ON SS. MAXIMUS AND THEODOTUS AND ASCLEPIODOTA, MARTYRS,
IN A VILLAGE BETWEEN PHILIPPOPOLIS AND ADRIANOPLE IN THRACE.
Under Maximian.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The Saints' memory in the Calendars, chiefly of the Greeks: the Acts seem to have been written by a contemporary author, and are worthy of credit.
Maximus, Theodotus and Asclepiodota, martyrs, between Philippopolis and Adrianople in Thrace. (S.)
BY J. S.
These three holy Martyrs are announced today in the Roman Martyrology in these words: The names of these Martyrs, corrupted in the Latin Calendars, At Adrianople, of the holy martyrs Maximus, Theodorus and Asclepiodotus, who under the emperor Maximian were crowned. In exactly the same manner Baronius recites the names in the Annals at the year 311, number 19, saying likewise that they suffered at Adrianople. Galesini announces only Maximus and Theodorus, omitting the third — or rather the third, Asclepiodota, as we shall see. For in the Greek monuments I nowhere find an Asclepiodotus, a man, but Asclepiodota, a woman. Besides, the second of these martyrs is everywhere among the Greeks called Theodotus, not Theodorus. In the Menology, however, which Sirleto turned into Latin, and in which they are referred to the following day, Asclepiodotus also is written in the Latin, though the others' names are rightly expressed. But we do not know whether in the Greek text it was a man's name, nor is that at all likely, since in the Acts, in the Basilian Menology, in Sirmond's manuscript Synaxary on this day, in the printed Menæa and in Maximus of Cythera on the seventeenth of September, she is constantly called Asclepiodote or Asclepiodota, and with such attributes added that she is commemorated as a woman.
[2] The Calendars cited add elogia, but brief and not altogether accurate. are more correctly expressed among the Greeks, with an elogium, Fuller than the rest is that which is read in the Basilian Menology, where the three Martyrs are first announced in these words: The contest of the holy martyrs Maximus, Theodotus and Asclepiodote. And presently they are thus praised: These, in the reign of Maximian the persecutor of the Christians, were of Marcianopolis, a city of Thrace. Now when they taught the word of God, and walked day and night in all his precepts, and converted many from the error of the idols to our Lord Jesus Christ, being seized by the commander of the forces of Thrace, they were first beaten with rods and combed until their bones appeared. Then, their hands, feet and ears being cut off, they were cast upon the ground as though dead. After this, being placed on carts, they are carried to Adrianople; where again by the commander of the forces they were urged to sacrifice to the idols at least in word. But they not only refused to do this; rather, mocking the idols, they asserted that the gods of the gentiles were demons, and were to be execrated together with their worshippers. Wherefore, being condemned to death, they fell asleep. And together with them Asclepiodote, their kinswoman (in the Greek, blood-relation), also underwent martyrdom. The same is read a little more briefly in Sirmond's Synaxary, and there Marcianopolis is placed in Mœsia, where indeed it was in the time of these Martyrs, though it is also not badly placed in Thrace, because the boundaries of this province were afterwards more widely extended. The name Teres, of the commander of the soldiers of Thrace, is there also expressed, as likewise in Sirleto's Menology. The same man in the Acts is called Teres.
[3] [which as regards the place of the martyrdom and in other points can be corrected from the Acts.] As regards the place of the martyrdom, that is neither in the Greek nor in the Latin Calendars accurately expressed, but must be assigned from the Acts: for these teach that the Saints were seized at Marcianopolis, and that their first contests were begun there. Then indeed they were led from Marcianopolis to Adrianople, and there the Saints again contended nobly. Now Adrianople is a city of Thrace, known even now by the same name, on the river Hebrus. From Adrianople at last they were dragged toward Philippopolis, situated on the same river in Thrace; but before they reached Philippopolis, in a village of which the Acts treat at number 12, they underwent capital sentence, so that the proper place of the martyrdom is between Adrianople and Philippopolis in Thrace. The time of the martyrdom is not expressed more exactly than that they suffered under Maximian: which is to be understood of Galerius Maximian, who was made emperor in the year 305, when Diocletian and Maximian Herculius abdicated the empire. Galerius died in the year 311. Therefore the martyrdom of our Saints must be fixed between the years 305 and 311. The various torments which the Saints bravely endured, and the rest that pertains to them, can be drawn more accurately from the Acts than from the elogium given.
[4] These Acts, which we shall give in Greek and Latin, we have found nowhere hitherto published. [The Acts, which will be given in Greek and Latin, seem to be by a contemporary writer,] Our predecessors received them from a manuscript codex of the Medicean library of the king of France, as is written on the transcript. The title is this: Ἄθλησις τῶν ἁγίων καὶ ἐνδόξων μαρτύρων τοῦ Χριστοῦ, Μαξίμου, Θεοδότου, καὶ Ασκληπιοδότης. The contest of the holy and glorious martyrs Maximus, Theodotus and Asclepiodota. Their author is unknown, but he seems to have written not long after the martyrdom was accomplished: for at the end he directs prayers to God that the persecution may cease, so that he seems to have written before the persecution was wholly taken away by the work of Constantine the Great. This suspicion various things confirm. For, first, many things are narrated so exactly that the account seems to be that of a contemporary author. Secondly, nothing is mixed into the Acts which could not have been written at a time plainly very little after the martyrdom. Thirdly, not a word is put forward about the honour paid to the martyrs, and not even their burial is related; probably on account of the persecution then still in force. Fourthly, these Acts lack those Latin words which the Greeks somewhat later began to use. Wherefore the Acts seem to have been written either in the same year in which the Martyrs were crowned, or at any rate not many years later.
[5] and worthy of credit. For this reason I judge them altogether worthy of credit, at least as to the facts, even though some of these are marvellous. But the sufficiently lengthy reasonings which are contained in the same Acts I rather believe to have been composed by the author out of what he had learned of the sayings of the Martyrs and of the tyrant, than that all were uttered thus word for word. A Latin translation, formerly prepared by some presbyter of our Society, I found in our archives. But since this seemed somewhat too free, and not everywhere accurate enough, I judged that a new translation should rather be composed, which should depart less from the Greek text in its words also. I therefore set the Greek Acts with this translation before the eyes of the readers, adding in the Annotations, if any things still offer themselves to be observed for the reader's instruction.
THE ACTS
From the Medicean Ms. of the king of the Franks, J. S. translating.
From a Ms.
CHAPTER I
The persecution of Maximian: the seizure of SS. Maximus and Asclepiodota; their contests at Marcianopolis, where Theodotus, rebuking the tyrant, is also seized and tortured.
ΜΑξιμιανοῦ
τοῦ
δυσσεβεστάτου
τῆς
Ρωμαἳκῆς
ἀρχῆς
ἐπιβεβηκότος,
γράμματα
κατὰ
πᾶσαν
τὴν
ὑποτελῆ
Ρωμαιοῖς
ἐξεπέμπετο,
βλασφήμοις
μὲν
χείλευσι,
βλασφήμοις
δὲ
ῥήμασι,
καὶ
θεομάχοις
χερσὶ
χαραττόμενα·
τοὺς
προσκυνοῦντας
γὰρ
τὸν
ἐσταυρομένον,
καὶ
μὴ
βουλομένους
θύειν
τοῖς
ἀγάλμασι,
διὰ
πάσης
ἀγομένους
κολάσεως,
πικρῶς
ἐξάγεσθαι
διετάττοντο
τοῦ
βίου.
Μυσῶν
δὲ
μητρόπολις
ἦν
ἡ
Μαρκιανούπολις·
καὶ
ταύτην
ὁ
διωγμὸς
ἀκμάζων
ἐπίεζε,
τοὺς
ἐνιαὐτῇ
Χριστιανοὺς
ἀνηλεῶς
τιμωρούμενος·
ὧν
ἦσαν,
ὧσπερ
τῇ
ἀρετῇ
καὶ
τῷ
γένει,
οὕτω
καὶ
τῇ
εὐσεβείᾳ,
Μάξιμος
καὶ
Ασκληπιοδότης
προλάμποντες.
οὗτοι
περιβόητοι
τὴν
εὐσέβειαν
ὅντες,
πανδήμῳ
πλήθει
τῶν
εἰδωλολατρῶν
συνελήφθησαν·
καὶ
ἀνακρινόμενοι
τὰ
περὶ
τῆς
εὐσεβείας,
λαμπρῶς
τε
καὶ
γενναίως
εἱς
ὑπήκοον
ἁπάντων
τὸν
Χριστὸν
Θεὸν
ἀλήθινον
ἐκήρυξάν
τε
καὶ
ἀνωμολόγησαν,
καὶ
δαιμονίοις
ἢ
τοῖς
τούτων
ἀφιδρύμασι
σπένδειν
οὐκ
ἄν
ποτε,
μήδε
γένοιτο,
ὑπαχθήσεσθαι.
[2] Ἐν
τούτῳ
δὲ
καὶ
ὁ
τῆς
Θράκης
ἡγεμὼν,
Τήρης
ἦν
αὐτῷ
ὄνομα,
πόλεις
τε
καὶ
χώρας
διερχόμενος,
καὶ
τὸ
γένος
ἀνερευνώμενος
τῶν
Χριστιανῶν,
καταλαμβάνει
τὴν
Μαρκιανούπολιν·
καὶ
τοῦ
τυραννικοῦ
βήματος
προκαθίσας,
ἄγει
τὸν
γενναῖον
Μάξιμον,
καὶ
τὴν
σύναθλον
Ασκληπιοδότην.
Καὶ
δὴ
τό
τε
ὄνομα
καὶ
γένος,
καὶ
τὴν
(ὡς
ἐκεῖνος
ἔλεγεν)
ἀνεπυνθάνετο
τύχην.
Ὁ
δὲ
στεῤῥὸς
καὶ
ἐχέφρων
Μάξιμος·
Καὶ
πατρὶς
ἐμοὶ,
καὶ
πόλις,
ἔφη,
καὶ
φύντες,
καὶ
τέχνη,
καὶ
ἀξίωμα,
ἡ
Χριστιανῶν
πίστις·
Ταύτην
γὰρ
οἰκῶ,
μᾶλλον
δὲ
ἔνοικον
φέρω·
καὶ
ἐκ
ταύτης
ὥρμημαι,
καὶ
τὰς
ἀρχὰς
τῆς
δευτέρας
καὶ
καθαρᾶς
ῥύπου
γενέσεως
ἐκ
ταύτης
ἔχω,
καὶ
τὸ
σεμνὸν
εἶναι
καὶ
περίβλεπτον,
αὔτη
μοὶ
πάρεσχε.
Τί
γὰρ
εἴη
σεμνότερον
ἤ
περιφανέστερον
τοῦ
δεσμωτήριον
ὑπὲρ
εὐσεβείας
οἰκεῖν;
[3] Ὁ
ἡγεμὼν
λέγει·
Οὔπω
τῶν
βασιλέων
ἔγνως
τοὺς
νόμους;
Ὁ
μέγας
ὄντως
Μάξιμος
εἶπε·
Μισανθρωπίαν
μὲν,
καὶ
παρανομίαν,
καὶ
ὠμότητος
ὑπερβολὴν
ἤκουσα
κηρυσσομένην·
νόμους
δὲ,
δι᾽
ὧν
ἔθνη
καὶ
πόλεις
εὐδοκιμοῦσιν,
οὐδαμῶς
ἔγνων.
Τήρης
εἶπεν·
Τοὺς
τῆς
οἰκουμένης
εὐεργέτας
λοιδορεῖς,
καὶ
εἰς
παρανομίαν
καὶ
ὠμότητα
τολμᾶς
διασύρειν
τοὺς
δεσπότας;
Ὁ
γενναῖος
ἀμείβεται
Μάξιμος·
Εγὼ
Δεσπότην
καὶ
Θεὸν
καὶ
βασιλέα
τὸν
κύριον
ἡμῶν
Ιησοὺν
Χριστὸν
ἐπιγινώσκω,
οὗ
νεύματι
τὸ
σύμπαν
ὑπέστη·
τῶν
δὲ
ἄλλων
τοὺς
μὲν
ἀγνώμονας
καὶ
ἀχαρίστους,
τοὺς
δὲ
εὐγνώμονας
καὶ
φιλοδεσπότους
δούλους.
Ὁ
δὲ
δυσσεβέστατος
Τήρης
λέγει·
Οὐκ
αἰσχύνῃ
Θεὸν
ὀνομάζειν
ἄνθρωπον
ἐσταυρωμἑνον;
Ὁ
σοφὸς
ἀνθυπέφερε
Μάξιμος·
Σταυρὸς
καὶ
πληγαὶ
καὶ
θάνατος
τῷ
οἰκείῳ
λόγῳ
καὶ
καθ᾽
ἑαυτὰ
μῶμον
οὐδενὶ
περιάπτουσιν·
ἀλλ᾽
ἡ
αἰτία
ποιοῖ
ταῦτα
καὶ
θαύματος
ἄξια
καὶ
μωμητά·
ἐπεὶ
πολλοῦ
ἄν
ἦσαν
ἄξιοι
οἱ
λησταὶ,
καὶ
οἱ
καταποντισταὶ
καὶ
οἱ
τύραννοι,
τοιούτων
παθῶν
καὶ
θανάτων
πληροῦντες
τὸν
βίον·
νῦν
δὲ
ἐπειδὰν
ἅλωσιν
ἀντὶ
πολλῶν
καὶ
μυρίων
ἔνα
θάνατον
ὐπέχουσι
τῷ
νόμῳ·
καὶ
τούτοις
δικαίως
ὄνειδος
ὁ
θάνατος
καὶ
αἰσχύνη.
Τοῖς
δὲ
ὑπ᾽
αὐτῶν
ἐχθέσμως
ἀνῃρημένοις
οὐκ
ὄνειδός
ποθεν
οὐδ᾽
ἐπιτίμησις
ἡ
παλαμναίων
βία.
Ἄλλως
τε
δὲ
οἱ
ἀριστεῖς,
ὑπὲρ
πατρίδος
ἢ
γένους
ἀριστεύοντες,
κ᾽ἂν
πληγαὶ
τὸ
σῶμα
διεμερίσαντο,
κ᾽ἂν
ἐπὶ
τῆς
σφαγῆς
τὸ
πολέμιον
ξίφος
ἐδέξαντο,
κ᾽ἂν
σταυρὸς
αὐτοὺς
ἀνῃρτήσατο,
οὔτ᾽
ἄθλιοι,
οὔτε
μεμφῆς
ἄξιοι.
Τί
εἶπον
μεμφῆς;
οὐκ
ἄξιοι
μὲν
οὖν
πολλῶν
ἐπαίνων
καὶ
λαμπρῶν
στεφάνων,
καὶ
τῶν
ἄλλων
γερῶν
παρὰ
τῶν
ὁμοφύλων
δι᾽
αἰῶνος
ἀξιοῦνται;
Οὕτως
οὐκ
ἔστιν
αἰσχύνη
οὐδ᾽
ὄνειδος
ὁ
σταυρὸς,
οὔτε
τῷ
παθόντι,
οὐδ᾽
οἷς
ἀντὶ
τοῦ
πάθους
καὶ
τοῦ
σταυροῦ
τιμὴν
καὶ
σέβας
νέμειν
τῷ
σεσωκότι
διεσπούδασται.
Αἰσχύνη
δὲ
ἀνεξάλειπτος,
καὶ
θρῆνος
ἀπαράκλητος,
καὶ
ὄνειδος
ἀδυσώπητον,
ἁρπαγὴ
γυναίων,
φθοραὶ
μειρακίων,
κλοπαὶ
καὶ
μοιχεῖαι,
ἔρεις
καὶ
μάχαι,
καὶ
κατ᾽
ἀλλήλων
χειρὲς·
οἷς
πλουτοῦσιν
ὑμῶν
οἱ
θεοὶ,
καὶ
διὸ
προσκυνοῦνται.
Ὁ
δὲ
σταυρὸς
ὑπὲρ
τοῦ
γένους
ἡμῶν
καὶ
θεραπείας
ἀνθρώπων
τὸν
ἐσταυρομένον·
πῶς
οὐ
καταχρέως
ἡμᾶς
ἀπαιτεῖ
τὴν
τιμὴν
αὐτῷ
προσάγειν
καὶ
τὸ
σέβας;
[4] Τέρης
εἶπε·
Καὶ
τίς
ἤκουσεν
ἐξ
αἰῶνος
ἄνθρωπον
ὑπὲρ
γένους
ἀνθρώπων
σταυρωθέντα;
Οὐδεὶς,
ὦ
δικαστά.
Εἰ
δὲ
προσθείην
ὅτι
μήδ᾽
ὑπὲρ
φίλων,
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
ἐχθρῶν,
τότε
ἄν
σε
τὸ
θαῦμα
μᾶλλον
καταπλήξειε.
Διὰ
τοῦτο
γὰρ
οὐδ᾽
ἄνθρωπος
ἦν
μόνον,
ἀλλὰ
Θεὸς
ἐν
ἀνθρώπου
φύσει
καλυπτόμενος.
Καὶ
γὰρ
οὐδεὶς
ἀνθρώπων
ὑπὲρ
ἀνθρώπων
ἔπαθεν·
ἀλλ᾽
ὁ
πλάσας
καὶ
ἐκ
μὴ
ὄντων
παραγαγὼν,
αὐτὸς
πεσόντας
ἰδὼν,
ἧς
ἔδωκε,
δόξης,
καὶ
τὸ
φίλτρον
καὶ
τὸ
ἔλεος
ἐπιδεῖξαι
βουληθεὶς,
ὃ
περὶ
τὸ
οἰκεῖον
ἔχει
φιλοτέχνημα,
γέγονεν
ὅπερ
ἔπλασε,
καὶ
τὸν
ὑπὲρ
ἡμῶν
θάνατον
τῆς
σαρκὸς
ὑπέστη
τῇ
φήσει,
τὸ
πάθος
οὐ
προσηκαμένης
τῆς
Θείας
ἀκηράτου
φύσεως.
Τί
λέγεις;
τούτοις
αἰσχύνεσθαι
προσῆκεν
ἡμᾶς
ἢ
σεμνύνεσθαι,
ἐγκαλλωπίζεσθαι
ἢ
καταδύεσθαι,
Θεὸν
τὸν
αἴτιον
ἀνυμνεῖν
ἢ
τὸν
Σωτῆρα
ἐξόμνυσθαι;
Ὀ
δὲ
Τήρης
ἀντιλέγειν
οὐκ
ἔχων
ἐχαλέπαινέ
τε
καὶ
ἐσφάδαξε
τῷ
θυμῷ·
καὶ
ἐά,
φησὶν c, ἀνέκραγε,
τὰς
τοιαύτας
ἐρεσχελίας,
ἵνα
μὴ
πικρῶς
τὴν
ψυχὴν
τοῦ
σώματος
ἀποῤῥήξῃς.
[5] Ὁ
θεόσοφος
Μάξιμος
ὐπεφωνεῖ·
Οὐκ
ἐγὼ
τῶν
τοιούτων
λόγων
κατηρξάμην·
ἀλλὰ
σὺ
πάρεσχες
τὴν
αἰτίαν
τὸν
ἐσταυρωμένον
ἡμῖν
ὀνειδίσας.
Ἤδειν
γὰρ,
ὡς
εἰδωλικῷ
ζόφῳ
ψυχὴ
βυθισθεῖσα,
ἀνεπίδεκτος
φωτὸς
θεολογικῶν
ἐξαστράπτοντος
ῥημάτων·
ὅπουγε
καὶ
νῦν
βραχείας
τινὸς
καὶ
ἀμυδρᾶς
λαμπηδόνος
τῆς
ἐκεῖθεν
αὐγῆς
οὐδαμῶς
τὴν
προσβολὴν
ἴσχυσας
ὑποστῆναι.
Ὁ
δὲ
τύραννος
ἔτι
μᾶλλον
χαλεπαίνων,
τύπτεσθαι
αὐτὸν
ἐκ
τεσσάρων
κατὰ
παντὸς
τοῦ
σώματος
ἐπιτάττει,
καὶ
ἐπιλέγειν
τοὺς
τύπτοντας·
Φεῦγε
τοὺς
ἀλαζόνας
λογισμοὺς
καὶ
λόγους·
μήδ᾽
ὑπερόρια
φθέγγεσθαι
θρασύνου.
Ἐν
δὲ
τῷ
τύπτεσθαι,
καὶ
καρτερῶς
φέρειν
τὰς
πληγὰς
τὸν
ἀθλοφόρον,
ἄγει
καὶ
τὴν
σώφρονα
Ασκληπιοδότην
ὁ
μιαιφόνος
Τήρης,
καὶ
λέγει
πρὸς
αὐτήν·
Τὸ
πικρὸν
τῶν
βασάνων
ἐν
ἀλλοτρίοις
σώμασιν
ὁρῶσα,
θῦσον
τοῖς
θεοῖς,
καὶ
σαυτῇ
προάρπασον
τὴν
σωτηρίαν.
Ἡ
θεόσοφος
Ασκληπιοδότη
λέγει·
Ἡ
ἐμὴ
σωτηρία,
μὴ
λιπεῖν
τὸν
ἕνα
καὶ
ἀληθῆ
Θεον,
μηδὲ
θῦσαι
δαίμοσιν
ἀπωλείας,
οὓς
οὐδ᾽
ὑμῖν
ἐξαριθμήσασθαι
ῥᾷον,
μήοτε
σέβειν·
καὶ
γὰρ
εἰ
τὴν
περὶ
αὐτοὺς
δόξαν
ὑμῶν
καὶ
τιμὴν
βουληθεῖεν
ἀπομερίσασθαι,
ἢ
τοὺς
πλείστους
τὸ
ἀγέραστον
ἕξει,
τῶν
προλαβόντων
οὐ
μεταδιδόντων
τῆς
μοίρας·
ἢ
τῆς
μετρίδος
εἰς
πάντας
φερομένης·
(μεριστὴ
γὰρ
αὐτῶν
ἐστι
καὶ
σκεδαστὴ
καὶ
ἡ
τιμὴ,
καὶ
ἡ
φύσις,
καὶ
τὸ
σέβασμα,
ἵνα
μὴ
λέγω
μαχομένη
καὶ
ἀντίπαλος·
καὶ
γὰρ
αὐτοὶ
πάθεσι
μαχομένοις,
καὶ
γνώμαις
ἀντιτεταγμέναις,
καὶ
φύσεσιν
ἑναντιωτάταις
καταμερίζονταί
τε
καὶ
κατατέμνονται.)
εἰ
οὖν
βουληθεῖεν
τὴν
δωρεὰν
ὑμῶν,
καὶ
ἣν
αὐτοῖς
χαρισέσθε,
ἐπιμερισασθαι
θεότητα,
εἰς
ἄπειρα
ταύτης
καὶ
ἀνάριθμα
κατακερματιζομένης,
γυμνὴν
πραγμάτων
τὴν
κλῆσιν
κερδανοῦσιν,
εἰς
τὸ
βραχύτατον
αὐτοῖς
ἀπολεπτυνομένης
τῆς
τιμῆς
καὶ
τῆς
χάριτος,
καὶ
πλείω
παρεχούσης
τὴν
χλευὴν,
ἢ
τῆς
τιμῆς
ἀπόλαυσιν,
χωρὶς
τοῦ
καὶ
κόπον
ἀναδέχεσθαι
μείζονα
κατὰ
τὸν
μερισμὸν
τῆς
ἐν
τοῖς
ὀνόμασι
μεγαλαυχίας
καὶ
τέρψιος.
Τοιαῦτα,
ὦ
δικαστὰ,
τὰ
ὑμέτερα·
οὕτως
ὁτάν
τις,
οἷς
μὴ
μέτεστι,
προσάπτῃ
ταῦτα,
ἃ
μηδὲ
πέφυκε
μετεῖναι,
καὶ
οὒς
δοκεῖ
τιμᾶν,
εῖς
χλευὴν
ἀπάγει,
καὶ
αὐτὸν
ἐσχάτης
τόλμην
καὶ
ἀνοίας
ὑπεύθυνον
ἀποφαίνει.
[6] Ὁ
δὲ
τύραννος
πρὸς
μὲν
ταῦτα
σιγὴν
ἔσχεν,
ἀλλ᾽
εἴπερ
ἤρει·
Ὅτι
μὲν
ἀστενὴς
ἡ
σὴ
φύσις,
δῆλον,
καὶ
ὅτι
πρὸς
οὐδὲ
μιὰν
ἐξαρκέσαι
βάσανον
δύναται.
Ρύσεται
δέ
σε
τῶν
ἐμῶν
χειρῶν
οὐδαμῶς,
ὃν
σὺ
σέβεις
Θεόν.
Ἡ
σώφρων
ἀμείβεται
Ασκληπιοδότη·
Οὔτε
ἀνδρῶν
οὔτε
γυναικῶν
φύσις
τὰς
ἀνυποστάτους
ὑμῶν
καὶ
ἀπανθρώπους
εὐχερῶς
φέρει
βασάνους.
Ἡ
δὲ
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ
μου
χάρις
καὶ
δύναμις
τοὺς
ἐλπίζοντας
εἰλικρινῶς
εἰς
αὐτὸν
καὶ
βασάνων
καὶ
θανάτου
καταφρονητὰς
καὶ
ὑπερόπτας
ποιεῖ,
καὶ
κρείττους
πάσης
δαιμονικῆς
ἀπεργάζεται
ἐπινοίας.
Διὸ
καὶ
σὲ
καὶ
τοὺς
ἀνοιστροῦντας
σε
τῆς
πονηρίας
δαίμονας
ἐν
τῇ
ἰσχύἳ
πέποιθα
τοῦ
Θεοῦ
μου
νικῆσαι.
Ὁ
δὲ
δυσσεβὴς
Τήρης
λέγει·
Ῥίψον
ἀπὸ
σοῦ
τὴν
ἀπόνοιαν
καὶ
τοὺς
τρασεῖς
σου
λόγους,
ἐπεὶ
διὰ
τῶν
τιμωρίων,
αἵ
σε
κακῶς
ἐξολέσουσι,
πολλοῖς
τῶν
ὁμοφρόνων
σωφρονισμοῦ
παράδειγμα
προτεθήσῃ.
Ἡ
γενναῖα
ἀποκρίνεται
Ασκληπιοδότη·
Πράττε
τὰς
ἀπειλὰς,
ἵνα
γνῶς
τῇ
πείρᾳ,
ὅτι
καὶ
ἀνδρῶν
τυράννων,
καὶ
βασάνοις
καθωπλισμένων,
γυμναὶ
καὶ
πρὸς
μόνον
τὸ
παθεῖν
ηὐερεπισμέναι
γυναῖκες
τῇ
συμμαχίᾳ
τοῦ
κρείττονος
κρατοῦσι,
καὶ
τὸν
τοῦ
φρυάγματος
καταισχύνουσι
καὶ
καταβάλλουσιν
ὄγκον.
[7] Τήρης
ὁ
θεοβλαβὴς
κατὰ
τῶν
πτερνῶν
τὴν
γενναιοτάτην
(πικρὸν
δὲ
καὶ
λίαν
ἀνίαρον
ἡ
βάσανος
αὕτη)
τύπτεσθαι
κελεύει·
καὶ
τῶν
αἱμάτων
τῶν
πληγῶν
ἀποῤῥεόντων,
ἡ
μάρτυς
μὲν
ἔφερεν
ἀνδρείως·
τῶν
ὁρώντων
δὲ
οἱ
μὲν
εἰς
ἔλεον,
οἱ
δὲ
ἀνεφέροντο
πρὸς
θαῦμα·
ἀνὴρ
δέ
τις
εὐσεβὴς,
Θεόδοτος
τοὔνομα,
εὐσταθὴς
καὶ
ἀνδρεῖος
τὸ
φρόνημα,
κατὰ
μέσον
τοῦ
θεάτρου
στὰς,
ἐκάκιζε
τῆς
κατὰ
τῶν
ἁγίων
ὠμότητος
καὶ
μιαιφονίας
τὸν
τύραννον,
καὶ
τῶν
θείων
μενιμάτων
ὑπόδικον
αὐτὸν
παρασκευάζειν
διήλεγκεν.
Ὁ
δὲ
δικαίαν
οὖ
φέρων
παῤῥησίαν,
ἐπὶ
ξύλου
τοῦτον
κρεμασθῆναι
καὶ
ξέεσθαι
κελεύει.
Ἐπὶ
πολὺ
δὲ
ξεόμενος,
καὶ
ἐν
ἀδιηγήτῳ
καρτερίᾳ
ὑφιστάμενος
τὰς
ἀλγηδόνας,
ὀψὲ
καὶ
μόλις
παραπέμπεται
τῷ
δεσμωτηρίῳ.
[While Maximian was persecuting the Christians, Maximus and Asclepiodota are seized:] While the most impious Maximian held the Roman empire, letters were sent through every land tributary to the Romans, drawn up with blasphemous lips, with blasphemous words, and with hands warring against God: for they commanded that those who adored the Crucified, and were unwilling to sacrifice to the images, should be led through every torment and should depart from life by a bitter death. Now the metropolis of the Mysians a was Marcianopolis: this too the raging persecution oppressed, punishing without mercy the Christians of that city; among whom, as in virtue and in birth, so in piety, Maximus and Asclepiodote shone forth. These, being renowned for their religion, were seized together by the whole multitude of the idolaters; and being examined about matters of religion, brilliantly and nobly, giving to all an example of obedience, they preached and confessed Christ the true God, and declared that they would by no means, by any means whatsoever, be brought to pour libations to demons or to their statues.
[2] Maximus, questioned by the governor, freely Now at the same time the prefect of Thrace, named Teres, running through the cities and regions and searching out the Christians, came to Marcianopolis; and sitting on his tyrannical tribunal, orders the noble Maximus to be brought forward, and Asclepiodota, his partner in the contest. Then he questioned him about his name, birth and fortune (as he himself put it). But the brave and prudent Maximus said: Both my country and my city, and my parents, and my craft, and my dignity is the faith of the Christians: for I dwell in it, or rather I carry it about dwelling within me; from it I draw my origin, and from it I have the beginning of a second birth free from stain; it has procured for me all honour and dignity. For what is more glorious than to pass one's days in prison for the sake of piety?
[3] The prefect says: Hast thou not yet learned the laws of the emperors? Then the truly great Maximus: and wisely professes his faith, Inhumanity indeed, iniquity, and an excess of cruelty I have heard proclaimed: but laws by which nations and cities win praise, I have by no means known. Teres said: Dost thou slander the benefactors of the world, and dost thou dare to drag thy lords into the charge of iniquity and cruelty? The noble Maximus answered: I acknowledge as Lord and God and King our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose nod all things subsist; but of the rest, some are foolish and ungrateful, and others sensible servants who love their Lord. But the most impious Teres said: Art thou not ashamed to call a crucified man God? The wise Maximus replied: The cross, and stripes, and death, considered according to their own nature, or in themselves, bring a stain upon no one; but the cause makes these things worthy of admiration or of reproach. Since indeed robbers, pirates and tyrants were greatly deserving of them, filling life with perversions and slaughters of this kind; whereas, when they are taken, one death is inflicted by the force of law in place of very many and countless crimes; and to these death is justly a reproach and a shame. But those who have been wickedly made away with by them incur no reproach or reproof from the violence of the wicked. And on the other hand brave men who bear themselves bravely for their country or their race, even though wounds have divided their body, even though they have received the enemy's sword in the throat, even though they have been lifted upon a cross, are neither wretched nor worthy of reproof. Why do I say, of reproof? Are they not therefore worthy of many praises and splendid crowns, and of other honours, by which they obtain glory for ever from their fellow-countrymen? Thus the cross is neither a shame nor a reproach, either to him who Suffered, or to those who have striven, in return for the suffering and the cross, to render honour and worship to the Saviour. But an indelible shame, an inconsolable grief, and an incurable ignominy arise from the rape of women, from the corruptions of youths, from thefts and adulteries, from contentions and fights, and from hands raised against one another: in which your gods are rich, and for which they are adored. But the cross raises the Crucified above our race and above the veneration of men: how then is it not necessary that we should offer him honour and worship?
[4] Teres said: And who from all time has heard of a man crucified for the human race? and discourses much concerning Christ, No one, O judge said Maximus [b]. But if I add, not for friends, but even for enemies, then the marvel will be able to make thee still more astonished. For this was the reason why he was not man only, but God hidden in human nature. For no man has suffered for men. But he who had formed men and brought them forth from nothing, seeing that they had fallen from the glory which he had given, and wishing to show the love and mercy which he bears toward his own creature, became what he had made, and for us endured the death of the flesh in human nature, the Divine nature suffering nothing, which is not subject to corruption. What sayest thou? Ought we to blush at these things, or to obtain honour; to glory, or to be confounded; to celebrate with hymns the God who is their cause, or to abjure the Saviour? But Teres, having nothing to reply, was tormented and boiled with wrath; and, Cease, he cried out, to put forth such trifles, lest thy soul be torn from thy body by a bitter death.
[5] Maximus, skilled in divine things, answered: It was not I who began such discourses; but thou didst furnish the occasion, casting up the Crucified against us. For I knew in what manner a soul plunged in idolatrous darkness and is presently beaten. Asclepiodota with equal constancy is by no means capable of the light shining forth from theological words: even as now thou hast been utterly unable to endure the approach of a small and rather dim ray flashing from that splendour. But the tyrant, growing yet more indignant, orders him to be beaten over his whole body by four men; and orders those beating him to cry out to him: Refrain from arguments and boastful words: beware of speaking things beyond measure. But while he was being beaten, and the Man worthy of a crown was bravely bearing the stripes, the bloodthirsty Teres also
seeing the bitterness of the torments in others' bodies, sacrifice to the gods, and snatch salvation for thyself. The wise Asclepiodota replies: My salvation is not to forsake the one and true God, nor to sacrifice to the demons of perdition, whom it is not easy for you to number, much less to worship: for if they should wish to divide among themselves your opinion of them and your worship, either very many will be without honour, since those who received it first will not share out their portion; or, if the division be made among all — for their honour and nature and worship are divisible and dispersible, not to say mutually warring and rivals. For they are divided and cut apart by warring affections, by opposed opinions, and by natures most contrary to one another. If therefore they should wish to divide your gifts and the divinity which you freely give them, this being cut into many and innumerable parts, they will gain a bare appellation without substance, both the honour and the gift being thinned out for them into something very slight, and affording mockery rather than the enjoyment of honour; I say nothing of the greater labour undertaken in the division of the boasting and pleasure sought from those names. Such, O judge, are your affairs: in that way, when anyone attributes to those to whom it is not lawful such things as cannot belong to them, he brings even those whom he seems to honour into mockery, and shows himself liable to the utmost audacity and madness.
[6] having confessed the faith, after the tyrant's threats The tyrant indeed was silent at these things. Nevertheless he said: It is plain that thy nature is weak, and that it does not suffice to endure a single torment. And he whom thou worshippest as God will by no means snatch thee out of my hands. The prudent Asclepiodota replies: Neither the nature of men nor of women easily bears your intolerable and monstrous torments. But the grace and power of my Christ makes those who sincerely hope in him despisers and contemners both of torments and of death, and sets them above all the devil's snares. Wherefore I trust that by the power of my God I shall overcome both thee and the demons who goad thee with the sting of malice. But the impious Teres says: Cast away thy madness and thy bold words, since through the punishments which will bring thee to a bad end thou shalt be set forth as a pattern of prudence to many endowed with the same mind. The noble Asclepiodota answers: Do what thou threatenest, that by experience thou mayest learn that tyrant men, and those armed with torments, are overcome by naked women, ready only to suffer, by the help of a Stronger; and that by them their boasting is confounded and their pride cast down.
[7] she is beaten on the heels. Theodotus likewise is seized and tortured. Teres, insulting toward God, orders the most brave woman to be struck on the heels (that torment is a bitter thing and brings much pain). But while the blood flowed from the blows, the Martyr indeed bore it manfully; and of the beholders some were moved to pity, others to admiration. But a certain pious man, named Theodotus, strong with a steadfast and manly spirit, standing in the midst of the theatre, accused the tyrant of cruelty against the Saints and of murder, and charged him with making himself liable to the wrath of God. But he, not bearing that just freedom of speech, orders him to be hung on a stake and scraped. And when he had long been scored, and bore the torments with unspeakable patience, at last, scarcely and late, he is sent to prison.
ANNOTATIONS.
along the Danube; and Lower Mœsia, whose metropolis was Marcianopolis, had almost the same boundaries as present-day Bulgaria. The Greeks generally called it Mysia, the Latins more often Mœsia, perhaps to distinguish it from the other Mysia, which is in Asia.
CHAPTER II.
The Martyrs are led to Adrianople, and there are again tormented: thence, led to the place of martyrdom, they are beheaded.
ΠΕντεκαίδεκα
δὲ
παρῆλθον
ἡμέραι,
καὶ
τῆς
πόλεως
ἐξιὼν
ὁ
Τήρης,
προστάσσει
τοὺς
μάρτυρας
δεδεμένους
ἔπεσθαι·
καταλαβὼν
δὲ
τὴν
Αδριανούπολιν,
παρίστησι
τοὺς
ἀθλοφόρους
κατὰ
πρόσωπον,
καὶ
φησὶ
πρὸς
αὐτούς·
Ἡ
μὲν
θρησκεία
ὑμῶν
ὅσων
γέγονεν
ὑμῖν
κακῶν
πρόξενος,
ὁρᾶτε·
θύσατε
δὲ
μᾶλλον
τοῖς
θεοῖς,
καὶ
ζήσεσθε
ἐν
ἀγαθοῖς
διὰ
βίου.
Οἱτρεῖς
μάρτηρες
ὡς
ἀπὸ
μιᾶς
φωνῆς
ἀνεῖπον·
Ἡ
μὲν
ἐκ
βρέφους
παρ᾽
ἡμῶν
προσαγομένη
Θεῷ
λατρεία
μελίστων
ἡμῖν
ὁσήμεραι
γέγονεν
ἀγαθῶν
αἰτία·
ἐξήρπασε
πλάνης,
ἐῤῥύσατο
εἰδωλολατρίας,
ἔλαμψε
τοῦ
Θεοῦ
γνῶσιν
ἐν
ταῖς
καρδίαις
ἡμῶν,
μεῖζον
δὲ
πάντων
ἐχαρίσετο,
καὶ
τὸ
ὑπὲρ
τῆς
δόξης
αὐτοῦ
πάθειν
καταξιωθῆναι.
Ὅσον
οὖν
τῶν
σῶν
ὑποτεμεῖς
βασάνων,
ἐλύπησας·
ὅσον
δὲ
προσθήσεις,
ἐπηύφρανας.
Τὰ
γὰρ
μείζω
καὶ
πλείω
τῶν
παθημάτων
τὸ
πρὸς
τὸν
πλάστην
καὶ
Δεσπότην
ἠμῶν
μᾶλλον
ἀπογυμνοῦσι
φίλτρον.
[10] Τήρης
ὁ
μανιώδης
ἐπὶ
ταῖς
προλαβούσαις
πληγαῖς,
ἤδη
τῶν
σωμάτων
ἐξωδικότων,
καὶ
τραύματος
ἑνὸς
ὄψιν
παρεχομένων,
μαστίζεσθαι
τοῦς
μάρτηρας
ἐπιτάττει·
τῶν
σαρκῶν
δὲ,
μᾶλλον
δὲ
τῶν
μωλώπων
ταῖς
μάστιξι
συναποῤῥεόντων,
οἱ
γενναῖοι
ἔλεγον
ἀθλοφόροι·
Αἱ
δεύτεραί
σου
πληγαὶ
τῶν
προτέρων
ἰάματα
ἡμῖν
ἐφάνησαν,
καὶ
τῶν
προλαβόντων
ἀλγηδόνων
λύσις
καὶ
παραμυθία.
Ἐπινοεῖ
οὖν
ἑτέρας,
δι᾽
ὧν
ἀνιάσεις·
αὗται
γὰρ
τὰς
προλαβούσας
ἀφεῖλον
ἀνίας,
καὶ
θαῤῥαλεωτέρους
πρὸς
τὰ
μέλλοντα
τῶν
κολαστηρίων,
οἷα
δὴ
γυμνασάμεναι
παρέσχον.
Ἐπὶ
τούτοις
ὀ
ἀνήμερος
Τήρης
χαλκᾶς
λετίδας
διαπύρους
παρασκευάσας,
μηχαναῖς
ἐναρμόζεσθαι
τοῖς
τῶν
Μαρτύρων
μέλεσιν
ἐπιτάττει.
Τὰ
δὲ
ἔτηκεν
μὲν
καὶ
ἀπελείβετο
τοῦ
σώματος
τηκόμενα
τὰ
σάρκια·
τὴν
δὲ
γνώμην b μᾶλλον
καὶ
τὸ
φρόνημα
ἐστεῤῥοῦντο
καὶ
ἐπεῤῥοῦντο
ἀκαταγωνίστων
μαρτύρων b. Εἶχον
γὰρ
ἔνδον
τὸν
θεῖον
ἔρωτα,
πηγὴν
ζωῆς
καὶ
ἀναπαύσεως,
ὑφ᾽
οὗ
δροσιζόμενοι
καὶ
ἀναψυχόμενοι,
πρὸς
τὸ
ἔξωθεν
καὶ
κολαστήριον
πῦρ
οὐκ
ἀπεστρέφοντο·
ὑπέψαλλον
δὲ
μᾶλλον·
Κύριε
ὁ
Θεὸς
ἡμῶν,
εἰρήνην
δὸς
ἡμῖν·
Κύριε,
ἐκτός
σου
ἄλλον
οὐκ
οἴδαμεν,
τὸ
ὄνομά
σου
ὀνομάζομεν·
δεῖξον
οὖν
πᾶσι
τὴν
δυναστείαν
σου,
καὶ
ἐνδοξασθήτω,
Δεσπότα,
τὸ
ὄνομά
σου,
ὥσπερ
ἐν
τῇ
ἡμῶν
τῶν
δούλων
σου
διὰ
τῆς
σῆς
συμμαχίας
ὑπομονῇ
καὶ
καρτερίᾳ,
οὕτω
καὶ
ἐν
τῷ
δίκας
ἀπαιτηθῆναι
τοὺς
τυράννους,
ὧν
ἠσέβησαν
εἰς
σὲ,
καὶ
ὧν
τοὺς
μὴ
συνασεβοῦντας
αὐτοἵς
ἀπανθρώπως
ἐτιμωρήσαντο·
τοῦτο
γὰρ
καὶ
τοῖς
ἐκ
προνοίας
ἀσεβοῦσι
φόβον
ἐμποιήσει,
καὶ
τοῖς
πλανωμένοις
ἐξ
ἀγνοίας
ἐπανάκλησιν.
Προσευχομένων
δὲ
αὐτῶν,
φωνὴ
οὐρανόθεν
ἠκούετο·
Θαρσεῖτε,
ἐγὼ
μεθ᾽
ὑμῶν
εἰμη,
μὴ
φοβεῖσθε·
ἀλλ᾽
οὐδὲ
τῶν
αἰτήσεων
ἀποτεύξεσθε.
[10] Μετὰ
ταῦτα
δὲ,
τῶν
θανατηφόρων
πληγῶν
ἀνεθέντας,
ὁ
θεοβλαβὴς
Τήρης
ἐκτέμπει
τοὺς
μάρτυρας
εἰς
το
δεσμωτήριον,
ἐπιθεὶς
φοβερὰς
ἁπειλὰς,
εἴτινες
αὐτοὺς
τινὸς
θεραπείας
ἢ
ἐπιμελείας
μεταδώσουσιν.
Οἱ
δὲ
γενναῖοι
ἀθληφόροι
ἔλεγον·
Χριστὸν
ἔχοντες
ἡμεῖς,
τὸν
ἀληθινὸν
Θεὸν
ἡμῶν,
οὐ
σωμάτων
μόνον
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
ψυχῶν
ἰατρὸν,
ἀνθρωπίνης
προνοίας
οὐδὲ
διδομένης
ἐπιδεόμεθα.
Ὁλίγων
δὲ
διελθούσων
ἡμέρων,
ἄγει
τὸ
τῆς
πόλεως
πλῆθος
κηρύγματι
τὒραννικᾧ
ἐπὶ
τὸ
θέατρον
τοῦ
σταδίου,
καὶ
παράγονται
οἱ
καλλίνικοι
ἀθλοφόροι
κατὰ
μέσον
τοῦ
θεάτρου,
καὶ
πᾶσιν
ὤφθησαν,
ὧν
ἔπαθον
οὐδ᾽
ἴχνος
ἐν
τοῖς
σώμασι
φέροντες.
Εἰσήχθη
δὲ
καὶ
θηρία
κατὰ
τῶν
μαρτύρων·
καὶ
Μαξίμῳ
μὲν
τῷ
μεγάλῳ
ἀθλητῇ
ἀρκτος
συμπλαγήναι
ἀπελύθη·
ἡ
δὲ
ἀφεθεῖσα,
οὐ
τὰ
τῶν
αἱμοβόρων
θηρίων,
ἀλλὰ
τῶν
εὐγνωμόνων
ἔπραττε
θεραπόντων·
τοὺς
γὰρ
πόδας
τοῦ
μάρτυρος
περιέλειχέν
τε
καὶ
ἐξεθεράπευεν,
ὡς
ἐκπλαγέντα
ῥῆξαι
φωνὴν
γοερὰν
τὸν
τύραννον·
Οἴμοι
καὶ
τὰ
θηρία
τῇ
μαγείᾳ
ὑπηγάγοντο·
ὅμως
οὖν
ταῦτα
ληρῶν
καὶ
ὁρῶν,
ἐπαφίησι
τῷ
αὐτῷ
μάρτυρι
καὶ
πάρδαλον.
ἡ
δὲ
διδασκαλον
εὑροῦσα
τὴν
ἄρτον,
τὴν
μάθησιν
οὐ
κατῄσχυνεν·
ἀλλὰ
τὰ
τῶν
εὐλαβουμένων
μετέρχετο
κἀκείνη.
[11] Ἀλλ᾽
ὁ
τῶν
θηρίων
θηριωδέστερος
καὶ
ὠμότερος
τὸν
μὲν
καλλίνικον
ἀγωνιστὴν
Μάξιμον
ταῖς
εἰρκταῖς
ἐγκατακλείει·
κατὰ
δὲ
τοῦ
θεόφρονος
καὶ
συνάθλου
Θεοδότου
ἄρκτον
ἐπιπέμπει,
ὀρθίῳ
ξύλῳ
πρότερον
αὐτὸν
ἐνδησάμενος.
Ἡ
δὲ
δρομαία
καὶ
βρύχουσα
πλησίον
τοῦ
δεσμίου
γίνεται,
καὶ
τὴν
κεφακὴν
ἐπὶ
γῆν
κλίνασα,
τῶν
προσκυνούντων
ἐδείκνυ
τὴν
μίμησιν·
καὶ
πολλῶν
αὐτὴν
τυπτόντων
καὶ
διακεντούντων,
τοῦ
τῆς
εὐλαβείας
καὶ
τιμῆς
οὐ
μετέβαλε
σχήματος.
Διὸ
λύσαντες
τοῦ
ξύλου
τὸν
μάρτυρα,
ἐπὶ
τῷ
θηρίῳ
οἱ
θηριώδεις
ἠκόντιζον·
τὸ
δὲ
τὴν
αὐτὴν
τῷ
μάρτυρι
αἰδῶ
καὶ
εὐγνωμοσύνην
διέσωζεν.
Ὁ
δὲ
θηριώδης
καὶ
δυσμενὴς
Τήρης,
ὅσον
τὰ
θηρία
ἐδυσαπεῖτο
τοὺς
μάρτυρας,
τοσοῦτον
αὐτὸς
ἀπηγριοῦτο
καὶ
ἐξεμαίνετο·
διὸ
ἐπεισάγει
τοῖς
ἄλλοις
καὶ
τὴν
γενναιοτάτην
Ασκληπιοδότην,
καὶ
ταύρῳ
τῶν
ἀτιθάσσων
καὶ
ἀγριωτάτων
ἐνδεθῆναι
κελεύει,
ὡς
ἀν
ἡ
μάρτυς
περιελκομένη
τοῖς
ἐκείνου
δρὀμοις
καὶ
σκιρτήμασι,
καὶ
τοῖς
ποσὶ
διασπαρασσομένη
καὶ
τοῖς
κέρασι,
πικρῶς
διαφθαρῇ
καὶ
ἀθλίως.
Ἡ
δὲ
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ
μάρτυς
τῷ
τύπῳ
τοῦ
σταυροῦ
καθοπλισθεῖσα,
Κύριέ
μου,
Κύριε,
ἐβόα,
τίς
ὅμοιός
σοι
δεδοξασμένε,
ἐπί
σοι
ἤλπισα·
ῥῦσαι
με
τῆς
ἐπιβουλῆς
καὶ
τῶν
ἀφύκτων
παγίδων
τοῦ
ἀρχεκάκου
ἐχθροῦ.
Ὁ
δὲ
ταῦρος
ἐδέδετο
μᾶλλον
τῇ
ἀκινησίᾳ
καὶ
τῷ
ἡμερωτάτῳ
τῆς
ἡρεμίας
καὶ
στάσεως,
ἢ
ἡ
μάρτυς
τοῖς
ἃμμασι.
[12] Καὶ
ἐπιστραφεῖσα
πρὸς
τὸν
ὄχλον
ἡ
γενναῖα
καὶ
καλλίνικος,
Ὁρᾶτε,
ἄνθρωποι,
καὶ
σύνετε,
ἔφη·
τὰ
θηρία
τοὺς
ὁμοδούλους
ἐπιγινώσκει,
καὶ
τὸν
κοινὸν
Δεσπότην
εὐλαβούμενα,
ὑπὲρ
οὗ
πάσχουσιν,
οὐ
θηρία
τούτοις,
ἀλλ᾽
ὑπηρέται
γίνονται,
καὶ
φιλανθρώπως
προσέρχονται·
ὑμεῖς
δὲ,
εἰ
μήτι
ἄλλο,
τὴν
αὐτὴν
φύσιν
φέροντες,
καὶ
ὀφείλοντες
καταιδεῖσθαι,
καὶ
πρὸς
τοὺς
ὁμοφύλους
εὐμενῶς
καὶ
ἡμέρως
διακεῖσθαι,
ὥσπερ
προαρπασάντων
ἀφ᾽
ὑμῶν
ταῦτα
τῶν
θηρίων,
τὴν
ἐκοίνοις
ἔμφυτον
ὠμότητα
καὶ
θηριωδίαν
ἀντεισεπράξασθε,
καὶ
τὸν
κοινὸν
οὐκ
αἰσχύνεσθε
δυσφημοῦντες
Πλάστην,
τοὺς
ὁμοδούλους
καὶ
ὁμοφύσεις
ἀντὶ
τῶν
θηρίων,
καὶ
πολλῷ
πικρότερον
ταῖς
βασάνοις
ὥσπερ
τοῖς
ὁδοῦσι
καθεσθίοντες.
Ὁ
δὲ
τοῦ
θεάτρου
ὄχλος,
ὄσος
τοῖς
δαίμοσιν
ἐξεβεβάκχευτο d, λίθοις
τοῦς
μάρτυρας,
ἀνθ᾽
ὧν
τοῖς
δικαίοις
ἐλέγχοις
ἐβάλλοντο,
ἔβαλλον.
Λύσας
δὲ
ἐπ᾽
αἰσχύνῃ
τὸ
θέατρον
ὁ
ἀναισθητος,
ἐπὶ
τὴν
Φιλιππούπολιν
ἐστέλλετο,
προστάξας
συνέπεσθαι
δεδεμένους
καὶ
τοὺς
μάρτυρας.
Πρὸ
δὲ
τριάκοντα
μηλίων
τῆς
πόλεως
ἐν
κώμῃ
τινὶ
(Σάλτυς
δὲ
τῇ
κώμῃ
τὸ
ὄνομα,
ἕλλην
δὲ
γλῶσσα
βρύον
ἀν
αὐτὴν
μετεφράσετο·)
καὶ
γὰρ
ὑδάτων
βρύχουσι
ἄφθονες
πηγαὶ,
καὶ
δένδρων
παντοδαπῶν
καὶ
ἀμπέλων
εὐθηνία
τερπνὸν
παράδεισον
ἀπερχάζονται
τὸ
χωρίον.
[13] Ἐνταῦθα
καταχθεὶς
ὁ
τύραννος,
ἄγει
κατὰ
πρόσωπον
τοὺς
μάρτυρας
πάλιν·
καὶ
τοῖς
ὁμοίοις
οὐκ
αἰσχυνόμενος
συμπλέκεται
λόγοις,
καὶ
πρὸς
τὸ
θύειν
ἐξεκαλεῖτο.
Οἱ
δὲ
παίδων
ἀθύρμασι
παραπλησίως
τούτους
διακρουόμενοι
ἀπεῤῥάπιζον·
ἐπισυνῆπτον
δὲ·
Ὡς
ἡμεῖς
εὐέλπιδες
ἐσμὲν,
καὶ
πεποίθαμεν
τῇ
τοῦ
Σωτῆρος
ἡμῶν
δυνάμει
καὶ
χάριτι,
τοῦ
μαρτυρικοῦ
δρόμου
τὸ
τέλος
καταλαβεῖν
ἐνταῦθα·
σὲ
δὲ
ἡ
θεῖα
δίκη
τῆς
ἀφάτου
μιαιφονίας
καὶ
μισανθρωπίας
οὐκ
εἰς
μακρὰν
τὰς
εὐθύνας
εἰσπράξεται.
Ὁ
δὲ
πλέον
ὧν
διαπαντὸς
ἐμαίνετο,
ἐκμανεὶς,
θανατηφόρον
ψῆφον
ἐκφέρει
κατ᾽
αὐτῶν·
Μάξιμον
ψηφίζομαι,
γράφων,
καὶ
Ἀσκληπιοδότην
καὶ
Θεόδοτον,
βασιλικοῖς
μὲν
ἀντινομοθετοῦντας
νόμοις,
θεοὺς
δὲ
ὑgr;βρίζοντας
καὶ
διαγελῶντας,
τὴν
διὰ
ξήφους
δοῦναι
τας
κεφαλὰς
ἀποτεμνομένους.
Οἱ
δὲ
καλλίνικοι
καὶ
γενναῖοι
μάρτυρες,
χαίροντες
ἅμα
καὶ
ἀγαλλώμενοι,
καὶ
τοὺς
γενναίους
καὶ
ἀθλοφορικοὺς
σὺν
εὐχαριστίᾳ
πάσῃ
ἀποτείναντες
αὐχένας,
πρὸς
τὴν
ἐκεῖθεν
ἀπὸ
τῶν
ἐπικήρων
ἀνέδραμον
ἀδιάδοχον
βασιλείαν.
[14] Μετ᾽
οὐ
πολὺ
δὲ
καὶ
ὁ
μεμηνὼς
καὶ
δυσθάνατος
Τήρης,
σοβαρὰν
τὴν
ὀφρὺν
ἀνατείνων
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
βήματος,
ἀστραπῶν
καὶ
βροντῶν
ἐξαισίων
καταῤῥαγέντων,
αὐτός
τε
καὶ
οἱ
μετ᾽
αὐτοῦ
θεηλάτῳ
καὶ
ἀδεκάστῳ
κρίσει
κεραυνόβλητος
γίνεται,
τῆς
ἐν
τῷ
σώματι
λιβάδος
πάσης
ὑπὸ
τοῦ
κεραυνίου
πυρὸς
ἀπαναλωθείσης,
καὶ
τῶν
ὀστῶν
ἐκμυελισθόντων,
ὡς
δοκεῖν
τὴν
μορφὴν
τοῦ
σώματος
ἀπολιθωθῆναι,
καὶ
λίθου
φύσιν
τὸ
σαρκίον
Ἐκμιμήσασθαι.
Τὸ
δὲ
τηλικοῦτον
πάθος
καὶ
τὴν
τοσαύτην
αἰσχύνην,
τῆς
ἐκείνου
φατρίας
ὅσον
ἐλίπετο,
μὴ
φέροντες,
κρύπτειν
μὲν
ἐμαχανῶντο
τῆς
τιμωρίας
τὸ
θεήλατον·
διὸ
χοῦν
τῷ
κεραυνοβλήτῳ
καὶ
δυσπότμῳ
σώματι
ἐπεχώννυον,
καὶ
εἰς
ὄρους
μέγεθος
τὸ
χῶμα
ἀπεκορύφωσαν;
δι᾽
ὧν
κρύπτειν
ἐσπούδαζον
τὸ
ἀλάθητον,
μᾶλλον
τοῦ
πάθους
ἐτριάμβευον
τὸ
παράδοξον,
στήλην
ἀνεξάλειπτον
τὸ
ὄρος
τῆς
κατὰ
τοῦ
τυράννου
θεομηνίας
καὶ
τοῖς
παροῦσι
καὶ
τοῖς
μεταγενεστέροις
ἀναστήσαντες.
[15] Σὺ
δέ
μοι
Θεὲ
θεῶν,
Κύριε
καὶ
Βασιλεῦ
τῶν
δυνάμεων,
ἡ
πηγὴ
φιλανθρωπίας
καὶ
τῶν
οἰκτιρμῶν,
ὁ
κολάζων
μὲν
τοὺς
ἀνεπιστρόφως
ἀσεβοῦντας,
δοξάζων
δὲ
τοὺς
ὑπὲρ
τῆς
σῆς
δόξης
ἐναθλοῦντας,
οὐ
βδελυσσόμενος
δὲ
οὐδὲ
τοὺς
ἐφ᾽
οἷς
ἥμερον
μετανοοῦντας,
καὶ
ἐπιστρέφοντας,
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
πολλοὺς
αὐτῶν
μαρτυρικῶν
ἄθλων
καὶ
στεφάνων
μετασχεῖν
καταξιώσας·
Ὁρᾷς
οἷα
πάσχομεν·
ὁρῶμεν
δὲ
καὶ
ἡμεῖς,
ὅτι
ὧν
ἐπράξαμεν,
(πῶς
εἴπω,
Θεέ
μου;)
ἰσοστάσια
ἢ
οὐκ
ἀντάξια·
ἀλλ᾽
εἰ
τῷ
πυρὶ
τῶν
πειρασμῶν
ἡ
τῶν
πάθων
σηπεδὼν,
(τίς
ἀν
εἴποι
πᾶσα;)
ἀλλ᾽
ἥγε
τέως
διαφθείρουσα
τὸ
κατ᾽
εἰνόνα
διετάκῃ.
Στῆσον
εὔσπλαγχνε
τὸ
δεινὸν,
μὴ
τῷ
τῶν
πλημμελημάτων
ὄγκῳ,
τῇ
δὲ
τῆς
φύσεως
ἀσθενεία,
μᾶλλον
δὲ
τῇ
σῇ
φιλανθρωπίᾳ
τὴν
τιμωρίαν
παραμετρώμενος.
Εἰ
δέ
τι
πολλῆς
χωνείας
καὶ
ἀνακαθάρσεως
ὁ
τοῦ
σαρκίου
δεῖται
ἀνδριὰς,
φέρειν
δίδου
τὴν
πύρωσιν
ἐν
καρτερίᾳ
καὶ
ὑπομονῇ,
ἵνα
μὴ
τὸ
καθαρισμὸς
ἀλλοις,
ἡμῖν
κυλίδων
προσθήκη
γίνεται·
οὐδεμίαν
δὲ
ἔχοντες
οἴκοθεν
ἱκετηρίαν
ἀνατεῖναι
σοι,
εἰ
μὴ
τὴν
εἰς
σὲ
καθαρὰν
πίστιν
καὶ
εὐσέβειαν,
ἣν
ἐκ
προγόνων
ἐκληρωσάμεθα;
ταύτην
ἀντι
πάντων
σοι
προσάγομεν·
εἰ
δὲ
δέχοιο
καὶ
τοὺς
σοὺς
μάρτυρας
πρεσβευτὰς,
ὧν
τοὺς
ἄθλους
ἀνυβρίστως
διεξήλθομεν,
δέχοιο
δὲ·
ἴσως
ἂν
ἠμῖν
ἀπαντήσῃ
τι
λυσιτελέστερον.
The Martyrs, led to Adrianople, answer again with equal freedom, Fifteen days had passed when Teres, going out of the city, ordered the Martyrs to follow in chains. And having set out for Adrianople, he sets the Champions before him, and says to them: You see how many evils your religion has created for you: rather sacrifice to the gods, and you shall live among the good things of this life. The three Martyrs, as with one voice, said: The worship offered by us to God from our childhood has always been to us the cause of the greatest goods: it snatched us from error, it freed us from idolatry, it enlightened us with the knowledge of God in our hearts [a]; but the greatest of all it gave, that we should be held worthy to suffer for his glory. As much therefore as thou shalt cut away from thy torments, so much dost thou afflict us with pain; but as much as thou shalt add, so much dost thou delight us. For greater and more numerous sufferings the more lay bare our love toward our Creator and Lord.
[9] Teres in his fury, while their bodies were still swollen from the blows previously received and presented the appearance of a single wound, and are most grievously tormented. orders the Martyrs to be beaten with scourges; and while their flesh, nay rather their very scars, flowed away together with the scourges, the brave Athletes said: Thy second stripes have appeared to us as healings of the first, and as the loosing and consolation of the former pains. Devise therefore others by which thou mayest afflict us: for these have taken away the afflictions of the former, and have made us bolder for the punishments to come, inasmuch as they train us. At this the cruel Teres orders bronze plates, made white-hot with fire, to be applied by engines to the Martyrs' limbs. These indeed melted, and the melted flesh flowed away from the body; but the mind and resolve of the unconquerable Martyrs was the more confirmed and strengthened. For within they had the divine love, the fount of life and of rest, by which bedewed and quickened, they did not turn away from the outward and afflicting fire, but rather sang: Lord our God, give us peace: Lord, besides thee we know no other, we name thy name; show therefore to all thy power, and let thy name be glorified, O Lord; both in the endurance and patience of us who are thy servants, by thy help, and in the exacting of penalties from the tyrants c for those things which they have impiously committed against thee, and for the punishments with which they have cruelly punished those who do not act impiously with them: for this will strike fear into those who knowingly do impious things, and will call back to the way those deceived through ignorance. And while they prayed, a voice was heard from heaven: Be strengthened, I am with you, fear not; neither shall you be disappointed of what you ask.
[10] But after these things, their deadly wounds being deferred, the impious Teres dismisses the Martyrs to prison, Maximus, exposed to the beasts, is not harmed by them, threatening dreadful threats if any should impart to them any healing or treatment. But the noble Athletes answered: We, having Christ, the true God, as our physician, not of bodies only but also of souls, do not need human treatment, even if it were given. Further, a few days having elapsed, the prefect brings by a tyrannical proclamation the whole multitude of the city to the theatre of the stadium, and the Athletes renowned for their victories are led into the midst of the theatre, and were seen by all bearing about on their bodies not even a trace of what they had suffered. And beasts were brought in against the Martyrs; and against Maximus, the great Athlete, a she-bear was loosed, to close with him; but she, being sent out, performed the office not of beasts thirsting for blood, but of kindly servants: for she licked and fondled the Martyr's feet, so that the tyrant, struck with dismay, broke out into a mournful cry: Woe is me! even the beasts have been subdued by magic. As soon therefore as he had blurted this out and saw it, he sends out a panther against the same Martyr. But she, having the she-bear for her mistress, did nothing unworthy of that instruction; rather she too performed the office of those who venerate.
[11] and neither is Theodotus, nor Asclepiodota. But the prefect, fiercer and crueller than the beasts, shuts up in an enclosure Maximus, the champion famed for his victory; and against Theodotus, adorned with divine wisdom and his companion in the contest, when he had first bound him to an upright stake, he sends out a she-bear. And she, running and growling, draws near to the Bound One; and bowing her head to the ground, presents the appearance of those who adore; and though many beat and goaded her, she did not depart from the bearing of one revering and honouring. Wherefore, loosing the Martyr from the stake, they hurled him against the beast; but she kept the same reverence and benevolence toward the Martyr. But the fierce and hostile Teres was the more exasperated and boiled the more, the more the beasts revered the Martyrs. Wherefore after the others he brings in the most noble Asclepiodota also, and orders her to be bound to an untamed and most ferocious bull, so that the Martyr, torn apart by its runnings and leapings, and mangled by its feet and horns, might meet a bitter and wretched death. But Christ's Martyr, armed with the sign of the cross, cried: My Lord, Lord, who is like unto thee, who art glorified? in thee have I hoped: rescue me from the snares and inescapable nets of the malignant enemy. But the bull was more bound by its motionless posture and by a most gentle rest and standing still than was the Martyr by her bonds.
[12] The Martyrs, led toward Philippopolis, in a village named Saltus, But she, noble and famed for her victory, turning to the crowd, said: See, O men, and understand: the beasts, the brutes, recognize their fellow-servants, and revering the common Lord for whom they suffer, become to these not beasts but servants, and approach them humanely. But you, if nothing else, who have the same nature and ought to revere it, and to be kind and gentle toward those who share the same race — as if the beasts had snatched these things from you, you in turn practise the cruelty and savagery implanted in them, and outraging the common Creator you do not revere him, mangling your fellow-servants, partakers with you of the same nature, in the place of beasts, and far more bitterly, with torments as though with teeth. But the crowd of the theatre, so far as it was driven by demons, assailed the Martyrs with stones, because it was refuted by just reasonings. But senseless Teres, dissolving the assembly with shame, set out for Philippopolis, where he had commanded that the Martyrs also should follow bound with him. And thirty miles from the city, in a certain village (the village's name is Saltys, and in the Greek tongue it is interpreted "Gushing"; for abundant fountains of waters gush there, and a multitude of various trees and vines makes that place a pleasant garden).
[13] When the tyrant had come hither, again he brings the Martyrs into his presence, being beheaded, obtain the palm. and, not at all ashamed, meets them with like words, and exhorted them to sacrifice. But they, rejecting these things as childish trifles, confuted him, and added: As we are full of good hope, we trust that through the power and grace of our Saviour we shall here obtain the end of our martyrdom; but of thee the divine justice will speedily exact the deserved penalties of thine unspeakable cruelty and inhumanity. But he, driven by greater furies than those by which he had been perpetually agitated, passes sentence of death against them, writing: I decree that Maximus, Asclepiodota and Theodotus, resisting the imperial laws and outraging and deriding the gods, undergo the punishment of the sword, their heads being cut off. But the glorious and brave Martyrs, rejoicing together and exulting, and stretching out with all thanksgiving their strong necks adorned with palms, ran from things temporal to the everlasting kingdom.
[14] Not long after, that furious and death-dealing Teres, arrogantly raising his brow upon the tribunal, The tyrant, struck by a thunderbolt, perishes. a force of lightnings and thunders suddenly bursting forth, himself with his men, by the divine and incorruptible judgment, perished struck by a thunderbolt, all the vigour of his body being consumed by the lightning fire, and his very bones drained of their marrow, so that the figure of the body seemed turned to stone, and the flesh imitated the nature of stone. But those of his court who survived, not bearing such a blow and so great an ignominy, tried to conceal that the punishment had been divinely inflicted; wherefore they covered with earth the thunderstruck and wretched body, and heaped up the earth into the mass of a hill; but by the very means by which they strove to conceal a thing that cannot be hid, they the more made manifest the triumph of that wondrous punishment by the hill they raised, as by an indelible column of the divine vengeance upon the tyrant, both for those present and for those to come.
[15] But thou, O God of gods, Lord and King of those that rule, fount of kindness and of mercies, the author's prayer to God that the persecution may be ended. punishing indeed those who act impiously without hope of conversion, but glorifying those who contend for thy glory; nor yet execrating those who humbly do penance for their offences and turn back; but who hast even deigned to make many of them partakers of the contests and crowns of martyrdom: thou seest what we suffer; and we too see,
that they are not equal to what we have done, nor to be compared with it; even if by the fire of temptations the rottenness of evil affections — (who could say, all of it?) — but that at least which meanwhile corrupts the man made to thine image, has been consumed. Stay, O merciful one, the violence; measuring the penalty not by the gravity of our sins, but by the weakness of our nature, and still more by thy clemency. But if the statue of the flesh needs much furnace and purging, grant that we may bear that fire bravely and patiently, lest by that same fire by which others are purified there should come to us an accession of stains. And having from ourselves no form of supplication to raise up to thee save the pure faith in thee and the piety received by inheritance from our forefathers, this very thing we offer to thee in place of all. And if thou shouldst also receive thy Martyrs as ambassadors, whose contests we have narrated without offence — and would that thou mayest receive them! — surely something more profitable will come to us.
ANNOTATIONS.
a. Here perhaps something has been omitted in the transcript: for the knowledge of God seems rather to regard the understanding, and the love of God the heart, so that perhaps it was written that the Martyrs' understanding was enlightened with the knowledge of God, and his love poured into their hearts.
c. This prayer has something unusual about it, because it is asked that the persecutors be punished, which does not seem to agree with the example of Christ and of St. Stephen, who in the midst of their torments prayed for their enemies. I would not indeed say that the prayer is bad or unlawful as it is written: for if the Martyrs really prayed thus, they did not do so out of hatred of the tyrants, but out of love of the Christian religion; and they preferred the common advantage of many to the good of a few. Nevertheless such things are not readily to be drawn into an example, especially since we do not know whether all that the writer attributes to them were really the Martyrs' own words.