Epimachus of Pelusium

ON ST. EPIMACHUS OF PELUSIUM, MARTYR, AT ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT,

PROBABLY IN THE YEAR 250.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Epimachus of Pelusium, martyr at Alexandria (S.)

BY R. D. B.

§ I. The Acts of St. Epimachus. Of his cult among the Greeks and Slavs.

Pelusium, situated in Lower Egypt at the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, to which it had given its name, Strabo thus described: It is surrounded by lakes which some call Barathra, Of St. Epimachus of Pelusium and by marshes. The city lies more than twenty stades above the sea: the circuit of the wall is twenty stades: it has its name from the mud (ἀπὸ τοῦ πηλοῦ) Geography, bk. XVII, p. 1138, Oxford 1807. It is now commonly called Tineh or Tyneh Cf. Ritter, Die Erdkunde, part I, vol. I, p. 826 and following. There is no reason why we should discuss again the Christian origins of this city, already set forth by Henschenius Acta SS., vol. I of Feb., p. 468 and following and Michael Lequien Oriens christ., vol. II, col. 531 and following. Its ornament and glory was, besides St. Isidore, the renowned martyr Epimachus, who, having long lived in that region, at last met death at Alexandria for the faith of Christ. Two Passions of him exist. The one, which very many codices show [Cf. Fabricius, Bibliotheca graeca, vol. X, p. 223, Hamburg 1807. Lambeck, Comment. on the Imperial Library of Vienna, vol. VIII, col. 546 and 555, Kollar ed.], rendered into Latin, was published by Aloysius Lipomano Lives of the Saints, vol. VI, fol. 401 in the year 1558, and in exactly the same manner by Surius Lives of the Saints, vol. V, p. 1084 in the year 1570. It was first published in the Greek tongue in the year 1864 by the venerable presbyter Migne Greek Patrology, vol. CXV, col. 1319, from the Paris manuscript codex 1484. It was composed, on which all agree Cf. Allatius, Diatriba on the writings of the Symeons, p. 124, by Metaphrastes, and indeed, in our opinion, not so carelessly that it must be conceded to Tillemont Mémoires pour servir à l'hist. eccl., vol. IV, p. 659, Paris 1701 that it is to be altogether despised. Certainly as regards the facts themselves and their sequence it agrees with the other Life, which we found in the manuscript codex Catal. of the mss. of the royal library, vol. II, p. 354, Paris 1740 1534 of the public library of Paris (from which we copied it), and which also exists in a manuscript codex of the Medicean Laurentian library Bandini, Catal. of the mss. of the Medicean Laurentian library, vol. I, p. 410. We must now compare these writings with one another.

[2] two Passions exist. The booklet of the anonymous author (which for brevity's sake we shall call the Prior Passion) differs greatly from the little work of Metaphrastes (the Other Passion) above all in the manner of speech. For it not only sets out at length the deeds of the martyr and his speeches, but is manifestly composed in the manner of a panegyric oration. As to the facts themselves, although the authors are by no means at war with one another, yet they so differ that neither seems to have made use of the other's narrative. Among several differences it will be useful to note two here. When St. Epimachus died is not stated in the Other Passion; but from the inscription: in the same month, on the 31st day, it is sufficiently apparent that October 31 is assigned for his cult. But the Prior Passion records that the martyrdom took place in the month of May: and indeed either on the 7th day, as is expressly given in the Paris copy, or on the 22nd, which is read in the inscription of the Laurentian codex Cf. ibid.. And that these things were not written in error or by chance can be gathered from the very place which the Passion of Epimachus holds among the Acts of other saints in the codices. Moreover, while Metaphrastes does not say so much as a word of Eutropia the martyr, the other writer takes in her history in a few words. That virgin, who, like St. Epimachus, was condemned to death at Alexandria by the judge Apellian, occurs alone in the Synaxary of Father Sirmond at May 25; but in the Basilian menology and in some calendars to be indicated below she is praised on the same day as St. Epimachus. In sum, the Prior Passion seems to have come from a Church in which St. Eutropia was venerated on the same day as the holy martyr of Pelusium, and indeed in the month of May. Similar is the eulogy which, copied from the Coislin codex 110 Montfaucon, Bibl. Coisliniana, p. 186, the distinguished H. Zotenberg most kindly communicated to us. It so plainly reproduces the prior Acts that it can be called their epitome. Yet it differs in this inscription, which we read at the beginning: On October 31, the martyrdom of St. Epimachus. Which notation of time is by far the most common.

[3] is proclaimed in the Basilian menology For all the calendars which have become known to us and which we shall now review appoint the month of October for celebrating the feast: nearly always the 31st day, sometimes the 30th, as we see both in a very few others and in the Basilian Menology. For in this we read: On the 30th day. The contest of the holy martyr Epimachus. Epimachus the martyr, a man without letters and unlearned, but of noble and comely countenance, was from the region of Egypt. Being a Christian, and seeing the prefect of the region torturing the holy martyrs, he bore it most grievously. Wherefore on a certain day, when the prefect was compelling the saints to sacrifices to idols, and an altar had been set before them, Epimachus, inflamed with divine zeal, made an onset and overturned the altar. Whence, seized, he was given over to custody. But even in chains he exhorted the saints to undergo martyrdom bravely for Christ. So when the saints, led out of prison, rebuked the prefect, he asked whence they had taken such great courage; and when he learned that Epimachus was the author of this, he ordered him to be hoisted aloft and torn. When his blood flowed down into the one extinguished eye of a certain girl standing below, who, having one eye, was gazing at the saint and bewailing his fate, it at once restored the light to her. And the prefect, driven by fury, ordered him to be beheaded, and so he ended his life Menology of the Greeks, part I, p. 152, Urbino 1727.

[4] and in the Sirletan, These things come much closer to the Prior Passion than to the Metaphrastic, except that they refer the cult to October 30; probably for this reason, that at the end of the tenth century, when the Menology appeared, the feast of St. Epimachus was celebrated somewhere on the penultimate day of October. Although this was unusual. For already then, indeed certainly from the ninth century, the holy martyr was venerated on the 31st day. At this day he is commemorated in the Neapolitan Marble calendar of the middle of the ninth century Mai, Scriptt. vett. nova collectio, vol. V, p. 64, Latin indeed, but deriving from the Greeks; likewise in the Greek Jerusalem menology of the tenth century, published by Scholz; in the Eclogadion of Grottaferrata of the eleventh century Toscani, Remarks on the Typica of the Greeks, p. 81; in the calendar of the Church of Constantinople of the twelfth century, which exists in the Vienna library and of which we have a copy in our museum; in the Greek menaea of the library of the Florentine convent of St. Mark of the Friars Preachers Cf. Royal Library of Brussels, ms. cod. 11322, fol. 152 and 159, and in three menologies of the Ambrosian library of Milan, of which one is very ancient and excellent, brought from Calabria in the year 1606 Cf. ibid., fol. 162. In the menology of Sirleto he is proclaimed thus: On the same day (October 31) of the holy martyr Epimachus. He, brought from the city of Pelusium before the governor Apellian, who in the city of Alexandria was torturing a multitude of Christians, because the altar

on which sacrifice had begun to be offered to idols he had overturned, was hung on a stake, torn with iron claws, and after other tortures, cut down with the sword, was carried over to the heavenly life and rested in the Lord Canisius, Thesaurus monumentorum, vol. III, p. 483.

[5] in the menaea of the Greeks, A similar eulogy is read in the menaea of the Greeks, printed at Venice in the years 1585 and 1843: On the same day (October 31) the memorial of the holy martyr Epimachus.

Epimachus did not shudder at the iron, bearing God, a fellow soldier who knows not how to be conquered Siberus, Metrical Martyrology of the Greek Church, p. 356.

He was of very elegant countenance. He lived in the country outside the city of Pelusium. He was denounced to the prefect Apellian, who at Alexandria was torturing a great number of saints. While the sacrifice was already being performed, Epimachus, running up, tried to overturn the altar. And so he was at once hung on a stake, torn with iron claws, and his bones were broken with stones. There stood by a woman blind in one eye: since she was gazing keenly and fixedly at the saint, a great and lovable miracle was wrought in her. For while the martyr was being torn, a part of his flesh, torn from his body and carried through the air, dripped blood into her eye, and the drop, having hardened, O miracle, became light to her and restored the eye to health. And the saint was afterwards beheaded with the sword Menaeon of the month of October, p. 191, Venice 1843. In almost the same words St. Epimachus is celebrated at October 31 in the Synaxary which Maximus Margunius wrote in the vernacular Greek tongue, and which first appeared at Venice in the year 1629. In the metrical Ephemerides of Papebroch it is expressly said Acta SS., vol. I of May, p. XLVII:

Πρώτῃ ἐν τριακοστῇ Ἐπιμάχου αὐχένα κέρσαν

On the thirty-first he cut through the neck of Epimachus.

[6] in the Slavic calendars The Slavs, imitating the Greeks, entered the name of St. Epimachus in their calendars at October 31. Which is seen both in the Calendars of Ostromir of the years 1056 – 1057 Acta SS., vol. XI of October, Annus Graeco-Slavicus, p. 329, of Zographou of the twelfth to thirteenth century Ibid., p. 344, of Šišatovac of the year 1324 Ibid., p. 345, of Tarnovo of the year 1272 Ibid., p. 338, of Ostrog of the year 1581 Ibid., p. 349, and in the old manuscript Moscow one of the Royal Library of Brussels Cod. 11327; and in the Calendar of the Ruthenians of the diocese of Kiev, copied by George David, missionary of the Society of Jesus, in the year 1688 Ibid., in the pictured Ephemerides of Papebroch Acta SS., vol. I of May, p. XLIX and in the Capponi Tablets of about the year 1660 Assemani, Kalendaria Eccl. universae, vol. V, p. 327. To these add the Kievan Caves Patericon, published at Moscow in the year 1757, the Pochaiv Horologion of the year 1802, the Moscow Calendar of the year 1818, and the Prologue, that is, the Compendious Menology printed at Moscow in the year 1850 Annus Graeco-Slavicus, p. 266. The feast day is marked October 30 in the Rumyantsev Calendar of the thirteenth century Ibid., p. 341. That these Menologies and Calendars, on which our J. Martinov has most learnedly discoursed Ibid., p. 2 and following, are not all Catholic escapes no one; but certainly the Ostromir, the most ancient of all, is free of all schismatic leaven Ibid., notice, p. VI. In some other Slavic calendars, which are recited by the archimandrite Sergius Universal Calendar of the East, at October 31, the name of our St. Epimachus also occurs.

[7] and the Latin ones. To the Latins, however, St. Epimachus of Pelusium seems long to have been unknown; for you will seek his name in vain in the ancient calendars or martyrologies. First of all Molanus gave him a place in the augmented Martyrology of Usuard of the year 1573, at October 31, in these words: Of the holy martyr Epimachus; at the same time indicating in the margin that he is the same as the Epimachus whose Acts Metaphrastes wrote. Molanus seems to have known of him, not from the Passion which appeared in the year 1558 in the Lives of the Saints of Lipomano Lives of the Saints, vol. VI, fol. 401; for he makes no mention of him in the Usuardine Martyrology of the year 1568; but from the Acts which Surius published at October 31 in the year 1570 Lives of the Saints, vol. V, p. 1084. Ferrari followed Molanus in the General Catalogue of the Saints, where he says at October 31: At Alexandria, of St. Epimachus, martyr of Pelusium; likewise many more recent authors [Cf. Pétin, Diction. hagiog. De Saint-Allais, Martyrologe Universel, at Oct. 30. Adalbert Müller, Allgemeines martyrol.].

§ II. Of the various Saints Epimachus. Several translations of relics.

Of several saints of the same name, Epimachus of Pelusium But another question arises here, not a little obscure, namely whether that martyr, celebrated on October 31, is distinct from the saints of the same name who are praised on various other days in the sacred calendars of West and East. For several Epimachi are recorded:

1. Among the Greeks, on October 31, St. Epimachus of Pelusium.

2. Among the Copts and Ethiopians, on October 31, SS. Epimachus and Azirianus.

3. Among the Latins, on May 10, and among the Greeks, on the 9th of the same month, SS. Epimachus and Gordian (this one we shall call Epimachus the Roman).

4. Among the Greeks, on July 6, St. Epimachus, who together with SS. Archippus, Philemon, Apollonius, Alexander (or rather Alexandrion) and Onesimus is said to be honored at Constantinople, at the Six Columns.

5. Among the Latins on December 12, SS. Epimachus and Alexander, who were killed at Alexandria under the emperor Decius. (This one we shall call Epimachus of Alexandria.)

[9] seems to differ from the Alexandrian, Since we have spoken above of SS. Epimachus and Azirianus Above, p. 684, it must now be investigated whether the saint of Pelusium can be said to be the same as that companion of St. Alexander whom the Roman Martyrology commemorates at December 12. That he is the same is affirmed by Baronius Roman Martyrology, at December 12, note, Soller Martyrology of Usuard, p. 640 and 738, Assemani Kalendaria Ecclesiae Universae, vol. V, p. 327, Ruinart Acta sincera mart., p. 126, Amsterdam 1713, and many others, yet with no arguments expressly brought forward. That this opinion, which is not ours, may be better weighed, it will be useful to compare with one another the mention of each saint in the sacred calendars, and likewise the kind, place and time of the contest. As has been said before, the martyr of Pelusium, who is absent from the ancient Calendars of the Latins, is so recorded by the Greeks on October 31 that he seems to have had no companion in martyrdom. The other, however, is praised in the Little Roman Martyrology, which Rosweyde published, in these words at December 12: At Alexandria, of Epimachius and Alexander, and of the four holy women Ammonaria, Mercuria, Dionysia and Ammonaria. Ado, on the same day in his own: At Alexandria, he says, of the blessed martyrs Epimachius and Alexander, who, when they had persevered in the faith for a long time, held * in chains and the tortures of prison, and also often worn out by various punishments, were at last ordered to be consumed by fire. These things were taken, as will soon appear, from a letter of St. Dionysius of Alexandria, which, copied by Eusebius, Rufinus rendered into Latin Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., bk. VI, chap. 31, p. 382, Cacciari ed., Rome 1740. Ado was followed, among others, by Usuard in his martyrology, by the writer of the Viola sanctorum, printed about the year 1480 and in the year 1487, and finally by the authors of the Roman Martyrology. In the Greek menologies, however, I find no other SS. Epimachus and Alexander than those who are celebrated at July 6 Acta SS., vol. VI of July, p. 280. Now, although they are there brought in not with the four holy women, but with Archippus and others, they can nevertheless be thought to be the same as Epimachus and Alexander of Alexandria: for it is not probable that these renowned athletes, whom after St. Dionysius Eusebius extols with praises, are nowhere recorded in the menaea of the Greeks.

[10] on account of the difference of contest Now the time of their martyrdom and its other circumstances must be examined, that it may be understood what they have in common with St. Epimachus of Pelusium, and what is particular to them. St. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, on the persecution which raged against the Christians in his city: And now there came, he says, the edict of the emperor (Decius), almost the very thing foretold by our Lord, truly horrifying, so that even the elect themselves, if it were possible, would be scandalized. Certainly all were terrified in a wonderful manner. And many of the more illustrious at once came forward out of fear; others who administered the commonwealth came drawn on by the very necessity of their acts; others were brought by acquaintances and friends, and when summoned by name approached the impure and profane sacrifices; some indeed pale and trembling, as if they were not going to sacrifice, but were rather themselves to be offered to the idols in the place of victims; so that they were mocked by the surrounding multitude: as men who plainly showed to all that they were faint of heart both for dying and for sacrificing. But others ran more readily to the altars, boldly affirming that they had never been Christians before. Of whom the Lord most truly foretold long ago that men of that kind would hardly attain salvation. The rest partly followed one or other of those we have spoken of, partly took to flight, partly were seized. Of whom some, when they had gone on as far as chains and custody, and some had even stood firm for several days in prison, nevertheless abjured the faith before they were brought into judgment. Some, however, when they had bravely endured torments for some time, lost heart at the remaining punishments threatened. But those blessed and steadfast pillars of the Lord, strengthened by him and acquiring a force and constancy matching the strength of their faith, became admirable witnesses of his kingdom. Then, having set out the glorious contests of SS. Julian, Eunus and Macarius, he proceeds thus: After these Epimachus and Alexander, when they had been held for a long time in prison, and had borne iron claws, scourges and a thousand kinds of pains, perished, they too, melted away by the burning of quicklime Eusebius, Hist. eccles., bk. VI, chap. 41, p. 495, Laemmer ed..

[11] and cult; Thus far of that St. Epimachus who is venerated by the Latins on December 12. But the age of the other martyr is expressly indicated neither by the anonymous writer of the Acts nor by Metaphrastes. Yet the latter described the persecution under which the saint of Pelusium underwent martyrdom in a manner so similar that he seems to have had the narrative of St. Dionysius before his eyes, to have inserted its substance into the Passion of his Epimachus, and accordingly to have referred the whole matter to the same times, namely to the age of Decius. For he has this: The judge at Alexandria, that he might take that whole city in his nets and gather a bitter prey of impiety, abstained from no devices at all. Wherefore all the Christians, dreading the threats of that judge, some fled into the wilderness, others, dissembling that they were Christians, feigned impiety. But whoever wished to profess piety was handed over to the bitterest tortures. Thereafter the author narrates that St. Epimachus, for the profession of the Christian religion

was hung on a stake, then torn with iron claws, afterwards bruised with stones and beheaded. From these things, as I think, it can be gathered with sufficient probability that the death of St. Epimachus of Pelusium is referred by Metaphrastes to the same time at which Epimachus the companion of Alexander died; but at the same time that the one is distinct from the other. For the latter, tortured together with St. Alexander and four women, was consumed by fire; and his name was entered in the Latin martyrologies at December 12. But the former, who is expressly called of Pelusium, appears alone: in his Acts, which are written at length, no one is named who shared his contest. Moreover, besides quite many other differences, he is said to have been slain not by burning, but by the cutting off of his head, both by Metaphrastes and by the author of the other Passion. Finally, in the calendars of the Greeks he is numbered among the saints of October 31. All of which, taken together, seem to persuade that those saints are not one and the same martyr, even if each is reported to have been killed at Alexandria under the emperor Decius. Likeness of this kind, moreover, is found here and there, when persecution has raged long and fiercely. And not to seek examples from afar, in this very letter of St. Dionysius which we are using we read that two women, called Ammonaria, laid down their lives for the faith of Christ at the same time and in the same city of Alexandria.

[12] likewise from Epimachus of Rome; Let us come to the other martyrs of the same name. The St. Epimachus who is venerated with St. Gordian on May 10 many think [Roman Martyrol., at May 10. Giorgi, Martyrol. of Ado, at May 10. Rader, Observations on the Greek menaea, month of October, p. 299, in the Royal Library of Brussels, ms. cod. 7587. Cf. Ruinart, Acta martyrum sincera, p. 126, note, Amsterdam 1713] to be St. Epimachus the companion of St. Alexander (whom also, as we have seen, most people do not distinguish from the one of Pelusium). I judge that this opinion arose from the fact that, although that Roman Epimachus is not rarely said to have died at Rome under the emperor Julian the Apostate, nevertheless this is wholly passed over in silence in the ancient Acts. For there, after the contest of St. Gordian has been narrated, only this is written of Epimachus: The Christians, coming on the road which is called the Latin, … placed him Gordian there in a crypt, on the sixth of the Ides of May, where they had long before buried St. Epimachus Acta SS., vol. II of May, p. 553. It is thus the opinion of many, and above all of Ado himself, that he was put to death not at Rome but at Alexandria, and from there carried to Rome.

[13] who in the martyrology of Ado is said to be the same as the Alexandrian, For to one reading his martyrology at May 10 and December 12 it will be evident that St. Epimachus of Alexandria is there held to be no different from St. Epimachus honored at Rome: from which it follows that Ado necessarily said that the relics of the martyr of Alexandria had been translated to Rome. At May 10 he says: At Rome, on the Latin Way in the cemetery of the same, the feast of Saints Gordian and Epimachus: whom Julian the apostate emperor, among many Christians, consigned to public custody… Which (the body of St. Gordian) the Christians, snatching it by night, placed about one milestone from the city of Rome in a crypt, where the body of the blessed martyr Epimachus had long since been buried. Which last words are taken from the ancient Passion of St. Gordian Ibid.. Then, gathering on him what Rufinus had narrated of Epimachus of Alexandria: This Epimachus, he says, at Alexandria with his colleague Alexander, tortured for a long time in chains and in the tortures of prison, when he had persevered in the faith, worn out by frequent and various punishments, was at last consumed by fire. Finally he adds of his own: Then his relics were translated to Rome. Likewise is read at December 12: At Alexandria, of the blessed martyrs Epimachius and Alexander, who, when they had persevered in the faith for a long time, held in chains and the tortures of prison, and also often worn out by various punishments, were at last ordered to be consumed by fire.

[14] but in other sacred calendars Thus far the author of the ninth century. But before him no one, so far as I know, had so thought. Neither in the Little Roman Martyrology, nor in the Hieronymian lists and other sacred calendars, is there any hint that the Roman Epimachus did not die at Rome. On the contrary we find SS. Epimachus and Gordian so jointly inserted in the calendars that they seem to have been companions in martyrdom Acta SS., vol. II of May, p. 551. And the Greeks in their menologies and synaxaries expressly write that they were natives of Rome and killed at Rome. Ado alone dissents; indeed there is reason for us to doubt whether what is read of the Alexandrian Epimachus at May 10 in the Martyrology came from Ado at all. For those things are missing in some ancient codices Cf. ibid., p. 552; indeed they are at odds with what Ado himself (if we follow the common edition) wrote elsewhere. For having said at the beginning of SS. Epimachus and Gordian: whom Julian the apostate emperor among many Christians consigned to public custody; a little later things are recorded of Epimachus which manifestly belong to the years of Decius Cf. Giorgi, Martyr. of Ado, at May 10. In brief; it may be thought that that Epimachus, even if he died some time before Gordian, nevertheless bore his martyrdom at Rome, and accordingly differs from Epimachus of Alexandria.

[15] he is held to be distinct. Yet it cannot be hidden that in the Sirmond Menaea Royal Library of Brussels, ms. cod. 11323, at October 31, there is announced the contest of the holy martyr Epimachus, a Roman, who with Gordian, a certain religious man, was denounced to the governor as a Christian,… so that the Greeks seem at some time to have thought that the Epimachus who is venerated on October 31 was none other than the companion of St. Gordian. But this testimony, unless I am mistaken, is altogether unique: in the other copies of the menaea, as I said before, those martyrs are plainly distinguished; and particularly in the codex of the Florentine convent of St. Mark of the Friars Preachers: where at October 31 are praised together: Epimachus, martyr of Pelusium. Epimachus, Roman martyr Ibid., cod. 11324. Indeed it seems to us very close to the truth that three Epimachi should be distinguished from one another: namely the one of Pelusium, the companion of St. Alexander, and the companion of St. Gordian Cf. Baillet, Vies des Saints, vol. VIII, p. 476 and following, Paris 1739. But that besides this one at least another Epimachus existed will become altogether plain from what is now to be discussed concerning the relics of the holy martyr and their translation.

[16] The Roman relics of St. Epimachus are reviewed, On which matter so many and so diverse conjectures have appeared that the darkness cannot be broken through unless first of all the testimonies of the old authors, whatever we have been able to find, are set out. Nor shall we object to citing also those which pertain to Epimachus of Alexandria and to the Roman: for many authors do not distinguish these from the one of Pelusium.

I. That St. Epimachus had long before been buried at Rome before the martyrdom of St. Gordian is learned from the latter's ancient Acts Acta SS., vol. II of May, p. 553. And the Adonian martyrology says that he was translated from Alexandria to Rome Cf. above, no. 13: His relics were translated to Rome.

In the Notice of the churches of the city of Rome, composed between the years 625 and 638, we read this: Then you will come to St. Gordian the martyr, whose body rests under the great altar in the church of St. Epimachus *; and in the booklet on the holy places of the martyrs which are outside the city of Rome: Next to the Latin Way there is the church of St. Gordian, where he with his brother Epimachus sleep buried in one sepulcher … De Rossi, Roma soterr., vol. I, p. 139 and 141. Likewise in William of Malmesbury, who wove into his works a description written between the years 648 and 682 [Cf. ibid., p. 146. William of Malmesb., Deeds of the Kings of the English, bk. IV, in Migne, Latin Patrology, vol. CLXXIX, col 1305]: Next to it the Latin Way rest in one church the martyrs Gordian and Epimachus.

Pope Adrian I renewed from the ground up the basilica of St. Gordian and Epimachus or the cemetery of the same church … Anastasius, Liber pontificalis, vol. II, p. 222, Rome 1724.

At the year 774 Hermann of Reichenau wrote [Monum. Germaniae hist., scriptt., vol. V, p. 100; cf. p. 418. Cf. Mabillon, Annals of the O. S. B., bk. XXII, no. 65, bk. XXIV, no. 50]: The bodies of Saints Gordian and Epimachus were translated from Rome to Alemannia; and indeed to Kempten, as one of the codices has it.

Likewise the author of the Life of St. Hildegard reports that the holy queen was endowed at Rome with the bodies of the holy martyrs Gordian and Epimachus; and he adds: these bodies rest there in the monastery of Kempten to this present day and are honored with divine offices Acta SS., vol. III of April, p. 794.

In the monastery of Weingarten notable portions of SS. Gordian and Epimachus are reported to have been formerly kept, in the church of Prague four pieces of the same, and finally in the monastery of Prüm of the diocese of Trier the very bodies of the holy martyrs. G. Henschenius rightly thought that these were some of their more notable bones received from the men of Kempten (about the year 1190) Ibid., vol. II of May, p. 554 and following.

Notable relics of SS. Epimachus and Gordian, says Charles Piazza [Emerologio di Roma, vol. I, p. 314. Barbier de Montault, L'année liturgique à Rome, p. 47; cf. p. 129 and 187, Rome 1862. Cf. Galletti, Inscriptiones Romanae infimi aevi, vol. I, p. 44], indeed their heads, are preserved at Rome even today; although, as we shall indicate below, the Venetians think that they have the same. From recent catalogues of relics we learn that in the Roman Lateran basilica there exist the bodies of SS. Epimachus and Gordian under the altar sacred to the Nativity, next to the baptistery.

Alexandrian II. In the sixth century the body of some St. Epimachus is said to have been in honor at Alexandria. For in the Perambulation of the Holy Places by Antoninus Martyr of Piacenza, which is referred to the year 570 [Cf. Tobler, Bibliographia geogr. Palaestinae, p. 8. Fabricius, Bibl. lat. mediae aetatis, p. 118, Padua 1754], this may be read: We came to Alexandria… There rests. .. St. Faustus and St. Epimachus, and St. Anthony and St. Mark, and many other bodies of saints [Tobler, Itinera et descript. Terrae Sanctae, p. 117; cf. p. 134, Geneva 1877. Cf. Acta SS., vol. II of May p. XV].

and Byzantine. III. In the menaea of the Greeks there is celebrated at March 11 the Bringing back (ἀνακομιδή) of the relics of St. Epimachus the martyr, carried into Constantinople [Acta SS., vol. II of May, p. 552. Cf. Maximus Margunius, Lives of the Saints, at March 11, Venice 1656], with this distich added:

Κομίζεταί σοι ὄλβος, ὀλβία πόλις, Ἐπιμάχου

τὸ σώμα τοῦ τρισολβιοῦ.

Happiness is brought to you, happy city, the body of thrice-happy Epimachus [Cf. Siberus, Martyr. of the Greek Church, p. 96. Menaea, at the 6th of the month of July, p. 52, Venice 1843].

In the same place at July 6 mention is made of the holy martyrs Apollonius, Alexander, Epimachus and Onesimus, whose celebration is held in the Hexacionium Cf. Acta SS., vol. II of July, p. 280, a certain part of Byzantium where there was a church sacred to the Holy Trinity Du Cange, Christian Constantinople, bk. II, p. 133 and following, bk. IV, p. 55.

Moreover in the Pilgrim of Anthony, archbishop of Novgorod, or Description of the holy places of the Imperial city, written about the year 1200, there is said to exist at Constantinople, in the golden palace of the emperor, the head of Epimachus, and in the church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus … the blood of St. Epimachus, kept in a casket Exuviae sacrae Constantinopolitanae, vol. II, p. 223 and 229.

[17] It is probable that Epimachus of Rome died at Rome, Now these testimonies must be applied as a touchstone to the various opinions which have been brought forward. First of all very many report that the St. Epimachus beside whom St. Gordian was buried at Rome, and whom many take for Epimachus of Pelusium, was translated from Alexandria to the City: but on what ground is not so evident. For they rest on no other authority than the Adonian martyrology, in which his relics are said to have been translated to Rome: and these words, as we said before, are missing in some codices, missing also in Notker, Peter de Natalibus and the other hagiographers who are wont to copy Ado Cf. above, no. 14. Acta SS., vol. II of May, p. 552. Indeed even if it were established that these words came from the bishop of Vienne, they must nevertheless raise a doubt: since that Epimachus who rested at Rome was said not to have died at Rome but to have been conveyed there only because he was thought to be the same as Epimachus of Alexandria. How uncertain that is, we have set out above. As therefore it is not known to us that the Roman Epimachus is the same as the Alexandrian, so also his translation seems doubtful, and the more so because it is recorded in no martyrology (apart from Ado's) before the year 1578, nor in breviaries before the year 1568 Ibid..

[18] and by no means translated to Rome; We are not much troubled, therefore, about the conjectures which various persons have proposed on the manner and time of that translation. Aringhi judges that St. Epimachus the companion of Alexander was conveyed to Constantinople, and from there afterwards to Rome. Since however in the Roman Martyrology the relics of the holy martyr are said to have come from Alexandria to the City, it can be conjectured, he says, that the sacred body was either brought back from Constantinople to Alexandria and thereafter to Rome, or at any rate that in the very translation which was performed to the city of Constantinople, the sacred pledges of the martyr were for the greater part left at Alexandria to be venerated by the homage of the devout; and that these at length, Christians crossing over from there, came to the City to be entombed with honor, as was fitting [Aringhi, Roma subterranea, bk. IV, chap. 3, vol. II, p. 4 and following. Cf. J. Mazzolari, Diario sagro, vol. V, p. 296, Rome, 1820]. Some authors have suspected that the precious treasure was never carried to old Rome, but only to the new, or Byzantium. And Rader seems to have written to that effect, when he says: The body, I think, of this Epimachus (of whom mention is made on July 6 in the menaea) was translated to Constantinople; of which at March 11. Into whose crypt the body of St. Gordian also, who suffered afterwards under Julian, was laid. Gordian is celebrated with this same Epimachus on May 9, not because they underwent martyrdom together, but they obtained the same place of burial [Observations on the menaea, month of Oct., p. 299, Royal Library of Brussels, ms. cod. 7587]. But certainly there is no reason why we should judge that Gordian suffered and was buried anywhere but at Rome.

[19] [likewise that neither he nor the one of Pelusium came to Byzantium, but the Alexandrian.] The arrival of some St. Epimachus in the city of Constantinople was consecrated by a particular feast among the Greeks, and is called in doubt by no one. But who was he? Some are pleased to say that St. Epimachus of Alexandria (whom they by no means distinguish from the Roman) was translated to Rome in the middle of the fourth century, and thence afterwards conveyed to Constantinople, or that he was given partly to this city and partly to that [Cf. Pétin, Dictionnaire hagiographique, vol. I, col. 864. Baillet, Vies des Saints, vol. IV, p. 199, Paris 1739]. But, to omit now other matters which will be indicated later, if the body of the Roman Epimachus or a great part of it fell to the Byzantines, how could the same body in the year 774 be given to St. Hildegard the queen, then staying at Rome, and thereafter rest at Kempten? But if the Byzantines had received only a slight portion of the relics, they would not, I believe, have committed the event to immortality in the manner we described above. Nor again does it seem very probable that Epimachus of Pelusium was translated to Constantinople: certainly nothing of the kind is hinted at, either in the liturgical office of October 31 or in the Acts copiously written in the tenth century: so that the translation, if it took place, must be referred to the end of the tenth century or a more recent age, when the Arabs had long held Alexandria. The mind inclines to think that that Epimachus came to the Byzantines whom they venerated with St. Alexander at July 6. This opinion, which is also that of Baronius Roman Martyrology, at December 12, note, is at odds with what is reported about the translation of Epimachus of Alexandria to the city of Rome Cf. Tillemont, Mém. pour l'hist. ecclés., vol. IV, p. 659, Paris 1701.

[20] The Byzantine relics were perhaps carried to Venice. Whether the relics remained entire at Byzantium may be doubted. For since at Venice in the Church of St. Paternian the bodies of SS. Epimachus and Gordian are said to be preserved Italia sacra, vol. V, col. 1180, Venice 1720, some have thought that they came from Byzantium, others from Rome. Of these Flaminio Corner says: At the altar of St. Liberalis, bishop and martyr, there is seen an urn of onyx a foot and a half high, filled with fragments of bones, beside which lies this inscription: Here rest the bodies of SS. Gordian and Epimachus MM. But since the capacity of the narrow little urn holds scarcely a few small bones and a handful of ashes, it must be said that relics are signified by body… To a little marble casket are attached two heads, which are traditionally held to belong to the same holy martyrs [Eccles. Venetae, decas XV, p. 263 and following, Venice 1749. Cf. Notizie storiche delle chiese di Venezia, p. 215, Venice 1758]. But who will hold this for certain? For, as Flaminio himself adds, no documents survive concerning the time or the manner of the translation Ibid.. It is added that at Rome, if we wish to follow Charles Piazza, not only are notable relics of SS. Gordian and Epimachus preserved in various churches, but their very heads are still shown in the Lateran basilica [Emerologio di Roma, vol. I, p. 314, Rome 1713. Cf. O. Panciroli, Tesori nascosti di Roma, Index of relics, under Epimaco, Rome 1625. Cf. Piazza, Eorterologio Romano, p. 214, Rome 1702]. For this reason our predecessors not rashly suspected Acta SS., vol. VII of May, p. 679 that those remains of the holy martyr which were venerated at Byzantium were carried off from there by the Venetians to their city, like very many other bodies of saints [Cf. Andr. Dandolo, Chronicle, in Muratori, Rerum Italic. scriptt., vol. XII, col. 331]; and that because the name of Gordian is commonly joined to his name, the opinion prevailed, which Ughelli follows Italia sacra, vol. V, col. 1180, that the bodies of both are held at Venice at St. Paternian's. Nor is it an obstacle that Anthony of Novgorod asserts that the head of St. Epimachus exists at Constantinople. For he wrote about the year 1200, before the Latins occupied Byzantium and carried off from there the sacred treasures.

[21] There are certainly two distinct Epimachi, and probably three. And so much concerning the Epimachus venerated at Byzantium. Whether Antoninus Martyr saw the same one or another, the Alexandrian or the one of Pelusium, resting at Alexandria in the sixth century must be left undecided. Nothing, that is, beyond the very brief mention by the traveler which we gave before has so far become known. And the sum of the whole discussion will be this: those are mistaken who think that all the Epimachi, the one of Pelusium and the others, are only one martyr. For although where a martyr's body is said to exist a part of the relics may often be understood, nevertheless to one who diligently weighs what has been set out above about the translations, it will manifestly appear that at least two distinct Epimachi must be recognized; indeed that there were three seems nearer to credibility, and is notably confirmed by comparing their deeds with one another.

[22] To the saint of Pelusium is joined St. Eutropia, In the Slavic Rumyantsev Calendar of the thirteenth century, at October 30, St. Eutropius is placed beside St. Epimachus Martinov, Annus Graeco-Slavicus, p. 341: this was certainly written for Eutropia, who is cited at the same day in several calendars and menaea; as in the Sirmond or Clermont menaea, in the Ambrosian menaea of Milan, and in the Mazarin, in the Moscow calendar published in the year 1818, in the Compendious Menology of the year 1850, and in the printed menaea of the Greeks Menaeon of the month of Oct., at the 30th day, p. 184, Venice 1843. The short narrative which is read in the Dijon synaxary at May 25, and at October 30 in the Basilian menology, in the menology of Sirleto, in the menaea of Sirmond and others, does not in substance differ from that which was woven into the Acts of St. Epimachus. St. Eutropia seems to have been associated with the cult of the holy martyr for this reason, that both were killed in the same city, at the same time and by the same judge, as will be declared below.

[23] besides other martyrs, It is not certain who that Heraclius is who at October 31 is joined to St. Epimachus of Pelusium in the Neapolitan Marble calendar, in the Eclogadion of Grottaferrata, in some synaxaries of the Greeks and other sacred calendars. Perhaps he does not differ from St. Heraclius, martyr of Alexandria, who is commemorated at July 7 in the Hieronymian lists, but of whom no mention is made in the Marble Calendar and the others indicated above. But what Assemani said Kalend. Eccl. Univ., vol. V, p. 327, that he is the same as the Heraclius who is venerated with St. Alexander on October 22 Acta SS., vol. IX of Oct., p. 520, seems a mere and gratuitous conjecture. SS. Epimachus and Heraclius are accompanied in the calendar of the Ostromir Gospel of the eleventh century by St. Pantaleon; who, as Capito Nevostruev testifies, is proposed for cult at October 31 in no other liturgical book J. Martinov, Annus Graeco-Slavicus, p. 266.

But this is not the place to discuss these things more widely.

Notes

* otherwise torti

* Epimahi in the codex

§ III. Of the condition of St. Epimachus. Whether he was an anchorite and a bishop.

St. Epimachus devoted himself to Christian philosophy, Of the homeland, age, family and condition of St. Epimachus almost nothing is known. He was an Egyptian, and lived, as the menaea of the Greeks say, in the Pelusian countryside. Setting out what his way of life was there, Metaphrastes says: He lived on the mountain of Pelusium, and there exercised himself in all philosophy, and embraced every hardness of diet; in short he lived a harsh and laborious life for the sake of Christ. Those who have written of this philosophy, Nicholas Antonelli, and better our predecessor Anthony Tinnebroek, have shown that those were often called philosophers by the Fathers of the Church who were religious men, who, having cast away earthly cares and hindrances and repudiated the pleasures of the world, wholly devoted their minds to Christian philosophy, to be cultivated according to the heavenly teachings of the sacred Scriptures, … that, the body being brought into servitude, the mind free from the love of worldly things, they might rest in the holy contemplation of God, and, living on earth, imitate the heavenly life of the blessed spirits [Sermons of St. James bishop of Nisibis, Diss. on the Ascetics, chap. II, p. 110 and following; cf. chap. III, p. 114 and following]. But of these some (called θεωροί, contemplatives, ἄζυγοι, solitaries, and by similar names) lived what we call the contemplative life; others (πρακτικοί, actives, κοινωνικοί, socials, etc.) gave themselves more to the active life, preaching the religion of Christ everywhere [V. De Buck and A. Tinnebroek, Historical and Canonical Examination of the Book of Marianus Verhoeven on the Rights and Duties of Regular and Secular Clerics, chap. II, p. 59 and following. Cf. Suicer, Thesaurus eccles., vol. II, under the words φιλοσοφία and φιλόσοφος, col. 1438 and following, Wetstein ed.].

[25] near Pelusium, Since St. Epimachus is referred by the writers of the Acts rather to the former class, it must be asked how he conducted himself in this way of life. We shall not discuss whether the Therapeutae, of whom there are so many controversies, once lived for some time at Pelusium: it could certainly have happened, since they are reported to have been scattered throughout the several prefectures of Egypt, especially around Alexandria Cf. Historical Examination etc., p. 38 and following, and the Pelusian countryside was a place suited to their institute. Nor will the opinion of those be brought under examination who think that from the first times that tract was the seat of the Carmelites Cf. Acta SS., vol. I of Feb., p. 469. But beyond doubt St. Isidore lived the monastic life there in the fifth century, and, as Pagi contends after Nicephorus Callistus [Hist. eccl., bk. XIV, chap. 53, in Migne, Greek Patrology, vol. CXLVI, col. 1249 and following. Cf. ibid., vol. LXXVIII, col. 318, letters of St. Isidore of Pelusium, bk. I, letter 213] and others Critique of Baronius, at the year 433, § XXIII, against the contradiction of Heumann Primitiae Gottingenses, on Isidore of Pelusium, p. 214, he presided over many disciples. Indeed it is established that already in the fourth century very many places near Pelusium had been cultivated by monks Acta SS., vol. I of Feb., p. 469. For in the year 357 or 358 the abbot St. Hilarion came to Pelusium, as St. Jerome writes, and having visited the Brethren who were in the neighboring wilderness and were staying in the place called Lychnos, he went on in three days to the fort of Thaubastum Ibid., vol. IX of October, p. 52; cf. p. 21… Whether in the year 250 (about which we believe our holy martyr died) many ascetics were already living in those parts is not known: but certainly Epimachus devoted himself there to the perfect life, not indeed in a monastery, nor again in the vast wilderness, but, as Metaphrastes says, on the mountain of Pelusium, or, as the menaea have it, outside the city of Pelusium, in the countryside; perhaps in that which lies to the south and east of Pelusium, a desert even now, scarcely a quarter of an hour distant from that city, and divided from it only by a very short stretch of marsh Ibid., p. 22.

[26] but not in the vast wilderness. This condition of St. Epimachus will not seem strange to those who recall what St. Athanasius wrote of the great Anthony. Narrating that he, in about the twentieth year of his age (or in the year of Christ, as very many think, 270), began to devote himself to asceticism not far from his home: for there were not yet, he says, so many monasteries in Egypt, nor did any monk at all know the vast wilderness; but whoever wished to be at leisure for himself exercised himself in solitude not far from his village [Cf. Historical Examination of the book of Marianus Verhoeven, p. 64. Cf. Acta SS., vol. III of May, p. 295]. Yet St. Jerome rightly asserts that a certain Paul the Theban (about the year 250) was the chief of that thing (the anchoritic life), not of the name. And of Anthony: Not so much was he himself before all, he says, as that the zeal of all was stirred up by him Life of St. Paul, in Migne, Latin Patrology, vol. XXIII, col. 17 and following. Who, as St. Athanasius says, persuaded many to choose the solitary life, and so at length monasteries were made even in the mountains, and the wilderness was inhabited by monks Historical Examination etc., p. 65. Since these things took place about the year 305, we cannot count Epimachus among the disciples of St. Anthony.

[27] He is called a bishop on no ground. Nor is he to be placed in the number of the bishops. In the Slavic Rumyantsev Calendar of the thirteenth century is recorded the Passion of the holy prelate Epimachus, and in the Šišatovac calendar of the year 1324: The Passion of the holy hieromartyr Cf. Acta SS., vol. XII of Oct., p. 220 Epimachus, bishop J. Martinov, Annus Graeco-Slavicus, p. 341 and 345. But that singular mention by no means takes credit from the sacred calendars and the Passions, from which it is gathered that the renowned martyr is on no ground called a bishop. For not only is this nowhere hinted at, but the holy man is said to be without letters and unlearned Basilian Menology, at Oct. 31, having used no master and guide of life Cf. below, Other Passion, no. I, rustic and rude, such as David was pasturing his father's sheep Below, Prior Passion, no. I; unknown to the world and common Ibid., no. 3.

[28] He died probably in the year 250. It remains that the time at which St. Epimachus contended for the confession of the faith should be defined more closely. In the Moscow manuscript Calendar, of which a copy exists in the Royal Library of Brussels (ms. cod. 11327), the year 5775 is expressly written (or the year 267 after the birth of Christ); but how little authority is to be attached to notations of this kind all know. Other authors confidently propose December 12 of the year 250, because they do not distinguish the holy martyr from Epimachus of Alexandria, who is established to have been in fact put to death in the year 250. To us, who distinguish two martyrs, the same year does not seem improbable. For although, as I said before, the time of the contest is not expressly defined in the Acts, yet, so far as may be conjectured from common indications, the age of Decius is signified by Metaphrastes. Now Decius seized the empire in the month of October of the year 249 and perished in the month of November of the year 251. The year 250 or 251 is therefore to be chosen, if St. Epimachus, as is read in the Prior Passion, was killed in the month of May; indeed even if he died in the month of October, as is commonly reported. For it cannot be believed that already in the very month of October of the year 249 edicts had been issued against the Christians, especially at Alexandria; above all since we know of no one who was afflicted with martyrdom under the emperor Decius before Pope St. Fabian, or before January 20 of the year 250 Cf. Acta SS., vol. XI of October, p. 417. At Alexandria indeed the persecution by no means began from the emperor's edict, since it had preceded it by a whole year Eusebius, Hist. eccl., bk. VI, chap. 41; yet the authors of the Passions do not seem to refer the martyrdom of Epimachus to those mobs of the Gentiles stirred up against the Christians, but to the Decian persecution itself, and indeed to the time when it was raging most fiercely, and therefore the month of October of the year 250 pleases more than the same month of the year 251, by which the persecution had certainly cooled down. And these things, suitable testimonies failing, can be brought forward as probable conjectures, but by no means as undoubted evidence.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY, GLORIOUS AND GREAT MARTYR EPIMACHUS BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

from the Paris manuscript codex 1534.

Epimachus of Pelusium, martyr at Alexandria (S.)

FROM THE MSS.

CHAPTER ONE.

The contest of St. Eutropia. St. Epimachus offers himself of his own accord to the governor of Alexandria. He strengthens the captives. The conversion and martyrdom of the prison guards.

Τῶν καλῶς ἀθλησάντων ἐν τῷδε τῷ βιωτικῷ ἀγῶνι εἰκόνας εἰκόναις cod. ἀφιεροῦνται ἔν τε τοῖς γυμνασίοις ἐν τε τοῖς περιβόλοις, εἰς μεῖζονα πόθον φερούσας τοὺς ἀθλεῖν ἐθέλοντας ἐν τοῖς σταδίοις. Καὶ ὅπως ἡ μνήμη τοῦ ἀπελθόντος καὶ ἀριστέυσαντος ἐν τῇ συμμαχίᾳ ἄσυλος διαμένει ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ τῶν φιλοπόνων, ὡς καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν σήμερον ἡ μνήμη τοῦ νικηφόρου μάρτυρος ἐπιμάχου, οὐκ ἐν στήλαις οὐδὲ ἐν εἰκόσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν διανοίαις ἐγγέγραπται ἐνγέγραπται cod.. Αἵματι γὰρ τῷ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ῥεραντισμένῳ for cod. ἐῤῥαντισμένῳ ἐν τῷδε τῷ πνευματικῷ περιβόλῳ συναγείρας ἃπαντας τούς, ὑπὲρ οὗ πέπονθεν, Χριστοῦ θιασώτας, θειασότας cod. εἰς ἄληστον διαμένει μνήμην, καὶ δοξάζει τὸν ἀριστέα Χριστόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ μνήμη δικαίων μετ᾽ ἐγκωμίων γίνεται, καὶ τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεάν, μικρὰ τῶν ἐκείνῳ διηριστευμένων εἰς ἔπαινον καὶ δόξαν τῇ παρούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ διαμνημονεύσω. Ποῖον οὖν τῶν ἐκείνου κατορθωμάτων ἐξείπω ἀλλ᾽ ἤ ὅτι τῷ διαβόλῳ ἐμάχήσατο, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους, καὶ πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, ὡς γέγραπται, ἐπάξιον τῆς προσηγορίας κεκτημένος τὸ φρόνημα; Ῥώμην γὰρ ἠμφιάσατο ὁ ἅγιος ἥν ἠκούσαμεν παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου Παύλου λέγοντος· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Πρᾶος δὲ ἦν ὡς Μωϋσῆς, ὁ θεράπων Κυρίου· ὡραῖος τῇ ὄψει ὡς Ἰωσὴφ ὁ σώφρων· καὶ ἀθλητὴς ὡς ὁ Ἰώβ, ὅς ἐμαχήσατο τῷ διαβόλῳ, δίκην μάρτυρος ἀχθεὶς εἰς τὸ στάδιον τῆς σωφροσύνης· εὐμεγέθης ἄγροικός τε καὶ ἰδιώτης, οἷος ἦν ὁ Δαβίδ, ποιμαίνων ποιμένων τὰ πρόβατα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀχθεὶς εἰς προφητείαν καὶ βασιλείαν· ἀνδρεῖος ἀνδρείως cod., ὡς ἔδειξεν ἡ περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἔνστασις.

[2] Ὡρμᾶτο δὲ ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου μητροπόλεως, τοῦ Πηλουσίου λέγω ἀλλὰ φθόνου καὶ σκηπτοῦ ἐπικειμένου τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων πόλει· πολέμιός τις ἀνὴρ ὀνόματι

Ἀπελλιανὸς (ἀρκούσης μόνης τῆς προσωνυμίας μαρτυρῆσαι τὸ σαρκοβόρον καὶ ἀνήμερον τοῦ ἀνδρός), ἐπιβεβηκὼς τῆς πόλεως, ἐκέλευσεν πόλεμον γενέσθαι κατὰ τῶν χριστιανῶν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας πέντε· βουλόμενος συλλαβεῖν καὶ ὑποπεῖσαι θυσίαν τοῖς ματαίοις καὶ μὴ οὖσι θεοῖς προσενεγκεῖν· εἰ δὲ μή γε, τιμωρήσασθαι αὐτούς. Καὶ εἵλκοντο οἱ χριστιανοὶ βίᾳ, οἱ μὲν ἐκ τὼν ἐγγύς, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐξ ἄλλων πόλεων καὶ χωρῶν· καὶ παρίσταντο μετὰ πολλῆς συγχύσεως καὶ δεσμῶν καὶ φυλακῆς ἐπὶ τὸ μαρτύριον. Ἄλλοι δὲ οἰκείᾳ προαιρέσει ἠκολούθουν, τὰς ψυχὰς ἀνατιθέντες τῷ δεσπότῃ αὐτῶν Θεῷ, καὶ βασάνων καὶ τιμωριῶν εἰς πεῖραν ἤγοντο, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἀνέχεσθαι κἂν ἀκούειν τῶν βεβήλων καὶ ἀθέων τοῦ διαβόλου κολακιῶν. Ἐν οἷς καὶ κόρη τις ἅμα αὐτοῖς καταξεομένη τὰς πλευράς, ὀνόματι Εὐτροπία, καὶ κατακαιομένη διὰ λαμπάδων πυρός, ἀνέκραγεν λέγουσα· “Μεγάλη ἡ ψυχρότης τοῦ ὕδατος οὗπέρ μοι ἐπιβάλλεται, καὶ φρίττει μου τὰ ὀστᾶ.” Ἐφ᾽ οἷς ὁ πολέμιος καὶ ἐχθρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, τοὺς ὀδόντας τρίζων, τοῖς δορυφόροις ἔτυπτεν, μωρῷ φρονήματι καὶ ἀπίστῳ νομίζων ὕδωρ καταχέεσθαι καταχέσεσθαι cod. αὐτῇ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔβλεπεν τοῖς ἔξωθεν ὀφθαλμοῖς οὔτε τοῖς ἔσωθεν. Καὶ τυπτόμενοι οἱ δορυφόροι προσήγαγον σφοδρότατον αὐτῇ τὸ πῦρ. Καὶ πάλιν ἔκραξεν, λέγουσα· “Μωρὲ καὶ ἀσύνετε, οὐχ οἱ δήμιοι προσχέουσίν μοι τὸ ὕδωρ, ὡς σὺ λογίζῃ, ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος ὁ παρεστώς μοι ἀνήρ, ὡραῖος παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ὅμοιος Υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ υἱῷ ῷ Θεω cod..” Καὶ περιεβλέπετο ὡς ἀληθῶς ἡ ἁγία τὸν παρεστῶτα αὐτῇ θεῖον ἄγγελον εἰς θάμβος· καὶ οἱ δήμιοι καὶ πᾶσα ἡ πόλις ἑώρων αὐτόν, ὥστε πάντας ξενίζεσθαι καὶ δοξάζειν τὸν Θεόν. Ἐξεπλήττετο δὲ καὶ ὁ ἐχθρὸς τῆς ἀληθείας Ἀπελλιανός, καὶ ἀπορῶν πῶς κολάσει τοὺς ἁγίους, κελεύει τηρηθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἄχρις ἄν σκοπήσῃ περὶ αὐτῶν μετὰ τῶν ὁμοίων αὐτοῦ κακούργων.

[3] Καὶ δὴ ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ ἅγιος Ἐπίμαχος, ἐνθέῳ ζήλῳ κινηθεὶς τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐποιήσατο ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν· καὶ καθάπερ Ἀμβακοὺμ ῥοίζῳ τοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τῆς κόμης ἀγόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου ἀγγέλου ἔνθα ἦν ὁ μακάριος Δανιήλ, καὶ παραγίνεται ἐπὶ τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ἄκλητος μὲν παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, παρὰ δὲ Θεῷ κλητός· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἐζήτει αὐτόν· ἄγνωστος γὰρ ἦν καὶ ἰδιώτης τῷ κόσμῳ. Ἀλλὰ ζήλῳ Θεοῦ φερόμενος καὶ σπεύδων ἐπὶ τὸ βραβεῖον τῆς ἄνω κλήσέως· φωτεινοὺς ἔχων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς διανοίας, καὶ καθάπερ στρατιώτης ἄριστος κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἐγειρόμενος ἐκ τοῦ ἤχου τῆς σάλπιγγος, καὶ τὴν πανοπλίαν ἀναλαβὼν τὴν ἀνεπαίσχυντον, τὴν ὁρμὴν ποιεῖται πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον· ὡσαύτως καὶ ὁ τριπόθητος οὗτος τὸν δρόμον ποιεῖται, ὑπὸ τῆς πνευματικῆς σάλπιγγος τοῦ μαρτυρίου καλούμενος, τὸ εἰρημένον τῷ ἀποστόλῳ πληρῶν, ὅτι· Πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον· καὶ Οὕτως τρέχω, ὡς οὐκ ἀδήλως.

[4] Ἐν δύο δὲ ἡμέραις διανύσας τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν (ἦν γὰρ γειτνιῶν κατ᾽ ἐκείνου ἐκείνῳ cod. καιροῦ τοῖς μέρεσι τῆς Αἰγύπτου), παρίσταται τῶι ἀνδροφόνῳ καὶ ὄντως ἀγρίῳ λύκῳ, τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πράττων Supplied by conjecture. πρόσταγμα, αἰφνιδίως καὶ ἐξ ἀπροόπτου, ὡς ὑποπτεύειν τὸν αἱμοβόρον μεθύειν αὐτόν, ἢ παρά τινων ὑποβληθῆναι· ἅμα γὰρ τὸ εἰσελθεῖν τὸν ἅγιον εἰς τὸ πρόσκαιρον καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητον βῆμα τοῦ … ρου A word that could not be read: perhaps ἀνημέρου., δραμὼν παραδόξως ἔλαβεν τὸν προκείμενον παράνομον βωμὸν τῶν οὐκ ὄντων θεῶν ἀλλὰ δαιμόνων, καὶ ἔρριψεν, καὶ ὤθησεν τοὺς δημίους. Ὥρμησεν δὲ καὶ κατὰ τοῦ πολεμίου δικαστοῦ· καὶ ἐπισχεθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν δορυφόρων αὐτοῦ, ἐτύπτετο κατὰ τῆς ὄψεως αὐτοῦ τῆς ἁγίας καὶ εὐόπτου· ἦν γὰρ πυρακίζων For πυῤῥακίζων. Cf. 1 Reg. XVI, 12. μετὰ κάλλους ὀφθαλμῶν· ὡς ἀπὸ τῆς τόλμης θυμωθῆναι τὸν τύραννον καὶ ἐξαναστῆναι τῆς καθέδρας αὐτοῦ καὶ κελεῦσαι αὐτὸν σιδηρωθέντα κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ σώματος οἰκεῖν τὸ δεσμωτήριον· καὶ ἔλεγεν· “Ἐάσατε αὐτὸν ἕως ἐκνίψῃ ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου καὶ τῆς μέθης.” Καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἤρξατο ἄγειν ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους μάρτυρας, καὶ ἠναγκάζοντο μόνον ἅψασθαι τῶν παρανόμων θυσιῶν διὰ τῶν βασάνων. Καὶ καθύβριζον αὐτὸν οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οὐκ εἶξαν τῇ κολάσει ἦξαν τῇ κελάσει cod. αὐτοῦ.

[5] Ὁ δὲ μιαρὸς ὁρῶν αὐτοὺς ἀνδριζομένους ἐπιπολὺ καὶ προθύμους γενομένους περὶ τὰς δεινὰς βασάνους, καὶ καταλυομένην αὐτοῦ τὴν τυραννίδα, ἐνεγκὼν τοὺς δεσμοφύλακας ἐπυνθάνετο παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τίς ἡ αἰτία καὶ ἐκ τίνος οὕτως αὐτῷ ἀντέστησαν καὶ ὕβρισαν ὕβισαν cod. αὐτῷ οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες. Οἱ δὲ ἔφησαν λέγοντες· “Ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πηλουσίου τῇ προτεραίᾳ συγκλεισθεὶς ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, σὺν αὐτοῖς διάγων ὑπέθετο αὐτοῖς τὰς ἁγίας γραφάς· καὶ ἰσχυροποίησεν καὶ προθυμοτέρους ἐποίησεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὸ μή ἀπατηθῆ[ναι] ἀπατηθῆ cod. ἀπὸ τῶν παρανόμων καὶ βεβήλων σου θυσιῶν καὶ ὑποσκελιζόντων τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην γνῶσιν. Εὐχόμεθα δὲ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ ἀληθινῷ ἅμα ἡμῖν καί σε εἰς μετάνοιαν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ κληθῆναι· καὶ εἰ βούλει, ἕτοιμός ἐστιν προσδέξασθαί σε διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν καὶ τῆς διδασκαλίας τοῦ μάρτυρος αὐτοῦ Ἐπιμάχου. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ σεαυτὸν ἀνάξιον ποιεῖς τῆς αἰωνίου ζωῆς, ἐπιμένων τοῖς ματαίοις σου βδελύγμασιν, σπεύδομεν καὶ ἡμεῖς διὰ τῆς πείρας τῶν βασάνων σου πολίται γενέσθαι τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλήμ, εἰσερχόμενοι εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· εἰ γὰρ καὶ σὺ σαυτὸν ἐξωθεῖς ταύτης μαινόμενος, δοκιμωτέρους ἀποδεικνύεις τοὺς δούλους τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἵτινες μέλλουσίν σε βλέπειν κατεσθίοντα τὰς σάρκας σου καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ αἰωνίου πυρὸς ἁπάντως φλογιζόμενον, καὶ κλαίοντα καὶ ὀδυρόμενον ἀνωφελῶς, καὶ μεταμελούμενον ἐφ᾽ οἷς νῦν ποιεῖς· καὶ σὺν σοὶ τοὺς ματαίους καὶ κενοὺς οὓς λέγεις θεούς, εἰς οὓς καὶ ἐλπίζεις, κατακαιομένους· αὐτοὺς δὲ οὓς βασανίζεις ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστης ἀνανθρώπως, ἐν ἀναπαύσει καὶ τρυφῇ καὶ χαρᾷ ἀνεκλαλήτῳ.”

[6] Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ τύραννος καὶ πλησθεὶς θυμοῦ, λέγει· “Οἶδα τὸν διδάσκαλον ὑμῶν τὸν λέγοντα ὑμῖν ταῦτα καὶ ὑποτιθέμενον τοὺς μύθους τούτους εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον· ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς ἅμα ὑμῖν πειραθήσεται τῶν πικρῶν βασάνων, εἴ γε μὴ ἐπιθύσῃ τοῖς θεοῖς· οὐ γὰρ δυνήσωμαι τὸν ψευδολόγον διὰ τῆς φιλανθρωπίας τῶν αὐτοκρατόρων πεῖσαι καὶ ἀποστῆσαι τῆς μωρίας ταύτης, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ μᾶλλον διὰ τῶν τιμωριῶν ἃς ἐπάγουσιν ὑμῖν δι᾽ ἐμοῦ τὰ προστάγματα τῶν δεσποτῶν τῆς οἰκουμένης.” Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπών, ὁ ἄγριος θὴρ τύψας αὐτοὺς πολλαῖς πληγαῖς ἐκέλευσεν αὐτῶν τὰς γλώσσας τμηθῆναι. Οἱ δὲ ἐβόησαν λέγοντες· “Ὡς καλή ἡ ὁδὸς τοῦ μαρτυρίου σου, Ἐπίμαχε, εἰς ἥν ὡδήγησας ἡμῖν· νῦν ἐγευσάμεθα καὶ ἴδωμεν For εἴδομεν? ὅτι Χριστὸς ὁ Κύριος ἔχει σοι ἀποκείμενον ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν μισθόν· ὅτι δούλους ἡμᾶς ὄντας τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἠλευθέρωσας καὶ ἐκτήσω τῷ Θεῷ σου. Εὔχου εὔχον cod. οὖν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἵνα τελειώσωμεν τὸν δρόμον τὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καταφρονήσαντες τῆς προσκαίρου ζωῆς, καὶ καταξιωθῶμεν θεάσασθαί σε ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν. Πρέσβευε πρεσβεύειν cod. ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡμάρτομεν ἡμάρτωμεν cod. καὶ ἠσεβήσαμεν ἠσβήσαμεν cod. πρὸς αὐτόν.” Καὶ ταῦτα λεγόντων αὐτῶν, θυμωθεὶς ὁ ἡγεμὼν ἐκέλευσεν ἀποτμηθῆναι αὐτῶν τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ δοθῆναι τὰ σώματα αὐτῶν τοῖς κυσὶ βοράν βορρᾶν cod.

The renowned martyr Epimachus, Of those who have fought strenuously in the contest of this life they consecrate images in the gymnasia and on the walls, bearing those who wish to contend in the stadia on to greater desires. And as the memory of a fellow soldier who has departed after fighting outstandingly in the fellowship of war remains secure in the mind of the brave, so also among us today the memory of the victorious martyr Epimachus is inscribed, not on columns nor on images, but in minds. For gathering, by the blood poured from his body, within these spiritual walls all the followers of Christ, for whom he suffered, he remains in perpetual memory and glorifies Christ, the prince of the brave. And since the memory of the just is with praises, and the remembrance of them from generation to generation, I will today commemorate a few of his valiant deeds for praise and glory. And which of his deeds shall I bring forward, unless that he fought against the devil, and against the principalities and powers and rulers of the world of darkness, and against the spirits of wickedness, as it is written, having acquired a spirit worthy of his name? For the holy man put on the fortitude of which we have heard blessed Paul saying: Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, etc. He was meek as Moses the servant of God; comely of aspect as chaste Joseph; an athlete as Job, who wrestled with the devil, led like a martyr into the stadium of temperance; very great, and rustic and rude, such as David was, who, pasturing his father's sheep, was raised to the dignity of king and prophet; and brave, as his purpose concerning the faith made manifest.

[2] while Apellian was torturing St. Eutropia and other Christians, He set out from the metropolis of Egypt, I mean Pelusium ^b. For envy was raging like a whirlwind in the Christ-loving city of the Alexandrians; for a certain hostile man, named Apellian ^c (by which surname alone the man's cruelty and inhumanity ^d is sufficiently declared), having entered the city, had ordered war to be made on the Christians from the fifth day past, wishing to seize them and to persuade them to offer sacrifices to empty and false gods; and if they did not do so, that they should be punished. And Christians were dragged by force, both from neighboring places and from other cities and regions as well; and they were brought to martyrdom, tumultuously consigned to chains and prison. Others followed of their own accord, devoting their souls to their Lord God, and were led to experience torments and punishments, because they could not bear even to hear the profane and impious flatteries of the devil. Among these a certain girl, whose sides, like theirs, were being scraped and who was being scorched with burning lamps, Eutropia by name, cried out saying: "Very cold is the water that is thrown on me, and my bones shudder with cold!" At these words the enemy and foe of God, gnashing his teeth, struck his attendants, thinking with a foolish and suspicious mind that water was being poured by them on the virgin. For he saw neither with outward nor with inward eyes. And the attendants whom he had struck brought a most vehement fire up to the girl. And she again cried out, saying: "Foolish and senseless man, it is not the executioners, as you suppose, who pour water on me, but that man who stands by me, comely of aspect beyond all men, like the Son of God." And in truth she looked around

the holy woman with amazement at the divine angel standing by her; and the executioners and the whole city saw him, so that all, marveling at the strangeness of the thing, praised God ^e. And Apellian himself, the enemy of truth, was astounded, and hesitating by what means he could torture the saints, he ordered them to be kept in prison, until he should have deliberated about their lot with his own wicked men like himself.

[3] runs of his own accord to Alexandria, When St. Epimachus heard this, moved by divine zeal, he hastened to Alexandria; and as Habakkuk in the rush of the spirit was led by the hair by a holy angel to the place where blessed Daniel was, so he came to the contest of martyrdom, called not by men but by God; for no one was looking for him, as he was unknown to the world and common. But driven by the zeal of God and hastening to the prize of the supernal calling, having the bright eyes of the mind, and as an outstanding soldier who is stirred against the enemy by the sound of the trumpet, taking up armor that cannot be confounded, rushes into war; just so that thrice-desired man ran up, called by the spiritual trumpet of martyrdom, fulfilling that saying of the Apostle: All indeed run, but one receives the prize; and: So I run, not as at an uncertainty.

[4] and, because he overturned the altar, sent to prison, Having finished the journey in two days ^f (for he was at that time near the parts of Egypt ^g), he came to the murderer and truly monstrous wolf, carrying out the command of God, suddenly and unexpectedly, so that that bloody man suspected him to be drunk, or suborned by certain persons. For as soon as he had entered before the temporary and contemptible tribunal, with a sudden run he seized the impious altar that stood open not indeed to gods but to demons, threw it down and drove back the executioners. He also rushed upon the hostile judge; but when he had been checked by his attendants, his holy and striking face was beaten: for he was ruddy and beautiful of aspect. Whence it came about that the tyrant, provoked to wrath by his audacity, rose from his seat, and ordered the saint, bound over his whole body with iron chains, to live in prison; for he said: "Leave him till he has breathed out the wine and the debauch." And a few days later he began to bring out of prison all the holy martyrs; who were forced by torments merely to touch the impious sacrifices; and the saints mocked him and did not yield to his chastisement.

[5] he strengthens his companions, and joins the guards to Christ, But the wicked man, seeing them acting very bravely and grown eager for terrible torments, perceived that his tyranny was overcome; having summoned the guards of the prison he inquired what was the cause of this, and from what source the holy martyrs had so resisted him, and had been so insolent to him. And they said: "That Egyptian who came from Pelusium, and was shut up in the prison yesterday with the others, in conversation with them set forth the sacred Scriptures to them, and made them stronger and readier not to be seduced by your impious and empty sacrifices, which overthrow human knowledge. And we pray the true God that you may be called by him with us to repentance; for if you wish, God is ready to receive you through the prayers and teaching of his martyr Epimachus. But since you make yourself unworthy of eternal life, clinging to your empty idols, we too hasten through the experience of your torments to become citizens of the supernal Jerusalem and to enter the kingdom of heaven. For if you yourself thrust yourself out of it by your fury, you make the more approved the servants of God, who are to see you eating your own flesh and wholly burned with eternal fire, and wailing and groaning in vain, and repenting of the things you now do; and those empty and vain ones whom you call gods, in whom also you hope, given over to the fire with you; but those whom you torture inhumanly each day, in rest and delights and unspeakable joy."

[6] who fall as martyrs. Hearing these things, the tyrant, full of fury, says: "I know your teacher, who says these things to you and suggests these fables in the prison; but he too shall be tried with you by harsh torments, unless he sacrifices to the gods; for I cannot persuade this lying man by the benevolence of the emperors and call him back from that madness; but rather by the punishments which the commands of the masters of the world inflict on you through me." And when he had said these things, this cruel beast afflicted them with many blows, and ordered their tongues to be cut off. But they cried out ^h, saying: "How beautiful is the way of your martyrdom, Epimachus, to which you have been our guide! Now we have tasted and seen that Christ the Lord has laid up for you in heaven the reward which you have merited on our account, by freeing us, servants of sin, and winning us for your God. Pray therefore for us, that we may complete the course of martyrdom, despising this fleeting life, and that we may be made worthy to see you in the kingdom of heaven. Entreat for us with God concerning those things in which we have sinned and acted impiously against him." And when they said such things, the prefect, enraged, ordered them to be beheaded, and their bodies to be given to the dogs for food.

NOTES.

wishes to be incredulous, let him now go to Constantinople, and there he will find one of them, the subdeacon Reparatus, speaking polished sentences without any stumbling [Victor of Vita, History of the Vandal Persecution, bk. III, chap. 29, p. 87, from the recension of Petschenig, Vienna 1881; bk. VI, chap. 5, p. 48, from the recension of C. Halm, in Monum. Germ. hist., Auctt. antiquiss., vol. III, part I]. The eyewitnesses of this fact were many, and Aeneas of Gaza himself: whose reports Thierry Ruinart reviewed Hist. Vandal. persec., part II, chap, 7, and one of our colleagues has again diligently weighed them and confirmed that they are to be approved [V. De Buck, Examen critique du miracle de Tipase, in Précis historiques, vol. II, p. 37 and following, Brussels 1853].

CHAPTER TWO.

An interrogation is held of St. Epimachus and the other captives. He is hung up and torn. In the midst of tortures he gives courage to the Christians. His blood restores sight to a girl. Glorious death.

Πλήρης δὲ γενόμενος ὀργῆς, κελεύει ἐνεχθῆναι τὸν ποθεινότατον καὶ ἅγιον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀθλητὴν Ἐπίμαχον· καὶ παρέστη ἡ ἀλήθεια τῷ ψεύδει, ὁ ἀμνὸς τῷ λύκῳ, ὁ πρᾶος καὶ ταπεινὸς ἄνθρωπος τῷ ἀγρίῳ καὶ ἀνημέρῳ θηρίῳ· ὁ ἐλεύθερος τῷ δούλῳ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ὁ ἅγιος τῷ βεβήλῳ. Καὶ ἄρχεται αὐτὸν ἐρωτᾶν ὁ ἀλάστωρ· “Τίς λέγει;” Ὁ δὲ ἔφη· “Χριστιανὸς καλοῦμαι.” Ὁ ἡγεμὼν λέγει· “Εἰπέ, εἰπὲ τὴν σὴν προσηγορίαν, οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι χριστιανὸς εἶ.” Ὁ δὲ μάρτυς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔφη· “Τυφλὲ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ ἀνόητε τὴν καρδίαν, καὶ τῶν σῶν θεῶν τῶν λιθίνων ἀναισθητότερε ἀναισθητότεραι cod.. εἰ εἰδῇς ὅτι χριστιανός εἰμι, καὶ ὅτι ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ πάσχω, εἶχες ἄν ἐπιγνῶναι τὸν πλάσαντά σε καὶ μακροθυμοῦντα ἐπὶ τῇ κακίᾳ σου.” Ὁ δὲ ἡγεμὼν εἶπεν· “Τύψατε αὐτὸν βάκλοις ἕως οὗ εἴπῃ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ προσηγορίαν· μὴ γὰρ νομίσῃς ὅτι ὑπερτίθημι νῦν τὰ κατὰ σέ, ἵνα πάλιν ἀπολέσῃς τοὺς λοιποὺς τοὺς ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ, ὡς τοὺς δεσμοφύλακας.” Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἅγιος ἔφη· “Οὐχὶ ὡς σὺ λέγεις, ἵνα ἀπολέσω, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα σώσω· τίς γάρ σοι δώσει εἰδέναι εἰς οἵαν ἀναγέννησιν καὶ δόξαν αἰώνιον ἐκλήθησαν οὕς ἄρτι ὠνόμασας ὀνόμασας cod..· οὕς μέλλεις παρακαλεῖν, ἐν ἀνηκέστοις κολάσεσιν καὶ βασάνοις ὤν καὶ κατακαιόμενος τῷ ἀσβέστῳ πυρί, ἵνα ἐπιστάξωσίν τῷ μικρῷ δακτύλῳ αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν γλῶσσάν σου ψεκάδα ὕδατος· καὶ ἀκούσεις τότε ἅπερ καὶ ὁ πλούσιος ἤκουσεν ἐπὶ τοῦ μακαρίου Λαζάρου, ἐὰν ἄρα ἆρα cod. ἀκούσῃς· πλέον γὰρ ἐκείνου τοῦ πλουσίου παρώξυνας τὸν πλάσαντά σε Θεόν καὶ οὐ γνωρίζεις αὐτὸν εἶναι τὸν τρέφοντά σε, καὶ διδόντα διδοῦντα cod. σοι τὴν πνοήν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστης ἐφεκάστης cod. ἀλαζονεύει καὶ ὐπερηφανεύει τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ πράττων τοιαῦτα εἰς τοὺς αὐτῷ ἀνακειμένους κατὰ συγχώρησιν αὐτοῦ, ἵνα πλέον τι ὧν ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε, καὶ οἱ πάλαι ἑπόμενοι ὑμῖν καὶ τυφλοὺς ἔχοντες τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς διανοίας καὶ ἡμεῖς πεποιήκαμεν, οὕτως καὶ νῦν ποιήσωμεν. Ἀλλ᾽ ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν ὠφείλωμεν cod. καταφρονεῖν σου καὶ ἀποστραφῆναί σε, καὶ ποθῆσαι τὸν τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα ὑπομείναντα δι᾽ ἡμᾶς. Φιλάνθρωπος γάρ ἐστιν, συγχωρῶν τὰ παρελθόντα καὶ πεπλημμελημένα παρ᾽ ἡμῶν εἰς αὐτόν· ὅς καὶ δώσει ἡμῖν δύναμιν διὰ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ δραμεῖν τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦ μαρτυρίου τούτου· ὁ καὶ διδοὺς ἐν τῷ στόματι ἡμῶν τὰ ῥήματα τῆς σωτηρίας ἡμῶν καὶ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως. Σπεῦσον ποιῆσαι ὅ ὧ cod. βούλῃ· κατὰ ἀλήθειαν γὰρ ἤ κατὰ ἀξίαν τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν ὧν ποιεῖ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστης ἐφεκάστης cod. ὁ δεσπότης Θεὸς εἰς τὸ γένος τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὧν πέπονθεν δι᾽ ἡμᾶς, οὐ δύναταί τις διηγήσασθαι, πάντων ἀνεκφράστων καὶ ἀνεκδιηγήτων ἀνεκδηγῄτων cod. ὄντων.”

[8] Ὁ δὲ ἡγεμὼν ἔφη τοῖς λοιποῖς ἁγίοις· “Τί λέγετε; Ποιεῖτε τὸ πρόσταγμα τῶν βασιλέων, ἤ καὶ ὑμεῖς παράνομον λέγετε τὴν θυσίαν τῶν θεῶν;” Οἱ δὲ εἶπον· “Ἀλλὰ καὶ πάνυ παράνομον καὶ βέβηλον. Οὔτε γάρ εἰσιν θεοὶ ἀλλὰ δαίμονες· εἷς δὲ μόνος ἐστὶν Θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα τὰ πρὸς οἰκονομίαν καὶ σωτηρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὁ τὸν ἥλιον ἀνατέλλων ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθούς· ὁ πάντας ἀνθρώπους καλῶν εἰς μετάνοιαν, καὶ μακροθυμῶν ἐπὶ ταῖς κακίαις πάντων ἡμῶν· ὁ τὸ ἐν ἡμῖν σκότος τῆς πλάνης ἀπελάσας διὰ τοῦ μάρτυρος αὐτοῦ Ἐπιμάχου, καὶ καλέσας ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ στάδιον τῆς ἀληθείας καὶ ῥυσάμενος ἀπὸ τῶν βεβήλων καὶ ματαίων εἰδώλων ὑμῶν.” Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Ἐπίμαχος εἶπεν· “Χριστός ἐστιν ὁ καλέσας ἡμᾶς, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος· ὃς κατηξίωσεν ἐνανθρωπῆσαι καὶ κατ᾽ οἰκονομίαν σταυρὸν ὑπομεῖναι διὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ἵνα καταργήσῃ τοὺς δαίμονας οὕς σέβεσθε σέβεσθαι cod. οἱ Ἕλληνες, καὶ δοξάζῃ τοὺς ἁγίους αὐτοῦ τοὺς ποθοῦντας αὐτόν.” Ὁ δὲ τύραννος ἔφη· “Μαίνῃ μυθολογῶν.” Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος λέγει· “Οὐ μαίνομαι, ἀλλὰ σπεύδων πρὸς τὸ βραβεῖον τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ἀληθείας ῥήματα φθέγγομαι.”

[9] Ὁ δὲ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν κρεμασθῆναι ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον. Ὡς δὲ ἀνηρτήθη περιεζωσμένος λέντιον, περιεβλέπετο ἑαυτὸν δεξιᾷ και ἀριστερᾷ· καὶ ὁρῶν τὰ μέλη αὐτοῦ γυμνὰ καὶ ἑαυτὸν ὑψωθέντα, κινῶν τὴν ἱερὰν αὐτοῦ κεφαλὴν ἔλεγεν· “Μακάριος εἶ, Ἐπίμαχε, ὅτι κατηξιώθης ὡς ὁ Κύριός σου Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐπαρθῆναι ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ, καὶ ὡς ὁ ἅγιος Πέτρος ἐν Ῥώμῃ.” Καὶ ξεομένου αὐτοῦ ἐπιπολὺ ὡς φαίνεσθαι τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀλλάσσεσθαι ἀλασεσθαι cod. αὐτοῦ τοὺς δημίους πολλάκις, ἔλεγεν ἑαυτῷ πάλιν· “Ἀνδρίζου, Ἐπίμαχε, ὅτι ὡς πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι καί συ οὐδὲν κατὰ ἀξίαν πάσχεις ὧν ἔπαθεν ὁ Χριστός. Διὰ σὲ τὸν χοῦν ἐνεπέχθη καὶ ἐνεπτύσθη, ἐμαστίχθη διὰ σὲ τὸν πηλόν, καὶ Θεὸς ὢν ἠνέσχετο ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων σταυρωθῆναι, ἵνα ἡμῖν τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν δωρήσηται. Εἰ οὖν ὁ δεσπότης ὁ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς, καὶ πάσης κτίσεως ὁρατῆς τε καὶ ἀοράτου δημιουργός, ἔπαθεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ἡμᾶς σώσῃ ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ τῶν πυλῶν τοῦ θανάτου, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς ὀφείλομεν παθεῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα γενόμενοι γενώμενοι cod.. κοινωνοὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ γενώμεθα, καὶ τῆς αἰωνίου βασιλείας αὐτοῦ καταξιωθῶμεν.” Ταῦτα ἀκούων ὁ τύραν[νος] ἐκεῖνος, πάλιν οὐ μόνον τὰς πλευρὰς αὐτοῦ καταξέεσθαι ἐκέλευσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα διὰ λίθων ὀξέων κατεσχεθῆναι It seems one should read κατασχασθῆναι or καταξεσθῆναι.. Πᾶσα δὲ ἡ πόλις τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων φιλόχριστος οὖσα, ἐκύκλου αὐτόν, θάμβος ἔχουσα καὶ συμπάθειαν ἐπὶ τῇ δεινῇ καὶ πικροτάτῃ βασάνῳ, καὶ κατεβόα τῆς ὠμότητος τοῦ δικαστοῦ. Ἦν δὲ σὺν τῷ ὄχλῳ κόρη τις μονόφθαλμος παρεστῶσα, καὶ ἐγγίζουσα τῷ ἁγίῳ βασανιζομένῳ καὶ δακρύουσα· τῶν δὲ δημίων ἐπιπολὺ ξεόντων ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἁγίου, καὶ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν πιπτόντων, αἷμα μικρὸν ἐπιστᾶξαν ἤγγισεν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τῆς κόρης, καὶ εὐθέως ἠνεώχθη ὁ κεκλεισμένος αὐτῆς ὀφθαλμός. Καὶ πάντες προστρέχοντες τῇ κόρῃ, ἐθαύμαζον δοξάζοντες τὸν Θεὸν τὸν δόντα χάριν τοιαύτην καὶ ἐξουσίαν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ. Καὶ ἦν ἰδειν τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἁγίου παγὲν ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τῆς κόρης καὶ φωτισμὸν αὐτῇ παρασχόμενον.

[10] Καρτερικῶς δὲ φέρων ὁ μάρτυς τὴν βάσανον τὴν ἀνήκεστον ἀνήκαστον cod., καὶ πάντων τῶν φιλοχρίστων κλαιόντων καὶ στεναζόντων δι᾽ αὐτόν, αὐτὸς ὑπεμειδία, πρὸς αὐτοὺς βλέπων· καὶ ἠγαλλιᾶτο αἰσθόμενος ἑαυτὸν εἶναι περὶ τὸ τέλος τοῦ μαρτυρίου. Καὶ κράξας εἶπεν· “Ἀδελφοί, οἴδατε ὅτι ἔγκειται ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ λόγος οὗτος ὁ λέγων· Μὴ φοβεῖσθε ἀπὸ τῶν The word τῶν is set twice in the cod. ἀποκτεινόντων ἀποκτενόντων cod. τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν μὴ δυναμένων ἀποκτεῖναι· φοβεῖσθε δὲ μᾶλλον τὸν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα ἀπολέσαι ἐν γεέννῃ. Τί οὖν κλαίετε καὶ συνθρύπτετέ μου τὴν καρδίαν; Οὔτε γάρ, ὡς ὑμεῖς λογίζεσθε λογίζεσθαι cod., αἱ βάσανοι αὗται ἅπτονταί μου, ἢ ὀδυνῶμαι ἑξ αὐτῶν. Ὁ γὰρ καλέσας με εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς, αὐτὸς ἐνεδυνάμωσέν με, καὶ κουφίζει τῶν βασάνων τὸν πόνον τῶν πόνων cod., καὶ συμπάρεστίν μοι ἕως τοῦ νῦν· ἐπεὶ ποίας δυνάμεως ἦν ἡ ἀσθενής μου σὰρξ τοσαῦτα ὑπομεῖναι; Εἰδότες οὖν τὴν δύναμιν καὶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ, μὴ δειλιάσητε μηδὲ μὴ δὲ cod. ὀκνήσητε πρὸς τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν καλὸν τοῦτον· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἤδη σπένδομαι καὶ ὁ καιρὸς τῆς ἀναλύσεώς μου ἐφέστηκε, καθὼς γέγραπται· Πᾶς ὃς μὴ λαμβάνει τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀκολουθεῖ ὀπίσω μου, οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος· καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ φιλῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα ὑπὲρ ἐμέ, οὐκ ἔστιν μου ἄξιος· καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ εὑρὼν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, ἀπολέσει αὐτήν· καὶ ὁ ἀπολέσας αὐτὴν ἕνεκεν ἐμοῦ, ἑκατονταπλασίονα ἑκατονταπλασίωνα cod. λήψεται, καὶ ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσει.” Καὶ ταῦτα εἰπὼν κατενεχθεὶς ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου καὶ ἀποτμηθεὶς τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐξ ἀποφάσεως τοῦ ἡγεμόνος, ἀπέδωκεν τὸ τω cod. πνεῦμα τῷ Κυρίῳ, μηνὶ μαίῳ ζ᾽, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν μεθ᾽ οὗ δόξα Supplied by conjecture. τῷ Πατρὶ ἅμα τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶναξ τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

St. Epimachus rebukes the prefect, Swelling with anger, he orders the most desired and holy athlete of God, Epimachus, to be brought; and truth stood before falsehood, the lamb before the wolf, the meek and humble man before the cruel and ungentle beast, the free man before the slave of sin, the holy before the impious. And the wicked man begins to question him: "What are you called?" He says: "I am called a Christian." The prefect says: "Tell, tell your name; for I know that you are a Christian." The martyr of Christ answered: "Blind of eyes and mad of heart, and more senseless than your stone gods! If you knew that I am a Christian and suffer for Christ, you ought to acknowledge him who created you and patiently bears your malice," The prefect said: "Beat him with rods, until he tells his name. For do not think that I will now put off your case, so that you may again destroy the others who are in prison, as you did the guards." The saint answered and said: "Not to destroy, as you allege, but to save. For who will give you to see to what regeneration and eternal glory those have been called whom you just named; whom, when in the gravest penalties and torments

you will be, and will burn with unquenchable fire, you will call on them to drop with their little finger a drop of water on your tongue; and then you will hear what that rich man heard concerning blessed Lazarus, if indeed you hear it; for more than that rich man you have stirred to wrath the God who created you; and you do not acknowledge that it is he who nourishes you and gives you breath; but daily you glory and are proud, doing against him such things to those who are devoted to him, by his permission, so that even now we do something more than you do and than we ourselves did when we formerly followed you and had the eyes of the mind blinded. But we ought to despise you and turn away from you, and to desire him who bore so many and such great things for us. For he loves men, forgiving offenses and the things wickedly done by us against him; who also will grant us that we may by his grace complete the contest of this martyrdom; who also puts in our mouth the words of our salvation and knowledge. Hasten to do what you will; for according to truth or according to worth, no one is able to recount the benefits which the Lord God confers each day on the human race, and the things which he suffered for us, since all are ineffable and unspeakable."

[8] and, despising the worship of idols, The prefect said to the other saints: "What do you say? Do you carry out the command of the emperors, or do you too call the sacrifice of the gods impious?" They answered: "Yes, altogether impious and profane. For they are not gods, but demons; but God is one, who made heaven and earth, and all things that pertain to the life and salvation of men; who makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good; who calls all men to repentance, and patiently bears the depravities of us all; who has driven out the darkness of error that was in us through his martyr Epimachus; and has called us to the stadium of truth and freed us from your profane and vain idols." And in like manner St. Epimachus said: "He who has called us is Christ, the Son of the living God, who deigned to live among men, and according to the disposition of his providence to bear the cross for the salvation of men, that he might enfeeble the demons whom you Greeks ^a venerate, and glorify his saints who desire him." The tyrant said: "You are mad, telling fables." But the saint said: "I am not mad, but hastening to the prize of martyrdom I speak words of truth."

[9] is torn to pieces. His blood restores sight to a girl. He ordered him to be hung on a stake. And when he had been hung up, girded with a linen cloth, he looked around at himself on the right and on the left; and seeing his limbs naked, and himself raised on high, moving his holy head, he said: "Blessed are you, Epimachus, because you have been held worthy to be hung on a stake as your Lord Jesus Christ, as also St. Peter at Rome ^b." And when he was being torn so vehemently that his bones appeared, and executioners were substituted one after another for him, he said again to himself: "Courage, Epimachus, for, as all the saints, so you too suffer nothing worthy of what Christ suffered. For you who are earth he was torn and spat upon; he was scourged for you who are mud; and being God himself, he allowed himself to be driven on the cross for men, that he might endow us with immortality. If therefore the Lord of heaven and earth and the maker of the whole visible and invisible creation suffered for us his servants, that he might snatch us from the whirlpool of sin and from the gates of death, how much more ought we to suffer for him, that being made sharers in his death, we may also be made sharers in his resurrection, and be held worthy of his eternal kingdom?" Hearing this, that tyrant ordered not only his sides to be scraped again, but his whole body to be cut with sharp stones ^c. And the whole city of the Alexandrians, which was Christ-loving, stood around, marveling at and pitying the terrible and most savage torture, and assailed the cruelty of the judge with shouts. Now there stood with the crowd a certain girl deprived of one eye; who had come nearer to the saint in his torture, and was weeping. As the executioners were vehemently scraping the whole body of the saint, and his flesh was falling to the ground, a little blood dripped into the girl's eye, and at once her eye, which had been closed, was opened. And all, running up to the girl, marveled and glorified God, who gives such grace and power to his saints. And one could see the blood of the saint hardened in the girl's eye, which had brought her light.

[10] Having addressed the Christians for the last time, he is beheaded. And the martyr, bravely bearing a most grievous torment, while all the lovers of Christ wept and groaned for him, himself smiled, looking at them; and he exulted with joy, perceiving that he was at the end of his martyrdom. And crying out he said: "Brethren, you know that there is in the Gospel that word which says: Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in gehenna. Why then do you weep and crush my heart? For these torments do not touch me, as you suppose, nor am I affected with pain by them. For Christ Jesus, who called me to this contest, has himself strengthened me, and lightens for me the labor of the torments; and he is present with me until now: for what power was there in my weak flesh to bear such things? Knowing therefore the power and grace of God, do not fear nor be burdened at this beautiful contest; for I am already being poured out, and the time of my dissolution is at hand; as it is written: Everyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me; and again: He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and again: He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost it for my sake shall receive a hundredfold, and shall possess eternal life." And when he had said these things, taken down from the stake and beheaded by order of the prefect, he gave back his spirit to the Lord, in the month of May, on the seventh day ^d, in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father together and the Holy Spirit be glory now and always and for ages of ages. Amen ^e.

NOTES.

is followed by Lipomano, Surius, Zacharias Lippeloo Lives of the Saints, vol. IV, p. 332 and following, Ferrari [General Catalogue of the Saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology, at October 31], and other more recent writers Cf. Ausführliches Heiligenlexicon, col. 584, Cologne 1719.

LITTLE APPENDIX TO THE PRIOR PASSION OF ST. EPIMACHUS.

It was in my mind to show in this place a brief eulogy of Epimachus the Egyptian, copied from the Ethiopic synaxary, since it seems to agree with the prior Acts of our St. Epimachus. But because we could not obtain it in time, it will be published at the end of this volume, indicating meanwhile the things we have so far learned. Thus besides Epimachus, the companion of St. Azirianus (or of St. Gordian), of whom we spoke before Cf. above, p. 684, another is entered in the Coptic sacred calendars. In the Arabic synaxary of the Copts, which Stephen Assemani brought out from the Medicean library of Florence [Cf. Catalogue of the oriental codices of the Medicean Laurentian and Palatine Library, p. 181], the Martyrdom of St. Epimachus the Egyptian is narrated, and indeed at the 14th day of the month Bescensius, or Pachon, which for us is May 9. On the same day, in the Arabic synaxary of the Vatican library, is read the Martyrdom of St. Epimachus of Pharma under Paulamius prefect of Egypt [Ang. Mai, Scriptt. veterum nova collectio, vol. IV, part II, Arabic codices, p. 114]. In the index of Gospel Lessons Ibid., p. 19 which were to be recited according to the rite of the Alexandrian Church of the Copts, St. Epimachus is not recorded at May 9, but at October 30 (3 Hatur). In another calendar of saints for whom Gospel lessons are assigned, for the use of the Church of Antioch of the Syrian Melkites Cf. ibid., p. 34, 46, 49, again nothing at May 9, but at October 31: The contest of the holy hieromartyr Epimachus. We see that that Epimachus of May 9 was also venerated by the Ethiopians. In the Paris copy of their synaxary, at the 14th day of the month Genbot (May 9), there is found the Martyrdom of St. Epimachus of Farma under the prefect Pouplianus [H. Zotenberg, Catal. des mss. Éthiopiens de la bibliothèque nationale, cod. 128, p. 184]; but in the Oxford copy: The Rest of Symmachus the martyr, from Pharma, under Bulamius, prefect of Misr [A. Dillmann, Catalogue of the mss. of the Bodleian Library of Oxford, part VII, Ethiopic codices, p. 60]; and in the calendar of Ludolf: Symmachus Job Ludolf, Commentary on the Ethiopic History, p. 416. In this moreover there are recorded, at the 25th of the month Hamle (July 19), Eutropius… Epimachus Ibid., p. 423.

What then is to be thought of these? Whether the Epimachus recorded at October 30 and 31 is the same as the companion of St. Azirianus, venerated by the Ethiopians Cf. above, p. 684 and 706, or the same as the Pelusiac hermit, may come into dispute, and the knot will not easily be undone. But that Epimachus (called Symmachus in error) whom the Copts and Ethiopians celebrated at May 9 certainly seems not to differ from the one of Pelusium. For he was both an Egyptian, and met death under Paulamius prefect of Egypt, otherwise Pouplianus or Bulamius prefect of Misr: for this name is not so very different from our Apellian, whom Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera, also calls Apeplianus Lives of the Saints, at October 31, Venice 1656. Further, that that martyr was from Pharma, while our Epimachus lived near Pelusium, is so far from harming this opinion that it rather confirms it. Of these places many have thought thus: that as the city among the Greeks had the name Pelusium from the marshes Cf. above, p. 704, in the same way it was called in the Hebrew language Ssin, in Arabic Tineh, in Coptic Peremoun, Pheromi or Farama or Fourma [Cf. Böcking, Notitia dignitatum in the parts of the East, p. 294. S. Quatremère, Mémoires sur l'Égypte, vol. I, p. 259 and following]; so that the Arabs, when they occupied the region, called it Faramah or Al-Faramah. Now indeed it seems certain to most that Feremoun did not stand in the same place as Pelusium, but was a distinct city, situated not far from Pelusium [Cf. Aug. Ant. Georgi, On the Miracles of St. Colluthus and the Acts of St. Panesniu, p. CXCIX. Cf. Description de l'Égypte, Geographical Atlas, fol. 34, Panckoucke ed., Paris 1826]. Nevertheless it is easily understood how one and the same Epimachus could be said by the Greeks to have lived near Pelusium, but by the Ethiopians to have set out from Pharma.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR EPIMACHUS BY METAPHRASTES

from the Paris codex 1484.

Epimachus of Pelusium, martyr at Alexandria (S.)

BY METAPHRASTES.

CHAPTER ONE.

St. Epimachus devotes himself to Christian philosophy. He comes from Pelusium to Alexandria and overturns the altar of the idols. He strengthens the Christians in chains.

Αρτι μὲν ἡ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀχλὺς ἀνὰ πᾶσαν διεχεῖτο τὴν οἰκουμένην, ἄνθρωποι δὲ πάντες πρὸς θυσίαν εἰδωλικὴν συνηλαύνοντο, τάς τε τῶν κρατούντων ἀπειλὰς καὶ τὰς μιαιφόνους τῶν δικαστῶν ὁρμὰς δεδιότες. Καὶ φύσις μὲν ἑαυτὴν ἐξώμνυτο· συγγενείας δὲ θεσμὰ κατεπατεῖτο, καὶ ἀνετρέπετο, καὶ παλαιᾶς ἀγάπης συνάφεια πρὸς διάστασιν ἐμερίζετο. Ἐξέλαμπε δὲ ἐν τούτοις οἷά τις ἀστὴρ ὁ μέγας ἐν ἀθλοφόροις Ἐπίμαχος, οὐκ ἐπίδηλος οὐδὲ γνώριμος ὢν τοῖς πολλοῖς. Αἴγυπτος γὰρ τέως εἶχεν αὐτόν, οἷά τινα λύχνον ὑπὸ μοδίῳ κρυπτόμενον, ἥτις αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνατροφῆς ὄντως καὶ ἀγωγῆς τῆς ἀρίστης ἀπολελαύκει, καὶ ἀρετῆς εἶδεν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡλικίας προκοπὰς καὶ αὐξήσεις. Ὃς οὐ μόνον ἑαυτῷ συναυξανομένην εἶχε τὴν ἀρετήν, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μείζονα καὶ τῆς ἡλικίας αὐτὴν ἐπεδείκνυτο· διδασκάλῳ μὲν οὐδενὶ τοῦ βίου καὶ ὁδηγῷ χρώμενος, οἱονεὶ δέ τις αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ κανὼν καὶ τύπος γενόμενος, καὶ ψυχὴν ἅμα καὶ ἤθος ῥυθμίζων· καὶ τὴν μὲν ποιῶν ἠπίαν καὶ γαληνήν, τὸ δὲ σύννουν ἀεὶ καὶ προσεκτικόν. Ἐντεῦθεν Πηλούσιον ὄρος αὐτὸν οἰκιστὴν ἐκληρώσατο, καθάπερ ἡ ἔρημος πάλαι τὸν Ἰωάννην, καὶ τὸν Ἠλίαν ὁ Κάρμηλος.

[2] Ὅπουπερ αὐτοῦ διατρίβοντος καὶ πᾶσαν μεν ἀσκοῦντος φιλοσοφίαν, πάσῃ δὲ λοιπὸν ἑαυτὸν ἐκδόντος σκληραγωγίᾳ καὶ βίον ζῶντος διὰ Χριστὸν ὀδυνηρὸν καὶ ἐπίπονον, καταλαμβάνει δικαστὴς τὴν Ἀλεξανδρέων ἀπηνέστατός τε καὶ ἀγριώτατος, τἄλλα μὲν οὐδενὸς ἀξιῶν λόγου, ὥστε δὲ πᾶσαν κατ᾽ ἄκρας τὴν πόλιν εἴσω τῶν ἑαυτοῦ δικτύων λαβεῖν, καὶ θήραμα πικρὸν ἀσεβείας ποιήσασθαι, οὐδεμιᾶς τὸ παράπαν μηχανῆς ἀπεχόμενος. Ὅθεν καὶ χριστιανοὶ πάντες, οἱ μὲν δέει τῶν ἀπειλῶν εἰς ἐρημίας ἐφυγαδεύοντο, οἱ δέ, τὸν χριστιανισμὸν κρύπτοντες, τὴν ἀσέβειαν ὑπεκρίνοντο. Ὅσοι δὲ και φανερῶς εὐσεβεῖν ἐβούλοντο, βασάνοις ἐξεδίδοντο πικροτάταις.

[3] Τότε τοίνυν οὐκ ἦν ἦτι ἀνεκτὸν Ἐπιμάχῳ ἡ ἐρημία καὶ τὸ ἄμικτον ἐκεῖνο τοῦ βίου καὶ ἀκοινώνητον. Ἀλλὰ τῷ θερμῷ περὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ζήλῳ, τὴν ψυχὴν σφοδρότατα κινηθείς, καὶ ὥστε μὴ ταύτην ὑβρίζεσθαι, καὶ ζωῆς ἃμα καὶ ἡσυχίας καταφρονήσας, κάτεισιν εἰς μέσην τὴν πόλιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρημίας, πρόσεισι δὲ τῷ τυραννικῷ βήματι μηδὲν ὑποπτήξας τῶν ὁρωμένων, μηδὲν τῶν φοβεῖν δυναμένων καταπλαγείς, καὶ τοῦτο πρῶτον ἀρίστευμα τῆς θαυμαστῆς αὐτοῦ ποιεῖται ψυχῆς. Εἶτα καθαιρεῖ μὲν εἰδωλικὸν ἐκεῖνον βωμὸν καὶ εἰς ἔδαφος ἀνατρέπει, ὁμοῦ καὶ χειρὶ γενναίᾳ καὶ δυνάμει ἀοράτῳ χρώμενος. Ὁρμᾷ δὲ καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῦ δικάζοντος, θυμῷ δικαίῳ τὸν ὑβριστὴν καὶ Θεοῦ καὶ νόμων ἱερῶν ἀμυνόμενος. Καὶ εἴ γε μὴ παρὰ τῶν ἐκείνου δορυφόρων τῆς ὁρμῆς ἐπεσχέθη, πτῶμα δακρύων ἄξιον ἄν ὁ τύραννος ἔκειτο.

[4] Ὅπερ ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἐνεγκών, ἀλλὰ μέσην τὴν καρδίαν ὑπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς ἀναζέσας ἀνατέσας in the ed. ὅτι περ οὕτως εὐτελὴς ἀνήρ, αὐχμηρὸς τὴν κόμην, οἰκτρὸς τὸ τριβώνιον, μετὰ τοσαύτης αὐτῷ τῆς τόλμης προσενεχθείη, φυλακῇ τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δεσμοῖς παραδίδωσιν, οἷα παράβολόν τι καὶ θρασὺ δεδρακότα, καὶ τὴν δίκην ἀξίαν ὑφέξοντα. Πολλοὺς μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄλλους εἶχε τὸ δεσμωτήριον ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας καὶ αὐτοὺς κατακεκλεισμένους. Ἀλλὰ πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ῥοπὴ μεγίστη καὶ πρὸς τὸ μαρτύριον παράκλησις ὁ καλὸς κατέστη Ἐπίμαχος· ἀμελῶν μὲν τῶν καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν δεινῶν, καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων θεραπείας ἐπιμελούμενος. Ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ παραινέσεως πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ διδασκαλίας ἁπτόμενος, καὶ συγκροτῶν αὐτούς, τειχίζων πανταχόθεν, νήφειν ποιῶν, ἀναλώτους ὅλως ταῖς τοῦ ἐκθροῦ μηχαναῖς ἐργαζόμενος.

[5] Παραστησάμενος τοιγαροῦν αὐτοὺς ὁ δικάζων, καὶ πλείονα παρὰ πολὺ τῆς προτέρας καὶ θερμοτέραν τὴν ἔνστασιν ἰδὼν ἐπιδεικνυμένους, πυθόμενος δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ μαθὼν ὡς Ἐπιμάχου ταῦτα συμβουλαί τε καὶ ὑποθῆκαι· τούτων μέν μετὰ πολλὰς ἤδη καὶ ἀφορήτους τιμωρίας ἐκτέμνει τὰς γλώσσας· αὗται γὰρ ἦσαν αἱ μέσην αὐτῷ μάλιστα πλήττουσαι τὴν ψυχὴν τοῖς ἐλέγχοις τῆς ἀληθείας. Εἶτα καὶ ξίφει τὰς μαρτυρικὰς αὐτῶν κεφαλὰς ἀφαιρεῖται.

St. Epimachus the Egyptian, Formerly indeed the darkness of impiety was spread through the whole world, and all men were compelled to offer sacrifice to the gods, dreading the threats of the rulers, and the savagery and onset of the judges. Wherefore nature denied itself: for then the rights of kinship were trampled and utterly overthrown. Indeed even the bond of old benevolence was turned into discord. Meanwhile, however, like a certain star among the soldiers of Christ the great Epimachus shone forth, who while living indeed was known to Egypt alone, but after his martyrdom became manifest to the whole world ^b. For Egypt at that time hid him, like a lamp lying hidden under a bushel. For that region was made a sharer in that man's upbringing and excellent training: since it beheld the progress and increase of his virtue and age. He not only grew in virtue with his age, but also virtue itself was seen in him far greater than his age demanded: and this though he had used no master and guide of life, but had been to himself as it were a rule and form, ordering at once his mind and his manners, making the former namely gentle and tranquil, the latter always prudent, attentive and sober ^c. Hence the mountain of Pelusium received that man as its inhabitant, as the wilderness formerly John the Baptist, and Carmel had Elijah.

[2] as the persecution raged, When therefore Epimachus himself was living on the mountain of Pelusium ^d, and exercising himself in all philosophy, and embraced every hardness of diet, and in short lived a harsh and laborious life for Christ, a certain judge notable for savagery and ferocity came to Alexandria. Now that judge made nothing of all other things; but applied all zeal, industry and arts ^e solely to this, how he might take that whole city in his nets and gather a bitter prey of impiety, and that he might attain this, he abstained from no devices. Wherefore all the Christians, dreading the threats of that judge, some fled into the wilderness, others, dissembling that they were Christians, feigned impiety. But whoever

wished to profess piety was handed over to the bitterest tortures.

[3] he goes to Alexandria and rushes upon the tribunal. Then therefore solitude itself was no longer desirable to Epimachus, nor was that manner of life pleasing by which he avoided the company and impiety of men; but kindled most vehemently by the ardor of love for the piety of God, and aroused by a certain great zeal ^f, he despised at once his life, the solitude and that quiet, and went down from the wilderness into the middle of the city: indeed he went up to the tribunal of the tyrant, fearing none of the things that are seen by bodily eyes, nor terrified by those things which inspire dread. By which he showed an admirable fortitude of mind ^g. Then he overturned the altar of the idols, and leveled it with the ground, using partly a noble and strong hand, partly a certain power, not human, but divine. Moreover he made an onset against the judge also, avenging with a certain just fury him who was violating God and his sacred laws. And had not the martyr's onset been checked by the man's attendants, that tyrant would have lain low by a miserable fate.

[4] Thrown into chains for this, he strengthens his companions in prison: When the judge could not bear all this ^h, that a man so mean and abject, with unkempt hair and wretched in his gown, had dared to rush upon him with so great an onset, he ordered that most holy man to be thrown into prison and chains, because he had displayed great audacity and rashness: wherefore he also decreed that he should pay the just penalties. Many others also, themselves confined for the sake of piety, were held in that prison. But to all of them the speech and alacrity of Epimachus ⁱ was of much help and a great exhortation to bear martyrdom willingly, seeing that, neglecting all the tortures which he saw prepared and set before him, he was anxious only for their salvation. Moreover he instructed and strengthened them with admonitions and much teaching, fortifying them on every side, and persuading them to strive to be watchful and such as could by no means be overcome by the machinations of the enemy, the devil.

[5] these are killed. But when the judge had ordered them to be brought to him, and had seen them professing the confession of Christ much more constantly ^k than before, and had learned that the cause of this was the counsels and exhortations of Epimachus, after many and intolerable tortures he ordered the tongues of all of them to be cut out (for these the martyrs used to defend the truth, which most of all tortured the judge's mind), and then their heads to be cut off with the sword.

NOTES.

CHAPTER TWO.

Interrogation. Various tortures. Wonderful constancy of the martyr. The other eye of a girl is restored. Death of St. Epimachus.

Μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἄγει δεσμώτην τὸν γενναῖον Ἐπίμαχον, καὶ· “Ἵνα τί, φησίν, ὁ σεμνὸς σὺ καὶ τὸ εἶδος ἀξιοθέατος, εἰς τοσοῦτον ἐξέπεσας So in the ed. δυσσεβείας, ὡς μὴ μόνον ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεῶν αὐτῶν καὶ βασιλέων αὐτοκρατόρων καταφρονεῖν; Ἀνθρώπους μὲν γὰρ ὄντας, ἀνάγκη πολλάκις σφάλλεσθαι τοῦ προσήκοντος, πλὴν ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐπιμένειν δεῖ τοῖς αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ μεταβάλλεσθαι πάλιν διορθοῦσθαι τὰ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν μὴ δεόντως γεγενημένα. Οὐκοῦν ἀνθρωπίνῳ καὶ αὐτὸς πάθει ἑαλωκὼς ἀνάνηψόν ποτε, καὶ ἡμετέροις ἡμετέρους in the ed. εἶξον προστάγμασι, θύων σὺν ἡμῖν τοῖς θεοῖς καὶ αὐτοῖς εὐνοῶν, καὶ ὡς δεσπότας θεραπεύων ἁπάντων, ἵνα μὴ καὶ σὺ τὸν τῶν κακούργων θάνατον ὑποστῇς.”

[7] Πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ θερμὸς ὄντως ἐκεῖνος τῆς ἀληθείας ὑπέρμαχος ἀπόνοιαν αὐτοῦ σαφῆ καταγνούς, ὅτι καὶ παραινέσεσι δῆθεν αὐτὸν καὶ διδασκαλίαις ἐπαγαγέσθαι πρὸς τὴν ἀσέβειαν ἐπειρᾶτο, ἀπόγνωσιν αὐτῷ ἐκ προοιμίων εὐθὺς ἑαυτοῦ ἐμποιεῖ καὶ τῶν ἐλπίδων ἐκείνων ἐκκρούει· “Ἐμὲ γάρ, φησίν, ὦ δικαστά, οὐκ ἄν ποτε τῆς συντρόφου καὶ φίλης εὐσεβείας ἀποστήσεις, οὐ πρὸς ἄρνησιν ἐκκαλέσῃ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁμολογίας, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν ἀγενῶν δρᾶσαι παρασκευάσεις ἤ φθέγξασθαι. Χριστὸν γὰρ ὁμολογῶ, Χριστὸν ἀνακηρύττω, δι᾽ οὗ τὰ πάντα παρῆκται, καὶ ἄνθρωπος πέπλασται, καὶ νόμος αὐτῷ τελεῖται, καὶ νοῦς δέδοται πάντων ἡγεμὼν καὶ διδάσκαλος· ὃς ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν ἀπολωλότων ἡμῶν καὶ σεσάρκωται, καὶ ἐσταύρωται καὶ τέθαπται, καὶ ἐγήγερται, καὶ πρὸς οὐρανοὺς ἀνείληπται· καὶ πάλιν ἐλεύσεσθαι μετὰ δόξης πεπίστευται. Ὡς εἴθε καὶ σὺ οὐ in the ed. τὴν εἰδωλικήν λήμην τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ὀμμάτων ἀποβαλών, πρὸς τὸ γλυκὺ φῶς ἐκείνου διέβλεψας. Μηδὲ γὰρ οἰέσθω τις εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην ἡμᾶς τὸ σῶμα ταῖς βασάνοις παραδιδόναι· οὐχ οὕτως ἐσμὲν αὐτοὶ ἐαυτῶν ἐχθροὶ καὶ ἐπίβουλοι. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ ζωή τις ἔστιν ἑτέρα παρὰ πολὺ κρείττων τῆς ὁρωμένης, καὶ κόσμος ἕτερος, καὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσις αἰωνία, οὐ χρόνῳ μητρουμένη, ἀλλὰ μένουσαν ἀεὶ τὴν εὐφροσύνην παρεχομένη, τούτου γε ἕνεκα καὶ κόσμου τοῦ ὁρωμένου, καὶ σαρκὸς καταφρονοῦμεν ὡς λυομένης. Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἡμετέρα ὁμολογία, πρὸς ταύτην ἐστηρίγμεθα καὶ ἡδράσμεθα. Ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς καὶ πᾶν ὁτιοῦν εἰμι τῶν δεινῶν πάσχειν ἕτοιμος. Ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ταχεῖάν μοι τὴν τελευτὴν ἐπαγάγοις, ἡμῖν τε τὰ μάλιστα χαριεῖ, καὶ σεαυτὸν ἀπαλλάξεις αἰσχύνης. Εἰ δὲ καὶ κολάσεσιν αὐτὴν παρατείνεις καὶ τιμωρίαις, τοσοῦτον πλέον ὄψει καὶ ἡμᾶς τοῦ σοῦ καταφρονοῦντας προστάγματος. Αἰδοῦμαι γὰρ εἰ μή τι ἕτερο, ἀλλὰ τοὺς πρὸ ἡμῶν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τελειωθέντας, καὶ σὺν ἡμῖν πάλιν τὸ δεσμωτήριον κατοικοῦντας· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο σπεύδω μὴ ἀπελθεῖν ἀστεφάνωτος, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐκείνων τε χορῷ συναριθμηθῆναι καὶ τούτοις τὴν ποθουμένην τῆς ἀθλήσεως ὑποδεῖξαι πορείαν.”

[8] Ταῦτα εἰς ἀμηχανίαν τὸν τύραννον περιίστησι, καὶ τὸ πείθειν οὐκ ἔχων, ἐπὶ ξύλου τὸν ἄνδρα μετεωρίζει, καὶ διαξαίνει σιδηροῖς αὐτὸν ὄνυξιν. Ὁ δὲ τοσοῦτον ἔχαιρε μᾶλλον τῇ τιμωρίᾳ ὡς καὶ μακαριστὸν ἑαυτὸν τιθέναι τῆς ἀναρτήσεως, ὅτι δεσποτικῶν παθημάτων μιμητὴς ἀνεδείκνυτο· “Εἰ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ἔλεγε, δι᾽ ἡμᾶς καὶ σταυρῷ προσήλωτο, καὶ χολὴν καὶ ὄξος προσήκατο, καὶ λόγχῃ τὴν πλευρὰν νένυκτο, καὶ ἥλοις διατέτρητο τὰς παλάμας· πῶς οὐ χρή με τὸν δοῦλον τῶν αὐτῶν τῷ Δεσπότῃ μεθ᾽ ἡδονῆς κοινωνῆσαι;” Ἀμέλει καὶ τὴν λόγχην ἐζήτει, καὶ τῆς χολῆς ἐπεθύμει, καὶ· “Ἡκέτωσαν, ἔλεγε, τὰ κολαφίσματα, τὰ ἐμπτύσματα· ὁ ἀκάνθινος ἐπιτιθέσθω μοι στέφανος· ἐγχειριζέσθω κάλαμος. Οἱ ἐμπαιγμοὶ δέ, φησί, ποῦ, ποῦ τὰ ῥαπίσματα; Μικρὰ γὰρ ἐμοὶ τὰ παρόντα πρὸς ἐκεῖνα βλέποντι καὶ οὕτως ἐφιεμένῳ”.

[9] Διὰ τοῦτο καὶ βάσανος ἑτέρα τῷ ἀθλητῇ προσθήκη τῆς προλαβούσης ἐπήγετο, καὶ λίθοις ὀξέσιν ὁ γενναῖος ἐπλήττετο, πρόσταγμα δὲ τοῦ τυράννου τοῦτο, καὶ τῆς ἀπηνοῦς ψυχῆς ἐκείνης καὶ ἀπανθρώπου “Ἵνα, φησί, πυκνὰ διαθραττομένου τοῦ σώματος, θᾶττον ἀποῤῥήξῃ καὶ τὴν ψυχήν.” Ἐλελήθει δὲ ἄρα λαμπρότερον αὐτὸν ἐργαζόμενος, καὶ πλείονα τῷ μάρτυρι προξενῶν τὴν πρὸς τὸ Θεὸν παῤῥησίαν. Ἀλλὰ προσεκτέον τῷ διηγήματι· καὶ γὰρ ἐκδηλοτέρας ἤδη τῆς χάριτος ἀπολαύειν καὶ τῶν θαυμάτων Ἐπίμαχος ἄρχεται.

[10] Ὁ μὲν ἐξαίνετο μετέωρος ἐπὶ ξύλου, καὶ λίθοις τὰ ὀστᾶ διεκέκλαστο. Κόρη δέ τις ἐκεῖ παρειστήκει μέρος οὖσα καὶ αὐτὴ τοῦ θεάτρου, τὸν ἕτερον πεπηρωμέν τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. Ταύτης οὖν ἀτενῶς πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ὁρώσης, καὶ τὰς χαλεπὰς ἐκείνας κολάσεις ὀδυρμὸν ποιουμένης, μέρος τι τῶν τοῦ μάρτυρος σαρκῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἀποσπασθὲν καὶ διαέριόν πως φερόμενον, ἀποστάζει τοῦ αἵματος εἰς τὸ ὀφθαλμόν· καὶ ὁ σταλαγμὸς αὐτίκα παγεὶς (ὢ θαύματος ἀνεικάστου! ὢ πάντα λόγον νικώσης φιλανθρωπίας), φῶς γίνεται ταύτῃ, καὶ ὑγιῆ τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἀποδίδωσιν. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν δὴ πάρεργον Ἐπιμάχῳ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ οὕτως αὐτοῦ καὶ ῥανὶς αἵματος μόνη τοσαύτην δύναται παρέχειν τὴν θεραπείαν.

[11] Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀκλινὴς ἐκεῖνος ὡρᾶτο καὶ τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἀμετάθετος, ἡ τελευταία κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ δίδοται ψῆφος, καὶ ξίφει τὴν ἱερὰν ἐκείνην ὁ μάρτυς κεφαλὴν ἀφαιρεῖται· το μέντοι σῶμα τούτου τὸ τίμιον πιστῶν χερσὶν ὁσίως περισταλέν, ἐκεῖ κατατίθεται, ὅπου καὶ τὴν μαρτυρικὴν ὑπέστη τελείωσιν. Τούτου τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἐθαύμασε μὲν καὶ ὁ τῶν Ἀλεξανδρέων δῆμος, καὶ ὅσοι τῆς προσοίκου Αἰγύπτου τὰ πιότατα νέμονται· κατεκόσμησε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἄνωθεν αὐτὸν στεφάνοις λαμπροῖς ὁ Ἀγωνοθέτης, δι᾽ ὅν τε παθεῖν εἵλετο, καὶ οὗ μιμητὴς ἐδίψα γενέσθαι τῶν παθημάτων· ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

St. Epimachus, tempted by the judge, After this he ordered the noble Epimachus to be brought to him in chains, and looking at him ^a said: "Why have you, a man so grave and of a form so striking, slipped into such impiety as to despise not only us, but also the gods themselves and the emperors? Men indeed must often stray from their duty, but it is not fitting to remain in errors, but to change one's mind, and to correct what has not been rightly done by us. Wherefore you too, since you have sinned after human fashion, come at last to your senses, and obey our orders, sacrificing together with us, and showing goodwill toward them, lest, if you refuse to venerate the gods themselves, the lords of all things, you too should suffer the death of wicked men."

[7] confesses the faith with spirit, To this that most ardent champion of the truth, Epimachus, refuting his open rashness, because by admonitions and teaching

of his own he had tried to drive him to impiety, made the tyrant himself from the opening of his speech at once perceive his mind, and fall from all hope: "Me, he said, O judge, you will never be able to turn from that piety of which I am a nursling and friend. Do not therefore from now on provoke me to deny the confession of Christ, nor hope that I will do or say anything else that may signify weakness of soul or mind ^b. For I confess Christ, I proclaim Christ, through whom all things were created, through whom man was formed and the law given: who gave us the mind as the guide and teacher of all things, who for the salvation of us all, which had already perished, put on human flesh, and was crucified and buried, rose again, and was taken up into heaven, and is believed to be coming again with glory. Would that you too would cast from the eyes of your soul that blindness of idols, and look on the sweet and saving light of Christ! For I would not have anyone think that we rashly and to no purpose willingly give up our bodies to tortures. We are not such enemies and plotters against ourselves. But since there is a certain other life, much more excellent than this which is seen, a certain other world, and an everlasting delight in good things, bounded by no time, but bringing perennial joy: for this reason we despise this visible world and this frail and perishing flesh. Such is our confession. In this we stand firm and steadfast. For this I too am prepared to bear any torture. But if you bring on a speedy death, you will do me a great favor, and free yourself from dishonor. For by how much the longer torture you afflict me, by so much the readier shall I be found to despise your orders ^c. For if there were nothing else, certainly I revere those martyrs who underwent the contest before us, and those others who again inhabit the prison together with us: and for that reason I too am eager for this, not to depart without a crown, but that after I have been counted in their choir, I may show them the desirable course of my contest."

[8] and, while he is being tortured, greater pains These words of the martyr brought great perplexity to the tyrant: who, since he could not persuade Epimachus, ordered him to be hung on a stake and torn with iron claws. He rejoiced in torment of this kind the more, the more blessed he reckoned himself on that account: seeing that he was an imitator of what the Lord Jesus had suffered. And so he said: "If our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified for us, and received a draught of gall and vinegar, if his side was struck with a lance, if his palms were pierced with nails, why ought not I too, his servant, with great pleasure to share in these very things with Christ my Lord?" Certainly that martyr longed also to be struck with a lance: indeed he craved the gall itself, and said: "Let blows come on me; let spittle be cast; let my head be surrounded with a crown of thorns; let a reed too be given into my hands. Where are the disgraces and the mockeries? where the blows? For all these present things seem to me, looking toward those future goods and craving them, to be certain small things and to be counted as nothing ^d."

[9] he asks for and obtains. As the martyr said these things, some new torments were added to the former, and that noble athlete was struck with sharp stones at the command of the tyrant, that is, of a cruel and utterly inhuman soul. For he pressed and urged, saying: "Strike the man so that, his body being broken by repeated blows, he may most quickly break off his very soul." But that tyrant did not see that by this the martyr was made more illustrious, and greater confidence was won for him with God. But let us follow the narrative of what is to be said. For it will next be made plain how Epimachus obtained a more manifest grace of God and miracles.

[10] A drop of blood restores a girl's eye. He was being torn on the stake, and struck with stones, so that even his very bones were broken. Now a certain girl stood there, herself one of the number of those present at the spectacle. And she was blinded in one eye. When she was intent on the martyr and lamenting his most grievous tortures, a certain part torn away from the martyr's flesh, carried through the air, dropped into that girl's eye a drop of blood, which ^e (O singular miracle, O kindness of God greater than all speech) was at once changed into light, and made the girl's eye sound. This miracle of the martyr Epimachus we have told as it were in passing, that we might show that one drop of that man's blood could suddenly bring so great a healing.

[11] The noble martyr is buried by the Christians. But since the martyr could not be bent to a different opinion, and refused in any way to deny the religion of God, the final sentence was passed on him, and that sacred head of the martyr was struck with an axe; and his venerable body, religiously tended by the hands of faithful men, was laid in that place where he also bore the consummation of his martyrdom. That man's contest the Alexandrian people alone did not greatly admire and revere, and those who inhabit the neighboring and very fruitful regions of Egypt: but the whole world now celebrates it ^f. Him also God, the author and judge of contests, presented from heaven with an illustrious crown, for whose sake Epimachus endured all tortures ^g, and whose imitator in bearing torments he most longed and strove to be. To the Creator and Savior himself, our Lord and God, be glory, honor and adoration, with the Father who has neither beginning nor end, and the most holy and life-giving Spirit, which is one divinity in an equal and undivided Trinity, giving life to every spirit, and reigning ^h now and always, and for ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR EPIMACHUS

from the Paris Coislin codex 110.

Epimachus of Pelusium, martyr at Alexandria (S.)

FROM THE MSS.

Ὁ ἃγιος μάρτυς Ἐπίμαχος οὕτος ἦν ἀνὴρ ἄγροικος, ὡραῖος δὲ τῇ ὄψει, ἐκ τῆς Αἰγυπτίων χώρας, ὁρμώμενος πόλεως τοῦ Πηλουσίου, ἐπὶ ἡγεμόνος ἐπι ἡγεμόνος cod. Ἀπελλιανοῦ. Ὅστις ἡγεμὼν ἁγίων στῖφος τιμωρούμενος ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ· ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Εὐτροπία ἡ ἀοίδιμος, ἥτις λαμπάσι πυρὸς καιομένη, ἐβόα πρὸς τοὺς τιμωροῦντας· “Μεγάλη ἡ ψυχρότης τοῦ ὕδατος οὗ μοι ἐπιχέεις.” Καὶ αὖθις διεβεβαιοῦτο ὁρᾶν ἄνδρα φοβερὸν ὅμοιον Υἱῷ Θεοῦ, ὅντινα καὶ οἱ στρατιῶται ἑώρων καὶ πάντες οἱ παρεστῶτες. Καὶ τούτων πραττομένων, καταλαμβάνει ὁ ἅγιος Ἐπίμαχος, καὶ ὥρμησεν καταστρέψαι τὸν βωμόν· κατεσχέθη δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν στρατιωτῶν, καὶ θυμωθεὶς ὁ ἡγεμὼν ἔθετο αὐτὸν ἐν φυλακῇ, σιδηρώσας, καὶ εἶπεν· “Ἄφετε αὐτὸν ὅπως ἐκνήψῃ ἐκ τῆς μέθης.” Καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον ἀγαγῶν αὐτὸν εἰς ἐρώτησιν ἅμα τοῖς λοιποῖς ἁγίοις, στηλιτεύεται στεῤῥῶς ὑπὸ πάντων. Τῶν οὖν δεσμοφυλάκων ἐρωτηθέντων παρὰ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος πόθεν ἡ στεῤῥὰ τοῖς ἁγίοις ἔνστασις ἐγένετο, ἔφασαν ὅτι παρὰ Ἐπιμάχου στερεωθέντες, ὡμολόγησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ δοῦλοι εἶναι τοῦ Χριστοῦ Οὓς καὶ ἐκέλευσεν γλωττοτομηθῆναι, καὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν ἀποτμηθῆναι. Μετὰ τοῦτο παραστὰς τῷ ἡγεμόνι ὁ ἅγιος Ἐπίμαχος, αὖθις ὡμολόγησεν θαρσαλέως τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Κυρίου· ὥστε καὶ ἑτέρους πολλοὺς πιστεῦσαι. Διὸ ἀναρτίζεται perhaps for ἀπαρτίζεται ἐπὶ ξύλου γυμνός, λεντίῳ διεζωσμένος· καὶ ὁρῶν ἑαυτὸν γυμνόν, ἔλεγεν· “Μακάριος εἶ, Ἐπίμαχε, ὅτι κατηξιώθης ὡς ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ἐπαρθῆναι ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου, καὶ ὡς ἅγιος Πέτρος ἐν Ῥώμῃ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἅγιοι.” Ξεομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ ἀπηνῶς, καὶ μέχρι τῶν ὀστέων φθασάντων τῶν σιδήρων, καὶ πάντων κλαιόντων καὶ ὁρώντων τὴν ἀνήκεστον βάσανον, κόρη τις παρισταμένη, τὸν ἕνα ὀφθαλμὸν ἐσβεσμένον ἔχουσα, καὶ θρηνοῦσα τὸν ἅγιον· ἔσταξεν τοῦ αἵματος τῶν σαρκῶν τοῦ ἁγίου εἰς τὸν μὴ βλέποντα ὀφθαλμὸν αὐτῆς· καὶ παγὲν τὸ αἷμα· αὐτίκα ἀνέβλεψεν, ὥστε πάντας δοξάσαι τὸν Θεόν. Διδάξας δὲ ὁ ἅγιος τὸν παριστάμενον λαὸν καὶ παραινέσας τὰ πρὸς σωτηρίαν, κατενεχθεὶς ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου, ἐτμήθη εἰμὴθη cod. τὴν ἁγίαν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ στεφηφόρος πρὸς οὐρανοὺς ἀναφέρεται, πρεσβεύων ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν καὶ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου πρὸς τὸν Κύριον. Καὶ ἡμεῖς οὖν, ἀδελφοί, μνήμην ἐτήσιον εἰήσιον cod. τελοῦντες τοῦ πανενδόξου μάρτυρος Ἐπιμάχου, σπουδάσωμεν τυχεῖν τῆς μακαρίας ἐλπίδος τῆς ἀποκειμένης τοῖς ἁγίοις μάρτυσιν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ πρέπει πᾶσα δόξα, τιμὴ καὶ προσκύνησις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

That holy martyr Epimachus was a rustic man, comely of aspect, from the region of the Egyptians, setting out from the city of Pelusium, in the time of the prefect Apellian; which prefect was raging at Alexandria against a band of saints. Among these was that celebrated Eutropia, who, scorched with burning lamps, cried out to the torturers: "Very cold is the water which you pour on me." And again she affirmed that she saw a terrible man, like the Son of God; whom also the soldiers saw and all who were present. While these things were being done, St. Epimachus came up, and made an onset to overturn the altar. But he was checked by the soldiers, and the governor, enraged, put him in prison, throwing chains on him, and said: "Leave him until he has slept off the debauch." And a little later, bringing him forth to questioning together with the other saints, he was steadfastly loaded with infamy by all. The guards therefore, questioned by the prefect as to whence the saints had their firm purpose, said that they, strengthened by Epimachus, themselves professed themselves servants of Christ. Whose tongues also he ordered to be cut off and their heads to be struck off. After this, St. Epimachus, standing before the prefect, again confidently confessed the name of the Lord, so that many others also believed. On this account he was hung on a stake naked, girded with a linen cloth; and seeing himself naked he said: "Blessed are you, Epimachus, because you have been held worthy to be hung on a stake, as the Lord Jesus Christ, as also St. Peter at Rome ^b and the other saints." And when he was being cruelly torn, the iron reaching even to the bones, and all were weeping and beholding the most atrocious torture, there stood by a certain girl having one eye extinguished, and weeping for the saint: there dropped a drop of blood from the flesh of the saint into that blind

eye of hers; and the blood having hardened, she at once recovered her sight, so that all glorified God. And when the saint had taught the multitude standing by, and had urged on them the things that pertain to salvation, taken down from the stake, he was beheaded; and bearing a crown he is raised to heaven, interceding for us and for all the people with the Lord. And we therefore, brethren, celebrating the yearly memorial of the most glorious martyr Epimachus, let us hasten to become partakers of the blessed hope which is laid up for the holy martyrs; in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due all glory, honor and adoration for ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES.

Notes

a. Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 1 and following. The codex seems to have been written in the twelfth century [Cf. Catalogue of the mss. of the royal library, vol. II, p. 354, Paris 1740], and in it the Passion of the holy martyr is thus inscribed: Μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου καὶ ἐνδόξου μεγαλομάρτυρος Ἐπιμάχου [Cf. Bandini, Catal. of the mss. of the Medicean Laurentian library, Greek codices, p. 410]. There is scarcely need for us to warn that this narrative, like the Metaphrastic one, although it is by no means to be despised, can nevertheless in no way be counted among the original Acts.

b. Cf. Prelim. Comm., no. 1. When the province of Augustamnica was separated from this Egypt, … then Pelusium was established as the metropolis of Augustamnica [Acta SS., vol. I of Feb., p. 468. Cf. Lequien, Oriens christ., vol. II, p. 532].

c. That Apellian, prefect of Alexandria, is nowhere recorded except in the Acts and Synaxaries of SS. Epimachus and Eutropia. St. Dionysius bishop of Alexandria, writing to Fabius on the Decian persecution, indicates only Sabinus, prefect of Egypt in the times of Decius. In the letter of the same Dionysius to Germanus, that Aemilian who later attempted to seize the empire is said to have presided over Egypt in the persecution of Valerian [Cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccl., bk. VII, chap. II, bk. VI, chap. 40, Laemmer ed. Valesius, Notes on the Hist. eccl. of Eusebius, on bk. VII, chap. II].

d. The author has in mind the word ἀπειλέω, I threaten.

e. It will be useful to compare with this narrative what is reported of St. Eutropia in the Basilian menology. Eutropia the martyr, born at Alexandria in Egypt, when a great number of martyrs were in chains in the same city, pitying them, now visited them herself in person, now through others supplied them with the necessary means. Wherefore, denounced to the prefect Apellian, she was seized and thrust into prison. Brought out from there, she was placed before his tribunal; and having professed Christ, she was forced onto the rack, and scorched with torches. In which torment, calling on the torturers with raised voice, she said: "The water you pour on me brings me great refreshment." For she reckoned the flames as water, and affirmed that she beheld a terrible man, like the Son of God, whom also the soldiers and all who were present saw. Saying these things and giving thanks to Christ, for whom she willingly bore such tortures, she gave back to him her blessed soul [Basilian Menology, at Oct. 30, Urbino 1727]. We read almost the same things in the Sirletan menology and in the manuscript synaxary which belonged to Fr. Sirmond, and which was formerly kept in the College of Clermont at Paris [Cf. ms. cod. of the Royal Library of Brussels 11323, fol. 118]. In the synaxary of Fr. Chifflet, however, nothing is reported of the visiting of prisons, nor of the man like the Son of God whom all saw. And the death is thus narrated: But on the following day (after she had been scorched by flames), brought back to the tribunal, when she mocked the idols and the governor himself, she was beheaded [Acta SS., vol. VI of May, p. 26]. St. Eutropia is also commemorated in the recent menaea of the Greeks [Cf. Menaeon of the month of October, p. 185, Venice 1843

f. Cf. the Itinerary of Antoninus [Cf. Cellarius, Notitia orbis ant., vol. II, p. 785, ed. of 1773].

g. Since we saw above that St. Epimachus set out from Pelusium, the metropolis of Egypt, how is he here said to have been at that time near the parts of Egypt? In this place the author perhaps distinguishes the province of Augustamnica, long since separated from the province of Egypt, in the same way as St. Isidore of Pelusium, writing from Pelusium, speaks of neighboring Egypt [Letters, bk. I., letter 152, in Migne, Greek Patrology, vol. LXXVIII, col. 285] and as in the ecumenical synod of Ephesus some bishops are assigned to Augustamnica, others to the province of Egypt [Acta SS., vol. I of Feb., p. 468]. Moreover Cel notes [Geography, bk. XVI, p. 1075, Oxford ed., 1807. Cf. Notitia dignitatum in the parts of the East, p. 293 and following, E. Böcking ed.].

h. From the sincere Acts of the martyrs it is altogether certain that Christians not rarely had their tongues cut off, as SS. Probus and Tarachus [Acta SS., vol. V of Oct., p. 580], St. Romanus, martyr at Caesarea in Palestine [Eusebius, On the Martyrs of Palestine, no. 2, p. 668 and following, Laemmer ed.], and many others. But if the author of the Passion means that the holy Alexandrian martyrs spoke even after their tongues were cut off, this also is no singular example. For to omit what Eusebius records of St. Romanus [Cf. Ruinart, Acta Martyrum sincera, p. 359, Amsterdam 1713. Prudentius, Peristephanon, hymn X, in Migne, Latin Patrology, vol. LX, col. 445], it is useful to copy here the most celebrated passage of Victor of Vita on the martyrs of Tipasa: In the city of Tipasa … the Christians, strong in the Lord, not only laughed at the madness of the one urging them (the Arian bishop), but even began publicly to celebrate the divine mysteries, gathered in one house; which he learning, secretly sent a report against them to Carthage. When this became known to the king, sending a certain count in anger, he commanded that in the middle of the forum, the whole province having been gathered there, he should cut off their tongues and right hands by the roots. When this had been done, by the gift of the Holy Spirit they so spoke and speak as they had spoken before. But if anyone

a. Greeks: here, as is plain, the Gentiles, idolaters, are meant [Cf. Suicer, Thesaurus ecclesiast., vol. I, col. 1089 and following, Amsterdam 1682]

b. We read the same word for word in the very brief Passion which is contained in the Coislin codex 110 [Cf. above, Prelim. Comm., no. 2].

c. Christians were wont to be struck with stones in various ways, as is gathered from the Acts of very many martyrs. For the faces, jaws and whole heads of some were bruised with stones; others were overwhelmed with stones and so perished; others were crushed with huge stones, and died shattered [Cf. Gallonio, On the Tortures of the Holy Martyrs, p. 224, Antwerp 1668. Mamachi, Origines et antiquitates christianae, vol. III, p. 200]. St. Epimachus was tortured in the former manner, if we follow Metaphrastes. But the anonymous author of this Passion speaks so as to mean that the martyr was not bruised with stones, but rather torn and cut. The same things are narrated in the Life and Martyrdom of St. Epimachus which Zacharias Lippeloo published from that which is by Metaphrastes. For he says: The tyrant, casting away the hope of victory which he had promised himself as easy over the martyr, commanded him to be raised on a cross and torn with iron claws. And when those torments had no power at all to break his constancy, sharp stones were applied, that they might rend not only his flesh but even his very bones [Lives of the Saints, vol. IV, p. 334, Cologne 1596].

d. In the Paris codex 1534, from which we copied this prior Passion of St. Epimachus, the Acts are arranged in this order: Life and martyrdom of Jeremiah the prophet (who is praised in the Basilian menology at May 1); Life of St. Athanasius (ibid., at May 2); Martyrdom of Queen Irene (ibid., at May 5); Life of blessed and just Job and homily of St. John Chrysostom on Job (ibid., at May 6); Martyrdom of St. Epimachus; homily of St. John Chrysostom on St. John the apostle (ibid., at May 8); that the feast was this May 7, on which he is reported in our Acts to have died. In the other Passions, as many as we know, the martyr's contest is referred to no certain day or month; but, as we said before, the Acts which Metaphrastes composed are so inscribed, or hold such a place in the codices, that it seems evident that the cult of St. Epimachus is attached to the end of the month of October [Cf. Ibid., codd. 1480, 1486, 1494, 1543, p. 334, 336, 339, 358. Lambeck, Comment. on the Imperial Library of Vienna, vol. VIII, p. 546 and following, 558, Kollar ed.]. In the Florentine copy of the Prior Passion, however [Cf. above, Prelim. Comm., no. 1 and following], May 22 is indicated. The year of death can with sufficient probability be said to be 250 [Ibid., no. 28]. For that not a few Christians had begun to fall away from the faith, indeed openly abjured Christ; and that St. Epimachus ran up to strengthen the weak and approached the judge of his own accord; these things, I say, and the other circumstances indicated by Metaphrastes, fit the Decian persecution very well. But we wish the reader to be warned again that these things are not certain, and that nothing occurs in the Acts by which the times may be closely defined. For mention of the prefect Apellian is of no use, since he is wholly unknown. In the Sirmond synaxary indeed, at August 20, are praised several martyrs at Philippopolis in Thrace condemned to death by the judge Apellian; but that Apellian is called proconsul of Thrace, and indeed under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian [Cf. Acta SS., vol. IV of Aug., p. 30 and following. Basilian Menology, at Aug. 20].

e. To this Prior Passion of St. Epimachus, more than to the Other, the various eulogies shown in the menaea and synaxaries of the Greeks come close. On the contrary it seems to have been unknown to the Latin hagiographers, since they use no other than the Metaphrastic writing. It

a. Cf. Preliminary Commentary, no. 1 and following. We show in this place the Other Passion of St. Epimachus, as it was published by the venerable presbyter Migne [Greek Patrology, vol. CXV, col. 1319 and following], namely from the Paris codex 1484, with the Latin translation added which Lipomano made public. This indeed, although it differs somewhat from our Greek text, we have copied entire, but the reader will find the places in which it chiefly differs indicated in the Notes.

b. For who while living… manifest, in the Greek we read: Who was not commonly known nor manifest.

c. And sober is missing in our codex.

d. St. Isidore of Pelusium (who, it is admitted, devoted himself to the perfect life near Pelusium), exhorting someone to the monastic life, says: Betake yourself to our mountain, that you may provide for the salvation of your soul [Migne, ibid., vol. LXXVIII, col. 18]. Nor is that mention of a mountain situated near Pelusium singular [Cf. Basilian Menol., at Feb. 4. Nicephorus Callistus, Hist. eccl., bk. XIV, chap. 53, in Migne, Greek Patr., vol. CXLVI, col. 1250].

e. All … applied does not occur in the Greek narrative.

f. In place of aroused by zeal, Metaphrastes has this: Lest it [piety] be afflicted with insult, he despised life and quiet.

g. Thus it would be more accurately rendered: And this was the first admirable deed of his soul.

h. There must be added: But he was inflamed with anger in the depth of his heart.

i. In the Greek codex: The exhortation was the outstanding Epimachus.

k. And more fervently, says Metaphrastes; and a little below: Having also inquired the cause of the thing, and been informed that the counsels of Epimachus … etc.

a. Looking at him is missing in codex 1484.

b. Rather it should be said: You will not bring me to deny, nor will you make me do or say.

c. Somewhat differently in the Greek writing: But if you prolong it [death] with penalties and punishments, the more you will see us also despising your command.

d. The place would thus be rendered word for word: For these things are small to me, looking toward those things and craving them so greatly.

e. In our Metaphrastes: The drop, at once hardened…

f. But the whole world … it, is missing in our codex.

g. In the Greek narrative: For whose sake Epimachus wished to suffer.

h. With the Father … reigning, these words are not read in the copy published by J. P. Migne.

a. This narrative, as we said before, the distinguished H. Zotenberg copied at our request, from a codex of about the eleventh century. Its inscription is this: ἡμ. ὀκτωβρίῳ λά. Μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Ἐπιμάχου.

b. The place is the same in the Prior Passion.

ON ST. EPIMACHUS OF PELUSIUM, MARTYR, AT ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT,

PROBABLY IN THE YEAR 250.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

BY R. D. B.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY, GLORIOUS AND GREAT MARTYR EPIMACHUS BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

FROM THE MSS.

CHAPTER ONE.

NOTES.

CHAPTER TWO.

NOTES.

LITTLE APPENDIX TO THE PRIOR PASSION OF ST. EPIMACHUS.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR EPIMACHUS BY METAPHRASTES

BY METAPHRASTES.

CHAPTER ONE.

NOTES.

CHAPTER TWO.

NOTES.

MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY MARTYR EPIMACHUS

FROM THE MSS.

NOTES.

Notes

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