Martyrius and Marcian

ON SS. MARTYRIUS AND MARCIAN, NOTARIES, MARTYRS AT CONSTANTINOPLE,

IN THE YEAR 351.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Martyrius, martyr at Constantinople. (S.)

Marcian, martyr at Constantinople. (S.)

BY B. B.

Single §. On the wretched state of the church of Constantinople, after the death of St. Paul the patriarch, whose notaries SS. Martyrius and Marcian were. Their passion from Sozomen and the menologies; and their memory in other sacred calendars. In what ecclesiastical grade the holy Men were placed, and whether they suffered with companions. The time of the martyrdom. Their tomb, church, Acts.

So that what is to be said about the two holy Martyrs may be understood more plainly and easily, The holy Martyrs were notaries of St. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, we must first treat briefly of St. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, whose notaries SS. Martyrius and Marcian are called in Sozomen. At the time when, as is found in Cabassut Notitia Conciliorum, p. 103. Louvain edition, 1776., Arius was spreading his poison in Egypt and the neighboring shores, Alexander was ruling the helm of the church of Constantinople, most closely joined to Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, both by zeal for religion and by likeness of morals… Alexander, bishop of Constantinople, took care with all the sedulity he could that so great a contagion should not spread into the imperial city; and afterwards in the Nicene synod he condemned the same heresy with the other fathers… Finally in the year 340 Alexander, bishop of Constantinople, as the day of his death approached, gave sedulous effort, lest the Arian faction should provide an Arian successor to him, that Paul, a most deserving priest, should be put in his place when he was dead: which was also done, although the Arians resisted. But St. Paul had a most disturbed episcopate. Let us hear Sponde Annales Baronii in Epitomen redacti, vol. I, p. 398.: In this same year (340), St. Alexander, bishop of Constantinople, a great athlete of piety and most keen defender of the catholic faith, full of days, departed from this life, when he had sat twenty-three years, lived ninety-eight; and in his place, by his own forewarning, there was put by the orthodox Paul, a presbyter of the same church, a man distinguished for piety and doctrine, while the Arians were busy for electing Macedonius. But when at the same time the emperor Constantius had come to that city, a council of Arian bishops being assembled, he deposed Paul, and transferred their standard-bearer Eusebius from Nicomedia to Constantinople. And below at the year 342 Ibid. p. 405.: When, Eusebius having died, the people of Constantinople had again brought into the church Paul, once ejected on Eusebius's account, while the Arians had chosen Macedonius as bishop, and thence, frequent seditions having arisen, very many had perished on both sides, and the commander Hermogenes also, ordered by the emperor Constantius, then being at Antioch, to expel Paul from the church, had been slain by the people rising against him on Paul's behalf; then Constantius himself, hastening to Constantinople, both ejected Paul from the city; and fined the city itself more than four million medimni of grain, namely half of the dole which had been ordered by Constantine the Great to be supplied to it daily from the revenues of Egypt. Being angry also with Macedonius, both because on his account so many slaughters had been committed, and because, without at all awaiting the consent of the emperor himself, he had borne himself as bishop, leaving the matter still in doubt he returned to Antioch. Paul fled to Rome, and was ordered by Pope Julius to be restored to his see, which however does not seem to have been put into execution before the year 348: for it is very doubtful whether St. Paul was present in the preceding year at the council of Sardica, although Socrates and Sozomen assert it Annales Baronii in Epitomen redacti, p. 410.. In the year 348, moreover, at the instance of the emperor Constans, St. Paul returned to Constantinople with the consent of Constantius Ibid., p. 414..

[2] cruelly killed by the Arians. But when the emperor Constans was killed on the 27th of February in the year 350, St. Paul was dealt with more cruelly. As the same year was closing, or, as it pleases others better, in the following year, before Constantius departed from Antioch … the same emperor, already freed from fear of him, decreed that Paul, bishop of Constantinople, whom his brother Constans had caused to be restored, should be driven from the see, and Macedonius put in his place, letters being written on this matter to Philip the prefect, who was called, and was, second after the emperor. Paul therefore, deceitfully summoned by Philip, who feared a tumult of the people most inclined to Paul, to a public building on another pretext, and let down through a window into a boat, was with great haste carried away to the place of exile. Further, Athanasius, collecting his various exiles into one, says that he was first relegated by the Eusebians to Pontus; afterwards by Constantius

bound with iron, deported to Singara in Mesopotamia; and again from there to Emesa; finally from here carried off to Cucusus, a town of Armenia around the wastes of Taurus, and there strangled with a noose by the same Arians, he ended his life… But the body of Paul the emperor Theodosius the elder afterwards caused to be carried in magnificent translation to Constantinople and to be placed in the church which Macedonius his persecutor had built; which was afterwards called by the name of Paul Ibid., p. 419 and following.. Thus far Sponde. And let these things suffice for our purpose concerning St. Paul. Whoever wishes to know more about him and about the storms stirred up against the orthodox under the emperor Constantius and with the Arian faction prevailing, let him go to the Commentary in our work at the 7th of June, on which the memory of St. Paul is celebrated, and likewise let him consult Janning in the Appendix to volume VI of the aforesaid month, p. 71. Compare also Cuper in the chronological history of the Patriarchs of Constantinople Acta SS., vol. I of August, p. * 14 and following., Tillemont Mémoires, vol. VII, pp. 251–260. Paris, 1706. In quarto. and others.

[3] Their passion from Sozomen, These things being set out first, let us come to SS. Martyrius and Marcian, and let us begin from the following words of Sozomen: The evil, he says Book IV, ch. III., had advanced even to slaughters. For as others were killed, so also Martyrius and Marcian: who, as domestics and companions of Paul, are said to have endured death with brave spirit, when Macedonius had handed them over to the prefect, as authors of the killing of Hermogenes and of sedition against him, and finally of the deposition of Macedonius himself, at the time when he was expelled from the church of Constantinople. Martyrius was a subdeacon; Marcian a cantor and reader of the sacred scriptures. Their tomb is before the walls of the imperial city, very distinguished, surrounded by the circuit of a church, as the monument of martyrs. Which indeed John began to build, and Sisinnius completed; who afterwards were bishops of the church of Constantinople. For they judged it unworthy that those whom God himself affected with honor should be defrauded of the rewards and honors of martyrdom. For that place, where formerly guilty men led to death were customarily beheaded, though before it had been inaccessible on account of ghosts, was thereafter purged; and many other miracles took place at their tomb. And let these things be said by us about Martyrius and Marcian. If they seem less credible to anyone, it is easy to learn these things more accurately from those who know them: for perhaps they will narrate things still more wondrous than those I have said. And thus far Sozomen, a writer of the 5th century, who is believed to have begun his books of Ecclesiastical History about the year 443 Biographie universelle. Under the word Sozomène.. The third chapter, in which the aforesaid are contained, bears this title: Περὶ τοῦ μαρτυρίου τῶν ἁγίων νοταρίων, on the martyrdom of the holy notaries. That Sozomen writes: are said … with brave spirit, etc., this is indeed with a softer hand; seeing that he, as is known, was not at all hostile to the Arians.

[4] from the Menology of the emperor Basil, With Sozomen agrees the Menology which is customarily called that of the emperor Basil, namely Porphyrogenitus, and which was written, as we have said elsewhere Vol. IX of Oct., p. 520., about the year 984. It has this further at this 25th of October: The contest of the holy martyrs and notaries Marcian and Martyrius. These were disciples and notaries of St. Paul, confessor (by others he is called martyr, and surely not undeservedly) and patriarch of Constantinople, in the times of the emperor Constantius. After St. Paul had been relegated by the same emperor to Armenia, because, abhorring the heresy of the Arians, he had refused to join any communion with them, and there received a blessed end of life, strangled by the Arians for the orthodox faith; Marcian and Martyrius, adhering to the footsteps of their master, because they reproved the Arians, were arrested by Philip, the Arian prefect, and long tortured, and were shut up in a dark prison, to be worn out by hunger and darkness. Led out from there, they were being compelled to embrace the Arian heresy: but persisting in their purpose, they were brought to the summit of the wall and slain with swords; where also their relics were deposited. The painted tablet at the head of this encomium shows both holy Men; one standing, the other under the stroke of the sword. On the right is seen a church; from this a wall runs toward the left (I should think, girding the city), in which there are two gates placed almost next to each other. Are these perhaps an indication that the church still existed in the 10th century? See below where we treat a little more broadly of the church of the Holy Notaries.

[5] likewise from the Menaea and the Synaxarium of Sirmond. In the Menaea printed at Venice in the year 1843, at this day one reads: The memory of the holy martyrs and notaries Marcian and Martyrius. When after the death of Alexander, Paul the confessor held the patriarchate of Constantinople under the rule of the Arian Constantius, and had been sent into exile to Armenia, and had attained a blessed end, strangled by the Arians; these two holy Men also were slain by the sword for the orthodox faith, and were buried at the Melandesian gate, in the very city of Constantinople, in Deuteron, τοποθεσία τοῦ Δευτέρου; for whom our holy father John Chrysostom erected a church from the foundations. Thus far the synaxarium, before which, according to custom, are set the little verses:

Χριστοῦ καλάμους τοὺς Νοταρίους νόει, Εἰς αἷμα τὸ σφῶν, ἐκ ξίφους βεβαμμένους.

Know these Notaries to be the pens of Christ, Dipped in their blood shed by the sword.

Πέμπτῃ Μαρκιανὸν τάμον εἰκάδι Μαρτύριόντε

On the twenty-fifth Marcian and Martyrius were slain

or, as Siber translates Ecclesiæ græcæ martyrologium metricum, p. 471. Leipzig, 1727.:

Martyrius and his Companion on the twenty-fifth fell.

Sirleto has the synaxarium Canisius, Thesaurus monumentorum, vol. III, p. 481., but somewhat curtailed, and not altogether accurately rendered. There often recurs in our work mention of a certain Synaxarium of Father Sirmond, which we have among the hagiographical manuscripts, written by the hand of Papebroch, with this title: Supplement to the printed Greek Menaea, from the manuscript Synaxarium of Father Sirmond on parchment, recording one, or two, and often more Saints on each day through the whole year without verses, and from the paper manuscript of Father Chifflet containing six months from March to September. On the 25th of October, indeed, in the aforesaid Synaxarium no Saint is noted besides SS. Martyrius and Marcian, but their elogium differs not a little from the printed Menaea; for which reason we set it down entire from the likewise manuscript Latin version which is in hand: The contest of the holy martyrs Marcian and Martyrius, readers and notaries τῶν ἀναγνώστων καὶ νοταρίων. These were disciples and clerks of Paul the confessor (φοιτηταὶ καὶ ὐπογραφεῖς Παύλου τοῦ ὀμολογητοῦ, followers and scribes or clerks, notaries), patriarch of Constantinople, created after the death of Alexander, under the rule of the Arian Constantine * (rather Constantius). After therefore St. Paul had been sent into exile to Armenia by the emperor himself, because he would not communicate with the Arians concerning the faith, but openly exposed them to the common people, where he received a blessed end, suffocated by the Arians for the confession of the right faith, under the governor Philip; who, being himself an Arian, on this account harassed the nurslings of the right faith. These holy Martyrs, killed by the sword, were buried at the Melandesian gate, in the very city of Constantinople in Deuteron, whose life and church St. John Chrysostom restored from the elements, where also their assembly is held. In Greek this passage runs thus: ὧν καὶ τὸν βίον καὶ τὸν ναὸν μὲτα ταῦτα ὁ ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος ἐκ βαθρων ανήγειρεν · ἔντα καὶ τελεῖται ἡ αὐτῶν σύναξις. In the printed Menaea, in place of ανηγεῖρεν one reads ἤγειρεν, and it is translated he built. Nowhere else is St. Chrysostom written to have composed the life of our holy Martyrs, so that I should think the word βίον has wrongly crept in.

[6] Memory in other sacred calendars. After this no one will be surprised that the memory of SS. Martyrius and Marcian occurs not infrequently in other sacred calendars as well. It will suffice to have reviewed the chief ones here. And surely in the first place comes the menology of the festive gospels, or Kalendar of the church of Constantinople, brought to light in print by Morcelli in the year 1788 from a codex of the Roman library of the Albani, and, as the editor himself notes in the Title, distinguished by an antiquity of a thousand years; and elsewhere Morcelli proves that the codex which he used was written in the 8th century Kalendarium Eccl. CP., vol. II, p. 244., and after the year 740 Ibid., p. 230.. In this Kalendar, accordingly, we read Ibid., p. 28.: In the same month (Oct.) on the 25th day, for (ἐις) the memory of the holy notaries Marcian and Martyrius and of the other Saints, from the Gospel of Luke chapter 145 (in the Vulgate ch. XII), etc. From which we see why the title in Greek is used, Μηνολόγιον τῶν Εὐαγγελίων ἑορταστικων; and for what reason he set his own title in Latin Morcelli himself teaches us Ibid., vol. I, p. 8.: We have called it a Kalendar which is called Μηνολόγιον ἑορταστικόν, thinking that the force of these two lies in that one word, etc. On the same day in the Typicon of St. Sabas are marked Marcian and Martyrius, martyrs; and in the printed Menaea which our hagiographer predecessors used, there comes in the first place: Of Marcian and Martyrius, martyrs; and there follow the memories: Of Anastasius, martyr, Valerinus, martyr, Sabinus, martyr, Valerius and Chrysaphus, martyrs. Which are thus read in the Index to the printed Menaea, written by the hand of Papebroch. They are likewise recorded in the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides of the same predecessor of ours: Marcian, Martyrius ✠ Martyrs, and there is added Abraham. So also in Assemani Kalendaria ecclesiæ universæ, vol. V, p. 318. in the Capponian Greco-Muscovite Tables they are found at the same day, but alone: Marcian, Martyrius, and Assemani notes: The Vatican codices are empty on this day; the Calendar of Possevino is also empty, whence it has: "Lacking." In the Greco-Slavic Ecclesiastical Year of Father Ivan Martynov, at the beginning of this volume, p. 260, one reads (25 Oct.): The Passion of the holy Martyrs Marcian and Martyrius, Notaries, and Companions. So almost all… And the author observes: In the Ostromir one reads thus: "Of the holy Martyrs Marcian and Marturius and St. Nutarius." Where by a manifest error the dignity of notary has been changed into a person… The distinguished Kopitar … substitutes error for error; namely in place of "Nutarius" he reads "Cutarius …" and adds…: What if this Cutarius has come from the notaries of the Basilian Kalendar. I for my part have no doubt that here, as also not so rarely elsewhere, the scribe of the Ostromir was mistaken. Angelo Mai, in the Nova Collectio of ancient writers from Arabic codices of the Vatican library, published Vol. V, p. 46 and following. a Synaxarium of the year, or, as he himself adds, a Kalendar of the Saints for whom gospel readings are assigned, from the Kalends of the Month of September, from which the Greek Melkites draw the beginning of the ecclesiastical year, up to August inclusive. Of the gospels which are written out in full, we bring forward the beginnings for the benefit of students of the Sacred Rites. In this Synaxarium at the 25th of the month of Tesrin the former, which corresponds to our October,

is noted Ibid., p. 48.: Commemoration of the holy notaries Marcian and Martyrius. And in the other Synaxarium or Martyrology of the church of the Copts of Alexandria, presented in abridgment by the same Mai Ibid., page 93 and following., one reads on the 28th of October (to the Copts Babeh or Paophi): The Martyrdom of Saints Marcian and Mercurius (rather Martyrius), disciples of St. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople Ibid., p. 89 and following.. Of this latter Synaxarium we have spoken more broadly in the preceding volume Acta SS., vol. IX of Oct., p. 575, n. 1., and we pointed out that the Coptic year begins from the 28th of August; accordingly the 28th of October noted above falls on our 25th of the same month. And so much for the calendars of the Greeks and Orientals. In the Latin ones a sparser mention occurs. Bede, Ado, Rabanus and Usuard are silent; in the single Addition to the last, namely from the edition of Molanus, in Sollerius is held: On the twenty-fifth day, of the holy martyrs and notaries Marcian and Martyrius. In the Roman they are announced in these words: At Constantinople the passion of Saints Martyrius, subdeacon, and Marcian, cantor, who were killed by the heretics under Constantius. It is singular that in the Roman Martyrius is placed before Marcian, since elsewhere the latter is perpetually put before the former, except however in Sozomen, whom we have followed. Compare n. 1.

[7] St. Martyrius was a subdeacon; St. Marcian a reader and cantor; Further, says Morcelli Kalendarium, CP. vol. I, p. 203., these Martyrs of ours were also of some grade in the church. On the witness of Sozomen, St. Martyrius was a subdeacon; St. Marcian a cantor and reader of the sacred scriptures: Ὁ μὲν ὑποδιάκονος, ὁ δὲ Μαρκιανὸς ψάλτης καὶ ἀναγνώστης τῶν θείων γραφῶν. In the menology of Basil and our printed menaea, as also in the synaxarium of the Greek Melkites, they are called only notaries; in the synaxarium of Sirmond: Readers and notaries; in the Coptic Synaxarium: Disciples of St. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople; in the Roman Martyrology: Of Martyrius, subdeacon; of Marcian, cantor. Nicephorus Callistus follows Sozomen, but using other words: Ἧν δὲ ὁ ἕτερος μὲν ὑποδιάκονος, ψάλτης δὲ ὁ Μαρτύριος καί τὰς θείας ἀναγινώσκειν τεταγμένος γραφάς, of these Marcian was a subdeacon; Martyrius a psalter or cantor and reader of the divine scriptures [Nicephorus Callistus, ecclesiasticæ historiæ book IX, ch. XXX, vol. I, p. 748. Paris, 1630.]. In the Acts to be edited below nothing is recorded except that they were notaries or scribes of St. Paul. Baillet, relying on I know not what foundation, says St. Martyrius was a deacon, noting however in the margin that by others he is called only a subdeacon Kalendaria ecclesiæ universæ vol. V, p. 318.. I should think one must adhere to Sozomen, as being the most ancient writer of all and nearly contemporary with our holy Martyrs. Assemani observes Thesaurus. Under the word Ὀραριον.: As well in our calendars as in those of Papebroch, Marcian is painted as a bearded old man, Martyrius as a young man; each however in lay dress, although Martyrius was a subdeacon and Marcian a cantor. In almost the same dress they are shown in the tablet of the menology of Basil (compare n. 4); hence more probably in the three named calendars no mention is made of the subdiaconate nor of the grade of reader or cantor. Further, canon XXIII of the council of Laodicea forbids readers and cantors to wear the orarium: readers or cantors ought not to wear the orarium, and so read or sing. And Suicer notes Vies des Saints, 25 Oct.: But what the Orarium is, ecclesiastical writers best declare, who in the priestly dress called Orarium an oblong cloth, customarily placed on the priest's arm. In the Greek liturgies mention of this is often made; and the Greeks call that hand-strip now ὠράριον, now λῶγον. Although others take ὠράριον and ὠμοφόριον for the same thing, which was a vesture not of priests but of deacons. For the rest, those skilled in archaeology contend very much about the origin and meaning of the word ὀράριον (for so Suicer asserts it should be written, not ὠράριον). It is mostly taken for the Stole, sometimes also for the maniple; the Laodicean canon seems to be more conveniently explained if the latter meaning is assumed. Besides Suicer, consult, if you please, Macri in the Hierolexicon, the Politia, volume I, where it treats of sacred Vestments, Augusti [Denkwürdigkeiten aus der christlichen Archalogie, vol. VIII, p. 215 and following.], Merati Novæ observationes in Gavantum, vol. I, pp. 183–185. Augsburg, 1740., Thomassin Discipline, vol. I, col. 776. Paris 1725., Lebrun Vol. I, p. 46 and following. Paris, 1716., and others. Finally, although the order of Readers is distinct from that of Cantors; yet mostly the same person who read also sang, as Suicer reports Thesaurus, under the word ἀναγνωστης.: although, he says, as the word itself sufficiently teaches, their (the readers') office was ἀναγινωσκειν, to read, yet in the course of time they rarely read, but for the most part sang. And Binterim asserts generally Denkwürdigkeiten der Christ-Katholischen Kirche, vol. I, volume I, p. 293.: Readers were not rarely also cantors, Psalmists, Notaries.

[8] both notaries. But this is admitted among all, that the blessed Champions were notaries of St. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople. On the witness of Morcelli Kalendarium ecclesiæ CP, vol. I, p. 22., notaries or Ὑπογραμματεῖς, as Nicephorus calls the same, were scribes and clerks who took down the acts done in the church; and for that cause each bishop had his notaries from the number of the clergy; as he who preceded Paul in the pontificate of Constantinople, Alexander, in whose subscription mention is thus made: Σὺν Παύλῳ ἐτι τοτε ἀναγνωστῃ ὀντι καὶ Νοταρίῳ, with Paul (he is the very one of whom we have just spoken), then his (Alexander's) reader and notary. These were present, namely, also at a council. Thus in the council of Chalcedon, Theodore, bishop of Claudiopolis in Isauria, complaining of Dioscorus, Ἀγάγῃ, he says, τοὶς νοταρίοις αὐτοῦ · ἐκβαλὼν γὰρ τοὶς πάντων νοταρίοις, τοὶς ἑαυτοῦ ἐποίησε γράφειν, that is, let him bring forward his notaries: for ejecting the notaries of all, he had his own write Labbe, Conc., vol. IV, col. 128.. And Suicer writes more distinctly Thesaurus ecclesiasticus ex Patribus Græcis, under the word Νοτάριος.: The distinguished Meursius observes that there were at first two kinds of Notaries: these practiced the art itself; those professed it and taught youths, and were called νοτάριοι παιδοδιδάσκαλοι. (Of these the discourse will return where we speak of the tomb of the holy Martyrs.) Of those who practiced the art there were again three kinds: these served the palace; those the army; the others the church, and they were called πατριαρχικοί, and mention is made of them in the Synodicon of Patriarch Alexius: "But if it shall also be necessary to refer to our mediocrity or also to the most religious chartophylax (that is, the guardian of the tablets of the church See in the same work, under the word Χαρτοφύλαξ.) and his most pious deacons and patriarchal notaries." And these served the chartophylaces: this is established from the words just brought forward. And they were twelve in number.

[9] Whether they suffered with others? Finally Morcelli observes Kalend. CP, vol. I, p. 203.: But that they did not die in martyrdom alone is declared by the Kalendar (of Constantinople) by that addition καὶ τῶν λοιπων Ἁγίων. Which plainly correspond to what Sozomen touched on: for having recounted the insane furies of Macedonius, on whose account many had been harassed, or driven into exile, or branded with marks burned into the forehead; he added at last: Προῆλθε γὰρ τὸ κακὸν καὶ μέχρι φόνων · καὶ γὰρ δὴ ἄλλοι τινὲς ἀνῃρέθησαν, καὶ Μαρτύριος καὶ Μαρκιανός (For the evil came also to slaughters, and there were taken off both certain others, and Martyrius and Marcian). But he did not review the very names of those Martyrs; which however seem to be recorded in Assemani's Slavic codex, who joins with the holy Notaries Paul the confessor, Nestor the martyr of Thessalonica, Varus the martyr and seven Companions. And in very truth Assemani has it so, but he subjoins Kalendaria eccles. univ., vol. V, p. 319.: And the memory of Varus indeed is kept by the Greeks in the Menology at the 19th of this month (October), on which day we also treated of St. Varus; and that of Nestor at the 27th, as I shall presently say. Of Paul the confessor, however, I have spoken above at the 2nd of September, where these things are read Ibid., page 221 and following.: Of St. Paul, confessor and patriarch of Constantinople, there is treatment in the Roman martyrology, and likewise in our work, at the 7th of June. The Greeks venerate four Pauls of Constantinople, namely the Confessor, who suffered under the emperor Constantius, on the 2nd of September as above and on the 6th of November: and the younger or new Paul, on the 2nd of September, of whom the Latins are silent; and deservedly and rightly: for this younger Paul, who sat at Constantinople from the year 641 to 651, when he had for some time concealed the Monothelite heresy on account of the Typus or formula of faith promulgated by his work by the emperor Constans, was condemned by Pope Theodore. See Pagi at the year 648, n. 15. Two others of the same name, Pauls, held the see of Byzantium: one, namely, from a lay secretary, inaugurated patriarch in the year 686, under whom the Quinisext council in Trullo was celebrated; the other the immediate predecessor of Tarasius, who sat from the year 780 to 784, about whose death Pagi has this from Theophanes at the year 784, n. 1: "Theophanes relates that on the 31st day of the month of August, Indiction VII, Paul, a religious man and most holy patriarch of the church of Constantinople, when he had fallen into disease, assumed the monastic habit, and not long after departed to God." His memory, as I think, the Greeks celebrate on the 30th of August: μνήμη τῶν ἁγίων πατριαρχῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου, Ἰωάννου καὶ Παύλου τοῦ νέου, the memory of the holy patriarchs Alexander, John and Paul the new. The memory of the earlier Paul, who was sitting under Justinian in the year 686, they keep on the 20th of August in these words: τῃ ἀυτῇ ἡμέρᾳ μνήμη τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν ἀρχιεπ. Κωνσταντινοπολέως Παύλου τοῦ νέου, on the same day the memory of our holy father the Archbishop of Constantinople Paul the new. Of Paul, the immediate predecessor of Tarasius, our men have treated, but most briefly, at the 20th of August; and on the 31st of the same month he is passed over. See also Cuper on the Patriarchs of Constantinople at the beginning of vol. I of August. For the rest, it is clear that the Saints recorded by Assemani from the Slavic Codex were not companions in the Passion of SS. Martyrius and Marcian, nor are they to be spoken of by us on this day. The same is the case with St. Abraham. The Papebrochian ephemerides, says Assemani Ibid., p. 218 and following., add Abraham the monk, with a cowl drawn back to the shoulders and in a priestly habit. Of whom Papebroch says this: "While it is unknown who he is or whence, he can be placed among the natives until a more distinct notice, and meanwhile it can be hoped that it will be submitted from elsewhere." Culcinius is silent, although in the Inscriptions, page 92, at the 25th of October, express mention of Abraham

he has added the name. Thus: "Marcian. Martyrius. Abramius." Perhaps in the Ruthenian Anthology he found nothing about Abramius on this day. And indeed there is no mention of Abramius on this day in the Greek menologies; but on the 29th of this month "our holy father Abramius," ordained presbyter, is expressly commemorated, of whom there will be discussion below. I judge therefore that the Muscovite painter carelessly thrust in here that Abramius whom the Greeks and Russians venerate on the 29th of October. For although the same painter at the same 29th of October again depicted Abrahamius, he nevertheless erred a second time, in representing him in episcopal dress, as I shall afterwards say. For the rest, on those saints compare the Slavic Ecclesiastical Year at the beginning of this volume. It is clear, therefore, that the companions who in most of the sacred calendars are given to SS. Martyrius and Marcian are unknown to us by name.

[10] The time of the martyrdom. That the death of the holy Martyrs is to be placed after the glorious death of St. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, whose disciples and notaries they were, flows clearly from the context both of Socrates and of Sozomen: At that time, says the former Book II, ch. 27., Macedonius gained possession of the churches at Constantinople, Paul having been, as we have said, removed from their midst. There follows a description of the storm moved by Macedonius against the orthodox. And at the beginning indeed they (Macedonius and his henchmen) did this one thing, that they should expel them; but afterwards, as the evil advanced further, they turned to this, that they should compel them even unwillingly to communicate with them… And that violence was no less than that which those had formerly used who were driving Christians to the worship of idols: for blows and torments and every kind of torture were applied. Some were punished with confiscation of goods, others with exile: and some indeed perished in the very tortures; while others were killed as they were being led away to exile. And these things were done through all the cities of the eastern empire; but chiefly at Constantinople. This internal persecution, though before this it was moderate, Macedonius, having obtained the episcopate, greatly increased. So Socrates. So also, but more concisely, Sozomen Book IV, ch. 2 and 3.: He (St. Paul) being cast out into exile, Macedonius occupied the church. And when he had fortified himself by the very many monasteries which he had established at Constantinople, and by covenants made with neighboring bishops, he is said to have harassed the supporters of Paul in various ways (Sozomen again writes with a softer hand, compare n. 3). And first indeed he expelled them from the churches. After this he compelled them to communicate with him, so that many perished beaten with blows; others were fined of their goods, others deprived of the right of citizenship; some branded with marks burned on the forehead, so that they might thereafter be recognized by all… For the evil had advanced even to slaughters: For both others were killed, and Martyrius and Marcian, etc. From which it follows first that the storm by which SS. Martyrius and Marcian were carried off raged after the death of St. Paul, which is commonly assigned to the closing of the year 350 [Compare Cuper: Historia chronol. Patriarcharum CP., p. * 19. Tillemont, Mémoires, vol. VII, p. 259. Art de vérifier les dates, p. 248.]; next that the persecution stirred up by Macedonius boiled up by degrees, and that it did not come to extermination from the beginning. Hence far more probably our holy Champions obtained the crown of martyrdom in the year 351. Nor may the passion be put off to the following year, since, on the witness of St. Athanasius, one year from the death of St. Paul not yet having elapsed, Philip was thrown from the prefecture with much disgrace Cuper, in the place cited..

[11] What we have said above here and there about the tomb of the holy Martyrs, both from Sozomen and from other historians and the sacred calendars, The tomb Morcelli briefly takes up again: The tomb, he says Morcelli, p. 203 and following., of the holy Notaries at Constantinople was long illustrious, and the church placed over it, renowned also by the very names of its founders: for it was begun by St. John Chrysostom, completed by Sisinnius, likewise a holy patriarch of the same city. The place moreover Sozomen designates thus: "Their tomb is before the walls of the imperial city." The Synaxaria add, as also the printed Menaea: ἐν τῇ Μελανδεσίᾳ πύλῃ (πορτῃ) ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει τοποθεσίᾳ τοῦ Δευτέρου, at the Melandesian gate, in Constantinople itself, in Deuteron; that is, as Morcelli continues from Du Cange, in the 12th region at the gate from which the road led to the town of Melantias, 150 stadia distant from the city in Thrace, or 102 stadia, as Suidas reports, near the river Athyras. Finally Morcelli adds: But on today's solemnity, which, I suppose, was wholly religious in the beginning, an age worse than its grandsires sprinkled some popular levity; and a custom was gradually brought in that on this day notaries, whoever taught boys to write, should run about the forum in masks; which custom at length in the 12th century the patriarch Luke removed, as Theodore Balsamon has handed down to memory. Which Suicer renders more explicitly and distinctly, saying Thesaurus ecclesiasticus ex Patribus Græcis. Under the word Νοταριος.: The distinguished Meursius observes that there were at first two kinds of Notaries. These practiced the art itself, those professed it and taught youths and were called νοτάριοι παιδοδιδάσκαλοι. And these celebrated the feast of the holy Notaries, running about the forum with masks, which the patriarch Luke afterwards removed. Balsamon at canon LXII of the council in Trullo says: But the unseemly things which were at one time done by the notaries, the instructors of boys, on the feast of the holy Notaries, running about the forum with masks, were abrogated some years ago by a decree of that most holy patriarch the lord Luke. Luke sat from the year 1155 to the year 1169. Balsamon was created patriarch of Antioch in 1186, and died in the year 1204 Biographie universelle..

[12] and the church dedicated in their name. The church which we have seen dedicated in the name of our holy Martyrs at Constantinople, St. Chrysostom began to build, and Sisinnius completed, who, if Baillet is to be believed, dedicated it in the year 427 Constantinopolis Christiana, book IV, paragraph LXXI, p. 90. Venice edition.. Du Cange writes Vie des Saints, 25 Oct.: Theodosius built the church of the Holy Notaries and enriched it with many possessions, says Codinus… But what he assigns to Theodosius others attribute to Saints John Chrysostom and Sisinnius, patriarchs of Constantinople. For it was the same one that they call of Marcian and Martyrius, who were slain by the Arians under the emperor Constantius. There follow the words of Sozomen, recited above by us. Then Du Cange continues: Nicephorus son of Callistus has the same, book IX, ch. XXX. The synaxaria designate the place at the 25th of October… "And they are buried at the Melandesian gate, in Constantinople itself, in the tract which is called Second, whose church afterwards our holy father John Chrysostom raised from the foundations." The menology of Sirleto has things consonant with these. Marcian and Martyrius were moreover called "Notaries," because they had been γραμματείς of Paul, patriarch of Constantinople. And in another place the esteemed writer had said Ibid., book I, p. 47.: The synaxaria at the 25th of October set the Melandesian Gate in Deuteron: καὶ ταπτόνται ἐν τῇ Μελανδησίᾳ πορτῃ, ἐν ἀυτῇ τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει τοποθεσιᾴ τοῦ Δευτέρου… Deuteron was moreover, as we teach in its place, in the twelfth region, at the Golden Gate: whence it is concluded that the Melandesian gate was likewise next to the Golden gate, and named from the town of Melantias, to which one went through it, which Agathias, book V, reports was built on the river Athyras not further than 150 stadia distant from the city, or 102 stadia, as Suidas reports Morcelli, p. 203.. Banduri agrees almost in the Imperium Orientale. And first indeed he recites from the anonymous writer the following passage Imperium Orientale, vol. I, book III, p. 52. Paris, 1711.: On the church of the Holy Notaries. Theodosius the Great built the church of the Holy Notaries, and there deposited their bodies. Banduri adds Ibid., vol. II, p. 713 and following.: Of these (Notaries) Sozomen makes mention, who attributes the structure of this church, which he says stood at the walls of the city, not to Theodosius, but to Saints John Chrysostom and Sisinnius, patriarchs of Constantinople; but otherwise the writers of the Origins and Codinus, who with unanimous consent assign it to Theodosius the Great. But Sozomen is more worthy of credit; while those more recent little Greeks are often wont to confuse things and persons, as we everywhere observe… Likewise the synaxaria at the 25th of October, sacred to the aforesaid Martyrs, attribute the structure of this church to John Chrysostom; where also the site of this building is expressly designated, namely at the Melandesian gate, in the very city of Constantinople, in the tract called Deuteron; which tract indeed, as we pointed out above when treating of the church of St. Anne, stood in the twelfth region, at the Golden Gate. And elsewhere the same writer, treating of Deuteron more at length: Of Deuteron, he says Ibid., p. 656., frequent mention occurs among Byzantine writers: for in it, besides the church of St. Anne, there were also other churches, namely of St. Gregory, of St. Paul and of the Holy Notaries. Deuteron was so called, as Du Cange also says, because it was distant from old Byzantium by a second mile or two stadia, as Hebdomon in Socrates and Idatius, because it was removed by a seventh mile; and Decimum in Anna Comnena, because it was distant ten stadia from Constantinople… That the Melandesian Gate was near the Golden gate, and consequently stood in the twelfth Region, Du Cange writes from Gilles, who treats of it in book IV, ch. IV, of the Topography of Constantinople. But I myself conjecture from our anonymous writer that Deuteron stood in the eleventh Region. And so Banduri indeed at page 656; but he seems a little below to have forgotten his conjecture, since he plainly asserts there that the tract which is called Deuteron stood in the Twelfth Region. How long the church of the Holy Notaries lasted, I cannot say. In the plan of the city of Constantinople inserted in volume II of Banduri, as it is described by the anonymous author who lived in the time of Alexius Comnenus, at the Golden gate there is marked neither the church of the Holy Notaries nor that of St. Anne; surely because those sacred buildings had then already collapsed. Who that Alexius is, Banduri is silent; whether the first of this name, who held the empire from the year 1081 to the year 1118? Or some one of the three following: for four of the same name are listed. I should think that Alexius I is in question, or perhaps Alexius II, who presided from the year 1180 to the year 1183. Compare n. 4, where we brought forward some things from which it might perhaps be conjectured that the church of SS. Martyrius and Marcian still survived at the end of the 10th century.

[13] The Acts. The Acts, which, on the witness of Allacci, were written by Metaphrastes De Symeonum scriptis, n. 126., we give from the Greek royal codex of Paris 1480, collated with codex 1484 and also with a certain Medicean apograph of ours. They exist likewise in the Coislin library, and indeed in a double copy: one, in the codex 145 of the first part, which Montfaucon assigns to the 10th or 11th century

Bibliotheca Coislin., p. 211.; the other, of the second part, in codex 306, of the middle of the 16th century Ibid., p. 420 and following.. Hence rightly Morcelli: We have their Acts from Metaphrastes, which Lippomano and Surius edited in Latin. But less rightly he adds: And other Acts likewise are preserved in the Coislin library, whose beginning is: Ἀγώνων ἱερῶν ἀθλητάι. For in the aforesaid library there is listed from codex 110, of about the 11th century Ibid., p. 185., an encomium, not Acts, of the same holy Martyrs, very diffuse and wordy (it has ten pages and more in folio of the larger format). It begins: Ἀγώνων ἱερῶν ἀθλητάι καὶ λαμπρᾶς πιστεως κήρυκες τὴν παροῦσαν ἡμέραν ἀιδέσιμον διατίθενται, Champions of sacred contests and heralds of illustrious faith make the present day venerable; and the title is: Ἐνκώμιον ἐις τοὺς ἁγίους ἱερομαρτυρες Μακριανὸν καὶ Μαρτύριον. Some predecessor has noted at the foot of the page of our apograph: It stands also in codex 13 of the Queen of Sweden. For the rest, in all these the 25th of October is marked. On the same day they are found in Latin in Surius, whose version we join to the Greek text.

* Κωνσταντινου in place of Κωνσταντιου

ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΑΓΙΩΝ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΩΝ ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΟΥ ΤΩΝ ΝΟΤΑΡΙΩΝ.

THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYRS MARCIAN AND MARTYRIUS, NOTARIES.

By Symeon Metaphrastes as author

(From the royal Greek codex marked 1480 in the library of Paris, collated with codex 1484 in the same place and with another Medicean apograph.)

Martyrius, martyr at Constantinople. (S.)

Marcian, martyr at Constantinople. (S.)

FROM METAPHRASTES.

Single chapter. Under the emperor Constantius the Arians prevail, and rage incredibly against the orthodox. At this period, when the holy Notaries fearlessly professed sound doctrine, they are arrested and, condemned to death, are crowned with martyrdom, and are entombed with distinguished honor.

Ἐπεχωρίαζε μὲν καὶ πρότερον ἤδη τὸ τῶν ἀρειανῶν δόγμα τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἐπικρατείᾳ, μέρη τὲ ἀυτῆς ἐμμαίνετο · καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς τὸ ὁμοούσιον καθαρῶς πρεσβεύειν οὐκ ἐία. Ἀλλ᾽ ὄυπω τοσαῦτα ἐπαῥῤησιάσατο τὸ κακόν, οὐδὲ τοσούτους εἶχε τοὺς αὐτῷ προσκειμένους. Ἄρτι δὲ τῆς βασιλείας ἐπὶ Κωνστάντιον τὸν τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου τρίτον ὑιὸν ελθούσης· ὃν ἁι πράξεις μέγαν ἐκάλουν· ὁ τοῦ φθόνου πατὴρ καὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἄνωθεν βασκαίνων ἐχθρὸς ἐπεὶ μὴ πείθειν ὁῖος τε ἦν τα χριστιανῶν ἀποθεῖσθαι χριστιανοὺς· δια τινων ὀυ πρὸς ἀξίαν ὀίμοι τοῦ τῆς ἱερωσύνης ἀξιώματος ἡξιωμενῶν τὸν Κωνστάντιον ὑπελθὼν ἐις τὰ τῶν ἀρειανῶν ὁλόν ὐπαγέται. Ἐντεῦθην τὸ ἅθεον τοῦτο τῶν ἀρειάνων δόγμα, ὥσπερ ὅπλον τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος περιθέμενος δυναμείαν ἐπλατύνετο τε καὶ ἠύξετο· καὶ πᾶσαν ὅσην ἡ Ῥωμαίων εἶσχεν ἀρχὴ, παραστήσασθαι πρὸς βίαν ἐφιλονείκει.

[2] Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μυρίοις ὁι τὸ ὁμοούσιον δοξαζοντες καὶ τὰ χριστιανῶν ὡς θέμις χριστιανοῖς μετιόντες, περιεβάλλοντο τοῖς κακοῖς· Ἐυσεβίου μάλιστα καὶ Φιλίππου· ὧν ὁ μὲν τῇ τοῦ πραιποσίτου τετίμητο δόξῃ, ὁ δὲ τὰ τῆς ἐπαρχίας διεῖπεν ὁ Φίλιππος· ὑπόκαυμα Κωνσταντίῳ τοῦ τῶν ἀρειανῶν ἔρωτος γενομένων. Οὗτοι καὶ τὸν μακάριον ἀπελαθῆναι Παῦλον τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ἐισαχθῆναι δὲ τὸν δυσεβῆ Μακεδόνιον· ἐβούλοντό τε καὶ πάντα ἐποίουν· Τίνος μὲν λόγου, τίνος δὲ ἔργου· ποίας δὲ βλάβης κατὰ των πρεσβευόντων τὸ ὁμοούσιον ἀποσχόμενοι; τοὺς μὲν γὰρ την πόλιν ἐκλιπεῖν παρεσκεύασαν· τῶν δε ἄδικον ἀει φυγίαν κατέκειναν· τοῖς δὲ καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴν τῆς ζωης προεξένησαν. Ἐντεῦθεν ἄτιμοι κατὰ μετώπον γραφαὶ ὑποσημαίνουσαι τὸ ὀρθοδόξον· ἀλλὰ τὲ μυρία κατὰ χριστιανῶν ἐπενοὴτο καινά· ἐι καὶ μικρα πάντὰ διὰ Χριστὸν ἐδόκει τοῖς ἐυσεβέσι· καὶ τῶν ἐλπίδων οὐκ ἄξιαι. Ἐντεῦθεν ὁ δεύτερος μὲν οὗτος Παῦλος· ὁ τῆς ὁμολογίας ἐπώνομος τουτῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης θρόνου, νόμοις χειρὸς, ὀυ δικαιοσύνης, ἀποδιώκεται· ἀνίπτοις δὲ χερσὶ τὸ τοῦ λόγου βεβηλοῦται τα ἁγία.

[3] Τῶν γοῦν Κωνσταντίου τούτων καιρῶν ἔργον καὶ Μαρκιανὸς καὶ Μαρτύριος· οἷς πατρὶς μὲν ἄστυ τὸ μέγα τὲ καὶ βασίλειον· ἀγωγὴ δὲ καὶ παιδεία ὁίας ἄν τὶς θεοφιλὴς ἀνὴρ τυχεῖν ἔυξαιτο· τρόποι, χρηστότητος καὶ ἐπιείκεια τὸ ἐκείνων ἀκριβὲς γνώρισμα· ἐι δὲ δεῖ συντόμως καὶ ἀληθῶς ἐιπεῖν· τοῦτο τοῖς πᾶσιν ὄντες ἐις ἀρετὴν, ὅπερ ἡ πατρὶς ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐγνωρίζετο· καὶ ὥσπερ ἄυτη τῶν ἀλλων τὲ πασων προκάθηται πόλεων καὶ τὸ βασιλικὴ καὶ εἶναι καὶ ὀνομάζεσθαι τὴν πρώτην ἔχει τιμὴν· τὸν ἀυτον δὴ καὶ οὗτοι τρόπον πάντων ἐν πᾶσιν ἐπαινετοῖς· καὶ ζηλωτὸν ἦν τὸ παράπαν οὐδὲν ἐφ᾽ ᾦ μὴ οῦτοι τὸ πρωτεῖον εἶχον. Τῷ θείῳ τοιγαροῦν Παύλῳ συνόντες καὶ τῶν ὑπ᾽ ἐκείνου πραττομένων ὄντες ὑπογραφεῖς τῷ λαῷ τὲ τὰς θείας ὑπαναγινώσκοντες βίβλους· ὅυτω θερμὸν ἐις Χριστὸν ὑπέτρεφον ἔρωτα· ὡς οὐδὲν ὑπολογισαμένους τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος μανίαν· ὀξείαις χωρῆσαι κατὰ τῶν χριστομάχων ὀρμαις· καὶ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ λογον εἰς κτίσμα κατάγεσθαι μηδολως ἀνεκτὸν ποιῆσαι· ἀλλὰ συνάναρχον μὴν τῷ πατρι καὶ ὁμοούσιον ἀποδεῖξαι· τὰς δὲ τῶν ἀρειανιζόντῶν βεβήλους κενοφωνίας ἐις τὸ μηδὲν εἶναι περιστησαι.

[4] Τοῖς ἐκείνων τοιγαροῦν ῥήμασιν ὁι κακοδαίμονες οἷα βέλεσιν βληθέντες· καὶ μὴ δὲ ἀντιτείνειν, μὴ δὲ ἐις λόγους ἀυτοῦς χωρεῖν ὅλως ἔχοντες· ὥσπερ εν σποδιᾷ πῦρ ταῖς αὐτῶν διανοίαις τὸ δολερὸν ὑποκρύψαντές, πρῶτα μὲν τοῖς ἐπαγωγοῖς τῶν λόγων τοὺς ἄνδρας ὑπήρχοντο· εἶτα καὶ χρήματα δώσειν ὑπισχνοῦντο ὁι ἄφρονες ἐκεινοις, ὁί γε τὰς ψυχὰς ὅτι μὴ ἀφηροῦντο διὰ Χριστον ἐδυξχέραινον. Ὁ͂υτοι γοῦν ὀυ κολακείαις ἠττώμενοι· οὐ χρήμασι κλεπτόμενοι· ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐυσεβείας καὶ τοῦ ὁρθοῦ δόγματος φύλακες ἀκριβεις εἶναι βουλὸμενοι, πρὸς τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσεως ἐπεύδον · ὃ δὲ καὶ μόνον ἀυτοῖς ἐποθεῖτο· καὶ οὗ τυχεῖν ὅλως ἐπεθύμουν. Ὡς οὖν ἀπειλαὶ τὲ καὶ κολακείαι καὶ ἀγαθῶν πάντων ἐπαγγελίαι τοῖς ἀρειανοῖς ἐξηθένουν· καὶ ἄμαχόν τὶ πράγμα τὴν καλὴν ἐκείνην ἔνστασιν τῶν μαρτύρων ἑώρων· θανατον αὐτῶν, ὅν ἐπόθουν διὰ Χριστον, κατακρίνουσιν.

[5] Ἐπειδὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἐυρημένον ἤδη γεγόνασι τόπον, καιρὸν ἀιτοῦσιν ἐις προσευχὴν· καὶ λαβόντες, τὰ ὄμματα ὁμοῦ καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἀίρουσιν ἐις τὸν ὀυρανον· καὶ Κυριε ὁ Θεὸς ὁ πλάσας καταμόνας τὰς καρδίας ἡμῶν, λέγουσιν· ὁ συνιεὶς ἐις πάντα τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν· ἐν ἐιρήνῃ τὰς τῶν σῶν δούλων δόξαί * ψυχάς· ὅτι ἔνεκα σου θανατόυμεθα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, καὶ ὡς πρόβατα σφαγῆς λογιζόμεθα· καὶ χαιρομεν οὕτω τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς ἀπαλλαττόμενοι διὰ σὲ· καὶ πρὸς τὴν παρὰ σοὶ ζωὴν προθύμῳ ποδι ἐπειγόμεθα. Ταῦτα τῷ Θεῷ τῶν ὁλῶν ἐυξάμενοι· καὶ τὸ Ἀμὴν ἐπειπόντες· τὴν διὰ τοῦ ξίφους πληγὴν ὑφίστανται καὶ τὸ μαρτύρικον ὁ Μαρτύριος σὺν Μαρκιανῶ δέχονται τελος· πέμπτην ἐπὶ ταὶς ἔικοσι τοῦ Ὀκτωβρίου μηνὸς ἄγοντος.

[6] Τὰ δὲ τούτων τίμια λείψανα τῶν ὀρθοδόξων τὶνες καὶ πιστῶν ἀνελόμενοι καὶ λαμπρῶς περιστείλαντες· ἐν ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις παρὰ τῷ τῆς πόλεως τείχει ἐντίμως ἐν επισήμῳ λόφῳ κατέθεντο· ἔνθα καὶ τὴν ματυρικὴν ἐκείνην τελείωσιν καὶ μακαρίαν ὑπέστησαν· ἐις δόξαν Πατρὸς καὶ Ὑιοῦ καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· νῦν καὶ ἀὲι καὶ ἐις τοὺς ἀιῶνας τῶν ἀιώνων. Ἀμὲν.

Under the emperor Constantius the Arians prevailed, The Arian dogma had indeed already before been at large in the dominion of the Romans, and was laying waste parts of it, and did not allow the orthodox commons purely to defend the Homoousion. But that evil did not yet use so much freedom, nor did it have so many who adhered to it. But when the empire had now come to Constantius ^b, son of Constantine the Great, whom they also called Great from his deeds; the father of envy, and the enemy envying the good from the beginning, not being able to persuade Christians to reject the things that were of Christians, through certain men who had unworthily (alas*) obtained the dignity of the priesthood, insinuating himself with Constantius, led him as a whole to Arianism. Hence that impious dogma of the Arians, like some arms, placed upon the power of the emperor, was extended and increased, and whatever region the empire of the Romans held, it contended by force to bring to its own opinion.

[2] nor was it any longer lawful to profess sound doctrine; This ^c therefore, those who held the opinion of the Homoousion, and practiced the things that are of Christians, as befits Christians, were afflicted with innumerable evils, chiefly since Eusebius and Philip (of whom the one ^d had been adorned with the honor of provost, while Philip was praetorian prefect) had been a tinder to Constantius of love for the Arians. These ^e both wished Blessed Paul to be expelled from the church, and the impious Macedonius to be introduced in his place, and did everything for this. From what words indeed, from what deeds, from what harm, finally, did they abstain against those who defend the Homoousion? For some indeed they caused to leave the city, others they condemned to a perpetual and unjust exile, and for others they procured even departure from life. Hence foul marks were inscribed on foreheads, silently signifying the orthodox faith, and other innumerable evils ^f were devised against the Christians: although all things seemed small to the pious for Christ's sake, and not to be compared with the hope of things to come. Hence this second ^g Paul, who had his surname from confession, is expelled ^h from the see of the pontificate. And with unwashed feet, as they say ⁱ, sacred things were profaned.

[3] when Marcian and Martyrius were doing this Of these times of Constantius, therefore, the work is both Marcian and Martyrius; whose fatherland was the great imperial city, and whose upbringing and learning was such as a pious man would wish to have. Their morals, kindness and moderation are the accurate sign by which they are known. If it is necessary to speak briefly and truly, they were that among the rest in virtue which their fatherland was known to be in rule among cities. For as it presides over all other cities, and, because it is imperial and is so named, has the first honor; in the same way these also held dominion in all good things; nor was there anything illustrious at all in which they did not hold the first place. Staying therefore with the divine Paul, since they were scribes of the things done by him and read the divine books to the people; they fed so vehement a love toward Christ that, reckoning the emperor's insanity as nothing, they contended with vehement impetus against the enemies of Christ; nor did they think it at all tolerable to bring down the Word of God to this, that he should be judged a created thing; but they showed that he is indeed with the Father without beginning and of the same essence; and that they reduced to nothing the profane novelties of the Arians.

[4] they are arrested Wounded therefore by their words, no otherwise than by missiles, the unhappy men, since they could neither resist them nor withstand them in disputation; no otherwise than fire under ash, concealing fraud in their minds, at first indeed they attacked them with blandishing enticements of words; then the fools also promised that they would give money to those who

were taking it ill that their souls were not at once taken away for Christ's sake. They therefore, not enticed by blandishments, not conquered by money ^k, but wishing to be accurate guardians of piety and of right dogma, pressed on to the prize of the heavenly calling, which alone was also desired by them and which they altogether longed to attain. When therefore both the threats of the Arians and their flatteries and the promises of all good things had no strength, and they saw that the constancy of the martyrs was impregnable, they condemned them to death, which they desired for Christ's sake.

[5] and they are beheaded When they had now arrived at the place ^l of consummation, they asked for time for prayer. When they had received it, they raised their eyes and hands together to heaven, and said: Lord God, who have fashioned our hearts singly, who understand all our works; receive in peace the souls of your servants; because for your sake we are put to death * and are reckoned as sheep for the slaughter; and we rejoice thus to depart from the present life for your name's sake, and to that life which is with you we hasten with eager foot. When they had poured out these prayers to the God of all and had added Amen, they received the blow by the sword, and Marcian and Martyrius received the end, the martyrdom, on the twenty-fifth of the month of October.

[6] Their burial When certain orthodox and faithful men had taken up their precious relics and had splendidly composed them, with psalms and hymns they honorably deposited them at the walls of the city in a distinguished tomb ^m, where also they had undergone that martyr's and blessed consummation: To the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Others read ελυμαιετο

* Others read παιδα

* Others read ἀναγωγὴ

* Others read ὁμοούσιον αὐτὸν

* Others read αὐτοῖς

* Others read ἐσπεύδον

* Others read δήξαι

* ὄιμοι, an interjection: woe is me.

* tota die all the day