura Ibn Kaab, surnamed Dhu Nowas (that is, lord of the lock of hair), so called because he wore a double lock of hair, which floated over his shoulders. The king, lying ill of a sickness, ordered him to be summoned, intending to commit upon him what he had often perpetrated upon others. He armed himself with a small knife hidden under the sole of his foot; Dhu Nowas sprang upon the king as he sought privacy with him, and killed him and cut off his head. The king had a window, from which he used to lean out and show himself to the crowd of his servants when the shameful deed was done, putting a tooth-stick into his mouth. Dhu Nowasus, inserting that implement into his mouth likewise, placed the head in the window from which he had been accustomed to look down upon his people…

[108] [he obtains the kingdom of the Homerites; and, having renounced idolatry, becomes a Jew.] The Himyarites then, on learning of the matter, with unanimous consent conferred the supreme direction of their affairs on Dhu Nowasus, saying again and again: It is altogether just that we should set this man up as our king, seeing that he has let us breathe again, free of this wicked man. Thus this Dhu Nowas Zura obtained the kingdom; and being confirmed in absolute rule, he repudiated the worship of idols, embraced the Jewish religion, and began to rage with slaughter against those who in the Yemenite provinces followed the faith of Jesus, the son of Mary, upon whom be auspicious prayers, and who refused to obey him. On the conversion of Dhu Nowasus to the Jewish religion the same writer mingles these fables. The reason why he gave in his name to Judaism is this: The Himyarites had a temple sacred to fire, in which were also their idols. From that fire there used to come forth a neck, extended as far as two parasangs (eleven kilometres). On this occasion certain Jews approached and said: Hear, O king, this neck stretched out from the fire is Satan. He desired this to be demonstrated to him. Then, bringing out the volume of the Law, they began to read. Thereupon that neck was suddenly drawn back, and the fire also was extinguished. Dhu Nowasus, struck by the miracle, went over to the Jewish faith Ap. Schultens, Imperium Joctanidarum, pag. 79 et seqq..

[109] He appears to have embraced Judaism not at Yathreb, but in Yemana. Other Mahometan writers relate this same thing of Asad Abu Carib, who was the first of the kings of Homeritis to profess the Jewish religion, and is said to have introduced it into his kingdom (above n. 26). Hamza of Isfahan narrates the conversion of Dhu Nowasus to Judaism differently and with greater probability: Dhu Nowasus, he says, is that celebrated Lord of the Trench (mentioned in the Alcoran), and the one who in the region of Yemen compelled men to the Jewish religion. For he had put up at Yathreb, afterwards called Medina, when he was making his way through there; and Judaism had pleased him, and he adopted it. Then the Jews of Yathreb instigated him to attack the city of Negran in war, and to harass the Christians who had their seat there Ap. Schultens, I. c. pag. 37.. A. P. Caussin does not deny the journey of Dhu Nowasus to Yathreb, but thinks it was undertaken to defend the Jews of Yathreb against certain idolatrous tribes called Aus and Kharadj Caussin, tom. I, pag. 122; tom. II, pag. 652 et seqq.; but he holds that Dhu Nowasus gave in his name to their doctrines in his own kingdom, in which there were so many Jews.

§ X. Origin of the wars between the Ethiopians and the Homerites; Paul, bishop of the Negranites; St. Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians; his and Dhu Nowasus's various names in the writers.

[The Ελλησθεαιος of Procopius is the same as the Elesbaas of the others. Of the wars] It is probable that Dhu Nowasus, soon after his passage to the Jewish religion, began to harass the Christians, and that thus the wars arose with the king of the Ethiopians. Over them there reigned at that time either Tazena, or his son Elesbaas, whom Procopius writes to have been an outstanding adherent of the Christian religion. The same historian indicates the cause of the wars more distinctly; he has, however, fused at least two expeditions of Elesbaas into one: and by him also Elesbaas, or Elebæus, is called Ελλησθεαιος; by a manifest error of the Greek codices, in which the letter θ (for so it was written in antiquity) Montfaucon, Palæographia græca, pag. 142, 277, 336. can very easily be read in place of β. It should be added that a reading of this kind prevailed already, perhaps in the very age of Procopius or not long afterwards; since it is met with in all the editions of his works. This emendation of the codices Michael Lequien was the first to propose in passing Oriens Christ. tom. II, col. 368.; but the learned man's suggestion went unnoticed, and in the following century the English traveller Henry Salt, without hesitation, put it forward anew Voyage en Abyssinie, tom. II, pag. 260. Paris 1816.. And what may surprise you, Saint-Martin himself credits the emendation not to his own fellow countryman but to the English traveller Histoire de bas-empire, tom. VIII, pag. 50.. Very many, however, had long since noticed that what Procopius narrates of Hellesteæus is exactly the same as what the others write of Elesbaas. Let us now hear that historian of the Persian wars, comprising several expeditions of the king of the Ethiopians in a few words:

[111] The causes and time between the Ethiopians and the Homerites. About the time of this war with the Persians, which was waged during the reign of Justin, Hellestheæus, king of Ethiopia, an outstanding adherent of the Christian religion, having heard that of the Homerites, who dwell on the opposite continent, not a few were Jews by race, and many also devoted to the ancient superstition which today they call the Greek, and that they were imposing tribute beyond measure on the Christians of that shore, assembled a fleet and forces, carried war thither, and, joining battle and proving victor, deprived of life a great number of the Homerites and the king himself Procop. de bello Pers. lib. I, cap. 20.. Justin held the empire from the year 518. But since Procopius is not sufficiently accurate here in certain respects, and since on the other hand our Acts, which we shall show to be truthful in most points, say that there were continual wars between the king of the Ethiopians and the king of the Homerites; that then Dhu Nowasus, or Dunaan, was put to flight to the mountain tracts; and since they indicate clearly enough that in the fifth year of Justin, the 522nd of Christ, Dhu Nowasus came out of the mountains and, having overcome the Ethiopian commander, began the persecution against the Christians in which St. Arethas suffered on the 24th day of October of the year 523: it appears that the wars between Dhu Nowasus and Elesbaas began either at the beginning of Justin's reign, about the year 518, or rather long before, while Anastasius held the empire. To prefer the latter I am moved both by what we shall show below, that Homeritis, or a part of it, had long been tributary to the Ethiopians and had for a long time received its kings from them, and by the words of Theodore the Lector, which we recited above: In the times of Anastasius, he says, the Homerites embraced the Christian religion and received a bishop.

[112] [Of Paul, bishop of the Negranites; whether they had others before him is uncertain.] Perhaps the bishop designated here is Paul, of whom it is written in our Acts, n. 5: Dunaan ordered all to be gathered together, and to show him Paul, the bishop of the city. All the leaders replied that he had died two years before; and he did not believe them, but sending to the place where his venerable body lay, he had the bones dug up, and ordered them to be given to the fire and the ashes to be thrown into the air with shovels. These things took place in the month of October of the year 523; from which it follows that Bishop Paul died in the year 521; and that the city of Negran (because his death had to become known at Auxum and probably also at Constantinople, so that another bishop might then be sent by the patriarch of Alexandria) was without a pastor for two years. Of this bishop, who before the year 521 was known to Dhu Nowasus or his followers, the same men did not know the death in the year 523; and I consider that this is to be attributed to the withdrawal of Dhu Nowasus, after the defeat received from the Ethiopians, to the mountain tracts. A withdrawal of this kind is easy in Yemana, and is still customary today among the lesser phylarchs, when they try to defend themselves against the more powerful; for in the interior of Yemana there are many inaccessible mountains. On this subject many things worth noting are written by Paul Emile Botta Relation d'un voyage dans l'Yémen, pag. 35 et seqq., 60 etc. Paris 1840., who through his discovery of the antiquities of Nineveh at Khorsabad is very well known to all Europe. The said Bishop Paul, therefore, who before the year 521 had become known to Dhu Nowasus, perhaps for many years, is perhaps the one who during the reign of Anastasius, that is, between the years 491 and 518, came into Homeritis. This, however, does not meet with the approval of Walchius, who says that the Homerites had their bishops before Anastasius Walchius, Commentar. etc. pag. 45.. I should gladly believe this, if monuments to establish it were not lacking. For almost all the kings of the Homerites, down to that time, were Gentiles, and it is not certain that before the age of Anastasius the Ethiopians obtained lasting dominion in any part of Homeritis. For on this matter not only are all the Arab writers silent, but concerning the city of Negrana itself our Acts relate that its prince, the predecessor of St. Arethas, who was also his father, was subject not to the kings of the Ethiopians, but to the Arab kings of the Homerites. For in these words the tyrant Dunaan addresses St. Arethas: Why have you not imitated your father, who ruled the city and all the neighbourhood, and who was held in honour while my predecessors reigned Acts below n. 15.? Wherefore the testimony of Theodore the Lector is not lightly to be neglected. And if the conversion of the Homerite nation took place in the times of Anastasius, as Theodore says, I conjecture that this happened at the beginning of his reign V. above n. 105 et seq., when Dhu Nowasus ascended the throne; that is, while there reigned in Ethiopia St. Elesbaas's father Tazena, who is established to have been a Christian Sapeto, Viaggio ecc. pag. 57: cfr above n. 54., or another predecessor of the same saint.

[113] [The Homerites, or a part of them, from the end of the 5th century began to be tributaries of the Ethiopians and to have Ethiopian kings.] For in our Acts Homeritis is said to have been tributary to the kings of Ethiopia, and it is intimated that this began before the reign of St. Elesbaas: While the whole world, they say at num. 2, always and everywhere venerated and glorified Christ, the true God … the land of the Homerites alone, which is also called Saba, was given over to idols, and at the same time to the doctrines of the Jewish religion… From this there arose continual wars between the king of the Ethiopians and the king of the Homerites, who WAS TRIBUTARY TO ETHIOPIA. And Elesbaas, a most Christian king, signally moved by divine zeal, came with an army and routed the wicked king. The king at that time was Dunaan (Dhu Nawas), a Jew, as the Acts had taught a little above. That the Homerites, moreover, had long been tributaries of the Ethiopians is confirmed by the letter of Dhu Nowasus himself to Almundarus, king of Hira, which has been preserved for us by Simeon of Beth-Arsam and will be recited below;

in which letter Dhu Nowasus writes that the Ethiopians had set up a Christian king ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM of the Homerites. And if he could write thus in the year 523, it is plain that at the least from the year 500 the Homerites had begun to have Ethiopian kings. The Acts continue, num. 2: It happened therefore that the king of the Jewish Homerites, overcome in war, took to flight and preserved himself in certain inaccessible mountains; while Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians, returned to his kingdom, leaving a commander with an army to guard the region. But the demon, hater of the good and adversary of those who wish to live piously, armed the king of the Homerites once more against those left behind by King Elesbaas. For he destroyed them, and began an inhuman persecution against all who venerated the name of Christ. By these passages of the Acts no small difficulties are resolved, as will be seen hereafter, and what we have so far proposed is confirmed.

[114] [Paul, bishop of the Negranites, appears to be the same who was sent during the reign of Anastasius.] Now that Paul of whom we were speaking is the only bishop of whom mention occurs in the persecution of Dhu Nowasus, who in the year 523 ruled over all Homeritis. From this it appears that he was bishop not only of the Christian Homerites, but also of the Ethiopians whom Dhu Nowasus, on leaving the mountains, attacked and routed. And just as, when Dhu Nowasus had been slain and the persecution had been quieted, Elesbaas, having informed the emperor, summoned another bishop from Alexandria (Act. num. 38); so it is especially probable that the earlier one too, namely Paul, or his predecessor, was summoned in the same way during the reign of Anastasius; that is, that nothing prevents what Theodore the Lector wrote above from being regarded as genuine. Nevertheless I shall not omit to observe here: if the nation of the Homerites was converted in the times of Anastasius, who was an opponent of the council of Chalcedon, yet no traces of the Monophysite heresy are detected among the Homerites about these times; as is clearly concluded from the deeds of the emperor Justin, a bitter enemy of the Monophysites, and of his legate Abraham, from the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam, a man eminently catholic V. below n. 135., from the veneration with which the Greeks have honoured the martyrs of Negrana from most ancient times, and finally from not a few other things Ibid. n. 179 et seqq..

[115] [The narrative of John, bishop of Asia, on Homerite affairs in the 6th century begins.] The cause, or origin, of the wars, as we have learned from Procopius, was the tributes which the Homerite Jews imposed on the Christians living on the Arabian shore. The passage of Procopius seems to have been read by John, bishop of Ephesus, or of Asia Minor, as Assemani teaches Biblioth. Oriental. tom. II, pag. 83., who wrote the ecclesiastical history of the East (but thoroughly infected with the Monophysite heresy), from the birth of Christ down to the year 585. The third part of this history was published not so long ago by the distinguished W. Cureton, a most diligent investigator of Syriac monuments. A notable passage of the second part, which pertains to the martyrdom of St. Arethas and the Christian history of Arabia, Assemani has printed Ibid. tom. I, pag. 359 et seqq. and turned from Syriac into Latin; and it has seemed good to reprint this piecemeal in this Commentary. Having set down, then, the title: On the kingdom of the Indians (that is, of the Ethiopians and southern Arabs), and how they embraced the Christian religion because of a war, the said John begins in this manner: About the same time (that is, during the reign of Anastasius or Justin, as is clear from what follows; but since what preceded is wanting, it cannot be said with certainty of what time he speaks), it happened that a war arose between the kings of the Indians, namely, between Xenodon, king of the Indians, and Aidog, the other king of inner India, who was held by Gentile superstition.

[116] [St. Elesbaas is called Aidog by John the bishop, Adad by Theophanes, Andas by Malalas; he was never a Gentile.] Concerning these, observe that King Xenodon appears to have been king of southern Ethiopia, or of inner Africa, as will be made probable below from what John, bishop of Asia, writes of the various kingdoms of the Indians; which King Xenodon is known from no other monument. Observe secondly that Aidog, the other king of inner India, is the same as Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians, as is manifest both from what John narrates further on, and from the Greek writers Theophanes and Malalas. For these have faithfully followed the narrative of John, bishop of Asia; but Theophanes has called the king of Ethiopia, who by John is named Aidog, Adad, and Malalas Andan or Andas [Theophan. chronographia, tom. I, pag. 346. Bonnæ 1839; Joannis Malalæ chronographia, pag. 434. Bonnæ 1831.]; and they attribute to him what we learn from Procopius and the Ethiopian monuments to befit Elesbaas alone. Undeservedly, therefore, did Henry Salt believe that the Andas of Malalas was the same Salt, Voyage en Abyssinie, tom. II, pag. 257 et seq. as Ameda, or Ala-Ameda, the father of Tazena, who was the father of Elesbaas, or Caleb (for so the Ethiopian monuments call the Elesbaas of the Greeks) Ludolf. passim; Sapeto, Viaggio, pag. 64, 67, etc.. But these things will be weighed more diligently in the following volume, at the 27th day of October, when the Acts of St. Elesbaas will be given. Nor does it help Henry Salt to say that Andas is the same as Elesbaas but different from Caleb: for the Ethiopian monuments most openly attribute to Caleb what the Greeks attribute to Elesbaas Theophan. pag. 260; Malala, pag. 458; Nonnosus ap. Photium cod. 3; Cedrenus etc.; as will be shown in the said volume, and will also appear below from the Ethiopian synaxary of the martyrs of Negrana. Observe thirdly that of Aidog, king of Ethiopia, our Elesbaas, it is said by John, bishop of Asia: Who was held by Gentile superstition. This, however, is contrary to the remaining monuments, as will be shown in due time, nor did it meet with the approval of Theophanes himself, in the summary which he gathered from John's narrative; for he writes that King Adad, or Aidog, was a Jew Theophan. tom. I, pag. 346.: for which reason Assemani says that the Syriac text was not well understood by Theophanes Bibl. Orient. tom. I, pag. 359..

[117] The origin of the wars with the Homerites, from the same John. But let John the bishop now continue: And this man (King Aidog), having settled matters with Xenodon, again undertook war against Dimion, king of the Homerites, who are themselves also numbered among the Indians, from a cause of this kind: The kingdom of the Ethiopians is situated beyond Homeritis (with respect to the Syrians, says Assemani, who approached Ethiopia through Arabia and the strait of the Arabian gulf) over against the regions of Egypt and the Thebaid, which lie outside India. Now Roman merchants used to penetrate through the lands of the Homerites to the inner parts of the Indians which are called Euzeliæ (Euzeliæ, in Syriac Auzelis, so called perhaps from the African city of Zeila Cfr Masudius ap. Schultens, pag. 140., on the gulf named from Aden, among the Somalis, towards the 11th degree of latitude; but Saint-Martin believes Hist. du bas emp. tom. VIII, pag. 48. that what is meant here is the port and city of Adulis, not far from Auxum): and from there they would set out into the further regions of the Indians and Ethiopians. For there are seven kingdoms of the Indians and Ethiopians: three, namely, of the Indians and four of the Ethiopians; and these indeed lie further away, and within the southern parts beside the great sea (they call it the ocean), by which the whole circle of the earth is surrounded. The aforementioned Roman merchants, then, passing as was their custom through the territories of the Homerites into the regions of the Indians for the sake of trade, Dimion, king of the Homerites, seized, and when all their wares had been plundered he killed them. For he said: Because the Christians harass the Jews living among them in the Roman parts, and inflict death on very many of them, for that reason I adjudge that these men too must be punished with death. And in this manner he put very many of them to death; whence, the rest being seized with fear, the commerce of the inner Indians and Ethiopians was cut off.

[118] [Dhu Nowas was also called Dimion, Dimnus, Damnus and Fi-Neas; he is routed by Elesbaas.] The king of the Homerites, who by John the bishop is called Dimion, is named Dimnus by Malalas in the place cited, Damnus by Nicephorus, book 17 chapter 22, and by Theophanes Damianus. But they manifestly signify the same man who in the Acts to be published and in Metaphrastes is called Dunaan, and in the histories of the Arabs Dhu Nowas, or Dhu Nawas; from which name the Ethiopian synaxary has corruptly called him Fineas, or Fi-Neas. Pagi already pronounced this, before the Syriac and Arabic monuments were to hand: Wherefore there is no doubt, he says, that Theophanes took Adad for Elesbaas, and Damianus for Dunaan Pagius, ad an. 541, num. 6.. And he who in these latest years has occupied himself most diligently with the history of the ancient Arabs, the distinguished Caussin de Perceval, has no doubt that the aforesaid names apply to Dhu Nowasus alone Hist. des Arabes avant Mahomet, tom. I. pag. 121.. This, moreover, will be further confirmed by what John the bishop narrates in the two following chapters. The first of them reads thus: Of what the king of the Ethiopians wrote to the king of the Homerites, and of the war which arose between them. Then Aidog (or Elesbaas), king of the Ethiopians, gave notice through messengers to Dimion, king of the Homerites, saying: You have committed a shameful crime; for by killing the Christian merchants of the Romans you have cut off commerce, and have taken away advantages and profits not only from my kingdoms but also from others: but my kingdom above all has been brought to loss by you. On this account, then, a dissension having arisen between them, it came to arms. And when they were now about to meet in line of battle, Aidog, king of the Ethiopians, said: If it shall be granted me to come off superior to that robber, the king of the Homerites, I will become a Christian; for I desire to avenge the blood of the Christians shed by him. Then, battle being joined, the Ethiopian overcame the king of the Homerites, and captured and killed him, and plundered his whole kingdom and subjected it to his own rule, and destroyed his army in utter slaughter.

[119] [In the narrative of John the bishop some things are corrected. Dhu Nowas is routed a second time.] Here the historian anticipates the event, since the king of the Homerites was not killed in the first expedition. He was perhaps deceived by the narrative of Procopius, which we gave at num. 111. For after him, whose histories were published throughout the empire while Justinian was living, John wrote, namely about the year 585. Theophanes saw that here the Syriac narrative, which in very many things he had had as his guide, must be abandoned; but he takes on another error, writing that Dunaan was led away captive: With God's help, then, he says, he (Adad, king of the Exumites, that is, Elesbaas) won a great victory, and led King Damianus (Dimion, Dunaan) away a living captive, and rendered the region of the Homerites and their royal seat wholly subject, etc. The first expedition of Elesbaas into Arabia has been faithfully recorded by the very ancient Acts which we are publishing: in which it is expressly said that King Dunaan, after receiving the defeat, fled to the mountains: then, having gradually recovered his strength, routed the Ethiopians and began a monstrous persecution. Above num. 113. In which persecution St. Arethas and his companions attained the palm of martyrdom. Then St. Elesbaas came once more with an army, the Homerites

he overcame and killed their king. The narrative of John, bishop of Asia, agrees with the Acts in this, that it reports that Aidog, or Elesbaas, king of Ethiopia, entered Homeritis with an army twice; and while it records that Dimion fell in the first expedition, and that Elesbaas fought against a new king, it nevertheless keeps back the latter's name. This is an argument that the fortunes of this war were not so well perceived by the Syriac writer that he could not have been ignorant that Dimion, or Dunaan, survived the first expedition. And this will be further evident from what is now to be said.

[120] [It is shown that Elesbaas was neither a Gentile nor a Jew; several kings of Ethiopia before him were Christians.] For in the passage of the Acts mentioned, Elesbaas from the beginning, and before the first expedition, is called a most Christian king, and there is no mention whatever of his conversion; indeed his Christian zeal is said to have been the reason why he attacked the king of the Homerites: They (the Homerites) did not fear God, say the Acts, but worshipped their idols: from which there began continual wars between the king of the Ethiopians and the king of the Homerites, who was tributary to Ethiopia. And Elesbaas, a most Christian king, signally moved by divine zeal, etc. And these things are admirably confirmed by the letter of King Dunaan himself, or Dhu Nowasus, to Monderus, king of the Saracens, of which a little more shortly: Know, my brother, King Monderus, that that king whom the Ethiopians had set over our region (namely after the first Arabian war of Elesbaas, of which we have just spoken from our Acts), has now departed from among the living. And as winter was drawing near, since the Ethiopians could not make their way into our region to set up a Christian king ACCORDING TO CUSTOM, I occupied the whole kingdom of the Homerites. It was therefore the established custom of the Ethiopians to set up a Christian king in Homeritis. From this it follows that Elesbaas was a Christian from the beginning of his reign; indeed it is intimated that he was not the first king of Ethiopia to give in his name to the Christian rites. And this is the reason why no synaxaries, neither Greek nor Ethiopian, the chief of which will be brought forward below, make mention of the conversion of Elesbaas. Other monuments, however, are extant, from which it will be shown at the 27th day of October, in the Acts of St. Frumentius and St. Elesbaas, that several kings of Ethiopia before him were Christians: among which the chief are the Ethiopian synaxaries of St. Frumentius and of the nine saints who came into Ethiopia at the very end of the 5th century; the letter of the emperor Constantius to the kings of Ethiopia Aizanas and Sazanus Cfr Ludolf. Commentar., pag. 393 ad diem 4 Octob., of the year 356; and finally the Ethiopic inscription found at Auxum by the often-praised J. Sapeto.

§ XI. Whether John the paramonarius was bishop of the Ethiopians or of the Homerites; various authors are corrected; the viceroys of the Ethiopians in Homeritis; of Simeon of Beth-Arsam, historian of the martyrdom of the Negranites.

The king of Ethiopia receives Bishop John from Alexandria. But let us now hear the Syriac narrator again, who here erroneously inserts the conversion of the king of the Ethiopians: As soon as he had gained a victory of this kind, King Aidog, he says, did not delay to fulfil his vow (of embracing the Christian religion), but sending two of his nobles to the emperor Justinian (or Justin, namely the elder, as Assemani notes Bibl. Orient. tom. I, pag. 362., whom the Orientals are accustomed to call Justinian the first, he asks him to send him a bishop and clerics. He, moved by incredible joy, ordered that the bishop whom they should choose be given. And the envoys, having made diligent inquiry, requested that John, the paramonarius of St. John, that is, the mansionarius or sacristan of the church of St. John, a man distinguished for chastity, purity and zeal, be ordained bishop for them. Having received him, therefore, together with several clerics, they returned to their country, filled with wonderful joy: and King Aidog received them with like gladness, together with the bishop and priests who had come with them. He himself, being imbued with sacred catechesis, received baptism and became a Christian, together with all the nobles of the kingdom. And with equal zeal all took up the care that the Christian faith should prevail in the whole kingdom, and that temples should be raised everywhere in honour of the true God of the Christians. And in this way God bestowed salvation on these wandering peoples.

[122] [Theophanes and Malalas narrate the same, the former of whom is sharply reproved by Pagi.] Theophanes and Malalas have comprised the same things in a few words, inserting a few additions, as that the king asked that the whole region of the Indians (Ethiopians) should be under the Roman empire, of which the emperor had been informed by letter by Licinnius, the Augustal of Alexandria; that John was celibate, and sixty-two years of age when he was chosen. Both chronographers refer these things to the times of Justinian, and Theophanes indeed to the 16th year of his reign, the 542nd of Christ; for which reason he is sharply reproved by Pagi Ad ann. 541, num. 5 et seqq., to whom his whole narrative is a fiction. Theophanes, he says, in the narrative of this war erred exceedingly, and led others into error. For firstly the Axumites had been Christians from the time of Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, and had received the faith from the holy bishop Frumentius, as I have shown at the year 327, etc. His conclusion is that the little tale flowed from an imperfectly known history of Elesbaas, who did in fact send an embassy to the patriarch of Alexandria, and from there to the emperor Justin (Cfr Acts below num. 38); but at the end of the war (at the close of the year 525 or the beginning of the following); and in order that a bishop might be granted to the Homerites, not to the Ethiopians, who had long since been converted. Pagi would have dealt more gently with Theophanes, had he known that he drew these things from John, the Monophysite bishop of Asia Minor, who lived during the reign of Justinian and did not long outlive him. But this author, on whom the error of Theophanes, Malalas and the rest must be laid back (since I consider it to be in fact an error), having been brought to light after Pagi's death, could not be read by that learned man.

[123] [When the kings of Ethiopia began to be Christians is uncertain. Of a certain John, bishop of the Sabæans of Ethiopia.] The distinguished Thomas Wright prefers to retain the narrative of John the bishop Early christianity in Arabia, pag. 51. London 1855., writing that the Abyssinians indeed had been Christians long before Elesbaas, but that their kings only favoured the Christian rites, and did not dare to embrace them or profess them publicly. This matter can be inquired into more deeply in the following volume, and the inscription of Auxum, written in Ethiopic characters, which Sapeto has published, can be brought to a critical test; but I should think that, among other things, what Dunaan, or Dhu-Nowas, writes to Almundarus, king of the Saracens, is altogether against it, that it was the custom of the Ethiopians to set up a Christian king in Homeritis. Above num. 120. Nor can another Ethiopic inscription, discovered by Henry Salt, in which mention is made of a certain John, bishop of Ethiopia, who instructed the Sabæans from Hazramaa, not far from the river (the Nile), in the Christian faith, since it bears no chronological note, teach us anything certain [J. Bird ap. Nouvelles annales des voyages, 1845, tom. II, pag. 201; Salt, Voyage en Abyssinie, tom. II, pag. 187 et 193. Paris 1816.]. Nevertheless the conjecture of James Bird, that this John, bishop of Ethiopia, is the same as John the Paramonarius, who is mentioned by the Syriac historian and his followers Theophanes and Malalas, is not to be rejected until we learn something different and more certain from other monuments. For although Elesbaas is not said to have been converted at that time, he could nevertheless, on the occasion of the victory, have renewed his fervour, or for some other cause have summoned a bishop from Alexandria. But these things belong to the Life of St. Elesbaas. Here, however, it must not be omitted that Michael Lequien, being persuaded that in the reign of Elesbaas Ethiopia had long been Christian, numbered this John the Paramonarius among the bishops of the Homerites Oriens Christ. tom. II, col. 663..

[124] [Viceroys of the Homerites, chiefly from Procopius: Esimiphæus, Aryates, Abramus, and a fourth unnamed.] There were various viceroys of the Ethiopians in Homeritis, and several names appear in the writers. Our Acts mention two (n. 2 and 38), but designate only Abraham by name. Similarly Procopius, a contemporary author, whose histories were known throughout the empire while Justinian was still living, mentions two. The first he calls Esimiphæus, the other Abramus. Indeed he has also recorded a third, with his name omitted, who, when Abramus usurped the kingdom of the Homerites, was sent with a fleet against him by Hellesthæus, or Elesbæus, and was killed by traitors. This man appears to be the same as Aryat, or Aryates; of whom, as will soon be said, the Arab writers have more to tell. Relying on our most ancient Acts and on Procopius, we think that no doubt remains concerning these three viceroys. It must be added that Procopius writes that when Dhu Nowasus had been overcome and deprived of life, Esimiphæus was set up as viceroy; whence we are compelled at the same time to take on a fourth viceroy, who governed the Homerites from Elesbaas's first victory until the return of Dhu Nowasus: and our Acts, n. 2, report that this man departed this life about the year 522: but his name is unknown to us. In his (Dhu Nowasus's) place, says Procopius, having substituted Esimiphæus, a Christian and a Homerite, on the condition however that he should pay an annual tribute to the Ethiopians, Hellesthæus, or Elesbaas, returned home Pag. 104. edit. Bonn..

[125] Anganes, viceroy of the Homerites, whom Malalas mentions. Besides these four, must a fifth also be admitted? since Malalas in his chronicle mentions a certain Anganes, an Ethiopian and of the family of King Elesbaas: whom both his family and many other things show to be different from Esimiphæus. But meanwhile, says Malalas Chronographia, pag. 456 et seq. Bonnæ 1831., the emperor Justinian, informed by Rufinus the Patrician of the double-dealing of Coades, or Cavades, king of the Persians, appealed on these matters by imperial letters to the king of the Auximites (whom a little further down he calls Elesbaas). This man had utterly vanquished the king of the Indian Homerites in a battle joined with him; and having occupied his kingdom and region, he had set up as king there Anganes, of his own family — και ἐποιησεν ἀντ᾽ αὐτου βασιλεα των Ἀμεριτων Ἰνδων, ἐκ του ἰδιου γενους, Ἀγγανην — ; because he now held the kingdom of the Indian Homerites too subject to himself. This Anganes appears to be the same as the commander and viceroy whom the Arabs call Aryates. For just as Malalas writes that the former was of the family of Elesbaas, so too the Arabs say that the latter was the nephew, by his brother, of the Ethiopian king. Moreover Theophanes, whom in this place Malalas copies in almost everything, mentions a King Arethas, to whom an envoy of the Romans was sent Theophan. tom. I, pag. 377. Bonnæ 1839.; and very many things suggest that this Arethas is the same as Aryates. Omitting the name of Arethas, Malalas substitutes Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians, adding, as has been said, that he set up in Homeritis as viceroy Anganes, of his own family. Whence it is very probable that Anganes is the same as Aryates; and that Aryates, whom the Arab historians call king of the Homerites, was sent by Elesbaas when Abraham, attacking the viceroy Esimiphæus,

began to aspire to the kingdom. For the same embassy which Theophanes and Malalas write was sent to Arethas, or to Elesbaas, Procopius narrates was directed to Elesbaas and Esimiphæus. Of this embassy we must speak again in the following volume, in the Commentary on St. Elesbaas.

[126] he is the same as Aryates. Theophanes is corrected; Meanwhile let us hear Procopius: At the time when Hellestheæus (Elesbaas) was reigning in Ethiopia, and the Homerites obeyed Esimiphæus, Justinian Augustus sent Julian (by which name Theophanes also calls the envoy) as envoy to them, asking of each through him that, for the communion of religion by which they were bound to the Romans, they should assist them in waging war with the Persians. Each king indeed assented to the requests and, promising that he would do these things, sent the envoy back with generosity; yet neither fulfilled what was promised and agreed Procop. lib. I, cap. 20, pag. 106.. Elsewhere he narrates that a sedition was stirred up against Esimiphæus by rebellious soldiers, who shut him up in a fortress, and conferred the kingdom of the Homerites on Abramus, a Christian indeed, but the slave of a certain Roman trader, who was staying among the Ethiopians in the city of Adulis for the sake of maritime commerce. When Hellesthæus heard of this, he says, hastening most eagerly to exact punishment from Abramus and the sharers in the rebellion for the injury done to Esimiphæus, he dispatched three thousand fighting men against them, with a commander chosen from his royal kindred. That this commander, whom Procopius does not name, is Aryates himself, to whom all that the said historian has applies, is not to be doubted. But these too, the same writer continues, renouncing their country so as to dwell in a very good region, secretly dealt with Abramus, without the knowledge of their commander, whom also they afterwards killed, when they had been led out into line of battle against the enemy Procop. lib. I, cap. 20, pag. 105.. These things fit Aryates at every point; whom the Arab writers with one voice relate to have been killed in battle against Abramus: but this took place afterwards, that is, several years after the coming of Aryates into Homeritis. By a signal error Theophanes records the embassy of Julian under the seventh year of Justin the younger, the 571st of Christ Theophan. pag. 377.; whose history Procopius had by then already published. Malalas copied Theophanes Pag. 457., but with the embassy brought back to the reign of Justinian, and with the name of Arethas omitted: in which things he will doubtless appear to have paid attention to the narrative of Procopius.

[127] the chronological series of the same viceroys. From what has preceded four viceroys become known to us in this order: The anonymous one, upon whose death in the year 522 Dhu Nowasus began his rebellion; above n. 124. Then Esimiphæus, a Homerite, who, A. Caussin conjectures Tom. I, pag. 139., was called Ebn-Zi-Kifan, or son of Dhu Kifan, by the Arabs: since the name Dhu Kifan is met with not rarely in the early history of the Yemenites. In the third place Aryates, an Ethiopian, of the family of King Elesbaas, who was sent with an army, when a certain Abraham, with Esimiphæus shut up in a fortress by the rebels, dared to aspire to the kingdom. This man, whom Malalas calls Anganes, reigned twenty years in Yemana, as Hamza and Masudius write [Ap. Schultens, Imp. Joctanidar. pag. 41 et 143; cfr Sacy in Mémoires de litt. tom. XLVIII, pag. 544bs.]; with Esimiphæus omitted, of whom all the Arabs are silent. I should judge from Procopius, a contemporary author, that Esimiphæus reigned about five years, from the year 525, in which Dhu Nowasus was slain, to the year 530; and I should say that Aryates held the kingdom from the year 530 to 540. Why in these things I differ from the recent historian of the Arabs, who thinks that Aryates reigned from the year 525 to 537, is to be explained more fully when we speak of the military expedition of King Elesbaas against Dhu Nowasus. Finally the fourth viceroy of the Ethiopians was Abraham, from about the year 540 to 570; for in this year took place his war against Mecca, from which the Arabs begin their celebrated era, called the era of the elephant: and Abraham did not long survive this unhappy war.

[128] [Of the second war between the Homerites and the Ethiopians, from the narrative of John the bishop.] Having premised these things concerning the viceroys of the Homerites, whose history has created no slight perplexities for such eminent writers as Walchius, Saint-Martin and A. P. Caussin, let the narrative of John, bishop of Asia, now proceed: Of the same kingdom of the Homerites, and of the evils and slaughters perpetrated there by the Jews. — A little later, when the Christian king had died (or viceroy, whose name is unknown to us, from what has been said above) whom Aidog, or Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians, had set up there, the Homerite Jews, having recovered their strength, placed over Homeritis a king of their own sect, or rather, as has been shown, recalled Dhu Nowasus from the mountain tracts, in which he seems to have preserved for himself some semblance of a kingdom. And fiercely attacking all the Christians living there, they destroyed as many as they met, men and women, boys and infants, little ones and old men; as the martyrdom of these has been handed down in writing by the blessed Simeon the sophist (in Syriac, Sjemhun dorusjo); from which we have resolved to transcribe this mournful history in this place. It is as follows. There follows the letter of Simeon, bishop of Beth-Arsam, who presided over the orthodox, or catholic, Christians of the kingdom of the Persians, to Mar Simeon, abbot of Gabula in Euphratesia, 110 stadia from Chalcis.

[129] Who Simeon of Beth-Arsam was; Who this Simeon was we learn first from our Acts, num. 25, where he is said to have been among the envoys to Almundarus III, king of Hira: There being present, says the writer of the Acts, Abramius beloved of God, the envoy of the emperor Justin, and those whom Cavades, king of the Persians, had sent from Persia, Simeonius the presbyter (from which designation we learn that Simeon was at that time not yet a bishop) and apocrisiarius of the orthodox Christians of Persia; and John the deacon etc. Next Simeon becomes known from the Syriac chronicle of Abulpharagius, part III, where he writes of Babuæus, archbishop of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and of the goodwill with which Cavades, king of the Persians, favoured the catholics over the Nestorians: There was at that time, he says, a certain presbyter, Simeon by name, from Beth-Arsam, a village situated near Seleucia, an orthodox man. He, having discovered the disposition of King Cavades, approached him and obtained from him a command that he might traverse the whole land of Sennaar and all Persia, and stir up the orthodox to hold assemblies freely and to beat back the onset of the Nestorians. This, then, he accomplished. And wherever he passed through, he received a signed document from Armenians, Greeks and Syrians, professing themselves to be estranged from the faith of the Nestorians; and he brought to the king letters confirmed by the subscriptions of each, and the king confirmed them with the royal seal: and they were called the codices of confession, and deposited in the church of the city of Tagrit, which alone had escaped the corruption of Barsumas Assemani, Bibl. Orient. tom. III, pag. 404.. This Barsumas, bishop of Nisibis, had spread the Nestorian heresy in Mesopotamia, had attacked the celibacy of clerics and monks, and had procured the killing of the above-mentioned Babuæus by Pherozes, king of the Persians.

[130] his letter contains a sincere history of the martyrdom of the Negranites. The letter of Simeon, moreover, is a most excellent monument of the Syriac language; and the learned J. D. Michaelis did not hesitate to reprint it entire in his chrestomathy. For it contains the history of the Arabian persecution, which must be numbered among the most savage; and concerning which, before this letter was committed to print, no sufficiently safe document was in hand. It was written in the year of Christ 524, while the persecution was still raging; and Simeon had then barely returned from his embassy to Almundarus of Hira, who was staying in inner Arabia. This man, in the presence of Simeon, had received an envoy of Dhu Nowasus himself, the tyrant of the Homerites; from whose narrative, as also from that of a certain other, Christian, envoy whom he met at Hira, in the royal city of Almundarus, Simeon learned everything. Nothing, therefore, safer or weightier than this monument can be brought forward concerning the Arabian persecution; and it will now be permissible, if one pleases, to dismiss the Metaphrastean Acts, which are held of small account by not a few: but by this same monument are confirmed at every point our ancient Acts, from which Metaphrastes drew all his material in his own fashion.

§ XII. First part of the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam; the year and day of the passion of St. Arethas; Abraham the envoy and his embassies; the letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundarus of Hira, in which he narrates what he did at Negrana.

The letter of Simeon is recited. Its proem. In the history of John, bishop of Asia, and in the Syriac chronicle of Dionysius, the letter of Simeon appears with this title: — The letter which St. Simeon, bishop of Beth-Arsam, who presided over the Christians established in the region of the Persians, wrote to Mar Simeon, abbot of Gabula; in which the martyrdom of the Homerites is described — We signify to your Dilection that on the twentieth day of Latter Canun, that is, of January, of the present year of the Greeks eight hundred and thirty-five, we departed from Irta (that is, the dominion, says Assemani; of which below) of Naaman, together with Abraham the presbyter, son of Euphrasius, who was dispatched by the emperor Justinian (that is, Justin the elder) to Monderus (Almundarus, or Mundhir III, king of Hira), king of the Arabs, to arrange a peace: as we wrote of him in our earlier letter (which is lost), giving thanks to him, both we and all the faithful, because he favours our side: and he himself has full knowledge of what we wrote formerly and of what we write now. On this preamble some things come to be noted, and 1° on the year in which the letter was written, and as a consequence, on the year of the martyrdom of St. Arethas; 2° on Irta, or Hirta of Naaman; 3° on Abraham, envoy of Justin, or, as it is there said, of Justinian. For the Orientals, as we have already mentioned, are accustomed to call Justin the elder Justinian the first. Theophanes, says Assemani, not observing this custom of the Syrian and Arab writers, wrongly transferred an event done under Justin (the Homerite war) to the reign of Justinian; and the others after him afterwards followed this error, as Pagi learnedly shows at the year 541, num. 6.

[132] St. Arethas suffered in the year 523, on the 24th day of the month of October. As to the year in which Simeon wrote the letter, its beginning must be weighed: On the twentieth day of Latter Canun, he says, of the present year of the Greeks, or Seleucids, eight hundred and thirty-five etc. The era of the Seleucids began 311 years and three or four months before the birth of Christ; so that when these years are subtracted, the years of the Christian era remain. Note, however, that in the East some, especially the Greeks, began the year in the month of September, others, that is, the Syrians and Babylonians, in the month of October or November. From which it is clear that the years of the Orientals in general began with the autumn. Wherefore the first year of the Incarnation, from January to autumn, corresponds to the year 312 of the Seleucids; and from autumn to January, to the year 313: so that from the era of the Seleucids there must be deducted either 311 or 312 years, according as we speak of the first and greater part of the Julian year, or the other and lesser. Since therefore at the beginning of his letter Simeon writes of the month of January, when 311 years are deducted from 835, it is clear that he began his journey in the said month of the Christian year 524. He narrates

in what follows, however, as will soon be evident, that in the same winter, and not so very long before, St. Arethas and his companions obtained the crown of martyrdom. From which it must be said that this occurred in the year of Christ 523. Nevertheless some Syrian and Arab writers, especially of the Babylonian region, make the era of the Seleucids one year later; according to whose opinion the first Dionysian year corresponds to the year of the Seleucids, or Syro-Macedonians, not 312, but 311, and the martyrdom of St. Arethas would have to be ascribed to the year of Christ 524. The causes of this divergence in computing the era of the Seleucids appear to have been first unravelled by Fr. X. Patritius in his recent work De consensu utriusque libri Machabæorum Pag. 27, num. 20. Romæ 1856.. Meanwhile certainty must be sought by us from elsewhere. It will be easily drawn from the ancient Acts which we are publishing; in which we read at num. 20: All obtained martyrdom in the month of Hyperberetæus, which is October, on the 24th day, in the second indiction. And since in the same place, at num. 1, these things are said to have happened during the reign of Justin, that is, between the years 518 and 527, the second indiction that falls between these years must be selected: which we know to have run from the month of September of the year 523 to September of the year 524. It is manifest, therefore, that St. Arethas suffered in the year 523, and indeed on the 24th day of October; on which day also he is celebrated in the Menæa and in most of the Oriental menologies. Here we observe in passing that Simeon of Beth-Arsam, as is evident from the foregoing, although he spent his life among the Babylonians, nevertheless did not adhere to their years, but followed the era of the western Syrians.

[133] Hirta of Naaman is the same city which is called Hira by the Arabs. Next we must speak of Irta, or Hirta: We signify to your Dilection, says Simeon, that on the twentieth day of Latter Canun … we departed from Irta of Naaman. That is, from the dominion of Naaman, says Assemani. But in Syriac the place from which they departed is expressed in this manner: Men Hirto Denaamon, that is, from Hirta of Naaman. Now two things are to be recalled here. First, that Hira, the royal city of the desert of the eastern Arabs See above n. 82., was called Hirta by the Syrian writers, as Assemani himself afterwards observes in volume III of his Bibliotheca: Hirta, he says, to the Arabs al-Hirah, is a city in Babylonian Eraka (or Iraka), three miles distant from Cupha, or Akula etc. Bibl. Orient. tom. III, part. 2, pag. 756.. The other, that this Hira, or Hirta, was much adorned by King Naaman, or Nooman I; whence it was called Hirat-Annoman by the Arabs Caussin, tom. II, pag. 55.: to which designation that used by Simeon is altogether similar. Moreover Simeon's narrative confirms this at every point: for he was accompanying Abraham, the envoy of Justinian, to Almundarus, king of Hira; and since the latter was away from Hira and staying in inner Arabia with his army, they had to go to him there.

[134] [Of Abraham the envoy, from the history of the embassies of Nonnosus and from the Acts of St. Arethas.] But now in the third place let us speak of Abraham the presbyter. Of him in the history of the embassies of Nonnosus in Photius Cod. 3. the following is read: Indeed the father of Nonnosus also, whose name was Abramus, having once set out as an orator to Alamundarus, prefect of the Saracens, at the same time freed two Roman commanders, Timostratus and John Above n. 99., taken by right of war; serving the emperor Justin in freeing these commanders. For the rest, we learn not a little about Abraham and his embassy from our Acts themselves; which will also serve to illustrate what Simeon of Beth-Arsam will next narrate: He who is wonderful in his saints, the king of all ages, they say at num. 25, having before his eyes at all times the venerable death of his saints, inspired the divine Justin, who then ruled the Romans, to send Abramius the presbyter, a most religious man and beloved of God, to that Alamundarus, who was also called Sacchicas, to exhort him to deal peaceably with the Christians who were under his power. And when the letter of the execrable King Dhu Nowasus had been read by Almundarus, there being present Abramius beloved of God, and those whom the king of the Persians had sent from Persia, Simeonius the presbyter and apocrisiarius of the orthodox Christians of Persia, and John the subdeacon, who is called Mandinus, and Angæus the count, son of Zet, who was Christian ethnarch of all the military colony της παρεμβολης, namely of the Saracens, in Judæa, above num 68); there came also on the same matter Silas, bishop of the Nestorians of Persia, with very many, wishing to contradict and dogmatize etc. From which, as also from Simeon's narrative, we are taught that Abraham the envoy was at the same time a presbyter, and that at Constantinople he favoured the side of the orthodox Persians.

[135] [Simeon was a catholic. Abraham the envoy was a presbyter and the father of Nonnosus. Of the celibacy of priests in the East before the Trullan synod.] Simeon of Beth-Arsam, therefore, not only was no Nestorian, as is clearer than the noonday light from our Acts, from Abulfaragius, and from his letter on the heresy of the Nestorians Ap. Assemani, Bibl. Orient. tom. I, pag. 346., but neither was he a Monophysite, or an opponent of the council of Chalcedon. For the emperor Justin, whose envoy Abraham the presbyter was, most openly championed the synod of Chalcedon, and punished the ringleaders of the Monophysites with exile. On which you may see more in Assemani Ibid. pag. 342.. Abraham the presbyter, moreover, is certainly the one of whom Photius wrote in the preceding number, in his summary of the history of the embassies of Nonnosus: Indeed the father of Nonnosus also, whose name was Abramus, having once set out as an orator to Alamundarus, prefect of the Saracens etc., serving the emperor Justin. Abraham, the father of Nonnosus, probably became a priest after the death of his wife, says Saint-Martin, since in the East at that time this was not rarely done Lebeau, Hist. du bas-empire, tom. VIII, pag. 57. Edit. Saint-Martin.. But it must be added that in antiquity this was lawful in both churches even while the wife was living; and that in the Eastern church there was moreover permitted to priests the use of such a marriage; which was altogether forbidden throughout the Roman patriarchate. On these matters one may read the Nicene canon in Socrates, book I chapter 8, the letter of Pope Siricius to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 7, and Justinian's novel 22, chapter 42. In the East itself, before the Trullan synod, all the best priests who had married before receiving the presbyterate abstained from the use of marriage.

[136] [The embassies of Abraham, his father and his son. The envoys meet Almundarus in Madianitis. The letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundarus.] However it may have stood with Abraham, we learn from Photius that both Euphrasius and his son Abraham, and the latter's son in turn, Nonnosus, were employed by the emperors for embassies; and indeed all the embassies of that family were held to the Arabs or the Ethiopians. They occurred in this order. 1° Euphrasius, grandfather of Nonnosus, was sent by Anastasius to Caisus, nephew of Arethas, prefect of the Saracens. Above num. 74. 2° Abraham, the father of Nonnosus, is sent to Alamundarus, or Mundhar III, king of Hira, during the reign of Justin. 3° The same Abraham is sent to the above-mentioned Caisus by Justinian; 4° Justinian sends Nonnosus, son of Abraham, to the same Caisus, who presided over two most celebrated nations among the Saracens, the Chindini and the Maadeni; and from there to the king of the Auxumites, over which nation Elesbaas then presided, and likewise to the Homerites. 5° Finally Abraham sets out a third time on an embassy to Caisus, in the year of Christ 534 or 535 Photius, Cod. 3 et supra n. 74.. As to the second embassy, which from what has been said above had not found Almundarus, or Monderus, at Hirta, or Hira, let us hear Simeon again, who continues his narrative thus: Through the desert, then, having spent ten days, going towards the south and east, we came to Monderus over against the mountains called “of Sand,” which the Arabs call “Ramle.” And as we entered the camp of Monderus, there met us Gentile Arabs and Maadeni (that is, inhabitants of Madianitis. Above num. 74. From which it is clear that in this tract, in which Mecca is situated with its temple the Caba, or not far from there, the envoys met Al-Mundharus); and, what more remains for you to do, they say, since your Christ has been expelled from the territories of the Romans, the Persians and the Homerites? With these things the Arabs reproached us. And we pined away in great sorrow; especially as there was close by an envoy from Dhu Nowasus, or Dunaan, king of the Homerites, sent to King Monderus (cfr Acts below n. 25 sqq.) who presented a letter full of arrogance, in these words.

[137] [The second war of Dhu Nowasus was begun at the close of the year 522. He killed 280 priests,] “Know, my brother, King Monderus, says Dhu Nowasus, that that king whom the Ethiopians had set over our region has now departed from among the living. Here I believe the anonymous viceroy is meant, of whom above num. 127 sq. And as winter was drawing near, since the Ethiopians could not make their way into our region to set up a Christian king according to custom, I occupied the whole kingdom of the Homerites. This winter, which was the beginning of the renewed war, could not correspond to the autumn of the year 523, in the course of which, in the month of October, St. Arethas obtained martyrdom. For first, our Acts begin the history of this war in this manner: In the fifth year of the reign of Justin etc., and this fifth year began with the September of the year 522; wherefore the winter of that fifth year falls either in the last months of the year 522 or at the beginning of the following year. Next, when in the month of September or October of the year 523 Dhu Nowasus came to Negrana, a city which was situated towards the north at the extremities of Homeritis, he had already subdued all the southern parts and was leading an army of 120,000 soldiers (n. 139). From which it is certain that Dhu Nowasus began his rebellion as the winter of the year 522 was drawing near. And first indeed, says the Jewish king, I seized all the Christians who believed in Christ, threatening them with death unless they became Jews like us. And I killed those whom I found, two hundred and eighty priests; the Ethiopians also who were guarding the church I removed from among the living together with them: and their church I converted into our synagogue. All these things were done by Dhu Nowasus before he reached the city of Negran; whose church, as he himself will soon say, he consumed with flames.

[138] perhaps at Taphar. The Christian religion was then flourishing in Yemana. In what city, then, did he find another church, and priests, and Ethiopians who guarded it? For from other sources neither any other city of whose inhabitants a part were Christians is known with certainty, nor any other church besides that of Negrana. Although that there were others in a kingdom in which the Christian Ethiopians set up a Christian king according to custom, we learn with certainty from the Acts, n. 3, in which place the tyrant says: But what they call the churches of the Christians, in all the surrounding regions, I have burned and overthrown to the ground, and reduced to dust. Cfr ibid. n. 38,

where presbyters are said to have been established in each place by the new bishop. Perhaps this other church, which Dhu Nowasus converted into a synagogue, was at Taphar, or Dhafar, which was his royal city (Act. n. 35 sqq.) as also that of several other kings. Above num. 48. For there, when Dhu Nowasus had been slain, St. Elesbaas at once founded a church. Act. n. 38. And this is confirmed by the above-praised num. 3 of the Acts, in which Dhu Nowasus, besieging Negrana, addresses the citizens in these words: For behold, those who were left behind by the king of the Ethiopians in the CITY (ἐν τῃ πολει), and the Christians of my kingdom, and those who are called monks, I have all given over to sword and fire. Which city appears to be Taphar, or Dhafar, the chief city of the kingdom. Between Dhafar and Nagran lay Sanaa, which itself also was long a royal city Caussin, tom. I, pag. 58, 64, 107 etc., and is now the principal city of inner Yemana. That this too was the royal city of Dhu Nowasus Taberita intimates, when he writes that he returned there after the slaughter at Negrana: Dhu Nowasus then, he says, returned with his forces to Sanaa, of the region of Yamana Imperium Joctanid. pag. 107.. But although it is certain, from the approved Acts which we are publishing, that Taphar was the royal city of the Jewish tyrant, we say by way of some conjecture that perhaps in this larger city, through which he had to pass making his way from Taphar to Negran, he found a church and changed it into a synagogue. How greatly the Christian cause flourished in this inner Yemana we also learn from the many priests whom Dhu Nowasus had already ordered to be killed before he reached Negrana: And I killed those whom I found, he says, two hundred and eighty priests etc.

[139] [Dhu Nowasus attacks Negrana, and by perjury enters the city. Of the sincerity of the letter of Simeon, from Walchius and J. D. Michaelis.] Then at last, he continues thus, with one hundred and twenty thousand men (so also the Acts n. 3) I moved camp to Nagran, their (the Ethiopians') royal city: which, when I had vainly assaulted it for some days, I promised safety by an interposed oath; with the intention, however, of not keeping the pledge given to the Christians, my enemies. Therefore when the surrender had been made I commanded them to bring out gold, silver and all their wealth. When it had been brought out I took it away. This passage, and some others, show sufficiently that Simeon did not copy out the letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundarus, but recalled to memory what he had heard when, at the order of Almundarus, it was read out before all; and that he also added what he had learned from the Arab of Hira who had been sent to Negrana by a certain envoy of the deceased viceroy of the Homerites. Below n. 152. On this part of the letter of Dhu Nowasus Walchius writes: It is certainly a cause for wonder that a Jewish king should openly glory in his crimes and in a letter addressed to another king should reveal himself a cheat and a perjurer. Nevertheless this letter is not the only source from which Simeon drew his material. For he adds that on his return to the lands of Naaman, another Arab princeling (in which the learned man is mistaken, since that Naaman flourished a hundred years before, and nothing else is meant here than the royal city of Almundarus, called by the Syrians Hirta of Naaman), he found there the envoy of the king of the Homerites killed by that Jew (he should have said: Who had died; for this alone the Syriac expression of Simeon bears, and Dhu Nowasus himself had said so above, n. 137), and that this man, since he had had no part in all that had been done in his country during his absence, sent a hired man to Negrana to report to him what had really happened. What this man reported of the slaughter of the citizens of Negrana Simeon has so committed to writing that it is a wonder that such a messenger should have narrated so copiously and elegantly, and have expressed faithfully the speeches that were delivered; unless you should suspect that some adornment was added to this narrative too by the work of Simeon. Finally, the closing clause of Simeon's letter also must not be omitted here, in which he signifies that he has sent it with this intent, that the extreme injury which that Jew had inflicted on the Christian cause should come to the notice of the patriarch of Alexandria, and that the latter should stir up the king of Ethiopia to avenge the crime. What I have now observed seems to me sufficient for forming a right judgment on the authority of Simeon, by which indeed one may take care that not everything brought forward by him be held in one and the same esteem [Walchius in Novis Commentar. Societ. reg. Gottingensis, tom. IV, part. 2, pag. 10. Gottingæ 1774.]. In these last words, which I did not wish to conceal from the reader, Walchius is rather unfair towards Simeon. What harm, I ask, can truth take from the fact that these things were written in order that they might become known to the patriarch of Alexandria? Does Simeon desire to be convicted of falsehood by his patriarch? Wherefore John David Michaelis will appear to have judged more fairly, a man likewise heterodox, but than whom no one in the preceding century was more skilled in Oriental affairs, the languages they call Semitic, and biblical antiquities: Simeon certainly did not lie, he says, nor did he knowingly and willingly add anything of his own …, but since he could not copy out the letter of Munderus, he unwittingly mixed in many things which he had learned from the narrative of others, and perhaps adorned some, as happens, according to his talent, etc. [J. D. Michaëlis, Orientalische u. exeget. Bibliothek, tom. VII, pag. 145 et seq. Frankfurt a. M. 1774.].

[140] [Dhu Nowasus burns the bones of Bishop Paul, who had departed this life. The martyrdom of the leading men of the city.] But let Dhu Nowasus now continue, narrating to Almundarus, or Monderus, what he did at Negrana, after he had obtained from the Negranites by perjury and fraud that the gates of the city should lie open to him: At once I sought out Paul their bishop; and when they affirmed that he had already departed from among the living Above n. 112; cfr Acts n. 5., I by no means gave them credence, until they showed me his tomb: and I drew the bones out of it and burned them. Their church also Acts n. 17. and the priests, and as many as I found to have taken refuge at the church, I consumed with flames. The rest I tried to compel to renounce Christ and the cross. This, however, they refused to do; and they bore witness that he is God and the Son of the Blessed: and they affirmed that death met for this cause was to be preferred to life. But their prince too (St. Arethas), babbling out many things, did not fear to assail me with insults and reproaches. All their leading men, therefore, were ordered to be led to execution.” What Dhu Nowasus has written thus far is not a little illustrated by our Acts; and for that reason we have here and there indicated some of their passages: but where the two narratives disagree, we shall not omit to inquire, as far as we can, which is nearer the truth. Those leading men who were ordered to be led to execution by Dhu Nowasus were 340 in number; among whom St. Arethas was eminent. Of this chief of the martyrs, who was put to capital punishment after many others, the Homerite king writes very briefly; but Simeon learned more from the Arab of Hira who was sent to Negrana, and records it at the end of his letter, as will be seen in its place. But before the martyrdom of the women, and especially of Ruma, a noble widow, and of her daughters, is recorded from the letter of Dhu Nowasus, it has seemed good, for the sake of clearness, to set out here the whole series of the martyrdoms from our Acts, which have manifestly been drawn from Homerite monuments. We omit, however, what the tyrant perpetrated before he besieged Negrana; on which all that we know has been declared above: and here the discussion is confined to the martyrdoms of Negrana alone.

§ XIII. The order of the things done at Negrana by Dhu Nowasus; of St. Ruma, a most noble woman, and of her martyrdom and that of her daughters, from the letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundarus.

The series of the martyrdoms In this order and series events took place at Negrana: 1° The king of the Homerites besieged the city for many days, using machines and very strong instruments of war. Act. num. 4. 2° He drove out all who were in the suburbs and fields of the city and its possessions, and some indeed he killed, others he bestowed as slaves on his nobles. Act. n. 4. 3° He takes an oath: That I will not harm any citizen, nor compel anyone to blaspheme the religion you venerate. Ibid. n. 4. 4° On the following day, the gates being opened, all the leaders or leading men, together with Arethas, went out to the king. He ordered them first to bring their property outside the city, then to show him Paul, the bishop of the city; and when he learned that he had died two years before, his bones were given to the fire. Ibid. n. 5. 5° On the next day he ordered the whole army to gather a great quantity of wood, and to kindle an immense pyre, so as to occupy the space of one stadium, and to throw into it all the priests of the city and the deacons, and the other ministers of the church, and those who led a solitary life in the neighbourhood, and the women called canonesses and nuns; also the singers who sing night and day in the houses of God: all these, whether they were in the city or in the neighbourhood, he burned without examination, wishing to terrify the remaining Christians. And those who were burned were four hundred and twenty-seven in number. Act. n. 6. These are the first in order of the martyrs of Negrana; as Dhu Nowasus himself moreover testifies in his letter, comprising much in few words, above n. 140: and there the church is said to have been burned at the same time. Cfr Act. n. 17. From their number it may be discerned how greatly the catholic religion flourished at Negrana.

[142] 6° After this he orders Arethas, a most distinguished man, and the remaining leading men of the city, to be bound with an iron chain, and of the things done at Negrana by Dhu Nowasus, Act. n. 6; namely those who had met him before the gate of the city, 340 in number. These, however, were put to capital punishment only several days later. 7° But many, when they knew of the wicked king's breach of faith, fled away, hiding themselves in the mountains and caves. Act. n. 7. 8° Having gathered together the wives of the leading men of the city, who were in chains and had already begun their martyrdom, he stood them before their husbands, together with their sons. Act. n. 8. Of these ten women, who were canonesses and had put on the veil of virgins, said to him etc. These ten canonesses were the offspring of the leading men of the city who were held in chains; and they were set before them together with their mothers: but for what reason they were not consumed by the fire with the other canonesses (above, 5°) I do not know. Then the king, raging with anger, orders them all to be taken away to a certain pit, and to be slain by the sword in the same place in which those who had gone before them in martyrdom had just had their heads cut off. They were therefore led, dragged by the hair of their heads, by the tyrant's slaves, and they were two hundred and twenty-seven women in number. Act. n. 9. When the canonesses desired that they might be the first to meet death, the other women answered: It shall not be so, but since we are wives and mothers of martyrs, LET US DIE FIRST, THAT WE MAY BE WITNESSES OF THE DEATH OF OUR HUSBANDS and children

MAY NOT BE … All these holy women, therefore, were struck in the head. Ibid. Which things manifestly show that the wives of the leading men were given over to death before the leading men themselves.

[143] from the Greek Acts of St. Arethas. 9° There was then brought forward the first woman of the whole city … and she was of incomparable beauty. And the tyrant ordered her to be guarded together with her two daughters. She is called Ruma or Rumi by Dhu Nowasus, in the letter to Almundarus; of whom more shortly. Some days later she obtained martyrdom together with her daughters. 10° On the following day the tyrant orders St. Arethas to come with the others who were held in chains, three hundred and forty in number. Act. n. 15 and above, 6° and 8°. On the same day, as it seems, after the most noble speeches of St. Arethas, all were led to execution. Of which Simeon writes at the end of his letter. 11° But a certain Christian woman, holding her son, who was four or five years old, and seeing how those standing by blessed the saints and anointed their faces with the blood of St. Arethas V. below n. 157., ran up herself also, and taking of his blood, signed herself and her son. Act. n. 21. Concerning this boy both Simeon and John, bishop of Asia, have not a little to say. 12° The king, having gathered together all the children, from the age of fifteen years and below, of both sexes and of every condition, whether they had been begotten of nobles, of citizens, farmers, craftsmen or slaves, provided they were Christians, one thousand two hundred and ninety-seven in number, distributed them and gave them into slavery to all his nobles and the others who had helped him in the persecution of the Christians. Act. n. 23. Then at last he wrote to the king of the Persians and to Almundarus, narrating what he had done and urging them to begin a similar persecution against the Christians. Ibid. n. 25.

[144] These things having been drawn from our Acts, we shall more easily follow Dhu Nowasus's narrative from here on; and at the same time it will appear in what respects these monuments differ here and there from one another. [Of the time and order in which the leading men were thrown into prison and crowned with martyrdom.] Meanwhile, he says, that is, while the leading men were being prepared for execution (above n. 140), or rather, as has been explained from the Acts above, n. 142, 6° and 8°, while they were being held in chains, we exhorted the women that, reflecting on the end of their husbands, they should come to their senses, if they wished to take thought for themselves and their children. But they were so far from being moved by our exhortations that they complained that they had been forestalled in this by the virgins whom we had condemned to death, and of their own accord burst into the midst of their company Above n. 142, 8°. and grieved that they had been torn from their husbands. By these words: Meanwhile we exhorted the women that, reflecting on the end of their husbands, they should come to their senses etc., it seems to be signified that the husbands fell before the wives. But first, the women could have reflected on the foreseen end of their husbands; and in fact they complain indeed that they were forestalled in this by the virgins, but they do not signify that they had been forestalled by their husbands. Secondly, it is not certain that Dhu Nowasus wrote in the way that Simeon believed him to have written. In the third place, our Acts, which we not undeservedly judge to be pure and sincere, and in which the whole series of the persecution is neatly set forth, openly disagree. Fourthly and finally, St. Arethas himself says of Bishop Paul in Simeon's letter, below n. 157: Whose bones the flame LONG SINCE consumed. From which it does not appear that he fell among the first martyrs.

[145] Ruma, a most noble woman, is set before the tyrant, together with her daughters; What follows seems to have greater difficulty: Those women having therefore been put to the ultimate punishment, says Dhu Nowasus, we thought that Ruma, the wife of the king designate, should be dismissed, with guards assigned from our army, if perhaps, seized with pity for her daughters, she might repudiate the Christian religion and embrace the Jewish, so as to get back her daughters, wealth and all her fortunes. It is said moreover that Ruma was conspicuous above others for beauty, that she had five daughters (And now I have betrothed five virgin daughters to Christ); and that she had been a widow for three days only: Since I have lived three days after my husband. Finally Simeon himself adds, below n. 154, that she was the wife of St. Arethas. Our Acts, however, relate things not a little different in this place. Omitting the name both of the woman and of her husband, they call her the first woman of the whole city, num. 10; they relate that she had only two daughters, ibid. and following: unless it is to be understood that these alone, being the elder, were led to martyrdom; they manifestly signify that she had long been a widow, n. 11 and passim; and finally that she obtained martyrdom before St. Arethas. But concerning the Syriac narrative J. D. Michaelis notes that it is not probable that the Jewish king in his letter extolled the beauty of the woman with so many praises; and he therefore holds that Simeon drew these things not from the king's letter read in his presence, but from the relation of others: and indeed that in these he somewhat indulged his talent.

[146] [She does not appear to have been the wife of St. Arethas, but was perhaps his daughter-in-law.] For Arab women, he says, are rarely comely, except in their first youth; and she had five daughters, several of whom had reached adolescence at the time of the persecution. He believes, however, that the Jewish king wished to take her as his wife for political reasons, that the city might favour him, or that he might the better assert the kingdom for himself; following the Oriental custom by which he who succeeded someone in a kingdom was not rarely heir to his bed also [Cfr J. D. Michaëlis, Mosaisches Recht, §54, n. 7.]. But towards the mother of five daughters, says the same writer, he could scarcely have been carried away by so great a love that he both wished to free her from death and signified this to another king of the Arabs Oriental. u. exeg. Bibl. tom. VII, pag. 145 et seq.. For these reasons, and especially because only in one place is Ruma said by Simeon to have had five daughters, the narrative of our Acts, in which only two daughters are assigned to her, is perhaps to be preferred. And the same seems to be pronounced on Simeon's assertion that Ruma was the wife of St. Arethas; on which our Acts have nothing, or rather which they manifestly contradict. I consider that Walchius conjectured happily when he writes Historia rerum in Homeritide etc., pag. 55.: Reuma was not his, that is, Arethas's, wife, but his daughter-in-law. For Arethas, when he suffered martyrdom, is said to have passed his ninety-fifth year, and to have seen the sons of his sons to the fourth generation. Act. n. 17. For the rest, how far our Acts are to be held sincere will be discussed according to custom at the end of this commentary.

[147] The exhortation of the same Ruma Now let Dhu Nowasus continue in one course his narrative about Ruma: But she, he says, as soon as she had rushed from our sight, bared her head and with uncovered countenance went out in public, to the wonder of the people; since no one had seen her face in the market-place from the time she had become a grown girl: and running through the streets of the city and the crossroads, she began to cry out and shout in this manner: Women of Negrana, as many of you as are here, my companions, Christians, Jewesses and Gentiles, hear me. You know that I am a Christian, and my race, and my forefathers. It is evident from this passage that Ruma was a Negranite by race, and that long before the sixth century the Christian religion at Negrana had adherents among the leading men themselves. See n. 105: You know also that I have at my disposal an immense abundance of gold and silver, a splendid patrimony too, and troops of slaves; and that if now, since my husband has perished for Christ, I should please to desire a new marriage, there would be no lack of a dowry of forty thousand gold pieces (or about 600,000 French francs; since the Arabs then used the coins of Constantinople: but in this place there seems manifestly to be meant only the coined money which she had in her possession, besides all her other wealth) Cfr above n. 16. and besides the wealth left to me by him, an almost infinite array of necklaces, jewels and most precious garments: and you are well aware that I am not boasting of these things falsely. But neither, I know, is it hidden from you that no day is more desirable to a woman than the day of her marriage; but that after it there follow troubles, the pains of childbirth, and at the burial of children unbearable grief. I have therefore resolved to put an end to all these things. I have spent the most joyful days of my former marriage; and now with equal gladness of my soul I have betrothed five virgin daughters to Christ.

[148] to the women of Negrana. Turn your eyes hither, then, my companions. Look upon your friend, who comes forth into your sight, behold, for the second time. For in that former pomp of my marriage, with all of you looking on, I was conducted to the house of my former bridegroom; and now with countenance likewise uncovered I hasten to Christ, God, and the Lord of me and of my daughters, just as Christ himself, because of his love for us, came down to us and suffered for our salvation. I beg you therefore again and again to follow in my footsteps, and not to allow the perishable beauty of the face to lead you astray; for I am not less beautiful than you. But this very beauty such as it is, whole and free from Jewish faithlessness, I shall bring to Christ, that the very appearance of my countenance may give my Lord assurance that by it I could in no way be drawn into the crime of unbelief; and gold, and silver, and immense wealth will show that nothing was dearer to me than he. For the traitorous king promised me safety and security, if I should renounce Christ. But may God avert this, my companions, may he avert, I say, that I should now forsake Christ God, in whom I have believed; but since I and my daughters have been baptized in the name of the Trinity, it is settled for me, together with them, to adore the cross of Christ, and for him to exchange life for death; since Christ also suffered torments and death for us in his flesh. Wherefore these perishable things, which though they now allure the eyes and flatter the body yet at some time must fall, I willingly resign, that I may receive from the Lord riches perennial and abiding for ever. O blessed are you, my companions, if you give ear to my words and yield your hands to the truth, and love Christ God, for whom I and my daughters are dying. And now I pray for peace and tranquil times for the people of God. May the blood itself of the brothers and sisters slain for Christ in this city be a wall, if yet it shall adhere for ever to my Lord Christ. Behold, I go out confidently from the city, in which, as in some temporary lodging, we have hitherto lived, I and my daughters, thinking of that eternal city in which they will find the bridegroom to whom I have delivered them. Pray for me, my companions, that my Lord Christ may receive me, and pardon me, since I have lived three days after my husband Above n. 145 et seq..

[149] Dhu Nowasus writes further of Ruma; As the cries from the city swelled, then,

aroused, we questioned the messengers whom we had sent there, on their return, what the cause of that unusual wailing might be. They reported what we were just narrating: namely, that Ruma had stirred up the crowd of women to those cries. For it was through the sluggishness and stupidity of the guards that so much had been allowed to a woman. And it had been settled indeed to punish them with the ultimate penalty, had not the prayers of certain persons afterwards turned us to a milder sentence. But behold, the woman returns from the city, like one in bacchic frenzy, with bared head and drawing with her her daughters, elegantly and neatly adorned, as though about to go to the bridal chamber, and with head held high she seeks our presence. Soon, having loosed her hair and wound it in her hands, she stretches forth her bare neck, crying out: We are Christians, we die for Christ. Cut off my head, and send me over the more swiftly to my brothers and sisters and to the father of my daughters. I, however, after so great a madness in the woman, still urged her to renounce Christ; or if not, merely not to say that he was God. But I did not persuade her; indeed one of her daughters upbraided us for suggesting such things.

[150] [the martyrdom of herself and her daughters. Those under the age of puberty are preserved.] When therefore I was persuaded that by no force and by no device could the woman be brought to renounce Christ, for the sake of striking fear into the other Christians I ordered her to be thrown down on the ground; and her daughters to have their throats cut at once behind their mother, so that the blood bursting from their severed necks should flow into her mouth; and presently that she herself should be killed by a like punishment. I swear by the God Adonai, I was moved with incredible sorrow, thinking of the beauty of herself and her daughters. But since it seemed to the pontiffs and to me that it would be a crime if innocent children should pay the penalty for the sins of their parents (for our laws also forbid this), I therefore proclaimed by an enacted law that those under the age of puberty should be brought up by our soldiers, so that when they arrive at the years of puberty they may either adopt the Jewish religion, or, if they prefer to profess the Christian, perish. These things, O king, I have thought should be written out for you, in order at the same time to admonish you not to allow any Christian to live in your kingdom, unless perhaps one who is willing to exchange his religion for yours. But continue, brother, to cherish the Jews, my brothers, with your accustomed kindness; for this your benevolence towards them I shall repay whatever thanks you yourself shall inform me by your letters will be dearest to you. These things the profane Jewish king wrote to Monderus. With which words Simeon of Beth-Arsam finishes the letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundurus, or Monderus.

§ XIV. Simeon of Beth-Arsam continues the narrative: the family of St. Arethas, his freedom of speech before the tyrant, his martyrdom. The wonderful constancy of a five-year-old boy.

[The letter of Dhu Nowasus is publicly recited in the camp of Almundarus. The fortitude of a certain Christian soldier.] When we had arrived there, says Simeon, that is, at the place where Almundarus, or Monderus, was staying with the army, Monderus, having called the army together to an assembly, ordered the king's letter to be publicly recited; and the envoy of that king, being present, attested that the matter stood so, adding certain other things about the slaughter of the Christians, and their flight from Homeritis (which is indicated above, n. 142, 7°). Then Monderus, turning to the Christians, of whom he had several under his standards, said: Have you heard what has been decreed and done against the men of your sect? Why then do you not at once renounce Christ? as Almundarus himself had perhaps once done, above n. 88, 98. For I myself am no better than the kings who have judged that Christians must be driven out. At this a certain Christian soldier, who was serving in the camp of Monderus, roused by divine zeal, promptly and confidently said: It was not in your time, O king, that we became Christians See above from n. 76. that we should now have to renounce Christ. To whom Monderus, somewhat angered, said: Do you dare to babble these things in my presence? But he said: When I am about to speak on behalf of piety I am accustomed to fear no one, nor will the fear of men ever make me now be silent in that cause. Nor indeed is my sword shorter than the sword of others, ready as I am to make trial of the uttermost. Monderus was silent, respecting the man's most noble family, and because he was most distinguished among the nobles of the kingdom, and vigorous in arms.

[152] Setting out from there, we reached Hirta of Naaman (not the lands of Naaman, as Assemani translates) on the first Saturday of the fast (that is, the 24th day of February of this year 524. For in that year Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the beginning of the fast both of the Greeks and of the Syrians and Mesopotamians, [Simeon with his companions returns to Hira; where he learns more from a certain Arab, who was sent to Negrana.] fell on the 18th day of February); and there the envoy of the deceased king of the Homerites (above n. 127) met us, who, when he had learned from us of the slaughter committed by the tyrant of the Jews, ordered a certain Naamanite (in the Syriac word for word: a man from Hirta of Naaman), for an agreed wage, to set out as quickly as possible for the city of Nagran, and to explore as diligently as possible all that had been done there. This man, therefore, after some days narrated in our hearing to the Christian envoy what we have recorded above, and added that there were slain on the same occasion three hundred and forty leading men, who had come out from the city to meet the tyrant. Above n. 142. He further added that the Jew had insulted Arethas, son of Caleb, their prince, and husband of Ruma, in these words, etc. Whether Ruma was the wife of Arethas we have weighed above, n. 145 seq. But concerning St. Arethas himself, we must inquire a little more fully in this place.

[153] St. Arethas seems to be called son of Kaeb; In the tract of Negrana there ruled originally the descendants of Djorhom, among whom was a prince named Afa, called El-Cahin, or the Seer, who flourished some years before the birth of Christ Caussin, tom. I, pag. 123 et 187.. Another tribe, which had sprung from Cahlan, brother of Himyar, and was called Benou-l-Harith-ibn-Caab, or the sons of Harith, son of Caab, about the year of Christ 100 or 110 deprived the progeny of Afa of their dominion. And from then on, as Ibn Khaldun teaches, it held the principality of Negrana. Concerning the name, therefore, of Arethas, whom Simeon of Beth-Arsam calls the son of Caleb (Hareth bar Kolob or Kalab) Bibl. Orient., tom. I, pag. 374., the learned historian of the ancient Arabs writes that it is near to the name Harith-Ibn-Caab, that is, Arethas son of Caab, or Kaab; by which words he intimates that Simeon should have called St. Arethas the son, not of Caleb, but of Caab. And this conjecture of the learned man I find especially acceptable. For in the Ethiopian synaxary which we publish below, St. Arethas is called the son of Kaeb, and since the Arabs readily vary the vowels, Kaeb and Kaab are to them altogether the same. Moreover in the history of Mahomet it is read that in the 9th year of the Hegira there came to him, for the sake of disputation, many Christians of the city of Negrana, whose inhabitants were for the greater part Christians Caussin, tom. III, pag. 275 et seqq., and that they were of the leading family of the city, the Benu-l-Harith-ibn-Caab. Finally the name Χανεφ, which our Acts have at n. 7, the copyists could easily have formed, by their own carelessness, from the Ethiopic Kaeb.

[154] He was prince and lord of the Negranites. The circumstances of his martyrdom; St. Arethas, then, was, as Dhu Nowasus and Simeon call him, Prince of the Negranites; and of him it is read in the Acts, n. 7: Their prince (of the leading men), and leader, and exhorter of the confession, was holy Arethas, son of Chaneph, who in his temporal life had been lord of the city and of all the neighbourhood. But our Acts relate that his father too ruled at Negrana: Why have you not imitated your father, so Dhu Nowasus addresses the martyr, who ruled the city and all the neighbourhood? who was held in honour while my predecessors reigned; but you have wished to act the tyrant and monarch over the city of Negran and its neighbourhood etc. Act. n. 15. From this he would appear to have been a viceroy of the Ethiopians, unless something else were signified at num. 137; he was therefore their ally, or, as is more probable, remained prince of the city, governing it in the name of the viceroy. If the Acts are to be believed, St. Arethas also helped the kings of Ethiopia or of the Homerites in waging wars. For among other things he answers the tyrant as follows, n. 17: I have seen great kings who surpassed you, in India, Persia and Ethiopia, and in this very region; but they never did any such thing… In various wars I have borne myself nobly and bravely. Of the martyrdom of St. Arethas, or of the order of events, a little has been said above, n. 141, 4° 6° and 10°. The rest Simeon of Beth-Arsam will now give, who continues his narrative, begun at n. 152, in this manner: The Arab of Hira, who had been sent to Negrana by the deceased king or viceroy of the Homerites, further added that the Jewish king had insulted Arethas, son of Caleb Cfr preceding n., their prince and husband of Ruma See n. 145 et seq., in these words: Do you see where your trust in Christ has brought you, you who plotted war against me? Come to your senses now, wretch, and having renounced Christ, learn though late to take thought for your old age, lest the punishment which has overtaken your companions should envelop you.

[155] his freedom of speech before the tyrant, whose ruin he foretells. To whom Arethas said: Of those men I now justly complain, since they refused to listen to me when I gave them good counsel. For I said that no credence was to be given to your words, but that we should remain in the city; and that the matter should be settled from there with arms, not with words. That Christ, namely, would grant the end of the war which we desired; and that the city would never be stormed, especially with so great an abundance of all things. So indeed they resolved, taken in by your arts. For this reason I think you unworthy of the royal name; I should rather call you an impostor. For indeed the many kings I have seen keep pacts and agreements, and shrink from tricks and frauds. What is greatest, I do not change the faith given to Christ my God, nor will I become a Jew and apostate like you. And that to live, and to escape death, rests now with my own will, I know full well. Yet I have already lived long, and I leave behind a great troop of children, grandchildren and kinsmen. By these words this passage of the Acts is confirmed, n. 17: I have passed my ninety-fifth year … and I have begotten sons, and I have seen the sons of my sons to the fourth generation. — Moreover by deeds done at war and at home, the same speaker continues in Simeon, I have gathered no small fame, by the favour of Christ. As regards the future, there remains to me a hope not doubtful but certain that, just as a vine, when its superfluous shoots have been pruned, abounds in grapes, so our Christian people in this city will be most numerous, and the church which you have burned will shortly be restored more magnificently. Moreover that the Christian religion, its strength recovered, will reign and rule over kings; but that the sect of the Jews will be buried in darkness, your kingdom fall, and your power perish. Lay aside your pride, then, and do not think you have done something splendid; for when you shall have become famous, you will suddenly perish. This latter part of the speech of St. Arethas, since Simeon wrote a whole year before the coming of Elesbaas with the Ethiopians and the death of Dhu Nowasus, must be said to have been wholly prophetic; unless there be an interpolation here, which I do not see why

it should be admitted. The Acts have the same at n. 17.

[156] [He exhorts his fellow citizens; he gives a third part of his fields to the church.] These things the great and venerable old man Arethas said. Soon he addresses the Christians, who had crowded in numbers about his side, in this manner: Have you heard, brothers, what I have testified to this Jew? They answered him: Certainly, father. Arethas: Are these things true, or not? When they had answered that they were true, he added: If anyone then, shaken by the fear of death, is thinking of changing the faith given to Christ, let him depart as quickly as possible. Here, raising a shout, all said: God be merciful to us, that we may not fear, father; for it is settled for all to die with you for Christ, and never to be torn from your side. After this Arethas, turning to the surrounding crowd of Christians, Jews and Gentiles, said: Hear, all of you who are present. If anyone perhaps of my family, or of my connections by marriage, or of my kindred, shall have fallen away from Christ and adhered to this Jew, I deny that he is mine, I refuse him as heir, and I will that my goods shall go to the expenses of building a church. But if any of mine shall have kept faith with Christ and shall have lived on after me, I order him to succeed to the right of my property, and I name him my heir. And let the church have for itself for the expenses of its fabric whichever of the three fields of my patrimony it shall choose Acts n. 18.. Soon, turning his speech again to the king Acts n. 19., he said: You, and as many as have renounced Christ, I renounce, abjure, refuse. Behold, we are here, made subject to your will and right. The other Christians, moreover, inflamed by these words of Arethas, said: Behold, Abraham, the prince of the fathers See n. 22., is waiting for you, and for us with you, to receive us as we come. Whoever shall have fallen away from you and denied Christ, him we all deny.

[157] [The leading men are led to the place of execution; they are crowned with martyrdom.] So they spoke. The tyrant, most vehemently moved by these words, having passed sentence of death on them all, ordered them to be led to execution, where a torrent flows in (the inhabitants call it the Vadi), and there to have their throats cut and their corpses thrown into the stream. Of the place of execution and the stream, which the Arabs call Wadi, we shall speak further on. Meanwhile Arethas, with hands raised to heaven, prayed in these words: Christ God, be present with us and strengthen us, and receive our souls. May the blood of your servants, shed for you, be pleasing to you, and make us worthy of your sight. Confess us before your Father, as you have promised; and grant that a church may be built, and that to your servant Paul, whose bones the flame long since consumed (therefore the leading men were not killed immediately after the entry into the city. Cfr n. 140), another bishop may be appointed as successor. Which we know also to have been done. Thus at last, after they had saluted one another with the kiss of peace, and the old man Arethas had blessed them with the sign of the cross, he willingly stretched forth his neck to the executioner and received the blow. Soon his companions came running up in a throng with such ardour that they pressed upon one another, and were sprinkled with the blood of Arethas who had just been slain. Of the veneration of the blood of martyrs we have spoken elsewhere Acta SS. tom. VIII Octobris, pag. 428 et 431.. Thus at last all were crowned with martyrdom; namely the 340 leading men, of whom St. Arethas was the leader and exhorter: and we have shown Num. 132. that this took place on the 24th day of October of the year 523.

[158] The fortitude and constancy of a five-year-old boy; Simeon concludes his narrative with the history of a certain boy, who boldly withstood the tyrant; and this is celebrated both in our Acts and in the synaxaries of the Menæa and Menologies. He was a boy of three years, he says, whom our Acts say was four or five years old, and Metaphrastes and the Ethiopian synaxary (of which we shall speak below) five years old Ap. Surium, 24 Octob. n. 22.; whom his mother, as she was being hurried to execution, was drawing along by the hand. He, happening to catch sight of the king sitting and clothed in royal dress, slipped from his mother's side, ran to him, and kissed his knees. The king, delighted by this simplicity of the boy, began, as happens, to embrace the little one; at last he speaks to him thus: What do you prefer for yourself, my little boy? To die together with your mother, or to live together with me? To whom the boy said: By our Lord, I prefer to die with my mother; and for that reason I go on with my mother: for she said to me: Come, son, let us die for Christ. But let me go, I beg, that I may hasten to my mother, lest perhaps I may not see her die; for she made known to me that the king of the Jews has decreed that those who are unwilling to renounce Christ shall be killed: and I am unwilling to renounce Christ. To whom the king said: Where then do you know Christ from? Then the boy said: Going to the church every day with my mother, I see him there. The king adds: Do you love me, or your mother? The boy: By our Lord, my mother. To whom the king said again: Do you love me, or Christ? The boy: Christ more than you. For what purpose then, adds the king, running up here just now, did you kiss my knees? I thought, the boy answered, that you were the Christian king, whom I used to see in the church, and until now I did not know that you were a Jew. The king: I will give you nuts, and almonds, and figs. The boy: By no means, by Christ; I will not eat the nuts of the Jews. But let me, I beg, go to my mother. The king: Stay here with me rather, and become a son to me. The boy: Not at all, by Christ, I will not stay, because you stink and do not smell good, like my mother.

[159] [He is handed over to one of the leading men to be brought up: his mother is beheaded.] Then the king said to those standing behind him: Have you observed this most wicked stock, which Christ has led astray from its earliest age, that he may destroy it? Meanwhile one of the rank of nobles addresses the boy thus: Come with me, and I will take you, that you may become the queen's son. The boy answered: O mouth worthy of blows, my mother is better to me than a queen, who takes me to the church. But after he perceived that he was still held against his will, he attacked the king's thigh with his teeth, crying out: Hear, most worthless Jew, let me go, that I may go on to my mother, and die together with her. At last the king handed the little one over to a certain one of the number of his nobles, and ordered him to be carefully brought up, until as an adult he should either renounce Christ and so escape punishment; or if on the contrary he still persevered in the faith of Christ, he should be killed. And as the boy was being led away by the man's slave, he struggled with all his strength, shaking his feet and calling on his mother: Help me, mother, he said, and take me up, and lead me to the church. To whom his mother said: But go on now, son, consider that you have been commended to Christ, and do not weep, but wait for me in the church with Christ, for I shall return to you as soon as possible. So saying, she stretches forth her neck, and is beheaded.

[160] [The boy was not consumed by fire, but grew up, if John the bishop is to be believed.] Our Acts n. 22, and following them Metaphrastes, teach that the boy himself also was crowned with martyrdom; which does not appear to agree with the narrative of Simeon: nor is it seen how he, who learned from several sources what he commits to writing, could have omitted so wonderful a deed: The king handed the boy over, say the Acts, to one of his nobles, saying: Take him, and bring him up and teach him to Judaize. So he led the boy away, holding him by the hand, and when he met other nobles, he narrated to them what words the boy had said, and how he had bitten the king. At that time, when they were not far from the furnace, into which the Acts relate that his mother had been thrown, the boy, slipping from their hands, ran and threw himself into the furnace, and so became a martyr with his mother. The mother was slain by the sword, as Simeon writes; and her body was thrown into a certain pit, of which we shall speak below. The boy, however, was preserved for many years, as John, bishop of Asia, testifies, who associated with him, after he had become a man, in the court of the emperor Justinian. But this passage of the Syriac historian will be given in the annotations to the Acts, and it is better to recite continuously what follows in the letter of Simeon.

[161] [The end of the letter of Simeon: he desires that these things be made known to the patriarch of Alexandria, the king of the Ethiopians and others.] When these things had become known, says Simeon, both by this letter and by the report spread through many rumours, all the Christians dwelling in these places (in Babylonia or Iraca) grieved. And we too have thought that these things should be written out to you, so that the holy and faithful prelates, knowing the course of the events in Homeritis, may perform the commemoration of the holy martyrs. As to what remains, we adjure your charity again and again (he is addressing Mar Simeon, abbot of Gabula) that these things be made known as soon as possible to the superiors of monasteries, and to bishops, and first of all to the bishop of Alexandria (Timothy), that he may exhort the king of the Ethiopians (Elesbaas) by his letter to bring help to the Homerites; and at the same time that you take care that the pontiffs of the Jews who live at Tiberias Cfr Calmet, Dict. de la bible v° Tiberiade. be compelled to write to that Jewish king who has now appeared, that he may abstain henceforth from war and from the persecution of the Homerites. There followed various salutations, of which the patriarch Dionysius, who inserted the letter of Simeon in his chronicle, writes thus: The rest that follows in the letter contains salutations of bishops and abbots of that time. Assemani found the names neither in his Dionysian chronicle, nor in the Syriac Vatican codex 24, in which another copy of the letter of Simeon is preserved.

§ XV. On the manner of the punishments and the number of the martyrs.

The first martyrs were burned with fire, 427 in number. As to the kind of punishment by which the martyrs were destroyed, the monuments do not at first sight seem to agree at every point. For the most ancient relate that some martyrs perished by fire, others by the sword; whereas the later ones, especially the Arabic, mention only fire. But in truth it is certain that the first martyrs of Negrana were consumed by fire, since both Simeon of Beth-Arsam and the Acts which we are publishing expressly indicate this: The king, these say at n. 6, ordered the whole army to gather a great quantity of wood, and to kindle an immense pyre, so as to occupy the space of one stadium (or about 184 metres), and to throw into it all the priests of the city, and the deacons, and the other ministers of the church, and those who led a solitary life in the neighbourhood… wishing to terrify the remaining Christians. And those who were burned were four hundred and twenty-seven in number. Dhu Nowasus, in Beth-Arsam's account, indicated their martyrdom in these words: Their church also, and the priests, and as many as I found to have taken refuge at the church, I consumed with flames. From which it would seem that these martyrs were consumed in the burning of the church itself. But, besides the fact that this is not openly said, the passage of the Acts just adduced manifestly stands against it; so too do what the Arabs narrate about the trench of fire, as will soon be said, and the very designation lord of the trench, Ssaheb-el-Okhdud, which the same writers assign to the tyrant Dhu-Nowas Sapeto, Viaggio, pag. 453; Saint-Martin, Hist. du bas-emp. tom. VIII, pag. 55.. I consider, therefore, that the first martyrs were burned outside the city, and indeed alive; both because the Acts, the letter of Dhu Nowasus, and the passage of Mahomet's Coran, of which presently, openly intimate this: and because this is said in express words by the commentators on the Coran.

[163] [The other martyrs, among whom St. Arethas, had their heads cut off; and their bodies were thrown into the torrent, or into a pit.] But the martyrs who followed were not burned alive. First their heads were cut off; then their bodies were thrown into a pit, or into the neighbouring torrent. Of these is to be understood the passage of the Acts, num. 9, where the execution of the women is recorded: Then the king, raging with anger, orders them all, namely the wives of the leading men, to be taken away to a certain pit, and to be slain by the sword, in the same place in which those who had gone before them in martyrdom had just had their heads cut off. By the last words there are signified, not the priests and monks, whom we have shown to have been burned alive; but other martyrs, who followed. For our Acts relate that citizens of Negrana to the number of over four thousand were crowned with martyrdom, and yet they do not record the execution of more than a thousand martyrs: these are the 427 martyrs who were consumed by fire; the 227 women who were struck in the head: and finally the 340 leading men, among whom St. Arethas; who similarly, after most of the others, had their heads cut off. I judge, therefore, from the Acts and from the letter of Simeon, that the rest, more than 3,000, also had their heads cut off; and that their bodies were then thrown either into a certain pit, or into a stream of water. Into this, on the testimony of Simeon, was thrown the body of St. Arethas, and likewise those of the leading men his companions: The tyrant, he says, having passed sentence of death on them all, ordered them to be led to execution, where a torrent flows in (the inhabitants call it the Vadi), and there to have their throats cut and their corpses thrown into the stream. The Arabic word wadi signifies a torrent, or any stream; and at the same time the valley in which it flows. And it is frequently met with in the geography of all the regions in which the Arabs once dwelt; for it is well known that from it have flowed the Spanish names Guadalupe, Guadalquivir, Guadalaviar etc. Our Acts have just intimated that the bodies were thrown not into a torrent but into a certain pit, namely those of the very many martyrs who suffered before St. Arethas. And in another place, n. 20, the writer of the Acts not only intimates this but says it openly: The tyrant ordered them (the leading men), he says, to be taken away to the torrent which is called Obedianus (this name is corrupt; Metaphrastes more correctly: which is called Odias), where a pit had been dug, containing the martyrs slain earlier. The bodies of the earlier martyrs, then, had been thrown into a certain pit, not far from the torrent; but about the bodies of St. Arethas and his companions the Acts have nothing. If we are to abide by the words of Simeon, they would have been thrown into the torrent: but I consider it more true that they were thrown into the pit, either the same or another. For, as Walchius justly notes on this passage of Simeon's letter, the water of the torrent would thereby have been contaminated for a very long time; and how great is the need of water in Arabia is known to all. Michaelis adds Oriental. u. exeg. Bibl. tom. VII, pag. 149. that for this purpose there would have been need not of a torrent, but of a river. For that reason it must be said that the heads were indeed cut off in the place which, because of the neighbouring torrent, was called Wadi; but that the bodies were not thrown into the torrent itself: but into a certain pit, which Dhu Nowasus had ordered to be dug.

[164] [Of the pit of fire and the martyrs, from Arab authors, and first from the Coran of Mahomet;] From the Arab writers it would seem that the fire by which the first martyrs were consumed was kindled in the pit itself; for they mention the pit alone, calling it the pit of fire. And from this it would follow that the others, with their heads cut off, were thrown into the same pit, without the fire. To this interpretation the passage of the Acts, n. 9, praised above, is favourable. Let us hear the Arab writers for a little, and before others Mahomet himself, the ringleader of them all, and to this very day the author of barbarism in so many regions of the East. For in the Coran, sura 85, he mentions the slaughter of our martyrs, which took place a hundred years before his flight, or the beginning of the Hegira. This sura, according to custom, begins: In the name of God the compassionate, the merciful. There follows in the Mahometan style: By the heaven having towers, by the promised day, by the one who bears witness and the one to whom witness is borne, slain were the companions of the pit of the fire having fuel for burning. While they were sitting about it, and they about it, in what they were doing against the faithful (that is, the Christians) were witnesses (that is, present), nor did they take vengeance on them (that is, they did not torment them), except because they believed (the Christians) in God the all-powerful, the praised, to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth, and God over everything is witness; surely those who in this way tortured faithful men and faithful women, and then did not do penance: for them there will be the punishment of Gehenna, and for them the punishment of burning. Because of these last words some commentators on the Coran believed that fire from heaven was sent down upon the persecutors themselves. Some of the same, wondering that their prophet should call these Christians faithful, said that the Christians of that age had a different religion from the one which the Christians of the following times have professed Maracci, Alcoranus, pag. 793.. Right after what is recited above, Mahomet recalls to mind the paradise which he devised; then he adds other incoherent things: Further, those who shall have believed, he says, and shall have done right, for them there will be gardens, there will run beneath them rivers (which are lacking in Arabia): this will be great happiness etc.

[165] next, from the writers who have commented on the doctrines of the Coran; Arab authors have commented much on this sura. Of these Jahias has collected some things Imperium Joctanid. pag. 107; Sacy, ap. Memoires etc. tom. XLVIII, pag. 683.: Mohamad, he says, son of Isaac, said: These were inhabitants of Nageran, and they professed the religion of Jesus, on whom be peace, and the king gave them the option of choosing either Judaism or death. But they chose death. Then the king ordered a pit to be opened and filled with fire, and that they should be thrown into it and killed. Hasan said: The companions of the pit were eighty, partly men, partly women. But this number which Hasan proposes rests on no ancient monument, nor, so far as I know, is it met with in any other book. And when the infidels had seized them, they dug a pit for them in the earth, in which they showed them a kindled fire. Then they began to try them, and to say to each of the men and women: Either leave your religion or we will throw you into the fire. And each answered: For no thing will I forsake my religion. Wherefore they were thrown into the fire and burned. There remained, however, one woman, who had her infant. And when she showed fear, the infant said to her: Go, and do not show yourself impious. Then she went away and was burned. Jahias said: This was a little one, who had never spoken before. We have brought forward truer things about the boy elsewhere. Magiahed said: This happened in Nageran. It is said, moreover, that those who dug the pit, filling it with fire, stood over it, or around it, since the Arabic words bear either interpretation. For which reason it is said in the Alcoran: When they were sitting over it, or around it, and they themselves, over what they were doing against the faithful, were witnesses; namely, when they were terrifying them with the sight of the fire. But God sent fire upon them, and burned them, and freed the faithful. These last things the Mahometans have invented, and they are manifestly opposed to the most approved monuments.

[166] thirdly, from the ancient historians of the Arabs. Not a few historians of the same sect commemorate our martyrs. Of these Taberita, a writer of the ninth century, in his Chronicle of Kings, having narrated the accession of Dhu Nowasus to the throne of the Homerites, continues in these words: This is the one who dug the trench in the city of Nedjran, and exterminated the Christians. For at Negrana there remained those who held the religion of Jesus, Son of Mary, according to the doctrine of the gospel; men flourishing in virtue and uprightness, over whom there presided as prelate, from their own sect, Abdallah-Ibn-Althamir Above n. 103.. Dhu Nowasus, setting out there with his forces, from the Himyarites and the other tribes of Yemana, ordered them to be gathered together, at the same time inviting them to the Jewish religion, giving them the option either to be slain or to enter it. They chose rather to be killed. He dug a trench, therefore, and partly burned them with fire, partly butchered them with the sword, making most foul examples of them Imperium Joctanid. pag. 107; Sacy, ap. Mémoires etc. tom. XLVIII, pag. 683.. And I consider that Taberita wrote this most truly, and it is altogether in agreement both with the letter of Simeon and with our Acts: namely, that the first martyrs were consumed by burning, of whom alone Mahomet makes mention in the Coran, and whom the Acts relate to have been four hundred and twenty-seven in number; but that the others, among whom St. Arethas, were slain by the sword.

[167] The martyrs of Negrana were 4,252 in number. Taberita adds: Almost twenty thousand were slain; namely, not in the city of Negran alone, but in all Homeritis: nor does the discussion here seem to concern the martyrs alone, but all the Ethiopians whatever who were slain by the Homerite king. That twenty thousand were slain Ibn-Ishak also writes in the Sirat-errasul Ap. Caussin, tom. I, pag. 129.. As regards the martyrs who suffered at Negrana, however, I hold that what the Acts have at n. 8 must be admitted, since they are proved by many things to be in general worthy of credence: There were gathered from the city and the neighbourhood, they say, men and women, boys and girls, young men and old, four thousand two hundred and fifty-two in number, who, succeeding one another in martyrdom, left this temporal life, not denying the good confession. Among them are both the priests who were slain, and the other martyrs, and the just man Arethas. The same number of martyrs, 4,252, is given by the Ethiopian synaxary to be recited in its place. From where the other number was received which is read in the Aismavurg, or Lectionary of the Armenians, printed at Constantinople in the year 1706, I do not know. For it has the following at the beginning of the synaxary at the 20th day of October: Of Arethas and his companions, ten thousand two hundred martyrs Assemani, Bib. Or., tom. III, pag. 653.. Fr. J. B. Aucher, abbot of the Mechitarist order, notes that in a certain order of feasts, which in Armenian is called Donazoiz, the martyrs are similarly given as 10,200; but in another Calendar, 10,000 from the secular state, and 245 (read: 427) Above n. 163. from the ecclesiastical Vitæ SS. qui sunt in Kalend. Armen., tom. VII, pag. 500. Venetiis 1813.. But we must abide by what the more ancient monuments report.

[168] The testimonies of Hamza and Nuweirius. Besides those just praised, other Arab historians also record the slaughter of Negrana. Hamza Isfahani in the Chronology of the Nations: He attacked them, namely the Christians of Negrana, and cast them to the trenches, which he dug in the earth and kindled with abundant fire. Into these he thrust those who persevered in Christianity. By this invention he destroyed an immense number of Christians. From there he returned to the seat of his kingdom in Yemana Imper. Joct. pag. 39..

Nuweirius has a little more: Dhu Nowasus, having embraced the Jewish religion, he says, began to rage with slaughter against those who in the Yemenite provinces followed the faith of Jesus, Son of Mary, upon whom be auspicious prayers, and who refused to obey him. To this end he betook himself also to the town of Negran, where Abdallah, son of Althamir, with his companions professed the Christian religion; and he enjoined them to adopt the Jewish faith. When they refused, he killed Abdallah Ibn Althamir with the sword, kindled a huge pyre for the rest, and cast them down into it. These are the companions of the pit, whom God mentions in the Alcoran in these words: Slain were the companions of the pit, of the fire kindled with much fuel etc.; and he recites not a little in this place from sura 85 of the Coran.

§ XVI. The emperor Justin and Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, exhort St. Elesbaas to wage war against Dhu Nowasus; the history of the expedition. The martyrdom of SS. Azqir, Cyriacus and 38 companions. At what time the Monophysite heresy penetrated into Homeritis.

[Dhu Nowasus exhorts the neighbouring kings to persecution; the emperor Justin writes to the patriarch of Alexandria.] What followed after the martyrdom of the Christians of Negrana is lucidly narrated in the Acts; of which only the chief points are to be recorded in this place. After this massacre had been carried out, Dhu Nowasus wrote to Cavades, king of the Persians, and to Almundarus, king of Hira, that they should do the like in their dominions. At the same time there had come to Almundarus Abraham, the envoy of Justin, both to redeem the captive commanders, Demostratus and John, and to commend the Christians, and especially the catholics, to the Saracen king. In the presence of the envoy and several others, among whom were Simeon of Beth-Arsam and a certain Silas, patriarch of the Nestorians of Persia, with whom a disputation was held, the letter of the Jewish tyrant was read through. Finally the servants of God, entering into a peaceful treaty with Alamundarus, returned; and they brought to the ears of the servant of God Justin, emperor of the Romans, both the contents of the letter of the Homerite king and what had been done. He without delay wrote to Timothy, bishop of Alexandria, that his beatitude should send a letter to the king of the Ethiopians, Elesbaas by name. This Timothy is numbered among the heretics, or adversaries of the council of Chalcedon; but he was so moderate, or perhaps a hypocrite, that the emperor Justin, most devoted to the catholics, not only did not remove him from his see, but entrusted several things to him. He entered on the patriarchate of Alexandria in the year 518, and held it until the year 535, or, as others judge more truly, 537.

[170] [Metaphrastes unjustifiably substitutes Asterius in place of the patriarch Timothy.] Metaphrastes, a writer of the tenth century, in his edition of the Acts, besides not a few other things which he alters or neglects according to his custom Cfr Acta SS. tom. VIII Octob., pag. 431. annot. k., intending only to offer to the faithful a pious and pleasing reading, has substituted in place of the heretic Timothy a certain Asterius; from where he fetched him I do not know. And so he has created no slight difficulties for the learned men Sollerius, Pagi and Assemani. This last believed that we must take on a certain orthodox Apollinaris, who during the reign of Justin held the episcopate of Alexandria, as the books of the Copts and the Oriental Chronicle of Ebnarrahebus teach; and that Asterius was put by Metaphrastes for Apollinaris [Bibl. Orient. tom. I, pag. 382 et seq; cfr Acta SS. tom. V Junii, De patriarchis Alexandr. pag. 63, n. 332.]. But neglecting these things Lequien, who had in his hands these very Acts which we are publishing, received from the Colbertine library, having premised a brief history of the persecution of Dhu Nowasus, continues in these words: These things are narrated at length in the Greek Acts of St. Arethas the martyr, which I have dug out of ancient codices of the Colbertine library, and which are far more accurate than those in Metaphrastes. In these there is no mention of Asterius, archbishop of Alexandria, but of Timothy, whom some have boasted to have been an orthodox prelate. Whence it is established that Simeon Metaphrastes, when he composed and interpolated these Acts after his fashion, in place of Timothy, who was reckoned among the heretics, invented Asterius, to be thought a catholic. At the beginning of the genuine Acts, then, this is read: Ἐτους πεμπτου της βασιλειας Ἰουστινου του φιλοχριστου κ. τ. λ. Lequien, Or. Christ. tom. II, col. 428 et seq.. What Lequien recites in this place fully agrees with what is read in our Acts, n. 1; and the rest of what he pronounces on his codex Ibid. et col. 368 et seq. likewise fits our copy.

[171] How it came about that St. Elesbaas was in communion with a heretical patriarch. How it came about that Elesbaas, whom we venerate as a saint, was in communion with a heretical patriarch, must here be briefly explained; since what passed between the two holds no small place in the Acts. Let us hear first the just-praised Michael Lequien discoursing on this matter: Nor should anyone take it ill, he says, that this prince (Elesbaas), who complied with a heretical bishop of Alexandria, has long been held among the saints by both catholic churches, the Greek and the Latin. For this was pardoned to this most Christian king; who, inhabiting a region most remote from the empire and society of the Romans, knew no other superior archbishop than him who sat at Alexandria: not knowing whether he was held a heretic or a catholic in the rest of the Christian world, since he was equally prepared to admit another of catholic communion Lequien, Or. Christ. tom. II, col. 429.. To this judgment I subscribe not unwillingly; but I add that it is not established that Timothy openly attacked catholic doctrine, except at the beginning of his episcopate (and, as I have said, he seems not to have been free from hypocrisy), and again towards the end of his episcopate, and for this reason he was summoned to Constantinople by Justinian, about the year 535. Recently his book against the synod of Chalcedon was found among the Syriac codices of London, which was turned from Greek into Syriac Nève, Revue des sources nouv. etc. pag. 81..

[172] [Justin writes to Elesbaas. In the year 524 the latter prepares an army and a fleet; the number of soldiers and ships.] Besides the letter given to Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, the emperor Justin also wrote to Elesbaas, king of Ethiopia, and this letter has been preserved in our Acts, n. 28. But before Abramius the envoy returned to the emperor Justin, who in the month of January of the year 524 was staying in the camp of King Almundarus, not far from Mecca; and then before Justin's letter reached Elesbaas, reigning in furthest Ethiopia, no small part of the said year must have passed away. The historian of the Arabs had already conjectured this Caussin, tom. I, pag. 134., but we now learn it with certainty from the Acts. For in the winter of the third indiction, as is read there at n. 29, that is, at the end of the year 524, or the beginning of the following, Elesbaas was still occupied in equipping an army and preparing a fleet. The army reached, as the Acts teach in the place cited, one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers; as many as Dhu Nowasus also had gathered, as Simeon of Beth-Arsam wrote above, when he was about to attack Negrana. But the Acts add at n. 31 that there were at the same time formerly three hundred and ten thousand foot-soldiers: for which number I shall not subscribe as guarantor. Far more readily to be admitted is the number of seventy ships, which are said to have been equipped, n. 29; since Elesbaas bought them up from Roman, Persian and Ethiopian traders: and the ports are indicated from which they were brought. But it is absurd to record an army of one hundred and twenty thousand men, and only seventy ships in which they were to be carried into Homeritis. Wherefore Metaphrastes indicates about double the number of ships Ap. Baronium ad an. 523, n. 17.; and the more recent writers of the history of the Arabs, by what error I know not, in a certain other place of the said Greek hagiographer, in which seventy ships are recorded, have read that there were seven hundred Caussin, tom. I, pag. 131 et seq. et 134.. But this difficulty seems capable of solution. For since the strait of Bab-el-mandeb, through which the ships passed from Africa to Homeritis, does not exceed 14 1/2 English miles in breadth Ritter, Erdkunde, tom. XII, pag. 671., and is interspersed with very many islands, when a camp had been set up on the Homerite shore by the soldiers who had first arrived there, or some victory had been obtained, the ships could within a short time have brought over others and others.

[173] [In the year 525 after Pentecost Elesbaas sails into Arabia with an army; Dhu Nowasus is slain. His successors. The martyrdom of St. Asqir, Cyriacus and 38 companions.] In the month of April of the same third indiction in which the army was being equipped, that is, in the year 525, Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, assembled a synod in the temple of St. Mark, and on the following day sent the holy Eucharist, placed in a silver case, by a presbyter to the king of the Ethiopians; exhorting him to make war against the persecutor. Act. n. 28. Then, the army having been equipped and the fleet prepared, St. Elesbaas was carried across the strait, not long after Pentecost of the year 525. Acts n. 29, 30. When Dhu Nowasus had been overcome and slain, he is reported to have set up Abraham as viceroy, ibid. n. 38, and the same is read in the chronicle of John, bishop of Asia, as will be seen in its place. But the Arab historians disagree in several things, and first indeed they indicate that after Dhu Nowasus other Homerite princes ruled for some time in Arabia Felix; which again I have no doubt is to be understood of one or another province, especially of the mountain tracts. Among these princes they name in the first place Dhu Djadan [Schultens Imp. Joctan., pag. 11, 39; Caussin, tom. I, pag. 134 et seq.; cfr ib. pag. 74 et tom. II, pag. 296 et seq.; Schultens. pag. 7.], who perished as early as the year 525 or a little afterwards; then Marthad, his son, and finally Alcama-Dhu-Kifan, son of Sjarabhil, son of Dhu Djadan. From the Ethiopian menology called the Senkessar it appears that Sjarabhil also held the principality for some time, or took the place of his father. For I judge this to be Sarabahal, king of Homeritis, who is recorded in the said menology at the 24th day of November; for I find no other time at which what is narrated there could have taken place. Here are the words of the Ethiopian synaxary, which reveal to us new martyrdoms of Homerites, or of Ethiopians living in Homeritis, and cannot be passed over here: Likewise the martyrdom of St. Azqir the priest, and of 38 other citizens of Negrana, in the times of Sarabahal, king of Homeritis Cfr Fresnel in Jour. Asiat. tom. XVI, pag. 278.; by whom, when Azqir had been thrown into prison and anyone was forbidden to approach him, fifty men gathered there on the day of baptism (of the Epiphany), and celebrated that feast: for which reason they were summoned by the king. As the saint was going to him, there met him a certain Cyriacus, who, having saluted the saint, was at once bound with chains. Azqir then, by the king's command, was subjected to tortures; and when they had suspended him from a tree, first

with fire placed under him, then they cut off his head Senkessar ap. Sapeto, Viaggio, pag. 466 et seq.. This martyrdom is celebrated also in the Ethiopian Calendar in Ludolf Comment. ad hist. Æthiop., pag. 399., where at the said 24th day of the Ethiopian November, or 20th of the Julian November, this is read: Azkirus and Cyriacus; and on the next day but one, or the 22nd of the same month: The martyrs of Negran. Whether these forty, or thirty-nine, martyrs were counted among the 4,252 martyrs who similarly fell at Negrana, above n. 167, cannot be defined with certainty. The Ethiopian synaxary distinguishes them clearly, nor is the tyrant by whom they were condemned to execution the same.

[174] [The history of the expedition from Arab authors, and first from Hamza. The journey of Dhu Thaleban to Ethiopia and perhaps to Constantinople.] Besides King Dhu Djadan, or Dhu Djeden, whom some Arab historians write to have been substituted in place of Dhu Nowasus, the same writers unanimously report that a certain Aryates was king of the Homerites between Dhu Nowasus and Abraham; and indeed they call him, and not Elesbaas, the commander of the army by which Dhu Nowasus was overcome: excepting Hamza Isfahani, who just like the Greek historians writes that Elesbaas himself led the expedition. Finally, omitting Esimiphæus, they relate that Aryates reigned immediately after the death of Dhu Nowasus: which we have taught above did not happen except when the rebellion was stirred up against Esimiphæus, and this will be shown further presently. Meanwhile let us hear the Arab historians: In the meantime, says the above-mentioned Hamza, a writer of the ninth century, one of the Yemenites, who was called Dhu Thaleban, crossed the sea to the king of the Habassinians, who also professed the faith of Christ. To him he brought complaints on this matter (the slaughter of Negrana); and he set forth what Dhu Nowasus had perpetrated against the Christians. This journey of Dhu Thaleban, or Dus Ibn Dhi Thaleban, all the Arab historians commemorate; and it seems not to be doubted that they are to be believed, although the Greek writers omit the matter. For Homeritis is distant from Ethiopia by only a few miles, but both are distant from Constantinople by five hundred leagues. The king of the Habassinians, Hamza continues thus, communicates the business by letter with Cæsar, who ruled the Romans, and asks that leave be given him to send an army into Yemana. He ordered him to leave Dhu Thaleban as his vicar in his kingdom; and himself to make his way towards Yemana with his forces. After only a day's interval, the king of the Habassinians hastens into Yemana with seventy thousand men So also others ap. Caussin, pag. 132; see here n. 172 and 176.. Dhu Nowasus is routed and put to flight. Men were sent to pursue his tracks. He, climbing the heights, went on as far as the sea, and threw himself headlong into it Imper. Joctan. pag. 39..

[175] [Dhu Nowasus perished by the sword. The narrative of Taberita concerning Dhu Thaleban] That Dhu Nowasus perished in this way is written also by Nuweirius, Taberita and the other Arabs; but the Acts and John, bishop of Asia, relate that he was killed by the king of the Ethiopians. With these Malalas agrees: The king of the Axumites, he says, having at length gained the victory, killed the king of the Homerites, taken in war, his whole army being destroyed, his regions and kingdoms too being occupied Malalas, pag. 434.. Theophanes alone, through carelessness, says that Dhu Nowasus was preserved a captive: With God's help, then, he won a great victory, and King Damianus, to the Syrians Dimion, to others Dimnus, Dunaan, etc., he led away a living captive, and rendered the region of the Homerites and their royal seat wholly subject Tom. I, pag. 347.. It seems that we must abide by the sincere monuments older than Mahomet; such as is the chronicle of John, and such as we do not doubt that our Acts are. Besides Hamza we must also hear the celebrated historian of the Arabs Taberita, who wrote at the turn of the ninth century: One of them (the Negranites), he says, whose name was Dus Dhu Thaleban, stealing away on horseback through the sands with all possible speed, escaped. Dhu Nowasus then returned with his forces to Sanaa, of the region of Yemen. So much for that. But Dus Dhu Thaleban, having thus escaped, went on to Cæsar, lord of the Romans, and implored his aid against Dhu Nowasus and his armed men; setting forth at the same time what had been done by them. Hamza, who wrote after Taberita, neglected the journey to Constantinople; and since the Greeks are deeply silent about it, I should not believe that it took place. The contrary must be said of Thaleban's journey to Ethiopia.

[176] and of his journey, and of the whole Ethiopian expedition. Taberita continues: Cæsar replied to him: Your regions are far removed from ours, nor can we assist you with forces in any way: but I will write on your behalf to the king of Habassia, who, as he also cherishes this religion, is nearer to your regions than we are. He will furnish you aid and protection; and at the same time will avenge those who oppressed you, and who have allowed themselves every cruelty against you and those who share your religion. Cæsar, therefore, gives him a letter to the king of the Habassinians, in which, denouncing the rights violated and the violence inflicted on the people of his religion, he commands that aid and vengeance from the oppressor be furnished him. He dispatched thirty thousand See above n. 174. with him there, under the command of Aryatus Above n. 127., with these orders: if you overcome them, kill a third part of the men; and lay waste a third of the regions; carry off captive likewise a third of the women and children. These things beyond doubt were not commanded by Elesbaas; but the Mahometans, according to their ethics, thought that they must be commanded by a prince in these circumstances. Going forth with these forces, among which was also Abraha Alasjram, who afterwards was viceroy of Yemana, Aryatus, and at the same time Dus Dhu Thaleban, having crossed the sea, go up on the shore of Yemana. On hearing of the matter Dhu Nowasus calls out the Himyarites and the other tribes of Yemana obedient to him. They assemble, not without dissension and dispersal, both because of straitened circumstances, and because so great a mass of troubles had suddenly befallen them. There was therefore nothing of war, nothing of slaughter Cfr Acts from n. 32.; but those who had come being soon thrown into flight, Aryatus with his forces entered Taberita, ap. Imper. Joct. pag. 109..

[177] [Taberita is corrected from Procopius. Aryates the viceroy greatly harassed the Homerites.] He adds, like Hamza, that Dhu Nowasus threw himself headlong into the sea. But since Taberita published his history more than three hundred years after the war which he records in this place, more credit is to be given to Procopius, who was a contemporary, and who published his writings at Constantinople while Abraha Alasjram was still living. Esimiphæus, therefore, cannot be neglected, as was said above; and Aryates must be judged to be that commander who, as Procopius writes, was sent by Elesbaas against Abraham Alasjram when he rebelled; whose name is kept back by Procopius. And that these things happened about the year 530, and that Aryates then reigned in Yemana (or in the greater part of it, Abraham perhaps retaining the rest), we have mentioned above. These things premised, let the narrative of Taberita now proceed: But Aryatus trampled Yemana with his Habessinians, and having killed a third part of the men (in which we have mentioned that the narrator has adapted the deeds to the manners of the Mahometans), and plundered a third of the regions, he sent a captive multitude to the Negasjus, by which name the king of the Habassinians is still called today. He himself remained, oppressing and harassing the region. Then one of the Yemenites, recalling what Dus Dhu Thaaleban had brought upon them in the matter of the Habessinians, said: “Not like Dus, nor like the appendages of his saddle-cloth,” that is, like the outcome of his journey. The proverb is alive in Yemana to this very day.

[178] Abraha Alasjram rebels against Aryates, and slays him. When Aryatus had spent some years in the rule of Yemana, Abraha the Habassinian, serving under him, strove to snatch it from him. We consider truer what Procopius, a contemporary, wrote above, from n. 124: That before Aryates there reigned Esimiphæus, who was shut up in a certain fortress by rebels; that Abraham joined himself to these and, as is probable, acted as king in some part of Yemana, then rebelled again and then obtained the kingdom. That Taberita writes of this second rebellion in what follows scarcely seems to be doubted V. Lebeau, Hist. du B. E. edit. Saint-Martin, tom. VIII, pag. 59, not. (4).. The Habassinians' allegiance split between these two, he says, a part of the army attaching itself to each of them. Then they lead out one against the other; and when the forces of each were drawing near and ready to come to blows, Abraha sends to Aryates: Truly you do not do well in wishing the Habassinians to be dashed against one another, that we may settle our affair; why do we not rather go down on either side into single combat, so that the remaining forces may go over to him who shall have laid low his adversary? Aryates replied: You have indeed offered a fair condition; come out now. Abraha therefore went out against him. He was short, corpulent, shrewd, religious in his Christianity, which he also repeats further on. Aryates also went out against him (he was large, tall, handsome,) holding a spear in his hand. Abraha had a bodyguard to defend his back. In it was a slave, called Abuda. When they had come closer, Aryates raised his spear, intending to strike Abraha's head, aiming it at his crown. But the spear, falling on Abraha's forehead, lightly wounded his eyebrow, eye, nose and lip; and from this Abraha took the name Alasjeram, that is, marked with clefts. Abraha's slave, making a rush, killed Aryates. Thus all the Habassinians in Yemana joined him: which we have said took place about the year of Christ 540.

[179] [Aryates having been killed, Abraham takes up the kingdom. He favours the Christians; his expedition against Mecca.] Nuweirius writes that Aryates was killed by Abraham himself, and records his reign and death in these few words: Dhu Nowasus is the last of the kings of Yemana descended from Kehtan (whom most judge to be the same as Jectan, son of Heber. Genes. X). The whole years in which they reigned are three thousand and eighty-two. When the Habassians had thus invaded and occupied the kingdom of Yemana, Aryates, whom he had elsewhere called the son of the Ethiopian king's brother, distributed wealth among the eminent Ethiopian nobles, excluding those who were of slender condition. On this occasion Abraha, one of the Habassian commanders, having collected forces, rose up against Aryates; and pursuing him in war slew him with his own hand. Procopius reports that the anonymous commander chosen from the royal kindred, who he writes was sent by Elesbaas against Abraham, and whom we do not doubt to be Aryates, was killed by his own rebellious forces. After the slaughter of Aryates Abraham reigned peaceably, and was recognized as viceroy by the Ethiopian king. At the end of his reign, in the very year in which Mahomet was born, that is, 570 of Christ Cfr Caussin, tom. I, pag. 282 et seqq., he made war against Mecca and the shrine of the Caba, but unhappily: of which matter the Mahometans, commenting on the words of their master, have woven a most fabulous history Alcoranus, sura 105.. But of the reign of Abraham, or rather of those things

which he did in favour of the Christian religion, we shall speak at the 19th day of December, on which St. Gregentius is venerated. For in his Life mention of Abraham occurs very frequently.

[180] John the bishop writes that the Monophysite heresy penetrated into Homeritis; The Monophysite heresy penetrated into Homeritis during the reign of Abraham, if credit is to be given to John, bishop of Asia, a man most devoted to this heresy. For he writes of Elesbaas in these words: Burning with zeal, he led out forces against the tyrant, Dhu Nowasus, and captured and killed him: he also destroyed his army, and rooted out utterly all the Jews of Homeritis. Finally he placed over the Homerites a Christian king endowed with zeal for the faith, Abraham by name. In which we have observed in their place that the viceroys Esimiphæus and Aryates are passed over. And thus, all the Christians who had been scattered and dispersed because of the persecution and the fear of the Jews being gathered together, the Christian religion was restored in that region. He sent, moreover, to Alexandria and received a bishop from there before the synod of Chalcedon had pervaded those places. He, when he had ruled that region a short time, departed this life. By these words perhaps John the Paramonarius is meant; whom, however, he had written elsewhere clearly enough to have been sent to Ethiopia, not to Homeritis. Above n. 121 and 123. And when the king of the Homerites had learned that the council of Chalcedon had been brought into the city of the Alexandrians, and that Theodosius had been expelled for the faith and thrown down from his see because he refused to embrace the synod; he too, offended by this, refused to receive a bishop from the city of Alexandria Bib. Orient. tom. I, pag. 383 et seq..

[181] [but this did not happen at the time of which we are writing: and down to the year 570 at least it had only a few adherents there.] Dhu Nowasus was vanquished in the year 525, and not long afterwards King Elesbaas would have summoned a bishop from Alexandria; but Theodosius, the heretical patriarch, was driven from his see only in the year 538, after he had held it almost two years: from which it is clear that this writer passes over many things. Although it should perhaps be conceded that some in Homeritis about the middle of the 6th century adhered to Monophysitism, and vainly and for a long time asked the emperor Justinian that bishops of their sect be sent to them, as John narrates in what follows, this can by no means be said of the nation itself and of Abraham. For King Elesbaas was then still among the living, whom Procopius calls an outstanding adherent of the Christian religion, and whose place Abraham held in Homeritis. Moreover he was a very close friend of St. Gregentius, bishop of Taphar, or Dhafar, whom we shall show to have been thoroughly catholic at the 19th day of December, on which he is venerated. Meanwhile it is pleasing to confirm these things from what Michael Lequien has written of that age of the Homerite church: The Homerites, he says, brought over to Christ by the care and zeal of the pontiffs of Alexandria, remained subject to their rule; it is no wonder, then, if their bishops, ordained and chosen at Alexandria, brought with them from Egypt the heresy of the Monophysites, in which it had had its rise and was raging with impunity: and thus they led away and held captive in heresy the incautious flocks entrusted to them. But this did not, however, happen at their first recall to the faith under Justin the elder, as the historians of the sect of the Jacobites, or Monophysites, ineptly prate; for Justin, a religious prince, a vigorous champion of the faith of Chalcedon, who had laboured with such great zeal for the conversion of the Homerites, would not have allowed bishops to be sent to them from the Monophysites, whom he always held to be hostile, and whose very patriarchs he had driven out both from Alexandria and from Antioch. Indeed, on the testimony of those most trustworthy witnesses Procopius and Theophanes, both Elesbaas of the Ethiopians and Abraham, king of the Homerites, were orthodox Christians Oriens Christ. tom. II, col. 371.. And elsewhere he writes of the church of the Ethiopians that heresy began to dominate in it when Egypt was occupied by the Mahometans. Then he adds of the Homerite Christians: I shall overthrow that narrative of John of Asia further in the church of the Homerites, where I shall show that Gregentius presided over those Arab Indians as bishop and metropolitan throughout the whole time of the emperor Justinian Oriens Christ. tom. II, col. 647.. I should believe that St. Gregentius was by no means sent by the emperor Justin, or at the beginning of Justinian's reign, that is, about the year 527; but when Abraham was already king. For he survived him, and prolonged his life in the episcopate beyond the year 570. But of these things we shall speak at the 19th of December, as also of the further condition of the Christian religion in Homeritis down to the rise of the Mahometan superstition Bib. Orient. tom. III, part. 2, pag. 605 et seq..

§ XVII. The cult of the martyrs of Negrana, from the sacred calendars of the Latins and Greeks.

On the cult of St. Arethas and his companions, from the Latin martyrologists; A twofold announcement falls to the martyrs of Negrana in the Roman Martyrology, and first indeed at the 27th day of July in these words: Among the Homerites the commemoration of the holy martyrs who under the tyrant Dunaan were given over to burning for the faith of Christ. For what reason this was done I do not sufficiently perceive: for on that day they are announced in no older martyrology. Nevertheless, martyrologists are accustomed, where any day appears rather bare, to take on from elsewhere one or another saint whose day of death or passion is unknown. Baronius, namely, had read in the Greek historians, whom he here names in his notes according to his custom, that in the persecution of Negrana many martyrs fell besides St. Arethas and the leading men his companions, who are celebrated in the Menology of Sirletus at the 24th of October; and for this reason he judged that a place should be given them somewhere. And since the 27th day of July of his martyrology was by no means overflowing, and had inscribed some martyrs of the persecution of the Arabs in Spain, he assigned to this day also the victims of the other Arabian persecution. Then at the 24th day of October the same announces St. Arethas and his companions in these words: Among the Homerites in the city of Negran the passion of the Saints Aretas and his three hundred and forty companions, in the time of the emperor Justin, under the Jewish tyrant Dunaan: after whom a Christian woman was given over to burning; whose son, five years old, when in his stammering he confessed Christ and could be held back neither by blandishments nor by threats, threw himself headlong into the fire where his mother was burning Cfr above n. 160.. The martyrs of Negrana were unknown not only to all the ancient Latin martyrologists, but even to Maurolycus, Walasserus or Canisius, and Galesinius. Molanus first borrowed them from Surius in the second edition of his martyrology, where he has the following at the present day: On the twenty-fourth day, of the holy martyrs Arethas and his companions.

[183] from the menology of Sirletus and the printed Menæa; Him Baronius followed, having at the same time before his eyes the manuscript menology abridged from the Menæa of the Greeks by Sirletus, formerly custodian of the Vatican library, which the same martyrologist in his notes is accustomed to call the Menology of the Greeks. In the said menology, which was afterwards published in print by Henry Canisius, this is read at the 24th day of October: The birthday of the great martyr Aretas and his companions from Ethiopia (rather from Arabia) under the emperor Justin. Aretas, a most holy man, having converted many to the faith of Christ by his preaching, offered them with himself as martyrs to Christ H. Canisius, Lectiones antiquæ, edit. Basnagii, tom. III, part. 1, pag. 481.. When Sirletus says that St. Arethas came from Ethiopia, he betrays that he copied or summarily composed what the Menæa of the Greeks have. For their synaxary at the 24th day of October, from the manuscript version of our Rader, runs as follows: Arethas was the first among his people in the city of Negra among the Ethiopians (read Homerites, or Arabs), during the reign of Justin; when among the Ethiopians there reigned the most Christian king Elesbaas; among the Homerites a certain Jew, Dunaan. This region is called Saba in the sacred scriptures; by the Greeks Arabia Felix. Elesbanus subdued Dunaan the Hebrew to himself by force, and placed a garrison in his city; which the Hebrew, rebelling, overwhelmed, and he ran out to the city of Negra, which he also besieged and stormed, not by force but by perjury, and he killed all the Christians, men and women alike. Here St. Arethas, when he had first strengthened all in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, came to extreme old age, so that he could not walk, and when he had been condemned to capital punishment he had to be carried. Being borne, then, to the place of punishment, he joyfully offered his neck to be severed by the sword, and gave up his spirit to God. The synaxarist of the Menæa borrowed these things word for word from the Menology of the emperor Basil, not seeing how little what they contain on the situation of Negrana in Ethiopia and its assault by a Homerite king hang together. Moreover that synaxary has scarcely anything worthy of so noble a company of martyrs, or rather, I should say, a legion or multitude.

[184] from a very ancient menology Let us hear, then, another synaxarist, who wrote the Greek Menology discovered by our Sirmond and called by our predecessors the Synaxaria or Synaxary of Sirmond, and who flourished at Constantinople, as his book suggests, and indeed, as Papebroch believes, before the year of Christ 1000. Although the beginning of the synaxary is wanting in our excerpts, because, as the praised Papebroch notes in this very place, it agreed at every point with the printed Menæa, nevertheless what has been preserved, since by it the narrative of our Acts is signally confirmed, we do not hesitate to print here. About the beginning the Synaxary of Sirmond has, besides the Menæa, the following, which is manifestly drawn from Philostorgius, above n. 46: Ὁμηριται δε οὑτοι, οἱ και Σαβαιοι καλουμενοι, ἐκ της Χεττουρας τῳ Ἀβρααμ γεγονασι. Then after the words of the Menæa: Προς την Νεγραν πολιν ἀνεδραμεν, ἡν και πολιορκησε, οὐ δυναμει ἀλλ᾽ ἐπιορκιαις, and he ran out to the city of Negran etc., the synaxarist of Sirmond continues in this manner: Μετα δε το ταυτην λαβειν, πρωτον μεν ἀνορυξας τον ταφον του ἁγιωτατου ἐπισκοπου Παυλου, πυρι παρεδωκε τα ὀστα αὐτου και την τεφραν ἐλικμησεν· ἐπειτα ἱερεις και λευιτας, και μοναζοντας, και μοναζουσας ἐν καμινῳ πυρος ἀποῤῥιψας, θανατῳ παρεδωκε ψυχας τον ἁριθμον τεσσαροκοσιας εἰκοσι ἑπτα. Των δε λαἳκων γυναικων ἀπετεμεν ὑφ᾽ ἑν τας κεφαλας τον ἀριθμον τελουσας ἑκατον εἰκοσι ἑπτα. Και τινα εὐγενεστατην και τιμιαν γυναικα ἐνωπιον αὐτου παραστησαμενος, και την κεφαλην της θυγατρος αὐτης ἐμπροσθεν αὐτης ἀποτεμων, ἐκελευσεν του αἱματος ἀπογευσασθαι, και οὑτως και αὐτην τῳ θανατῳ δια ξιφους παρεπεμψεν. Ἐσχατον δε παντων τον μεγαν Ἀρεθαν μεθ᾽ ἑτερων τμ ἀπετεμεν· οὑτος γαρ εἰς ἐσχατον γηρας ἐλθων, και κατακοπος τῳ σωματι γεγονως, και μηκετι χρησασθαι δυναμενος τοις ποσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτῳ τῳ μελλειν τεμνεσθαι στηριζομενος ἐφ᾽ ἑτερων, τον του μαρτυριου στεφανον ἀνεδυσατο. Τους δε λοιπους εἰς παιδας και παιδισκας τοις ὑπο την ἐξουσιαν αὐτου ἀρχουσι, και μεγιστασιν, ἐνεχαρισατο. Τελειται δε ἡ συναξις αὐτων ἐν τῳ σεβασμιῳ οἰκῳ της ὑπεραγιας Θεοτοκου ἐν τοις Προτασιου.

[185] of Fr. Sirmond; We have given these things in Greek because they are unpublished: in Latin they sound thus: After he had taken it (Negrana), Dunaan dug up the sepulchre of the most holy bishop Paul, gave his bones to the fire and scattered the ashes: then priests and

Levites, monks and nuns he threw into a furnace kindled with fire, and destroyed them, four hundred and twenty-seven in number. And of laywomen he beheaded one hundred and twenty-seven together. And when he had summoned to him a certain woman of most honourable birth and most distinguished, and had cut off her daughter's head in front of her, he ordered her to taste of the blood, and so he put her to death with the sword. And last of all he beheaded the great Arethas with three hundred and forty others: he, having attained extreme old age, since the strength of his body was broken and he could no longer stand on his feet, leaning on others until he should be beheaded, received the palm of martyrdom. The other men and women he gave over into slavery, as a free gift, to the prefects and magnates who obeyed him. Their station is celebrated in the august church of the most holy Mother of God which is in the quarter of Protasius. Of this church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which on the 24th day of October the feast of St. Arethas was celebrated at Constantinople, Du Cange has the following in his Cpolis christiana Parte 2, pag. 64, edit. Venetæ.: The church of the Mother of God called Protasius's; because in the quarter of the city where Protasius the patrician and master once lived, it was built by the emperor Justin the younger (who was reigning when St. Arethas was crowned with martyrdom), 252 years after the times of Protasius, as Codinus has in the book De officialibus etc. pag. 40. It is probable that the memory of St. Arethas began to be celebrated in this church at Constantinople while Justin was still living. See Acts n. 27. Simeon indeed urged in the year 524 that this should be done as soon as possible: And we too have thought that these things should be written out to you, he thus addresses the abbot of Gabula, so that the holy and faithful prelates, knowing the course of the events in Homeritis, may perform the commemoration of the holy martyrs. Above n. 161.

[186] [from the Typicon of St. Sabas and the Calendar of Constantinople; from the Calendar of Naples. In the 9th century the city of Naples was partly Greek.] In the Typicon of St. Sabas, which was originally written for the use of the monastery of St. Sabas near Jerusalem, and then began to be used in all the Greek churches, there occurs at the 24th day of October the memory of St. Arethas and his companions. This Typicon was composed by St. Sabas himself, who died in the year 532, born in the year 94; but that in succeeding times it received various additions, especially when it was revised by St. Sophronius of Jerusalem and by St. John Damascene, is not at all doubtful. Nevertheless it is most probable that while St. Sabas was still living, when the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam reached the monasteries of Palestine, the illustrious martyrdom of St. Arethas was entered in the Typicon. We have no Greek martyrology or menology of the seventh century: to the eighth century our Morcelli assigns the Calendar of Constantinople which he published, furnished with learned commentaries; in which at this 24th day of October, after the memory of St. Proclus the archbishop, the following occur Tom. I, pag. 201.: Και των ἁγιων Ἀρεθα και της συνοδιας αὐτου. Likewise of the saints Arethas and his companions. There follows the marble Calendar of Naples of about the middle of the ninth century, which was discovered in the year 1742 in the church of St. John the Baptist at Naples. It was indeed inscribed in Italy, in the very city of Naples, and in Latin letters and language. But a part of the city was then Greek, as Baronius observes at the year 872, n. 12: Thus because a twofold people was contained in it; namely Latin and Greek: each of which performed its sacred rites separately, yet under one head Cfr Rodotà, Del rito greco in Italia, tom. I, pag. 329 et seqq.. And since for that reason the liturgy was celebrated in Greek in some of its churches, more Greek or Oriental saints received their cult than in the other parts of the Latin Church. Of the condition of the city of Naples in the 9th century Chioccarelli, the Neapolitan historian, writes as follows De episcopis Neapolitanis, ad ann. 878.: For which reason a throng of Greeks from the East flocked to Naples both for the sake of business, and also to enjoy the delights of the city. And therefore priests of the Greeks held six parish churches at Naples, who performed the sacred rites in the Greek manner; and who on stated days were bound to acknowledge that of Naples as head and mother. And Greek priests were placed in charge of these churches etc. Hence we shall not at all wonder that the birthdays of some Greek saints, previously unknown to the West, should be inscribed in the marble calendar of Naples; or that those whom the Latin and Greek churches venerate on different days should be announced twice in a monument adapted to both rites Mazochius, Neapol. eccles. Kalendarium, tom. I, pag. XXVIII.. Of our Arab martyr, already known in the 9th century throughout the whole East, the marble of Naples has the following in the month of October: XXIIII P. S. Aretha, that is, on the 24th day the passion of St. Arethas Mai, Script. vet. tom. V, pag. 64..

[187] Of Athanasius II, bishop of Naples, and his version of the Acts of St. Arethas. In the eighth and ninth centuries, as Chioccarelli has just related Cfr Rodotà, l. c. cap. IV sq., so many Greeks came into southern Italy that both languages were familiar to many, and not a few acts of martyrs were turned from the Greek language into Latin. Among these were the very Acts of St. Arethas which we are publishing, and they were given Latin dress by Athanasius the younger, bishop of Naples; who, having happily begun the government of that church in the year 872, and having begun to cleave to the footsteps of his uncle and predecessor St. Athanasius, being elected duke of the Neapolitans, slipped into avarice and the desire of ruling, and altogether forgot his sacred dignity. Yet that Peter the Subdeacon, says Ughelli Italia sacra, tom. VI, col. 81. Venetiis 1720., who continued the Chronicle of the bishops of Naples after John the Deacon, mentions Athanasius with praise, and testifies that he was a man of lofty talent and wonderful prudence. The same is reported by Peter, another subdeacon of the Neapolitan church, in the booklet of the miracles of St. Agnellus. This same Athanasius was excellently cultivated in Greek and Latin letters; for he turned the history of the passion of the holy martyrs Arethas and his companions from Greek into Latin in an excellent and elevated style, as that age allowed; of which a fragment is extant in a manuscript codex in the convent of nuns of St. John of the city of Capua, in which among other things this is found in the prologue: “Whose (namely the martyrs') victorious contests and palms I, Athanasius the younger, prelate of the Parthenopean church, for the honour of God and the joy of the Christian religion, will endeavour to translate from Æolic exemplars; and because a foreign idiom by no means agrees with style, being eager to pluck not the leaves of words but rather the richness of the sense, we cut away what is superfluous, and sometimes, the order being changed, we insert some things of our own for the elucidation of the meanings etc.” The fragment from which these things are excerpted, and which Ughelli recorded above, copied from the manuscript codices of Fr. Ant. Caraccioli, a clerk regular, who published a book on the church of Naples, was once sent to Papebroch; and we are committing it to print at the end of the Acts of St. Arethas. By the order of the same Athanasius there are reported to have been translated from Greek into Latin the Acts of the Holy Martyrs Eustratius and his companions, and of St. Febronia, virgin, and perhaps others Ughelli. I. c..

[188] [The cult of St. Arethas from the menology of Gallipoli, and from the Ruthenian and Muscovite calendars.] In the 10th century mention of St. Arethas is made by the menology of Gallipoli edited by Scholz Scholz, De menologiis duorum codicum etc., pag. 8. Bonnæ 1823.. and by another menology written by Italian Greeks, which Bandini assigns to this century Catal. codd. mss. bib. Mediceæ, tom. I, pag. 130. Florentiæ 1764.. In the same century Symeon called Metaphrastes composed his μεταφρασεις, at the urging of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus; and these were soon copied in the monasteries of the whole East: and from then on one may find the memory of St. Arethas very frequently in the menologies and other liturgical codices of the Greeks. From the Greeks the Ruthenians and Muscovites borrowed the announcement of St. Arethas, in whose calendars it is read similarly at this 24th day. A manuscript Slavo-Russian menology, which Sparwenfeldt sent to our predecessors in the year 1712, has the following at the said day: 24 (October) Arethius, in the year 6042. This year was set down through carelessness, whether the martyrologist used the ὁμαδι 5500 or 5508; since we know that St. Arethas suffered neither in the year 542 nor in the year 534: but perhaps the year 6022 is to be read, and thus, with the Greek ὁμαδι 5500 taken away, we come to the year 522 from the birth of Christ, which is the nearest to the year of the passion of St. Arethas. We learn at least from the added year that the Arab martyr is announced here, and not the other of the same name, of whom my colleague will discourse below. A manuscript Synaxary of the Ruthenians, which Fr. George David, a missionary of our Society who resided at Moscow, sent to Papebroch in the year 1688, likewise mentions our saint: 24 October St. M. Aretha and those with him. As to the rest concerning the Slavic calendars, especially those which bear painted images of the saints, let us learn from Assemani's commentary on the Capponian Tablets Kalendaria eccles. univ., tom. V, pag. 316.: “Arethas the martyr and his companions” are the words written under the tablets. So too the second Vatican codex Ibid. tom. I, pag. 104., says the editor of the tablets. But the first, with our Slavic one, is silent. Possevinus Apparatus sacer tom. II, pag. 365. Coloniæ 1608. wrongly, in place of Arethas: “Of St. Father Avertius” (in which there seems to be a confusion with St. Abercius, whom the others announce at the 22nd). Both menologies, namely the Basilian and another printed at Venice in the year 1610: “Του ἁγιου μεγαλομαρτυρος Ἀρεθα, και της συνοδιας αὐτου. Of the holy great martyr Arethas and his companions.” Μεγαλομαρτυρες is the name given by the Greeks only to the more illustrious martyrs… The Capponian Tablets, says Assemani, show Arethas with four companions. The Basilian menology shows him beheaded by the executioner; and on one side one, on the other many others, with hands bound behind their backs awaiting martyrdom. In the Papebrochian calendar Acta SS. tom. I Maji, pag. XLVII. Arethas alone is represented as a bearded old man, clad in a tunic and pallium, with bare head, hair cut short, carrying a cross in his right hand, his left outspread. Finally St. Arethas is recorded by the Ruthenian calendars used by Ignatius Kulczinski in a book formerly very rare, which was rescued from oblivion last year by a Parisian confrère Specimen ecclesiæ Ruthenicæ, pag. 100. Parisiis 1859.

§ XVIII. The cult of the martyrs of Negrana from the Syriac, Armenian and Ethiopian calendars, and from the Senkessar of the Ethiopians.

[The cult of St. Arethas and his companions from the Syriac, Armenian and Ethiopian calendars.] Of the Oriental sacred calendars we have so far pursued only the Greek. The holy day of St. Arethas is further announced in the Syriac calendar, which was printed at Rome in the year 1624, and is preserved among us in manuscript. Likewise in the synaxary of the Melchites of a certain Arabic Vatican codex of the 12th century Mai. Scriptorum etc., tom. IV, part. 2, pag. 48.,

and in not a few other synaxaries of the Syrians. And that day is, as among the Greeks, the 24th of the month of October, which by the Syrians is called the former Thisri. That St. Arethas is venerated by the Armenians on the 20th day of October we have mentioned above, n. 167 Cfr Aucher, Vitæ SS. etc., tom. VII, pag. 480.. I wonder that his name does not appear in the very many menologies of the Copts which are at hand, unless he is signified by these words in Selden De synedriis Hebræorum, pag. 1315. and Ludolf Commentar. ad. hist. Æth., pag. 395. at the 26th day of the Ethiopian October, the 23rd of the Julian: Waris martyr. For Ludolf suspects that for Waris we should read Huras, which is done by a slight change of Arabic letters: and Huras the martyr is announced at the same day in the Ethiopian menology, and he is perhaps not different from the Aretha of the Arabs, and the Hirut of the Ethiopian Synaxary of which presently; who is manifestly the same as our Arethas. Omitting the Coptic menologies, then, we pass to the Ethiopian monuments, few in number, which have been printed. The Calendar or menology of Ludolf, besides Huras the martyr, whom it recorded on the preceding day, the 23rd of October, enters in the month of November Azkirus and Cyriacus and on another day the martyrs of Negran, as was said above. These are announced on the 26th day of the Ethiopian November, and since in the synaxary, or Ethiopian Senkessar, which J. Sapeto has published in Ethiopic and Italian, St. Arethas and his companions are praised at the 27th day of the same month, there is no doubt at all that both monuments signify the same martyrs.

[190] [Why the martyrs of Negrana are venerated by the Ethiopians in the month of November. The Senkessar of the Ethiopians,] But for what reason they are commemorated by the Ethiopians in the month of November, since it seems certain from the Acts that they suffered in the month of October, I could not say; unless this is done because Azkir or Azqir, priest and martyr of Negrana above n. 173. (who seems to me to have been an Ethiopian sent to bring the Arabs back from idolatry and to cultivate his own countrymen) Cfr above n. 137., is venerated on the 24th day of the Ethiopian November, and the other martyrs of Negrana who suffered under Dhu Nowasus, and whose day of passion was unknown, seemed to be announceable on the first vacant day among those following, namely the 26th. For it is the custom of martyrologists, especially the Greek Acta SS. tom. VIII Oct., pag. 427, n. 12., but also of any others whatever, to announce saints whose birthday is unknown after saints of the same name, or of the same nation, or in some way connected Above n. 182.. After Ludolf's Calendar we know of no other Ethiopian calendars except the Senkessar, or Ethiopian synaxary, a part of which was published not so long ago by Sapeto. It contains a historical synopsis of St. Arethas, or Hirut, as he is there called, which is a treasure for us. For it amply confirms our Acts, and indeed there is no doubt that it was partly put together from them; but the Ethiopian synaxarist has here also used native monuments: by means of which it has been possible, here and there in the course of the commentary, to dispel not a little darkness, or to declare and establish what was narrated by the Greek historians in a mixed and confused way. We add that this synopsis was not drawn up from the Acts of Symeon Metaphrastes, since it everywhere diligently sets down the number of the martyrs according to our Acts; which Symeon, disdaining accuracy and following according to his custom only the piety of the narrative and the elegance of style, neglected to excerpt. It is read, then, in the said Senkessar at the 27th day of the Ethiopian November, the 23rd of the Julian, and is as follows, from Sapeto's Italian version:

[191] [and its synopsis of the acts of St. Arethas: to Dhu Nowasus the tyrant, a perjury having been interposed, the gates of the city of Negran are opened.] There is celebrated today the martyrdom of the martyrs of the city of Negran and of St. Hirut their father, which took place in the fifth year of the emperor Justin, John being patriarch at Jerusalem, Timothy at Alexandria, Timothy at Constantinia (read Constantinople) V. Acts, n. 1 and what we have noted there. and Euphrasius at Antioch, and Caleb reigning in Ethiopia, whom the Greeks and Latins call Elesbaas V. Acts ibid. Annot. g.. There then reigned in Sabæa a certain Jew named Fineas V. above n. 118., an apostate, an unbeliever, and one who stained himself with the blood of men. Sabæa had formerly been subject to the king of Ethiopia, but when the Jews had been expelled by Vespasian and by Titus Above n. 24 et seqq., emperors of the Romans, they acquired it in the course of time. There is towards the border of Sabæa a very large city, many of whose inhabitants were faithful and believed in Jesus Christ. To this the king came, intending to lay waste the province in which Christ was loved, and to demolish the churches. Seeing that the city was very strongly fortified, and beholding the walls which were adorned with a cross and with nocturnal torches and which many soldiers guarded, that accursed Jewish king tried to storm it, but in vain, since it was fortified by the Lord. Then he killed all whom he found outside the city, and gave over the children to slavery. And that foul Jewish king was like the devil the seducer: for he said to the citizens, swearing in the name of the Lord God of the Pentateuch and the Prophets, that he was not their enemy, nor did he wish to harm even one of them, or to stain himself with a drop of blood. But I desire, he said, to see the buildings, and the markets and trading-places. When the citizens believed these words, Hirut, son of Kaeba, or Arethas son of Caab, above n. 153, said to them: Do not believe the words of this apostate Jew, since he is impious, do not open the gates of the city to him. But they did not listen to him, and opened the gates. Then the Jew, having entered, first ordered the goods of the citizens to be laid waste, and a furnace to be kindled whose flame shot up into the sky.

[192] [The same burns the bones of Bishop Paul, long since dead; he condemns to martyrdom 427 ecclesiastical men and women: the number of the martyrs.] Next he orders Paul, the bishop of the city, to be summoned; and when he had heard that he had departed this life, he commanded that his bones should be dug up again from the sepulchre and threw them into the fire. Then, having gathered together the priests, deacons, monks, widows and orphans, who day and night devote themselves to the reading of the holy books, he ordered them to be thrown into the fire, 427 in number Above n. 163., wishing thus to terrify the Christians. Then a chain was put round Hirut's neck and his feet and hands were bound, and similarly those of all the leading men and magistrates of the city. At his order, also, soldiers went round the city, proclaiming that all who had not renounced Christ would be put to a most evil death. When these holy Christians heard this, they exclaimed: Heaven forbid that we should do this and renounce Christ, our God, in whom we have believed and in whose name we have been baptized. On hearing these things that unclean Jew killed men and women, sons and young men, little boys and old men, 4252 in number Above n. 167..

[193] The martyrdom of Ruma and her children; Then he ordered Demaha to be seized, who had been born fourth in order (Demaha quartogenita, so Sapeto in Italian; I do not doubt that the name is corrupt, for Assemani, who had two manuscript copies of the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam in his hands, everywhere called her Ruma. Literally in Syriac, however, Simeon calls her in one place Rumi Bib. Orient. tom. I, pag. 368., in another Rehumi) Ibid. pag. 374., a most excellent and most beautiful woman; and with her two daughters only (e due sole figliuole con essa) Cfr above n. 145., who had not seen any other light whatever, except that which came through the window into their own house. When they had come into the king's presence, he tried by many promises to persuade them to renounce the faith, and when they refused, they were ordered to be stripped of their garments: at the sight of which the women of Negrana, moved with pity, wept. One of the daughters, younger in age, and only twelve years old, spat in the king's face, and when a certain soldier saw this, with drawn sword he cut off her neck and also that of her sister. After which the unclean Jew ordered holy Demaha to drink the blood of her daughters; and when she had tasted it, she said: I give thanks to you, Jesus Christ, my Lord, Son of the living God, that it has fallen to me to taste of the blood of the sacrifice offered by my daughters. And at the king's order her head was cut off with the sword, and so their martyrdom was completed.

[194] The martyrdom of Arethas After this, holy Hirut and his 340 companions Ibid. having been summoned from prison Above n. 142, 6° et 10°., the Jewish king orders holy Hirut to deny the faith. But Hirut answered: It is seventy-eight years Cfr, n. 105. since I have adored Jesus Christ, my Lord, and I have reached the fourth generation Acts below n. 17.; now I rejoice that I am obtaining martyrdom and shall die for his holy name. I had told my people that no reliance was to be placed on your oath, since you are a liar; but they did not believe me, since Christ willed that I should be brought into this peril. On hearing this the Jewish king was vehemently angered, and ordered that they should lead him into the river (in Italian: che lo menassero nel fiume; understand this of the valley of Negrana, or Wadi Above n. 157 et 163., through which a stream flowed: for the Arabic word Wadi, which the synaxarist has turned into the Ethiopic tongue, signifies not only a stream, pool or cistern, but also the surrounding valley), and there cut off his head with the sword. Hearing this holy Hirut prayed God to establish the empire of the Greeks and the kingdom of Ethiopia, and to destroy the kingdom of this impure Jew; then he blessed his people, and when they had embraced one another, the soldiers cut off the heads of all.

[195] the martyrdom of the five-year-old boy and of another. A certain woman was watching these things, who had a son five years old Ibid. n. 158.; and dipping her hand in the blood of the saints, she anointed herself N. 157. and her son. The soldiers, seeing this, bound her and brought her to the king; by whom she was ordered to be thrown into the fire. Then the king, taking the little boy and clasping him in his arms, said: Do you love, or not, the one they call Christ? To whom the boy said: Indeed I love him, because I am his servant; but let me go, that I may go with my mother. And raising a cry, and seizing the king's leg with a bite, he escaped, and entering the fire became a martyr N. 160.. They brought also another woman with a little son, ten months old (of these neither the Acts nor Simeon of Beth-Arsam have anything): to whom the mother said: You have deprived me of this fire. The boy answered: O my mother, let us go quickly to life eternal, for we shall see this fire only today. Then the mother together with her son threw herself into the fire. Seeing this, the Christians of Negrana chose to be beheaded, to the amazement of the Jews. After this fire was seen in the sky for 40 whole days and as many nights Cfr Acts n. 23.. And the Jewish king, returning to his city, of

these things sent a message to all the kings, boasting of his power. Justin also, king of Rome (the new Rome, that is Constantinople), heard of them, and commanded Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, to write to Kaleb, king of Ethiopia Above n. 169 and 171., and suppliantly to ask him to make war on this Jew and avenge the blood of the citizens of Negran. Kaleb, therefore, king of Ethiopia, when he had heard these things, having first received a blessing from Abba Pantaleon, a dweller in a cave, crossed over to that region with many soldiers and many ships, and laid waste all Sabæa, the kingdom of that Jew, so that neither man nor living animal remained (the Acts have nothing similar, but it agrees to some extent with what the Arab historians narrate of the viceroy Aryat Ibid. n. 177.). He rebuilt the city of Negran, and instituted the sacred commemoration of his martyrs. He also announced what had been done to Justin, king of Rome, and to Timothy the patriarch; who rejoiced greatly and gave thanks to Christ.

[196] Of the relics of St. Arethas and his companions. Of the sacred relics of St. Arethas and his companions all recent monuments are silent, namely the catalogues, whether Greek or Latin, of the relics which in these last centuries were, or still are, venerated in churches and monasteries; of which no small number is preserved among us. Ancient monuments too are almost silent, among which it has been possible to find nothing else than these few words which our Acts have at num. 38: Then Elesbaas took the bishop most holy who had been sent to Negrana, to the city of the martyrs… The place also in which the bodies of the saints lay burned and thrown (καεντα και ῥιφεντα, which seems to refer to the twofold kind of martyrdom V. ib. n. 163.) he rendered venerable and endowed with the right of asylum. Nor has Metaphrastes more, whose Greek Acts are at hand (copied at Paris more than two hundred years ago as a favour to our Rosweyde): Ἐπιμελησαμενος τε του τοπου, says Metaphrastes, ἐν ᾡ τα των μαρτυρων τελειωθεντα ἐκειτο λειψανα, και ἀσυλιαν ἐκεισε διορισαμενος, ἀπεισι και προς τα βασιλεια κ. τ. λ. And when he had taken care of the place in which the consummated relics of the martyrs lay, and had established there the right of asylum, he went back to the royal city etc. From these things it is evident that the relics of the martyrs of Negrana were preserved; but it is wrongly written in an ecclesiastical Lexicon published some years ago at Mainz that they were laid up in the church which was built at Negrana by order of Elesbaas Allgemeines Kirchen-Lexikon, tom. III, pag. 307. Mainz 1850.: although it is very likely that some were carried there.

§ XIX. The age and sincerity of the Acts.

It is shown that the Acts were written before the year 629; At this point, according to custom, we must speak of the Acts which we are about to publish; on which two things chiefly are to be inquired into, in what age they were written and how far they seem to be sincere. As regards the first, it is certain that they were composed before the year of Christ 634, in which the army of Abu Becr, who two years before had been substituted in place of the dead Mahomet, having overcome the Greeks and the Ghassanid Arabs, invaded a great part of Syria Cfr Caussin, tom. III, pag. 421 et seqq.: which the Greeks did not afterwards recover. Now the writer of the Acts says of the desert of Phœnicon, which had been handed over to the emperor Justinian by the Arab phylarch Abo Charabus, and which was on the border between Arabia Deserta and the Arabian peninsula: The region of the Homerites lies to the south of what they call Phœnicon, and which is now under the Romans: ἐκ νοτου του νυν ὑπο Ῥωμαιους ὀντος και λεγομενου Φοινικωνος. Which manifestly shows that the Acts were written before the said year 634. But they also appear to have been written before the year 629, in which Mahomet himself sent an army into the deserts of Syria, and in general, before Mahomet occupied a great part of the Arabian peninsula. For of all these things there is not even a mention in the Acts (in which many things about Negrana and Homeritis are set forth most accurately). Moreover, as regards religion, it is said of Negrana, Act. n. 2: Which, enlightened from heaven, still worships the consubstantial and holy Trinity etc.

[198] indeed before the year 597, It will be worth the trouble to gather here the chief events that took place at the declining of the 6th century and the beginning of the 7th in the Arabian peninsula and Arabia Deserta; so that it may more easily be concluded at about what age the Acts of St. Arethas were composed. In the year 575, the fifth after the death of Abraha, viceroy of Yemana, the Persians occupied the kingdom; and viceroys began to be set up by them. A few years later, however, the Ethiopians recovered the throne of Yemana, until in the year 597, new forces having been sent in by Cosroes Parviz, king of the Persians, they were destroyed in slaughter Idem, tom. I, pag. 157.. In the year 608 and the following Cosroes laid waste all Syria, and having taken and plundered Jerusalem in the year 616, in the following year he not only occupied Egypt and the part of Africa which the Mediterranean Sea washes, but besieged Carthage itself; until in the same year he was overcome by the emperor Heraclius Hist. Univ. tom. XL, pag. 553 et seqq. Paris 1784.. In the year 628 the Persian viceroy of the Homerites became a Mahometan, and not long afterwards, in the year 631, the Christians of Negrana, since they were unwilling to renounce their rites, were compelled by Mahomet to pay a tax. In the following year the idolatrous citizens, or half of the citizens, as the Arab historians relate, embraced the doctrines of Mahomet; the other half remained Christian, and until that time they had their own bishop: but at the close of the year 634, Omar, who on the death of Abu Becr had obtained the principality of the Mahometans, ordered the Christians of Negrana to go away into exile and to choose their seats in Syria or Arabian Iraca (Babylonia), which he had not yet brought under his rule Caussin, tom. III passim.. From these things not only is what we deduced above confirmed, that the Acts were written before the wars of Mahomet, but it is made especially probable that they were committed to writing even before the year 597, from which for thirty years the Persians ruled over all Homeritis.

[199] and perhaps before the year 565. Above all, however, I am moved by what the author of the Acts writes of the region of Phœnicon: Now, he says, it is under the Romans. These words record the donation of Abocharabus, by which he handed over Phœnicon to the emperor Justinian (n. 70), as recent or not very ancient. Now we know that Phœnicon was given before the year 536, since in that year Abocharabus departed this life Idem, tom. II, pag. 231 et 233; Lebeau, lib. XLI n. 19 et seqq.. On the other hand the Acts were written after the death of St. Elesbaas, of whom the following is read in the last number: Nor did any of the laity “for all the time of his life dare to speak with him.” Now St. Elesbaas lived, if Henry Salt is to be believed, until the year 570 Voyage en Abyssinie, tom. II, pag. 255. Paris 1816.; Sapeto writes that he departed this life between the years 565 and 570 Viaggio, pag. 69.: which will be more strictly defined at the 27th day, when we shall have to discourse of St. Elesbaas. But we not undeservedly gather from the foregoing that the Acts were written about the year 575; and if, as I conjecture, Elesbaas exchanged mortal life for eternal sooner, I should gladly say that the Acts were committed to writing before the year 565, while the emperor Justinian was still living.

[200] The opinion of Lambecius is set forth Indeed Lambecius judged that they were taken from the history of Nonnosus of his embassy under the emperor Justinian I, or the Great, to the Homerites, which Photius mentions, he says, in codex III Commentar. tom. VIII, edit. Kollarii, col. 823.. What Lambecius proposes here in passing he did not devise lightly, but noticing that the Acts discourse with much accuracy on historical, geographical and other matters, he believed that these things could have been gathered only by the envoys who during the reigns of Justin and Justinian frequently went to Arabia and Ethiopia. And among these by far the chief are Abraham and his son Nonnosus; since besides them, excepting Julian, of whose embassy we have spoken elsewhere, no others are reported to have been sent to the said nations. Now the embassies which these undertook to the nation of the Arabs, between the years 518 and 535, are five in number; as we have concluded in its place from the library of Photius. It is to be noted, however, that Abraham, in the embassy of the beginning of the year 524, which was his first, had Simeon of Beth-Arsam as companion; and that he learned everything which the latter has handed down to memory in his most praised letter. In the following decade Abraham undertook two other embassies to the same nations, and within the same time Nonnosus a third. Who then in the whole Greek empire could be more fitted than Abraham, or his son Nonnosus, to weave the history of the martyrs of Negrana?

[201] of the writer of the Acts. Of the Armenian version, But in truth, if the opinion of Lambecius should be approved by anyone, and the Acts be said to have been written by Nonnosus, it must be added that the end of the Acts, where Abraham is indicated to have been set up as viceroy soon after the rout of Dhu Nowasus, that is, from about the year 526, was written afterwards; as also perhaps other places in which the death of Elesbaas is recorded. And this (which we have already intimated above) is confirmed by something else as well. Namely, in the Armenian or Haican version of our Acts, which is extant in the manuscript book Djarrentir (which Fr. J. D. Aucher used to compile his Lives of the Saints), they are given faithfully; but they conclude long before the end which they have in our copy; namely at the place at which a prodigy is narrated to have appeared in the sky for forty nights (Act. n. 23). After which narrative the book Djarrentir continues in these words: When all had seen these things, they praised God, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever. And thus the history ends, says the praised Fr. Aucher in this place [Vitæ SS. qui sunt in kalendario eccles. Armen. auct. P. J. B. Aucher. Armeniace. Tom. VII, pag. 510, not. 15. Venetiis 1813.]. This I am taught by one of our confrères, skilled in the Armenian language. And since Aucher professes to have had in his hands ten manuscript codices of the book Djarrentir, it is clearly established that this book does not contain more. Which is evident otherwise also from what he soon adds Aucher, ibid.: The rest Metaphrastes has at length, and the Calendar of the Armenians briefly. There are also some similar things in Stephen Asolig (an Armenian writer of the end of the 10th century).

[202] from which the genuine beginning of the Greek Acts is established. Another thing comes to be noted here about the book Djarrentir, or rather about the beginning of the Acts of St. Arethas such as it is read there: namely, that in the list of the patriarchs there is wanting the name and see of the patriarch of Constantinople. Here is that beginning; from which it will at the same time appear how little the Armenian Acts differ, at least in most places, from the Greek ones which are here

being committed to print: In the fifth year of the Christ-loving Cæsar King Justin, who reigned in the land of the Romans, in the second year of the indiction, and according to the era of Antioch 835, in the month of Hyperberetos, John being seated as bishop at Jerusalem, Euphrasius at Antioch, Timothy at Alexandria Idem, l. c., pag. 505 not. 3.. It is notable that the patriarch of Constantinople is wanting also in the codex used by Boissonade Anecd. l. c., pag. 2.. In the Acts which we are publishing a certain patriarch of Constantinople is indeed set down: Ἐπισκοπατευοντος… Κωνσταντινοπολεως Τιμοθεου (Act. num. 1); but that Timothy had departed this life six years before the year 523, in which St. Arethas suffered. The copy of the Acts which Lambecius had at hand Lambecius, Commentar. tom. VIII, l. c., in place of Timothy, who was a heretic, has John, namely the Cappadocian: this man we know to have been a catholic, but he died in the year 520. In place of John was substituted Euphemius, a catholic, and he held the see of Constantinople until the year 535. Hence it is manifest that in the first edition of the Acts the patriarch of Constantinople was omitted.

[203] For this reason the Acts were certainly not written by Nonnosus; but neither do they appear to have been excerpted from his history of the embassies: Another opinion, far more probable, that they were written in Syriac for that they were, such as they have come down to us, first composed in Syriac and then turned into Greek, does not seem to be doubted. By what this may be concluded it would be long to deduce in this place, and it is better to send these minutiæ off to the Annotations which we subjoin to each chapter of the Acts. It is helpful only to recall these things here: 1° The Acts in several places, namely num. 1 and num. 20, use the months of the Syro-Macedonians, which were in use only among the Syrians, or Syro-Greeks; and although some Greek codices add in those places, for the sake of interpretation, the month of the Neo-Greeks, October, others neglect this, setting down only the Syro-Macedonian month Hyperberetæus. And this is noticed also in the Armenian Acts, as is clear from the preceding number; which are in the highest degree likely to have been borrowed from the Syriac. Moreover that month Hyperberetæus corresponded among the Syrian Christians to the Julian October. For although at the beginning of the Christian era, as we know from the Acts of St. Polycarp and other monuments, the Macedonian months did not begin on the same day as the Julian, yet gradually, especially from the age of Constantine the Great, this became prevalent everywhere. See the Chronicon paschale.

[204] The Acts, and were then turned into Greek. Next, in the Acts, num. 2, the city of Negrana is compared with Rosapha, a city of Syria, formerly called Sergiopolis by the Greeks, not far from the Euphrates; from which it would not absurdly be conjectured that they were written in the monastery of St. Sergius near the said city: since we owe most such lucubrations to monks. In another codex, Rosapha being omitted, Rhoa is read; by which word is perhaps signified the Syrian city of Edessa, also called Callirhoe, Rhoe, and by the Arabs Roha Bayerus, Hist. Orshoëna, p. 12.. Thirdly, in the Armenian Acts the name of St. Arethas is written with a rough breathing, or the Armenian letter che; in which they differ both from the Greek Acts and from all the Greek historians who have mentioned this name; but they agree with the Syrians, who write it with the letter cheth, and with the Arabs, who use the equivalent letter hha. Fourthly, as has been said, in the series of patriarchs the patriarch of Constantinople is omitted; from which it is deduced that the Acts were composed far from Constantinople. Many other things will occur in the Annotations, which it would be long to bring forward here and unfold, drawn away from their proper places.

[205] [The Syrian writer nevertheless borrowed his material from the monuments of Negrana, which shortly after the martyrdom] But if the Acts were written in Syriac, the question arises how a Syrian author could have so diligently collected and recorded the affairs of Negrana that he scarcely deviates from the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam, a most safe monument, and yet does not pillage it, but, with many additions, competes with it in sincerity. To this question I consider there is a twofold answer. One, that he who composed the Acts could have stayed for some time at Negrana, just as Simeon of Beth-Arsam once stayed among the Maadeni, not far from there. The other, which I prefer, that the Acts were first written in the very city of Negrana, either namely by the bishops, who, being sent from Alexandria, for the most part knew both Greek and Arabic, or by clerics or Ethiopian monks; and were then turned into Syriac. As regards the bishops, that they were at Negrana at the close of the sixth century we learn from several monuments; and although it is not said in the Acts that a successor was appointed by St. Elesbaas or the patriarch of Alexandria in place of Paul, the deceased bishop of Negrana, it seems certain that this was soon done Cfr above n. 157.. For Taphar, where there was a bishop from the year 525 or 526, was far distant from Negrana, in which city the Christians were very many. Next, at the very end of the sixth century we know that there flourished at Negrana the bishop Coss, son of Saida, whom the Mahometans write to have been a celebrated poet and orator, whose eloquence Mahomet in his youth, that is, about the year 585 or 590, admired Caussin, tom. I, pag. 159..

[206] began to be collected or composed. In the history of the same pseudo-prophet, at the 9th year of the Hegira, the 630th from the birth of Christ, there is praised for knowledge and Christian virtue Abu-Haritha, bishop of Negrana, with whom Mahomet disputed about religion. Moreover several bishops are said to have been present at the disputation of St. Gregentius, archbishop of Taphar, with the Jew Erbanus. παροντος του εὐσεβεστατου βασιλεως, καί τινων ἐπισκοπων, και του πληθους των Ἰουδαιων Pag. 38, editionis Gulonii.. In the same place St. Gregentius is several times honoured with the title of archbishop. From which it is made manifest that there were bishops at Negrana for almost the whole of the sixth century. For the disputation was held, as far as may be conjectured from several things, not long after the year 540. From this it seems to follow that the most illustrious martyrdoms of St. Arethas and his companions were committed to writing, soon after the dominion of the Ethiopians was restored, by a bishop, or one of the clerics or monks; that is, that this was done not long after the year 525. Such as they have come down to us, however, they have been augmented in some places, where there is talk of the death of Elesbaas and of King Abraham (Act. n. 38), whom we have shown in its place not to have been set up as king immediately after the defeat of Dhu Nowasus. What is said of Abraham in the Acts, therefore, could not have been written in Arabia; unless this was done by flattery, since we know that he aspired to the kingdom long before he obtained it. Above n. 177 sq. From which we finally deduce that the Acts were first written at Negrana; which their accuracy alone suggests: and indeed either in Arabic, or Ethiopic, or, as is more probable, in Greek. For scarcely any monuments so ancient exist in either the Arabic or the Ethiopic language, and we know that several bishops of the Homerites were sent from Alexandria, the citizens of which city knew and spoke Greek. And indeed very many things suggest that Greek letters flourished among the Homerite Christians during the reign of Abraham, that is, from about the year 540. The Acts were then, as we have said, composed in Syriac, and from the Syriac again in Greek.

[207] The sincerity of the Acts; As regards the sincerity of the Acts, what is narrated of Ethiopia and especially of Homeritis has certainly been collected with no slight accuracy, as will be evident to the reader. There is no need to pursue particulars here, but what the author writes deserves to be recalled about Phœnicon, about the talent of the Arabs, or kintar, and about the tax which the Negranites paid to the tyrant Dhu Nowasus; and about the embassy which Abraham and Simeon of Beth-Arsam undertook to Almundarus, king of Hira. He also recites a letter of the emperor Justin to King Elesbaas, then mentions another which the same wrote to Timothy the patriarch, and finally that which the patriarch himself wrote to the king of Ethiopia. Moreover he names the cities of Egypt and of Lower Ethiopia, and the nations which dwell by the Red Sea, and the islands of this sea: in which, as in other things, no σφαλμα, whether geographical or historical, can be found. With the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam, however, our author agrees in such a way, as was said above, that he nevertheless does not copy it, indeed so that he seems not even to have had it at hand. For the sequence of the narrative is different, and in our author, with very many additions, a far clearer order appears. Then although he agrees with Simeon in nearly everything, he yet disagrees on a few things, for example on Ruma and her daughters: in which narrative he seems himself nearer the truth. From these things we shall not undeservedly say that our Acts are to be counted among the most approved monuments. We have borrowed our copy from the imperial library of Paris, in which it was faithfully transcribed by the custodians of the Greek codices. The Paris codex is marked with the number 1454, and it came from the Colbertine library; it is the same, namely, which Lequien used, as was said at num. 170. Boissonade had the same in his hands when he was preparing his edition of the Acts of St. Arethas from the Paris codex 1537 Anecdota Græca, tom. V, pag. 1 et seqq.. Than that one ours is throughout more approved; but it was not then committed to print, as I think, because in some places it was eaten away by age and could not be read. We have supplied the gaping places from Boissonade's edition, enclosing what was brought from there in brackets [ ]; then from the same we set down what are called the various readings, and we designate the said edition with the letter A. Of our codex Boissonade writes in this manner: I shall use here and there the codex 1454, marking it with the letter B, which shows a great many variants, each of which I have considered it scarcely worth the trouble to record in such a work. Out of many I have selected a few… If ever the study of histories of that kind should revive, which is now as good as dead (this was written in the year 1833), those who after me shall treat of the affairs of Arethas will have to collate both this codex (number 1454, which we are publishing in print) and many others, into which I have not even looked. Many Paris codices have the Acts of St. Arethas Cfr Catal. codd. mss. bib. regiæ, tom. II passim. Pariis 1740.; but most are Metaphrastean, which Boissonade seems to esteem more highly, and from which he adduces many things in his notes. Their beginning is as follows, where at the very threshold the style of Metaphrastes is already recognized: Ἐτοι μεν ἠδη πεμπτον ἐνειστηκει τῳ εὐσεβει Ἰουστινῳ, της Ῥωμαιων ἀρχης των σκηπτρων ἐπειλημμενῳ κ. τ. λ. We are publishing that codex which was approved above the rest by Lequien and by Boissonade himself, a man most learned in Greek letters; and we give it, according to custom, a Latin dress.

MARTYRDOM OF ST. ARETHAS AND HIS COMPANIONS IN THE CITY OF NEGRAN.

Arethas, martyr, in the city of Nagran in Arabia. (S.)

Reuma, martyr, in the city of Nagran in Arabia. (S.)

Companions IVMLII, martyrs, in the city of Nagran in Arabia. (SS.)

BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR. FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

CHAPTER I.

The condition of Homeritis; its king Dunaan rebels against the Ethiopians; he enters Negrana by perjury.

Ἔτους πέμπτου τῆς βασιλείας Ἰουστίνου τοῦ φιλοχρίστου, βασιλεύοντος τῆς

Ῥωμαίων πολιτείας, ἐν ἰνδικτιῶνι δευτέρᾳ, κατὰ δὲ Ἀντιόχειαν τἦς Συρίας ἔτους πέμπτου καὶ τριακοστοῦ ὁκτακοσιοστοῦ, μηνὸς ὑπερβερεταίου, ὅς ἐστιν ὀκτώβριος, ἐπισκοπεύοντος Ἀλεξανδρείας Τιμοθέου, Ἱερουσαλὴμ Ἰωάννου, Κωνσταντινοπόλεως Τιμοθέου , καὶ Ἀντιοχείας Εὐφρασίου· [τότε τῆς Αἰθιόπων χώρας ἐβασίλευσεν Ἐλεσβὰς, ὁ δικαιότατος, ἐν Αὐξούμῃ τῇ πόλει τῆς αὐτῆς Αἰθιόπων χώρας. Συνέβη δὲ τότε βασιλέα εἶναι τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν Δουναὰν, Ἑβραῖον ὅντα καὶ παρανομώτατον] καὶ αἱμοβόρον παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοὺς ἐν τῷ ἔθνει τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν. Ἔστι δὲ ἡ χώρα αὕτη ἡ παρὰ μὲν τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ Σαβὰ λεγομένη, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς ἔξω, Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία. Ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ Σαβὰ χώρᾳ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες, ἕλληνές τε καὶ βάρβαροι ὑπῆρχον· οὐ κατὰ τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ ζῶντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὰ παραφυλάγματα, καὶ βλαβερὰς ἐντολὰς τῶν ὐποκριτῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων. Πάσης δὲ τῆς οἰκουμένης παντί τε καὶ πανταχοῦ σεβομένων καί δοξαζόντων Χριστὸν, τὸν ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, βασιλεύοντα σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ καί τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, μόνη ἡ χώρα τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, ἥτις λέγεται Σαβὰ, κατείδωλος ἐν δοκήσει ἰουδαἳσμοῦ ὑπῆρχε· τὸν Θεὸν μὴ ἐφοβοῦντο, καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα ἐτίμων· ὥστε συνεχεῖς γίνεσθαι πολέμους μεταξὺ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Αἰθίοπῶν [καὶ τοῦ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, ὑποφόρου ὄντος τῷ Αἰθίοπι. Καὶ διαφόρως ζήλῳ θεἳκῷ κινούμενος Ἐλεσβὰς ὁ χριστιανικώτατος βασιλεὺς ἐπεστράτευσε] καὶ τὸν παράνομον βασιλέα κατεκολάφισεν.

[2] Ὑπάρχει δὲ πόλις μυρίανδρος ὑπὸ τὴν χώραν τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου, λεγομένη Νεγρὰν· αὕτη ἡ πόλις οὐρανόθεν φωτισθεῖσα σέβεται ἔτι καὶ νῦν τὴν ὁμούσιον καὶ ἁγίαν Τριάδα, παραλαβοῦσα τὴν τοιαύτην πίστιν καὶ διδασκαλίαν ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ θεοφόρων πατέρων ἀπὸ μακρῶν καὶ παλαιῶν τῶν χρόνων. Συνέβη οὖν ἐν ἐκείνῳ καιροῦ ἡττηθέντα τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν ἰουδαίων βασιλέα φυγεῖν καὶ ἐν ὂρεσι τισὶν ἰσχυροῖς φρουρηθῆναι, ὑποστρέψαι δὲ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Αἰθιόπων Ἐλεσβαὰν, εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν βασιλείαν, ἐάσαντα στρατὸν καὶ στρατάρχην ἕνεκα παραφυλακῆς πάσης τῆς χώρας· ὁ δὲ μισόκαλος δαίμων, ὁ τοῖς εὐσεβῶς ζῇν βουλομένοις ἀντιδικῶν, ὥπλισε πάλιν τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν κατὰ τῶν ἐαθέντων ὑπὸ Ἐλεσβαᾶ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Αἰθιόπων, καὶ τούτους ἀνεῖλεν, καὶ διωγμὸν ἀπάνθρωπον ἔστησεν κατὰ πάντων τῶν σεβομένων τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κἂν Ἕλληνες ἦσαν, κἂν Πέρσαι, κἂν Ῥωμαῖοι, κἂν Αἰθίοπες, ὥσπερ ἔνσαρκος δαίμων ὁπλισθεὶς κατὰ τῶν τότε ὄντων χριστιανῶν ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ παροικίᾳ· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο, τοὺς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ συσχεθέντας πάντας χριστιανοὺς, ἀναιρεθῆναι ἐκέλευσεν. Ἔπειτα κινεῖ τὰ στρατόπεδα αὐτοῦ κατὰ τῆς εἰρημένης φιλοχρίστου πόλεως τῶν Νεγρανιτῶν, εἰς τὸ πορθῆσαι αὐτήν· ἔστι δὲ ἡ χώρα τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν ἐκ νότου τοῦ νῦν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους ὄντος καὶ λεγομένου Φοινικῶνος, ἀπέχουσα μονὰς τριάκοντα· ἡ δὲ αὐτὴ χώρα τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου ἔστι διαστήμωτος μονῶν εἰκοσιπέντε· οἰκουμένη καὶ κατοικουμένη , καὶ πεπληρωμένη, ὡς ἐπὶ Ῥωσαφᾶ. Ἡ δὲ Ἰνδικὴ χώρα, ὅθεν τὰ ἀρώματα καὶ τὸ πέπερι, καὶ ἡ μέταξις καὶ ὁ πολύτιμος μαργαρίτης ἐξέρχεται, ἀπέχει μονὰς τριάκοντα · ἡ δὲ Αἰθιοπία τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου, μονὰς τριάκοντα· ἡ δὲ Ῥωμανία, ἐκ βοῤῥᾶ τῆς τοιαύτης χώρας, μίλια ἐξήκοντα· ὥστε διοδεύεσθαι ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥωμαίων χώρας ἐπί τὸν Ὁμηρίτην διὰ * θαλάσσης· ἀπὸ Ῥωμανίας ἐπί Αἰθιοπίαν, καὶ ἀπὸ Αἰθιοπίας ἐπὶ τὸν Ὁμηρίτην· ἔστι δὲ ἡ αὐτὴ θάλασσα ἀπὸ τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου ἐπὶ Ἰνδίαν, καὶ μέχρι Περσίδος.

[3] Χειμῶνος οὖν ἐνστάντος , οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν, ὅ τε βασιλεὺς τῶν Αἰθιόπων, καὶ τὰ στρατόπεδα αὐτοῦ ἀντιπαρατάξασθαι τῷ Ἑβραίῳ πολεμούντι τὴν τῶν ἁγίων ἀθλοφόρων τούτων σεμνὴν καὶ πανεύφημον πόλιν Νεγρὰν, ἥτις ἑρμηνεύεται Ἑβραἳστὶ, πόλις βροντῶσα, καὶ πάλιν μοχλὸς ἀκαταμάχητος. Τοιγαροῦν παραγίνεται καὶ ἵστησι τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ τιμίου Σταυροῦ, τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπὶ ξύλου· καὶ κήρυκας ἐξέπεμψεν καὶ περιχαρακώσας διὰ πολεμικῶν στρατοπέδων τὴν πόλιν, ἐκέλευσε τοῖς κήρυξιν κράζειν· “εἴ τις μὴ βλασφημήσει τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον καὶ ἐξουδενώσει τὸ παρὸν τοῦτο τῆς [ἀρᾶς σημείου ξύλον, ἐν πυρὶ καὶ φόνῳ μαχαίρας ἀπολεῖται· εἴ τις δὲ ὁμόφρων μου γένηται, ἀρνούμενος ἥν λέγουσιν οἱ τοῦ Γαλιλαίου] Τριάδα, πολλῶν τιμῶν ἀξιωθήσεται, καὶ ἐν πολλῇ παῤῥησίᾳ τυγχάνων ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ βασιλείᾳ. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ πάντας τοὺς ἐαθέντας ὐπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Αἰθιόπων ἐν τῇ πόλει , ἔτι μὴν καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν ἐμὴν βασιλείαν ὄντας χριστιανοὺς, καὶ τοὺς λεγομένους μονάζοντας, ξίφει καὶ πυρὶ παραδέδωκα, τὰς δὲ λεγομένας ἐκκλησίας τῶν χριστιανῶν εἰς πάσας τὰς ἐμὰς περιχώρους κατακαύσας καὶ καταστρέψας μέχρις ἐδάφους, [κονιορτὸν ἀπετέλεσα. Καὶ ἰδοὺ πάρειμι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὧ Νεγρανῖται, μετὰ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ βραχίονος ὑψηλοῦ, καὶ ἐπιλέκτων πολεμιστῶν πολεμούντων ὑμᾶς ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι χιλιάδων.” Οἱ δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἀπεκρίναντο ἀπὸ τῶν τειχέων. “Ἡμεῖς ἐδιδάχθημεν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, σέβεσθαι καὶ προσκυνεῖν Θεὸν τὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ, δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ τὸ Ἅγιον, τὸ] ζωοποιοῦν τὰ πάντα, οὐ πολυθεΐαν εἰσάγοντες, οὐδὲ στένωσιν μοναρχίας γνωρίζοντες, ἀλλὰ μίαν θεότητα ἐν τρίσιν ὑποστάσεσι· τὴν αὐτὴν μίαν δύναμιν προσκυνοῦμεν καὶ σεβόμεθα, ἣν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ, Μωϋσῆς, Ἀαρὼν, Σαμουὴλ, καὶ οἱ προφῆται πάντες ἐσέβοντο.”

[4] Τότε ὀργισθεὶς ὁ ἑν νόμῳ παρανομώτατος βασιλεὺς τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, ἐποίησε πολιορκῶν αὐτοὺς πολλὰς ἡμέρας, χρησάμενος μηχανήμασι καὶ δεινοτάτοις ὅπλοις πολεμικοῖς· ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἠδυνήθη πορθῆσαι πόλιν τεθεμελιωμένην ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν τῆς πίστεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὥσπερ ἡ ἀκρόπολις Σιὼν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ᾗ ὄρη κύκλῳ αὐτῆς, καὶ Κύριος κύκλῳ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἁπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ ἑὼς τοῦ αἰῶνος. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν παρετάττετο ὁ ἐπίγειος καὶ σκιώδης βασιλεὺς, μὴ συγχωρῶν τινὰ ἐξελθεῖν· ἤγαγε δὲ πάντας τοὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς προαστείοις καὶ ἀγροῖς τῆς πόλεως καὶ κτήμασι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀνεῖλε, τοὺς δὲ δούλους ἐχαρισατο τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ μεγιστᾶσι καὶ ἀρχηγοῖς καὶ ἐθνάρχαις. Γνοὺς δὲ ὅτι οὐχ οἷός τε ἔστι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν εἰς πολιορκίαν, τὸν ἀνθρωποκτόνον ὄφιν τὸν ἀεὶ φθονοῦντα τοῖς ἐθέλουσιν εὐσεβῶς ζῇν, μιμεῖται· καὶ ἄρχεται ὀμνύειν τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῦ νόμου, καὶ τὰς ἁγίας δυνάμεις ὅτι. “Οὐ βλάψω τινὰ τῶν τῆς πόλεως, οὐδὲ ἀναγκάσω βλασφημῆσαι εἰς τὴν σεβομένην ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν θρησκείαν, ἀλλὰ μόνον ὑποσπόνδους γενέσθαι ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἀνοῖξαι τὴν πόλιν, καὶ εἰσελθεῖν ἱστορίας χάριν τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τοῦ κομίσασθαι αὐτὸν ὅπερ ἐποφείλεται αὐτῷ , ἐκείνοῦ καὶ μόνου τοῦ ἔτους, τοῦ ἐξ ἔθους διδομένου ἐπὶ κεφαλαίου ὑπὲρ ἑκάστης ψυχῆς οἰκούσης ἐν τῇ πόλει, ἀπὸ ἑλκάδος μιᾶς.” Ἔστι δὲ αὕτη ἡ λεγομένη ἑλκὰς, μονῆτα βασιλικὴ Ὁμηριτικὴ, σταθμὸν ἔχουσα χρυσίου Ῥωμαἳκοῦ, κερατίων δεκαδύο· ὡς συνάγεσθαι ἐνιαυσιαῖον κανόνα ἐκ τῆς προλεχθείσης * πόλεως Νέγρας, χρυσίου τάλαντα ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα. Ἔστι δὲ τὸ τάλαντον ἐν τῇ τῶν Αἰθιόπων χώρᾳ καὶ Ὁμηριτῶν, λιτρῶν δεκατριῶν.

[5] Ὁ δὲ λαὸς ὁ ἐν τῇ πόλει, ἀεὶ πειθαρχῶν ταῖς ἁγίαις ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Θεοῦ, εἶπεν. Ἡμεῖς, ὠ βασιλεῦ, ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων ἐδιδάχθημεν σέβεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ πειθαρχεῖν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι, καὶ ὑπείκειν αὐτοῖς· καὶ ἰδοὺ θαῤῥοῦντες τῷ ὑπὸ σοῦ δοθέντι ἐνομότῳ λόγῳ, [ἀνοίγομεν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ εἰσελεύσῃ μεθ᾽ ὧν βούλει. Καὶ γνωστόν σοι ἔστω, ὅτι κἂν παραλάβῃς ἡμᾶς, ἔστι Θεὸς ἡμῶν ὅστις βοηθήσει ἡμῖν, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν κακίαν σου ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλήν σου καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν σου ἐπάξει· εἰ δὲ μὴ, καὶ ἡμεῖς τὴν φωνὴν τῶν τριῶν παίδων Ἀνανία, Ἀζαρία, Μισαὴλ, ἀποφαινόμεθά σοι, ὅτι κατὰ τὴν μοναρχίαν σου οὐ σεβόμεθα, καὶ τῇ βλασφημίᾳ σου οὐ στοιχοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος ἡγούμεθα καὶ ζῇν ἐν Χριστῷ, τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἀναστάντι·] καὶ ζῇ ἐν ἡμῖν ὁ Χριστός . Ταῦτα εἰπόντες, ἤνοιξαν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν ὁ δόλιος ὄφις , ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, ὀμόσας αὐτοῖς, ὅτι ἀβλαβεῖς καὶ ἀκεραίους φυλάττω ὑμᾶς, ἐὰν ἑκουσίως ταύτην τὴν πόλιν παραδώσητέ μοι. Καὶ τῇ ἑξῆς ἀνοίξαντες, ἐξῆλθον ἅπαντες οἱ ἀρχηγοὶ αὐτῶν, ἅμα Ἀρέθα, πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Ὁ δὲ ἐκέλευσε συσχεθῆναι πάντας αὐτούς· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῶν ἐνεχθῆναι * ἔξω τῆς πόλεως, ὑποδεῖξαι δὲ αὐτῷ Παῦλον τὸν ἐπίσκοπον τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως ἐκέλευσεν. Οἱ δὲ ἀρχηγοὶ πάντες τῆς πόλεως μιᾷ φωνῇ εἶπον τοῦτον τεθνάναι πρὸ διετοῦς χρόνου· καὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευεν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ πέμψας ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἐν ᾧ κατέκειτο τὸ τίμιον αὐτοῦ λείψανον, ἐξανασκάψας τὰ ὁστᾶ αὐτοῦ, ἐκέλευσε πυρὶ παραδοῦναι, καὶ εἶθ᾽ οὗτως εἰς πτύους λικμηθῆναι τὴν τέφραν εἰς τὸν ἀέρα.

Time of the martyrdom. The condition of religion in Homeritis. Wars In the fifth year of the reign of Justinian ^b, devoted to Christ, governing the commonwealth of the Romans, in the second indiction ^c, at Antioch of Syria in the year eight hundred and thirty-five ^d, in the month of Hyperberetæus or October, when Timothy ^e held the episcopate of Alexandria, John that of Jerusalem, Timothy ^f that of Constantinople and Euphrasius that of Antioch, in the region of the Ethiopians there reigned Elesbaas ^g, a most just prince, and indeed in Auxuma ^h, a city of the same Ethiopia. It happened at the same time that the king of the Homerites ⁱ was a certain Dunaan ^k, a Jew, and cruel and bloody above all the men of that nation. This region of the Homerites is called in the divine Scriptures Saba ^l, but by those who are outside, that is, the Gentiles, Arabia Felix. In this kingdom of Saba all the inhabitants were Greeks and barbarians ^m, and they did not live according to the commandments of God, but according to the observances and contemptible precepts of the hypocrite Pharisees and Sadducees. While the whole world always and everywhere venerated and glorified Christ, the true God, who reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, the land of the Homerites alone, which is also called Saba, was given over to idols ⁿ and at the same time to the doctrines of the Jewish religion. They did not fear God, but worshipped their idols: from which there began continual wars between the king of the Ethiopians and the king of the Homerites, who was tributary to Ethiopia ^o. And Elesbaas, a most Christian king, signally moved by divine zeal, came with an army and routed the wicked king [p].

[2] [with the Ethiopians. Dunaan, king of Homeritis, persecutes the Christians. A description of the region.] There was in the lands of the Homerite king a city of innumerable inhabitants, named Negran [q],

which, enlightened from heaven, still worships [r] the consubstantial and holy Trinity, having received this faith and doctrine in ancient and distant times [s] from the holy and God-filled fathers. It happened therefore at that time that the king of the Jewish Homerites, overcome in war, took to flight and preserved himself in certain inaccessible mountains; while Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians, returned to his kingdom, leaving a commander [t] with an army to guard the region. But the demon, hater of the good and adversary of those who wish to live piously, armed the king of the Homerites once more against those left behind by Elesbaas, king of the Ethiopians. For he slew them and began an inhuman persecution against all who venerated the name of Christ, whether they were Greeks, or Persians, or Romans, or Ethiopians [u]; and like a demon clothed in flesh he armed himself against the Christians then living in his dominion. After this he ordered all those Christians who had been gathered to be killed [w]. Finally he moves his army against the aforesaid Christ-loving city of the Negranites, in order to destroy it. Now the region of the Homerites lies to the south of what they call Phœnicon [x], and which is now under the Romans, and it is distant from it a journey of thirty days [y]. And the Homerite kingdom itself extends further by a journey of twenty-five days, inhabited everywhere and filled with people, as is Rosapha [z]. The Indian region [aa], from which spices and pepper, and silk and the most precious pearls come, is distant thirty stages; Ethiopia also is distant from the kingdom of the Homerite thirty stages [bb]. And the empire of the Romans, to the north of this region, sixty stages, that is, if you make the journey by sea, from the empire to Ethiopia and from Ethiopia to the kingdom of the Homerites [cc]. The same sea extends from the kingdom of the Homerite towards India and as far as Persia.

[3] The tyrant besieged the city of Negran. At first threatening death Winter, therefore, being at hand [dd], the king of the Ethiopians and his army could not go out in line of battle against the Jew, who was attacking the venerable and renowned city of these holy and triumphant martyrs, Negran, whose name, rendered from the Hebrew language, is Thundering City [ee]; and again, Impregnable Bar [ff]. The Jewish king therefore draws near and fixes the venerable sign of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ on a piece of wood. Then he sends out heralds, and having encircled the city with a rampart by the work of the hostile army, he orders them to cry out: “If anyone does not blaspheme the crucified one, and does not despise this wood which is the sign of the curse, he shall perish by fire and the slaughter of the sword [gg]. But he who shall think with me, denying the Trinity that the Galilæan disciples speak of, shall be judged worthy of many honours and shall enjoy great freedom in my kingdom. For behold, those who were left behind by the king of the Ethiopians in my lands, and the Christians belonging to my kingdom, and those who are called monks, I have all given over to sword and fire [hh]; and what they call the churches [ii] of the Christians, in all my surrounding regions, I have burned and overthrown to the ground, and reduced to dust. And behold, I come to you, O Negranites, with many forces and an uplifted arm and with chosen men, one hundred and twenty thousand [kk], to attack you”. Then the citizens answered from the walls of the city: “We have been taught, O king, to venerate and adore God almighty and his Word, by which all things were made, and his Holy Spirit, who gives life to all things; not bringing in many gods, nor acknowledging a diminishing of the monarchy, but one Deity in three persons. This same one power we venerate and adore, which our fathers Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Samuel and all the prophets venerated.”

[4] then soon promising many things; Then he who was under the law of Moses, the king of the Homerites, most hostile to laws, being enraged, besieged them for many days, using machines and very strong instruments of war: by which he could not overthrow a city founded on the rock of the faith of Christ, like the citadel of Sion in Jerusalem, which has mountains round about it, and the Lord is round about his people from henceforth now and for ever. MATT. VII, 25., PSALM. CXXIV. And these things that earthly and shadowy king ordained, not permitting anyone to go out: and he drove out all who were in the suburbs and fields of the city and its possessions [ll], and some indeed he killed, and others he bestowed as slaves on his nobles, and commanders and princes of the nation. But knowing that it was impossible for him to storm the city [mm], he imitates the murderous serpent, ever envious of those who wish to live piously. And he begins to swear and call to witness the God of heaven and of the Law, and the holy powers: “That I will not harm any citizen, nor compel anyone to blaspheme the religion you venerate, but only I wish to receive you in surrender, and that you should open the city and I enter it for the sake of learning about it, and of taking away what is owed to me for this one year, namely what is customarily given, distributed by the head, from every soul [nn] living in the city, and it is one helcas.” Now this helcas [oo], as they call it, is a royal Homerite coin, struck from gold, having the weight of twelve ceratia [pp]: so that for the annual tax from the aforesaid city of Negran one hundred and thirty talents of gold are made up. And the talent in the kingdoms of the Ethiopians and Homerites [qq] is of thirteen pounds [rr].

[5] the city is opened, but Dunaan does not abide by his promises. The people of the city therefore, ever obedient to the holy precepts of God our Saviour, said: “We, O king, have been taught by the Law and the prophets and the holy apostles to worship God, and to serve and obey kings in what is fitting; I PETRI II, 17, 18. behold, therefore, committing ourselves to the faith you have pledged by an interposed oath, we open the city, and you shall enter with whom you will. But let it be known to you that if you should bring us into your power, our God is at hand who will help us, and will turn your malice upon your head and your kingdom. But if otherwise, we too show you the words of Ananias, Azarias, Misael, that according to your monarchic will we do not exercise worship and we do not subscribe to your blasphemy, but we esteem it gain [ss] to die, and life in Christ, who died for us and rose again; and may Christ live in us.” When they had said this, they opened the city, and the crafty serpent, the king of the Homerites, entered, affirming with an oath: I am keeping you unharmed and untouched, if you hand over this city to me of your own accord [tt]. On the following day, the gates being opened, all the leading men, together with Arethas, went out to the king, and prostrating themselves on the ground they did him reverence. He ordered all to be gathered together, and first indeed to bring their property outside the city, then to show him Paul [uu], the bishop of the city. All the leading men replied that he had died two years before; and he did not believe them, but sending to the place where his venerable body lay, he had the bones dug up, and ordered them to be given to the fire and the ashes to be thrown into the air with shovels.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. It has been said in the Commentary, n. 110 sqq., that St. Elesbaas equipped at least two expeditions against Dhu Nowasus.

q. Negran is called Nedjran by the Arabs, Nagran by the Syrians. It is a city of Yemana, but situated at the extremity of the kingdom, as is rightly written in the Senkessar of the Habassinians Ap. Sapeto, Viaggio, pag. 459, et Comment. n. 191., namely towards the north; and it borders on the province of Asyr, our knowledge of which we owe to the distinguished Jomard. In the geographical tables of Arabia which H. Kiepert published to illustrate Ritter's geography, Negrana lies at latitude 17°30' and at English longitude 43°40'. Now only the ruins of Negrana seem to survive; but European travellers have not been able to reach there to this day, and they set down only what they have learned from the Arabs. The province of Negrana flourishes, however, under a chieftain of the tribe of Maddrani, to whom some neighbouring provinces also belong. The tract of Negrana (Nedjeran) has 80,000 inhabitants (but what follows teaches that this number is less than it should be), of whom when wars are waged 20,000 bear arms; it is exceedingly fertile, and extends 30 leagues from north to south, 50 from east to west. The principal city of the province, Beddr, is surrounded by walls (as are most of the towns), and furnishes 5,000 soldiers. Many towns and villages are seen, most of which lie along the stream or torrent Nedjran (wadi Nedjran), near which St. Arethas and his companions are reported by Simeon of Beth-Arsam to have suffered, Comment. n. 157 and 163. What we have recorded of the tract of Negrana was learned in the year 1842 from a certain native Arab by the ship's captain Passama, a Frenchman [Passama, Bulletin de la société de géographie, tom. XIX, Paris 1843, ap. Ritter. tom. XII, pag. 1008 et seqq.]. The city of Negran itself, as we learn from the celebrated traveller Burckhardt [Burckhardt, Travels in Arabia, tom. II, pag. 387. Ap. Wright, Early Christianity, pag. 53.], is still held in veneration among the Druses, those very men who recently carried out horrible slaughters of Christians on Mount Lebanon.

r. V. Comment. n. 197 et seq.

s. This passage confirms what has been said on the conversion of the citizens of Negrana to the Christian faith, Comment. n. 100 et seqq. Metaphrastes in this place inserts the embassy of Theophilus the Indian, which he borrowed from Philostorgius, and so composes the narrative as to write that Negrana was brought to the faith by Theophilus. See Surius num. 2, where however the name of Theophilus, contrary to what is in the Greek, is passed over.

t. On this commander, or viceroy, whose name is unknown to us, and on the other viceroys of the Ethiopians, see Comment. n. 124 sqq.

u. See Comment. n. 111, 115 and 117.

w. On these slaughters which Dhu Nowasus carried out in inner Yemana, before he reached Negrana, see Comment. n. 137.

x. On Phœnicon v. Comment. n. 70 and 199.

y. A day's journey in former times among the Arabs (and it was not much less among the Greeks; see below) was of eight parasangs, and each parasang of 5,760 metres; so that there were 19.29 parasangs in a degree. A journey of 30 days, then, comprises 311 of those leagues of which there are 25 in a geographical degree. It will appear to anyone inspecting geographical tables, however, that the measure indicated here in the Acts was not devised at pleasure, but is close to the truth.

The case is different with the journey of 25 days, to which a little further down the Homerite kingdom is said to extend. But it must be observed that southern Arabia in the sixth century was not yet well known; and I add that this breadth of 25 days' journey could have been ascribed to the old kingdom of the Sabæans, which was very wide and at one time reached as far as the Persian gulf [Ritter, tom. XII, pag. 65; Caussin, tom. I, pag. 110 et seq, tom. II, pag. 13: Procop. De bello Pers. lib. I, cap. 19, pag. 100, edit. Bonn.].

z. In the Greek: πεπληρωμένη ὡς ἐπὶ Ῥωσαφᾶ; but the codex A: κατοικουμένη δίκην ῥόας, that is, like a pomegranate. On which Boissonade notes: Ῥόας could be taken of the city of Roa; and having recited the passage from our codex, It seems, he says, that ἐπὶ can be taken of time, so that the sense would be “as under Rosapha, as in the time of Rosapha,” But a prince Rosapha so illustrious is unknown. It could be understood, by changing ἐπὶ into ἐστὶ, of the city of Rosapha in Syria, on which see Notit. Mss. tom. II pag. 439; S. Sacy Chrest. Arab. tom. III p. 57, 74; and of which it is read that it was populous, so that from the multitude of its inhabitants a proverbial comparison could have arisen. One might also think of Rosapha, which is or was a quarter of the city of Bagdad; and Bagdad, on the testimony of Makrizi, surpasses the greatest cities in the immense number of its citizens: see S. Sacy ibid. tom. I p. 54, 250. But Bagdad began to flourish too late for this passage of the Acts to be referred to it. Ῥόα perhaps designates Edessa (Comm. n. 204); but I should prefer to understand it of the pomegranate. In our codex, however, I have scarcely any doubt that the city of Rosapha, or Risapha, is meant, not far from Callinicum, or Rakka, in the deserts of Syria, at latitude 35°40'. Rosapha was called Sergiopolis by the Greeks, as Bye shows Acta SS. tom. III Oct. pag. 849, n. 61; cfr Assem. Bib. or. tom. I, pag. 117., and it had a celebrated monastery, named after Sergius the martyr. Although the name Rosapha, which designates a paved road, was given to other places too [Rosenmüller, ap. Ritter ibid. pag. 1113; et tom. XVII, pag. 941; cfr Caussin, tom. II, pag. 224, tom. III, pag. 417, coll. Ritter, tom. XII, pag. 110.], these are nevertheless lesser, or more recent, so that they could not be signified in the Acts by the bare name of Rosapha. And since there is no doubt that the Acts were first written in Syriac, or in Syria, it will perhaps be permissible to add that the writer lived near Rosafa, or Sergiopolis.

aa. Arabia Felix itself is productive of spices, as has been shown in Comment. n. 8, and from the surrounding seas, especially from the Persian gulf, pearls are brought up in very many places Ritter, tom. XII, pag. 597 et passim.. By these things, then, as also by the 30 stages by which the Indian region is said to be distant, there seems to be signified the eastern part of Arabia which adjoins the Indian sea and the Persian gulf. That southern Arabia was formerly called by the name of India we have mentioned in Comment. n. 34, 38 sqq. Besides, the region of the Somalis in Africa could also have been designated.

bb. The writer here betrays ignorance, since Homeritis is not distant from the ancient port of Adulis more than sixty hour-leagues, by sea journey. But who would wonder that he did not know the breadth of the Red Sea? A omits ἡ δὲ αἰθιοπία … τριάκοντα, which were perhaps added by a smatterer.

cc. From this it is concluded that the writer reckoned thirty stages from Abyssinia to Egypt. So too Cosmas Indicopleustes, pag. 138: From the Cataracts to Axum, thirty stages.

dd. This was the winter of the end of the year 522 and the beginning of 523. Comment. n. 145. From here on it will be helpful to compare the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam, which we have recited in the Commentary; by which our Acts are confirmed in a wonderful manner.

ee. The writer seems to have been thinking of the Hebrew nahar, or naar, (he brayed), in Syriac near, or perhaps of nachar, with cheth, a snoring emitted through the nostrils.

ff. From the Hebrew narar, he cut down, he cut, to the Chaldæans also he drew, he drew to. The Chaldæans prefer the form ngar. From these comes the Hebrew garah, the cud, or food which animals ruminate (cut up), and a segment; then the Chaldaic nagra, a bar, a bolt, and nagar, which signifies the same. To the Arabs nadjranon is the wood in which a hinge turns; nadjdjranon, a carpenter; nidjraton, the art of the carpenter; nodjaraton, a chip of wood; all of which are deduced from the root nadjara, he hewed with an adze. From these things it is easy to conclude two points: first, that the writer of the Acts was no less versed in Chaldaic than in Hebrew; second, that he neglected the Arabic language, either because he did not know it, or because it was generally unknown to those for whose benefit he was writing. V. Comment. n. 203 sqq.

gg. By these words there is perhaps signified the twofold kind of punishment by which the martyrs were slain; for some fell by fire, others by the sword. Comment. n. 162 sq.

hh. Taberita says that up to 20,000 were killed by Dhu Nowasus in all Homeritis; Comment. n. 167.

ii. On these churches see Comment. n. 138.

kk. The letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundarus reports the same number of soldiers. See annot. mm.

ll. That there were many Christians in the whole tract of Negrana is not to be doubted.

mm. Of these things Dhu Nowasus writes in the said letter, Comment. n. 139: With one hundred and twenty thousand men I moved camp to Nagran, their (the Ethiopians') royal city: which, when I had vainly assaulted it for some days etc. What follows Dhu Nowasus himself writes in the same letter that he promised by oath, Comment. l.c.

nn. The codex A has a little more: ἑκ. ψυχ. ἀνδρόστε καὶ γυναικὸς, δουλου καὶ ἐλευθέρου, νηπίου καὶ πρεσβύτου, γεωργοῦ καὶ χειροτέχνου, ἀπὸ ἑλκάδος μιᾶς. Boissonade writes of the preceding words, because of the infinitive mood without a subject: A hampered passage, and one which the copyists have harmed. But by supplying one word, θέλω, it is easily understood. For ἱστορίας χάριν Metaphrastes has θέας χάριν.

oo. The word ἑλκὰς is wanting in the Glossary of Du Cange, nor does it seem to be met with in other books. It is perhaps compounded of the article el, and of some Arabic word. The codex A has everywhere ὁλκάδος, which Boissonade neglects.

pp. From the Greek word κεράτιον are derived the French carat, the Arabic kirat. The ceratium was a weight of the Greeks and the twelfth part of the Euboic drachma. Now the Arabic drachma (dirham) was the same as the Euboic; and since the Homerite Helcas is here said to have been worth twelve ceratia, it is clear that it did not differ from the Euboic drachma, and that this, if the codex is genuine in this place, was called Helcas by the Homerites. The weight of the Helcas, or of 12 Greek ceratia, was three grams; and since a kilogram of gold now sells for 3,437 francs, the helcas would today be worth fr. 10,29. But numismatists commonly admit that in ancient gold and silver coinage a twenty-fourth part was taken from base metal, as now in many kingdoms about a tenth part is taken. Whence the helcas would at length be worth fr. 9,86. Our author adds (since the Negranites paid a helcas per head, and as we learn from the codex A, none being omitted, neither women nor children) that thus 130 talents of gold were made up; and that the talents of the Homerites and Ethiopians were of 13 pounds. The pound of the Arabs was the same as that of the Alexandrians (whose system of weights and measures had prevailed in almost the whole East); a little smaller however, and some judge that it was worth 366 grams, others 362. Whence 13 pounds, or the Homerite talent, will be worth 4,758 grams (13 × 362); and 130 talents, or the whole annual tax of the city of Negrana, 618,540 grams. So much pure gold would sell today for 2,165,921 francs. From which a twenty-fourth part is to be taken away, from what has been said. On the other hand it must be recalled that the purchasing power of gold was then much greater in Arabia than now, and indeed at least threefold. From the same passage of the Acts the number of inhabitants of Negrana is drawn out without any trouble. For 130 talents of gold make 1690 pounds, or 618,540 grams (1690 × 362); and since each inhabitant paid one gold helcas, or 3 grams of gold, it follows from this that they were 206,180 in number. That the city held so many inhabitants I should not dare to assert; but these things seem to be understood of the whole tract of Negrana, which the Benu-Caab inhabited, and over which St. Arethas, their phylarch, ruled. V. annot. q. It must be recalled meanwhile that Negrana was for some time the royal city of the Ethiopians, and that Dhu Nowasus brought up innumerable soldiers to storm it.

qq. Recall what has been said in the Commentary on the common origin of both nations.

rr. These things are very accurate, but the name τάλαντον has been taken from the coinage of the Greeks and Romans, and the qintar or kintar of the Arabs is far smaller than it. Mahomet mentions this in Sura 3 n. 74 in Marracci, and it was worth a thousand gold denarii. Now the Arabic gold denarius (dinar), the same as that of Constantinople D'Herbelot v°. Dinar., weighed 4.5 grams. Whence it follows that the Arabic kintar weighed 4,500 grams: which is somewhat distant from the value at which we arrived by another way in annot. pp. From which it seems to follow either that the kintar was a little less than 13 pounds; or that the pound itself was only of 350 grams, like the pound of the kingdom of Aragon in Spain. This passage on the tribute of 130 talents the books of the Armenians faithfully report Aucher, Vitæ SS. etc. tom. VII, pag. 483 et 507 not. 5.. It is known moreover that the Arabs had also a greater talent called kantar, which was the same as the greater talent of Alexandria, and was worth 46 1/2 kilograms; that is, it was ten times the talent kintar.

ss. Τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος. Passages taken from the sacred text Boissonade notes throughout; whom we have followed.

tt. The Jews often did not keep oaths or promises with Christians, or indeed with idolaters; for which Mahomet reproaches them in the said Sura III n. 74, 75, 76.

uu. On Paul, bishop of Negrana, see Comment. from num. 112.

* Α ἐπισκοποῦντος

* Α κωνστ. τιμ. are wanting.

* Α ὑπὸ τὴν ἐνορίαν

* Α τὸν ἰουδαῖον βας. τῶν Ὁμ.

* Α Ὀχυροῖς

* Α τοῦ Ὁμ is wanting

* Α κατ. δίκην ῥόας. Ἡ δὲ Ἰνδ.

* Α ἑβδομήκοντα.

* Α μονὰς

* Α διοδ. διὰ γῆς ἀπο

* Α διὰ δὲ θαλ. ἀπὸ Ῥωμ.

* Α ἑστῶτος

* Α ἀθλοφ. τούτ. omits.

* Α θέλοντας

* Α ἐμῆ χάρᾳ

* Α παράνομος

* Α σκεύεσι

* Α omits up to ἐξελθεῖν

* Α ἐπιβουλεύοντα τοῖς ἐν Κυρίῳ ζῶσι.

* Α adds και ἐπικαλεῖσθαι.

* Α omits.

* Α ὑ. α. omits.

* Α ἀλλ᾽ ἤ μόνον

* Α ἕνεκα

* Α omits.

* Α ἐποφείλετέ μοι

* Α τὸ … διδομένον

* Α ὁλκάδος

* Α χρ. κερατ. Ῥωμαἳκῶν δώδεκα·

* Α εἰρημένης

* Α κ. τῶν προφητῶν, κ. τῶν

* Α κ. ἐν τοῖς δεουσιν ὑπ.

* Α ἐν ἡμ. ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν.

* Α ὁ δόλ. δράκων,

* Α ὀμόσας ἀνοίξαντες omits

* Α συναχθῆναι

* Α διαρπαγηναι, ὑπ. δὲ.

CHAPTER II.

The martyrdom of the clerics, monks and virgins, who are thrown into the fire, 427 in number; the wives of the leading men have their heads cut off; the number of the martyrs.

Τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκέλευσε παντὶ τῷ πλήθει τοῦ ἐξερκέτου ξύλα συνάξαι εἰς πλῆθος, καὶ πυρκαἳὰν παμμεγέθη γενέσθαι, ὡς κρατεῖν τὸν τόπον σταδίου ἑνὸς, καὶ οὕτως ἐμβαλεῖν πάντας τοὺς ἱερεῖς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ διακόνους καὶ λοιποὺς λειτουργοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τοὺς περιβεβλημένους τὸν μονήρη βίον, καὶ τὰς λεγομένας κανονικὰς καὶ ἀειπαρθένους· ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰς ψάλτριας τὰς ἀδούσας νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει καὶ περιοικίδι, πάντας ἀνεξετάστως κατέκαυσεν, ἐκφοβῆσαι θέλων καὶ δειλανδρῆσαι τοὺς λοιποὺς χριστιανούς. Ἦσαν δὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν οἱ καυθέντες, ψυχαὶ τετρακόσιαι εἴκοσιεπτά. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα κελεύει δεθῆναι ἐν δεσμῷ σιδηρῷ Ἀρέθαν, τὸν ἐνδοξώτατον, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἀρχηγοὺς τῆς πόλεως· καὶ ὁ κήρυξ ἐβόα τῇ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν διαλέκτῳ· Ἀρνήσασθε τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστὸν, καὶ ἰουδαΐσατε, καὶ γίνεσθε ὁμόφρονές μου, καὶ ζήσεσθε. Οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες ἔλεγον· Μὴ γένοιτο ἡμᾶς ἀρνήσασθαι τὴν πίστιν, εἰς ἣν βεβαπτίσμεθα. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς εἷπεν· Ἰδοὺ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι ἔγνωσαν, ὅτι ἄνθρωπον ἐσταύρωσαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλὴμ, καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ νομοδιδάσμαλοι· ὃν βλασφημήσαντα τὸν Θεὸν ἐμαστίγωσαν καὶ ἐνύβρισαν, καὶ ἀσχήμονι θανάτῳ ἀνεῖλον, ἄνθρωπον καὶ οὐχὶ Θεὸν. Διατί οὖν ὑμεῖς πλανᾶσθε ὀπίσω τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τούτου; μὴ βελτίονες ἐστὲ τῶν λεγομένων Νεστοριανῶν, οἵτινες εἰσὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν, μέχρι τοῦ παρόντος, καὶ δὴ λέγουσιν ὅτι Θεὸν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἀλλὰ προφήτην Θεοῦ. Οὐκ ἀπαιτῶ ὑμᾶς, ὦ Νεγρανῖται, ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, οὐδὲ προσκυνῆσαι τῷ ἡλίῳ ἤ τῇ σελήνῃ, καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ φέγγουσιν ἄστροις, ἢ τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ κτιστῶν, ἢ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, ἢ ἐν ποταμοῖς· ἀλλὰ τοῦτον μόνον θέλω ἀρνήσασθαι ὑμᾶς, τὸν λεγόμενον Ἰησοῦν, τὸν βλασφημήσαντα τοιαῦτα καὶ * ποιήσαντα ἑαυτὸν Θεόν· καὶ ἵνα τοῦτο μόνον εἴπητε ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ἐστίν ὁ σταυρωθεὶς καὶ οὐ Θεός.

[7] Οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρες εἶπον· ὑπὲρ ἑαυτῶν καὶ παντὸς τοῦ ἔθνους ἡμῶν, καὶ πάσης τῆς πόλεως ἡμῶν, καὶ πάντων τῶν διαφερόντων ἡμῖν, ἀπολογούμεθα καὶ μαρτυροῦμεν καὶ ὁμολογοῦμεν τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν, εἰς ἣν πιστεύσαντες ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, καὶ οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα τὴν οἰκονομίαν· ἀλλ᾽ Ἰησοῦς, ὁ ὑπὸ σοῦ βλασφημούμενος, ὁ εἰς τῆς ἁγίας Τριὰδος, Θεὸς Λόγος ὢν, καὶ σαρκώθεὶς ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτῶν τῶν ἡμερῶν διὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν σωτηρίαν ἐκ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου καὶ Μαρίας τῆς παρθένου, ἐδίδαξεν ἡμᾶς ὅτι “ἐπὶ βασιλέων καὶ ἡγεμόνων ἀχθήσεσθε ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι.” Σὲ δὲ ἀρνούμεθα καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν σου, σὲ τὸν παραβάντα τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ νόμου καὶ ψευσάμενον τὴν ἀλήθειαν. Τότε ἔδοξεν πολλὰς κολακείας καὶ θεραπείας ῥημάτων προσάγειν αὐτοῖς, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ αρνησασθαι τὸν Χριστὸν. Οἱ δὲ οὐκ εἴλαντο εἰπόντες ὅτι ἐὰν πυρὶ καὶ βασάνοις ἀναλώσῃς ἡμᾶς οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα τῆς Τριάδος τὴν πίστιν· ἡμῖν γὰρ καὶ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς, καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος. Ὑπῆρχε δὲ τούτων ἔξαρχος , καὶ καθηγητὴς καὶ προτρεπτικὸς τῆς ὁμολογίας, ὁ ἅγιος Ἀρέθας , υἱὸς Χανὲφ, ὃς καὶ ἐν τῇ προσκαίρῳ ζωῇ ἐγεγόνει τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς περιχώρου πάσης ἐθνάρχης. Πολλοὶ δὲ γνῶντες τὴν παράβασιν τοῦ παρανόμου καὶ παραβάτου βασιλέως, διέφυγον, ἀποκρυβέντες ἐν ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαίοις καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς, οὐχὶ τὸ μαρτύριον δειλιάσαντες, ἀλλ᾽ ἐλπίζοντες ὅτι κακουχούμενοι καὶ θλιβόμενοι, καὶ γυμνοὶ ἐν ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι [κεκράξονται πρὸς τὸν εἰσακούοντα τῆς φωνῆς τῶν νεοσσῶν τῶν κοράκων καὶ χορηγοῦντα αὐτοῖς τροφὴν, ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ διασωθέντες ἐγκατάλειμμα καὶ σπέρμα τοῦ Κυρίου Σαβαὼθ ἔσονται, καὶ οὐκ] ἀπολοῦνται ὑπὸ τοῦ παρανόμου ὡς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμοῤῥα .

[8] Συνεσχέθησαν δὲ ἔκ τε τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς περιοικίδος, ἄνδρες καὶ γυναῖκες, παῖδες καὶ παιδίσκαι, νέοι καὶ πρεσβύται, τὸν ἀριθμὸν τετρακισχίλιοι διακόσιοι πεντήκοντα δύο, οἵτινες καταλλήλῳ θανάτῳ ἀπέλιπον τὸν πρόσκαιρον βίον τοῦτον, μὴ ἀρνησάμενοι τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν. Ἐκ τούτων τυγχάνουσι καὶ οἱ σφαγέντες ἱερεῖς τε καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ μάρτυρες, καὶ Ἀρέθας ὁ δικαιότατος. Φέρε δὴ εἴπωμεν τὴν μιαρότητα τοῦ πανολεθρίου θηρός· τὰς γὰρ γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα τῶν πρωτάρχων τῆς πόλεως, τῶν ὄντων εἰς τὰ δεσμὰ, τῶν ἀρξαμένων τοῦ μαρτυρίου, συναγαγὼν, ἔστησεν ἐξ ἐναντίας τῶν ἀνδρῶν αὐτῶν μετὰ τῶν τέκνων· καὶ παραινέσεσι δολεραῖς συνεβούλευε πᾶσι τοῖς μάρτυσι, λέγων πεισθῆναι, καὶ βλασφημῆσαι τὸν Χριστόν. Αἱ δὲ ὁμοθυμαδὸν μετὰ τῶν τέκνων ἔκραξαν· “ἵλεως ἡμῖν ἀπὸ Θεοῦ τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ καὶ τέκνα καὶ γονεῖς καὶ πατρίδα καὶ ὕπαρξιν ἀπαρνούμεθα, καὶ οὕτως τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ βαστάζομεν καὶ ἀκολουθοῦμεν τῷ μαρτυρήσαντι ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου τὴν καλὴν ὁμολογίαν . Τότε κολακευτικοῖς πάλιν ῥήμασι κέχρηται πρὸς τοὺς μάρτυρας, ὅτι μὴ πλανᾶσθε ὀπίσω τοῦ λεγομένου Χριστοῦ, ὃν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀνεῖλον ῥαβδούχοις, ἀλλὰ πείσθητέ μοι καὶ ἰουδαΐσατε, καὶ ζήσεσθε μετὰ τῶν τέκνων ὑμῶν. Εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο ποιήσητε, χαλεπῷ θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε.” Πᾶσαι δὲ αἱ ἅγιαι μετὰ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῶν ἔκραζον ὀλολύζουσαι μετὰ κλαυθμοῦ· Ἡμεῖς ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ἑτοίμως ἔχομεν ἀποθανεῖν. Χριστὸς, ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, υἱὸς ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐσμεν, καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ προσκυνοῦμεν . Μὴ γένοιτο οὖν ἡμῖν, βασιλεῦ, ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν Χριστὸν, αὐτὸν τὸν βασιλεύοντα πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἔτι ζῇν ἡμᾶς μετὰ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τῶν συζύγων ἡμῶν. Λέγει ὁ βασιλεύς· Καὶ αἱρεῖσθε, μωραὶ γυναῖκες, ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου γόητος καὶ πλάνου;”

[9] Δέκα δὲ γυναῖνες ἐξ αὐτῶν, οὖσαι κανονικαὶ καὶ τὸ τῆς παρθενίας ἔνδυμα περιβεβλημέναι, εἶπον πρὸς αὐτὸν. “Ἐμφραχθείη σου τὸ στόμα λαλοῦν ἄδικα κατὰ τοῦ βασιλεύοντος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς.” Τότε κελεύει μετ᾽ ὀργῆς μεγάλης ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπενεχθῆναι ἐν βοθύνῳ πάσας αὐτὰς ἔν τινι τόπῳ καὶ ξίφει ἀναιρεθῆναι, ὅπου καὶ οἱ πρὸ αὐτῶν μάρτυρες ἀπετμήθησαν. Ἤγοντο οὖν συρόμεναι ἀπὸ τῶν κομῶν τῆς κεφαλῆς ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπηρετῶν τοῦ τυράννου· ἦσαν δὲ τὸν ἀριθμὸν αἱ γυναῖκες διακόσιαι εἴκοσι ἑπτὰ . Αἱ δὲ κανονικαὶ, ὡς ἔφθασαν τὸν τόπον, ἐξῄτουν τὰς μελλούσας [σὺν αὐταῖς ἀναιρεῖσθαι, λέγουσαι. “Παραχωρήσατε ἡμῖν, γυναῖκες φοβούμεναι τὸν Θεὸν, πρότερον τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς μαρτυρίας λαβεῖν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ σφράγισμα τῆς παρθενίας καὶ τὸ εὐαγὲς πρόσχημα τῶν Ἀγγέλων περιβεβλήμεθα αἱ ἀνάξιαι.] Οἴδατε ὅτι τῷ καιρῷ τῆς μεταλήψεως τῶν ἁγίων μυστηρίων, προεκαλούμεθα εἰς τὴν μετάληψιν, κατὰ τὸ εἰθισμένον τῇ ἐκκλησιαστικῇ καταστάσει . Πρέπον οὖν πρῶτον ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ θανάτου λαβεῖν . Αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἔλεγον βεβιασμένως· οὐχ οὕτως· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ γυναῖκες ἐσμὲν μαρτύρων καὶ μητέρες , ἡμεῖς πρότερον ἀποθάνωμεν, ἵνα μὴ ἴδωμεν τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀνδρῶν τὸν θάνατον καὶ τῶν τέκνων. Καὶ οὕτως προετρέπετο ἑκάστη καὶ ἐδυσώπει τὸν ἕλκοντα αὐτὴν, σύντομον άναίρεσιν ἐπαγαγεῖν αὐτῇ· ὡς ἐντεῦθεν ἕκαστον ἔθνος, φυλὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν, τῶν συναθροισθέντων μετὰ τοῦ παρανόμου, ἐπὶ τῇ θέᾳ ταύτῃ τύπτειν ἑαυτῶν τὰ πρόσωπα καὶ ἐν βρυγμῷ ὀδυνηρὸν κλαυθμὸν ἀποτελεῖν. Ἀπεκεφαλίσθησαν οὖν πᾶσαι αἱ ἅγιαι γυναῖκες, ἐπικαλούμεναι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Τότε ὁ βασιλεὺς εἶπε τοῖς μεγιστάνοις * αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἐν μυκτηρισμῷ· βλέπετε πόσην πλάνην ὁ γόης ἐκεῖνος ὁ σταυρωθεὶς ἴσχυσε δοῦναι ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ.

He burns many Christians, and provokes others to apostasy; On the following day he ordered the whole army to gather a great quantity of wood, and to kindle an immense pyre, so as to occupy the space of one stadium ^a, and to throw into it all the priests of the city ^b and the deacons ^c and the other ministers of the church ^d, and those who led a solitary life in the neighbourhood, and the women called canonesses ^e and virgins ^f; also the singers ^g who sing night and day in the houses of God ^h: all these, whether they were in the city or in the neighbourhood, he burned without examination, wishing to terrify the remaining Christians. And those who were burned were four hundred and twenty-seven in number ⁱ. After this he orders Arethas ^k, a most distinguished man, and the remaining leading men of the city, to be bound with an iron chain; and the herald cried out in the Homerite dialect ^l: “Deny the one whom you call Christ, and judaize, and think with me, and you shall live.” The holy martyrs answered: “Far be it from us to deny the faith in which we have been baptized.” And the king said: “Behold, the Romans know that our fathers, who were priests and doctors of the law in Jerusalem, crucified a man, and that they scourged him, blaspheming God, and treated him with insults, and slew him by a shameful death, a man, namely, and not God. Why then do you go astray, following this man? You are no better than the Nestorians ^m who are among you to this day, and who say that we do not have God himself but a prophet of God. I do not ask you, O Negranites, to deny the God of heaven and earth, or to adore the sun, the moon and the stars in the sky, or a creature of the earth, the sea or the rivers; but I wish you to deny only this one who is called Jesus, who blasphemed such things, and made himself God, and that you should say only this, that the one who was fastened to the cross was a man and not God.”

[7] these resist, St. Arethas leading the way. But the holy martyrs of Christ answered: “For ourselves and for all our nation and for all our city, and for all to whom we are bound in affection, we defend ourselves and bear witness and confess the good confession, believing in which

we were baptized, in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and we do not deny the Incarnation: but Jesus, whom you have blasphemed, one of the Trinity, God the Word, incarnate in the last times for our salvation of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, taught us: “You shall be led before kings and governors for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.” MATTH. X, 18 But you we deny, and your administration, you who offend the God of the law and lie against the truth.” Then he ordered many blandishments and courteous words to be used, that they might deny Christ. But they were not taken in by these, and said: “Even though you should destroy us with fire and torments, we shall nevertheless not deny the faith in the Trinity; for to us to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Their prince and leader and exhorter of the confession was holy Arethas, son of Chaneph ⁿ, who in his temporal life had been made lord of the city and of all the neighbourhood ^o. But many, when they knew of the wicked king's breach of faith, fled away [p], hiding themselves in the mountains and caves and in the caverns of the earth, not that they feared martyrdom, but hoping that, when they were afflicted and distressed and naked, wandering in solitudes, they would cry to him who hears the voice of the young of the raven and gives them food, and that so, being saved, they would be a monument and seed of the Lord of Sabaoth, and would not perish by the savagery of the wicked king, like Sodom and Gomorrah. Hebr. XI, 37, 38., Ps. CXLVI, 9.

[8] The tyrant puts to martyrdom 4252 citizens, of every age and sex. The martyrdom There were gathered from the city and the neighbourhood men and women, boys and girls, young men and old, four thousand two hundred and fifty-two in number [q], who, succeeding one another in martyrdom, left this temporal life, not denying the good confession. I Tim. VI, 12. Among them are in the first place the priests and the other martyrs, and the just man Arethas. But let us tell the monstrous crime of the most pernicious beast. Having gathered together the wives of the leading men of the city, who were in chains [r] and had already begun their martyrdom, he stood them before their husbands, together with their children; and by crafty exhortations he tried to persuade all the martyrs to obey him and blaspheme Christ. But the women with one accord, together with their children, cried out: “May God pardon this to us, but we renounce children and parents, country and fortune, and so we take up the cross of Christ and follow him who under Pontius Pilate confessed the good confession.” Then with flattering words he again addressed the martyrs: “Do not go astray following him who is called Christ, whom our fathers killed by the ministry of lictors, but obey me and judaize, and so you shall live with your children. But if you do not acquiesce, you shall die a bitter death.” Then all the holy women with their children cried out, wailing and weeping: “We are ready to die for Christ. Christ, our God, is the son of the living God, and we are his, and we adore his cross and we die for him. Far be it from us, then, O king, to deny Christ, the king himself of all ages, and to live on after the slaughter of our husbands [s].” The king answered: “Do you choose, foolish women, to die for a juggler and deceiver?”

[9] of the women, among whom were ten virgin canonesses. Of these ten women, who were canonesses [t] and had put on the veil of virgins, said to him: “May your mouth be stopped, which has spoken wicked things against him who reigns in heaven and on earth.” Then the king, with great anger, orders them all to be taken away to a certain pit [u], and to be slain by the sword, in the same place in which those who had gone before them in martyrdom had just had their heads cut off. They were therefore led, dragged by the hair of their heads, by the tyrant's slaves, and they were two hundred and twenty-seven women in number. And the canonesses, when they had arrived at the place, asked those who were to be slain with them, saying: “Grant us, women who fear God, that we may be the first to receive the prize of martyrdom, since we are adorned, though unworthy, with the seal of virginity and the chaste comeliness of the Angels. For you know that also at the time of receiving the holy mysteries their ministers call us first [w], as being betrothed to Christ, to partake, as is customarily done by ecclesiastical institution, and then you, the laywomen. It is fitting [x], therefore, that we should also be the first to take the chalice of death.” The women answered with vehemence: “It shall not be so, but since we are wives and mothers of martyrs [y], let us die first, that we may not be witnesses of the death of our husbands and children.” And thus each one urged and pressed those by whom they were being dragged to inflict death on them quickly; whence it came about that every nation, tribe and tongue, of those who had been gathered with the wicked king, on seeing these things, beat their faces, and at length ended their bitter weeping with gnashing of teeth. All these holy women, therefore, were struck in the head, calling on the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Then the king said to the nobles, sneering: “See how great an error that crucified juggler has been able to spread through the whole world.”

ANNOTATIONS.

p. V. Comment. n. 180.

q. These 4252 martyrs were all citizens of Negrana, except some who were put to death in the neighbourhood of the city: Comment. n. 141, 2°.

r. From this and other passages we have deduced in Comment. num. 142 and 144 that the 340 leading men, of whom St. Arethas was one, were punished with death not at the beginning of the slaughters, but after their wives and most of the other martyrs.

s. Far be it from us… to live on after the slaughter of our husbands. By these words it is not signified that the husbands had already fallen, for the same women say further on, n. 9: Let us die first, that we may not be witnesses of the death of our husbands; ἴνα μὴ ἴδωμεν τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀνδρῶν τὸν θάνατον. But the sense is: We do not wish to deny Christ and so to survive our husbands, who are now in chains, and will certainly soon meet death. This is confirmed by the words of the most noble woman and martyr, whom Simeon in his letter calls Rumi, or Rehumi: My daughters are virgins, she says, and they have not been slain with the women who called on the name of Christ; since the wicked king had not ordered us to be seized, but only the wives and offspring of the martyrs, who had been gathered earlier, and are now in chains. Act. n. 12.

t. Canonesses. Cfr annot. e of this chapter.

u. On the pit and on the place and manner of the executions see Comment. n. 162 sqq.

w. Cfr annot. e of this chapter. A in this place: … w Cfr annot. e hujus capitis. A hoc loco: … μυστηρίων, ἡμᾶς πρότερον, ὡς προμνηστευθείσας τῷ Χριστῷ, οἱ ὑπηρέται τῶν αὐτῶν θείων μυστηρίων προεκαλοῦντο

for participation…

x. A, Πρέπον οὖν ἐστι καὶ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ὑμῶν ἡμᾶς πρότερον τὸ ποτήριον…

y. They call martyrs their husbands and sons, who were still held in chains, to be punished with death in their time.

* Α νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμερας

* Α Ἱερ. ὄντες ἱερ. κ. νομ.

* τ. Ῥωμαίων τῶν λεγ.

* Α ἡ κτίσματι ὄντι ἐν

* Α τοι. τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἑαυτ.

* Α ἀρχηγὸς

* Α ὁ μνημονευθεις

* Α κρυβέντες.

* Α adds: οὐδὲ ὁμοιωθήσονται αὐτοῖς.

* Α εκ … δικαιότατος. omits.

* Α φ. δὲ εἰπεῖν.

* Α ἒστ. ἄντικρυς τῶν

* Α τ. κ. ὁμ. omits.

* Α omits.

* Α καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ ἀποθνήσκομεν.

* Α ἀρ. διακ. ε. ἑ. γυναῖκες

* Α οἴδ. γὰρ ὅτι καὶ τῷ

* Α καὶ εἶθ᾽ οὕτως ὑμᾶς τὰς λαἳκάς.

* Α γεύσασθαι

* Α κ. μ. omits.

* Α βρυγμηδὸν

* Α μεγιστᾶσιν

CHAPTER III.

The martyrdom of a certain widow of Negrana, of most noble birth, and of her two daughters.

Συνεσχέθη δὲ καὶ ἡ πρωτεύουσα ἀπάσης τῆς πόλεως. Καὶ κελεύει ὁ βύθιος δράκων ταύτην μετὰ πολλῆς σεμνότητος καὶ τιμῆς ἐνεχθῆναι καὶ παραστῆναι, νομίζων διὰ πειθανολογίας πείθειν αὐτήν. Ἦν δὲ άμίμητος τῷ κάλλει· καὶ κελεύει αὐτὴν φυλαχθῆναι ἅμα ταῖς δυσὶν θυγατράσιν αὐτῆς. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἐλογίζετο ὁ δόλιος ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὅτι πάντως φείσασθαι ἔχει ἑαυτῆς καὶ τῶν δύο θυγατέρων αὐτῆς, καὶ τῆς ὑπάρξεως, καὶ πεισθῆναι βλασφημῆσαι τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Αὐτὴ δὲ καὶ αἱ θυγατέρες αὐτῆς ἐπορεύοντο λυπούμεναι καὶ ἀδημονοῦσαι διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀναιρεθῆναι αὐτὰς μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων γυναικῶν. Καὶ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ, ἐδήλωσεν αὐτῇ ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν φυλακὴν, διά τινος τῶν ἀρχόντων· “ὅτι εἰ πεισθεῖς μοι, ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστὸν, ζήσεται ἐντίμως ἡ ψυχή σου καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων σου, καὶ εὑρήσετε χάριν παρ᾽ ἐμοὶ· εἰ δὲ μὴ, ἔσο εἰδυῖα ὅτι κακῷ θανάτῳ τελευτήσεις.” Ἡ δὲ ἀκούσασα ταῦτα εἶπεν· “Ἀπαγάγετέ με πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ πείθω αὐτῷ εὶς ὅ με ἐπερωτᾷ.” Οἱ δὲ ὑπηρέται τοῦ βασιλέως ἤγαγον αὐτὴν σκεπομένην ὑπὸ σκιαδίου, ἤγουν σκηνῆς βασταζομένης . Οὐ γάρ ποτε εἶδεν αὐτὴν ἥλιος, εἰ μήπω ἀκτῖνας πέμψας διὰ θυρίδος. Καὶ ἔστη ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀνημέρου βασιλέως μετὰ τῶν αὐτῆς θυγατέρων. Καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτήν· “γύναι, μή σε πλανησάτωσαν αἱ γοητείαι τοῦ ἐσταυρωμένου, μηδὲ βουληθῇς συναπαχθῆναι τῇ μανίᾳ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεώς σου ἀναιρεθέντων ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν. Σὺ γὰρ ἔντιμος εἶ καὶ συγκλητική. Διὰ γὰρ τὸ γένος σου, καὶ τὴν ἀξίαν, καὶ τὴν ὕπαρξιν, φείδομαί σου, καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὸ κάλλος τὸ σὸν, καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων σου. Ἦλθεν δὲ εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἀνδρὶ συνήφθης , εἰ μὴ τῷ ἐκ συναφείας σου νομίμῳ, καίπερ ἔχουσα εἰς τὴν βάριν σου πλείω τριακοσίων ἀνδρῶν τῶν ὑπουργούντων ἐν τῇ δοσοληψίᾳ πάσης τῆς ὑποστάσεώς σου, μέχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης, ἧς παρέστης ἡμῖν. Ὡς οὖν εἴρηται, πείσθητί μοι, καὶ ἔσῃ τιμωμένη παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ καὶ παρὰ τῆς βασιλίσσης ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ.” Ἡ δὲ ἁγία γυνὴ εἶπεν· “οὐ τιμῶμαι παρὰ ἀνθρώπου παραβάντος τὸν Θεὸν αὐτοῦ· οὐδὲ συνοικῶ βλασφημοῦντι καὶ ἀναγκάζοντι βλασφημεῖν πάντας, καὶ γόητα τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν ἀποκαλοῦντι, τὸν χαρισάμενον αὐτῷ τὴν βασιλείαν ταύτην.”

[11] Τότε κελεύει ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτῆς τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῆς, καὶ λυσικόμους ἐπὶ πάντων τῶν στρατοπέδων στῆναι. Ἡ δὲ ἁγία, στραφεῖσα καὶ ἰδοῦσα πλῆθος γυναικῶν ὀλοφυρομένων καὶ [κλαιουσῶν, καὶ τυπτουσῶν τὰ στήθη αὐτῶν, εἶπεν· “γυναῖκες σεμναὶ καὶ ἐλεύθεραι, ὁμοφρονές μου, καὶ, ἐν ἡμῖν οὖσαι, ἰουδαίαι τε καὶ ἑλληνίδες, ἀκούσατέ] μου τῶν ῥημάτων . Ὑμεῖς ἐπίστασθε ὅτι χριστιανή εἰμι, καὶ πᾶσα συγγένειά μου, καὶ ὁποίων ἀξιωμάτων, καὶ ὅτι πολλὴ ὑπάρχει ἡ ὑπόστασίς μου ἐν χρυσίῳ καὶ ἀργυρίῳ, καὶ παισὶ καὶ παιδίσκαις, κτήμασι καὶ ἀγέλαις, καὶ τινὸς οὐχ ὑστεροῦμαι· καὶ εἰ ἐβουλήθην συνεῖναι ἀνδρὶ μετὰ θάνατον τοῦ ἐμοῦ συμβίου ἐν τῷ προσκαίρῳ βίῳ τούτῳ, οὐδείς μου τῆς νεότητος κατεγέλα ὡς παρανομούσης· αἱ γὰρ διδασκαλίαι τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων παρακελεύονται γαμεῖν νομίμως καὶ μή πυροῦσθαι· Καὶ ἰδοὺ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι σήμερον [πλείω δέκα χιλιάδες χρυσίου καὶ ἀργυρίου ὑπάρχουσί μοι ἐσφραγισμέναι. Καὶ οἴδατε ὅτι πλεῖον τούτων οὐχ ὑπάρχει γυναικὶ χαρὰ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡ ἡμέρα τῶν γάμων αὐτῆς· καὶ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης τῆς ἡμέρας καὶ ἐπέκεινα θλίψεις, ὀδύναι, στεναγμοὶ, λύπαι, μάλιστα δὲ ὅτε τίκτουσι] τέκνα · καὶ πενθοῦσιν αὐτὰ τελευτῶντα. Ἀπὸ ταύτης οὖν τῆς ἡμέρας ἀλλοτριοῦμαι τούτων πάντων, καὶ εἰμὶ ἐν χαρᾷ ὥσπερ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τοῦ γάμου.

[12] Καὶ ἰδοὺ αἱ θυγατέρες μου αὗται, παρθένοι οὖσαι , μήπω ἀναιρεθεῖσαι μετὰ τῶν γυναικῶν τῶν ἐπικαλεσαμένων τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, διὰ τὸ μὴ προστάξαι τὸν παράνομον βασιλέα κρατηθῆναι ἡμᾶς, εἰ μὴ τὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὰ τέκνα τῶν προσυναχθέντων μαρτύρων καί εἰσι νῦν ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς· ἐγὼ δὲ, ἐπειδὴ χήρα εἰμὶ, καὶ αἱ δύο μου θυγατέρες παρθένοι, οὺ συνεσχέθημεν. Συνεζεύγμεθα οὖν διὰ τοῦ μαρτυρίου τούτου τῷ ἀληθινῷ νυμφιῴ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, τῷ Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος, τῷ ἑτοιμάσαντι τὴν αὐτοῦ παστάδα ταῖς πέντε παρθένοις ταῖς φρονίμοις. Καὶ οἴδατε, ἀδελφίδες μου ἀγαπηταί· ἤδη δεύτερον ἐθεάσασθε τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἄνακεκαλυμμένον , ὅτε ἤμην ἐν τῷ γάμῳ τῷ φθαρτῷ καὶ προσκαίρῳ, καὶ νῦν ἐν τῷ αἰωνίῳ καὶ πνευματικῷ νυμφῶνι· προσέχετε οὖν εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ εἰς τὰς θυγατέρας μου, ὅτι οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἔλαττον ὑμῶν εἰς κάλλος· καὶ μὴ ὑπολάβητε ὅτι ἀσχήμονι προσώπῳ τεθριαμβεύμεθα ἐπὶ ὑμῶν τῶν ἐλευθέρων γυναικῶν καὶ παντὸς τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐθνῶν τῶν παρεστηκότων· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει τῆς σωφροσύνης ἡμῶν, διὰ τῆς σκέπης τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, θαῤῥοῦμεν , καὶ ἄφθορον τὴν παρθενίαν τῶν θυγατέρων μου καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν, πλὴν τοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ συζύγου μου, διεφυλάξαμεν. (Καὶ οὐ διεφθάρημεν ἐν τῇ ἀπαρνήσει τοῦ παρανόμου.) Καὶ μάρτυς μου ἐστὶν ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τὸ συνειδός μου· ὅτι οὐκ ἠδυνήθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὖτος ἀπατῆσαι ἡμᾶς ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν Χριστόν, μάρτυρες ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ τῇ σήμερον ἡμέρᾳ . Τὸ δὲ χρυσίον μου καὶ τὸ ἀργύριόν μου μαρτυροῦσί μοι ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι, ὅτι οὐκ ἡγάπησα αὐτὰ, ἀλλ᾽ ἑκάστα πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἐμέριζον. ”

[13] Τότε ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἀκούσας παρὰ τινῶν μισοχρίστων Ἰουδαίων, ὅτι ἡ γυνὴ μετὰ τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῆς ἵσταται δημηγοροῦσα, καὶ χύσις δακρύων πηγάζει ἐν τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, τότε κελεύει ἐνεχθῆναι αὐτὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν, μετὰ τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῆς, καὶ λέγει αὐτῇ· “Ἰδοὺ πόσας ὥρας ἐμακροθύμησα, ἄδειάν σοι δεδωκὼς λαλῆσαι πρὸς τοὺς λαοὺς ὅσα ἠβουλήθης· ἵνα ἰδοῦσα τὰ δάκρυα καὶ τὸν πόθον τῶν οἰκτειρόντων σε, κἂν ὀψέ ποτε συμπαθήσῃς ἑαυτῇ, καὶ πεισθῇς μοι.” Λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ ἁγία. “Βασιλεῦ, παραινεῖς μοι ἀρνήσασθαι τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν, καὶ ζῆσαι τὴν πρόσκαιρον· φοβοῦμαι τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον καὶ τὸν σκώληκα τὸν ἀκοίμητον, καὶ τὴν [αἰστχύνην τῆς ἀπαρνήσεως. Μᾶλλον αἱρετώτερόν ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἀποθανεῖν ἤπερ πεισθῆναι σοι· εἰ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ ταύτῃ ἀποθάνομεν, ζησόμεθα.” Καὶ στραφεῖσα ἔκλαυσεν εἰποῦσα. “Μὴ γένοιτο ἡμῖν, Βασιλευ οὐράνιε, Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ] τῶν Χερουβὶμ, καὶ δοξαζόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν Σεραφὶμ, ἀρνήσασθαι τὴν σὴν βασιλείαν καὶ θεότητα.” Τότε μετ᾽ ὀργῆς εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ βασιλεὺς· “Βλασφημεῖς, ἐπικατάρατον γύναιον. Ἅπτομαι τῶν σαρκῶν σου καὶ τῶν ἐγκάτων σου, καὶ ἐρευνήσω τὸν μυελὸν ὑμῶν, καὶ ἴδω εἰ ἔλθει * ὁ Ναζωραῖος, ὁ γόης, ῥυόμενος ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου.”

[14] Ἡ δὲ βραχυτέρα τῶν θυγατέρων τῆς ἁγίας, ὡς ἐτῶν δώδεκα οὖσα, προσεγγίσασα καὶ πληρώσασα τὸ στόμα αὐτῆς πτυέλου, διέῤῥανεν ἐμβριμωμένη εἰς τὴν ὄψιν τοῦ παρανόμου. Τότε αἴροντες γυμνὰ τὰ ὅπλα ἐπὶ τοῦ βασιλέως οἱ λεγόμενοι σπαθάριοι, ἀπέτεμον τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν δύο θυγατέρων τῆς ἁγίας. Καὶ οὕτως κελεύει ὁ βασιλεὺς συνάξαι [τὸ αἷμα αὐτῶν εἰς τὰς παλάμας, καὶ προσαγαγεῖν τῇ μητρὶ αὐτῶν. Ἡ δὲ γευσαμένη, εἶπεν· “Εὐχαριστῶ σοι, Υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἠγάθυνας τὴν δούλην σου, καὶ ἠξίωσάς με γεύσασθαι] τῆς θυσίας τῶν ταπεινῶν μου θυγατέρων.” Τότε κελεύει καὶ αὐτὴν ἀποκεφαλισθῆναι· καὶ μεθ᾽ ὅρκου εἶπεν τοῖς μεγιστᾶσιν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι “Σφόδρα ἐγένετο ἡ ψυχή μου περίλυπος, διὰ τὸ κάλλος τῆς γυναικὸς ταύτης, και τῶν θυγατέρων αὐτῆς· ὅτι οὐδέποτε εἶδον χαρακτῆρα τοιοῦτον. Καὶ πόθεν ἐπεσπάρη ἡ ἀφροσύνη * αὕτη τοῖς χριστιανοῖς θαυμάζω, ὅτι πλανῶνται εἰς ἄνθρωπον βιοθανῆ ἀποκαλέσαντα ἑαυτὸν Θεόν.”

[There approaches a widow, the first woman of the whole city, who steadfastly to the persuasions of the tyrant] There was then brought forward the first woman of the whole city ^a; whom that serpent of hell ordered to be conducted and set before him with much veneration and honour, thinking that he would prevail by persuasive words. And she was of incomparable beauty. And he ordered her to be guarded together with her two ^b daughters; for thus, being full of guile, he reasoned inwardly: “She must altogether spare herself and her daughters, and her property, and for that reason be persuaded to blaspheme the Son of God.” But she and her daughters went away sad and very anxious, because they were not to undergo execution with the other women. On the third day the king sent a commander to the prison, to signify these things to the mother: “If you obey me, denying the one you call Christ, your soul will live with honour and the soul of your daughters, and you will find favour with me; but if not, know that you will perish by an evil death.” On hearing this she said: “Lead me to the king * and I will obey him in what he asks me.” Then the king's slaves led her, covered by a parasol, that is, by a carrying-chair overshadowing her ^c. For the sun had never seen her ^d, except where it sent its rays through a window. And she stood with her daughters in the presence of the harsh king, who said to her: “Woman, let not the jugglery of the Crucified deceive you, and do not allow yourself to be led away by the madness of your fellow citizens, men and women, who have been killed. For you are an honourable woman and of the nobles; for because of your family, and dignity, and property I spare

you, but most of all for your beauty and that of your daughters. For it has reached us that you were never joined to any man, except to him who was lawfully yours by marriage; although you had in your house more than three hundred men working at the accounts of receipts and expenses of your property, up to this day on which you stand before us. Obey me therefore, and, as has been said, you shall be anticipated with honours in my palace both by me and by the queen.” But the holy woman answered: “I cannot be honoured by a man who has denied his God; nor do I cohabit with a blasphemer, who compels all others also to blaspheme, and who calls a juggler our God, who has granted him this kingdom.”

[11] she resists, and to the women standing by her own and her daughters' Then the king ordered her head to be uncovered and likewise those of her daughters, and that they should stand with loosened hair before the whole army. But the saint, when she had turned and had seen a multitude of women lamenting and weeping and beating their breasts, spoke thus: “Illustrious and free women, you who think the same as I do, and you who dwell among us, Jewesses and Greeks, hear what I say: You know that I am a Christian with all my kindred, and of how great a dignity I am, and that I have much property in gold and silver, slaves male and female, possessions and flocks, and that I lack nothing; and if I had wished to marry another husband in this fleeting life after the death of my spouse, no one would have laughed at my youth as if I had transgressed the law of God; for the doctrines of the apostles advise rather to marry lawfully than to burn. 1 Cor. VII, 9. But behold, I tell you that I have today more than ten ^e thousand coins of gold and silver, stamped. You know, however, that there is no greater joy for a woman than on the day of her marriage, but from that day on there follow tribulations, sorrows, groanings, griefs, most of all when they bear children; and yet they mourn them when they are carried off by death. From the present day, therefore, I will be a stranger to all these things, and I experience gladness as in the days of my marriage.

[12] she sets forth the example. And behold my daughters themselves, who are virgins and have not been slain with the women who called on the name of Christ, since the wicked king had not ordered us to be seized, but only the wives ^f and offspring of the martyrs, who had been gathered earlier, and are now in chains. And I indeed, since I am a widow, together with my daughters, have not been joined with the others. We are therefore joined by this martyrdom to the true bridegroom Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who has prepared his bridal chamber for the five wise virgins. And you know, my most beloved sisters, you now see my face uncovered for the second time ^g, namely when I celebrated a perishable and temporal marriage, and now when I attain the spiritual and everlasting bridal chamber; look then upon me and my daughters, for we are not surpassed by you in beauty: and do not think that we triumph over you, free women, and over all the multitude standing by, because of an unsightly countenance; but because of the beauty which rises from wisdom, under the protection, namely, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and because we have kept our virginity incorrupt, both my daughters and I, except with him who was given me as husband in Christ: God is my witness and my conscience. Nor have we been corrupted by the apostasy proposed by the wicked man, since this man could not deceive us into denying Christ; of which thing you are witnesses today. And my gold and silver will give testimony in the world to come that I did not love them, but divided them to each according to need.”

[13] The king tries once more to bring her to apostasy. The king, however, when he heard from certain Jews, haters of Christ, that this woman with her daughters was standing and holding an assembly ^h before the people, and that those who heard her, both men and women, were shedding tears, orders her to be brought to him with her daughters, and speaks in these words: “See how long I have been patient, giving you leave to say to the people whatever you wished; so that seeing the tears and love of those who pity you, you might at length have compassion on yourself and obey me.” The saint said to him: “You exhort me, O king, to renounce eternal life and to prolong this temporal one, but I fear the eternal fire, and the worm that never sleeps, and the shame of apostasy. It is better for us to die than to obey; for if we die in this confession, we shall live.” And turning she wept, saying: “May it not befall us, O heavenly King, Jesus Christ, Son of God, who sit upon the Cherubim and are glorified by the Seraphim, that we should deny your kingdom and divinity!” Then the king, enraged, said to her: “You blaspheme, accursed little woman! I will attack your flesh and your entrails, and search into the marrow of your bones, to see whether that Nazarene, that juggler, will come to snatch you from my hands.”

[14] The daughters' heads are cut off; then the mother's. The younger of the holy woman's daughters, about twelve years old, drawing near and filling her mouth with spittle, spat it with a roar into the face of the wicked king ⁱ. Then the king's swordsmen, raising their naked weapons, cut off the heads of the two daughters of the saint; and the king ordered one of those standing by to gather their blood in his hands and to force it on the mother ^k. When she had tasted it, she said: “I give thanks to you, Son of God, because you have done good to your handmaid, and have judged me worthy to taste of the sacrifice of my humble daughters.” Then the king orders her too to be beheaded. And turning to his nobles, he said to them, with an interposed oath: “My soul was exceedingly sad because of the beauty of the woman and her daughters; for I have never seen such beauty or form. And I wonder from where this madness has come to the Christians, who in their error believe in a man who calls himself God.”

ANNOTATIONS.

d. See below annot. g.

had, retained (which I do not know whether it has ever been observed by historians) or rather enlarged; and indeed for the same reason from which it was introduced among very many idolatrous nations: which was manifestly the licentiousness of the Gentiles. The Christian law therefore moderated it, commending modesty, not only to wives, but also to virgins, and to all holy chastity of mind and body. And from this those barbarous customs, which had once begun even at Rome Valer. Maxim. lib. VI. cap. 3. n. 15., were gradually removed. Now from what is narrated of St. Ruma in the Acts, it is evident that the Christian Arabs still in the sixth century retained the custom of their Gentile fellow citizens: perhaps because they were living in the midst of barbarians. They could also have imitated the Jews, of whom we have said that a good many were then found in most tracts of Homeritis, and of whose women Tertullian writes: Among Jewish women the veil of the head is so established a custom that they are known by it De corona cap. 4.. But note that the Jewish veil, or θέριστρον, is far from being comparable with the veil of Gentile wives, especially Arabian ones. When Ruma says, however, that she now goes out for the second time with uncovered countenance, she manifestly signifies, not indeed that she had not otherwise gone out, since like other Christians she frequently went to church, but that she had not gone out except with veiled head. I should believe that this holy widow wished to imitate Judith Lib. Judith, cap. VIII. 5..

h. See Comment. n. 149.

* Α πιθανολογίας

* Α ἀμώμητος

* Α omits up to θυγατέρες αὐτῆς

* Α πεισθεῖσά μοι ἀρνησαι

* Α ἕσῃ

* Α σκιαδίου βασταζομένην.

* Α πλανήσωσιν

* Α ἂφθης

* Α πάντ. στῆναι.

* Α λόγων.

* Α ἠβουλήθην συναφθῆναι

* Α ἤ πυρ.

* Α τῇ σ. ἡμέρᾳ

* Α κ. ὅταν πενθῶσιν αὐτὰ τελευτῶντα.

* Α ο. ἀμφότεραι, συζευγνύμεθα διὰ τοῦ μαρτ. τ. τ. ἀλ. ν.

* Α συζευγνύμεθα

* Α ἀποκεκ.

* Α στρατευμάτων.

* Α τ. σωφ. omits.

* Α Θεοῦ ἄφθορον τὴν…

* A omits.

* Α κ … παρανόμου. omits.

* A better omits.

* A supplies thus

* Α ἐμερ. καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἴχεν.

* A up to Ἰδοὺ πόσας omits.

* Α κατοικτειρησάντων

* Α ἔλθοι

* A omits.

* Α τινι τῶν παρεστώτων

* Α Καὶ οὕτως

* Α καὶ οὐ μέμνημαι ἰδὼν τοι. κάλλος ἤ χαρ.

* Α τῶν χριστ. θαυμ.

* Comment. n. 149.

CHAPTER IV.

The martyrdom of St. Arethas and his 340 companions, the leading men.

Τῇ ἑξῆς ἡμέρᾳ κελεύει ἐλθεῖν τὸν ἅγιον Ἀρέθα μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν συνδέσμων αὐτοῦ, τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντων τριακοσίων τεσσαράκοντα, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Σὺ, λέγω, Ἀρέθα μιαρώτατε καὶ παλαιότατε ἡμερῶν κακῶν, διατί οὐκ ἐμιμήσω τὸν πατέρα σου, τὸν ἄρξαντα τῆς πόλεως καὶ πάσης τῆς περιχώρου, ὃς ἔντιμος ἦν ἐπὶ τῶν πρὸ ἐμοῦ βασιλέων , ἀλλ᾽ ἐβουλήθης τυραννῆσαι καὶ μοναρχῆσαι Νεγρὰν τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν ταύτης περιοικίδα , τὴν ἐλπίδα ἔχων ἐπ᾽ ἄνθρωπον φαρμακὸν καὶ πλάνον, καὶ προσεδόκησας φυγεῖν τὰς χεῖράς μου. Φεῖσαι οὖν τοῦ γήρως σου, καὶ κατοικτείρησον τὰς πολιάς σου, ὡς ἐντίμου γερουσίας ὢν, καί σεαυτοῦ γενοῦ ζωῆς αἴτιος καὶ τῶν σὺν σοὶ κρατηθέντων καὶ συνδεδεμένων, καὶ ἄρνησαι τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστὸν· εἰ δὲ μή γε, θανάτῳ χαλεπῷ ἀπαθανῇ, ὡς καὶ αἱ προλαβοῦσαι γυναῖκες, καὶ οἱ πρὸ αὐτῶν. Οὐ γὰρ ἠδυνήθη ὁ νἱὸς Μαρίας καὶ Ἰωσὴφ σῶσαι τοὺς ἀναιρεθέντας ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἔν τε τῇ ἐμῇ βασιλευούσῃ πόλει, καί ἔν πάσῃ τῇ χώρᾳ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν . Τότε ἀπεκρίθη ὁ ἔνδοξος Ἀρέθας καὶ εἶπεν· Μετὰ ἀληθείας ἐν λύπῃ εἰμὶ διὰ τοὺς χριστιανοὺς τοὺς ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ· εἴρηκα γὰρ αὐτοὺς μὴ ἀνοῖξαι τὰς πύλας τῆς πόλεως καὶ πιστεῦσαι σοι , καὶ οὐκ ἠνέσχοντό μου ἀκοῦσαι . Πάλιν δέδωκα αὐτοῖς ἑτέραν συμβουλείαν, τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν κατὰ σοῦ καὶ πολεμῆσαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἐποίησαν. Ἐθάῤῥουν γὰρ εἰς τὸν δεσπότην Χριστὸν, ὅτι περιεγινόμην σου, καὶ ἐπάτασσόν σε, ὥσπερ ὁ Γεδεὼν μετὰ τριακοσιών διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ, τὸν ἔχοντα μυριάδας ἐτροπώσατο. Πλὴν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Κυρίου γενέσθω· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ταῦτα πεπόνθαμεν, καὶ παρεδόθημεν εἰς χεῖράς σου. Οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἀλήθεια διῆλθε διὰ τοῦ στόματός σου.

[16] Λέγει ὁ συγκάθεδρος τοῦ βασιλέως· οὕτως διδάσκουσιν ὑμᾶς αἱ γραφαὶ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ὑβρίζειν τοὺς δεσπότας τῆς οἰκουμένης; οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι οἱ βασιλεῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίων χριστοί εἰσι τῷ Κυρίῳ; Λέγει ὁ ἅγιος · Προσέσχες, κύρι ὁ πατρίκιος, τῇ γραφῇ τῇ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ Ἠλιοῦ; εἰρηκότος γὰρ αὐτῷ τοῦ Ἀχαὰβ βασιλέως Ἰσραὴλ· “Εἰ εὕρηκά σε, [ὁ διαστρέφων τὸν Ἰσραήλ;” πρὸς ὅν ἀπεκρίθη· “Οὐκ ἐγὼ, ἀλλ᾽ ἤ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκος τοῦ πατρός σου.” Ὥστε οὐ διαμαρτάνει τις ἐλέγχων βασιλέα παρανομοῦντα. Οὐκ ᾐσχύνθη γὰρ εἰπεῖν ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν Λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα ἐγένετο] ἐν οὐρανῷ τε καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὁρατά τε καὶ ἀόρατα · ὃς θεασάμενος τὸ ἴδιον πλάσμα ἐζωγρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, οὐ παρεῖδεν, ἀλλὰ κατακλυσμὸν ἐπάξας , καὶ δοὺς πρὸς παίδευσιν πάντων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ πρὸς νουθεσίαν, καὶ ἀποχὴν κακῶν, νόμον ἐντολῶν, πάλιν ἠλέησεν· τὸν δὲ Ἰσραὴλ παιδεύσας ἔχθιστα διαπραττόμενον, οἴκτειρεν, καὶ ἀνεκαλέσατο ἀπὸ τῆς Βαβυλωνίας. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐφθάρη τὸ κατ᾽ εἰκόνα τοῦ κτίσαντος , αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος, εὐδοκίᾳ τοῦ Πατρὸς κατελθὼν, ἰδιοποιήσατο τὸ πεπτωκὸς, καὶ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ σώματι ἀνεσταύρωσεν· θυσία γενόμενος ἐν τῷ προσληφθέντι ἐξ ἡμῶν σώματι τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ, ὑπὲρ παντὸς γένους ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Καὶ πῶς τοῦτον ἀρνησόμεθα; Καὶ πολλάκις μιᾶς ὥρας ἄλλης οὐχ [ὑπαρχούσης ἐν τῷ λοιπῷ χρόνῳ τῆς ζωῆς μου, καὶ βούλει ποιῆσαί με ἀλλότριον τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν;

[17] Ὁ γὰρ ψευδόμενος βασιλεὺς, ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἔστιν δυνατός. Ὤμοσας ἡμῖν, καὶ δεδωκὼς τὸν λόγον σου, οὐκ ἐφύλαξας. Ἑώρακα] δὲ βασιλεῖς μεγάλους καὶ ὑπερέχοντάς σου ἐν τῇ Ἰνδίᾳ καὶ ἐν Περσίδι καὶ ἐν τῇ Αἰθιοπίᾳ, καί ἐνταῦθα, καί τι τοιοῦτον οὐκ ἐποίησαν πώποτε· ἀλλ᾽ ὁ λόγος αὐτῶν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ γέγονεν. Διὸ καὶ οἱ λαοὶ καὶ τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἡ οἱκουμένη καὶ αἱ πόλεις, καὶ τῶν στρατευμάτων αἱ σχολαὶ, θεοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀπεκάλουν· πειθαρχοῦντες αὐτοῖς, ὡς καὶ τῷ Θεῷ τᾦ δεδωκότι αὐτοῖς τὸ βασιλεύειν. Ὥστε γνωστὸν ἔστω σοι ὅτι οὐκ ἐξακολουθοῦμέν σοι, βλάσφημοῦντι τὸν Κύριον τῆς δόξης· ἐξουσίαν γὰρ ἔχω τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ ψυχῆς, καὶ οὐκ ἀφίσταμαι τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν ὁμολογίας, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ ἀγωνίζομαι. Καὶ ὡς ἀληθῶς μακάριος εἰμὶ, ὅτι ἐν τῷ γήρει μου, ἤδη ὑπερβεβηκὼς ἐνενηκοστὸν πέμπτον ἔτος, κατηξίωσέ με ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς θανεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. Νῦν ἔγνων ὅτι ἀγαπᾷ με ὁ Κύριός μου· πολλαὶ γὰρ γεγόνασιν αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς ζωῆς μου, ἐν τῷ ματαίῳ βίῳ τούτῳ, καὶ ἔτεκον υἱοὺς, καὶ εἶδον υἱοὺς τῶν υἱῶν μου, ἐπὶ τετάρτην γενεὰν, καὶ ἐν διαφόροις πολέμοις γενναίως ἠνδραγάθησα. Καὶ νῦν χαίρω ὅτι τὸ γῆράς μου, βασιλεῦ, τελειοῦται μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων, καὶ θαῤῥῶ ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἐκλείψει ἡ μνεία μου ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης· καὶ πέπεισμαι ὅτι, ὥσπερ ἄμπελος κλαδευομένη τῷ καιρῷ αὐτῆς, πλεῖον καρπὸν δίδωσι, οὕτως πλεονάσαι ἔχει ὁ Θεὸς τὸν λαὸν ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ καὶ ἐν παντὶ τῷ Ὁμηρίτῃ, τῶν χριστιανῶν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγω σοι · Μέλλει ἡ ἐκκλησία αὕτη, ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ ἐμπρησθεῖσα, ὑψοῦσθαι, καὶ σταθήσεται βασιλεία ἑτέρα ἐν τῇ περιχώρῳ ταύτῃ, καὶ κρατήσουσιν οἱ χριστιανοὶ · ἡ δὲ σὴ βασιλεία ἐν τάχει διαμερισθήσεται *, καὶ καταργηθήσεται τὸ δόγμα σου.”

[18] Καὶ στραφεὶς ἐκραύγασε φωνῇ μεγάλῃ τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ συμμάρτυσι, λέγων. “Ἠκούσατε, ἀδελφοὶ, τὰ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ ῥηθέντα τῷ βασιλεῖ.” Οἱ δὲ ὁμοθυμαδὸν πὰντες εἶπον · “Ἠκούσαμεν, τίμιε πάτερ, ἠκούσαμεν.” Καὶ πάλιν λέγει αὐτοῖς · Πῶς ὑμῖν φαίνεται τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦτο; εἴ τις ἐξ ὑ μῶν ἔστι δεδοικὼς τὸ παράγγελμα τοῦ παρανόμου τούτου, ἀποχωρισθήτω .” Οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες εἶπον· “Ἐνδυναμοῦ, πάτερ, ἐνδυναμοῦ ἐν τῶ ἀγῶνι τούτῳ· πάντες σὺν σοὶ ἀποθανούμεθα ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν εἷς ἐξ ἡμῶν χωριζόμενός σου.” Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος Ἀρέθας εἶπεν· “Ἀκούσατέ μου, ἄνδρες χριστιανοὶ, καὶ ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ ἕλληνες. Εἴ τις τῆς ἐμῆς συγγενείας, ἢ τῶν διαφερόντων μοι *, ἀρνήσεται τὸν Χριστὸν, ἀρνήσεται αὐτὸν αὐτὸς ὁ μέλλων κρίναι ζῶντας καὶ νεκροὺς· καὶ οὐκ ἔστι μοι μερὶς ἢ κοινωνία μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἀναστάσεως. Βούλομαι δὲ [καὶ κελεύω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου δοθῆναι τῇ ἁγίᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῇ μελλούσῃ κτίζεσθαι μετὰ θάνατόν μου. Εἰ δέ τις τῶν τέκνων μου ἤ τῆς συγγενείας μου ὑπολειφθῇ ἐπιμένων τῇ ἀμωμήτῳ πίστει, καὶ μὴ ἀρνήσεται, ἔστωσάν μοι κληρονόμοι. Τρία δὲ κτήματα καλλιστεύοντα πάντων τῶν κτημάτων μου βούλομαι δοθῆναι τῇ αὐτῇ ἁγιωτάτῃ ἐκκλησία.”

[19] Καὶ πάλιν ὁ ἅγιος γέρων εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν τύραννον · “Ἐπῄνεσά σε εἰς τοῦτο μόνον,] ὅτι τὴν πάλαι εἰθισμένην βασιλεῦσι καὶ ἐθνάρχαις παράδοσιν ἐτήρησας, καὶ ἐμακροθύμησας, μὴ διακόψας τοὺς λόγους μου. Πλὴν ἰδοὺ ἤκουσας πάντων τῶν λεχθέντων παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ · μὴ προσθήσῃς ἔτι τοῦ ἐπερωτᾷν ἡμᾶς· ἤγγικεν γὰρ ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ τελειωθῆναι ἡμᾶς. Πᾶς δέ τις ἀρνούμενος τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦτο, ἀπαρνηθείη ὑπὸ τοῦ κτίσαντος αὐτόν. Ἀπόλοιτο ἐκ γῆς ζώντων ὁ μὴ μετὰ πάσης

προθυμίας τούτῳ τῷ βραβείῳ προσερχόμενος, ὁ μὴ ὁμολογῶν τὸν Χριστὸν υἱὸν ὄντα τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ δημιουργὸν πάσης τῆς κτίσεως · ἀλλότριος γενέσθω τῆς μελλούσης αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἐκπέσοι τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν ὁ κοινωνῶν σοι, βασιλεῦ, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ὁμοφροσί σου Ἰουδαίοις · ἔστω ὡς Δαθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρὼν, [οὕς χάνασα ἡ γῆ τὸ στόμα κατέπιεν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ λέγω σοι · ὥσπερ ἐν τῷ ἀνακλίνεσθαί με μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου, ἐμοὶ πρότερον] τὸ ποτήριον ἐπεδίδοτο, καὶ νῦν τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ μαρτυρίου τούτου πρῶτος ἐγὼ πίομαι. Σφραγίζω οὖν τὸν λαὸν τὸν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἐν τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ, ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος·” Καὶ οὕτως ἕκαστος τῶν μαρτύρων κατεσφράγισεν ἑαυτὸν, πάλιν κλίνων τὴν κεφαλὴν ἑαυτοῦ σταυροειδῶς, ἐπειδὴ αἱ χεῖρες αὐτῶν ἦσαν δεδεμέναι ὀπισθίως. Καὶ ἔκραζον, “Προσδεχθείησαν αἱ ψυχαὶ ἡμῶν ὡς μῦρον τὸ ἐκχυνόμενον ἐπὶ κεφαλῆς ἱερέων Θεοῦ · καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἡμῶν, ὡς θυσία αἰνέσεως ἐπὶ κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.” Καὶ ἔκραξαν πάλιν οἱ μάρτυρες· “Πάτερ ἡμῶν τίμιε *, ἰδοὺ ὁ πατριάρχης Ἀβραὰμ ἐκδέχεταί σε. Μὴ γένοιτο ἡμᾶς ζῇν μετὰ θάνατόν σου.”

[20] Ταῦτα ἰδὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς , ἔγνω ὡς άδύνατον λοιπὸν μεταμεληθῆναι αὐτούς · καὶ κελεύει ἀπενεχθῆναι αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν χείμαῤῥον τὸν λεγόμενον Ὀβεδιανὸν , ὅπου ὁ βόθυνος ἐσκάφη τῶν προαναιρεθέντων ἁγίων μαρτύρων, καὶ τούτων τὰς κεφαλὰς ἐπὶ τὴν γὴν ῥιφῆναι προσέταξε, καὶ τὰ ἅγια αὺτῶν λείψανα ἐαθῆναι πρὸς βορὰν τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς. Ὅτε δὲ παρεγένοντο κατὰ τὸν τόπον οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἵσταντο εἰς ὕψος αἴροντες τὰ ὄμματα καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν πρὸς τὸν ὕψιστον Θεὸν, βοῶντες καὶ λέγοντες· Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, παραγενοῦ εἰς βοήθειαν ἡμῶν, καὶ τελείωσον ἡμᾶς. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ἐνδυνάμωσον ἡμᾶς τελειῶσαι τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦτο. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, γενηθήτω τὸ αἷμα τῶν δούλων σου ἱλασμὸς καὶ ἄνεσις τῶν δεδιωγμένων καὶ πεφονευμένων χριστιανῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ παρανόμου. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ἰδοὺ ὡμολογήσαμέν σε ἐνώπιον τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὁμολόγησον καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς ἐνώπιον τῶν ἁγίων σου ἀγγέλων. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ὕψωσον τὸν ναόν σου τὸν καταστραφέντα καὶ καέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ τυράννου. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ποίησον ἔλεος μετὰ τῶν μνημονευόντων ἡμῶν, καὶ εὐλόγησον πάντας τοὺς τιμῶντας τὴν ἡμῶν μαρτυρίαν, δωρούμενος αὐτοῖς ἄφεσιν παραπτωμάτων. . Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ὕψωσον τῶν χριστιανῶν Ῥωμαίων τὸ κέρας· καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν παρανόμων Ἑβραίων παράδος χριστιανοῖς, οἳ ποιήσουσι τὸ θέλημά σου. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, πάταξον τὸν παράνομον τοῦτον καὶ τὴν ῥίζαν αὐτοῦ, ὡς τὸν Φαραὼ καὶ τὸν Ἀμαλὴκ, καὶ τὸν Σιὼν , καὶ τὸν Ὤγ. Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, ἀξίωσον ἡμᾶς ἰδεῖν τὴν θέαν τῆς δόξης σου, καὶ εὐαγγελισθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων σου τὴν ταχίστην μέλλουσαν ἔκπτωσιν τοῦ παρανόμου καὶ ἐξολόθρευσιν τῆς ὑπερηφανίας τῶν Ἰουδαίων.” Καὶ μετὰ τὸ εὔξασθαι ταῦτα, ἐκραύγασαν ἅπαντες , κλαίοντες καὶ λέγοντες· “Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν ἐν φιλήματι ἁγίῳ.” Καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Ἀρέθας εἶπεν αὐτοῖς. “Ἡ εἰρήνη ἡ δοθεῖσα παρὰ τοῦ [σταυρωθέντος Χριστοῦ τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς, εἴη μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί. Ἀμήν.” Καὶ κλίνας τὴν κεφαλὴν, πάντων τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων κλινάντων, τεσσάρων δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑποστηριζόντων καὶ διαβασταζόντων τὰ στήθη αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς βραχίονας, ὥσπερ οἱ δύο τὸν Μωϋσέα ἐπὶ τοῦ ὄρους,] καὶ προσελθών τις τῶν δορυφόρων, ἀπέτεμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν κεφαλήν. Καὶ συνδραμὸν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων, περιέχριεν αὐτῶν τὰ σώματα ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀρέθα, ὡς θαυμάζειν καὶ δακρύειν ἐπὶ πολλὴν ὥραν τοὺς ἐπιτραπέντας ἀνελεῖν αὐτόν. Καὶ οὕτως οἱ ἅγιοι, κλίναντες τοὺς αὐχένας, ἐτελειώθησαν πάντες, ἐν μηνὶ ὑπερβερεταίῳ , ὃς ἔστιν ὀκτώβριος, κδ, ἰνδικτιῶνος δευτέρας.

[The tyrant summons St. Arethas with his 340 companions, and exhorts him to apostasy; the Martyr answers him.] On the following day ^a he orders holy Arethas to come with the others who were held in chains, three hundred and forty in number ^b; and he says to him: “I address you, Arethas, most wicked and most ancient of evil days! Why have you not imitated your father, who ruled the city and all the neighbourhood, and who was held in honour while my predecessors reigned? but you have wished to act the tyrant and monarch ^c over the city of Negran and its neighbourhood, trusting in a sorcerer and deceiver, and you have hoped to escape my hands! Spare, therefore, your old age, and have pity on your grey hairs, since you are a venerable old man, and so be the cause of life to yourself and to the others who have been captured and bound with you, and deny the one you call Christ; otherwise you will die a dreadful death, like those women the other day and those who went before them. For the son of Mary and Joseph could not save those who have been killed by me, whether in my royal city or in the whole region of the Homerites.” Then illustrious Arethas answered, saying: “Truly I am in great sorrow, because of the Christians who are in this city; for I told them not to open the gates of the city nor to believe you, and they refused to hear me. Again I gave them another counsel, to go out against you and wage war on behalf of the people of Christ; and they did not do that either. For I trusted in Christ my master that I should overcome and strike you; as Gideon with three hundred men, by the word of God, put to flight him who had myriads. Judic. VII. But let the will of God be done; for I know that because of our sins we have suffered these things and have been delivered into your hands. For the truth has never come forth from your mouth.”

[16] The king's assessor protests: then each again The king's assessor says: “Do the scriptures of the Christians thus teach you to treat the lords of the earth with insults? Do you not know that the kings of the Jews are anointed to the Lord?” The saint answered: “Do you mean to indicate, my lord patrician, the scripture which is in the prophet Elijah? For when Ahab, king of Israel, said to him: “Are you he that troubles Israel? he answered: Not I have troubled Israel, but you and your father's house.” III Reg. XVIII, 17, 18. He does not sin, then, who rebukes a king acting wickedly. For he did not blush to urge us to deny the Word of God, by whom all things were made in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible; who, seeing his creature made captive by the devil, did not neglect it, but had mercy again, having sent the flood, and having given the law and commandments for the instruction of all men, for admonition and abstinence from evil; and when he had once more chastened Israel for its hateful crimes, he came to pity and recalled it from Babylon. And when that was corrupted which had been created to the image of the Creator, God the Word himself, descending from heaven by the decree of the Father, took up what had fallen and fastened sin to the cross in his own body; becoming thus a victim in the body assumed from us to God and the Father, on behalf of the whole human race. And how ^d could I deny him? And when perhaps not one or two hours of life remain to me, do you wish to make me a stranger to the kingdom of heaven?

[17] he answers with holy freedom and boldness; For a king who lies is not powerful. When you had employed an oath and given your faith, you did not keep it. I have seen great kings who surpassed you ^e in India, in Persia and in Ethiopia, and in this very region, but they never did any such thing, and their word was done in truth. For this reason peoples and nations, regions and cities, and the cohorts of armies, called them gods; obeying them as God, who had given them to reign. Be it known to you, therefore, that we do not comply with you, who blaspheme the Lord of glory: for my soul is under my own power and I do not withdraw from the faith in Christ, but I enter on the contest for his name. Truly I am blessed that in my old age, having now passed my ninety-fifth year ^f, Christ my master has deemed me worthy to die for him! I know now that the Lord loves me; for my days in this empty life are many: and I have begotten sons, and I have seen the sons of my sons to the fourth generation ^g; and in various wars I have borne myself nobly and bravely ^h. And now I rejoice, O King, that my old age has its end among the holy martyrs, and I trust that the memory of me will not fail in this city. And I am persuaded that, as a vine pruned in its season gives more fruit, so God will multiply the Christian people in this city and in all Homeritis. For behold, before God I say to you: This church shall be exalted, which has been burned by you ⁱ, and in this region there shall be established another kingdom and the Christians shall obtain dominion. But your kingdom shall be torn apart, and your religion abolished ^k.”

[18] he exhorts his companions also. Then turning he cried with a loud voice to the holy martyrs, his fellow soldiers: “Have you heard, brothers, what has been said by me to the king ^l?” They answered with one accord: “We have heard, venerable father, we have heard.” And he said again: “If anyone among you fears the command of the wicked king, let him separate himself.” The holy martyrs said: “Be of good courage, O father, in this contest; for we shall all die with you for the name of Christ, and none of us will be separated from you.” Then holy Arethas said: “Hear me, Christian men, and Jews, and Greeks; if any of my kinsmen or those belonging to me shall have denied Christ, the very judge to come of the living and the dead will deny him; nor have I part or communion with him in the day of resurrection. And I will and order that all my goods be given to the holy church which they will build after my death. And let those of my sons and kinsmen who shall be steadfast in the immaculate faith and shall not fail be my heirs. But among my possessions, I wish the three most beautiful to be given to the most holy church ^m.”

[19] He addresses the tyrant again. The martyrs pray, and And the old man said again to the tyrant: “For this alone I praise you, that you have kept the tradition customary from of old among kings and princes, not interrupting my speech, but hearing everything that I wished to say ⁿ. Now therefore question us no more, for the time has come in which we are to be consummated by martyrdom. And let everyone who shall have refused this martyrdom be denied also by him who created him. Let him perish from the land of the living who does not come with all eagerness to this prize, who does not confess

that Christ is the son of God and the founder of all creation. Let him be deprived of the future eternal life who shall have denied the cross of Christ. Let him fall from the good things to come, O king, who thinks with you and with all the Jews who agree with you. Let him be as Dathan and Abiron, whom the earth, opening its mouth, swallowed up. Numer. XVI. For I say to you: As, when I reclined with my brothers, the cup was offered to me before the others ^o, so now too I shall be the first to drink the cup of this martyrdom. I therefore sign the people who are with me, with the sign of the cross [p], in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And each of the martyrs also signed himself, once more bowing his head in the manner of a cross, since their hands were bound behind them. And they cried out: “May our souls be acceptable as ointment poured upon the head of the priests of God; and our blood as a victim of praise on the horns of the altar.” And again: “Our venerable Father, behold Abraham the patriarch receives you; may it not befall us to live after your death.”

[20] [they are led to the place of martyrdom. St. Arethas is beheaded, then the rest, after they had anointed themselves with his blood.] When the king saw these things, he recognized how impossible it was that they should henceforth repent of them; and he ordered them to be taken away to the torrent which is called Obedianus [q], where a pit had been dug, containing the martyrs slain earlier. And he ordered their heads to be thrown on the ground, and their sacred remains to be left as prey to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth [r]. When therefore the holy martyrs of Christ had reached this place, they stood still, with eyes and mind raised on high to God most high, and crying out in this manner: “Jesus Christ, be present to help us and make us perfect. Jesus Christ, strengthen us to complete this martyrdom. Jesus Christ, let the blood of your servants be a propitiation and remission for the Christians whom the impious king persecutes and kills. Jesus Christ, behold, we have confessed you before men; do you also confess us before your holy angels. Jesus Christ, raise up your temple overthrown and burned by the tyrant. Jesus Christ, show mercy to those who are mindful of us, and bless all to whom our confession is precious, granting them remission of sins. Jesus Christ, lift up [s] the horn of the Christian Greeks, and give the kingdom of the impious Jews to Christians, who will do your will. Jesus Christ, strike this impious man and his root, like Pharaoh and Amalec and Sehon and Og. Numer. XXI. Jesus Christ, grant us to see the spectacle of your glory and to receive good news from your holy angels of the speedy ruin of the impious king and the overthrow of the pride of the Jews.” After which prayer all cried out, weeping and saying: “Peace to you in a holy kiss.” And holy Arethas said to them: “May the peace given by Christ crucified to his holy disciples be with you, brothers. Amen.” And with bowed head, all the martyrs also bowing their heads, while four of them held up his shoulders and arms, as once Moses on the mountain, one of the soldiers came forward and cut off his head. Exod. XVII, 12. Then, the whole multitude of martyrs running together, they anointed their bodies with the blood [t] of holy Arethas, so that those to whom it had been entrusted to kill them wondered and wept for a long time. And thus the saints, with bowed necks, all obtained martyrdom, in the month of Hyperberetæus, which is October, on the 24th day [u], in the second indiction [w].

ANNOTATIONS.

g. Comment. loc. cit.

i. Cfr Comment. n. 140.

m. See annot. l.

p. On the most ancient use of the sign of the cross the words of Tertullian, Cyril of Jerusalem and almost innumerable ancient writers are well known. Make the sign of the cross, says Cyril in catechesis IV, both eating and drinking, and sitting and lying down, and standing and speaking, and walking, and in sum in all your business.

q. A omits the words: τὸν λεγόμενον Ὀβεδιανὸν. This torrent was called wadi by the Arabs, from which it was called vadio, or vadia, by the Syrians and Chaldæans, as appears from Simeon of Beth-Arsam Ap. Assemani, Bib. orient. tom. I, pag. 376; Comment. n. 157.. From this the Greek name Ὀδίας is derived without any trouble, as it is read in Metaphrastes. For that writer has thus, chap. 21: Ὁ βασιλεὺς … εἴς τινα χειμάῤῥουν Ὠδίαν, οὕτω καλούμενον, ἀπενεχθέντας, ἐκέλευσεν ἀποτμηθῆναι τὰς κεφαλάς. In the copy of the older Acts of St. Arethas which is here being printed, we have mentioned at Comment. n. 163 that Ὀβεδιανός is wrongly written.

r. From this it is confirmed that the bodies of not all the martyrs were consumed by fire, Comment. n. 162 sqq.; although Mahomet and those who have commented on his Coran intimate this. But it is generally known that both the master (who could not distinguish Mary the mother of Jesus from Mary the sister of Moses) and the disciples are unhappy historians. Aucher in this place Vitæ SS. l. c. pag. 496. so interprets his codex (as far as I judge from my papers) that he says that the heads were buried in the earth, and the bodies given as prey to the citizens and wild beasts.

s. A: ὕψωσον τὸ κέρας χριστιανῶν, καὶ κράτυνον τὰς βασιλείας αὐτῶν, Ῥωμαίων καὶ Αἰθιόπων, καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν ταύτην παράδος.

t. Cfr Comment. n. 157.

u. A omits the day: ἐτελειώθησαν πάντες, μηνὶ ὑπερβερεταίῳ, ἰνδικτιῶνος δευτέρας. The Armenian codex similarly has the month hyperberetos in this place. In the sixth century the Christian Syrians had long since adjusted their months to the Julian months, and their Hyperberetæus, or former thisri, agreed with the month of October; cfr Comment. n. 203.

w. On the year of the martyrdom see Comment. n. 132.

* Α διὰ τὸ ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτον εὐνοεῖν

* Α μονοκρατῆσαι

* Α παροικίαν.

* Α ἰλπίσας καὶ προσδοκίαν ἐχ.

* Α ἐλογίσω.

* Α κρ. συνδεσμων.

* Α και τούτους ζωῶσαι.

* Α κ. π. σ. omits.

* A omits.

* Α τ. ἐχ. μ. has after επάτασσόν σε. omits ἐτρ.

* Α Ἑβραίων

* Α ὁ γέρων

* Α ὁρ τε κ. ἀ omits.

* Α κατ. ἐ. omits.

* Α ἐκ καταφρονήτεως ἐντολῶν Θεοῦ

* A omits.

* Α βασ. κ. ἐθνάρχας ὑπ.

* Α τ. πώποτε οὐχ εὑρέθη ἐν αὐτοῖς.

* Α καί φυλαι κ. τῶν στρατ.

* Α προσαγαγόντι.

* Α ἀφ. ἀπὸ τῆς καλῆς ὁμολ.

* Α ἀλ … ἀγωνιζομαι omits.

* Α ἀγωνίσας

* A omits.

* Α ἐγέννησα

* Α ἑώρακα

* Α π. ἀῥῤαγης γεγονα.

* Α ἐχ. ὸ λαὸς ἐν τῇ π. τ.

* Α ὑψωθῆναι ἔχει…

* Α χώρᾳ

* Α κρ. αὐτῆς

* Α καταλυ θήσεται

* Α ὑ. δεδιὼς τὰς ἀπειλὰς τοῦ τυράννου καὶ παρ.

* Α ἀποχω ρείτω

* Α is absent

* Α τ. παλαιὰν

* Α μὴ προσθείς, by iotacism, as often; read προσθῃς.

* Α τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως

* Α καὶ π. ἐκίνουν τ. κ. ἑαυτῶν

* Α καὶ προύχε τῆς ἡμῶν ἀθλήσεως

* Α τύραννος βασ.

* Α μεταπεισθῆναι

* Α τ. λ. Ὀ. is absent.

* Α παρ … χριστὲ omits

* Α ἔμπροσθεν

* Α ἐμπροσθ.

* Α κατακ.

* Α ἁμαρτιων.

* Α Σηὼν.

* Α πρὸς ἀλλήλους, λέγοντες μετὰ κλαυθμοῦ·

* Α ἑαυτῶν

* Α ὑπερβερ. ἰνδικτ. δευτέρας.

CHAPTER V.

The martyrdom of a five-year-old boy and of his mother; very many children are given over to slavery.

Μία δὲ γυνὴ χριστιανὴ, [ἔχουσα τὸν ἴδιον υἱὸν, ὡς ἐτῶν τεσσάρων ἤ πέντε, ἑστῶσα καὶ θεασαμένη πῶς εὐλογοῦντο οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ περιέχριον τὰς ὄψεις αὑτῶν ἐκ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἁγίου Ἁρέθα, συνδραμοῦσα ἔλαβεν τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ κατασφραγισαμένη ἑαυτὴν καὶ τὸν ἑαυτῆς υἱὸν, ἔκραζεν λέγουσα· “Ἔστω τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ἑβραίων ὡς τῷ Φαραώ!” Καὶ εὐθὺς κρατήσαντες αὐτὴν, ἤγαγον πρὸς τὸν] βασιλέα τῶν Ἑβραίων. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐκέλευσεν ὄρυγμα γενέσθαι βοθύνου *, καὶ ἐμβληθῆναι ἐν αὐτῷ ξύλα καὶ θεῖον καὶ πίσσαν, καὶ ὑφάψαι πῦρ καὶ ἀποτελέσαι κάμινον, καὶ οὕτως ῥιφῆναι τὴν γυναῖκα. Ὡς οὖν οἱ ὑπηρέται ἐδέσμευον

αὐτὴν, τὸ νήπιον θεασάμενον τὸν βασιλέα καθήμενον ἐφ᾽ ὑψηλοῦ τόπου, δρόμῳ παρεγένετο πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἕως τῆς μεγάλης σκηνῆς· οὐ γὰρ ἤθελε μεῖναι εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν σκηναῖς· καὶ περιεπλέκετο τοῖς ποσὶ τοῦ βασιλέως, καταφιλῶν αὐτόν. Καὶ ἐκτείνας τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, ἐνηγκαλίσατο αὐτὸ εἰς τὸν ἴδιον κόλπον, καὶ κολακεύων λέγει αὐτῷ· “Εἰπὲ, παιδίον· τί συμφέρει σοι, πορευθῆναι μετὰ τῆς μητρός σου, ἣ εἶναι μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ; καὶ τεκνοποιοῦμαί σε.” Τὸ παιδίον λέγει· “Μετὰ τῆς μητρός μου συμφέρει μοι· τούτου γὰρ χάριν ἔλεγον αὐτῇ, εἰρηκυίᾳ μοι· Δεῦρο, τέκνον· μαρτυρήσωμεν καθὼς πάντες· Καὶ λέγω αὐτῇ· “Μῆτερ, τί ἐστι μαρτυρῆσαι;” καὶ λέγει μοι· Ἀποθανεῖν καὶ πάλιν ζῆσαι.” Εἶτα πάλιν λέγει τὸ παιδίον· “Ἔασόν με ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς τὴν μητέρα μου, ὅτι θεωρῶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους σύροντας αὐτήν.” Καὶ ἔκραζεν· “Ἀμμᾶ , ἀμμᾶ·” Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς· “Γινώσκεις τὸν λεγόμενον Χριστόν;” ὁ δὲ λέγει· “Ναί.” Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς· “Πόθεν γινώσκεις αὐτόν;” Λέγει ὁ παῖς· “Ἀληθῶς καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐθεώρουν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ὅτε ἀπηρχόμην * μετὰ τῆς μητρός μου· καὶ εἰ θέλεις ἐλθεῖν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἐγώ σοι αὐτὸν δεικνύω.”

[22] Πάλιν εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς· “Ἐμὲ ἀγαπᾷς, ἢ ὃν καλεῖτε Χριστὸν;” Τὸ παιδίον λέγει· “Τὸν Χριστὸν ἀγαπῶ, ὅτι αὐτὸν προσκυνοῦμεν·” Λέγει αὐτῷ πάλιν ὁ βασιλεύς· “ἐμὲ ἀγαπᾷς, ἢ τὴν μητέρα σου.” Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ παῖς· “τὴν μητέρα μου. Ἔασόν με λοιπὸν ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς αὐτήν.” Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς· “Διατί οὖν ἐάσας αὐτὴν, καὶ ἦλθες καταφιλῶν μου τοὺς πόδας; Οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι ἰουδαῖος εἰμί; “Καὶ εἶπεν ὁ παῖς· “Ἐνόμιζον ὅτι χριστιανὸς εἶ· καὶ ἵνα ἀπολύσῃς τὴν μητέρα μου.” Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεύς· “ἐγὼ ἰουδαῖος εἰμί, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν θέλῃς εἶναι ἐγγύς μου, δίδωμι σοι κάρυα καὶ θάσια καὶ σῦκα, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο θέλεις.” Τὸ δὲ παιδίον εἶπεν· “Ἔασόν με ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς τὴν μητέρα μου· οὐδὲν γὰρ λαμβάνω ἀπὸ σοῦ· ὅτι ἰουδαῖος εἶ. ”Λέγει ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῖς μεγιστᾶσιν αὐτοῦ· “Βλέπετε τὴν κακὴν ῥίζαν ταύτην, πῶς μετὰ συνέσεως ἀποκρίνεται;” Τότε λέγει αὐτῷ εἷς τῶν παρισταμένων· “Ἔρχου μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, καὶ ἀποφέρω σε εἰς τὴν βασίλισσαν.” Τὸ δὲ· “Οὐκ” ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ. Ἰδὸν μακρόθεν ὅτι ἐσύρθη ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐβλήθη εἰς τὴν κάμινον, ἔκλαιε, λέγον· “Τὴν μητέρα μου θέλω.” Καὶ παρεβίαζον αὐτὸ στῆναι. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐπεῖχεν αὐτὸ. [Τότε δράσσεται τοῦ μηροῦ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ δάκνει αὐτόν. Ὁ δὲ παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ἑνὶ τῶν μεγιστάνων αὐτοῦ, λέγων· “Παράλαβε καὶ ἀνάτρεφε αὐτὸ, καὶ δίδασκε ἰουδαΐζειν.” Ἤγετο οὖν τὸ παιδίον χειροκρατούμενον ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ. Ὡς δὲ συνέβη αὐτὸν ἀπαντῆσαι] ἑτέροις ἄρχουσι, καὶ διηγεῖτο αὐτοῖς ποῖα ῥήματα ἐλάλει τὸ παιδίον, καὶ πῶς ἔδακεν τὸν μηρὸν τοῦ βασιλέως, ἱσταμένων αὐτῶν οὐ μακρὰν τῆς καμίνου, τὸ παιδίον ῥεῦσαν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀπῆλθε καὶ μετὰ δρόμου ἔῤῥιψεν ἑαυτὸ εἰς τὴν κάμινον, καὶ ἐτελειώθη μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ. Τότε πάντες οἱ μεγιστάνες καὶ οἰ δυνάσται προσέπεσον τῷ βασιλεῖ, αἰτούμενοι ἄνεσιν δοθῆναι τοῖς ὑπολειφθεῖσι χριστιανοῖς, καὶ εἰ βούλοιτο, πάλιν μετ᾽ ὀλίγον χρόνον κινῆσαι διωγμὸν κατὰ τῶν ὑπολοίπων.

[23] Συνάξας δὲ πάντα τὰ παιδία τὰ ἀπὸ δεκαπέντε ἐτῶν καὶ κατωτέρω, εἴτε ἀρσενικὰ, εἴτε θηλυκὰ, τῶν εὐγενῶν, καὶ πολιτῶν, καὶ τῶν γεωργῶν, καὶ χειροτεχνῶν, καὶ δούλων, [πάντων χριστιανῶν, τὸν ἀριθμὸν χιλίων διακοσίων ἐνενηκονταεπτὰ, διεμερίσατο αὐτὰ καὶ ἐχαρίσατο εἰς δουλείαν πᾶσι τοῖς μεγιστᾶσιν αὐτοῦ καὶ λοιποῖς] τοῖς ὑπουργήσασιν αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ διωγμῷ τῶν χριστιανῶν. Καὶ καταδουλοῖ ὁ καταδεδουλωμένος τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐλευθερίας καὶ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας· περὶ ὧν ὁ Χριστὸς εἶπεν· “ἄφετε αὐτὰ, καὶ μὴ κωλύετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με, τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.” Καὶ χαρίζεται εἰς δουλείαν ὁ παράνομος τὰ τῆς πίστεως τέκνα τοῦ πατριάρχου Ἀβραὰμ, ἅπερ ἐξηγόρασεν ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκ τῆς κατάρας τοῦ νόμου τῷ τιμίῳ αὐτοῦ αἵματι. Ὡς ἀληθῶς μεγάλα καὶ φοβέρα τὰ θαυμάσιά σου, Κύριε· καὶ τίς ἱκανὸς ἐξιχνιάσαι τῆς οἰκονομίας σου τὸ μυστήριον; Παραυτὰ γὰρ τὸ τοὺς ἁγίους πάντας τούτους τελειωθῆναι, καὶ τοὺς παῖδας διανεμηθῆναι· ἐν τῷ βουλεύεσθαι ὑποστρέφειν τὸν παράνομον εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν αὐτοῦ πόλιν, ἄφνω πῦρ οὐράνιον πολὺν ἐφάνη εἰς πλῆθος ἐπὶ τὴν ἑπταάστρον ἄρκτον, καὶ ἐπλήρου τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἐκφοβοῦν καὶ ἐλέγχον πάντας τοὺς πολεμοῦντας τὸν Κύριον ἐπί ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα ἀπὸ ἑσπέρας μέχρι μεσονυκτίου· καὶ ἔσωθεν τὸ πύρινον νέφος ἐποίει κονιορτὸν, καὶ αἰθάλη ζέουσα καμιναία εὑρίσκετο ἐπὶ προσώπου τῆς γῆς.

[24] Ὦ πόλις ἐπίγειος, ἔχουσα τὸ ὕψος αὐτῆς οὐράνιον καὶ τοὺς λογικοὺς ἀστέρας τῶν ἀθλοφόρων καὶ ὁμολογητῶν! ὢ πόλις μὴ διαλυομένη ὑπὸ τοῦ ἄρχοντος τῶν πνευμάτων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους! Οἱ γὰρ νοεροί σου ἀστέρες εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα ὑψιπετοῦσιν. Ὦ πόλις μιμουμένη τὴν ἐπουράνιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἧς ὄρη κύκλῳ αὐτῆς, καὶ ὁ Κύριος κύκλῳ τοῦ λαοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ὦ πόλις, Σιὼν ἀκρόπολις ἡ δευτέρα, ἡ γενομένη κατασκοπευτήριον τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων εἰς ἀγαθὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ μέχρι θανάτου παθεῖν ἑλομένων. Νεγρὰν ἐκλήθης, κατὰ τὴν Ἑβραίων διάλεκτον, ἐπεὶ ἐβρόντησε μέχρις οὐρανῶν ἡ ἄθλησις τῶν ἁγίων τῶν ἐν σοὶ μιμησαμένων τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ! Νεγρὰν ἐκλήθης ὁμοίως, ὅτι τοὺς μοχλοὺς καὶ τὰς πύλας σου, καὶ ἃς ἠθέλησας στήλας τῶν ἀθλοφόρων καὶ ὁμολογητῶν, οὐ συνέτριψεν ὁ ἀντικείμενος ! Ὦ πόλις πηγάζουσα ὕδατα διάφορα λογικὰ ζῶντα, δόξαντα ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἀφρόνων τεθνάναι· τὰ δὲ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ζῶσι λιμναζόμενα μεταξὺ τοῦ δήμου τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων τῷ πλήθει· παράδεισόν σε καλέσω, ἀλλ᾽ ἔχεις τὰς τροφοφόρους διδασκαλίας τῶν μέχρις αἵματος καὶ σαρκὸς ἀντικαθισταμένων πρὸς τὴν ἁμαρτίαν · καὶ ἱσταμένη ἑδραῖα καὶ ἀμετακίνητος ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν τῆς πίστεως. [Ὦ πόλις, ἡ λυπήσασα ἐν τῇ θλίψει αὐτῆς πάσας τὰς βασιλείας τῆς γῆς, καὶ χαροποιήσασα ἐν τῆ ἀνακαινίσει αὐτῆς τὰ πλὴθη τῶν οὺρανίων δυνάμεων. Ὡς φησὶν ὁ προφήτης ἐπὶ ταῖς τρισὶν ἀσεβείαις, καὶ ἐνταῦθα μιμεῖται ὁ παμμίαρος τὴν καὶ δευτέραν καὶ τρίτην ἀσέβειαν, καὶ ἐργάζεται ἐξ ἧς οὐκ ἀπεστράφη ὁ Θεὸς]. Διότι * ἐν σοὶ ἐπάταξεν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἀσεβῆ καὶ παράνομον, καθώς ποτε τὸν Φαραὼ ἐν τῇ ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ.

[The boldness of a Christian woman, who is condemned to the flames: her five-year-old son runs to the king, who for a long time] But a certain Christian woman, holding her son, who was four or five years old ^a, and seeing how those standing by blessed the saints and anointed their faces with the blood of holy Arethas, ran up, and taking of his blood ^b, signed herself and her son; and she cried out, saying: “May it befall the king of the Hebrews as Pharaoh.” At once they seized her, and led her to the king of the Hebrews. He ordered the earth to be dug, and wood and sulphur and pitch to be put into the pit ^c, and fire to be kindled, and when the furnace was finished, the woman to be thrown into it. While the attendants were binding her, the infant, seeing the king sitting in a high place, ran to him as far as the great tent (for he was unwilling to stay in the city, but lived in tents), and embraced the feet of the king and kissed him. The king, stretching out his hands, took him into his lap, and said, coaxing him: “Tell me, little boy, which is better for you, to go away with your mother, or to stay with me, so that I may adopt you?” The boy answered: “It is better for me to stay with my mother. For she said to me: Come, son; let us be martyrs like all of them. And I said: Mother, what is it to be a martyr? And she answered: To die, and to live again.” Then the boy said: “Let me go away to my mother, for I see men dragging her.” And he cried out: “Mamma, Mamma!” The king said: “Do you know the one they call Christ?” And he answered: “Certainly.” The king again: How do you know him, he said. “Truly, said the boy, every day ^d I used to see him in the church, when I went with my mother; and if you will go with me, I will show him to you.”

[22] [but he exhorts him in vain to desert the faith and his mother: with whom he is burned;] Again the king said to him: “Do you love me or the one you call Christ?” The boy said: “I love Christ, because we adore him.” Again the king: “Do you love me or your mother?” The boy answered: “My mother. But let me now go away to her.” “Why then did you leave her, said the king, and come to me and kiss my feet. Do you not know that I am a Jew.” To whom the boy said: “I thought that you were a Christian, and I came that you might free my mother.” And the king said to him: “I am a Jew, but if you will be with me, I give you nuts and almonds and figs, and whatever you wish.” The boy answered: “Let me go away to my mother; and I accept nothing from you, because you are a Jew.” Then the king said to his magnates: “See this perverse root, how wisely it answers.” And one of those standing by said: “Come with me, boy, and I will take you to the queen.” “No,” he answered. And seeing from afar his mother dragged along and thrown into the furnace, he wept, saying: “I want my mother.” But they compelled him to stay, and the king held him back. But the boy seized the king's thigh, and bit it ^e; and the king handed him over to one of his nobles, saying: “Take him and bring him up, and teach him to judaize.” So he led the boy away, holding him by the hand, and when he met other nobles, he narrated to them what words the boy had said, and how he had bitten the king: at that time, when they were not far from the furnace, the boy, slipping ^f from their hands, ran and threw himself into the furnace, and so became a martyr with his mother ^g. Then all the magnates and nobles, falling down before the king, asked him to show pardon to the remaining Christians ^h, and, if he wished, to set the persecution going again a short time later.

[23] 1297 children are reduced to slavery. A prodigy in the sky. The king, then, having gathered together all the children, from the age of fifteen years and below, of both sexes and of every condition, whether they had been begotten of nobles, of citizens, farmers,

craftsmen or slaves, provided they were Christians, one thousand two hundred and ninety-seven in number, distributed them and gave them into slavery to all his nobles and the others who had helped him in the persecution of the Christians. And he who was the slave of sin reduces to slavery the sons of freedom and of the promise, of whom Christ said: “Let them be, and do not forbid them to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matth. XIX. And the impious king gives into slavery the sons of the faith of the patriarch Abraham, whom Christ redeemed from the curse of the law by his precious blood. Truly great and wonderful are your works, O Lord, and who shall be able to search out the mystery of your Providence! For as soon as the martyrdom of all these saints had been completed and the children had been distributed ⁱ, when the impious man wished to return to his principal city ^k, there suddenly appeared a huge heavenly fire above the northern stars ^l, and it filled the sky, terrifying and convicting for forty days, from evening to midnight, all who were fighting against the Lord; and within, the fiery cloud stirred up dust, and glowing ash, as if from a furnace, was found on the face of the earth ^m.

[24] The praise of the city of Negrana. O earthly city, having a heavenly height and martyrs and confessors as it were for spiritual stars! O city not dissolved by the prince of the spirits of the power of darkness! For your spiritual stars come in lofty flight through the air to meet the Lord. Thess. IV, 17. O city that has imitated the sublunary Jerusalem, whose mountains are round about it and the Lord round about his people, from now and for ever. Ps. CXXIV. O city, second citadel of Sion, you who have been made the beholder of those who evangelize the word of God, and who choose to suffer for it even to death. You have been called Negran, according to the dialect of the Hebrews ⁿ, since the passion of the saints, who in you imitated the martyrdom of Christ, resounded as it were with thunder to the heavens. You have been called Negran likewise because he who is opposed has not crushed your bars ^o and gates, and the columns of martyrs and confessors. O city like a gushing spring, and bringing forth living rational waters, which seemed to the eyes of the foolish to die, but to those who live for ever, flowing among the people from so great a multitude of holy martyrs: I will call you Paradise; and you have the rich doctrines of those who resist sin even to blood, and you have been firm and impregnable on the rock of faith. O city afflicting in your tribulation all the kingdoms of the earth, and gladdening in your restoration the multitude of the heavenly powers. As the prophet says AMOS I, 3. of the three impieties, here too the most wicked king imitates the second and third impiety, and works that for which the Lord will not turn him. Wherefore in you the Lord God has struck the impious and unjust king, as once Pharaoh in the Red Sea.

ANNOTATIONS.

a. See Comment. n. 158.

the phenomenon was from evening to midnight; from which it follows, according to the positions of the astronomers, that it appeared in the west: and since the Pleiades were seen there at the same time, it follows again that this took place in the first months of the year. Indeed, likewise from the pronouncements of astronomy (which it would take too long to explain here), these things appear to have occurred with the sun in the signs of the Water-bearer and the Fishes, that is, from the end of January to March: and from what Simeon of Beth-Arsam narrates, Comment. n. 131 sq., it is easy to ascribe the beginning of the phenomenon to the month of January of the year 524. I should certainly say that the phenomenon recorded in the Acts was the zodiacal light rather than that which Philostorgius narrates: which was seen at Constantinople in the east, in the summer time, and persisted for four months; and which, not at all confined within the zodiac, passed beyond the star η of the tail of the northern stars. It is to be noted, however, that Philostorgius writes of what he himself saw at Constantinople. For that reason it was perhaps a comet without a nucleus, such as have often been seen. No one will wonder, moreover, that from such a sign the Christian Homerites augured the destruction of the persecutor. That sign is recorded also in the Ethiopian Senkessar, but not in the letter of Simeon of Beth-Arsam, as has just been intimated.

o. V. ibid. annot. ff.

* Α omits then: καὶ ἐμβαλειν εἰς αὐτὸ

* Α δρομαῖον

* Α ἕως … σκηναῖς omits

* Α π. αὐτοῦ καταφιλῶν.

* Α πορευθῆναι ἢ μεῖναι.

* Α χάρ. ἦλθον ἐγγύς σου. Εἰρηκυίας μ.

* Α τεκοῦσάν με

* Α δεσμοῦντας

* Α Ἀμμά!

* Α ἡνίκα ἀπίειν read ἀπῄειν.

* Α by pleonasm: καλειτε λέγετε.

* Α οὐκ … εἰμι omits.

* Α μένειν.

* Α δίδω.

* Α ἐῥῤίφη ἡ μ. α. εἰς

* Α παρεβιάζετο ἀναστῆναι

* Α τὸν βασιλέα,

* Α δυνατοὶ

* Α τῆς ἐλευθ … οὐρανῶν omits.

* Α ὡς μέγα.

* Α θαυμαστὰ τὰ ἕργα Κυρίου!

* Α την αὐτοῦ μακροθυμίαν;

* Α ὀψὲ.

* Α ἕωθεν.

* Α τ. ἀέρος τοῦ

* Α ἐπίγειον

* Α ἀκ. Σ.

* Α κ. τὰς νοερὰς στήλ. τ.

* Α καὶ ἀλάστωρ τύραννος!

* Α ἀνθρώπων

* Α κ. σ. omits.

* Α παρανομίαν! Ὦ πόλις ἡ λυπ…

* Α ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτῃ ἐπ.

CHAPTER VI.

Dunaan, king of the Homerites, urges persecution on several kings; but the emperor Justin exhorts St. Elesbaas, king of Ethiopia, to make war on the Homerite tyrant.

Γράφει οὖν ὁ προλεχθεὶς δεύτερος Φαραὼ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Περσῶν, αἰτούμενος αὐτὸν πάντας τοὺς αὐτόθι χριστιανοὺς ἀποκτεῖναι, καθ᾽ ὃν τρόπον καὶ αὐτὸς πεποίηκεν· ἐπὶ τούτῳ εἰπὼν ἔχειν τὸ πλεῖον εὐμενῆ τὸν πατέρα τοῦ Ἡλίου· ὃν ἔφασκεν θεὸν εἶναι τῶν Ἑβραίων. Ἔτι τε καὶ πρὸς Ἀλαμούνδαρον, τὸν βασιλίσκον πάντων τῶν ὑπὸ Πέρσας Σαρακηνῶν, ἀποστέλλει πρέσβεις, γνωρίσαι καὶ αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πραχθέντα εἰς τοὺς χριστιανοὺς, καὶ προτρέπεται αὐτοὺς τὰ ὅμοια ποιῆσαι· ὑποσχόμενος αὐτοῖς ὁλκὴν δηναρίων τρισχιλίων διδόναι, ἐὰν εἴπερ διωγμὸν ἐπαγάγωσιν ἐπὶ τοὺς χριστιανοὺς τοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτῶν. [Ὁ δὲ θαυμαστὸς ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ, ὁ βασιλεὺς πάντων τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἔχων ἐναντίον διὰ παντὸς τὸν θάνατον τίμιον τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ, ἐνέβαλεν Ἰουστίνῳ] τῷ θειοτάτῳ, τῷ τότε βασιλεύοντι τῶν Ῥωμαίων, πέμψαι Ἀβράμιον τὸν εὐλαβέστατον καὶ θεοφιλέστατον πρεσβύτερον, πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν Ἀλαμούνδαρον, τὸν λεγόμενον Σακίκαν , καὶ προτρέψαι αὐτὸν σπονδὰς εἰρηνικὰς ποιῆσαι πρὸς τοὺς ὄντας ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐξουσίαν χριστιανοὺς . Καὶ τῶν τοῦ μυσαροῦ γραμμάτων ἀναγινωσκομένων, παρόντος τοῦ θεοφιλεστάτου Ἀβραμίου καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ Περσίδος ἀποσταλέντων παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Περσῶν, Συμεωνίου πρεσβυτέρου καὶ ἀποκρισιαρίου τῶν ὀρθοδόξων τῶν ἐν Περσίδι χριστιανῶν· καὶ Ἰωάννου ὑποδιακόνου τοῦ λεγομένου Μανδινοῦ, παρόντος κόμητος Ἀγγαίου, υἱοῦ Ζὴτ, ἐθνάρχου ὄντος χριστιανοῦ τῆς πάσης παρεμβολῆς· παρεγένετο δὲ ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς ὑποθέσεως καὶ Σίλας, ὁ ἐπίσκοπος τῶν Νεστοριανῶν, ἀπὸ Περσίδος, μετὰ πλήθους, ὑποκροῦσαι βουλόμενος καὶ ἀντιδογματίσαι τοῖς ἀπὸ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Περσῶν ὀρθοδόξοις, ἀρέσαι βουλόμενος Ἕλλησί τε καὶ ἰουδαίοις.

[26] Καὶ εἶπον· Δεόμεθα τῆς βασιλείας σου ὅπως συμπράξῃς τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμεῖς Πέρσαι ἐσμὲν, καὶ ἔγνωμεν ὅτι ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ῥωμαίων , καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς αὐτῶν ἔγνωσαν νῦν ὅτι ἄνθρωπον ἐσταύρωσαν καὶ οὐ Θεόν. Ἡμεῖς γὰρ οἱ πεπαιδευμένοι ἐκ τῶν θείων γραφῶν Νεστορίου τοῦ πατριάρχου, οὕτως δοξάζομεν καὶ φρονοῦμεν, ὅτι ὁ σταυρωθεὶς ἄνθρωπος δυνατὸς ὑπῆρχεν, καὶ οὐ Θεὸς. Καὶ ὡς μυκτηρίζοντες ἔκραζον λέγοντες ἔμπροσθεν τῶν εἰδωλομανῶν ἐθνῶν· “Ἔστι Θεὸς τικτόμενος ἐκ γυναικὸς, ἢ συμφυρόμενος αἵματι γυναικείῳ, ἢ σπαργάνοις ἐνειλισσόμενος , ἢ πεινῶν, ἢ ἐκφοβούμενος, ἢ κοπούμενος, ἢ ἀποθνήσκων, ὥσπερ οὗτοι, Ἀγγείας, καὶ Ἀβράμιος, καὶ Ἰσάκιος, καὶ Ἰωάννης, καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτοῖς Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ Πέρσαι πλανῶνται; Σιωπησάτωσαν· Θεὸς γὰρ τελευτῶν μὴ ἀναστήτω .” Τότε Ἀβράμιος ὁ θεοφιλέστατος καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ Ῥωμαῖοι καὶ Πέρσαι ὀρθόδοξοι, διασχίσαντες τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτῶν, καὶ γῆν καταπάσαντες ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν, ἐβόων· “Μὴ γένοιτο· ἡ γὰρ πίστις τῶν Ῥωμαίων βεβαία ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν παράδοσιν τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ συνόδων. Διδάσκουσι * γὰρ ἡμᾶς τῆς θείας οἰκονομίας τὸ μυστήριον, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς Λόγος, ἐνοικήσας ἐν τῇ μήτρᾳ τῆς ἀχράντου Θεοτόκου, ἥνωσεν ἑαυτῷ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς συλλήψεως σῶμα νοερὸν ἐψυχωμένον, καὶ γέγονε τέλειος ἄνθρωπος, εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν κατὰ πάντα, χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας· καὶ ἐν μὲν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ ἱστῶμεν τὸ πάθος, ἐν δὲ τῇ Θεότητι αὐτοῦ ὁμολογοῦμεν τὸ κρὰτος. Οὗτοι δὲ Νεστοριανοί εἰσιν, ἐκβληθέντες μετὰ τοῦ ἀνοσίου αὐτῶν διδασκάλου ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ καθολικὴς ἐκκλησίας· καὶ ἀναθεματισθέντες περιέρχονται [πλαζόμενοι ἀπὸ τόπου εἰς τόπον, ὑποφθεῖραι βουλόμενοι τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἁπλουστέρων.”

[27] Τότε οἱ δοῦλοι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ποιήσαντες εἰρηνικὰς συνθήκας πρὸς Ἀλαμούνδαρον, ὑπέστρεψαν, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν] τῶν γραφέντων ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου ἀνήγαγον καὶ τὰ κινηθέντα εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἰουστίνου, βασιλέως Ῥωμαίων, ὃς παραυτίκα γράμματα ἐποίησεν πρὸς Τιμόθεον, τὸν ἐπίσκοπον Ἀλεξανδρείας, ὅπως γράψῃ ἡ αὐτοῦ ὁσιότης καὶ ὑπὸ λόγον ποιήσῃ πρὸς Ἐλεσβαὰν τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Αἰθιόπων, ὅπως στρατοπεδαρχήσας ἐξαλείψῃ πάντας τοὺς παρανόμους μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῶν. Γεγράφηκε δὲ καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ εὐσέβεια τῷ αὐτῷ φιλοχρίστῳ βασιλεῖ Ἐλεσβαᾷ τὰδε· “Οἶδα τὸ χριστιανικὸν τῆς σῆς ἀδελφότητος· καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς ἡμᾶς ὅτι ὁ ἀντάρτης, ᾧτινι ἐπίστευσας τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, δραξάμενος καιροῦ, πάντας τοὺς ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν σταλέντας χριστιανοὺς Αἰθίοπας μετὰ τῶν εὑρεθέντων ἐκεῖ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Περσῶν χριστιανῶν, φόνῳ μαχαίρας ἀνεῖλεν, μὴ ἑλομένους ἀρνήσασθαι Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ Νάγραν τὴν πόλιν ἔρημον καὶ ἀοίκητον κατέστησεν. Γεγράφηκε δὲ εἰς Περσίδα καὶ Ἀλαμουνδάρῳ Σακίκᾳ, ἐξαιτούμενος τὰ ὅμοια διαπράξασθαι εἰς τοὺς ἐκεῖσε ὄντας χριστιανούς. Προτρεπόμεθα τοίνυν καὶ ἐνορκοῦμεν κατὰ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ὁμοουσίου Τριάδος τὴν σὴν ἀδελφότητα, χεῖρα βοηθείας ἔχουσαν τὴν τῶν ἁγίων ἁγγέλων δύναμιν, ἐξελθεῖν, εἴτε πλοῆ , εἴτε πεζῇ, κατὰ τοῦ μυσαροῦ καὶ παρανόμου ἑβραίου. Εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ὀκνήσει ποιῆσαι ἡ σὴ ὁσιότης , οὐρανόθεν μὲν ὀργίζεται αὐτῇ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τῇ αὐτῆς πολιτείᾳ· ἡμεῖς δὲ διὰ Κόπτου καὶ Βερονίκης τῶν λεγομένων Βλεμμύων καὶ νομάδων πλῆθος στρατευμάτων ἐκπέμψαντες, παρόδῳ χρησάμενα τὰ στρατόπεδα ἡμῶν διὰ τῆς γῆς σου, πᾶσαν συντρίψωσι, τὸν δὲ Ὁμηρίτην καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ πᾶσαν εἰς τέλειον ἀφανισμὸν καὶ ἀνάθεμα καταστήσωσιν *.”

[28] Ὤ τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν δυνάμεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐκεῖ γὰρ Φαραὼ σκληρύνας τὴν καρδίαν, μετὰ τὴν δεκάπληγον, καταδιώξας τὸν Ἰσραὴλ, εἰς θάλασσαν κατεποντίσθη· ἐνταῦθα δὲ, τὰ χείρονα σπουδάσας διαπράξασθαι εἰς τοὺς κατὰ τόπον λαοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ δεύτερος Φαραὼ, ἔγραψε τοῖς κατὰ τόπον βασιλεῦσι , καὶ εὑρέθη ὀρύξας λάκκον εἰς ὃν καὶ ἐνέπεσεν. Οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν εὐσεβεῖς ῥύεσθαι ἐκ θανάτου, ἀσεβεῖς δὲ εἰς ἡμέραν κολάσεως τηρεῖν. Ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ οὖν τῇ κατ᾽ Αἴγυπτον, ἀπριλλίῳ μηνὶ, ἰνδικτιῶνος τρίτης, συνάξας Τιμόθεος ὁ ὁσιώτατος ἐπίσκοπος πάντας τοὺς ὀρθοδόξους καὶ πλῆθος τῶν ἐν τῇ Νιτρίᾳ καὶ Σκήτει μοναχῶν, εἰς τὸ ἁγιώτατον μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου ἀποστόλου Μάρκου, ἐκήρυξε λιτανείαν καὶ ἀγρυπνίαν ἐποίησεν, καὶ τῇ ἐπιούσῃ ἐπιτελέσας τὴν σύναξιν, καὶ τὴν θείαν προσφορὰν βαλὼν * ἐν σκεύει ἀργυρῷ, πέμπει πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Αἰθιόπων διὰ πρεσβυτέρου, προτρεπόμενος αὐτὸν διὰ λόγου διδασκαλίας στρατοπεδαρχῆσαι, ὡσπερεὶ Σαμουὴλ τῷ Σαοὺλ κατὰ τοῦ Ἀμαλὴκ, καὶ ἀναθεματισμῷ τῷ διὰ ξίφους καὶ πυρὶ παραδοῦναι.

[Dunaan urges persecution on the neighbouring princes; but the emperor Justin sends an envoy to one of them, and to the same] Then the said second Pharaoh writes to the king of the Persians ^a, asking him to kill all the Christians living there, as he himself had done, adding that the sun and the father of the sun ^b, whom he said was the God of the Hebrews, was benevolent to him. He sends envoys also to Alamundarus ^c, chieftain of all the Saracens who were under the dominion of the Persians, announcing to him also what he had perpetrated against the Christians, and exhorting him to do the same. And he promised them a weight of three thousand denarii ^d, if only they would carry out such a persecution against the Christians who were living in their lands. But he who is wonderful in his saints, the king of all ages, having before his eyes at all times the venerable death of his saints, inspired the divine Justin, who then ruled the Romans, to send Abramius the presbyter ^e, a most religious man and beloved of God, to that Alamundarus, who was also called Sacchicas ^f, to exhort him to deal peaceably with

the Christians who were under his power ^g. And when the letter of the execrable king had been read by Alamundarus, there being present Abramius beloved of God, and those whom the king of the Persians had sent from Persia, Simeonius ^h the presbyter and apocrisiarius ⁱ of the orthodox Christians of Persia, and John the subdeacon, who is also called Mandinus, and Angæus the count, son of Zet ^k, who was Christian ethnarch of all the military colony; there came also on the same matter Silas, bishop of the Nestorians of Persia ^l, with very many, wishing to contradict and dogmatize against the orthodox Romans and Persians, and at the same time to please Gentiles and Jews.

[26] both catholics and heretics assemble, and each side champions its doctrine. He said, with his followers: “We ask your royal majesty to join yourself to your brother, the king of the Homerites; for we too are Persians ^m: and it has become known to us that the emperor of the Romans and their priests now recognize that they crucified a man and not God. For we, instructed by the divine writings of the patriarch Nestorius, hold and think that he who was crucified was a powerful man and not God.” And they cried out, sneering, before the nations addicted to the worship of idols: “Is God born of a woman, or put together with a woman's blood, or wrapped in swaddling bands, or hungry, fearful, weary, dying, as those men, Angæus and Abramius, Isaac, John, and the Romans and Persians who are with them, teach in their error? Let them be silent; for God, dying, has not risen again.” Then Abramius, beloved of God, and those who were with him, orthodox Romans ⁿ and Persians, rending their garments and sprinkling their heads with earth, said: “Far be it, for the faith of the Romans is founded on the tradition of the apostles and of the councils, which teach us the mystery of the divine Incarnation, that God the Word, namely, dwelling in the womb of the most pure Mother of God, united to himself from the very conception body and soul and became perfect man: who, one and the same, was made like us in all things without sin. And in his flesh indeed we place the passion, but in his Divinity we confess the power ^o. But these men are Nestorians, cast out with their impious master from the holy and catholic church. Who, struck by anathema, go about wandering from place to place, wishing to corrupt the souls of the simpler.”

[27] [The orthodox enter into a treaty with Alamundarus; the emperor Justin exhorts the king of the Ethiopians by letter to war.] Then the servants of God, entering into a peaceful treaty [p] with Alamundarus, returned; and they brought to the ears of the servant of God Justin, emperor of the Romans [q], both the contents of the letter of the Homerite king and what had been done. He without delay wrote to Timothy, bishop of Alexandria [r], that his beatitude should send a letter to the king of the Ethiopians, Elesbaas by name, by which he should exhort him to equip an army and destroy all the impious with their king. The emperor also wrote to the pious King Elesbaas himself in these words: “I know how devoted your fraternity is to the Christian religion. Now it has reached us that that rebel, to whom you entrusted the kingdom of the Homerites [s], seizing the occasion, has slain by the slaughter of the sword all the Christian Ethiopians whom you sent, together with the Romans and Persians of the same religion [t] found there, since they refused to deny Jesus Christ the Son of God. Moreover he has made the city of Nagran desert and uninhabitable. Then he wrote [u] to the king of the Persians and to Alamundarus who is called Sacchicas, asking them too to do the like to the Christians living there. We exhort, therefore, your fraternity, and adjure you, by the holy and consubstantial Trinity, to attack the execrable and impious Jew, whether by sea or by land, having with you for help the power of the holy Angels. For if your piety does not perform this, on the one side God will be angered from heaven against it and its kingdom; on the other we through Coptos [w] and Beronice [x] will send in many forces of the Blemmyes [y] and Nobades [z], and these will pass through your lands [aa] and crush everything, and will bring the Homerite and all his kingdom to utter ruin and malediction. Farewell.”

[28] [Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, sends the Holy Eucharist to the same king, and likewise urges war on him.] O power [bb] of our father Jesus Christ! For there Pharaoh, hardening his heart, even after the ten plagues, and pursuing Israel, was drowned in the sea. EXOD. XIV, 4, 8 But here the second Pharaoh, attempting worse things against the people of God dwelling in his lands, wrote to the neighbouring kings, and he was found to have dug a pit into which he himself fell. PSALM. VII, 15. For our God knows how to deliver the pious from death, and to keep the impious for the day of punishment. JOB. XXI, 30. In Alexandria of Egypt, therefore, in the month of April [cc], in the third Indiction [dd], the most blessed bishop Timothy [ee], having gathered in the church of the holy apostle Mark [ff] all the orthodox and the multitude of the monks of Nitria and Scetis [gg], proclaimed a public procession [hh] and held vigils [ii], and on the following day, the synaxis [kk] being finished, he places the divine oblation [ll] in a silver vessel and sends it by a presbyter [mm] to the king of the Ethiopians. And he exhorted him by the word of instruction, as Samuel moved King [nn] Saul against Amalec, to equip an army and give everything to ruin by sword and fire. I REG. XV.

ANNOTATIONS.

from our codex what was wanting in his. Cfr Comment. n. 135, where we discuss the orthodoxy of Simeon of Beth-Arsam. Metaphrastes in this place: οἱ θεοφιλεῖς οὗτοι … τοῖς τῶν θείων ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν πατέρων ὀρθοδόξοις ἐπόμενοι δόγμασι, Θεὸν τέλειον καὶ ἄνθρωπον τέλειον ὁμολογοῦσι Χριστὸν, ἐν ὑποστάσει μιᾷ τὰς δύο φύσεις ἀσυγχύτως συνάπτοντες. In which he copies almost word for word the definition of Chalcedon.

p. The historians nowhere report that Almundarus persecuted the Christians of his kingdom; cfr what has been said of Cavades, Comment. n. 93 and ibid. n. 151.

q. A τὰ πραχθέντα εἰς τὰς εὐσεβεῖς ἀκοὰς τ. δ. τ. Θ. Ἰ. τοῦ βασιλέως, ὃς παρ. The Arabs narrate that the emperor Justin learned these things also from a certain Homerite, named Dhu Thalaban, Comment. n. 175.

r. That one should write to the patriarch Timothy Simeon of Beth-Arsam also urges, ibid. n. 161. On the doctrine and deeds of Timothy see n. 169 sqq.

s. Here Justin errs, since Dunaan, or Dhu Nowasus, was never a viceroy of the Ethiopians. But this very error, besides many other things, shows that the letter is genuine. For in num. 2 of the Acts it is said that Elesbaas in his first expedition, having routed Dhu Nowasus, left a commander with an army in Homeritis to guard the region. That passage of the Acts (or rather the Acts as a whole, in which Dhu Nowasus everywhere appears as an old enemy of the Ethiopians) and the letter of Justin are therefore in conflict with each other: nor can it in any way be said that the latter was invented by the writer of the Acts. But these words of the letter should perhaps be understood in another sense: ᾧτινι ἐπίστευσας τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν; namely that Dhu Nowasus at the beginning of his reign, that is, about the year 490, was a viceroy of the Ethiopians and paid them tribute (Act. num. 1), and then rebelled. But in the lack of monuments these things are by no means ascertained and are to be held especially doubtful. Cfr Comment. n. 53 sq. 113 and 137.

t. From which it is established, as also from the letter of Dhu Nowasus to Almundarus and from not a few other things, that that king was truly a persecutor, and that the Christians were killed in hatred of the faith. But I do not deny that the cause of the earlier war between Elesbaas and Dhu Nowasus, which we have said was waged about the year 518, was the tributes imposed on the Christians. Cfr Comment. n. 111, 115, 117 sq. Concerning the Romans and Persians our Acts, num. 2, have the same as the letter of Justin, since in both monuments the second rebellion of Dhu Nowasus is recorded; if, however, it is right to call his actions about the year 518 a rebellion. That Procopius fused the two expeditions into one we have mentioned, Comment. n. 110 sq. But here I should not wish to pass over what Michaelis inquires concerning that writer, what cause there could have been for his passing over the Arabian persecution; at which, with Walchius Novi Comment. societ. reg. Gotting. loc. cit. pag. 26., we cannot but wonder. Michaelis answers two things; one, that this persecution had nothing or scarcely anything to do with the Romans, and especially nothing with the Persian wars, whose history Procopius was writing. The other, by far the chief, is that Procopius not only was not a Christian, but also did not favour Christians; although (since he professed his service to Justinian, a Christian emperor) he does not attack them. For this reason such a persecution of Christians touched him but moderately. That Procopius was not a Christian, says Michaelis, I do not believe only from those passages which are usually adduced on this matter, but it is conspicuous in almost all his books. And he adduces examples which have been passed over by others, and among others the very passage which we have given in Latin at Comment. num. 111; in which he designates idolatry and the Christian religion by the same word, calling both δόξαν. Observe, however, that our Maltret, who turned these things from the Greek, renders δόξαν in Latin now as religion, now as superstition, according as Procopius is writing of Christians or Gentiles. Here are the Greek words, De bello Pers. lib. I, cap. 20: χριστιανός τε ὤν (Elesbaas namely) καὶ ΔΟΞΗΣ τῆςδε ὡς μάλιστα ἐπιμελούμενος; and a little after he writes of the Gentile Homerites ΔΟΞΑΝ τὴν παλαιὰν σέβοντας, ἥν δὴ καλοῦσιν Ἑλληνικὴν οἱ νῦν ἄνθρωποι. These and other things having been discussed, Michaelis has no doubt that Procopius was estranged from the Christian religion Orient. Biblioth. loc. cit. pag. 151 et seqq.. Of whom Alemanni had already written Procop. tom. III, pag. XXII, edit. Bonn.: Just as, therefore, the history of Procopius … has indubitable credit, so what he himself writes on religion we rightly judge to have no authority.

u. A γεγράφηκε δὲ καὶ ἐν Περσίδι Ἀλαμουνδάρῳ τῷ λεγομένω Σακικὰς.

w. Coptos, today Keft, formerly a most celebrated trading-place, on the right bank of the Nile and at latitude 26°; which already in the age of Strabo was partly inhabited by Arabs, especially merchants, unless I am mistaken. Here came the wares of the Indians and Arabs from the port of Berenice on the Red Sea, of which in the following annotation. On Coptos and the route which Justin records in the letter Pliny has the following, book V chap. 9: Coptos, the trading-place for Indian and Arabian wares nearest to the Nile. And book VI chap. 23: Two thousand paces from Alexandria is the town of Juliopolis. From there they sail on the Nile to Coptos, CCCIII thousand paces… From Coptos one goes by camels, namely to Berenice.

x. Pliny continues, writing of the route from Coptos to the Red Sea and Berenice: From Coptos one goes by camels, the stages being disposed according to the watering-places… Then the town of Berenice, where there is a port of the Red Sea, CCLVIII M paces from Coptos Cfr d'Anville, Géogr. anc. tom. III, pag. 34.. The ruins of Berenice were discovered in the year 1817 by G. Belzoni, at about latitude 23° 40' [Narrative of the operations etc. pag. 306 et seqq. Brussels 1835; cfr Champollion-Figeac, Egypte anc. pag. 432.]; that is, as Ptolemy writes, near the tropic of Cancer. Between Coptos and Berenice a paved road is still recognized, by which both the waters of the Nile were held in at the time of flood, and wares were brought down from the Red Sea. That the Acts in this place, as elsewhere, are therefore most accurate no one will deny. The same passage Metaphrastes has expressed in these words: τὰ δὲ Ῥωμαἳκὰ … στρατεύματα καὶ ἡμέτερα διάτε Κόπτου καὶ Βερονίκης καὶ Βλεμμύων τῶν νομάδων πρὸς ἄμυναν ἐκπεμπόμενα κατὰ πάροδον βλάψει μὲν τὴν ὑμετέραν, τὸν δὲ Ὁμηρίτην τελείῳ παραδώσει ἀφανισμῷ.

y. On the Blemmyes, who lived beside the Red Sea from Ethiopia almost as far as the Heroopolitan gulf Note: Golfe de Suez., see Comment. n. 45 and 71.

z. Our codex and Metaphrastes wrongly νομάδων; for the Blemmyes also were nomads, and the Nobades are generally known Cfr Cosmas Indicopl. pag. 179., or Nubians, who lived beside the Blemmyes in inner Egypt and modern Nubia. Joseph Sapeto writes that the Nubians received the Christian faith from the Ethiopians [Ap. Annales des voy. 1845, tom. II, pag. 308, 310; Viaggio, pag. 65; cfr Comment. sup. n. 35.], and indeed about the year 500; contrary to the judgment of Letronne Mém. de l'Institut, tom. IX, pag. 166 et seq., in his learned Commentary on the inscription of King Silco.

aa. Codex A διὰ τῆς σοῦ. (omits γῆς) συντρίψουσι πάντας, τὸν δὲ … εἰς τέλειον ἀφανισμὸν καταστήσουσιν. Ἔῤῥωσο.

bb. A ὤ τῆς μεγάλης κρίσεως τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ! Ἐκεῖ γὰρ.

cc. The Syro-Macedonian month Xanthicus, which corresponded to April, being omitted, the author here uses only the Roman, or Greek, designation, contrary to what was done above, n. 1 and 20. From this is confirmed, though not demonstrated, what we conjectured above, that the most ancient Syriac edition of the Acts ended with number 23. See Comment. n. 201, and annot. m at chap V.

dd. That is, in the month of April of the year 525.

ee. See annot. r.

ff. Μαρτύριον here is a church dedicated to a martyr; see Du Cange's Glossary. St. Mark obtained a special honour of cult among the Egyptians, who first preached the gospel in Egypt, and established churches in Alexandria itself: see Euseb. Hist. eccles. lib. II cap. 16. The patriarch of Alexandria was held to be his successor. Thus far Boissonade. The vicissitudes of the church of St. Mark Renaudot touches on here and there in his History of the patriarchs of Alexandria. It was also called the greater church, and Cosmas Indicopleustes mentions it [Cosmas Ind. pag. 331, edit. Montf. cfr Renaudot, Hist. patr. Alex. pag. 178, 331, 577.], who lived at Alexandria not long after the time of which the Acts write Cosmas, pag. 124 et 264.. The body of St. Mark, we know, was carried off by the Venetians in the 9th century.

gg. On Nitria and Scetis and their monasteries and monks we have gathered much in the Acts of St. John Colobus Acta SS. tom. VIII Octobr. pag. 39 et seqq.; which it would be superfluous to repeat here. See also Stephen Quatremère, who discusses these places with his accustomed accuracy Quatremère. Mém. géogr. et hist. sur l'Egypte, tom. I, pag. 451.. At the close of the fourth century there were in Egypt more than 100,000 monks and nuns Fleury, Hist. eccl. liv. XX, n. 9.; from which it is evident that they were still innumerable at the beginning of the sixth century. They say, moreover, that Egypt had about 7,000,000 inhabitants in the age of the Lagides, and not many fewer in the Christian centuries, down to the invasion of the Mahometan Arabs.

hh. Λιτανεία, or λιτὴ, as the codex A has it, is an ecclesiastical procession, on which matter the Greek ecclesiastical writers have much. See Du Cange's Glossary and the Ritual of the Greeks Goar. Rituale Gr. pag. 770 et passim..

ii. With Ἀγρυπνίαις or vigils, which were carried out in the churches, the ancient Christians anticipated feasts and the Lord's day, which now because of creeping abuses (of which Chrysostom already complained) Chrysost. opera tom. XI, pag. 669, edit. Maurinæ. are rarely held, or have been retained almost only in monasteries. The praised Chrysostom often mentions them. See also Du Cange, and the Codex sacramentorum of Leo the Great.

kk. Σύναξις signifies both assemblies of Christians which are carried out in churches, and the liturgy which is celebrated there. That both are designated in this place we are taught by what follows.

ll. Προσφερεῖν is to offer, to confect the Body and blood of Christ, says Du Cange; προσφεραί, on the same authority, are especially the name of the “offerings” or sacred hosts, sometimes also not consecrated, but to be consecrated, which προσφοραὶ

are called ἀλειτουργήται in the Coteleran Nomocanon, num. 111 and 453. But it is generally agreed among archæologists that προσφοράν is to be taken for the Eucharist V. Binterim, Denckwürdigkeiten, tom. VI, part. 3, pag. 537.; and they teach that what is signified by eulogies must be judged from the age of the writer and the circumstances of the matter. Here moreover both codices say τὴν θείαν προσφοράν; by which is manifestly signified the consecrated host, or the Most Holy Eucharist. Further, the chief bond of the mutual society, says Selvaggi, by which all the faithful adhere to one another joined as members of one body, is participation in the Eucharist, from the Apostle, 1 Cor. X … And hence we know that from the first age of the Church it was the practice both that the Eucharist should be sent to those absent from church, and that bishops, in order to express their mutual communion, should send it back and forth to one another. Justin, Apolog. II …, relates that the Eucharist was carried by deacons to those who were held back by some cause from gathering with the other faithful to celebrate the sacred mysteries. The sending of the Eucharist among bishops, to be an argument of mutual peace, is openly gathered from the letter of Irenæus the martyr in Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. book V chap. XXIII, who, warning Pope Victor not to cut off the churches of God from communion because of the different celebration of Easter, testifies that his predecessors kept peace with those who had come to them from those churches; then he adds: “Those very presbyters who preceded you, although they did not observe it, sent the Eucharist to the presbyters of the churches who did observe it.” To the same custom refers the practice flourishing in the age of Melchiades, Siricius and Innocent, that the Eucharist should be sent on the Lord's day from the bishop's church to the titles or to the lesser churches Selvaggius, Antiqq. Christ. lib. III, cap. X, II. 10.. In the sixth century this was done more rarely, especially in the West [Binterim loc. cit. pag. 534 et tom. II, part. 2. pag. 139; cfr Novell. 123, cap. 36.]; and eulogies, or blessed bread, had long since begun to be sent in place of the Eucharist. In some places, however, says Bingham, the custom lasted through several succeeding centuries after the council of Laodicea. For John Moschus, a writer of the beginning of the 7th century, speaks of the communion which a certain monk sent to another monk, separated from him by six miles. See Moschus's Pratum spirituale, chap. 29. Bingham also conjectures from canon 14 of the council of Laodicea that the Eucharist was customarily sent especially about the feast of Easter: This was most of all, if not only (which he says rashly), done at the paschal solemnity, in testimony of unity, love and charity. Not long after Easter of the year 525 the patriarch Timothy sends the Holy Eucharist to the king of Ethiopia. For he held the synod in the month of April, and perhaps at the beginning of the month; and Easter in that year fell on the 30th day of March. But the learned Ant. J. Binterim not undeservedly proposes another interpretation of canon 14 of the council of Laodicea Loc. cit. tom. IV, part. 2. pag. 535..

mm. A διὰ πρεσβυτέρων, by presbyters.

nn. A ὥσπερ Σαμουὴλ καί Δαυὶδ κατὰ τοῦ Ἀμαλὴκ, καὶ ἀναθεμ.

* Α τὸν ἡλιον εὐμ. καὶ τὸν π.

* Α ὑποσχ. ὁλκ … ἐπαγάγοι … ἐξουσ. αὐτοῦ.

* Α τ. λ. Σακικὰς

* Α πρ. τοὺς Ῥωμαίων Σαρακηνοὺς.

* Α Συμεωνίτου.

* Α νεστ. περσιδος.

* Α ἑβραίων

* Α διδασκαλιῶν

* Α ἀν. τέλειος δυν. ὑπ.

* Α ἥ ἐν σπ. ειλισ.

* Α ἀνίστατο.

* Α και κατὰ.

* Α omits up to Νεστοριανοί εἰσιν.

* Α omits.

* Α ποιήσῃ Ἐλεσβὰν

* Α χριστιανικώτατον.

* Α ἐπιστεύσατε.

* Α ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐλθόντας

* Α ἑλομένων

* Α Νεγρὰν

* Α και αὐτοὺς

* Α καὶ αρχαγγέλων

* Α πλῷ. read πλοΐ.

* Α γνησιότης, which Boiss. prefers

* Α και τ. λ.

* Α Βλημάδων.

* Α Νοβάδων

* Ασυντρίψουσι … καταστήσουσι.

* Α ἔγραψε κατὰ τόπον βασ.

* Α λιτην

* Α omits.

CHAPTER VII.

King Elesbaas prepares for war; he approaches a certain holy stylite; part of his ships reaches Homeritis.

Ἔτυχεν δὲ πρωῒ τὸν θεράποντα τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐλεσβαὰ συνάξαι ἐκ πάσης τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐξ ἄλλων ἐθνῶν, πλῆθος χιλιάδων ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι. Καὶ κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν τοῦ σωτῆρος, εἰσῆλθεν πλοῖα τῶν ἐμπόρων Ῥωμαίων καὶ Περσῶν καὶ Αἰθιόπων , καὶ ἐκ τῶν νήσων Φαρσὰν, ἑξήκοντα· οὕτως, ἀπὸ μὲν Ἀειλὰ τῆς πόλεως πλοῖα δεκαπέντε, ἀπὸ τοῦ Κλύσματος εἴκοσι, ἀπὸ Ἰωταβῆς ἑπτὰ, ἀπὸ Βερωνίκης δύο, ἀπὸ τῆς Φαρσὰν ἑπτὰ, ἀπὸ Ἰνδίας ἐννέα· ταῦτα συνάξας Ἐλεσβαὰν ἐν ὅρμῳ τινὶ λεγομένῳ Γαβαζὰ, ὑπὸ τὴν ἐνορίαν ὄντι Ἀδουλὶς τῆς πόλεως, τῆς παραθαλασσίας, ἐκέλευσεν ἐνολκισθῆναι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Πεποίηκε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς Ἰνδικὰ πλοῖα ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι τῆς αὐτῆς τρίτης ἰνδικτιῶνος δέκα, φιλοκαλήσας τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα. Ἐν τοσούτῳ οὖν πέμπει διὰ ξηρᾶς χιλιάδας δεκαπέντε Αἰθιόπων τῶν βαρβάρων, ὀφειλόντων περάσαι ἐκ νότου τῆς Αἰθιόπων χώρας καὶ μέχρις ἀνατολῆς εὐτρεπισθῆναι εἰς μέρη τινὰ τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου, ὅπως, τῶν πλοίων μετὰ τῶν στρατοπέδων ἐκ δυσμῶν θαλάσσης ἐρχομένων, ἐκεῖνοι ἐξ ἀνατολῶν παρεμβάλωσιν. Ὁδεύσασαι δὲ αἱ δεκαπέντε χιλιάδες τῶν βαρβάρων μονὰς δεκαπέντε , καὶ ἐπὶ ἄλλας ἑπτὰ διοδεύσασαι δι᾽ ἀβάτων καὶ ἀνύδρων ὀρέων, διεφθάρησαν καὶ οὐ διήρκεσαν ἐπὶ τὸν Ὁμηρίτην ἀπελθεῖν, οὐδὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν ὑποστρέψαι. Καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἁγίαν Πεντηκοστὴν, εὐτρεπίσας ἅπαντα καὶ μέλλων κινῆσαι, πρόκενσον ποιεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγιωτάτην τοῦ Θεοῦ μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν, ὅπου οἱ βασιλεῖς καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς τῆς χώρας θάπτονται· καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸν νάρθηκα τῆς ἐκκλησίας, [ἀπέθετο τὴν ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὸν κόσμον ὃν εἰώθασιν οἱ βασιλεῖς ἐνδιδύσκεσθαι καὶ μετὰ παγανῆς φορεσίας εἰσελθὼν, καὶ στὰς μεταξὺ τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου, ὑψώσας τὰς χεῖρας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, ἔλεγεν·]

[30] “Δέσποτα Θεὲ, παντοκράτορ, δημιουργὲ τῶν οὐρανίων δυνάμεων ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων, ὁ ὑπὸ μυριάδων ἀγγέλων ὑμνούμενος, ᾧ παρίστανται Χερουβὶμ τὰ πολυόμματα καὶ τὰ ἑξαπτέρυγα Σεραφὶμ, ᾄδοντα ἀσιγήτοις χείλεσιν· “Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κύριος Σαβαὼθ,” τρισάγιε Θεὲ τῶν θεῶν, καὶ Κύριε τῶν κυριευόντων· βασιλεῦ τῶν βασιλευόντων · Πάτερ τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, φωσφόρε , νικητὰ, τροπαιοῦχε, σταδιάρχα, σὺ εὐδόκήσας ἐξαποστεῖλαι τὸν Υἱόν σου καὶ Λόγον ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τῆς σῆς σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλὸς τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης ἑκατοντάδος πρόβατον· ὃς κατελθὼν καὶ σαρκωθεὶς ἐξ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος καὶ τῆς ἁγίας παρθένου Μαρίας, πάντα τὰ πρὸς σωτηρίαν ἡμῶν εἰργάσατο· φωτίσας ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐν σκότει τῆς ἀγνοίας ὄντας, γνῶναι σὲ τὸν τῶν πατέρων Θεὸν, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν μονογενῆ σου Υἱὸν καὶ Λόγον· καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμά σου τὸ Ἅγιον. Καὶ ἰδοὺ ὡς ἡμέρα αὕτη, ἡ ἄνομος γῆ καὶ σποδὸς ἐπάταξεν μητέρα ἐπὶ τέκνοις, καὶ τοὺς ἱερεῖς σου καὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου ἐξωλόθρευσε, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ μονογενοῦς σου Υἱοῦ, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ κέρατος τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου αὐτοῦ καθωπλίσθη. Καὶ νῦν δέσποτα Θεὲ ὁρατῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων, ἰδοὺ πιστεύων ἐπὶ τῷ ὑβρισθέντι ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀνόμου σημείῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ σου, παρατάττομαι αὐτῷ. Μὴ καταισχύνῃς με ἀπὸ τῆς προσδοκίας μου, μή ποτε εἴπωσιν οἱ ἀγνοοῦντές σου τὸ ὄνομα· “Ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς αὐτῶν;” Εἰ δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου ἐναντιοῦται ταῖς ἐμαῖς προσευχαῖς, πάταξόν με σύ, Δέσποτα, καὶ μὴ παραδῷς τὴν κληρονομίαν σου εἰς χεῖρας ἀνόμων τῶν βλασφημούντων τὴν ἁγίαν σου Τριάδα. Ἡμεῖς γὰρ λαός σου καὶ πρόβατα νομῆς σου ὑπάρχομεν *, καὶ σοὶ τὴν δόξαν ἀναπέμπομεν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.”

[31] Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐκπορεύεται ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλευούσης, καὶ εὑρέθη μετὰ τριακοσίων δέκα χιλιάδων [τῶν προσρυέντων αὐτῷ πεζῶν πολεμιστῶν. Ἐν πόλει δὲ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας Σαβὶ λεγομένῃ ὑπῆρχέν] τις Ῥωμαῖος ἐκ πόλεως Ἀειλὰ , μοναχὸς θεοφόρος, ἀσκητὴς καὶ προγνώστης, οὗ τὸ ὄνομα ἀββᾶ Ζώνενος, πρὸς ὃν ὁ βασιλεὺς μετὰ ἄλλων πέντε ὀνομάτων σχήματι παγανῷ καὶ πεζῷ, ἐπορεύθη ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἦν δὲ οὗτος ἀπὸ τεσσαράκοντα πέντε ἐτῶν ἱστάμενος ἐν πυργίῳ μὴ ἔχοντι θύραν ἢ θυρίδα· εἶχε δὲ ἔξωθεν σὺν τῇ οἰκοδομῇ πλάτος πηχέων πέντε , καὶ ὕψος σὺν τῇ οἰκοδομῇ πηχέων πέντε· τρυμαλιὰ δὲ μικρὰ πρὸς [τὰ θεμέλια τοῦ πύργου ὑπῆρχεν, δι᾽ ἧς τις ἤκουεν τὰ λαλούμενα ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ προσφέφει αὐτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς θυμιάματα συνθετὰ ἑπτὰ ἔχοντα ἕκαστον ἔσωθεν ἀνὰ δηνάρια δέκα· καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· “Εὐλόγησόν με, ἀββᾶ, καὶ εὖξαι τῷ Θεῷ κατευοδῶσαι τὴν ὁδὸν ἡμῶν καὶ συμπρᾶξαι.” Ὁ δὲ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπεκρίθη· “Ἔστω σὺν σοὶ ὁ συμβασιλεύων σοι. Πλὴν ἄφελε τὸν δόλον, καὶ ἀφαιρεθήσεται ἀπὸ σοῦ.” Λέγει ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ γέροντι·] “Καὶ τίς εἰμὶ, ἀββᾶ;” Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· “Μὴ προσθῇς τοῦ ἐπερωτᾷν με.” Τότε συνῆκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς, ὅτι διὰ τὸ χρυσίον εἶπεν. Καὶ λέγει * ὁ γέρων· “Ἡ εὐχὴ τοῦ ἀρχιποίμενος Ἀλεξανδρείας, καὶ τὰ δάκρυα Ἰουστίνου, καὶ ἡ θυσία ἡ εὐωδεστάτη τῶν μαρτύρων ἀνέβη ἐπὶ τοῦ νοεροῦ θυσιαστηρίου.”

[32] Καὶ εὐλογηθεὶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ , κατέβη εἰς Ἀδουλὴν τὴν πόλιν, κἀκείθεν εἰς Γάβαζαν. Καὶ κελεύει ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπισιτισμὸν εἴκοσι ἡμερῶν βαστάσαι πάντα τὸν στρατὸν καὶ μόνον . Καὶ οὕτως ἐνεβάλοντο ἑβδομήκοντα πλοῖα. Ὅτε οὖν ἔμαθε τὴν φθορὰν τῶν δεκαπέντε χιλιάδων ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, ἔγνω τοῦ λοιποῦ μὴ δύνασθαι τοὺς Αἰθίοπας ἐπελθεῖν αὐτῷ διὰ γῆς, καὶ ἀντιμηχανᾶται κατὰ τῆς δικαίας κρίσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος καὶ ποράνομος βασιλεύς. Ἔστι γὰρ ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ μεταξὺ τῶν Αἰθιόπων καὶ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν στενὸς τόπος τῆς θαλάσσης, ἔχων πλάτος σταδίων δύο· ἔστι τὸ στενὸν εἴς τινας τόπους κατάβραχον. Κελεύει οὖν πλῆθος σιδήρου ἀναριθμήτου συνάξαι καὶ ἅλυσιν γενέσθαι. Εἶχε δὲ ὁ σταθμὸς τοῦ ἑνὸς γονατίου λίτρας ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα. Καὶ συζευγνύει ἀνὰ γονάτια πεντήκοντα, καὶ παρεισφέρει ξύλον ἐλαφρὸν ἀγριοφοινίκινον μεταξὺ τῆς ἁλύσεως τῶν πεντήκοντα γονατίων. Καὶ οὕτως ἀπ᾽ ἄκρου τῆς γῆς ἕως τοῦ ἑτέρου ἄκρου , διέφραξε τὴν θάλασσαν. Καὶ ὅπου μὲν βράχη ἦσαν μετὰ μολίβδου ἐποίησε τοὺς πιαστήρας καὶ κρίκους τῆς ἁλύσεως· ὅπου δὲ βάθη ἦσαν, ἐβάσταζον

τὰ κορμία τῶν ξύλων τὴν ἄλυσιν. Καὶ μετὰ πλήθους ἀναριθμήτου παραγίνεται κατάφρακτος ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν *, ὅπου ἔλεγεν καταντῆσαι αὐτόθι τὸν βασιλέα Ἐλεσβαάν.

[33] Ἀγνοούντων οὖν τῶν ἀπὸ τῶν πλοίων ὅτι ἡ ἅλυσίς ἐστι διὰ μέσου ἐμποδίζουσα, παραγίνονται εἰς τὸν τόπον τὸν στενόν. Καὶ ἄφνω τὸ πρῶτον πλοῖον περῶν, κατὰ κυβέρνησιν τοῦ ἀπόλλοντος τὰς βουλὰς τῶν πανούργων, μόνου δυνατοῦ Θεοῦ, κουφισθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ῥεύματος, ὑπεράνω τῆς ἁλύσεως ἐπὶ ἑνὶ μέρει κέκλικεν, ὥστε νομίζειν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων πλοίων, ὅτι εἰς βράχος κεκάθηκεν. Τὸ αὐτὸ οὖν πάσχουσιν ἄλλα ἐννέα πλοῖα· καὶ γίνεται ζάλη τρικυμίας ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ, καὶ ἀγριοῦνται ἄφνω τὰ κύματα, καὶ ἐκουφίζοντο τὰ πλοῖα μετὰ τῶν κορμίων, καὶ ἐχάλων ὑπεράνω τῆς ἁλύσεως. Καὶ ὡς ἐγένετο δὶς καὶ τρὶς τοῦτο, ἐκόπει ἡ ἅλυσις· καὶ οὕτως ἐπέρασαν τὰ δέκα πλοῖα ἐπὶ τὸν Ὁμηρίτην ἀβλαβῆ. Τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἑξήκοντα πλοῖα ἐν οἷς ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐκ τῆς ζάλης καὶ τῶν σφοδρῶν ἀνέμων ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω ἐπὶ ἄλλους σταδίους δεκαδύο . Τὰ δὲ δέκα πλοῖα, τῷ ῥεύματι τοῦ ἀνέμου ὀρθὸν πλοῦν τελέσαντα, ἦλθον εἰς τὸν τόπον ἀπέχοντα τοῦ αἰγιαλοῦ, ἔνθα ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς, μίλια δεκαπέντε. Πέμπει οὖν ἐκεῖ εἰς ἀπάντησιν τούτων ὁ Ὁμηρίτης στρατηγοὺς μετὰ τριάκοντα χιλιάδων καταφράκτων σεσιδηρωμένων πάντων καβαλλαρίων.

[The king of the Ethiopians prepares a fleet and an army; 15,000 of his soldiers perish. A supplication] But the servant of God Elesbaas, both from his own kingdom and from the neighbouring nations, had early ^a collected an army of one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers ^b. Moreover, by the providence of the Saviour, there were collected the ships of traders ^c, Roman, Persian and Ethiopian, and finally from the islands of Pharsan ^d, sixty in all: namely from the city of Æla ^e, fifteen ships; from Clysma ^f, twenty; from Iotabe ^g, seven; from Berenice ^h two; from Pharsan ⁱ seven; and from India ^k nine. All these ships Elesbaas gathered in a certain naval station, called Gabazan ^l, which is within the territory of the city of Adulis, situated on the sea ^m, and he ordered them to be drawn up on the sand. Moreover in the winter of the same third indiction ⁿ he himself also built ten Indian ships ^o; and in this manner he fitted out seventy in all. Then therefore he sends fifteen thousand barbarian Ethiopians by a land route to the south of Ethiopia, that there they might cross the sea [p] and go up to the east, and be drawn up in some parts of Homeritis. For thus, when the ships with the forces were to arrive from the west, they would have been at hand unexpected from the east. But after these fifteen thousand barbarians had completed a journey of thirty days [q], and then one of seven days [r] through inaccessible and arid mountains, they could neither advance to Homeritis nor return to Ethiopia, and they miserably perished. The feast of Pentecost [s] being over, when the king of the Ethiopians had now prepared everything, the departure being at hand, he instituted a procession [t] to the most holy great church of God in which the kings and priests of the region are buried [u]; and arriving at the narthex [w] of the church, he laid aside the garment and adornment which kings are accustomed to wear, and having put on common dress [x] he entered and stood between the horns of the altar. Then, with hands stretched out to heaven:

[30] the same institutes a public one and prays fervently to God. “Lord God almighty, he said, maker of the heavenly powers, visible and invisible, who are praised by thousands of angels, before whom stand the Cherubim having many eyes and the Seraphim with six wings, singing with lips never silent:“ Holy, Holy, Holy Lord of Sabaoth, thrice holy God of gods and Ruler of rulers, king of kings, father of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, light-bearer, victor, bearer of trophies and prince of the stadium, you decreed to send your Son and Word from your substance, that he might save the lost sheep from the flock of a hundred of men.” [DANIEL, VII, 10., ISAI. VI, 2., APOC. IV, 8., I TIM. VI, 15., I COR. IX, 24., MATTH. XVIII, 12.] He, descending from heaven and incarnate of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, accomplished all that belonged to our salvation, enlightening us who were in the darkness of ignorance, that we might know you, God of our fathers, and your only-begotten Son himself and Word, and the Holy Spirit. And behold, this very day, even impious earth and ash has struck the mother in her sons, and has utterly destroyed your priests and the sheep of your pasture, and has armed himself against your Son and the horn of his altar. Cfr I Cor. IV, 3. And now, ruler God of things visible and invisible, behold, trusting in the sign of your Christ, which that impious man has treated with insult, I draw up my line against him. Do not, then, disappoint me in this my expectation, lest at any time those who do not know your name should say: PSALM. CXVIII, 116. “Where is their God.” PSALM. CXIII. But if the multitude of my sins opposes my prayers, strike me down, Lord, and do not give your inheritance into the hands of the impious who blaspheme your holy Trinity. For we are your people and the sheep of your pasture, and we give you glory for ever. Amen.” PSALM. XCIX, 3.

[31] Then he approaches a certain holy stylite, who announces good fortune to him. Having said this he goes out of the royal city [y] to his army, to which three hundred and ten thousand [z] foot-soldiers had assembled. Now in a city of Ethiopia which is called Sabi [aa] there was a certain Roman [bb] from the city of Æla [cc], a most holy monk, a vigorous ascetic and prophet, whose name was abba Zonenus [dd]. To him the king came with five men [ee], in common dress and on foot, to question him in the name of God. He had been standing for forty-five years [ff] in a small tower [gg], having neither door nor window, two cubits [hh] wide, and with the building five cubits high. There was a small opening in the foundations of the tower, through which what he said could be heard [ii]. The king therefore brings him seven compound incenses [kk], each having on the outside in the upper part ten denarii [ll], and he says: “Bless me, abba, and pray God to direct us on the way and work with us.” The servant of God answered: “May he be with you who reigns with you; but take away the guile, and it shall be taken from you.” The king answers the old man: “Who am I, O abba?” “Do not try to question me,” said the old man. Then the king understood that he was speaking of the gold. And the old man said: “The prayer of the archbishop of Alexandria and the tears of Justin, and the sacrifice of good odour of the martyrs, have ascended to the spiritual altar [mm].”

[32] [His army enters the ships. The king of the Homerites obstructs the strait of the Red Sea with a chain;] And having received a blessing from him, the king went down to the city of Adulis and from there to Gabazan [nn]. And he orders the whole army to bring with it food for twenty days only; and thus [oo] they were put on board the seventy ships. When therefore the king of the Homerites learned of the destruction [pp] of the above-mentioned fifteen thousand, he understood that henceforth the Ethiopians could not attack him by a land route, and the Jewish and impious king plots against the just judgment of God. For between the Ethiopians and Homerites there is a narrow place of the sea, of the breadth of two stadia [qq], and that strait is shallow in some places. The Homerite king therefore orders an immense quantity of iron to be heaped together and a chain to be made. The weight of each link was three thousand one hundred and eighty pounds [rr]. Of these he joins fifty [ss], and he inserts light wood from the wild palm [tt] in the intervals of the fifty links or joints: in which manner he obstructs the sea from one projecting shore to the other [uu]. And where there were shallows, by adding lead [ww] he sank the irons and rings of the chain; but where the sea was deep he held it up with wooden trunks [xx]. After which with an immense multitude that king came in armour to the river [yy], at which he said that King Elesbaas would meet him.

[33] But those who were in the ships, not knowing that the sea was obstructed by an iron chain, come to the narrow strait [zz] and at once the first ship, penetrating as far as the chain (by the disposition of him who brings to nought the counsels of the impious, through which, however, some ships pass, and which is finally broken, of God alone almighty), was raised by the stream above the chain and leaned over to the other side: so that those who were following in the other ships thought that it had settled on a certain shoal. The same happens to nine other ships; and a storm arises and huge waves occur, and they rage and raise the ships together with the trunks [aaa], and let them go beyond the chain. And when this had happened a second and third time, the chain was broken. And in this manner the said ten ships passed through. The other sixty, in which the king was, were thrown back by the storm and force of the winds for twelve stadia. But those ten ships, with favouring winds, finished their course, and came to a place fifteen miles distant from the shore on which the Homerite king [bbb] was. Then he sets his commanders against them with thirty thousand horsemen, armoured and sheathed in iron.

ANNOTATIONS.

by Ehrenberg in the Red Sea, about latitude 16° 50′, the island of Farsan kebir (Greater Farsan), almost 15 leagues long; and not far from there Farsan sseghir (Lesser Farsan): besides almost twelve others, and almost innumerable smaller islands. This group of islands is still called Farsan today, or Phersan, as others write; and very many ports can be seen there. The inhabitants collect pearls, and easily provide themselves with a living. That these islands were not unknown to the Græco-Roman merchants we now learn for the first time; for Photius indeed mentions in his third codex τῆς Φαρσάν, a port or island of the Red Sea, but this has been observed by no geographer, not even by the most diligent Ritter. These islands appear at this time to have been under the dominion of the kings of Ethiopia.

i. V. annot. d.

p. A ἐν τοσούτῳ οὖν δεκαπέντε χιλιάδας Αἰθιόπων τῶν βαρβάρων πέμπει διὰ ξηρᾶς, ὀφείλοντας ἐκ νότου τῆς Αἰθιοπίας διαπεράσαι καὶ μέχρις ἀνατολῆς, καὶ (sic) εὐτρεπισθῆναι εἰς μέρη τινὰ τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου, ὅπως… The word διαπεράσαι, or περάσαι, as ours has it, is generally said of crossing a sea or river, and it seems manifest that it is so to be understood in this place. Wherefore Metaphrastes interprets these things without much prudence in these words: Καὶ δι᾽ ἠπείρου μὲν ὡς ἐκ νότου τῆς Αἰθιόπων ἐξέπεμπέ τινας τῶν βαρβάρων Αἰθιόπων, μυρίους καὶ πεντακισχιλίους, πρὸς τὰ τοῦ Ὁμηρίτου ἀνατολικώτερα, ὥς ἀν αὐτὸς μὲν μετὰ πλοίων ἐκ δυσμῶν διὰ θαλάσσης, ἐκεῖνοι δὲ διὰ γῆς ἐξ ἀνατολῶν ἐμβαλόντες, τοὺς πολεμίους εἰς μέσον εἴρξωσιν (the codex of Boissonade: εἰς μέσον ἐναποκλείσωσιν). The people of Constantinople in the tenth century seem, then, not to have known that the sea flows between Arabia and Ethiopia at every point. The codex A continues: ὅπως τῶν πλοίων μετὰ τῶν στρατοπέδων παραγινομένων ὡς ἐκ δυσμῶν διὰ θαλάσσης, ἐκεῖνοι ἐξ ἀνατολῶν ἐπεμβαίνουσιν.

q. Thirty; so the codex A: τρίακοντα. Ours, however, seems to repeat δεκαπέντε from the preceding line. The use of the stage is most ancient, as we learn from the Pentateuch Deuteron. I, 2., and it spread among most nations. The military stage of the Persians was of four parasangs, or of almost 120 stadia, as Xenophon teaches. Most write after Herodotus that the stage of the Greeks was worth 200 stadia Herodot. lib. IV, cap. 101.; but Strabo also 250 or more Strabo lib. I, pag. 51. edit. Oxon.. Very much used also in the East was the Ptolemaic or Alexandrian stage, of 30 Ptolemaic miles, as Cosmas relates Cosmas Indicopl. pag. 138.: and the Ptolemaic mile was worth 48 1/2 kilometres. Finally the Arabic stage, which is worth eight Arabic parasangs, the Mahometans still use; of which we have spoken elsewhere. The 30 Ptolemaic stages, moreover, which are recorded in the Acts, are worth 330 lesser geographical leagues. But it is to be noted that the stages of armies are far smaller, and by Herodotus and most of the ancients are reduced to 150 stadia, or six lesser leagues [Herodot. lib. V, cap. 53; cfr Veget. lib. I, cap. 11; Jomard, Etudes sur l'Arabie, pag. 146.], and by Xenophon to four Persian parasangs, or only five lesser leagues. The 15,000 barbarians of whom the Acts speak seem to have had to set sail from some African port on the gulf named from Aden, perhaps from the port of Zeila, or, as is probable, from another situated much further to the east, in the region of Sasus and the Barbareotæ, which the Somalis inhabit today. Of these tracts Cosmas Indicopleustes wrote the following about the year 545: From Axum to the extremities of Ethiopia, the incense-bearing land which is called Barbaria and lies by the ocean, having a region not near, but far off, which is called Sasus, and is the last of Ethiopia, more or less 50 stages… For the Homerite is not very far from Barbaria, a crossing of two days intervening by sea; beyond which Barbaria is the ocean which there Zingium

is called. Sasus likewise, as they call it, is very near the ocean, as also the ocean is near the incense-bearing region, which region has many gold mines. Every other year, moreover, the king of the Axomites (or Ethiopians) through the governors of Agau sends men there to trade for gold: whom very many other traders accompany, so that they are more than five hundred in number… These things I have both seen with my own eyes, and received from the narrative of those who come there for the sake of trade, etc. Cosmas Indicopl. pag. 138 et seqq.. From these things it is evident that the fifteen thousand soldiers who were sent towards the south by Elesbaas undertook a journey not altogether unknown. But where they perished or fell away, whether in Africa or in Homeritis, cannot be said.

r. A καὶ ἐπὶ ἑπτὰ ἄλλας ἡμέρας ὁδεύσασαι δι᾽ ἀνύδρων καὶ ἀβάτων ὀρέων, διεφθάρησαν καὶ οὐ διήρκεσαν πρὸς τὸν Ὁμηρίτην ἀπελθεῖν…

s. In this year 525, in the third indiction, Pentecost Sunday fell on the 18th day of May.

t. πρόκενσον, or πρόκεσσον, a Græco-Byzantine word, signifies a procession, or supplication; as may be seen in Du Cange's Glossary, who brings forward this very passage of the Acts, among others. That processions in the church are most ancient, and that even in the age of the persecutions they were sometimes, though rarely, instituted, we know with certainty from the Acts of martyrs and the writings of the holy Fathers. At Constantinople the emperors frequently took part in them.

u. This church was in the city of Axum, the royal city of the Ethiopians, as is evident from the beginning of num. 31. There seems to be designated here the principal church of the city, of which notable ruins survive today, which very many travellers, Bruce Bruce, Voyage en Nubie et en Abyssinie, tom. III, pag. 144 et seqq. Paris 1791., Salt H. Salt, Voyage en Abyssinie, tom. II, pag. 174 et seqq., Lefebvre [Lefebvre, Voyage en Abyssinie, tom. III, pag. 428 et seqq.; cfr Tellez, Historia geral de Ethiopia, pag. 56, et Ritter tom. I, pag. 192 et seqq.] and others, have visited and admired.

w. The narthex is the vestibule of a church, or portico, which faces the doors of the sacred building. It extended in breadth, but was not deep; and it was reckoned to be outside the building. See Du Cange, and the ἔκτυπα of the churches of the East, which are generally available.

x. The Paris codex from which our copy was transcribed, and which here and there cannot be read, had in this place: μετὰ παγανικῆς φορ. Metaphrastes in Boissonade: ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς περὶ τὸν ἔκπλουν ἤδη ὢν, ἀφίκετο εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ πρὸ τῆς εἰσόδου, ἐν τῷ προνάῳ τὴν βασίλειον ἐσθῆτα ἐκδὺς καὶ τἄλλα παράσημα ἀποθεὶς, εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῷ ἰδιωτικῷ σχήματι, καὶ στὰς τοὺ θυσιαστηρίου κατέναντι…

y. From the royal city, as if to say from Axum; see annot. u

z. See Comment. n. 172.

aa. Strabo mentions Saba, a port of Ethiopia on the Red Sea Edit. Oxon. pag. 1095 et 1097., and Sabat, a city of Ethiopia, on the Adulitic gulf, is recorded by Ptolemy; see Mannert. That there were Sabæans in Ethiopia too, near the Nile, has been said in Comment. n. 123; and other Homerite names too, for example the river Mareb, are met with there: which seems to be ascribed to the common origin of these nations. But here is signified the place in which St. Pantaleon lived, as we are taught by what follows. St. Pantaleon lived on a mountain, two miles from Axum, towards the east; which is called St. Pantaleon's mountain today Sapeto, Viaggio, pag. 465; Tellez, Historia geral de Ethiopia, pag. 82.. Axum, however, we know to be distant from the sea a journey of several days. For that reason there is perhaps signified the place Saba of which Tellez writes: Near Axum, he says, in the province of Ethiopia called Tigre, there is seen even today a small village which they call Saba, or Sabaim, in which they say the queen of Saba was born. He writes then of another town, called Azeb, or Beth-David, from a certain King David: which name he says is also the same as Saba Tellez, loc. cit. pag. 65.. But Ludolf, in attacking the latter, seems at the same time to deny the former too Commentar. pag. 67 et 231..

bb. Roman, as if to say Greek. In the Life of the monk Tecla-Haimanoth, who is said to have flourished in the 7th century, we read the following of the nine saints, the first of whom was St. Pantaleon: He came to the monastery of Damo, which abbot Aragawi had built, one of the nine saints who came from “Rum and from Egypt” in the reign of Alamida (or Alameda; see annot. o at chap. I), son of Saladoba and predecessor of Tazena etc. Ap. Tellez, pag. 79.. Rum, however, as Mendez notes Ibid. et seq., denotes not modern Rome but Greece and Constantinople, or the empire of Constantinople. Sapeto teaches the same Viaggio. pag. 450.. For which reason it is nothing but mere amplification what is read in the Ethiopian Senkessar Ibid. pag. 399.: This saint (Pantaleon) was the son of noble parents from Rome (Constantinople), who were at court at the king's right hand.

cc. From this we are taught that St. Pantaleon was from Æla, then a most flourishing city, at the head of the Ælanitic gulf. There Cosmas Indicopleustes stayed about this time, before he put on the monk's habit Cosmas pag. 140.. See annot. e of this chapter. From this it is evident that St. Pantaleon is not undeservedly called Ῥωμαῖον, or Græco-Roman.

dd. A ζοναῖνος, ours ζώνενος; Boissonade thought it should be written ζωναῖνος. It is manifest, however, from all the circumstances and from several passages of the Ethiopian Senkessar (cfr Comment. n. 195, Sapeto pag. 401, 424; and others), that St. Pantaleon is signified here; for what reason he is called ζώνενος or ζοναῖνος is not easy to say. Yet what Sapeto notes somewhere Viaggio, pag. 450. seems to me to solve the knot, that the Greeks are called Rom by the Ethiopians, their kingdom, the region of Tyer, and the ancient Greeks, Iunanovian, that is, Ionians. I should conjecture, therefore, that St. Pantaleon was called Ζωναῖνον because he was Iunanovian, or a Greek.

ee. A σὺν ἄλλοις πέντε σχήματι παγανῷ πεζῶν; perhaps πεζῶς. Boissonade.

ff. For forty-five years. So too the Senkessar where it speaks of St. Pantaleon Ibid. pag. 400..

gg. Monks who lived in a little tower of this kind were called by the Greeks ἐγκεκλεισμένοι, enclosed, and sometimes stylites. See what we have investigated elsewhere on the little tower of St. Peter of the Blachernæ Acta SS. tom. VIII octob. pag. 132; cfr Tillez, loc. cit. pag. 82..

hh. Ours erroneously πέντε; A ἔχοντι (πυργίῳ) ἔξωθεν σὺν τῇ οἰκοδομῇ πλάτος πήχεων δύο, ὕψος ἔξωθεν σὺν τῇ οἰκ.

ii. The Senkessar: He made for himself (St. Pantaleon) a cave 5 cubits high, 2 long, 3 (sic) wide, having a stone for a roof, and for a window a small opening Ap. Sapeto, pag. 400..

kk. In the other codex, or B, this could be read: θυμιάματα σύνθετα (A συνθετὰ) μαζία ἑπτά (μαζίον is a book, or cake). Pachymeres book V, chap. 17: ἐπιφερόμενοι … καὶ συνθετὰ πολύτιμα θυμιάματα; in which place, as is evident from the text of the speech Pachymeres, pag. 385, edit. Bonn., thymiateria, or censers, are signified; in the Acts, however, the thymiata themselves, or perfumes.

ll. Δηνάριον is a gold coin, as is evident both from what follows, διὰ τὸ χρυσίον εἶπεν ὁ γέρων; and from the same Acts, num. 25. And since the Ethiopians and especially the Arabs before Mahomet for the most part used the coins of Constantinople, gold pieces of Constantinople, called νομίσματα, are doubtless signified. For these gold pieces are called dinar by the Arabs Kasimirski, Le Koran, chap. 3 n. 68, pag. 48; cfr supra annot. rr ad cap. I.; for what reason this came about I do not certainly follow. For the δηνάριον of Constantinople (which word the Greeks pronounce δινάριον, whence the Arabic dinar) was a silver coin, as we gather from Suidas, Hesychius and others Suidas, Hesychius, Du Cange v° δηνάριον. I observe, however, that the Roman gold piece was called a denarius by Pliny and by some others; indeed by Didymus of Alexandria himself Plin. Hist. nat. l. XXXIII, 13, cum not. Harduini.. We have said more of these things because for some years the most learned men the duc de Luynes Ap. Revue Numismat. 1858, pag. 292 et 362., Fr. Le Normant [Catalogue des médailles de M. le baron Behr, pag. 147; Id. sur l'orig. chrétienne des inscriptions sinaïtiques ap. Journal asiatiq. 1859, pag. 49 et seqq.] and V. Langlois have inquired not a little into the coins of the Arabs. The latter's book, published in the year just past, has recently come to hand; in which I notice that no coin of the kings of the Homerites has yet been found Langlois Numismatique des Arabes avant l'islamisme, pag. 11,141.: although that the Homerites once struck coinage is scarcely to be doubted. And indeed the Homerite helcas, or holcas, which was of the weight of one Arabic drachma, or dirhem, as was said above Annot. qq ad cap. I., agrees in no way with any coinage of Constantinople or Alexandria, as far as I know; yet I prefer that the numismatists themselves should judge of these things more certainly. This much clearly shines forth from recent investigations, that not only did the Arabs strike coins for themselves, but also that most of their nations, for example the Nabatæans, Palmyrenes, Mesenians, Atratenes etc., had their own coins, with inscriptions written in their own language Cfr Langlois l. c. passim.. From which falls what was still being proposed some years ago, that the Arabs before Mahomet struck no coins for themselves or marked them in their own language Cfr Sawaskiewiez, Le génie de l'Orient, ses monum. monétaires, pag. 79 et seqq.. Finally, in order that what we have noted here and there on the subject of coinage may be concluded here, we consider that what we wrote on the talent of the Hebrews after Calmet Dictionn. de la bible v° talent. and the distinguished Movers, Comment. n. 9, should be retracted: where we determined that it was the same at all times. But having weighed more diligently the Ptolemaic, or Alexandrian, system of weights and measures, which gradually prevailed through the whole East, we have perceived that the talent of 125 pounds is the Ptolemaic talent itself; and moreover that in the books of Maccabees and in the New Testament the system of the Ptolemies is constantly applied. Before the Ptolemies, therefore, another system was used in Judæa; of what kind it was we do not certainly know. But we not undeservedly judge that it was the same as the old Egyptian, which the Jews after

their departure from Egypt retained [Cfr Gosselin, Mém. de l'Institut, tom. VI, pag. 121; Doursther, Dict. des poids et mesures, pag. 352.]. And since in the ὑπογαίοις of Egypt various weights and measures have been found, the old system of that region has now become known; in which the talent was worth about 18,000 grams; that is, only two fifths (2/5) of the Ptolemaic talent Duorsther ibid..

mm. Cfr the Senkessar in Sapeto Viaggio pag. 401..

nn. Ἄδουλιν… Γαββάζαν. Gabaza will have been that part of Annesley bay which was nearer to Adulis. The traveller Salt believes that he has found the ruins of Adulis, and that it is still called Azoole, or Azule, not far from Zulla Salt, Voyage en Abyss. tom. II, pag. 237 et pl. X; Ritter tom. I, pag. 239.. Since the Acts here discourse of Adulis and of the departure of Elesbaas, there deserves to be recited a notable passage of Cosmas Indicopleustes which I have long passed over, and which Montfaucon believed should be understood of the present expedition of Elesbaas: When, more or less twenty-five years ago, says Cosmas, about the beginning of the reign of Justin, emperor of the Romans, I was present in those places, namely at Adulis, Elesbaas, then king of the Axomites, being about to undertake a military expedition against the Homerites, situated on the opposite shore of the gulf, commanded by letter the governor of Adulis to send him a copy of the Ptolemaic inscription of the seat and of the stone. Then that governor, Asbas by name, summoned me and another trader, Menas by name … and ordered us to go to the places and take down the inscription Cosmas Indicopl. lib. II, pag. 140 sq.. Which inscription is generally known to learned men. Montfaucon, and after him Galland, believed that the Homerite expedition recorded here by Cosmas was that which is celebrated in the Metaphrastean Acts of St. Arethas, in the Chronography of Theophanes and elsewhere. And from this they deduce that Cosmas wrote his Topography in the year 547: since this expedition, as Pagi teaches Ad an. 522, n. 5., Galland thus continues Galland. tom. XI prolegom. pag. XVIII ap. Migne, tom. LXXXVIII., falls in the year 522, the Vth of the emperor Justin. Now then, he says, if to such a computation of years you add the above-mentioned XXV years, there arises the year 547, the XXIst of Justinian, during whose reign accordingly the author is understood to have flourished and written these things. But the expedition of which Pagi writes took place in the year 525, as is manifest from our Acts and the Commentary. For that reason Cosmas would have written his second book, in which he reports that 25 years had passed since the expedition of Elesbaas, in the year 550. Which is not to be admitted, for two reasons. For first, Cosmas published the first five books of his Topography some time before the others, as is evident from his second prologue Cosmas pag. 114 et seq. edit. Montf.. Then, when these books were attacked, he added a sixth: which he composed in the year 547, between the months of February and August, as appears clearer than the noonday light from two eclipses which he sets down there Ibid. pag. 264.. How this could have escaped Montfaucon, the editor of the work, I do not understand. But it has long been observed that he prepared it for the press with too light a hand. From this we shall not undeservedly say that Cosmas wrote his second book in the year 546, or rather 545. Moreover Cosmas says (and this is the other argument which we wished to propose) that that expedition of Elesbaas took place about the beginning of the reign of Justin, who ruled from the month of July of the year 518 to the month of August of the year 527. The expedition of the year 525, therefore, took place not about the beginning, but about the end of the reign of Justin; and since we now know that Cosmas wrote his second book about the year 545, I have no doubt that the expedition of Elesbaas which took place more or less twenty-five years before, about the beginning of the reign of Justin, emperor of the Romans, is that which we have said was that king's first, and which has been recorded above in various places Commentar. n. 110 et seq., 113, 183.. Subtracting 25 years from 545, then, we arrive at the year 520; but to come nearer to the beginning of the reign of Justin, we shall not undeservedly say that Elesbaas made ready his first expedition against the Homerites about the year of Christ 519.

oo. Α καὶ οὗτοι ἐνεβάλοντο εἰς τὰ πλοῖα; it omits the number. Ours: ἐνεβάλοντο τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα πλοῖα. We have said elsewhere that those seventy ships could by no means hold the whole army of Elesbaas; but that there is no doubt that his army came to the African shore of the strait of Bab-el-mandeb, and was gradually carried across from there into Homeritis. That many forces could not be carried at once in seventy smaller ships is evident from what Strabo narrates of the Arabian expedition of Ælius Gallus: In this the first error was committed, he says, that Ælius Gallus had built long ships, although there neither was nor would be any naval battle: for the Arabs are not very warlike even by land (rather shopkeepers and merchants), much less by sea. Yet Ælius had built about eighty biremes, and triremes, and light galleys, at Cleopatris, which is nearest to the ancient canal of the Nile. Having perceived the error, he built one hundred and thirty transport ships (such as Elesbaas also had), in which he sailed, leading about ten thousand foot-soldiers of the Romans, from those who were in Egypt, and of the allies Strabo lib. XVI, pag. 1108, edit. Oxon. From which it follows that there were about 77 soldiers in each ship. But let us grant that the ships of the Ethiopian king, because they were furnished with provisions for 20 days only, carried 100 soldiers each; in the whole fleet of 70 ships 7,000 will have been carried. But these, since by the art of war they scarcely overcame the Homerites, were certainly not capable of occupying their kingdom. From which is confirmed what was said above, that the greater part of the army of Elesbaas came into Homeritis across the strait of Bab-el-mandeb.

pp. See annot. q.

qq. Here a few words in our codex could not be read, but Metaphrastes supports the text of the codex A: σκοπήσας ὅτι στενότατος ὁ μεταξὺ τῆς Αἰθιόπων καὶ Ὁμηριτῶν θαλάσσης τόπος μὴ πλέον δύο σταδίους τὸ εὖρος. Here the strait of Bab-el-mandeb is manifestly signified (Comment. n. 172); but it is to be noted that neither in the Acts, nor even by Metaphrastes, is the breadth of the whole strait openly stated, but that the Acts can easily be understood of the part of the sea which flows between Arabia and the island of Naucleria (Pilots island), half an English mile wide, or four stadia. Of the strait of Bab-el-mandeb the ancients wrote very little; among whom, although older than the rest, Eratosthenes is yet the more accurate: The narrows towards Ethiopia, he says, begin from the promontory which is named Dira. … The narrows nearest to Dira are contracted to about sixty stadia. Today these are not called the narrows, but further on as one sails, where the crossing between the continents is of about two hundred stadia. But six islands continuous with one another, filling the passage, leave very narrow navigations, through which wares are carried back and forth; these they call the narrows Ap. Strabonem, lib. XVI, pag. 1093 edit. Oxon.. Pliny agrees with Eratosthenes, assigning VII thousand D paces to the strait Hist. nat. lib. VI, cap. 33.; and also Arrian in the Periplus. The number should however have been doubled, since one shore is distant from the other 120 stadia. Wherefore Abulfeda was wrongly taught, who writes that the strait is so narrow that from one side of the land a man can perceive his companion on the other [Clim. I part. 6, ap. Bochart, Geogr. lib. II, cap. 23; cfr Voyage fait par ordre du roy Louis XIV dans la Palestine, part. 2, pag. 72, et Voyage de l'Arabie Heureuse, pag. 69 et 81 seq. Paris, 1716.]. This, then, is the whole account of the strait: it is contracted to 14 1/2 English miles, or 23 1/2 kilometres; between Arabia and the island of Naucleria (Pilots island) the narrows are of half an English mile; the island of Perim is 4 1/2 miles long, 2 wide, and between it and the island of Naucleria the narrows open to a mile and a half. Finally between the island of Perim and Africa the strait is about ten English miles wide; but it is interrupted by very many smaller islands: not however seven or eight, as most recent writers have held, but only six, as Eratosthenes most accurately determined above Cfr Ritter, tom. XII, pag. 665 et seqq.. From these things it is sufficiently understood in what way the kings of Ethiopia, who never had many ships, could carry their armies across into the Arabian continent and repeatedly subdue the Homerites. Adjoining the strait on the Arabian shore lay the trading-place Ὀκηλίς, which the author of the Periplus and Strabo mention Ap. Ritter, ibid. pag. 243 et seq., and which seems to have been found in the year 1834 or a little afterwards by the ship's captain Haines in the neighbourhood of Mount Manhali. Many small boats of the Abyssinians still put in there today. 1200 stadia from there, between east and south, was the port Arabia Felix, formerly celebrated for the abundance of its ships, before the fleets of merchants, so the author of the Periplus, dared to go from India to Egypt by the Red Sea. For before that wares were carried by the camels of the Sabæans and Nabatæans; which we observe here in passing because of what we have written on the commerce of the Sabæans, Comment. n. 11 sqq. The distinguished Movers adds that in the age of the Phœnicians and of Solomon too the navigation of the Red Sea flourished.

rr. A ἔσχεν δὲ ὁ σταθμὸς ἑκάστου γονατίου ἀνὰ λιτρῶν τρισχιλίων ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα. It is evident that in our apograph the word τρισχιλίων was omitted by the copyist.

ss. A repeats ὀγδοήκοντα from the preceding line: καὶ συγνύει ἀνὰ γονάτια ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ παρεισφέρει; read πεντήκοντα.

tt. ἀγριοφοινίκιον. From this passage Du Cange inserted the word ἀγριοφοινίκιος in his Glossary. Boisson. Ours: ἀγριοφοινίκινον. A continues: μεταξὺ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῶν πεντήκοντα γονατίων.

uu. ἀπ᾽ ἄκρου τῆς γῆς ἕως τοῦ ἑτέρου (ἄκρου omitted) διέφραξε τὴν θάλ. Whether the writer understood that the chain was stretched from the African continent to the Asiatic cannot be said with certainty; if that were so, he is manifestly wrong. But it could have been extended between the Arabian shore and the island of Naucleria, or before the port at which the Ethiopians had to put in: cfr annot. qq.

ww. Who would think that lead was needed to sink a chain. For the rest, I should by no means say that this history of the maritime expedition is accurate in each and every point.

xx. τὰ κορμία; see annot. aaa.

yy. A εἰς τὸν τόπον ὃν ἔλεγεν

καταντῆσαι: and presently adds more: … βασιλέα Ἐλεσβὰν, μὴ καθορῶν τὴν ἐπηρτημένην αὐτῷ παρὰ τοὺ δικαίου κριτοῦ ἐπὶ τῇ παραβάσει καὶ πάσῃ ἀσεβείᾳ ᾗ ἐποίησεν ἔνδικον μισθαποδοσίαν, ὁ ἀνομήσας διακενῆς ὅπως γινώσκηται Κύριος κρίματα ποιῶν.

zz. A ἐπὶ τῷ τόπῳ τῶν στενῶν.

aaa. Du Cange used this passage in his Glossary under κορμή, rather κορμί, since κορμί is for κορμίον. Thus Du Cange often made feminine nouns which do not exist, deceived by pronunciation and using bad codices… The κορμία here are tree-trunks. Thus far Boissonade, who then adduces a passage from Metaphrastes: more elegantly Symeon Metaphrastes, he says, εἶτα θύελλά τις διεργεθεῖσα καὶ διαταράξασα τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ κύματα διεγείρασα ὄρεσιν ὅμοια, τὰ προσδεδεμένα τῇ ἁλύσει ξύλα ὑπεκούφιζε καὶ δι᾽ ἐκείνων τὰ πλοῖα, ὡς ἅπαντα μετεωρισθέντα προσκαθίσαι ἄνωθεν τῆς ἁλύσεως, τὴν δὲ, ὑπό τε τῆς τοῦ σφοδροῦ πνεύματος βίας, ὑπό τε τῶν προσαρασσομένων κυμάτων διακοπεῖσαν, ἀβλαβῆ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Ὁμηρίτην εἴσοδον αὐτοῖς παρασχεῖν.

bbb. A ἔνθα ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, μιλια πεντεκαίδεκα. Metaphrastes: προσέσχε τῷ αἰγαλῷ διακοσίους ἀπέχοντι σταδίους, οὗ ἦν μετὰ τῶν στρατευμάτων ὁ βασιλεύς. But he wrongly μεταφράζει in this place, since fifteen thousand paces are worth not 200 stadia, but only 120.

* Α Ἰνδῶν

* Α Ἱλὰ ιέ, α. τ. κ. κ᾽

* Α και εὐτ.

* Α διὰ θαλ.

* Α τρίακοντα

* Α ἑ. ἡμέρας

* Α omits.

* Α κατελθὼν ἐν τῷ νάρθηκι

* Α βατ. τ. β. omits.

* Α φοβερέ

* Α ἀθεΐας

* Α ἡ ἡμ.

* Α omits.

* Α ἁγιωτάτου θυσ. καθ.

* Α omits.

* Α Ἀἳλὰ.

* Α μον. ἀσκ. κ. πρ. θεοφορος

* Α omits.

* Α δύο

* Α τρυμαλὶς

* Α ὁ γέρων.

* Α πάλιν.

* Α ὁ βασιλεὺς

* Α μόνον.

* Α κ. μ. omits.

* Α Τότε μεμαθηκὼς.

* Α εἰς φανεροὺς τόπους κατ.

* Α ἀγριοφοινίκιον

* Α omits.

* Α ἐπόντισεν.

* Α τόπον

* Α ἀπολλύντος.

* Α omits..

* read κεκάθικεν.

* Α καὶ τρικυμία.

* Α ἐπάνω.

* Α ἐκόπη.

* Α δεκαπέντε.

* Α ῥυζήματι, read ῥοιζήματι.

CHAPTER VIII.

The king of the Homerites is routed and killed.

Μετὰ δὲ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ἄλλα τεσσαράκοντα πλοῖα ἐφάνησαν κατωτέρω οὗ ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς, μονὰς τρεῖς· τὰ δὲ ἄλλα εἴκοσι πλοῖα, ἔνθα ἦν τὸ πλοῖον τοῦ βασιλέως , ὥρμησαν εἰς τὸν τόπον εἰς ὃν ὑπῆρχεν ὁ βασιλεύς . Καὶ νομίσαντες οἱ Ὁμηρῖται ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τεσσαράκοντα πλοίοις ἐστὶν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἑλεσβαὰν , τὸ πολὺ μέρος τοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ λαοῦ λαβὼν ὁ Ὁμηρίτης, ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸν τόπον εἰς ὃν ὥρμησαν τὰ τεσσαράκοντα πλοῖα. Ἐξέλιπε δὲ τὰ σιτία ἀπὸ τῶν πλοίων, καὶ τὸ ὕδωρ· ἐκαίοντο δὲ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ καύσωνος τοῦ ἡλίου οἱ κατάφρακτοι τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν πάντα ἱστάμενοι ἀπὸ προῒ ἕως ἑσπέρας ἄχρι γονάτων τῶν ἵππων ἐν τῷ χείλει τῆς θαλάσσης. Πάλιν οὖν εὑρίσκει μηχανήσας ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ διαβόλου· καὶ καλύβας μεγάλας [ἐκέλευσε γενέσθαι καὶ βαστάζεσθαι ὑπὸ καμήλων. Ὑψοῦτο οὐν ἡ σκηνὴ ἐπὶ κοντῶν ἐπάνω τεσσάρων καμήλων,] ἐπὶ ἄλλους πήχεις πέντε. Καὶ εὑρίσκοντο ἐκ πλαγίου καὶ ἐξ ὕψους κεκαλυμμένοι. Ταῦτα ἐποίησαν ἐν τοῖς τρισἰ συστήμασιν, ἔνθα διεμερίσθησαν ἐν τοῖς πλοίοις. Ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἀθυμίας καὶ τῆς πείνης καὶ τοῦ καύσωνος ἐδειλίων οἱ ἐν τοῖς πλοίοις καὶ ὀλιγοψύχουν· καὶ ἐνόμιζον τὰς σκηνὰς μακρόθεν περιπατεῖν καὶ ὑφ᾽ ἓν [ἔλεγον γοητείᾳ τινὶ τὰ ὄρη σαλεύεσθαι καὶ πάσας τὰς νάπας περιπατεῖν, ὡς φοβεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς κατελθεῖν, μή πως μεταξὺ αὐτῶν καταποντισθῶσιν. Ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐδὲ ἐν τούτῳ ἐξέφυγεν ὁ άντικείμενος. Ἕνα γὰρ τῶρ συγγενῶν αὐτοῦ πέμψας μετὰ εἴκοσι χιλιάδων καβαλλαρίων πρὸς τὸ σκουλκεῦσαι τὸ μέρος ὅπου ἦν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Αἰθιόπων· ἀγνοῶν δὲ εὐνοῦχός τις τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν, καὶ νομίζων ὅτι πρὸς γυμνασίαν ἐξελεύσεται ὁ συγγενὴς τοῦ βασιλέως, λαβών πέντε κόντους χρυσοῦς διαλίθους εἰς σκευοθηκάριον κρεμάμενον ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ] τραχήλῳ, ἐκολλήθη τοῖς σκουλκεύουσι. Καὶ ἐλθόντες εἰς τὸν τόπον, εὗρον τὸν στρατηγὸν ἐν πάσῃ παραφυλακῇ καὶ γρηγορήσει.

[35] Καὶ διασκέπτονται ὅ τε συγγενὴς τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ ὁ εὐνοῦχος μόνοι μετὰ τριῶν παίδων ποῤῥωτέρω πορευθῆναι τοῦ θηρεῦσαι ἄγραν. Παῖδες δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Αἰθιόπων, ἐκλείποντες ἀπὸ τῆς πείνης καὶ δίψης, σχεδίαν κλέψαντες, ἐξίεσαν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Καὶ εὑρίσκουσιν ἐν τῷ αἰγιαλῷ ὑπὸ κόλπον ὀρεινὸν αἰφνίδιον τὸν συγγενέα τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τὸν εὐνοῦχον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τρεῖς, καὶ ἐπέβησαν αὐτοῖς. Καὶ τὸν μὲν εὐνοῦχον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τρεῖς ἀνεῖλον, τὸν δὲ συγγενέα τοῦ βασιλέως ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὰ πλοῖα ἔχοντες. Ὁ οὖν βασιλεὺς Ἐλεσβαὰν ἀνέθετο τοὺς πέντε κόντους τοὺς χρυσοῦς τῷ Θεῷ. Καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα κατῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ ἀπὸ τῶν πλοίων εἰς τὰ καράβια. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἀρχηγὸς τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἕως γονάτων τῶν ἵππων ἵσταντο εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς θαλάσσης· οἱ δὲ Αἰθίοπες καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῶν, ἀπέβησαν ἀπὸ τῶν καραβίων αὐτῶν ἕως τραχήλου ὄντες ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ καὶ περιεπάτουν. Καὶ συγκρουσμοῦ γενομένου ἐξ ἑκατέρου μέρους, ἡττήθησαν πάντες οἱ παράνομοι, καὶ ἔπεσον φόνῳ μαχαίρας, καὶ εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐ διεσώθη τοῦ πορευθῆναι καὶ ἀναγγεῖλαι τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν ὄντι κατέναντι τῶν ἄλλων πλοίων. Τότε ἔχων ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἐλεσβαὰν τὸν συγγενέα τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν δεδεμένον καὶ ὁδηγοῦντα αὐτὸν, ἀνῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν Ταφὰρ, καὶ παρέλαβεν αὐτὴν καὶ τὰς βασιλίδας *, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν χρημάτων.

[36] Ἐφθάρησαν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς δίψης καὶ τῆς πείνης ἐκ τῶν πλοίων ὀνόματα πεντακόσια, καὶ ἐῤῥίφησαν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν. Καὶ συσκεψάμενοι οἱ λοιποὶ Αἰθίοπες, εἶπον· “Εἰς Αἰθιοπίαν ὑποστρέψαι οὐ δυνάμεθα· ἐνταῦθα λιμώττομεν· κἂν θάνατος γέγονε τῷ βασιλεῖ ἡμῶν ἀγνοοῦμεν. Μή πως ἐκ βραδυτῆτος συμβῇ φθαρῆναι καὶ ῥιφῆναι πάντας εἰς θάλασσαν, καὶ καταγέλωτα ποιήσωμεν [τὰ] χριστιανῶν ἑβραίοις· μᾶλλον ἐπικαλεσόμεθα Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, τὸν δυνατὸν ἐν πολέμοις.” Καὶ συναγάγοντες πάντα τὰ πλοῖα, καὶ δήσαντες πλοῖον πρὸς πλοῖον, λύσαντες καὶ τοὺς ἱστοὺς καὶ τὰ κερατάρια καὶ τοὺς αὐχένας, [καὶ τὰ εὐμήκη λοιπὰ ξύλα, διεστοίβασαν δήσαντες σχοινίοις ὑπεράνω πάντων τῶν πλοίων, ὡς νομίζειν ἐν θαλάσσῃ βλέπειν πόλιν μίαν· καὶ οὐ διεσαλεύετο πλοῖον τοῦ ἑτέρου. Τὰ δὲ καράβια ἐπισυνάξαντες, ἔδησαν κάραβον καράβῳ εἰς εὖρος τῶν πλοίων. Καὶ ποιήσαντες ὑποσκίους ἐμβόλους δύο δι᾽ ἀρμένων ἄνωθεν τῶν πλοίων, καὶ συναχθέντες πάντες ἐπὶ τῇ ἡτοιμασμένῃ τῶν πλοίων πλατείᾳ,] ἔκραξαν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, θυσίας πνευματικὰς ἐκτελέσαντες. Καὶ μεταλαβόντες τῶν θείων μυστηρίων, κατῆλθον ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἔνοπλοι εἰς τὰ καράβια. Ἔστησαν δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐκ πλαγίου ἑκάστου τῶν καραβίων, ὡς ὑποκλίνειν ἕκαστον καράβιον τὸ ἕτερον ἑαυτοῦ μέρος, καὶ τειχίζειν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ μὴ βλαβῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν βελῶν τῶν πολεμίων. Δεδεμένα οὖν τὰ καράβια καὶ τετειχισμένα ὠθοῦντο ὑπὸ τῶν ναυτῶν πάντων τῶν πλοίων καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν συνελθόντων μοναχῶν ἄχρις οὗ ἐκάθισαν αἱ πλευραὶ τῶν καραβίων ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Καὶ τεῖχος ἦν τῶν καραβίων ἀνάμεσον τῶν Αἰθιόπων καὶ τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν.

[37] Πρὸ δὲ μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἔγνω ὁ βασιλευς τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν ὅτι παρελήφθη Τάφαρ ἡ πόλις καὶ αἱ βασιλίδες καὶ φοβηθεὶς ἵνα μὴ [προσρυῶσι τινὲς τῶν ἑπτὰ συγγενῶν αὐτοῦ τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἐλεσβᾷ, ἐποίησεν ἅλυσιν σιδηρᾶν καὶ ἑαυτὸν] καὶ αὐτοὺς συνέδησεν. Καὶ ἐκάθητο ἐν τῇ λαπίνῃ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ κλίνῃ χρυσῇ, καὶ οἱ ἑπτὰ συνδέται αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ ἑπτὰ σελλία χρυσᾶ. Οἱ οὖν πολεμοῦντες τοῖς κόντοις καὶ τοῖς δόρασιν ἔκλανον τὰς πλευρὰς τῶν τετειχισμένων καράβων. Καὶ οἱ Αἰθίοπες στενωθέντες ἔκλαυσαν βοῶντες πρὸς τὸν Θεόν. Καὶ ἄφνω γίνεται οὐρανόθεν ἦχος φωνῆς λαμπρᾶς λεγούσης· “Γαβριὴλ, Γαβριὴλ, Γαβριήλ.” Καὶ εἰθ᾽ οὕτως ἐξελθὼν μοναχός τις τῶν κολυμβητῶν καὶ ὠθούντων, ἔχων ῥάβδον σιδηρᾶν, ἄνωθεν ἔχουσαν τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ σταυροῦ, κάτωθεν δὲ λόγχην, διακύψας μεταξὺ δύο καβαλλαρίων , καὶ ἐπιλαβόμενος μιᾶς οὐρᾶς ἵππου, ἔπηξεν τὴν λόγχην ἐν τῇ πλευρᾷ αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ διαλακτίσας ἔῤῥιψε τὸν ἐπιβάτην, ὡς φοβηθῆναι τοὺς Ὁμηρίτας καὶ φυγεῖν εἰς τὴν ξηράν. Οὕτως οὖν ἐκπηδήσαντες οἱ Αἰθίοπες, πάντας τοὺς πολεμίους ἐφόνευσαν *, καὶ συλλαμβάνονται τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν μετὰ τῶν ἑπτὰ συγγενῶν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ γέγονε σωτηρία μεγάλη ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ πᾶσι τοῖς χριστιανοῖς οὐρανόθεν βοῶσα φωνή· “Γαβριὴλ, Γαβριὴλ, Γαβριήλ.” Ταῦτα ἐμηνύθη τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἐλεσβαὰν, ὃς παραγενόμενος καὶ λαβὼν ἀνεῖλε τὸν παράνομον βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς ἑπτὰ συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ, κράζων καὶ λέγων· “Ἀναστήτω ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ.” Καὶ ἐπί τῷ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ στήσας θυσιαστήριον, ηὔξατο τῷ Θεῷ.

[The fleet of the Ethiopians being divided into several parts by the force of the winds, the Homerite too divides his forces into several armies, and uses various arts.] Three days later forty other ships appeared, three stages ^a below ^b the place in which the Homerite was. The remaining twenty, among which was the ship of the king of the Ethiopians, sailed to that very tract in which the Arab king was stationed. But the Homerites, thinking that Elesbaas was with the forty ships, their king led the greatest part of his army to the station of these forty ships. He abandoned, therefore, the provisions that were coming to him by ships ^c, and likewise the water; and the armoured Homerites, standing from morning to evening on the shore, were scorched by the sun, while the horses on which they sat had advanced so far as to be immersed up to the knee. Then the son of the devil, devising new things, ordered tents to be made which should be carried by camels. They were held up by poles on the backs of four camels and from there were raised to five cubits, and in this manner the soldiers were covered both from the side and from above. They did this in the three armies ^d into which they were divided, according to the stations of the ships. But those who were in the ships, labouring under languor, hunger and the heat of the sun, began to fear and to despair; and they believed that from afar the tents were moving about ^e, and they said with one accord that by some enchantment the mountains were moved and the woods were walking about: and from this they feared

to go down, lest perhaps they should be sunk in the sea with them. But these things little profited the adversary. For he sent one of his kinsmen with twenty thousand horsemen to reconnoitre the part of the ships in which the king of the Ethiopians was. But a certain eunuch of the king of the Homerites, not knowing this, and thinking that the king's kinsman was going out for the sake of exercise, having placed five small lances of gold, set with gems, in a quiver ^f which he carried from his neck, joined the scouts. And coming to the above-mentioned place, they found the commander ^g using all caution and vigilance.

[35] Then the king's kinsman and the eunuch wished to go on further alone with three slave-boys, for the sake of hunting. [The king of the Ethiopians slays one Homerite army, and occupies the royal city of Taphar by arms.] But the slave-boys of the king of the Ethiopians, perishing with hunger and thirst, having got a raft, had also gone out on land; and they suddenly find on the shore, at a certain bay surrounded by mountains, both the king's kinsman and the eunuch with the three boys: and they attacked them. And the eunuch with the other three they killed, but the king's kinsman they brought with them to the ships. King Elesbaas therefore offered the five small lances of gold to God, and then went down from the ships into small skiffs ^h. And the commander of the Homerites and his soldiers stood in the midst of the waters up to the knees of the horses; and meanwhile the Ethiopians with their king went down from the skiffs [i] immersed in the waters up to their necks and came out. Then a collision took place on either side and all the impious ^k were vanquished and fell in the slaughter of the sword, nor did even one of them escape to announce what had happened to the Homerite king, staying over against the other forty ships ^l. Then King Elesbaas, with the kinsman of the king of the Homerites, who, though bound, was the guide of the way, went away to the royal city, Taphar by name ^m, and occupied it together with the queens and much wealth.

[36] [Part of the Ethiopian fleet, of 40 ships, is pressed by hunger; but the soldiers using a stratagem, then refreshed by the Eucharist,] Meanwhile five hundred men perished from hunger and thirst ⁿ in the said forty ships and were thrown into the sea. And the remaining Ethiopians, deliberating what to do, said: “We cannot return to Ethiopia; here we are pressed by hunger, and whether death has befallen our king we do not know ^o. Lest perhaps by delaying we perish and all be thrown into the sea, and the Christians be held in derision by the Jews, let us rather call upon the Lord our God, who is powerful in wars.” At once they gather all the ships [p], and bind ship to ship, they loose the masts, yards and other long timbers of the ships, and bind them all together on their upper part; so that one might see as it were a city on the sea: nor could the motion of the sea tear ship from ship. Then, bringing up the skiffs, they tied them to one another along the breadth of the ships. Stretching out sails on the upper part of the ships, and having thus made two shady porticoes, all assembled on the prepared deck of the ships and cried out to God, offering spiritual sacrifices. Having then received the divine mysteries [q] they went down armed into the skiffs, and stood on their side, so that they were tilted, and the other part of them, rising, defended them like a wall against the weapons of the enemy. These skiffs, bound together, as has been said, and tilted in the likeness of a wall, were pushed by the sailors and the monks who had followed the fleet until they touched the land with their sides; in which manner that wall of skiffs was between the Homerites and the Ethiopians.

[37] [with the archangel Gabriel helping from heaven, they obtain the victory. The king of the Homerites and his seven kinsmen are slain.] One day before, the king of the Homerites learned that the city of Taphar had been captured with the queens [r], and fearing that some of his seven kinsmen should join themselves to King Elesbaas, he made an iron chain [s], and binding both himself and them with it, he sat in his chariot [t] on a golden litter; and the seven kinsmen, bound with him, on seven seats, likewise of gold [u]. Meanwhile the enemy with poles and spears were breaking the sides of the skiffs rising in the likeness of a wall; when, the Ethiopians being pressed by straits and calling on God with wailing and shouting, suddenly a clear voice was heard from heaven, uttering these words: “Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel [w].” Then a certain monk, of those who were pushing the skiffs by swimming, coming out, and holding an iron staff, having on top the sign of the cross, and armed below with a point, bent down between two horsemen, and, seizing the tail of one of the horses, fixed the point in its side. The horse kicked and threw its rider, so that the Homerites, troubled and struck with fear, fled to the land. Then the Ethiopians, leaping out, butchered the enemy [x], keeping the king of the Homerites with his seven kinsmen as captives. And that voice was made, crying from heaven: “Gabriel, Gabriel, Gabriel” for salvation and huge victory on that day. These things were announced to King Elesbaas, who, coming up, killed [y] the impious king and his seven kinsmen, crying out and saying: “Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered”. Ps. LXVII, 1 And erecting altars in that very place, he poured out prayers to God [z].

ANNOTATIONS.

p. A συναγ. π. τὰ πλοῖα, λύσαντες τὰ καταρτίδια καὶ τὰς κεραταίας καὶ τοὺς αὐχένας.

q. These words, μεταλαβόντες τῶν θείων μυστηρίων, are to be understood of the Eucharist; see annot. ll at chap. VI. Metaphrastes in this place: καὶ τῶν θείων ἀπογευσάμενοι μυστηρίων.

r. A ὅτι παρελήφθη Ταφὰρ ἡ βασιλεύουσα πόλις καὶ φοβηθεὶς… Dhu Nowasus, therefore, or Dunaan, being not far from the strait of Bab-el-mandeb, or rather, not far from Aden, learned one day before that Taphar had been captured by Elesbaas, which can in no way be understood of maritime Zhafar, situated at about Paris longitude 52°, three hundred leagues from there; but neither is it easily understood of inner Taphar.

s. Metaphrastes says that the chain was of gold: δείσας, μὴ τῶν αὐτοῦ συγγενῶν τινες τῷ Ἐλεσβαὰν προσρυῶσι, τοῦ Θεοῦ σφήλαντος τὴν αὐτοῦ

γνώμην, χρυσῆν κατασκευασάμενος ἅλυσιν καὶ ἐνδύσας ἑαυτόν τε κἀκείνους ἐκάθητο τῶν πραγμάτων ἠμεληκώς.

t. A λαμπίνῃ. Du Cange used this passage under λαμπήνη. It is a chariot covered above. Boiss.

u. On a golden seat… on seven seats, likewise of gold. The distinguished Movers uses this passage among others Die Phönizier, Buch III, pag. 300., to show that the Sabæans, or ancient Arabs, took on the manners and usages of the Babylonians and Persians. In the sixth century the wealth of the Homerites had already partly flowed away, yet magnificent relics of the old splendour remained. How much they flourished down to the 1st Christian century we have said in Comment. n. 14 sqq.; now let us hear of the later age Ammianus Marcellinus, who knew the Arabs well enough, having dealt with them in the army of Julian the Apostate: To them (the Parthians) on the eastern and southern side the Arabes Beati are neighbours; so called because they are rich alike in crops and flocks and vines, and in the manifold sweetness of perfumes: and great parts of them touch the Red Sea on the right side; on the left they border on the Persian sea, being accustomed to enjoy all the good things of both elements. Where there are also many anchorages and quiet ports, and thick-set trading-places, and royal lodgings too ambitious and handsome, and most healthful springs of naturally warm waters, and a conspicuous multitude (!) of streams and rivers, and a salubrious temperature of the sky: so that to those who look at it rightly nothing seems to be wanting to them for supreme happiness. And although it abounds in inland and maritime cities… it has however these outstanding cities: Geapolis, and Nascon, and Baraba, and likewise Nagara (Nedjran), and Mephra, and Taphra (Taphar, Dhafar) and Dioscurada (Socotora?). So Ammianus Marcellinus at the very end of the fourth century Lib. XXIII, cap. 6.. From which it is evident that the wealth of the southern Arabs lasted long; cfr Comment, n. 16 and 42.

w. The archangel Gabriel is very greatly venerated by the Ethiopians Lefebvre, Voy. en Abyssinie, tom. I, pag. XVIII., and they have dedicated three days to him in their calendar, namely XVIII December, XXX March and XIII June Ludolf. Commentar. etc. pag. 402 et seqq.. But he was not altogether unknown to the Arabs either, especially the Coraysjites of Mecca, as it is easy to deduce from the history of Mahomet and his Coran. For the Coraysjites adored angels Coran. sura 37; Caussin de Perceval, tom. I, pag. 348, 355 sq. etc., nor do they appear to have been ignorant that they appeared to Abraham, their progenitor, in Hebron Coran. sura 11, 15, 29, 51.: which place they greatly venerated V. Comment. præv. supra n. 42; Ritter tom. XVI, pag. 214, 234..

x. It is evident from this passage that many more Ethiopians were there than could be carried in 40 ships. For I should by no means say, as I have already mentioned, that our author is accurate in all the circumstances of this narrative.

y. A ἰδίαις χερσὶν ἀνεῖλεν. Elesbaas must have returned from Taphar, or Dhafar, which is distant from the strait of Bab-el-mandeb a journey of at least five days.

z. Strange is what is read in cod. A, θυσ., εὔπεισεν (read ἔσπεισεν) τὸ αἷμα αὐτῶν τῷ Χριστῷ. Metaphrastes does not differ, premising however some things for the sake of explanation: καὶ τὸν Δουναὰν ἀνευρὼν, ἀνεῖλεν αὐτόν τε καὶ τοὺς συγγενεῖς, ἐπιθειάζων καὶ ἐφηδόμενος ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ δίκην διδοῦσι τῶν τετολμημένων· μηδὲ γάρ τι ἄλλο κάλλιστον εἶναι θεαμάτων καὶ ἥδιστον ἀνδρὶ χρηστῷ καὶ δικαίῳ, κολαζομένους ἰδεῖν πονηρούς· ὧν καὶ τὸ αἷμα ἔσπεισε τῷ Θεῷ. The blood of men is not poured out to God, but enemies are justly slain in a just war, when the laws of war allow it, and greater crimes, for the good of the commonwealth, are duly punished with capital sentence.

* Α τῶν Αἰθιόπων.

* Α τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν.

* Α Ελεσβάς

* Α καύματος

* Α παρὰ τὸ χεῖλος.

* Α μηχανᾶσθαι.

* Α οἰφ᾽ ἕν.

* Α ἠκολούθει τοῖς σκουλκεύσουσι.

* Α συγγενῆ and so below.

* Α omits.

* Α σ. μεγάλου.

* Α ἄ. τεσσαράκοντα.

* Α βασιλίσσας,

* Α τ. τεσσαράκοντα

* Α βράδους.

* Α κατάγελος.

* Α omits.

* Α κ. ἀλλήλοις.

* Α without π. τ. πλ.

* Α ἡ βασιλεύουσα π., και φοβ.

* Α λαμπίνῃ.

* Α ἐξ. εἷς τῶν κολυμβώντων.

* Α δύο καραβίων.

* Α ἀνεῖλον.

CHAPTER IX.

St. Elesbaas, having set up many things in Homeritis, returns to Ethiopia; he becomes a monk and lives and dies most holily.

Καὶ παραγενόμενος εἰς τὴν βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν, θανάτῳ καὶ ἀναθεματισμῷ παρέδωκε τοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ παλατίου. Φανεροὶ δὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων φυγόντες ὑπέστρεψαν καὶ γεγόνασι χριστιανοί. Τότε οὖν ἰδίαις χερσὶ σκάψας ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ἑπτὰ, ἐποίησε τὴν οὖσαν νῦν ἁγιωτάτην ἐκκλησίαν. Ἐμήνυσε δὲ ταῦτα παραχρῆμα τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ ἀρχιεπισκόπῳ Ἀλεξανδρείας, καὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τῷ βασιλεῖ Ἰουστίνῳ. Ὁ δὲ ἀρχιεπίσκοπος χειροτονήσας ὅσιον καὶ ὀρθόδοξον ἐπίσκοπον, ἔπεμψε πρὸς τοὺς Ὁμηρίτας καὶ πρὸς Ἐλεσβαὰν τὸν βασιλέα. Καὶ ἁγιάζει τὸν ναὸν ὃν ἔκτισεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἐλεσβαὰν, καὶ βαπτίζει πάντας τοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ τῇ περιχώρῳ εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καταστήσας ἐν ἑκάστῳ τόπῳ πρεσβυτέρους καὶ διακόνους καὶ λοιποὺς ὑπηρέτας ἐκκλησιῶν. Καὶ οὕτως παραλαβὼν τὸν ἀποσταλέντα ὁσιώτατον ἐπίσκοπον, παρεγένετο εἰς Νεγρὰν, τὴν πόλιν τῶν μαρτύρων, καὶ κτίζει αὐτὴν καὶ τὴν ἁγιωτάτην ἐκκλησίαν. Καὶ ποιεῖ τὸν ὑιὸν τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀρέθα ἡγεμόνα καὶ ἐθνάρχην τῶν ἐκεῖσε. Καὶ δωρεῖται ἀπὸ τῶν βασιλικῶν τῇ ἁγιωτάτῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ κτήματα πέντε, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀρέθα ἐκ τῆς ὑπάρξεως αὐτοῦ κτήματα τρία. Τὸν δὲ τόπον ὅπου ἦσαν τὰ σώματα τῶν ἁγίων καέντα καὶ ῥιφέντα ἐποίησε σεβάσμιον καὶ ἄσυλον * τόπον. Καὶ οὕτως μετὰ πολλῆς χαρᾶς καὶ εὐφροσύνης ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῶν Ὁμηριτῶν τὴν βασιλεύουσαν. Προεβάλετο δὲ τοῖς ἐκεῖσε βασιλέα τινὰ Ἀβραὰμ καλούμενον, συνετὸν, θεόφοβον καὶ χριστιανικώτατον. Καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτῷ καὶ τῷ ὁσιωτάτῳ ἐπισκόπῳ χιλιάδας δέκα Αἰθιόπων χριστιανῶν. Καὶ οὕτως ὑπέστρεψεν μετὰ πλείστων λαφύρων εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν αὐτοῦ βασιλεύουσαν πόλιν.

[39] Ἀνταξίως μὲν οὖν τῆς εὐχαριστίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, εἶπεν Ἐλεσβαὰν ὁ βασιλεὺς μηδὲν δύνασθαι ἀποδοῦναι· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μονον [συνεῖδεν, ἀποθέσθαι τὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ τὸ σχῆμα τοῦ μονήρους βίου ἐνδύσασθαι. Καὶ πορευθεὶς ὑπὸ νύκτα μονώτατος, ἀνῆλθεν εἰς ὀρεινὸν ὑψηλὸν, ἐν ᾧ ἔστιν μοναστήριον ἀγωνιστῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ, εἰσελθὼν εἰς κελλίον, ἀπέκλεισεν ἑαυτὸν, δοὺς συνταγὰς ὅτι ζῶν οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτῷ καρτερήσας ἄρχις ἡμέρας θανάτου αὐτοῦ. Οὐδὲν δὲ περαιτέρω ὑπῆρχεν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ αὐτοῦ, εἰ μὴ] ψίαθος καὶ βαυκάλιον τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ σπυρίδιον, καὶ ἅπερ ἐνεδύσκετο μοναχικὰ περιβόλαια. Ἡ δὲ τροφὴ αὐτοῦ ἦν ξηρὰ παξαμάτια ἡμερούσιον τρία, οἴνου καὶ ἐλαίου χωρὶς καὶ παντοίας ὁπώρας. Εἰ δέ πού τις ἤγαγεν αὐτῷ λάχανα χλωρὰ, ταῦτα ἤσθιεν ὠμά. Οὐδεὶς δὲ λαἳκῶν τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἐτόλμησε λαλῆσαι αὐτῷ, ἢ ἰδεῖν αὐτόν. Τὸ δὲ βασίλειον ὅπερ λέγεται στέμμα, τὸ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ἐκ χρυσίου καὶ λίθων τιμίων, [ἀνέθηκεν τῷ Χριστῷ, πέμψας εἰς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα, αἰτησάμενος διὰ γραμμάτων Ἰωάννην τὸν ἁγιώτατον ἐπίσκοπον τοῦτο κρεμάσαι εἰς τὴν πρόσοψιν τῆς θύρας τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ μνημείου, ὅθεν τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τῆς ἀναστάσεως καὶ τῆς ἀφθαρσίας ἔδειξεν ἡμῖν Χριστὸς ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ ἀναστὰς ἐκ νεκρῶν. Αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.]

[A bishop is established at Taphar. Elesbaas, having rebuilt Negrana and set up a new king, returns to his country,] Then returning ^a to the royal city he gave over to death and malediction those who lived in the palace. But some of the more illustrious magnates fled; then returning, they became Christians. Then the king, digging the earth with his own hands for seven days, began the most holy church ^b which is now to be seen. And he announced all these things as soon as possible to the most holy archbishop of Alexandria and through him to the emperor Justin ^c. The archbishop consecrated as bishop a certain holy and orthodox man and sent him to the Homerites and to King Elesbaas ^d. He, coming, sanctified the temple which King Elesbaas had built, and baptized all the inhabitants of the cities and neighbourhood in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He also established presbyters in each place and deacons and the other ministers of the churches. Then Elesbaas took the bishop most holy who had been sent to Negrana ^e, to the city of the martyrs ^f and rebuilt it together with the most holy church. And as leader and prince of the Negranites he set up the son of holy Arethas [g]. To the church also he gave as a gift five estates from the royal lands, and according to the command of St. Arethas, three estates from his property ^h. The place also in which the bodies of the saints lay burned and thrown he rendered venerable [i] and endowed with the right of asylum; and thus full of joy and happiness he returned to the royal city of the Homerites ^k. Then he placed over the inhabitants a certain king, Abraam ^l by name, prudent, fearing God and truly Christian ^m. To him, and at the same time to the most holy bishop, he handed over ten thousand ⁿ Christian Ethiopians. This being done, with huge booty he went back to the royal city of his own kingdom ^o.

[39] [and there, having laid aside his crown, which he sends to Jerusalem, he enters a monastery and lives most holily.] For so great a blessing of God, then, King Elesbaas said that he could return nothing worthy; he found this only, to lay aside the royal crown and put on the monastic garment. And setting out by night without any retinue, he came to a mountainous and lofty place, in which there is a monastery of ascetic men, and going into a certain cell, he resolved [p] not to go out from it alive, but to persevere there until the day of his death. Nor was anything to be found in his cell, except a mat and a dish [q] for drinking water, a little basket and the monastic garments he wore. For food he took three dry paximatia [r] daily, without wine and oil or any fruits. And if anyone by chance brought him green vegetables, he ate them raw. Nor did any of the laity for all the time of his life [s] dare to speak with him, or to look on him close at hand. The royal crown, moreover, which he had worn on his head, made of gold and precious stones, he offered to Christ, sending it to Jerusalem, and asking by letter the most holy bishop John [t] that it should be hung in sight of the door of the life-giving sepulchre, in which

Christ the son of God, rising from the dead, showed us the beginning of resurrection and incorruption. To whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

c. V. Comment. § XVI.

i. V. Comment. n. 196.

p. ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτῷ καρτερήσας… On which Boissonade notes the following: Perhaps διάξει has dropped out; or καρτερήσει is to be read. B (that is, the Paris codex 1454) cannot now be read.

q. A Βαυκάλλιον, for us “bocal.” The speech of Symeon Metaphrastes is better: μηδὲν τῶν τοῦ κόσμου κτησάμενος, ἢ μόνην ψίαθον, καὶ κωθώνιον εἰς μετάληψιν ὕδατος. Du Cange cited the passage in his Glossary under βαυκαλία, and wrote badly παρ᾽ ἑτέρῳ, since in the codex it is παιρ᾽ ἑτέρω, which, using the well-known interchange of the vowels αι and ε, I have most aptly changed into περαιτέρω. From B no help. Boissonade.

r. For us “biscuits secs.” Boissonade. Cassian, Collat. XIX, chap. 4, says that paximatia were of six ounces, and that two were customarily given to monks for refreshment each day: see both Glossaries of Du Cange.

s. From this and other passages of the Acts we have deduced that they were written after the death of Elesbaas, Comment. n. 199.

t. We have mentioned several times that this last part of the Acts is less safe; see annot. l. We do indeed believe that St. Elesbaas, when he put on the monk's habit, sent his crown to Jerusalem; but this could not have been done long before the year 540; nor while John held the patriarchate of Jerusalem: since he died in the year of Christ 524 Lequien, Or. christ. tom. III, col. 189.. The name of John, therefore, has been intruded, and more probably taken from the beginning of the Acts, num. 1, where it speaks of the war which Dhu Nowasus began in the year 522. — Here finally something must be added to what has been said of the talent of the Arabs in annotation rr at chap. I: where a certain difference between kintar and kantar is indicated; which is no other than a difference of pronunciation. For the kintar was worth 1,000 gold denarii; but it was also worth 100 pounds (or old Arabic ratl) of gold or silver: that is, it was about the same as the greater Ptolemaic talent. See Djawhari and the Camus of Firuzabadi in Freytag, or in Golius and Giggei. From the word kintar seems to be derived the Spanish and French quintal, and the Italian quintale, which designates a weight of 100 pounds: for the Spaniards in a similar way made quilate from the Arabic kirat. That in place of kintar the Arabs also said kantar, at least where a weight of a hundred pounds is signified, is manifest from the words cantaro, cantar, kantar, by which in many parts of Italy, Spain and the East (just as by the word quintal throughout Europe) a weight of that kind is named. And let these things be said in supplement to the above.

* Α Τινὲς δὲ τ.

* Α σκεψάμενος

* Α πατριάρχῃ.

* Α ἔπεμψεν ἐν τῷ Ὁμηριτῇ προς Ἑλ.

* Α ἅγιον.

* Α ἡμερούσια

* Α ἤνεκεν

APPENDIX.

A fragment of the Latin interpretation of the Acts of St. Arethas which Athanasius the Younger, bishop of Naples, prepared.

Arethas, martyr, in the city of Nagran in Arabia. (S.)

Reuma, martyr, in the city of Nagran in Arabia. (S.)

Companions IVMLII, martyrs, in the city of Nagran in Arabia. (SS.)

BHL Number: 0671

BY ATHANASIUS.

A headless Prologue.

… for, paying the debt of humanity, being altogether ignorant of their Creator, they were made over to the torments of Tartarus. And although their pompous triumphs, written down in a thousand volumes, so to speak, are read in poetic or even historical writers, yet when they pass from the world they receive oblivion like smoke. For all that has been and is not is counted for nothing. But the warriors of the divine battle, who have carried their immortal victories beyond the ether to the most victorious emperor, now crowned with blooming laurels rejoice perpetually. Add moreover that the army of worldly warfare, the more comrades it has lost in battle, the more it grieves and complains of its defect, and laments not only that it is diminished in numbers and strength, but is also deprived of the vigour of daring. But the holy and apostolic church rejoices that its army is increased the more loftily, the more it beholds the blessed contestants bravely conquering the tyranny of the devil, and by conquering dying in greater numbers. For if any of its own, turning his back, has submitted his neck to the enemy, it reckons him as an abortion, a stranger to its bowels. Finally, in this new kind of conquering, the athletes of Christianity, when accused, did not excuse themselves, when questioned, at once confessed, when adjudged to death, gave thanks: and for this reason, when they were thought to be conquered, they themselves truly conquered. Satan therefore, who panted to seize, torture and conquer them in many forms, when he saw their inflexible strength, was himself first tortured, seized, conquered. Whence indeed the province of Sabea, as it abounds richly in fragrant spices, so it is powerful in the blessed fertility of martyrs.

[2] But from ancient times it has been extolled with celebrated praise, because, namely, it came from the ends of the east, eager to hear the wisdom of the Peaceful king, and to see the most august temple of the Lord in the whole circle of the earth: and finally, after many courses of years, having accomplished the same [b] very long journey, it adored the star-bearing infancy of the Saviour with mystic gifts. This province, then, as it sends over aromatic merchandise to the western parts of the world, so it has dispatched Arethas, a great-souled prince and most blessed martyr, more precious than all gold and necklaces. But because it was a disgrace for so great a man to arrive from afar without a retinue, it sent with him a company laurelled with triumphant garlands. Whose victorious contests and perennial palms I, Athanasius the younger, prelate of the Parthenopean church [c], for the honour of God and the joy of the Christian religion, will endeavour to translate from Æolic exemplars. And because a foreign idiom by no means agrees with Latin style, being eager to pluck not the leaves of words but rather the richness of the sense, we cut away what is superfluous; and sometimes, the order being changed, we insert some things of our own for the elucidation of the meanings. Indeed, let no one be altogether ignorant that the Homerites were of Hebrew stock, who has learned by reading that many of the Jews entered into mutual marriages with Gentiles and thoroughly held to the rite of the gods. These passions of the holy martyrs, then, most beloved brothers, gladly recalling, and celebrating their memory with due devotion [d], let us beg by the charity of the Holy Spirit that we may at some time deserve to enjoy eternal happiness with them.

Narrative.

In about the five hundred and twenty-first ^e year, then, of the Lord's Incarnation according to the Latins, and in the fifth year of the reign also of Justin the elder, who at Constantinople governed the Roman empire, when John was Pope, vicar of the prince of the apostles ^f, and likewise John patriarch of the city of Jerusalem, Euphrasius at Antioch, and Timothy at Alexandria [h]; there then reigned in the Ethiopian provinces in a certain city Auximum Helesbas [i], a most just man. It happened at the same time that the king of the Homerites was named Dunaan, who was a Hebrew and a drinker of human blood and most iniquitous beyond all men in the nation of the Homerites. For the province of the Homerites is that which the divine Scripture mentions as Saba, and the Gentiles call Eudæmon Arabia. All who inhabited it were Jews and Gentiles: who lived not according to the precept of the law, but according to the traditions of the hypocrite Pharisees and also of the Sadducees. For the whole world everywhere glorified and praised the Lord Christ, true God, who lives and reigns inseparably with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Alone ^k…

[4] … could by no means take it. Meanwhile he brought together as many as he could seize, of various sex and age, in the fields or country houses: some he killed with the edge of the sword; others he gave to his magnates and eunuchs to serve. Seeing therefore that he could in no way take the city by fighting, he imitates the cunning of the ancient serpent, who first deceived man with the poison of deadly persuasion, and the crafty enemy does not cease to lie in wait for his sons; he began to swear and to invoke the God of the law and the holy powers: We will not, he said, harm anyone nor compel anyone to deny the sect that you worship; but we seek only that you be under tributary right. Why do you delay? Open the gates that I may enter for the sake of seeing: I will take what is due to me to take every year; namely by the head of each man and woman, slave and free, boy and old man, one Olcas ^l. Now the Homerite coin has a weight of gold of twelve aurias [m]; and there is gathered annually from the same city of Negran a rule of gold of one hundred and thirty talents. And the talent in Ethiopia is of thirteen pounds. But the people of God, to whom the apostolic sentence from heaven applied: To you it has been given not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him: Philip. I, 29.

[5] King, they say, we have learned from the law and the prophets and the evangelical precepts not only to worship God, but also to obey the powers, and not to refuse whatever is reasonable or fitting. Inside, therefore, now trusting the word which you have promised us by oath, we lay open the city. Enter with whom you will; yet let this be known to you, that if you shall have transgressed what you have pledged to us, the almighty Lord will be our helper. His judgment being despised, your wickedness will descend not only upon your head, but also upon your kingdom. We for our part steadfastly sing to you the voice of the three boys: According to the monarchy of your Judaism we will not serve the divine worship, nor will we be made sharers in your blasphemy: for whom this at least will be most pleasant and desirable, to die for Christ, who with such love died for us, that we may live in him and he may live in us. Saying these and many like things they opened the gates. And soon the most foul serpent of the Homerites entered: whom all the magnates together with Arethas, son of Chaneb ⁿ, their prince, coming to meet him before the entrance of the city, adored prone on the ground. The Homerite ordered all that they could have to be taken from them; he commanded Paul also, the bishop of the city, to be shown to him. But they answered and said: It is two years since he departed from this life to the Lord. Hearing this, the most wicked Hebrew disdained to believe it. Yet sending to where his holy body had been buried, he had the same bones carried out and burned with flames; and their dust scattered through the air with a winnowing fan.

[6] On the following day he commanded all the people of his soldiery to pile up a multitude of wood and to kindle a fire so very abundant that the very place of the burning occupied as it were the space of one stadium. What cruel wickedness! Then there all the priests and Levites of God, and the other ministers of the church, monks and nuns, and sacred virgins, and psaltresses who kept watch in the holy buildings day and night in chanting psalms; all these, bound, he had thrown in together without any examination: thinking that he would strike terror into the rest of the faithful. And all who through such burning deserved to reach the crown were five hundred * and twenty-seven souls. Next Arethas and the elders who were with him he ordered to be bound with iron chains; and the herald cried out vehemently in the Homerite speech: If you wish to live, deny him who is called Christ. Judaize and be our accomplices. And the saints: Far from us that we should deny the faith in which we have been baptized. Then the tyrant: Has not the power of the Romans recognized it, and the priests and those skilled in the law? Not God, but a man, they without doubt blasphemed, treated with insults, goaded with blows and condemned to a most shameful death. Why then do you go wandering behind the back of this man? Do you think that you are better than the Romans, especially those who are surnamed Nestorians and are among us to this day, and say to us: We hold him to be a prophet and not God. For this reason I do not ask of you that, forsaking your Creator, who made heaven and earth and founded the whole world, you should adore the sun and moon, or [o]…

ANNOTATIONS.

b. Athanasius

believed that not only the queen of Saba came from Arabia, but also the Magi who adored Christ newly born. Of which much has been said in the preceding Commentary.

* read quadringintæ