Romulus and the Martyrs of Melitene

ON ST. ROMULUS AND THE MARTYRS OF MELITENE: EUDOXIUS AND ZENO AND MACARIUS AND THE 1104 SOLDIERS, MARTYRS,

IN GREECE, AND AT MELITENE IN LESSER ARMENIA,

Under Trajan and Diocletian.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Romulus, M. in Greece (S.)

Eudoxius, martyr at Melitene in Lesser Armenia (S.)

Zeno, martyr at Melitene in Lesser Armenia (S.)

Macarius, martyr at Melitene in Lesser Armenia (S.)

MCIV Soldiers, martyrs at Melitene in Lesser Armenia

BY J. V.

§ I. Cult among the Latins and Greeks; the intricate and incoherent narrative of the Basilian Menology.

[ ] The Roman Martyrology announces these holy Champions at the V of September thus: On the same day, of St. Romulus, prefect of the court of Trajan, These Martyrs are venerated among the Greeks on the 6th of September: who, when he detested the cruelty of the emperor toward the Christians, was beaten with rods and beheaded. At Melitene in Armenia, the passion of the holy soldiers Eudoxius, Zeno, Macarius, and their companions, one thousand one hundred and four, who, casting away the belt of their soldiery, were put to death in the persecution of Diocletian for the confession of Christ. It is plain that Romulus is here separated from the rest; and rightly, as the Acts to be given below will show. Yet Baronius is mistaken when in the Notes to the Martyrology he says, The Greeks treat of the same (Romulus) likewise on this day in the Menology: for the Menology translated into Latin by Cardinal Sirleto, which Baronius himself at the III of January professes always to understand by the name of Menology, and the other ecclesiastical fasti of the Greeks, have absolutely nothing of Romulus on this day; but celebrate him together with the other Martyrs on the VI of September.

[2] Receive the words of the praised Sirletian Menology published by Heinrich Canisius: what the Basilian Menology has of St. Eudoxius, On the same day (the VI) the contest of the holy martyrs Eudoxius, Zeno, Romulus, Macarius and the rest. St. Romulus was beheaded by the emperor Trajan, who sent very many Christians as exiles into various regions, and subjected to the punishment of death those who remained in the confession of the Christian faith. But Eudoxius the Count, arrested under Diocletian, was beheaded by the president of Melitene, and with him soldiers to the number of MCIV. A few days after, Bl. Zeno with the rest of St. Eudoxius's companions received the crown of martyrdom. These things are clear and distinct; but the Menology collected by order of the emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus in the X century, and printed at Urbino in the year 1727 in Greek and Latin, narrates the Contest of the holy MM. Eudoxius, Romulus, and their companions at the said day very intricately and confusedly in this manner: Eudoxius, martyr of Christ, under Trajan emperor of the Romans, was a Count by rank, and commanded many thousands of soldiers (in Greek μυρίους καὶ χιλίους, that is, XI thousand) in Gaul. But Romulus, provost of the imperial court, was the author to the same Trajan of sending into Gaul [] men who should compel the Christian soldiers to sacrifice to the gods. Which being done, when the soldiers could not be induced to do it, they were banished to Melitene, a city of Armenia. After these things Romulus, moved by repentance, having believed in Christ and rebuked Trajan, was beheaded. Then, when Maximian had obtained the empire, and had decreed that the Christians should be put to death, he commanded by letters the prefect of Melitene also to slay the worshippers of Christ. Wherefore, having seized Eudoxius the Count and his fellow soldiers, because they would not adore the idols, he first vexed them with many torments, and at last beheaded them.*

[3] cannot cohere; hence various opinions concerning them, The version of Arcudius, col. 250 among the Ughellian Anecdota in tom. 10 of the Italia Sacra reprinted at Venice, is as to the sense almost the same, such as Galesinius too had given before in his Martyrology: our manuscript Greek copy of the Basilian Menology also makes Eudoxius a count under Trajan, a martyr under Maximian. These things could perhaps somehow be reconciled if by Trajan there were signified Decius, who had Trajan for a forename; but if Eudoxius was a count in the reign of Trajan, the immediate successor of Nerva, at the beginning of the 2nd century, who would believe that he prolonged his life to the times of Maximian? Molanus doubtless saw that these things do not cohere; and therefore in his additions to Usuard on the V of September he will have written: On the same day, of the holy MM. Eudoxius, who is also Marianus, Romulus, Zeno, and Macarius, who are crowned with martyrdom under Trajan. But Metaphrastes, whom he alleges, expressly hands down that Romulus was put to death by order of Trajan, but that Eudoxius and the others were visited with martyrdom long after, under Diocletian. Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of the Saints at the VI of September seems to wish to double the Martyrs; for, having prefixed this announcement, At Melitene in Armenia, of the holy Martyrs Eudoxius, Romulus, and their Companions, under Trajan, which he notes to be taken from Galesinius, he subjoins: Of Eudoxius and his Companions, who suffered at Melitene, the Roman Martyrology treats on the preceding day; but under Diocletian: whereas these are handed down to have suffered under Trajan. Of Romulus only does the Roman Martyrology treat on the preceding day. To Nicolás Antonio, to be cited below, they all seem to be triumphant victors of the same contest; but he does not set forth under what emperor.

[4] The feast of St. Eudoxius and his Companions is prescribed to be kept in the Typicon or Ritual of St. Sabas on the VI of September in these words: Cult from the Typicon, and verses from the Menæa, Καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Εὐδοξίου, καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ ἀθλησάντων ἁγίων Μαρτύρων, that is, And of St. M. Eudoxius, and of the holy Martyrs who suffered with him. The great printed Menæa at the same day have thus in Greek: The contest of the holy MM. Eudoxius, Zeno, Romulus and Macarius, and they adorn them with the following verses:

Τμηθέντες Εὐδόξιος, Ῥωμύλος, Ζήνων Καὶ Μακάριος, μακαριστοὶ τοῦ τέλους.

Which I thus render into Latin:

Beheaded, Eudoxius, Romulus, Zeno And Macarius obtain a blessed end.

Μακάριος and μακαριστὸς both sound "blessed"; wherein the poet played, attributing to all by the appellative the meaning of the proper name of one Martyr. There is subjoined a rather prolix eulogy, of which this is the beginning: Οὗτος ὁ ἅγιος Ῥωμύλος ἐπὶ Τραἳανοῦ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀφηρέθη. This St. Romulus was beheaded under Trajan. Then it treats of Eudoxius and the others crowned in the time of Diocletian. Those few words I have transferred hither for this reason, lest anyone reading only the verses and the title should judge that these Martyrs are joined in the Menæa as having suffered in the same persecution: which indeed it would be easy to suppose from the title, which mingles Romulus with the others.

[5] After the aforesaid eulogy there follows another announcement: which treat separately of the 1104 Soldiers: Τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ἑκατὸν τέσσαρες καὶ χίλιοι στρατιῶται… ξίφει τελειοῦνται. That is, on the same day one thousand one hundred and four soldiers … slain by the sword consummate their martyrdom. To these then are chanted two verses:

Δικὰς δεκαπλῆ καὶ χιλιὰς μαρτύρων Καὶ τετρὰς ἁπλῆ συντελευτῶσι ξίφει.

Which you may thus turn into Latin:

A tenfold ten and a thousand of Martyrs And a single four together end their life by the sword.

To these verses the Menæa add another distich, expressing the like martyrdom of St. Calodota, whom also in the announcement just given they join to the said soldiers, but wrongly: for that holy martyr does not belong to this class. She will be given with her companions on the day VI of September. But the 1104 Martyrs, of whom here separate mention is made, are without doubt those soldiers whom the cited eulogy relates to have cast down their belts before the president after the example of St. Eudoxius: for in both places, and also in the Acts and in the manuscript Slavo-Russian Menology, and in the Ruthenian Synaxary to be mentioned below, the number is the same, 1104, nor does any ground of distinction appear.

[6] Our Saints are wanting in the two Menologies of the Armenians published by Assemani in tom. 3 of the Clementine-Vatican Oriental Library pag. 645 and 649: memory among the Armenians and Muscovites; but in the manuscript Catalogue of the Saints celebrated by the Armenians, which Dr. Louis Picques, Doctor of the Sorbonne, sent to Papebroch, the following is read at num. 50: The testimony [] of St. Euductius (Εὐδοξίου) who was called Marinus. Likewise of Romelus and Macarus, who were martyrs in the time of Trajan, on the sixth of September. Clemens Galanus, who was for many years a missionary in Armenia, in part 1 of the Reconciliation of the Armenian Church with the Roman*, in the Annotation to chapter 2 pag. 16, reckons among the martyrs who suffered in that same place Eudoxius, Zeno, Macarius and their Companions under Diocletian; but of Romulus he nowhere makes mention. Further, the excellent Picques advises that the aforesaid Catalogue was translated into Latin from a huge Armenian codex of the royal library, No. 514, written in uncial letters about six hundred years before this year MDCLXXXVII; but that the translator, Oscan an Armenian archbishop, not sufficiently skilled, dictated the titles to his amanuensis in a disordered fashion, and even omitted several. He adds in a later letter of the same year 1687 that he had collated the Latin version with the Armenian text only as far as the number 35 inclusive: which I could wish that so learned and courteous a man had done for the remaining CXI numbers, and at the same time had restored what Oscan omitted

had supplied. The manuscript Ruthenian Synaxary also mentions St. M. Eudoxius at the same day, which our missionary there, Fr. Georg David, sent from Moscow in the year 1688, adding at the end that that Synaxary is common to the whole Ruthenian church. Another, proper to the diocese of Kiev, by the same translator, has thus: And of St. M. Eudoxius, and with him MCIV.

[7] other monuments, the church of St. Eudoxius at Constantinople. The manuscript Greek Menæa of the Ambrosian library and of the convent of St. Mark of the Dominican Fathers at Florence, and the supplement to the printed Menæa collected from the ancient parchment manuscript Synaxary of Fr. Sirmond, announce St. Romulus before the others; the first indeed in this manner: Of Romylus, Eudoxius, Zeno, Macarius, M.; the second adds the title, Romulus the provost, Eudoxius, Zeno, Macarius: but the third has thus in Greek: The passion of the holy MM. Romulus, Eudoxius, Zeno and Macarius. The eulogy subjoined contains some things different from the Acts, and therefore I abridge it into a few words: Of these Saints, Romulus the provost was beheaded under the emperor Trajan. But after Trajan and the other emperors, when not a few years had elapsed, and Diocletian had obtained the empire, Eudoxius the count was beheaded with Zeno and Macarius, ἅμα σὺν τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν στρατιώταις, τὸν ἀριθμὸν οὖσι χιλίοις ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα τέσσαρσιν, that is, together with the soldiers who obeyed them, in number one thousand one hundred and thirty-four. Ἡ δὲ αὐτῶν σύναξις τελεῖται ἐν τῷ μαρτυρείῳ τοῦ ἁγ. Προκοπίου ἔνδον τοῦ ἁγ. μ. Μηνᾶ. And their memory is celebrated in the oratory of St. Procopius, which is in the church of St. M. Menas. Concerning the sacred edifice dedicated by Constantine the Great to St. Menas the martyr, one may consult Du Cange, book 4 of Christian Constantinople sect. 6 num. 62. In the same place at num. 38 he relates that a church was consecrated to St. Eudoxius in the IV or V century, in these words: The house of St. Eudoxius was built by Eudoxius the patrician and prefect, in the reign of Constantine the Great, if any faith is to be given to Codinus pag. XXXIX. Certainly some laws in the Theodosian Code indicate that Eudoxius the prætorian prefect lived under Theodosius the younger.

. That is, Galatia.*

. That is, martyrdom.*

§ II. Whether the healing of the emperor Justinian is to be ascribed to these Martyrs: the number of St. Eudoxius's companions; fictions concerning St. Romulus, his cult in Spain: when and where the Martyrs suffered; the Greek Acts, and Baronius's conjecture about the XI thousand soldiers.

[ ] [It is doubtful by whose benefit, and of which Martyrs, Justinian recovered his health.] Baronius in the Notes to the Roman Martyrology on this day writes the following: Of the number of these soldiers who were crowned at Melitene in Armenia, four sacred bodies carried to Constantinople were found in the times of the emperor Justinian, by whose benefit the same emperor was cured of a deadly disease. The deed, worthy of everlasting monuments, Procopius wrote in book 1 of the Buildings of the Emperor Justinian. The finding of these relics in the church of St. Irene M., and the benefit of healing bestowed by them upon Justinian, he reports from the same Procopius of Cæsarea at the year of Christ 560 num. 2. But Procopius, published at Paris in the year 1663 with the interpretation of our Claude Maltret, in book 1 chap. 7 has not four, but οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ τεσσαράκοντα, that is, not fewer than forty: and although he subjoins that these were Roman soldiers of the twelfth legion, which the city of Melitene in Armenia formerly had as its garrison, yet he does not say that they suffered martyrdom in that city. Hence it is doubtful whether those bodies were of any of the Soldiers of this day, and consequently whether the miracle wrought is to be ascribed to them. Tillemont, tom. 2 of the Ecclesiastical Monuments of the second edition pag. 574, suspects that they were the relics of the famous XL Martyrs of Sebaste, which were found near Constantinople under Theodosius II, of whom at the day X of March.

[9] The Tillemont cited increases the number of St. Eudoxius's companions by three hundred: [St. Eudoxius's companions were more probably no more than 1104: St. Romulus by Pseudo-Dexter] for he writes 1404 instead of 1104, and repeats it twice, alleging the great Menæa of the Greeks of the Venetian edition of the year 1528. That edition is not at hand for me; but since in the Menæa which came out at Venice in the year 1595, in the Menology of Cardinal Sirleto, in the Acts written by Metaphrastes, and elsewhere, only 1104 are reckoned, I judge that Tillemont wrongly translated the Greek. But whence in the supplement to the printed Menæa, whose words I gave at num. 7, thirty were added to the aforesaid 1104, I have not ascertained: nor for the sole authority of the Sirmondian Synaxary would I increase the number written in the Roman Martyrology. As to what concerns St. Romulus, Pseudo-Dexter in his Chronicle at the year of Christ 100 num. 2 makes him a Spaniard and a fellow townsman of Trajan, writing thus: St. Romulus, prefect of Trajan Cæsar, of Italica by birth, a Spaniard, banished by the same into Spain, suffers in Celtiberia. Namely, innumerable Martyrs who suffered in the East, of whom among the ancients only the Menology of the Greeks makes mention, are by the labor of this Pseudo-Archimedes (Dexter) transferred into these tracts and to the end of the lands, to Cadiz, says that man of tried erudition Don Nicolás Antonio in a letter given to Bolland in the year 1658. But what he thought in particular of St. Romulus, receive from his own posthumous manuscripts, which our Cuper for the greater part transcribed at Madrid in the year 1721.

[10] is dragged into Spain, Romulus must indeed have been carried off by martyrdom among the Greeks: for how could a man who was a Spaniard, and slain in Spain for the true faith, have transported all memory of himself to the Greeks and left none at home and among his own? Of this the zealous champions of that most lying Chronicle ought to have taught us. And the Greeks report the slaying of the Martyr in such terms as to leave no room for a banishment. Romulus is said, after he had persuaded Trajan to the slaughter of the Christian soldiers, to have turned upon himself, to have believed in Christ, and to have accused the emperor of impiety. Then he subjoins certain words from the Menology of Basil and from Metaphrastes, thereafter continuing thus: Here there is no need to confess any vestige of a Spanish banishment or of a Celtiberian martyrdom; since that Trajan never came into Spain is most fully ascertained from Dio and others. Thus far concerning the passage of the Chronicle adduced: what follows strikes chiefly at Juan Tamayo de Salazar, the Spanish martyrologist, who in his Notes at the V of September superadded other falsehoods from Bivar.

[11] he is feigned by others to have been the companion of St. Onesimus, But not content with Romulus as a fellow citizen and martyr, the vindicators of Dexter, Bivar and Tamayo, went further; and because in the Acts of Onesimus written by Simeon Metaphrastes (February XVI in Surius tom. 1) it was set down that he was brought before the president Tertullus together with his companions Romulus and Papias, at once, as though it had been divinely revealed to him, Bivar dared to affirm without hesitation that this man is the same as our Romulus; to which rash venture Juan Tamayo, fearing nothing to bind himself, admitted into the very Acts of Romulus — which it was neither lawful nor fair to shape otherwise than to the touchstone [] of the true and ascertained — the most empty conjecture of Bivar; and made this Romulus, prefect of Trajan, that companion of Onesimus. But what, you say, put this notion into Bivar's head? Did he follow the reason of the name alone? For against this stand as many arguments as there could be men equal to Romulus in that age, not to say as many as actually lived. We have the words of the Acts for a thousand witnesses: "Then, when he (Onesimus) *had been brought to the tribunal of Tertullus with Romulus his helper and Papias his spiritual fellow soldier, Tertullus asked, saying: Who is he?"

[12] whom Nicolás Antonio learnedly refutes: Plainly either this Onesimus is that servant of Philemon of Colossæ, of whom the Apostle Paul treats in the Epistle to Philemon, and the same who was afterward bishop of Ephesus, as appears from the letter of St. Ignatius to the Ephesians; or he is another martyr, the teacher of SS. Alphius, Philadelphius and Cyrinus, who suffered with them at Puteoli or in Sicily — which pleases Ferrarius more in the Catalogue of the Saints at the XVI of February and the XXXI of July, and Henschen, tom. 2 of February pag. 858 num. 15 — and Metaphrastes confounded the deeds of the two. If you say the first, you must consequently confess that Romulus, whom the Acts of Onesimus call "the bishop's helper," was quite another than he who, on account of the impiety reproached to Trajan, of whose court he was master, pleaded his cause before him. For how could the same man be at once prefect of the Augustus's prætorium and coadjutor of the bishop of Ephesus? Nor likewise would the Acts treat so meagerly of Romulus, a man of so great dignity in the world, as to leave room for asking who he was. But if you call him the martyr of Puteoli, we are compelled to confess that Romulus, Trajan's martyr, has nothing to do with him who triumphed under the last heathen emperors, that is, either under Decius or under Licinius. Moreover, what wonder that we come into these straits, when sacred matters are handled with even the flimsiest arguments scraped together from everywhere? Things that are false certainly cannot be proved by others save ineptly; and something must be set moving, lest nothing be done. Thus the learned Spaniard against those fable-mongers.

[13] For the rest, that persuasion about St. Romulus's native land gave occasion to his solemn cult on this day in the diocese of Seville, St. Romulus's cult in the diocese of Seville. as Tamayo relates at pag. 61 in these words: Finally, when the archprelate Don Pedro de Castro y Quiñones, metropolitan of the see of Seville, had learned, on the report of the Dean and chapter of his most illustrious church and of other most learned men, that this holy Martyr took his origin from Italica, a city of his diocese, in the year MDCXXIV he conferred upon him a cult with a double Office in the diocese, and of the second class in the place where Italica formerly stood, and commanded that this be observed for the future, by virtue of the privileges granted by the Supreme Pontiffs to the prelates of Spain. But here again he mixed in a new error; for Rodrigo Caro, whom he cites, in the Antiquities of Seville fol. 106 hands down that this was done four years earlier, namely in the year 1620: certainly it must have been done before the XX of December 1623, on which day Tamayo himself at the XI of March pag. 201, and other Spanish authors, assert that the aforesaid archbishop Pedro de Castro departed from among the living.

[14] Of the time in which they suffered, Pagi observes in the Critique of Baronius at the year 106 num. 3, When and where the Martyrs were slain; that the martyrdom of St. Romulus and of the Christian soldiers, consigned to death by Trajan while he was in the East, could not have befallen before the year 112, in which that emperor crossed to the East. Castellan in the Universal Martyrology pag. 979 sets down St. Romulus's contest in that very year 112; whether rightly, I would not dare to assert: for Tillemont, tom. 2 of the Emperors, Notes 17 and 22 on Trajan, probably lays down a double journey of Trajan into the East; the first in the year 106, the other not before the year 114. As to what concerns SS. Eudoxius and his Companions, these consummated their martyrdom under Diocletian

from what has been said before; in the year, as Surius notes, 290: but Baronius in the Annals first mentions them at the year 311 num. 21. Their palæstra was Melitina or Melitene in Lesser Armenia on the river Euphrates: but St. Romulus seems to have suffered in Greece, as Galesinius announces him, with the other Martyrs indeed, but of these he afterward writes that they were crowned elsewhere, namely in Armenia and in the time of Maximian. See above at num. 2 the Basilian Menology.

[15] the writer of the Acts is Metaphrastes; some observations upon them The Greek Acts, of which we have a transcript, received I know not whence, with this title: Μαρτύριον τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ἐνδόξων τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτύρων Εὐδοξίου, Ῥωμύλου, Ζήνωνος καὶ Μακαρίου, that is, The martyrdom of the holy and glorious martyrs of Christ Eudoxius, Romulus, Zeno and Macarius, were written by Metaphrastes from ancient monuments, and Leo Allatius attributes them to him without hesitation in the Diatribe on the writings of the Simeons, pag. 129, reciting the beginning. Translated into Latin, they were published by Luigi Lippomano, bishop of Verona, in tom. 6 of the Lives of the Saints, which interpretation I shall reprint below, but divided after our manner into chapters and numbers, that it may correspond to the Greek narrative, which is to be divided in like manner. Baronius at this day calls them the Acts of St. Romulus, because indeed the former part of them treats of him; but they are more rightly called by others by the name of the other Martyrs also, whose contest, and especially St. Eudoxius's, they describe more fully after narrating Romulus's martyrdom. Yet I wonder that the Greeks threw together into one and the same narrative the deeds of Saints who suffered at times so different, as they themselves hand down. From a comparison of the Acts with the eulogy which stands in the great printed Menæa, it is plain that they were put together from it, but much amplified from elsewhere: from what monuments, however, I do not know.

[16] and on Baronius's conjecture. Certainly that amplification was not made from the narrative or eulogy of the Basilian Menology: for in this it is said that St. Romulus was first the author to Trajan ἀποστεῖλαι εἰς τὴν Γαλλίαν &c., that he should send, or, as Galesinius and Arcudius rendered it, should go into Gaul — the Asiatic Gaul, that is, Galatia — and should compel the Christian soldiers to sacrifice to the gods; and that afterward, moved by repentance, he believed in Christ. But Metaphrastes, who is not wont to omit marvels, does not touch even by a word upon that impious counsel of Romulus, upon the repentance that followed, and upon his conversion: nay, on the contrary he insinuates that he had been a Christian already before. I pass over other discrepancies, easily to be observed by the learned reader. As to the eleven thousand banished soldiers, we are led by conjecture, says Baronius at the year 108, to judge that these are those very ten thousand most excellent martyrs who were crucified in the woods of Mount Ararat in Armenia. If this be true, the Acts of those Crucified are convicted of manifest falsehood; for Baronius in the place cited premises that eleven thousand soldiers were found to be Christians by Trajan when he was reviewing the army: but the Crucified martyrs were still idolaters in the time of Hadrian, when an angel, appearing in the field, preached to them the faith of Christ, as is related in tom. IV of June at the day XXII in their own Acts, which Papebroch in the same place from pag. 175 sifted in a critical Commentary and showed to be fabulous. Nor is it probable that eleven thousand men were put to death at once by Trajan: certainly Metaphrastes would not have been silent about it, if he had found it in the ancient monuments.

. Read obrusam.*

ACTS

BY METAPHRASTES.

From a Greek manuscript, with the Latin interpretation which stands in Lippomano tom. VI pag. CCXXXI.

Romulus, M. in Greece (S.)

Eudoxius, martyr at Melitene in Lesser Armenia (S.)

Zeno, martyr at Melitene in Lesser Armenia (S.)

Macarius, martyr at Melitene in Lesser Armenia (S.)

MCIV Soldiers, martyrs at Melitene in Lesser Armenia

By Metaphrastes.

CHAPTER I.

Trajan drives the Christian soldiers into exile: St. Romulus, disapproving this and openly confessing Christ, undergoes a glorious martyrdom.

Τραἳανοῦ τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς βασιλέως πολλὴν μὲν πρόνοιαν καὶ σπουδὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς βδελυρᾶς τῶν εἰδώλων πλάνης εἰσφέροντος, μέγα δὲ καὶ ἀπηνὲς κατὰ τῶν εὐσεβῶν πνέοντος· ἄλλοι τε θυεῖ [*] τοῖς δαίμοσι, καὶ πρόγε πάντων τὸ στρατιωτικὸν ἠναγκάζοντο. Βασιλικὰ γὰρ ἐπέμπετο πανταχοῦ γράμματα σπουδάζοντα τὴν ἀσέβειαν, καὶ Χριστιανοὺς ἢ θύειν κελεύοντα, ἢ ποικίλαις ὑποβάλλεσθαι τιμωρίαις. Ἅπερ ἐπειδὴ καὶ εἰς τὸ πρὸς Ἕω ἀφίκετο στράτευμα, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο τῆς ὥρας συςκευαζόμενοι, καὶ μελέταις συνεχέσι καὶ βαρείαις τὰ πολεμικὰ ἐξασκούμενοι, ἄλλωστε δὲ καὶ τὰ Χριστιανῶν ἀσπαζόμενοι, οὐδὲ ὀλίγα τῶν βασιλικῶν ἐκείνων συλλαβῶν ἐπεστρέφοντο. Ἀμέλει καὶ μάχης αὐτοῖς καρτερᾶς συῤῥαγείσης, κρατοῦσι τῶν ἐναντίων καὶ μάλα λαμπρῶς.

[2] Τοῦτο καὶ εἰς βασιλέα Τραἳανὸν ἀνήχθη· ὁ δὲ διὰ τὴν τῶν οἰκείων ἀποταγμάτων παρόρασιν, οὐδὲ τοῦ κοινοῦ πάντων ἀγαθοῦ τῆς νίκης λόγον ποιεῖσθαι· ἀλλὰ τοὺς τὰς βασιλικὰς διατάξεις ἐπεριδόντας (τὸ πλῆθος δὲ χίλιοι ἐπὶ τοῖς μυρίοις ἦσαν) πρός τε τὴν τῆς Ἀρμενίας Μελιτινὴν, καὶ τὰ πέριξ ἐκείνης ὑπερορίζει. Ἥγε μὲν ὑπόλοιπος στρατία περιδεὴς ἦν καὶ κατάφοβος διὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ὑπερορίαν· μὴ καὶ λυπηθέντες πρὸς νεοτερισμὸν ἀποβλέψουσιν, εἶτα καὶ αὐτοὺς καλώσωσιν [*], ὡς μήτε τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ μήτε τῆς δι᾽ ἐκεῖνον ὑπερορίας αὐτῶν κοινωνήσαντας. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐκεῖνοι ἢ ἔπραξάν τι τοιοῦτον ἢ ἐνενόησαν· ἀλλ᾽ οἷα τοῦ πράου ὡς ἀληθῶς μαθηταὶ, μιμηταὶ καὶ τῆς τοῦ Διδασκάλου πραότητος, καὶ τῆς συμπαθείας ἦσαν· ἡμέρως τε ἔφερον τὴν ὑπερορίαν, καὶ ἥκιστα τῆς ὕβρεως ἐδυσχέραινον.

[3] Ῥωμύλος δὲ ὁ τῆς βασιλικῆς αὐλῆς τηνικαῦτα πραιπόσιτος, πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα Τραἳανον, οὔτε αὐτῷ πάντως, οὔτε τῇ πόλει συμφέρειν ἔλεγε τὰ γεγενημένα. Ὁ δὲ, δέον χάριτας ὁμολογεῖν τῷ Ῥωμύλῳ ἅτε πρὸς αὐτὸν εὐνοἳκῶς ἔχοντι, εὐήθης ὢν καὶ ἀχάριστος, ἐλοιδορεῖτο μᾶλλον αὐτῷ καὶ ὠργίζετο, καὶ ὡς ἔγκλημα προέτεινε τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Ῥωμύλος δὲ τῶν ἐκείνου λόγων μηδὲ τὸ βραχὺ φροντίζων, ἐσεμνύνετο μᾶλλον ταῖς διὰ Χριστὸν ὕβρεσι· καὶ τῷ περὶ αὐτὸν ζήλῳ διαπυρώτατα τὴν ψυχὴν ἐκκαυθεὶς, ἐξυβρίζει μὲν εἰς τοὺς ἐκείνου θεοὺς ἀναίδην· ὁμολογεῖ δὲ φανερῶς τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ παρρησιάζεται τὴν εὐσέβειαν. Ἀγριάνας τοίνυν ἐπιπλέον Τραἳανὸς, κελεύει ταθῆναι τοῦτον καὶ ῥάβδοις αἰκίζεσθαι.

[4] Ὁ μέντοι Ῥωμύλος εὐψύχως δεχόμενος τὰς πληγὰς, νῦν εὐεργετῶν με ἴσθι τὰ μέγιστα πρὸς Τραἳανὸν ἐβόα· τό τε γὰρ σῶμα ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐρυθρῷ τούτῳ περιρρεόμενον αἵματι τὸν ἐκ τῆς εἰδωλικῆς κνίσης δυσῶδη μολυσμὸν ἀπολούεται, καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ δὲ ἀφθαρσίας χιτῶνα καθαρὸν περιβάλλεται. Οὐκ ἤνεγκε ταῦτα Τραἳανός· ἀλλ᾽ εἰς πλείονα τὸν θυμὸν προαχθεὶς, ταχεῖαν αὐτῶν τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν ἐπίτομόν τε τὸ μαρτύριον διεπράξατο· καὶ τμηθῆναι τὴν κεφαλὴν Ῥωμύλον ψηφίζεται. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἄσμενος τὸ διὰ Χριστὸν εἶδε ξίφος, καὶ ἥδιστα τὸ τοῦ μαρτυρίου ὑπῆλθε στάδιον.

The Christian soldiers, after obtaining a victory, When Trajan ^a the impious emperor was bringing much care and zeal to the execrable error of the images, and was breathing greatly and savagely against the pious, both others and, before all, the soldiers were compelled to sacrifice to the demons. For imperial letters were sent into all parts, urging impiety and compelling the Christians either to sacrifice or to be subjected to various punishments. And when these had come to the army which was in the East, they at that time, preparing what pertained to war, and exercising themselves in continual and heavy military drills, and moreover embracing religion, cared nothing for those imperial letters. And when a great battle had arisen for them, they obtained a splendid victory over their enemies ^b.

[2] are banished by Trajan: This was reported to the emperor Trajan. But he, because they had despised his edicts, takes no account even of the common good of all, namely of the victory: but banishes those who had contemned the imperial ordinances (and they were in number eleven thousand ^c) to Melitene ^d in Armenia and to the places which are situated about it. And the rest of the army was in fear on account of their banishment, lest, being aggrieved, they should attempt a revolution, and bring some evil upon them, as men who had shared with them neither in Christianity nor in the banishment undertaken for Christ. But they did or thought no such thing: but, as being disciples of him who is truly meek, they were imitators also of the meekness and gentleness of their Master; and they bore their exile placidly, and were not at all aggrieved at the insult.

[3] the Saint, disapproving this and confessing Christ, is beaten with rods But Romulus, then provost ^e of the imperial court, said before the emperor Trajan that what had been done was expedient neither for him nor for the state at all. But he, when he ought to have given thanks to Romulus, as one who was kindly disposed toward him, bearing himself foolishly and ungratefully, rather pursued him with revilings and was angry with him, and cast up his piety to him as a crime. But Romulus, caring not the least for his words, rather gloried in the insults undertaken for Christ: and being kindled in soul with the most burning zeal for him, he freely and copiously assails his gods with reproaches; but openly confesses Christ, and boldly professes his piety. Trajan therefore, the more irritated, orders him to be stretched out and beaten with rods.

[4] Romulus, receiving the blows with a great and brave spirit, cried out to Trajan: Now know that I am visited with the greatest benefit. For my body, which is bathed with this red blood, washes away the filth which I contracted from the reek of the images; and my soul is clothed with the clean tunic of incorruption. Trajan did not bear this, but, stirred to greater wrath, procures him a swift release and makes his martyrdom short; and then is slain with the sword. and decrees that Romulus's head be cut off. And he indeed gladly looked upon the sword for Christ's sake, and most joyfully entered the stadium of martyrdom.

ANNOTATIONS.

published. Further, the city of which we are treating is also found called Melita, now commonly among the Turks Malatyah. For the sake of distinction Metaphrastes rightly added τῆς Ἀρμενίας, of Armenia: for a tract of Susiana on the river Tigris is also named Melitene by Ptolemy, as the praised Cellarius testifies at chap. 19.

*. Read θύειν.

*. Read κολάσωσιν.

CHAPTER II.

St. Eudoxius receives with a banquet those sent to seize him, then of his own accord goes to the president, before whom he professes the faith and casts away his belt, the 1104 soldiers imitating his example.

Συχνοῦ δὲ μεταξὺ διελθόντος χρόνου, Διοκλητιανὸς μὲν αἵματι ἐμφυλίῳ καὶ τυραννίδι κλέπτει τὴν βασιλείαν· φιλονεικεῖ δὲ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ τυράννους κατά γε τὸν τῆς ὠμότητος καὶ τὸν τῆς ἀσεβείας λόγον ὑπερβαλεῖν, καὶ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀγριότητα φανερὰν δεῖξαι φιλανθρωπίαν· ὅθεν δὲ διατάγματα συνεχῆ κατελάμβανε τὸ ὑπήκοον, ἢ πάντας αὐτῷ κοινωνῆσαι τῆς ἀσεβείας, ἢ θάνατον αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸ τῆς παρακοῆς ἐπιτίμιον. Χριστιανοὶ τοίνυν διὰ τὸ τῆς ὀργῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἄμαχόν τε καὶ δεινῶς ἄγριον, οἱ μὲν τὰς μετὰ τῶν θηρίων ἐν ἐρήμοις διατριβὰς τῆς μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων μᾶλλον προέκρινον συνοικίας· οἱ δὲ ὄρη καὶ σπήλαια, καὶ ὅσα δύναται κρύπτειν, ὑποδυόμενοι καὶ αὐτὸν, ὡς οἷόν τε, τὸν ἥλιον διαλαθεῖν ἔσπευδον.

[6] Ἐνταῦθα μηνύεταί τις εὐσεβὴς, καὶ τοῦ μὴ λαθεῖν ὄντως ἄξιος, Εὐδόξιος ἢ Μαριανὸς ὄνομα ἀνήρ· ἀμφοτέροις γὰρ ἐκυριολογεῖτο τοῖς ὀνόμασιν· ἀπὸ πριμικηρίων δὲ τὴν ἀξίαν, ᾗ διὰ τὸν εἰς Χριστὸν πόθον ἀπεληλαμένος, ἐν τῇ τῶν κομήτων ὑπεβιβάσθη· καὶ ταύτης δὲ μὴ τυχὼν, ἔστερξεν ἂν τῷ ποθουμένῳ μόνῳ παρακαλούμενος. Μηνύεται δὲ τῷ τηνικαῦτα Μελιτηνῆς ἡγεμόνι· ὃς ἐπειδὴ τὰ περὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἕκαστα μεμαθήκοι, τοὺς ἄξοντας αὐτὸν παραχρῆμα ἐκπέμπει. Τοῦτο δὲ μὴ τὸν Εὐδόξιον λαθὸν, εὐτελεστέραν περιθέμενος τὴν στολὴν, ἵνα μὴ ὅστις εἴη φανερὸς γένοιτο, ἐμφανίζεται τοῖς ἀπεσταλμένοις. Ἐντυχόντες τοίνυν αὐτοῖς [] καὶ μήπω τοῦτον ἐκεῖνον εἶναι νομίσαντες, ὅπῃ ἄρα διατρίβοι ὁ κόμης Εὐδόξιος; εὐθέως ἠρώτων. Ὁ δέ· εἴ μοι παρελθεῖν ἐθελήσετε εἰς τὴν στάγην [], ἡμερώτατα πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔφη, καὶ βραχὺ τὸν ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ κόπον διαναπαῦσαι, καὶ τραπέζης καὶ ἁλῶν κοινωνῆσαι, ἐγὼ ὑμῖν τὸν ζητούμενον ὑποδείξω.

[7] Παρασκευασάμενος οὖν τὰ πρὸς τὴν ἑστίασιν φιλοτίμως, δεξιοῦται τοὺς ἄνδρας· τῶν δὲ ἡσθέντων ἱκανῶς τῇ τραπέζῃ, εἶτα καὶ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἀπαιτούντων καὶ δεομένων φανερὸν αὐτοῖς ποιήσεσθαι τὸν ζητούμενον, ἐκεῖνος εὐθὺς τὸν ἔνδον αὐτοῖς ἀνακαλύπτει Εὐδόξιον· ἐγώ εἰμι, ὃν ζητεῖτε, εἰπών. Τοῦτο μαχαίρας ὀξύτερον καθίκετο τῆς ἐκείνων ψυχῆς· καὶ ὑπολαβόντες, οὐ προδώσομέν σε τὸν ἡμέτερον ἑστιάτορα, εἶπον, οὐδὲ οὕτω τὴν φιλοξενίαν κακῶς ἀμειψόμεθα· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἡμῖν εἰς ἀπολογίαν ἀρκέσει τὸ πολλὰ περὶ τὴν ζήτησιν καμόντας, ὅμως μὴ δυνηθῆναι ὅλως τὸν Εὐδόξιον ἀνευρεῖν. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν οὖν ταύτας Εὐδοξίῳ τῆς ξενίας τὰς χάριτας ἀπεδίδοσαν.

[8] Ὁ δὲ καὶ λαθεῖν εἰδὼς ὅτε δέον, καὶ μὴ λαθεῖν αὖ, ὅτε τούτου καιρός· θεία γὰρ ἦν χάρις ἡ παροῦσα καὶ διδάσκουσα τὸν ἀθλητὸν [*] ἀκολουθῆσαι τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐσκέψατο· καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καλέσας Βασίλισσαν, ἢ καὶ Μανδάνην, εἰ βούλει· διπλοῖς γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ τοῖς ὀνόμασιν ἐκαλεῖτο· ὅσα τε ἔδει τῶν κατ᾽ οἶκον αὐτῇ ἐντέλλεται, καὶ πάντα τῇ αὐτῆς ἀναθεὶς φροντίδι, ἐσχάτην τοῦτο καὶ γνησίαν ἐντολὴν δίδωσι· μὴ ἐπιδακρῦσαι τῇ αὐτοῦ ἐκδημίᾳ, μὴ ἀποδύρασθαι, μὴ θρηνῆσαι ὅλως τὴν τελευτήν· ἀλλὰ καὶ λαμπροφορίᾳ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ φαιδρότητι ἐκείνην τιμῆσαι μάλιστα τὴν ἡμέραν. Εὐθὺς οὖν καταφρονεῖ μὲν τῆς οἰκείας συγγενείας Εὐδόξιος· ἐπιλανθάνεται δὲ διὰ Χριστὸν τῆς πρὸς τὰ τέκνα στοργῆς, τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ δὲ τούτου καὶ ἀπαραιτήτου τοῖς πατράσι δεσμοῦ· ἵνα γὰρ ἐκεῖνον κερδήσῃ, ζημίαν ἡγεῖτο πάντα καὶ σκύβαλα· καὶ ἄπεισι πρὸς τὸν ἡγεμόνα.

[9] Καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν ἄνδρα ἰδὼν, χαίροις, ἔφη, κόμης Εὐδόξιε· ὁ δὲ τοῖς ἴσοις εὐθὺς ἠμείβετο, χαίροις καὶ αὐτὸς, εἰπὼν, ὦ ἡγεμών. Καὶ ὃς πάλιν, μετεστειλάμεθά σου, ἔφη, τὴν περιφάνειαν, ὥστε καὶ τοῖς βασιλικοῖς ὑπηρετῆσαι προστάγμασι, καὶ τοῖς θεοῖς τὴν προσήκουσαν θυσίαν προσενεγκεῖν, μάλιστα τῷ πατρὶ πάντων θεῶν τῷ μεγάλῳ Διὶ, Ἀπόλλωνί τε τῷ Φοίβῳ, καὶ τῇ φίλῃ παρθένῳ Ἀρτέμιδι. Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς· ἐμοὶ μία, ἔφη, θυσία, ἡ τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ, τοῦ τὸ πᾶν τόδε παραγαγόντος· καὶ τούτῳ θύσω θυσίαν αἰνέσεως, ὃς ἐν Τριάδι θεολογούμενος ὑποστάσεων, ζωῆς ταμίας καὶ οἰκονόμος ἀληθοῦς σωτηρίας γνωρίζεται. Οὓς δὲ θεοὺς ὀνομάζεις, ξύλα τούτους καὶ λίθους ὁρῶ, τῆς λοιπῆς ἀψύχου ὕλης μηδὲ βαρὺ διαφέροντας. Πρὸς ταῦτα διαβλέψαι οὐκ ἔχων ἐκεῖνος· πόθεν ὅς γε ὑπὸ βαθείᾳ τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐκάθευδε μέθῃ; ἐγώ σε τὰς τοῦ βασιλέως ἐκτελέσαι προστάξεις, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τὰ εἰθισμένα δρᾶσαι προετρεψάμην, ἔφη· ἀλλὰ σὺ καὶ θεῶν, ὡς ὁρῶ, καὶ βασιλέως ὑπερορᾷς· οὕτω μὲν ἀναίδην εἰς οὓς ἐκεῖνος σέβει θεοὺς ἐνυβρίσας, οὕτω δὲ καινοφανῆ τινὰ λατρείαν παρὰ ταύτην νομοθετῶν, καὶ ταύτῃ, ὡς εἰς ἐμὰ ὦτα ἥκει, τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀναπείθων.

[10] Ταῦτα, πολλῶν περιεστώτων στρατιωτῶν, ὁ ἡγεμὼν διελέγετο. Καὶ μεταξὺ ἄγριον καὶ δριμὺ τούτων [] ἐμβλέψας· ὅσοι καὶ ὑμῶν, ἔφη, μὴ τοῖς βασιλικοῖς θεσπίσμασιν ἕπεσθε, τὰς στρατιωτικὰς διαλυσάμενοι ζώνας γυμνοὺς ἑαυτοὺς τῶν τῆς ἀξίας συμβόλων γνωρίσατε. Τί τοῦτο λέγων ὁ πονηρὸς ἐκεῖνος; Ὅπως εἴ τινες διὰ τὴν τῆς στρατείας κοινωνίαν φιλίως τῷ Εὐδοξίῳ ἔχοντες, κοινωνεῖν αὐτῷ καὶ τῆς γνώμης βούλοιντο, αἰδεσθῶσιν ἐν τοσούτῳ πλήθει ἀποστατοῦντες αὐτοὶ μόνοι· ὀλίγους γὰρ εἶναι παντάπασιν αὐτοὺς ᾤετο· κἀντεῦθεν ὁμοῦ μὲν τὸν Εὐδόξιον αἰσχύνοι, ἀλλότρια οὕτω τῆς στρατιᾶς πάσης φρονοῦντα· ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ μόνον εὑρὼν, χρήσαιτο αὐτῷ ὅτι καὶ βούλοιτο. Ἀλλ᾽ ὁ δρασσόμενος τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐτῶν, κατὰ τῆς ἐκείνου μᾶλλον κεφαλῆς τὴν μεθοδείαν περιέτρεπε ταύτην· οὔπω γὰρ ὁ πᾶς λόγος αὐτῷ εἴρητο, καὶ ὁ γενναῖος Εὐδόξιος· ἐτύγχανε γὰρ τότε τὰ παράσημα τῆς ἀρχῆς περικείμενος· τὴν ζώνην εὐθὺς ἀφελὼν τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ ἄρχοντος ἐπιῤῥίπτει. Τοῦτο δὲ προτροπὴ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐγένετο καὶ ζῆλον [] καὶ ὁ περιεστὼς ἅπας κατάλογος, τέσσαρες ἐπὶ τοῖς ἑκατὸν καὶ χίλιοι ὄντες, ἀγαθῷ ὑποδείγματι τῷ Εὐδοξίῳ αὐτίκα χρώμενοι, τὰς ζώνας καὶ οὗτοι κατὰ τῶν ἐκείνου ὄψεων ἀπέῤῥιπτον.

[11] Ὑποπτήξας οὖν τὸ πλῆθος ὁ ἡγεμὼν ἀναφέρει Διοκλητιανῷ τὰ τοῦ πράγματος· ὁ δὲ τοὺς μὲν τῆς τοιαύτης τόλμης αἰτίους καὶ ἀρχηγοὺς, βαρυτάτας δοῦναι τὰς τιμωρίας κελεύει· τὴν δὲ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ψῆφον τῇ βουλῇ ἐπιτρέψαι. Τοιαύτην ἐκεῖνος παρὰ τῆς βασιλικῆς ἀπονοίας τὴν ἐξουσίαν λαβὼν, τὸν γενναῖον Εὐδόξιον τῷ ἑαυτοῦ παραστησάμενος κήματι [*], τὰς μωρὰς, ἔφη, ζητήσεις καὶ ἀντιλογίας καὶ τῆς διανοίας ὁμοῦ καὶ τῆς γλώττης ἀποβαλὼν, θῦσον τοῖς θεοῖς ἑκών· ἐπεὶ καὶ ἄκοντά σε τὸ αὐστηρὸν πάντως τῶν βασάνων παρασκευάσει. Καὶ αὐτίκα δεσμὰ, καὶ πληγὰς, καὶ εἱρκτὴν, καὶ πῦρ, καὶ τἆλλα δὲ τὰ βαρύτατα καὶ πρὸς ἀκοὴν μόνην ἀπηριθμεῖτο. Ἰλιγγιάσατε καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀκούσαντες, οἶδα, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἑξῆς ἀγωνιᾶτε τοῦ διηγήματος· μή τι καὶ ὁ λόγος τὸν Ἀθλητὴν ἐθορύβησε. Ἀλλὰ θαρσεῖτε· πλείονα γὰρ αὐτῶν μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀνάπτει τὴν φλόγα, ὅτι καὶ λαμπρότερος ᾤετο πολλῷ διὰ ταῦτα γενήσεσθαι στεφανίτης.

[12] Ἀμέλει καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Μάρτυς· παίζεις ἔχων ἡγεμὼν, ἔφη. Παίδων ἐγὼ ταῦτα ἥγημαι μορμολύκεια, πρὸς τὰς ἐκεῖθεν ὁρῶν ἀμοιβάς· καὶ μόνης τῆς φιλοτίμου δεξιᾶς τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀγωνοθέτου Χριστοῦ ἐκκρεμάμενος. Ὡς ἐμὲ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο φοβεῖ τὸ ἀκοίμητον, καὶ ὁ τῶν ὀδόντων βρυγμὸς, καὶ τἆλλα ὅσα τοῖς τὸν Θεὸν ἀθετοῦσι πικροτάτη μερὶς ἀπόκειται. Τὰ δὲ σὰ ταῦτα, παιδιὰ πάντως ἐμοί· καὶ τὸ πῦρ, ὅπερ ἀπειλεῖς, καὶ αὐτοῦ ψυχρότερον ὕδατος· τὸ δὲ ξίφος εὐεργετήσει· πέμψει γάρ με πρὸς τὰ ποθούμενα, καὶ ἀντιδώσει τοῦ μὲν δύοντος ἡλίου τούτου καὶ ταχὺ κρυπτομένου τὸν ἄδυτον ἐκεῖνον Φωσφόρον, καὶ γλυκεῖάν τινα τὴν ἀκτῖνα καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον ἀφιέντα· τῆς δὲ κοσμικῆς ταύτης φαντασίας, καὶ ὀλίγῳ ὕστερον οὐκ ἐσομένης, τὰ ἑστῶτα καὶ εἰσαεὶ διαμένοντα. Τὸ δὲ καὶ θεοὺς νομίζειν τὸ ξύλον, καὶ τὸν λίθον, καὶ τὸν χρυσὸν, ἃ χεὶρ ἐμόρφωσε καὶ περιέξεσε τέχνη, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῖς καὶ χεῖρας καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ διέγλυψε μέλη· πῶς οὐκ εὔηθες κομιδῇ καὶ ἀνόητον;

Diocletian persecuting the Christians, When much time ^a had intervened, Diocletian seized the empire by intestine blood and by tyranny ^b; and he strove to surpass in cruelty and impiety the tyrants who had gone before him, and to show that their savagery had been humanity. Whence also to those who obeyed his rule there came frequent edicts, that all should either take up with him the communion of impiety, or that death should be their penalty for disobedience. And so the Christians, on account of his savage and monstrous wrath, some preferred to dwell with wild beasts in the deserts rather than together with men: others, taking to the mountains and caves and whatever could conceal them, strove, so far as could be done, to escape the notice even of the sun itself.

[6] At that time a certain pious man was denounced, plainly unworthy to lie hidden. St. Eudoxius, ordered to be seized His name was Eudoxius, or Marianus [*]; for each was his proper name. Driven from the dignity of primicerius for the love of Christ, he had come down to the lower dignity of count; which indeed, even if he had not obtained it, he would have held it enough to follow him alone whom he desired. And he was denounced to him who was then president of Melitene. Who, when he had learned each particular about him, at once sends out those who were to bring him. But when this did not escape Eudoxius,

clad in a meaner garment, that it might not be plain who he was, he showed himself to those who had been sent. When therefore they had met him and did not yet suppose him to be the man, they asked him where the count Eudoxius was staying. But he said to them most kindly: If you will come under my roof, and refresh yourselves a little from the labor of the journey, and share table and salt with me, I will show you the man whom you seek.

[7] [receives the officers with a banquet, and when he had made himself known to them,] When therefore he had prepared the banquet, he receives them liberally. And when they had been sufficiently cheered by the table, and were then demanding the promise and asking that he should show them the man whom they sought, he at once discloses to them the Eudoxius who was within, saying: I am he whom you seek. This struck their mind more sharply than a sword; and answering they said: We will not betray thee, who hast received us at a banquet, nor will we so ill requite thy hospitality. But this will suffice for our excuse, that though we labored much in the search, we were nevertheless unable to find Eudoxius at all. They indeed returned these thanks to Eudoxius for his hospitality.

[8] he goes of his own accord to the president: But he, who knew both how to lie hidden when there was need, and again not to lie hidden when the time for this had come (for the grace which was present and taught the Athlete commanded ^c that he should follow them), when he had called his wife Basilissa, or, if you will, Mandane — for she too was called by a double name — gives her charge of what concerned the household. And when he had committed all things to her care, he gives her this last and genuine command also, that she should not bewail his departure [*], nor lament on account of his death: but should honor that day rather with torches ^d and with other gladness. At once therefore Eudoxius despises his own kindred: and forgets for Christ's sake his love toward his children, a strong and inescapable bond for parents. For that he may gain Christ, he counts all things loss and dung. And he goes to the president.

[9] he preaches the true God and derides the idols, And he, when he had seen him, said: Hail, count Eudoxius. But he in turn returns the greeting, saying: Hail thou also, president. And the president again said: We have summoned thy Excellency, that, obeying the emperor's commands, thou mayest offer to the gods, as is fitting, a sacrifice, and above all to the father of all the gods, great Jove, and to Phœbus Apollo, and to the dear virgin Diana. But the Martyr said: For me there is one sacrifice, the sacrifice of the true God, who brought forth this universe; and to him will I sacrifice a sacrifice of praise, who is God in a Trinity of persons, the bestower of life and the dispenser of true [*] salvation. But those whom thou callest gods, I see to be wood and stones, differing in nothing at all from any other lifeless matter. To this he, being unable to look (for how could he, who slept oppressed by the deep drunkenness of impiety?), said: I exhorted thee to execute the emperor's commands and to do to the gods what is customarily done: but thou, as I see, despisest both the gods and the emperor, in that thou hast so shamelessly loaded with reproaches and insults the gods whom he worships; and introducest a new ^e religion besides this one, and persuadest many (as it has come to my ears) to take it up.

[10] [and casts away his belt; the 1104 soldiers doing the same after the Saint's example,] These things the president said, while many soldiers stood around: at whom, looking meanwhile grimly and fiercely, he said: Whoever of you do not follow the royal commands, strip yourselves of your military tunics, and know that you are bare of the insignia of your rank. But why did that wicked man say this? That, if any, on account of the fellowship of the soldiery, wished well to Eudoxius and were of the same mind as he, they might blush to be the only ones falling away amid so great a multitude; for he judged them to be altogether few: and at once wishing to put Eudoxius to shame, as one who would seem thus to think differently from the whole army; and if he should find him alone, he might do with him what he pleased. But he who apprehends the wise in their own craftiness turned what he had contrived upon his own head. For he had not yet finished his whole speech, when that excellent Eudoxius (for he was then clothed with the insignia of his magistracy), taking off his belt at once, casts it in the face ^f of the president. And this seemed to the others an exhortation and a zeal ^g: and the whole number who stood around, who were one thousand, one hundred and four ^h, at once using the good example of Eudoxius, they also cast their belts in his face.

[11] But the president, doubting because of the multitude, refers the matter to Diocletian. who nobly despises the president's threats. And he orders that the authors of so great a boldness be visited with the gravest punishments; but that the sentence to be passed on the rest be left to the senate. When he had received this power from the emperor's madness, causing the noble Eudoxius to be set before his tribunal, he said: Send away thy foolish questions and the contradictions of thy mind and tongue, and sacrifice to the gods of thine own accord; for otherwise the bitterness of the torments will altogether compel thee to do it unwillingly. And at once he enumerated bonds, and blows, and prison, and fire, and whatever things are most grievous even to hear of. You too, I well know, have grown dizzy at hearing these things, and are anxious about the narrative of what follows; namely whether that speech disturbed the Athlete. But be of good cheer. For it kindled in him a greater flame for piety, because he thought that thus he would obtain a far more splendid crown of victory.

[12] And so the Martyr says to him: Thou playest, president. These I count the bugbears of children, looking to those rewards which are yonder, and hanging on the bountiful right hand alone of Christ my judge of the contest. For that fire terrifies me which cannot be lulled to sleep, and the gnashing of teeth, and whatever other most bitter things are prepared for those who despise God and obey him not. But these thy threats are plainly a game to me; and the fire with which thou threatenest me is colder than water itself. But the sword will do me a benefit: for it will send me to the things I desire; and in place of this sun which sets and is quickly hidden, it will render me that Light-bearer ⁱ which never sets and sends forth a sweet and unspeakable ray; and in place of this worldly vision, which a little while hence will not be, the things which are firm and stable and endure for ever. But to hold for gods the wood and the stone, and the gold and the silver, which the hand has shaped and art has polished, and in which it has carved eyes and hands and the other members — how is this not of great madness?

ANNOTATIONS.

. Elsewhere Marinus.*

*. Rather αὐτῷ.

*. Read στέγην.

*. Read ἀθλητὴν.

*. Perhaps τούτοις.

. In the Greek there is added that she should not complain.*

. vera.*

*. Add ἀνῆψε.

*. Read βήματι.

CHAPTER III.

With wonderful constancy and magnanimity he endures the most bitter torments; condemned to death, he prays to God, gives commands to his wife, and foretells his death to a friend: the martyrdom of the Saint and of the others.

Ὑπολαβὼν τοίνυν ὁ ἡγεμών· ἔοικεν ἡ τοσαύτη μου, ἔφη, μακροθυμία καὶ ἡμερότης εἰς τοῦτό σε μωρίας καὶ θρασύτητος ἀγαγεῖν· ἀλλὰ τῆς μὲν εἰς ἡμᾶς ὕβρεως τὸ γοῦν ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν ἀνεξόμεθά σου· τὸ δὲ καὶ εἰς αὐτοὺς τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὸν αὐτοκράτορα ὑβρίζοντος ἀνέχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοῦτό γε ἠλίθιόν τε καὶ οὐ πόῤῥω μανίας· εἶτα ὁ Μάρτυς· ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὕβρις, εἶπε, ταῦτα τοῖς ὑγιαίνουσι τὸν νοῦν καὶ μὴ τὰς φρένας διεφθορόσι. Τοῦτο σφοδρότερον τὸν ἡγεμόνα ἐκμαίνει· καὶ αὐτίκα κελεύει ἐκ τεσσάρων διαταθέντα τὸν Ἀθλητὴν ἱμᾶσι χλωροῖς ὠμότερον τύπτεσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ πολὺν ἤδη ξαινόμενος χρόνον, φιλοσοφίαν ἀσωμάτων ἐν σώματι θνητῷ ἐπεδείκνυτο, καὶ καταγελασθέντα τὴν πρώτην αἰσχρῶς ἑαυτὴν [*] ὁ τύραννος εἶδεν· ὑπανῆκε μὲν τὸν Μάρτυρα τῶν πληγῶν, δίδωσι καὶ τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ.

[14] Τινὰς δὲ ἡμέρας ἐν φυλακῇ διατριψάμενον ^c παρίστησι πάλιν ἑαυτῷ· καὶ εἴ πού σέ τις, ἔφη ὁ ἡγεμὼν, μεταμέλεια ἔχει καὶ τῆς μανίας ἐκείνης καὶ τῆς λύσσης ἀνήνεγκας; Καὶ ὁ γεννάδας· οὔπω γοῦν ὡς ὁρῶ ῥητὰ ἡμέτερα συνῆκας, ἀλλὰ συνήσεις εὖ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι καὶ ὀψιμαθὴς τούτων γενήσει [*], ἐπειδ᾽ ἂν πλείονι καὶ τῇ πείρᾳ χρήσῃ, καὶ πικροτέρᾳ περιβάλῃς βασάνῳ. Τοῦτον ἐκεῖνος τὸν μυκτῆρα οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν, ἀλλὰ θερμότερος ἑαυτοῦ πολλῷ τὴν μανίαν γενόμενος, σφαίραις τὸν τένοντα μολιβδίναις συνθλάττει, καὶ ἀναμοχλεύει τούτου τὰ ἄρθρα, ὃ θανάτων ἁπάντων πικρότερον. Προσήγετο τοιγαροῦν τὸ ἄηθες τουτὶ μηχάνημα τῷ Ἀθλητῇ καὶ καινόν· ὁ δὲ ὥσπέρ τις ἀνάλωτος ἕστηκε πύργος, μηδὲ βραχὺ ταῖς ἐκείνου προβολαῖς διασαλευόμενος. Ὁ ἡγεμὼν τοίνυν, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἔφερεν αἰσχρῶς οὕτω διὰ πάντων ἡττώμενος, θάνατον αὐτοῦ κατακρίνει· ἠγάπα γὰρ εἰ καὶ οὕτω τοῦ Ἀνδρὸς ἀπαλλαγείη.

[15] Πλῆθος οὖν αὐτὸν δημίων παραλαβόντες ἐπειδὴ τὸν τῆς τιμωρίας κατέλαβον τόπον, χεῖρας ὁ Μάρτυς καὶ ὄμματα πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἀνασχών· Δέσποτα Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς, εἶπεν, ὁ προσδεξάμενος Ἄβελ τὴν θυσίαν, Ἀβραὰμ τὰς ὁλοκαρπώσεις, τῶν ἀπ᾽ αἰῶνός σου μαρτύρων καὶ προφητῶν καὶ δικαίων τὰ αἵματα, καὶ τοὺς μακροὺς πόνους, καὶ τὴν ὑπερφυᾶ καρτερίαν· αὐτὸς εὐμενεῖ καὶ νῦν ὀφθαλμῷ τὴν ἐμὴν ἴδε θυσίαν, καὶ μὴ ὑπερίδῃς κύριε τοῦ διὰ σὲ μέλλοντος ῥυῆναι μικροῦ τούτου αἵματος, ἐκ θερμοτάτης σοι προαιρέσεως καταθυομένου· ἰδοὺ γὰρ, ὡς ὁρᾶς, τὴν ψυχὴν διὰ σὲ σήμερον ἀποτίθεμαι· εἶτα πάλιν προσθεὶς, ἀπολαυέτωσαν φιλάνθρωπε Δέσποτα, ἔφη, τῆς παρὰ σοῦ βοηθείας οἱ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ τὸ σὸν καλοῦντες ἅγιον ὄνομα· μνήσθητι τοῦ λαοῦ σου, μνήσθητι τῆς κληρονομίας σου, ἧς ἐκτήσω· καὶ μὴ ἐπιλίποι τούτους τὸ παρὰ σοῦ ἔλεος, Κύριε. Ταῦτα διαλεχθεὶς τῷ Θεῷ, τὴν σύζυγον μεταστραφεὶς ἐκεῖθεν ὁρᾷ· καὶ ὧν ἐνετείλατο αὐτῇ πρότερον ἀναμνήσας, καὶ ἀσφαλῆ τὰ πιστὰ λαβὼν, ὥστε καταπρᾶξαι πάντα καὶ πέρας αὐτοῖς ἀγαθὸν ἐπιθεῖναι, τελευταίαν ἐντολὴν αὐτῇ ἐπισκήπτει, τάφον αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ, Ἄμιμνα καλουμένῳ, ἐπιχῶσαι ἐν τούτῳ τε αὐτοῦ καταθάψαι τὸ σῶμα.

[16] Πλήθους οὖν αὐτὸν οὐκ ὀλίγου περιστάντος, ὁρᾷ τινα μέσον ἑστῶτα Ζήνανα [*] φίλον αὐτῷ μάλιστα καὶ συνήθη, πενθοῦντα τὴν ἐκείνου τελευτὴν καὶ κοπτόμενον· καί, ὦ φίλε Ζήνων, μὴ κλαῖε, ἔφη· σὺ μὲν γὰρ, οἶδα, τὸν ἡμέτερον θρηνεῖς χωρισμόν· ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Θεὸς, ᾧ ἐγὼ λατρεύω καὶ εἰς ὃν πέποιθα, οὐ διαστήσει ἀλλήλων ἡμᾶς, οὓς θερμὴ πάλαι φιλία καὶ ὁ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔρως συνῆψεν· ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ ἐφ᾽ ἑνὸς σκάφους οὕτω τὸν βίον συμπλεύσομεν. Πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Ζήνων διαθερμανθεὶς τὴν καρδίαν καὶ ἀναζέσας, ἐθάρσησε καὶ Χριστιανὸν εὐθὺς ἑαυτὸν ὑπὸ τῇ πάντων ὄψει καὶ ἀκοῇ ἐμαρτύρει. Ἐν ὅσῳ δὲ οὗτος μετὰ παῤῥησίας τοῦτο ἐβόα, συλλαβόντες αὐτὸν οἱ δήμιοι κατὰ τὸ προστεταγμένον ὑπὸ τοῦ τυράννου, ξίφει τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀφαιροῦνται· καὶ ἡ τοῦ Εὐδοξίου πρόῤῥησις οὕτω ταχὺ τὸ πέρας λαμβάνει, καὶ τὸν φίλον ὁρᾷ Ζήνωνα τῷ μαρτυρίῳ τελειωθέντα.

[17] Οὕτω τὰ τῆς φιλίας πραγματευσάμενος, καὶ τοιούτῳ τέλει τὸν Ζήνωνα τελειωθέντα ἰδών· ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸν φωνή τις ἄνωθεν καὶ κατὰ πόδας ἐκάλει, καὶ ὥσπέρ τινα καὶ οὗτος εὐωχίαν ἀπῄτει τὸν θάνατον· ξίφει τὴν μακαρίαν αὐτοῦ κεφαλὴν ἄσμενος δοὺς, ἐπαποθνήσκει τῷ φίλῳ. Ἡ μέντοι ὁμόζυγος οὐ τὸ σῶμα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν, διὰ Χριστὸν ἀναιρεθέντα τὸν ἄνδρα θεασαμένη, οὐ ῥᾳθύμως εἶδεν, οὐδὲν ἀγεννὲς, οὐδὲ θῆλυ ἐφθέγξατο· ἀλλὰ προσδραμοῦσα τὴν ταχίστην πόκῳ μὲν ἐρίου τὸ ἀθλητικὸν αἷμα δέχεσθαι· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐντεταλμένον ἦν αὐτῇ παρὰ τοῦ ἀνδρός· ἀνελομένη δὲ καὶ τὸν νεκρὸν, ὅπῃ προστέτακτο αὐτῇ, φιλοτίμως κηδεύει· μηδὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἐκείνου ἐντολῶν ἀμελήσασα· οὐχ ὅτι ἀπέλαβε τῷ ἀνδρὶ δεινὴν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι μὴ καὶ αὐτὴ συναπῆλθε, τὴν χηρείαν λογισαμένη.

[18] Ὅθεν καὶ τῷ τυράννῳ αὐτόκλητος παραστᾶσα διεχλεύαζέ τε τοὺς ἐκείνου θεοὺς, καὶ γέλωτα ἐποιεῖτο, μηδὲ αὐτὸν ὕβρεως ἀφιεῖσα τὸν τὰ τοιαῦτα τιμᾶν ἀνεχόμενον. Ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν, ὁ τύραννος ἔφη, ταῦτα ποιεῖς ἀναιρεθῆναι παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ βουλομένη, καὶ φθάσαι τὸν ἄνδρα σπουδάζουσα, ἵνα τινὸς καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἀσεβέσι τούτοις Γαλιλαίοις ὀνόματος τύχῃς· ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδαμῶς σοι, καίτοι πολλῶν ἀξίᾳ θανάτων οὔσῃ, τὸν θάνατον ἐπαγάγω, μὴ τούτου παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τυχεῖν οἴου. Ἡ δὲ, τὴν καρδίαν, εἶπεν, ὁ ἐμὸς Δεσπότης ὁρᾷ, καὶ τὴν γνώμην ἀποδέχεται πρὸ τῶν ἔργων· οὔκουν, ὅτι μὴ ἀνῄρημαι παρὰ σοῦ, τῶν στεφάνων ἐξέπεσον· ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι προκατέθυσα ἐμαυτὴν τῇ προθυμίᾳ, τῶν ἴσων ἀμοιβῶν ἀπολαύσομαι. Ταῦτα εἰποῦσαν ἐκβάλλει τοῦ βήματος.

[19] Ἑπτὰ δὲ οὔπω παρῆλθον ἡμέραι, καὶ ὁ καλλίνικος Εὐδόξιος ὄναρ ἐπιστὰς τῇ συζύγῳ Μακάριον τὸν συνήθη καὶ φίλον αὐτοῦ πέμψαι πρὸς τὸ πραιτώριον ἐπισκήπτει· τῆς δὲ τὰ τῆς ὄψεως τῷ εἰρημένῳ Μακαρίῳ ἀπαγγειλάσης, τὴν ταχίστην ἐκεῖνος παρὰ τὸ πραιτώριον ἔρχεται· καὶ γνόντες αὐτὸν οἱ τῆς τάξεως, ὅστις εἴη, συλλαβόντες εὐθὺς ἄγουσι πρὸς τὸν ἡγεμόνα. Καὶ αὐτίκα τὴν θρησκείαν ἐκεῖνος καὶ τὸ γένος ἠρώτα· ὁ δὲ, Χριστιανός εἰμι, Χριστοῦ δοῦλος πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεκρίνατο· Ἑλλήνων δὲ θεῶν καὶ τῆς βαθείας περὶ αὐτοὺς ἀπάτης [*] πάλαι καταφρονεῖν μεμάθηκα, τοῦτό με τοῦ θαυμαστοῦ Εὐδοξίου διδάξαντος· ἔνθεν τοι καὶ τῷ ἀληθινῷ Θεῷ θυσίαν ἐμαυτὸν θύειν ἐπείγομαι, δι᾽ ἧς δυνήσομαι καὶ τὸν κύριόν μου Εὐδόξιον ταχέως καταλαβεῖν.

[20] Ὁ ἡγεμὼν τοίνυν ὡς τὸ τοῦ Εὐδοξίου ἤκουσεν ὄνομα, καὶ τοῦτον ἐκείνου μαθητὴν ἔγνω· τοῖς ὅλοις εὐθὺς ἐξαπορηθεὶς, ᾔδει γὰρ ὡς οὐδὲν ἐν τῷ μαθητῇ πλέον ἀνύσειεν, ἐν τῷ διδασκάλῳ τοῦτο μαθών· καὶ ὁ κακοδαίμων, εἶπεν, οὗτος Μακάριος ξίφει τὴν μιαρὰν κεφαλὴν τὸ τάχος ἀφαιρεθήτω. Καὶ αὐτίκα οἱ δήμιοι τὰ προστεταγμένα ἐποίουν· οὕτω Μακάριος ὡς ἀληθῶς ὁ μακάριος γίνεται, καὶ τῷ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ μαρτύρων χορῷ κατατάττεται. Καὶ τοιοῦτον οἱ γενναῖοι κατὰ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῆς φύσεως πολεμίου ἔστησαν τρόπαιον, ἐν αὐτῷ Χριστῷ, Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ Πνεύματι· ὅτι αὐτῷ πρέπει δόξα, κράτος, τιμὴ, καὶ προσκύνησις νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων ἀμήν.

The president, in vain first with thongs, But the president, taking him up, said: It seems that so great a gentleness and mildness on my part is leading thee into such folly and boldness. But thy insult toward us, so far as concerns ourselves, we shall bear; yet to suffer thee to load with insult the gods themselves and the emperor is plainly foolish and not far from madness. Then the Martyr said: Nay rather, these things are welcome to those who are of sound mind and not of a deranged understanding. This provokes the president to greater fury, and at once he orders the Athlete to be stretched out by four men ^a and cruelly beaten with fresh thongs. But when, having now long been scourged, he displayed an incorporeal ^b philosophy in a mortal body, and the tyrant saw himself first shamefully mocked, he released the Martyr from the blows, but casts him into prison.

[14] [then, having tried the Martyr's constancy with sharper torments, condemns him to death.] And when he had stayed some days in the prison, he orders him to be set before him again; and, Has any repentance, said the president, come upon thee, and hast thou recovered thy senses from that rage and madness? But that noble man said: Not yet, as I see, hast thou understood our affairs; but I well know that thou wilt understand, and that thou wilt learn them, though late, when thou hast made further trial and subjected me to sharper punishments. The president, not bearing this mockery, but stirred with a far fiercer madness, crushes his neck with iron [*] balls, and dislocates his joints, which indeed is more bitter than all deaths. This new and unwonted device was therefore applied to the Athlete. But he stood like a tower which cannot be stormed, not shaken in the least by his assaults. And so the president, since he could not bear to be so shamefully overcome by him, condemns him to death: for he thought it enough if even thus he might be rid of the man.

[15] Led to the place of punishment he prays to God, and gives commands to his wife; When therefore a multitude of lictors had taken him, after they had come to the place of punishment, the Martyr, lifting both hands and eyes to heaven, said: Lord God, who didst receive Abel's sacrifice, Abraham's offerings, the blood of those martyrs and just men who have been from the beginning of the world, and their long labors and admirable endurance; do thou also now with kindly eyes behold my sacrifice, and despise not, Lord, this little blood which is to be shed for thee, which is sacrificed to thee with a most fervent heart. For behold, as thou seest, I lay down my life this day for thee. Then adding again, he said: May they obtain from thee, gracious Lord, thy help who through me call upon thy holy name. Remember thine inheritance, which thou hast purchased, and let not thy mercy fail them, Lord. When he had said these things to God, turning thence he sees his wife; and when he had recalled to her memory what he had before commanded her, and had received her promise that she would faithfully perform all, he gives her this last charge, that she should dig a grave for him in the place which is called Amimna ^d, and there bury his body.

[16] And when no small multitude stood about him, he foretells martyrdom to Zeno, he saw a certain man standing in the midst, by name Zeno, exceedingly dear and familiar to him, bewailing his death. To whom he said: O dear Zeno, thou indeed, I well know, weepest for our separation; but God, whom I serve and in whom I trust, will not part us from one another, whom a strong friendship and a burning love toward him have joined: but just as in one boat, so shall we sail through life together. At these words Zeno, kindled and inflamed in heart, took courage, and at once, before the sight and hearing of all, testified that he was a martyr [*]. But while he was thus crying out freely, the lictors, seizing him as the tyrant had commanded them, take off his head. And thus Eudoxius's prediction had so swift a fulfilment, and he himself sees his friend Zeno at once consummated by martyrdom.

[17] When he had thus provided for his friend, since a voice was calling him also on the very heels of it, and he too demanded death as though it were a banquet, and is beheaded with the sword. giving his blessed head gladly to the sword, he dies after his friend ^e. But his wife, when she had seen her husband slain for Christ not only in body but also in soul, neither neglected him nor spoke anything ignoble or womanish: but running up as quickly as possible, she receives the Athlete's blood in a fleece of wool, for this her husband had commanded her

^f. And when she had taken up the body, she buries it honorably where she had been bidden, neglecting not even his other commands; counting her widowhood grievous not because she had lost him, but because she had not departed together with him.

[18] His wife's magnanimity. Whence also, being summoned ^g to the tyrant, coming forward at once of her own accord, she derided his gods and held them up to mockery, not letting even him go free from insult who suffered such things to be honored. But the tyrant said: Thou doest these things wishing to be put to death by me, and being eager to come to thy Husband, that thou mayest obtain some name among these impious Galilæans ^h: but I will by no means bring death upon thee, though thou be worthy of many deaths; do not think that thou wilt obtain this from me. But she said: My Lord sees my heart, and accepts the mind before the deeds. Therefore I have not been cheated of the crowns because I have not been slain by thee: but because with a ready zeal of soul I have sacrificed myself beforehand, I shall be a partaker with my Husband of the same rewards, and shall enjoy equal recompenses. When she had said these things, he expels her from the tribunal.

[19] But seven days had not yet passed ⁱ, when the glorious martyr Eudoxius, appearing in a dream to his wife, Macarius, after a noble confession of the faith, bids her send to the prætorium Macarius, his familiar and friend. And when she had reported the vision to Macarius, he came as soon as possible to the prætorium. And when the attendants had learned who he was, they at once seize him and lead him to the president. And he immediately asked him what his religion was, and of what family. But he answered: I am a Christian: and the gods of the gentiles ^k and the profound deception concerning them I long ago learned to despise, when the admirable Eudoxius taught me this. Hence it comes that I strive to sacrifice myself as a victim to the true God, whereby I shall be able quickly to come to my lord Eudoxius.

[20] is likewise slain with the sword. But the president, after he had heard the name of Eudoxius, and had learned that this man was his disciple, being wonderfully perplexed in mind — for he knew that he would accomplish no more in the Disciple than he had done in the Master — said: Let the accursed head of this unhappy Macarius also be cut off with the sword as soon as may be. And the lictors straightway did what they had been commanded. And thus Macarius becomes in very truth macarius, which is blessed ^l. And these noble Men raised such a trophy against the common enemy of nature, in Christ himself God, and in the Father who is without beginning, and in the holy and good Spirit; since to him belong glory and power, honor and adoration, now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

*. Rather ἑαυτὸν.

*. γενήσῃ.

. Rather leaden.*

. Read Christianum*, as the Greek has it.

*. Read Ζήνωνα.

*. Read ἀπάτης.