ON SS. TROPHIMUS AND SABBATIUS AND DORYMEDON, MARTYRS,
AT ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA AND AT SYNNADA IN PHRYGIA.
About 277.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The memory and cult of the saints in the sacred calendars: the most faithful Greek-Latin Acts to be published: others formerly published by Metaphrastes: some preliminary observations.
Trophymus, martyr, at Antioch in Pisidia and at Synnada in Phrygia. (S.)
Sabbatius, martyr, at Antioch in Pisidia and at Synnada in Phrygia. (S.)
Dorymedon, martyr, at Antioch in Pisidia and at Synnada in Phrygia. (S.)
BY J. S.
Baronius inserted into the Roman Martyrology on this day three martyrs who suffered on different days and in different places, Today's martyrs commemorated in the Latin and Greek calendars, in these words: On the same day, of the holy martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon, under the emperor Probus: of whom Sabbatius at Antioch (in Pisidia) by order of the governor Atticus was beaten with scourges until he gave up his spirit; but Trophimus, sent to Synnada to the governor Perennius, after many torments consummated his martyrdom by beheading, together with Dorymedon a senator. This elogium, put together from the Sirletian Menologium, will be able to be corrected in a few small points according to the Acts to be given below. A longer elogium was woven from the Acts by Galesinius; but not without some errors, which will easily be corrected. Molanus announced the same martyrs briefly thus: On the nineteenth day, of the holy martyrs Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon. On this same day the aforesaid martyrs are announced in the Menæa, Menologies, Typica, Synaxaries, and other ritual books of the Greeks, as also in the calendars of the Muscovites. But most of the elogia contain some slight error. For in the Menologium which Sirlet turned into Latin and Henry Canisius published, Sabbatius is said to have been beaten with scourges until he gave up his spirit. With these Baronius agreed, and the printed Menæa are in accord, and the thing is said to have been done at Antioch, as though he had suffered at Antioch in Syria. But from the Acts it is established that Sabbatius was tortured at Antioch in Pisidia with iron hooks on his sides and belly for so long a time that he died not long after the torments, but not in the torments themselves.
[2] The Menologium composed by order of the emperor Basil sets these things out rightly enough; and honored among the Greeks. but it contains another error, which Galesinius adopted. For in it Dorymedon is said to have been made a Christian when he came to Trophimus. But the Acts have it that he had been a Christian before, and outstanding in piety. Yet the elogium which is read on the same day in the Constantinopolitan Synaxary of Sirmond, frequently praised by us, is free of the said errors. For it is plainly conformable to the Acts, but brief, and by no means necessary, since we have everything abundantly set out in the Acts. Wherefore I transfer here only the end of that elogium, because it assigns the church in which the saints are venerated. Τελεῖται
δὲ
ἡ
αὐτῶν
σύναξις
ἐν
τῷ
σεπτῷ
ἀποστολείῳ
τοῦ
ἁγίου
καὶ
κορυφαίου
ἀποστόλου
Παύλου
ἐν
τῷ
ὀρφανοτροφείῳ. And their festival is celebrated in the venerable church of the holy and chief apostle Paul in the Orphanage. This church of St. Paul was at Constantinople, as may be seen in Du Cange, Constantinopolis Christiana, book 4, page 114, where he teaches that according to Theophanes it was dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, but by several more recent writers is said to be sacred to Paul alone. In that church, therefore, the saints were chiefly venerated at Constantinople. Yet I do not doubt that they were venerated in others also, since an Office concerning them is prescribed on this day in the Menæa, and in the most recent ritual books of the Greeks too, printed in the year 1738.
[3] In the Hieronymian copies at the 18th of September, Among the Latin martyrologists of the middle ages I find scarcely anything about Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon. In the Hieronymian copies, however, they are commemorated: but they are now read in those codices with great variety and confusion, and on various days. Sabbatius is never joined with the others, just as in truth he suffered both before them and in another city. Of St. Trophimus mention is made in Florentinius at the 18th and 19th of September, but not without errors. At the 18th, on which he suffered together with Dorymedon, as the Acts have it, he is found in almost all the copies, but is ascribed to different cities. In the text of Florentinius is read: At Alexandria the birthday of Saints Trophinus; in the Blume codex, of St. Trophimus, as also in the Corbie one. And just as in these codices he is assigned to Alexandria, so in others Trophimus is no more rightly assigned to Chalcedon, namely in the Epternach, the Rheinau, the Reichenau, and in the Martyrology of Rabanus. In three others, namely the Gellone, Augsburg, and Labbe copies, mention is likewise made of Trophimus, but without the place, as often happens in them. In many appendices to the Martyrology of Usuard, and among some more recent martyrologists, Trophimus is joined with Oceanus and Sixtus, as was observed in the Prætermissi at the 18th of September. Florentinius in his Annotations conjectures that this Trophimus is to be distinguished from the Trophimus who was the companion of Sabbatius and Dorymedon. But since it is established from the Acts that our Trophimus suffered on the 18th day, I rather believe that it came about through the negligence of the transcribers that Trophimus was separated from his companion Dorymedon, was repeated on two days, and was attributed to cities where other martyrs had suffered: for this is not unusual in the Hieronymian calendars, in which the like is discovered on almost every day.
[4] and again at the 19th Trophimus is announced, but at the 20th Dorymedon: At this 19th day of September, on which our three martyrs are chiefly venerated among the Greeks, Trophimus is rightly announced at Synnada in Phrygia, but with his name everywhere dislocated. In Florentinius the text is: At Synada of Phrygia the birthday of St. Trophus, for Trophimus. In the Corbie copy: And at Synnada of Phrygia, the birthday of St. Trophus. In the Epternach copy the name is further deformed in this manner: And at Sinnada of Phrygia, of Alotropus. But however corrupted the name may be, there can be no doubt that Trophimus, the companion of Dorymedon, is designated. Yet it appears strange that Dorymedon, who suffered on the same day, is separated in the copies from Trophimus and transferred to the following day, where he also seems to have other companions. Certainly in Florentinius at the 20th the following is read in the text: At the city of Sinada the birthday of Saints Dormidonus, Dorotheus, Privatus, Felix, Constantia, etc. In the Epternach copy there are fewer, but there too the name of the city is corrupted in this manner: In Syria of Phrygia (Synnada of Phrygia) the birthday of Doromus, Dionysius. The Corbie copy has: At Synnada of Phrygia, the birthday of Saints Dormidonus, Dorotheus, Privatus, etc. Although the name of Dorymedon has been variously corrupted, and even in the more abridged Hieronymian copies, and in the Rheinau and Reichenau codices, is read in Syria for at Synnada, there is nevertheless no just reason to doubt that St. Dorymedon, the companion of Trophimus, who suffered on the 18th day of September, is meant. The name indeed is variously twisted, yet in such a way that it may be recognized, when mention is made of Doromus in two, in others of Dormidonus, in one of Dormidionus, and in one again of Josmidonus. For both the added name of the city and the order of the names clearly suggest that the same man is everywhere proclaimed. But as regards the companions, Felix and Constantia, martyrs of Nuceria, show well enough that some were wrongly added, and from mere confusion. Of Dionysius and Privatus, who are found among them, we shall treat at the 20th day, on which they are announced. It is likely that some Christians became known to the tyrant on occasion of the martyrdom or burial of our martyrs, and were crowned not long after, and perhaps buried or venerated together with Dorymedon. But of these in their own place.
[5] Now as regards St. Sabbatius, who suffered not a few days before the others at Antioch in Pisidia, and perhaps Sabbatius at the 27th of August. where he was arrested along with St. Trophimus, I judge that he is announced in the Hieronymian copies at the 27th of August, and Florentinius suspected the same in his Annotations at the 18th of September. For at the 27th of August in Florentinius the following is read: At Antioch the birthday of Saints Sabastus, Alexander the abbot. In the Corbie copy: At Antioch the birthday of Saints Sabastus, Alexander, abbots, Emerita. In the Epternach copy: At Antioch, of Sabbatus and Alexander. The same man is announced at Antioch under the name Sebastus in the Rheinau and Reichenau copies, and in the lesser Corbie one. Sabastus likewise, or Sebastus, is placed in the first position in the Augsburg, Labbe, and Gellone copies, and in two ancient Martyrologies which Martène published in volume 3 of the Anecdota, in all of which no mention is made of Alexander, although in others he is joined as a companion. In the Rheinau copy, however, in place of Alexander there follows the city Alexandria. Now, all these things considered, I strongly suspect that he who is called Sabastus, Sabbatus, and Sebastus in the aforesaid calendars is none other than our Sabbatius, and that the companion Alexander was either added from confusion and error, or because some Alexander was afterwards venerated together with Sabbatius. My conjecture is favored by the Acts, according to which Sabbatius suffered at Antioch in Pisidia not a few days before Trophimus and Dorymedon, who were crowned on the 18th day of September. For from the computation of those days the martyrdom of St. Sabbatius could easily have fallen on the 27th of August, or at least would not have been far from that day. Nevertheless, since this conjecture is not altogether certain, at the 27th of August there were briefly given the things which are read of Sebastus and Alexander in the Martyrologies.
[6] [The Acts hitherto published are those of Metaphrastes: others ancient and accurate to be given.] No other Acts of SS. Trophimus, Sabbatius, and Dorymedon have hitherto been published than those which Metaphrastes composed from older ones. Lipomanus published them first in volume 6, and then Surius reprinted them at this 19th day of September. Tillemont, in volume 4 of his Monuments, in the article on St. Felix the Pope, treats of our martyrs according to the said Acts of Metaphrastes, which he says have something fine about them, and believes to have been composed from older ones. Both are true; for I have in hand most ancient and most accurate Greek Acts; nor can I doubt that they were before Metaphrastes' eyes, since he has expressed well enough all the facts related in them; but in the sayings of the martyrs and of the tyrants he has taken rather more liberty. For he wished to embellish the sayings on both sides with his own wit, and he added not a few things and omitted not a few, and even altered several. Against those Acts of Metaphrastes Tillemont objected only two things, which he believed were not found in the ancient Acts; but he judged that all the rest could be admitted as true. But those very things also are found in the ancient Acts, which appear to me most accurate. For almost everything seems to have flowed from the Acts of the notaries, or rather the Acts of the notaries themselves have been so faithfully linked together by someone that only the very fewest things are added, and those altogether necessary for connecting the notaries' Acts. Hence not even the burial of the martyrs is related in the Acts. Of the torments of the martyrs almost nothing is reported, except in the words of the tyrants who commanded them or addressed the martyrs, which had been written down by the notaries. And so, for any learned man to see that these Acts are faithful, it is only necessary to read them.
[7] In them a persecution under Probus is asserted, Nevertheless an answer must be made to Tillemont's objections, since they are no less repugnant to these Acts than to the Acts of Metaphrastes. He observes first that in the Acts mention is made of the emperor's mandates for persecuting the Christians, and answers that our martyrs could indeed by some chance have suffered under the rule of Probus, which he held from the year 276 until 282; but that a persecution under Probus is not to be admitted. I confess that this is, as it were, the common opinion of the learned of a later age. But if we examine the foundation of that opinion, we shall easily see that it is nothing else than that the writers of the fourth century, namely Lactantius, Eusebius, and others, did not number Probus among the persecutors of the Church. But they were likewise silent about several others whose persecution has become known from elsewhere. Therefore it must only be inquired whether the same should not be said of the persecution under Probus.
[8] which St. Leo the Pope likewise acknowledged. Saint Leo the Pope, who flourished in the fifth century, asserts a persecution under Probus in the clearest words, writing thus of Manes the heresiarch in his second Sermon on Pentecost, chapter 6: Manes therefore, the minister of diabolical falsehood and the founder of an obscene superstition, became known, to his condemnation, at that time when after the resurrection of the Lord the two hundred and sixtieth year was completed, in the consulship of the emperor Probus and of Paulinus, when already the eighth persecution against the Christians was boiling up, and innumerable thousands of martyrs had proved by their own victories that what the Lord had promised was fulfilled, saying: When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak. For it shall be given you in that hour what you shall speak, etc. Leo's words about a persecution under the emperor Probus are clear. But whether it is to be called the eighth persecution, or the ninth, or rather an appendix to the eighth or the ninth which Aurelian began toward the end of his life, and which Probus seems to have renewed, I do not inquire. For writers do not altogether agree in enumerating the ten persecutions. The year of the Christian era indeed is not rightly expressed in the words alleged (which is not surprising, since the years from the birth of Christ were not yet counted in the time of St. Leo); yet the consulship of the emperor Probus and of Paulinus designates the second year of Probus, of the vulgar era 277, as the learned now agree. For which reason it appears strange to me that learned men — I mean Pagi, Ruinart, and others — who have brought forward the aforesaid words of St. Leo, have interpreted them of the persecution of Aurelian, which they believe was of a few months and was extinguished before the reign of Probus. For by that interpretation they convict St. Leo of error, since he says that in the second year of Probus the persecution boiled up.
[9] Those words of St. Leo deserved rather more attention. [Modern writers have not rightly denied that persecution, since Aurelian's persecution] For the silence of other ancients about a persecution under Probus can be of little weight, since none of them exactly enumerated all the persecutions.
They all seem to have wished to number only ten persecutions, and hence it came about that they passed over some as appendices to others. St. Augustine, in book 18 of the City of God, chapter 52, solidly proves that the persecutions were more than ten; but he enumerates the ten common ones thus: For they reckon as the first that which was made by Nero, the second by Domitian, the third by Trajan, the fourth by Antoninus, the fifth by Severus, the sixth by Maximin, the seventh by Decius, the eighth by Valerian, the ninth by Aurelian, the tenth by Diocletian and Maximian. Then he shows that there were many more. Orosius, book 7, chapter 23, likewise places Aurelian ninth among the persecutors of the Church. Ruinart, in the general Preface to the Genuine Acts of the Martyrs, even though on page 58 he numbers Aurelian among the persecutors of the Christians, nevertheless does not place his persecution in the number of the ten persecutions, because he believed it was very brief, I suppose. It would certainly have been very brief if the persecution had been removed along with Aurelian. For Lactantius, On the Deaths of the Persecutors, chapter 6, speaks thus of the swift punishment of Aurelian: Aurelian … provoked the wrath of God by cruel deeds. But he was not even permitted to accomplish what he had planned; rather he was extinguished at once, in the very beginnings of his fury. The bloody writings had not yet reached the further provinces, and already at Cœnophrurium, which is a place of Thrace, he himself lay bloody on the ground, slain by his own friends on some false suspicion. Other writers also agree about the brevity of the time for which Aurelian survived after the edicts issued against the Christians.
[10] From what has been said, therefore, it is clear, and modern scholars agree, seems to have been continued or renewed under Probus, that Aurelian lived only a short time after the edicts issued against the Christians. On the other hand, many martyrs are said to have suffered in the persecution of Aurelian. Wherefore not so many martyrs seem to have obtained the crown while Aurelian lived as are read to have suffered in his persecution, so that it must be said that the same persecution lasted also after the death of Aurelian. Between Aurelian and Probus, after a long interregnum, Tacitus reigned only some few months. Whether during that whole time Aurelian's persecution was continued I cannot say: I have thus far found no martyr under Tacitus. Indeed Metaphrastes in the Life of St. Chariton, in Surius at the 28th of September, asserts that Chariton was arrested and tortured in the persecution of Aurelian, but was dismissed from prison by an edict of his successor, who was Tacitus. Whether this seems probable enough concerning St. Chariton will be examined in its place: for the authority of Metaphrastes is of small moment in that matter. But whatever be the case with Tacitus, the Acts of our martyrs persuade me that Probus wished to tread in Aurelian's footsteps, and to renew the persecution stirred up by him, if it had been interrupted. Perhaps the persecution renewed by Probus did not last long, because he changed his mind: for few martyrs are found under him. But that it was renewed, faithful Acts teach, and St. Leo confirms it; nor is a mandate for compelling Christians to sacrifice at variance with the character of Probus, however praised a prince among the heathen; rather it seems altogether conformable to his disposition.
[11] a friend of Aurelian, with whose character it altogether agrees. For Probus was both a superstitious worshipper of the gentile gods and by no means averse to human blood, as is clear enough from Vopiscus. On his testimony, page 239, he sent to the senate the golden crowns which all the cities of Gaul had offered him, And these, says Probus himself in his letter, consecrate with your own hands to Jupiter Best and Greatest and to the rest of your immortal gods and goddesses. Again on the testimony of the same Vopiscus, page 240, he ordered three hundred pairs of gladiators to fight it out together in one day, that is, six hundred men to be destroyed by mutual wounds. Besides, Probus was held in the highest esteem by Aurelian, so that it is likely that the persecution was set in motion by him not without Probus's counsel. Likewise Probus diligently imitated, not indeed all Aurelian's cruelty, but certainly his excessive severity. Hence Julian the Apostate in the Cæsars, page 837, brings in Silenus carping at the severity of Probus in these words: But you, who never pardoned anything to anyone, since in your whole conduct you were far more severe and harsh than was fitting, endured a calamity unjust indeed, yet deserved. He says this because he was killed by his own soldiers. But to our purpose: if Probus pardoned nothing to anyone, we ought not to wonder that he was unwilling to pardon the Christians their contempt of the laws and of the gods (as the gentiles spoke of the Christian religion), and that he either continued or renewed the persecution begun by his friend Aurelian. And so, just as the persecution of Diocletian was continued for many years under the following emperors, or as that of Decius was renewed by Gallus, so Aurelian's persecution was continued or renewed by Probus: and hence it came about that not only did many martyrs fall in it, but that the persecution itself was numbered among the ten chief ones by Augustine and other writers of the same period.
[12] The vicar mentioned in the Acts, Tillemont's other objection against the Acts of Metaphrastes, which on that head agree with ours, is drawn from the vicar before whom SS. Trophimus and Sabbatius appeared at Antioch in Pisidia. The aforesaid author asserts that vicars were first instituted by Diocletian, and for that opinion he alleges Lactantius's work On the Deaths of the Persecutors, chapter 7. But Lactantius there says only that the ministers of the empire were multiplied by Diocletian, and among them he numbers the vicars of the prefects, whom he does not say were instituted but multiplied. Wherefore, that useless objection being set aside, I further observe that in the Notitia of the empire, which Panciroli illustrated with a Commentary, among the vicars of the Eastern empire there is reckoned in the first place the vicar of the Asian diocese, under whose administration were these provinces: Pamphylia, Lydia, Caria, Lycia, Lycaonia, Pisidia, Phrygia Pacatiana, Phrygia Salutaris. All these provinces of Asia Minor indeed had their own governors, but subject to the vicar, so that the dignity and power of the vicars was great. We do not know, however, whether in the time of Probus so many provinces were under the vicar of the Asian diocese: for some new provinces were added from time to time by the division of one into several.
[13] Hence another objection can be formed. For John Malalas in his Chronicle, part 2, page 9, writes of Constantine the Great: and Phrygia Salutaris in the time of Probus: The same emperor Constantine made Phrygia Salutaris a province. If this were true, it would seem contrary to the Acts. But the authority of that writer for the times of Constantine cannot be great, or rather is none at all, since he is later by many centuries and commits innumerable errors in what he writes, not only about the times of Constantine but throughout his whole History. For which reason not only are our Acts to be preferred to John Malalas, whose assertions are everywhere full of errors, but even to the silence of ancient writers, among whom I have not been able to find that the name of Phrygia Salutaris was in use in the third century, or that there were already then two provinces of Phrygia Magna. For we have no sufficiently clear view of the division of the provinces of the Roman empire for the first three centuries of the Christian era, nor can a solid argument be had from the mere silence of writers for denying things related in the Acts, especially since in these all things cohere aptly and all are narrated in a manner most probable.
[14] the time and place of the martyrdom. For the rest, about the place and time of the martyrdom there is no great difficulty. Probus obtained the empire in the year 276 and held it for six years. But since he seems rather to have continued or renewed Aurelian's persecution than to have stirred up a new one, that deed seems to have been done at the beginning of his reign, and for that reason I have fixed the martyrdom of our saints about the year 277, in which St. Leo teaches that the persecution flourished. The twofold place is plainly beyond doubt: for St. Sabbatius began and finished his combat at Antioch in Pisidia, of which it is the metropolis. In the same city St. Trophimus was arrested and tortured the first time; but being sent into neighboring Phrygia, in the city of Synnada, the metropolis of Phrygia Salutaris, he obtained the palm together with St. Dorymedon, who was arrested there by order of the governor after St. Trophimus had been tortured a second time.
THE ACTS
By an anonymous author
From the Medicean codex of the royal library of Paris, J. S. translator.
Trophymus, martyr, at Antioch in Pisidia and at Synnada in Phrygia. (S.)
Sabbatius, martyr, at Antioch in Pisidia and at Synnada in Phrygia. (S.)
Dorymedon, martyr, at Antioch in Pisidia and at Synnada in Phrygia. (S.)
By an anonymous author
CHAPTER I.
While Probus persecutes the Church, Trophimus and Sabbatius are arrested: Trophimus suffers many things; Sabbatius dies after torments at Antioch of Pisidia: Trophimus, sent to Synnada, again suffers very much.
Βασιλεύοντος
Πρόβου
τοῦ
Καίσαρος,
ἐξῆλθεν
καθ᾽
ὅλης
τῆς
οἰκουμένης
νόμος·
ἦν
δὲ
ἡ
περιοχὴ
τοῦ
νόμου
τοιαύτη.
Βασιλεὺς
Πρόβος
Αύγουστος,
δημαρχικῆς
ἐξουσίας,
τοῖς
κατὰ
ἐπαρχίαν
ἄρχουσι
καὶ
βουλευτηρίοις,
καὶ
πᾶσι
τοῖς
ἐντυγχάνουσι
τῳδὲ
τῷ
νόμῳ,
χαίρειν.
Πολλῆς
εἰρήνης
καὶ
εὐσταθείας
παρά
τε
ἡμῶν
καὶ
τῶν
θεῶν
τυγχάνοντες,
πειθαρχήσατε
τοῖς
παρ᾽
ἡμῶν
προσταττομένοις
ὑμῖν,
καὶ
σπουδαῖοι
γίνεσθε
κατὰ
τῆς
θρησκείας
τῶν
χριστιανῶν,
καταναγκάζοντες
ἑαυτοὺς
θύειν
τοῖς
θεοῖς,
καὶ,
εἰ
μὲν
θέλοιεν
πεισθῆναι,
θύσαντας
αὐτοὺς
ἀπολύειν
ἀκινδύνως·
εἰ
δέ
τινες
αντιλέγοιεν,
τούτους
κελεύει
ἡ
ἡμέτερα
θειότης
αἰκίζομένους
αἰκισμοῖς
διαφόροις
τῆς
ζωῆς
ἀποστερεῖσθαι·
εὐτυχεῖτε.
δεξάμενοι
δὲ
κατὰ
πᾶσαν
ἐπαρχίαν
οἱ
ἄρχοντες
τὰ
προστάγματα,
καταλείψαντες
τὰς
δημοσίας
χρείας,
περὶ
τὸν
διωγμὸν
τῶν
χριστιανῶν
ἠσχολήθησαν.
διωγμοῦ
δὲ
γενομένου
μεγάλου
ἐν
πάσῃ
τῇ
οἰκουμένῃ,
καὶ
πολλῶν
τῆς
ζωῆς
ἀποστερομένων
ὑπὲρ
τοῦ
ὀνόματος
τοῦ
Κυρίου
ἡμῶν
Ἰησοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
ἔτυχεν
ἐν
Αντιοχείᾳ
τῆς
Πισιδίας
γενέθλια
τοῦ
Ἀπόλλωνος
ἐπιτελεῖσθαι.
Τρόφιμος
δέ
τις
καὶ
Σαββάτιος,
ἐλθόντες
ἀπὸ
ξένης,
καὶ
εἰσελθόντες
εἰς
τὴν
πόλιν,
ἴδον
καπνὸν
μέγιστον
ἐν
τῇ
πόλει·
καῖ
ἤχους
ἤκουσαν
ὀργάνων
καὶ
πανδουριστῶν,
καὶ
διαδρομὴν
μεγίστην
ἐν
τῇ
πόλει,
καὶ
ἄλλους
ἄλλως
εὐφημοῦντας
γοῦς
θεοὺς
αὐτῶν.
[2] Θεωρήσας
δὲ
ὁ
μακάριος
Τρόφιμος
τὴν
πλάνην
τοῦ
σατανᾶ,
στενάξας
καὶ
βοήσας,
μετὰ
δακρύων
εἶπεν:
ὁ
Θεὸς
τῶν
αἰώνων·
ὁ
Θεὸς
τῶν
ἀγγέλων·
ὁ
τοῦ
παιδός
σου
τοῦ
ἠγαπημένου
Ιησοῦ
Χριστοῦ
Πατὴρ.
ῥύσαι
τοὺς
δούλους
σου
ἀπὸ
πάσης
πλάνης.
ἔτι
δὲ
λαλοῦντος
αὐτοῦ,
συνδρομῂ
τῶν
αὐραρίων
ἐγένετο·
καὶ
κρατήσαντες
αὐτοὺς,
ἀπῆγον
ἕως
τοῦ
πραιτωρίου
τοῦ
βικαρίου,
ἐπιβοῶντες·
ἀγνὲ
δικαστὰ,
πρόσελθε
πρὸ
βήματος
κατὰ
τῶν
ἱεροσύλωντούτων.
εἰσελθὼν
Σελήνιός
τις
κουριοσὸς,
ἀνένεγκεν
τῷ
βικαρίῳ
τὰ
λεγόμενα
ὑπὸ
τῶν
αὐραρίων.
μὴ
δυνάμενος
δὲ
ἀντείπειν
ὁ
βικάριος,
ἐκαθέσθη
πρὸ
βήματος
δημοσίᾳ,
καὶ
καθεσθεὶς,
εἶπεν
τοῖς
αὐραρίοις·
ποίαν
αἰτίαν
ἐπιφέρετε
τοῖς
ἀνθρώποις
τούτοις;
οἱ
δὲ
εἶπον·
ἡμῶν
εὐφημούντων
τοῖς
θεοῖς,
οὗτοι
οἱ
ἱερόσυλοι
ἔκραζον,
λέγοντες·
Χριστὲ
ῥῦσαι
δούλους
σου
ἀπὸ
πάσης
πλάνης·
ἀκούσαντες
δὲ
ἡμεῖς
συνελαβόμεθα
αὐτοὺς,
καὶ
παρεστήσαμεν
τῇ
σῇ
φιλανθρωπίᾳ:
Αττικὸς
Ἡλιόδωρος
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
διαχωρίσαντες
αὐτοὺς
ἀπ᾽
ἀλλήλων,
ἕνα
καὶ
ἕνα
μοι
παραστήσατε.
ὡς
δὲ
προσήγαγον
τὸν
Τρόφιμον,
Αθάμας
βοηθὸς
κομέντων
εἶπεν·
ἔστηκεν
Τρόφιμος
δέομαί
σου.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν
τίς
καλῆσαι;
τὸ
κατὰ
σάρκα
ὄνομα
Τρόφιμος
καλοῦμαι·
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν.
ποίας
εἶτύχης;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
δοῦλος
δἰ
ἁμαρτίαν,
ἐλεύθερος
δὲ
καὶ
εὐγενὴς
διὰ
Χριστόν·
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
ποίας
εἶ
τύχης,
καὶ
θρησκείας,
ἀνοσιώτατε;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
τῆς
καθολικῆς
ἐκκλησίας
χριστιανός.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
ἀνέγνως
τὰ
προστάγματα
τοῦ
βασιλέως;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ναὶ
ἀνέγνων.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἷπεν·
ποίησον
οὖν
καθῶς
προσέταξαν
οἱ
αὐτοκράτορες,
καὶ
θῦσον
τοῖς
θεοῖς.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἀλλ᾽
οὐ
δεῖ
ἡμᾶς
ἀντρώπων
ἁμαρτωλῶν
καὶ
ἀσεβεστάτων
προστάγμασιν
ὑπακούειν,
ὅτι
χριστιανοί
ἐσμεν
δοῦλοι
Ιησοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
τοῦ
μεγάλου
βασιλέος.
[3] Ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
περιελόντες
αὐτοῦ
τὸ
πάλλιον,
καὶ
τείναντες
αὐτὸν
ἐκ
τεσσάρων,
χρήσασθε
αὐτῷ
τοῖς
βουνεύροις.
ὡς
δὲ
ἐξέτειναν
αὐτὸν,
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
τί
σοι
ἔδοξεν,
κακὴ
κεφαλὴ,
τοὺς
αὐτοκράτορας
βλασφημεῖν;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐγὼ
ὀκ
ἐβλασφήμησα,
ἀλλὰ
ἀλήθειαν
εἶπον·
τίς
γὰρ
ὀκ
οἶδεν
ὅτι
οἱ
μὴ
γινώσκοντες
τὸν
ζῶντα
Θεὸν
ἀσεβέστατοί
εἰσιν;
ὁ
δὲ
βικάριος
ἐκέλευσεν
αὐτὸν
τύπτεσθαι.
ὡς
δὲ
ἔτυπτον
αὐτὸν,
εἶπεν
αὐτῷ
ὁ
βικάριος·
θῦσον
ἀνόητε·
ὁρᾶς
γὰρ
ὅτι
τὸ
αἷμά
σου
ῥέει
ἐπὶ
τὴς
γὴς.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐὰν
τὸ
αἷμά
μου
ἐγχυθῇ
ὑπὲρ
τοῦ
ὀνόματος
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
ὀκ
ἀν
ἡ
ψυχή
μου
εἰς
αἰώνιον
κόλασιν
εἰσέλθοι,
καθὼς
γέγραπται
ἡμῖν·
συμφέρει
ἵνα
ἓν
τῶν
μελῶν
μου
ἀπώληται;
καὶ
μὴ
ὅλον
τὸ
σῶμά
μου
βληθῇ
εἰς
γέενναν
πυρός.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
φείσασθε
αὐτοῦ·
καὶ
λέγει·
θῦσον,
ἀνόσιε
Τρόφιμε,
εἰδὲ
μήγε,
ἐρινίῳ
Διονύσῳ
τῷ
ἡγεμόνι
Φρυγίας
Σαλουταρίας
παραπέμπω
ὑμᾶς,
ἵνα
κολὰσας,
τῆς
ζωῆς
ὑμᾶς
ἀπαλλάξῃ·
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
οὐ
μόνον
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
ἡγεμόνος,
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
ἐὰν
τῷ
βασιλεῖ
παραπέμψῃς
ἡμᾶς,
ἐκ
ἀρνησόμεθα
τὸ
ὄνομα
τοῦ
Θεοῦ.
[4] Ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
κρεμάσατε
αὐτὸν
καὶ
εὐτόνως
ξέσατε
αὐτοῦ
τὰς
πλευράς·
ὡς
δὲ
ἐκρεμάσθη,
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
ὁρᾶς,
δόλιε,
ὅτι
παριστήκεισάν
σοι
οἱ
μέλλοντες
ἐξεντερίζειν;
ὡμολόγησον
οὖν
θῦσαι,
καὶ
ἀπαλλαγηθήσῃ.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
μὴ
νομίσῃς,
ἀφρονέστατε,
ἐκφοβεῖν
με
διὰ
τῶν
ἀπειλῶν
σου·
οὐ
γὰρ
παιδίον
εἰμὶ
δυνάμενον
αὐστερίᾳ
λόγων
ἀνθρώπων
ἀπατηθῆναι.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
ἅψασθε
αὐτοῦ
τῶν
πλευρῶν.
ὡς
δὲ
ἐξέετο,
φωνὴ
οὐδὲ
μία
ἐκούετο
αὐτοῦ,
εἰ
μὴ
μόνον·
Χριστὲ
βοήθει
μοι,
τῷ
δούλῳ
σου.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
ξέοντες
αὐτὸν
λέγετε
αὐτῷ·
ποῦ
ἐστιν
ὁ
Χριστός
σου;
Τροφιμος
εἶπεν·
μετ᾽
ἐμοῦ
ἐστιν,
καὶ
παρέσθηκέν
μοι.
οὐδέποτε
γὰρ
τῶν
ἰδίων
δούλων
ἀπολείπεται·
ἀλλὰ
πάρεστιν
βοηθῶν
αὐτοῖς.
Ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
φείσασθε
αὐτοῦ·
καὶ
κατηγεγκαν
αὐτὸν.
καὶ
λέγει
αὐτῷ·
θύεις
Τρόφιμε,
ἢ
καὶ
ἑτέρας
βασάνους
ἐτοίμως
ἔχεις
ὑποδέξασθαι;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
οὐ
μόνον
βασανισθῆναι,
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
ἀποθανεῖν
ἐτοίμως
ἔχω
ὑπὲρ
τοῦ
ὀνόματος
τοῦ
Κυρίου
μου
Ιησοῦ
Χριστοῦ·
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
οὗτος
μὲν
ἀναληφθήτω
ἐν
τῷ
δεσμωτηρίῳ,
βληθεὶς
εἰς
τεσσαρα
κεντήματα.
προσαχθέτω
δὲ
ὁ
ἕτερος.
[5] Αθάμας
λέγει
βοηθὸς
κομέντων·
ἐστήκεν
Σαββάτιος
δέομαί
σου.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
οὐκ
ἐξετάζω
σε,
εἰ
χριστιανὸς
εἶ,
ἀλλὰ
τὴν
ἀξίαν
σου
βούλομαι
μαθεῖν.
Σαββάτιος
εἶπεν·
ἡ
ἐμὴ
ἀξία
καὶ
ἠ
εὐγένεια
ὁ
Χριστός
ἐστιν,
ὁ
βασιλεὺς
τῶν
αἰώνων.
Ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
τουνδήσατε
αὐτὸν,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
ἕτερα
ἀνθ᾽
ἑτέρων
μὴ
ἀποκρίνου.
Σαββάτιος
εἶπεν·
ἐξήτασάς
με
περὶ
ἀξίας,
καὶ
εἶπόν
σοι
πᾶσαν
τὴν
εὐγένειάν
μου,
τί
θυμοῦσαι;
ὁ
βικάριος
εἰπεν·
πρίν
σε
εἰς
κόλασιν
καὶ
τιμωρίας
ἐμπεσεῖν,
θῦσον
τοῖς
θεοῖς.
Σαββάτιος
εἶπεν·
καὶ
θανάτου
ἑτοίμῳς
ἔχω
καταφρονεῖν,
καὶ
βασάνων
ὑποφέρειν
ὕβρεις
διὰ
τὸν
Χριστὸν·
ὅθεν
εἴ
σοι
δοκεῖ
βασανίζειν,
βασάνιζε·
ἐγὼ
γὰρ
τῷ
μιαρῷ
σου
δόγματι
ἀντιτάσσομαι·
Ευσχήμων
κομενταρήσιος
εἶπεν·
ἀποκρίνεται
διὰ
τὸ
φείδεσθαί
σε
αὐτοῦ,
καὶ
καταπτύει
σου
τοῦ
δικαστηρίου.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
κρεμάσετε
αὐτὸν
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
ξύλου·
ὡς
δὲ
ἐκρεμάσθη,
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
συγκατάθου
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
δήμου
θῦσαι·
καὶ
οὐ
μὴ
πειραθῇς
βασάνων.
Σαββάτιος
εἶπεν·
ὃ
θέλεις,
τοῦτο
καὶ
ποιεῖ·
ἐλπίζω
γὰρ
ἐν
τῷ
Πατρὶ
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ
μου
ὃ,
ὅτι
καὶ
βασανιζόμενος
νικῶ
σε,
καὶ
τὸν
ὑποβάλλοντά
σοι
ταῦτα
καθ᾽
ἠμῶν
διάβολον.
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
προσαγάγετε
αὐτῷ
τὰς
τῶν
κεράτων
βασάνους·
ὡς
δὲ
ἐξέετο,
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
διάτι
κλαίεις
ἀνόσιε;
Σαββάτιος
εἶπεν·
μή
σοι
καλῶς
ἀφρονέστατε
ἵνα
ἐσὼ
κλαύσῳ
τῇ
ψυχῇ
μου·
τοῦτο
γὰρ
τὸ
σῶμα
πηλός
ἐστι
καὶ
ρέει·
ὡς
δὲ
ἠτόνησαν
οἱ
κυεστιονάριοι,
ἤδη
τῶν
πλευρῶν
αὐτοῦ
διεῤῥηγμένων,
ἐκέλευσεν
ὁ
βικάριος
ἑτέρᾳ
ζυγῇ
ξέειν
αὐτὸν
ἐπὶ
τὴν
κοιλίαν.
ὡς
δὲ
ἐξέετο,
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
τὶ
ὠφελεῖς
τρισάθλιε
τιμωρῶν
τὴν
σεαυτοῦ
ψυχὴν;
Σαββάτιος
εἶπεν·
ἐὰν
ὑπὲρ
τοῦ
ὀνόματος
Χριστοῦ
τιμωρηθῷ,
ἐν
τῇ
ἐσχάτῃ
ἡμέρᾳ
ἀνάπαυσιν
αἰώνιον
εὕρω.
ἐπὶ
πολλὴν
δὲ
ὥραν
ξεομένου
αὐτοῦ,
οἱ
κυεστιονάριοι
ἠτόνησαν.
Θεωρήσας
οὖν
ὁ
βικάριος,
ὅτι
οὐδὲν
ὠφέλει,
ἐκέλευσεν
αὐτὸν
κατενεχθῆναι.
ὡς
δὲ
κατένεγκαν
αὐτὸν,
ὁ
βικάριος
εἶπεν·
οὐδέν
σε
ὠφέλησεν
τρισάθλιε,
οὐδὲ
ἐβοήθησέν
σοι,
ὃν
ὡμολόγησας.
πρόσελθε
οὖν,
καὶ
θῦσον·
οὐ
γὰρ
ἐνδίδωμι
σοι.
οὐκ
ἠδυνήθη
δε
ἀποκριθῆναι
Σαββάτιος
διὰ
τὸ
παραδιδόναι
αὐτὸν
τὴν
ψυχὴν.
ἢν
γὰρ
καὶ
ἡ
κοιλία
αὐτοῦ
καὶ
τὰ
πλευρὰ
διεῤῥηγμένα·
θεωρήσας
δὲ
ὁ
βικαρίος,
ὅτι
ἀποθνήσκει,
ἐκέλευσεν
αὐτὸν
ἐκβληθῆναι
ἔξω.
ἐξενεχθέντος
δὲ
αὐτοῦ,
αὐτῇ
τῇ
ὥρᾳ,
ὡς
ἀρνίον
ἄκακον,
ἀπέδωκεν
τὸ
πνεῦμα.
καὶ
ἐξελθὼν
ὁ
Πρίγκιψ,
ἐδήλωσεν
τῷ
βικαρίῳ
τεθνᾶναι
τὸν
Σαββάτιον.
[6] Εἶπεν
δὲ
τῷ
Πρίγκιπι.
ἕτοιμον
ποίησον
τὸν
καπικλάριον·
ὅπως
τὸν
ἀνόσιον
Τρόφιμον
παραπέμψω
τῷ
ἡγεμόνι
Φρυγίας
σαλουταρίας.
ἐποίησε
δὲ
ἀναφορὰν
τοιαύτην·
βικάριος
τῷ
κρατίστῳ
ἡγεμόνι
Φρυγίας
σαλουτάριας
χαίρειν·
ἡ
μεσίστη
καὶ
περίβλεπτος
ἐξουσία
τῶν
δεσποτῶν
τῆς
οἰκουμένης
νόμον
ἐξέθετο
πᾶσι
τοῖς
ἐν
τῇ
ὑφηλίῳ,
καὶ
τῆς
θρησκείας
τῶν
χριστιανῶν
θυείν
τοῖς
θεοῖς,
ἢ
τῆς
ζωῆς
ἀποστερείσθαι
αὐτοὺς.
προσαχθέντος
δὲ
τοῦ
ἀνοσίου
Τροφίμου,
καὶ
ἐμοῦ
μὲν
καταναγκάζοντος
αὐτὸν,
ὅπως
θύσῃ,
καὶ
μὴ
βουληθέντος,
παρέπεμψα
αὐτὸν
τῇ
σῇ
καθοσιώσει,
ὅπως
εἰ
μὲν
θέλοιεν
εὐγνωμονῆσαι
πρὸς
τα
κελευσθέντα,
ζωῆς
ἀπολαύσῃ·
εἰ
δὲ
μήγε,
τῆς
ζωῆς
ἀποστερηθείῃ.
ἔῤῥωσο.
τῇ
δε
ἐξής
ἡμέρᾳ
ἦλθεν
ὁ
εἰρήναρχος
λαβεῖν
τὴν
αναφορὰν
παρὰ
τοῦ
βικαρίου·
προσέταξε
δὲ
ὁ
βικάριος
ὑποδεθῆναι
τὸν
Τρόφιμον
ὑποδήματα
σιδηρὰ,
ἔχοντα
ἐσωθεν
περόνας
ὀξεῖς,
παραγγείλας
μὴ
ὑπολυθῆναι
αὐτὸν,
ἔως
ὅτου
τῷ
ἡγεμόνι
παραστῇ.
Παραλαβόντες
δὲ
τὸν
Τρόφιμον
ὅτε
εἰρήναρχος
καὶ
ὁ
καπλικλάριος·
καὶ
ὑποδήσαντες
αὐτὸν
τὰ
ὑποδήματα,
ὥδευσαν
πρὸς
τὸν
ἡγεμόνα.
ἡ
δὲ
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ
χάρις
ἐπληθύνθη
ἑπὶ
τὸν
ἅγιον
αὐτοῦ
μάρτυρα
Τρόφιμον,
ὥστε
ἐκπλήττεσθαι
πάντας,
θεωροῦντας
μὴ
ἐνδίδοντα
τὸν
Τρόφιμον
τοῦ
προτρέχειν,
αὐτὸν
βαδίζοντα
προθυμίᾳ,
μήδ᾽
ὅλως
αἰστανόμενον
τῶν
βασάνων.
ἦν
γὰρ
ἐν
τῇ
ὁδῷ
προφθάνων
καὶ
τοὺς
ἵππους
αὑτῶν·
ὁδοπορήσαντες
οὖν
διὰ
τριῶν
ἡμερῶν,
κατάγονται
ἐν
συναίδοις
πόλει
τῆς
Φρυγίας,
ἔνθα
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν
διέτριβεν.
[7] Καὶ
τῇ
ἐξῆς
ὁ
εἰρήναρχος,
καθεζομένου
τοῦ
ἡγεμόνος
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
βήματος,
εἰσελθὼν,
ἐνεφάνισεν
τὴν
ἀναφορὰν
τοῦ
βικαρίου.
ἀναγνοὺς
δὲ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν,
ἐκέλευσεν
παραχρῆμα
σθῆναι
τὸν
Τρόφιμον.
Δημήτριος
βοηθὸς
κομέντων
εἶπεν·
ἔστηκεν
Τρόφιμος
δέομαί
σου·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
σὺ
εἶ
ὁ
λεγόμενος
Τρόφιμος;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐγώ
εἰμι
ὁ
δοῦλος
τοῦ
Θεοῦ·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
οἶδας,
ἄθλιε,
ὅτι
πολλοὶ
διὰ
τὸ
ὄνομα
τοῦτο
τῆς
ζωῆς
ἀπεστερήθησαν;
ὅθεν
Θῦσον,
ἵνα
μὴ
βασανισθεὶς,
τὸ
φέγγος
τοῦ
ἡλίου
καταλείψῃς.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
οὔτε
σὲ
ἐντραπήσομαι,
οὔτε
τὰς
βασάνους
σου,
οὔτε
τὸν
πρόσκαιρον
θάνατον
φοβηθήσομαι·
κατεφρόνησα
γὰρ
τοῦ
σου
θανάτου,
ἐνδυσαμένος
τὸν
ἀθάνατον
ἄνθρωπον.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
τείναντες
αὐτὸν
ἐκ
τεσσάρων,
εὐτόνως
τύπτετε
τοῖς
βουνεύροις,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
πείθου
τοῖς
βασιλέως
προστάγμασιν·
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐγὼ
τὸν
βασιλέα
ἔχω
τὸν
μέλλοντα
ἔρχεσθαι
μετὰ
φωτὸς
ἀἳδίου
κρῖναι
ζῶντας
καὶ
νεκροὺς,
καὶ
ἀποδοῦναι
ἑκάστῳ
κατὰ
τὰ
ἔργα
αὐτοῦ.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
φείσασθε
αὐτοῦ·
ὡς
δὲ
ἐφείσαντο
αὐτοὖ,
διονύσιος
εἰπεν·
πρόσελθε,
καὶ
θῦσον
τοῖς
θεοῖς,
πανάθλιε,
καὶ
ἀπελλάττου
πολλῶν
βασᾶνων,
καὶ
μεγίστης
τιμωρίας.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐγὼ
τὰς
βασάνους
σου
οὐ
φοβηθήσομαι·
αἱ
γὰρ
βασάνοι
σου
πρόσκαιροι
οὖσαι,
ἐμὲ
μὲν
ὠφελοῦσιν,
ἵνα
παιδευόμενος
μᾶλλον
φοβηθῷ
τὸν
τῆς
ἀληθείας
Θεὸν,
σὲ
δὲ
κατακρινοῦσιν
εἰς
τὴν
αἰώνιον
κόλασιν·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ἐνέγκαντες
ὄξος
καὶ
σίνηπι
μεμιγμένα,
ἐγχέατε
κατά
τῶν
μυκτήρων
αὐτοῦ.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
τὸ
ὄξος
καὶ
τὸ
σίνιπί
σου
ἐμοὶ
μωρία
εἰσὶν·
οἱ
γὰρ
ὑπηρέται
σου
καταπαίζουσίν
σοι.
[8] Διονύσιος
εἶπεν·
Προστάξατε
αὐτὸν
τῷ
ξύλῳ,
καὶ
εὐτόνως
βασανίσατε
αὐτὸν,
ξεόντες
αὐτοῦ
τᾶς
πλευρὰς.
ὡς
δὲ
ἐκρεμάσθη
ὁ
ἅγιος
Τρόφιμος,
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ἕως
πότε
ἄνθρωπε
τιμωρῇς
τὴν
σεαυτοῦ
ψυχὴν;
ὡμολόγησον
εἶξαι
τοῖς
βασιλεῦσι,
καὶ
κέρδησον
τὰς
βασάνους.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐγὼ
οὐ
τιμωρῶ
τὴν
ἐμαυτοῦ
ψυχὴν·
ἀλλὰ
σώζω
αὐτὴν,
καθὼς
γέγραπται·
πολλαὶ
αἱ
θλίψεις
τῶν
δικαίων.
ἐὰν
οὖν
ἐνταῦθα
θλιβῶμεν,
τὰ
αἰώνια
ἀγαθὰ
κληρονομήσομεν·
πιστὸς
γὰρ
ὁ
ἐπαγγειλάμενος
ἀποδοῦναι
ἡμῖν,
ἃ
ὀφθαλμὸς
ἐκ
εἶδεν,
καὶ
οὖς
οὐκ
ἤκουσεν,
καὶ
ἐπὶ
καρδίαν
ἀνθρώπου
οὐκ
ἀνέβη,
ὅσα
ἡτοίμασεν
ὁ
Θεὸς
τοῖς
ἀγαπῶσιν
αὐτόν.
Διονύσιος
εἶπεν·
ποῖά
ἐστιν
ἀγαθὰ,
ἃ
ἡτοίμασεν
ὁ
Θεὸς
ὑμῶν·
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἀνάπαυσιν
καὶ
σωτηρίαν,
τρυφὴν
παραδείσου
καὶ
στέφανον
ζωῆς
αἰωνίου,
ἔνδομα
ἀφθαρσίας
καὶ
κόσμον
ἐνάρετον,
φῶς
ἀμίαντον,
θρόνους
δόξης,
καὶ
βασιλείαν
οὐρανῶν·
ταῦτά
ἐστιν
τὰ
ἀγαθὰ,
ἃ
ἐπαγγείλατο
ἡμῖν
ὁ
Θεὸς
ἡμῶν.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν.
θῦσον
καὶ
ἀπαλλάγηθι·
οὐδὲν
γὰρ
σὲ
ὠφελήσουσιν
αἱ
μυθυλογίαι
αὕται.
τίς
γάρ
ἐστιν
ὁ
ἀνελθὼν
εἰς
τὸν
οὐρανὸν,
καὶ
κατελθὼν,
ὃς
ἐδήλωσεν
τὰ
ἐκεῖ
ὄντα·
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἀλλὰ
ἡμῖν
αἱ
γραφαὶ
τοῦ
Θεοῦ
ἡμῶν
δηλοῦσιν,
καὶ
πιστεύομεν·
οὐ
γάρ
ἐστιν
ψεύστης
ὁ
Θεὸς.
ὅθεν
χείρων
σου
γένομαι
ἐνώπιον
τοῦ
βήματος
Χριστοῦ,
ἐὰν
καταλείψας
τὸν
ζῶντα
Θεὸν,
λίθοις
προσκυνήσω.
[9] Διονύσιος
χολέσας
εἶπεν·
ξέσατε
αὐτοῦ
τὰς
πλευρὰς,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
ἀπαλλάττου
τῆς
μωρίας.
ὡς
δὲ
κατέφερον
τὰς
πλευρὰς
αὐτοῦ,
φωνῆς
μήτε
μιᾶς
γινομένης,
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
οὐδεπὼ
ἤσθου
τῶν
βασάνων;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐὰν
σὺ
αὐτοῦ
καθεζόμενος
αἰσθάνῃ
ἀλγηδόνας,
οὕτως
κἀγὼ
αἰσθάνομαι.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
προσελθόντες
ἕτεροι
κυεστιονάριοι
ξέσατε
αὐτὸν
ἐπὶ
τὰ
ἀντικνίμια.
ὁ
δὲ
Τρόφιμος
ἀναβλέψας
εἰς
τὸν
οὐρανὸν,
οὕτως
εἶπεν·
ὁ
τῶν
ἀβοηθήτων
βοηθὸς,
ὁ
τῶν
ἀσθενούντων
ἰατρὸς,
ὁ
τῶν
ἀμαρτωλῶν
κριτὴς,
ὁ
τῶν
χριστιανῶν
βασιλεὺς,
ἐπίβλεψον
ἐξ
οὐρανοῦ,
καὶ
ἴδε
τὴν
ταπείνωσίν
μου,
καὶ
τὴν
βίαν
μου·
ὅτι
διὰ
τὸ
ὅνομά
σου
ταῦτα
πάσχω·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ἐνέγκαντες
ὄξος
καὶ
ἅλας
βασιλικὸν,
χρίσατε
αὐτοῦ
τὰς
πλευράς·
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
μὰ
τὸν
Χριστὸν
τὸν
υἱὸν
τοῦ
Θεοῦ,
οὐκ
αἰσθάνεταί
μου
ἡ
ψυχὴ
οὐδὲ
ἡ
σὰρξ
τῶν
βασάνων
σου·
ἀλλ᾽
εἰ
ἔχεις
τι
πλέον,
ἐπινόησον·
πιστεύω
γὰρ
τῷ
Πατρὶ
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ
μου,
ὅτι
καὶ
βασανιζόμενος
νικῶ
σε,
καὶ
τὸν
πατέρα
σου
τὸν
σατανᾶν,
τὸν
ὑποβάλλοντά
σοι
καθ᾽
ἡμῶν
ταῦτα·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
καὶ
τούτων
χαλεπωτέρας
βασάνους
ἐπινοήσω
τῷ
σώματί
σου.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ὅσα
ἐὰν
ἐννοηθῆς
καὶ
καυχήσῃ,
ὑπαντῶ
σου
ταῖς
κακίαις,
αἷς
ἐπινοεὶς·
ἔστιν
γὰρ
ὁ
ἐνδυναμῶν
με
Χριστός·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν.
ἐνέγκαντες
κανδέλας,
προσάψατε
αὐτοῦ
ταῖς
πλευραῖς·
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἀναπαύομαι
ὅτι
αἰκιζόμενος
νικῶ
σε
διὰ
τοῦ
ὀνόματος
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ.
εὐλογητος
δὲ
ὁ
Θεὸς,
ὁ
καλέσας
ἡμᾶς
ἐπὶ
τὴν
ἐξέτασιν
ταύτην,
ἵνα
τὸ
ὄνομα
αὐτοῦ
ὁμολογήσωμεν
ἐνώπιον
τῶν
ἀνσθρώπων.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
κατενέγκατε
αὐτὸν
ἀπὸ
τοῦ
ξύλου·
ὡς
δὲ
κατένεγκαν
αὐτὸν,
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
τέως
μέν
ἀναληφθήτω
ἐν
τῷ
δεσμωτηρίῳ,
βληθεὶς
εἰς
τέσσαρα
κεντήματα,
ἕως
ὅτου
μειζότεραι
βάσανοι
ἐπισκευασθῶσιν
αὐτῷ.
When persecution had been stirred up, at Antioch in Pisidia, In the reign of Cæsar Probus, a law was transmitted through the whole world. And the content of the law was such as this: "The emperor Probus Augustus, of tribunician power, to the prefects of the provinces and to the councils, and to all who see this law, greeting. Since through us and the gods you obtain much peace and stability, obey the things which we command you, and be zealous against the religion of the Christians, so as to compel them to sacrifice to the gods: and if indeed they be willing to obey, release those who sacrifice from all peril. But if any shall have contradicted, our divinity a commands that these, having been tormented with various tortures, be deprived of life. Farewell." When the governors throughout the whole province b had received those mandates, leaving aside the public business, they gave themselves to the persecution of the Christians. When therefore a great persecution had arisen in the whole world, and many had been deprived of life for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, it happened that at Antioch in Pisidia the birthday-festival of Apollo was being celebrated. Now a certain Trophimus and Sabbatius, coming from a foreign land and entering the city, saw a very great smoke in the city, and heard the sound of organs and of musical instruments, and the loudest murmur of people running to and fro, and others in various ways praising their gods.
[2] When the blessed Trophimus perceived the error of Satan, groaning and crying out, Trophimus and Sabbatius are arrested. Trophimus, questioned he said with tears: O God of the ages! O God of the angels! O Father of thy beloved Son Jesus Christ! rescue thy servants from all error. While he was yet speaking, a running-together of the c aurarii took place: and having seized them they led them away as far as the prætorium of the vicar, crying out: Chaste judge, come forth to the tribunal against these sacrilegious men. And a certain Selenius, a d curiosus, going in, reported to the vicar the words of the aurarii. The vicar, not being able to contradict, sat publicly at the tribunal, and sitting said to the aurarii: What charge do you bring against these men? And they said: While we were praising the gods, those sacrilegious men cried out, saying: Christ, rescue thy servants from all error. But we, hearing this, seized them and set them before your clemency. Atticus Heliodorus the vicar said: Separate them, and set them before me one by one. And when they had brought forward Trophimus, Athamas the assistant of the e commentariensis said: Trophimus stands here, I beg you f. The vicar said: What is your name? Trophimus answered [g:] By name according to the flesh I am called Trophimus. The vicar said: Of what condition are you? Trophimus said: I am a slave through sin; but free and noble through Christ. The vicar said: Of what condition and religion are you, most impious man? Trophimus said: Have you read the mandates of the emperor? Trophimus said: Yes, I have read them. The vicar said: Do therefore as the monarchs have commanded, and sacrifice to the gods. Trophimus said: But we ought not to obey the mandates of sinful h and most impious men, because we are Christians, servants of Jesus Christ, the great Emperor.
[3] and tortured in various ways, shows himself steadfast The vicar said: Take off his cloak, and stretching him out on four sides, use ox-sinews upon him. When they had stretched him out, the vicar said: Why did it seem good to you, evil head, to blaspheme the monarchs? Trophimus said: I did not blaspheme, but spoke the truth. For who does not know that those are most impious who are ignorant of the living God? But the vicar ordered him to be beaten: and while they were striking him, the vicar said to him: Sacrifice, senseless man: for you see that your blood is flowing down to the ground. Trophimus said: If my blood be poured out for the name of Christ, my soul will not fall into eternal punishment, as it is written for us: It is expedient that one of my members perish, and that my whole body be not cast into the gehenna of fire. The vicar said: Spare him; and he says: Sacrifice, impious Trophimus. If you do not do it, I send you to Erinius Dionysius i, the prefect of Phrygia Salutaris, that by punishing he may take away your life. Trophimus said: Not only if you send us to the governor, but even if to the emperor, we shall never deny the name of God.
[4] and is shut up in prison. The vicar said: Hang him up, and scrape his sides vigorously. And when he was hung up, the vicar said: Do you see, crafty one, those standing by who will draw out your entrails? Consent therefore to sacrifice, and you shall be freed. Trophimus said: Do not suppose, most insane man, that you will bring terror upon me by your threats: for I am no little boy, that I should be capable of being deceived by the harshness of human words. The vicar said: Touch his sides. While he was being scraped, no voice of his was heard except this: Christ, help me thy servant. The vicar said: While tearing him, say to him: Where is your Christ? Trophimus said: He is with me and stands by me: for he never deserts his own servants, but is present helping them. The vicar said: Spare him. And they let him down. He says to him: Do you sacrifice, Trophimus, or are you ready to endure other torments also? Trophimus said: Not only to be tortured, but even to die am I ready for the name of my Lord Jesus Christ. The vicar said: Let this man be received into prison, thrust into a stock of four holes k. But let the other be brought forward.
[5] Athamas the assistant of the commentariensis said: Sabbatius stands here, I beg you. The vicar said: I do not ask you whether you are a Christian; but I wish to learn your rank. Sabbatius said: My rank and nobility is Christ, the King of the ages. The vicar said: Strike him with a fist l, Sabbatius, tortured for a very long time, dies a little after. saying to him: Do not answer one thing for another. Sabbatius said: You asked me about rank, and I told you all my nobility; why are you angry? The vicar said: Before you fall into punishment and torments, sacrifice to the gods. Sabbatius said: I am ready both to despise death and to bear up under the injuries of torments for Christ's sake. Wherefore, if it please you to inflict torments, torture. For I resist your execrable decree. Euschemon the commentariensis said: He answers thus because you spare him, and he despises your tribunal. The vicar said: Hang him on the wood. When he was hung up, the vicar said: Consent to sacrifice publicly, and you shall make no trial of torments. Sabbatius said: What you will, that also do. For I hope in the Father of my Christ that even when tortured I shall bear away the victory over you and over the devil who suggests these things to you. The vicar said: Apply to him the torments of the hooks. And when he was being scraped, the vicar said: Why do you weep, impious one? Sabbatius said: May it not fall out as you wish, most imprudent man, that I should weep as to my soul: for this body is clay and flows away. After the torturers m had grown weary, his sides being already torn apart, the vicar ordered another shift to scrape him on the belly. And while he was being scraped, the vicar said: What do you gain, most wretched man, by tormenting your own soul? Sabbatius said: If I am punished for the name of Christ, on the last day I shall obtain eternal rest. And when he had been scraped for a long time, the torturers grew weary. The vicar, therefore, seeing that he was accomplishing nothing, ordered him to be let down. And when he had been let down, the vicar said: It has profited you nothing, most wretched man, nor has he whom you confessed brought you help. Come forward therefore and sacrifice: for I do not yield to you n. Sabbatius could not answer, because his strength of spirit had failed: for both his belly and his sides were torn apart. When the vicar saw that he was dying, he ordered him to be cast outside. And when he had been carried out, at that very hour, like an innocent lamb, he gave up his spirit. And the princeps o, going out, announced to the vicar that Sabbatius had died.
[6] And the vicar said to the princeps: See that the clavicularius [p] be made ready, Trophimus is sent to Synnada, that I may send the impious Trophimus to the governor of Phrygia Salutaris. And he made such a report of the case [q]: The vicar to the most excellent governor of Phrygia Salutaris, greeting. The supreme and illustrious power of the lords of the world has given a law to all who are placed under the sun, that those who are of the religion of the Christians should sacrifice to the gods or be deprived of life. Now when the impious Trophimus had been brought forward, and I indeed was compelling him to sacrifice, but he was unwilling, I sent him over to your jurisdiction, that if indeed he be willing with a good mind to perform the mandates, he may enjoy life; if not, he may lose his life. Farewell. On the next day the irenarch [r] came, that he might receive from the vicar the report of the case. The vicar ordered that Trophimus be shod with iron shoes having sharp spikes within, commanding that he should not be unshod of them until he had come to the aforesaid governor. The irenarch and the clavicularius therefore took Trophimus; and after they had shod him with such shoes, they set out on the journey to the governor. But the grace of Christ was poured out upon his holy martyr Trophimus, so that all were amazed, seeing Trophimus in no way giving way in his going forward, but walking with alacrity and not feeling the torment at all: for he even went ahead of their horses on the road. And so, having made a journey of three days, they come to Synnada [s], a city of Phrygia, where the governor was staying.
[7] On the next day the irenarch, while the governor was sitting at the tribunal, entering, showed the vicar's report of the case. When it had been read, the governor ordered Trophimus to be set before him at once. Demetrius the assistant of the commentariensis said: Trophimus stands here: I beg you. and there again by order of Dionysius the governor Dionysius the governor said: Are you he who is called Trophimus? Trophimus said: I am the servant of God. Dionysius the governor said: Do you know, wretch, that many have been deprived of life on account of that name? Wherefore sacrifice, lest, being tortured, you leave the light of the sun. Trophimus said: I shall neither regard you nor your torments, nor shall I fear a temporary death: for I despise your death, having put on the immortal man. Dionysius the governor said: Stretching him out on four sides, beat him vigorously with ox-sinews, saying to him: Obey the mandates of the emperor. Trophimus said: I have for my Emperor him who is to come with everlasting light to judge the living and the dead, and to give to each according to his works. Dionysius the governor said: Spare him. And when they had spared him, Dionysius said: Come forward and sacrifice, most wretched man, and be freed from many torments and from the greatest punishment. Trophimus said: I shall not fear your torments: for your temporary torments indeed to me
are profitable, so that being instructed by them I may the more fear the true God; but they condemn you to everlasting punishment. Dionysius the governor said: Bring vinegar and mustard mixed together, and pour it into his nostrils. Trophimus said: Your vinegar and mustard are foolishness to me: for your servants make sport of you.
[8] he is tormented in various ways, Dionysius said: Fasten him to the wood, and torture him vehemently, tearing his sides. When holy Trophimus was hung up, Dionysius the governor said: How long will you torment your own soul, O man? Confess that you will yield to the emperors, and gain [t] the torments. Trophimus said: I do not torment my soul, but preserve it, as it is written: Many are the tribulations of the just. If therefore we are afflicted here, we shall obtain eternal goods by inheritance. For he is faithful who promised that he would give us the things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they ascended into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love him. Dionysius said: What sort of goods are those which your God has prepared? Trophimus said: Rest and salvation, the delights of paradise and the crown of eternal life, a garment not subject to corruption and a most excellent adornment, pure light, thrones of glory, and the kingdom of heaven. These are the goods which our God has announced to us. Dionysius the governor said: Sacrifice and be freed: for those fables will profit you nothing. For who has ascended into heaven and come down again, who has announced the things that are there? Trophimus said: But the Scriptures of our God announce those things to us, and we believe: for God is not a liar. Wherefore I should become worse than you before the tribunal of Christ, if, having forsaken the living God, I should adore stones.
[9] and shows himself most brave. Dionysius, angered, said: Scrape his sides, saying: Cease from your folly. And when they had tortured his sides, no voice being uttered, Dionysius the governor said: Do you not feel the torments? Trophimus said: If you, sitting there, feel pains, so also do I feel them. Dionysius the governor said: Let other torturers come forward and scrape him on the shins. But Trophimus, looking up to heaven, spoke thus: O Helper of those who lack help! O Physician of the weak! O Judge of sinners! O King of the Christians, look down from heaven and see my lowliness and the violence done to me, since for thy name I suffer these things. Dionysius the governor said: Bring vinegar and royal salt, and rub his sides. Trophimus said: By Christ the Son of God, neither my soul nor my flesh has felt your torments. But if you have anything further, devise it. For I believe the Father of my Christ that, even afflicted with torments, I shall conquer you and your father Satan, who suggests these things to you against us. Dionysius the governor said: I shall devise for your body torments even heavier than these. Trophimus said: Whatever you shall devise and boast of, I meet the evils which you contrive: for Christ strengthens me. Dionysius the governor said: Bring candles, and apply them to his sides. Trophimus said: I rest, because though afflicted with insults I shall overcome you through the name of Christ. Blessed be God, who has called us to this examination, that we may confess his name before men. Dionysius the governor said: Let him down from the wood. After they had let him down, Dionysius the governor said: Meanwhile let him be received into prison, thrust into the four holes of the stock, until more vehement torments be prepared for him.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. The Greek word καπικλάριος, and the Latin clavicularius, signifies one of the guards of the prison, namely him to whom the keys had been committed. Some confound the commentariensis and the clavicularius, perhaps because in smaller cities the same man discharged both offices; but that the offices were distinct these Acts clearly suggest.
q. The Greek word ἀναφορά among the jurisconsults signifies the report of a case, when the accused is transmitted to another judge, as is done here.
r. Εἰρήναρχος, in Latin Irenarcha, was a magistrate of the lower order, appointed for preserving concord. For the irenarchs were bound to quell tumults, and to seize offenders and bring them to the judge. Pitiscus may be consulted in his Lexicon of Roman Antiquities, where he offers more about the irenarchs.
s. Of Synnada, among ecclesiastical writers frequently Synada, I have already spoken in the Commentary, number 14.
t. So the Greek has it to the letter. The sense is: Gain a cessation of the torments.
CHAPTER II
Dorymedon the senator visits Trophimus: having confessed Christ, he is arrested and grievously tortured: Trophimus is again tormented: the martyrs, being thrown to the beasts and these sparing them, are beheaded.
Ἅμα
δὲ
τὸ
ἀπενεχθῆναι
τὸν
μακάριον
Τρόφιμον
ἐν
τῷ
δεσμωτηρίῳ,
Δορυμέδων
τις,
πρῶτος
τοῦ
βουλευτηρίου,
ἀνὴρ
εὐσεβὴς
καὶ
φοβούμενος
τὸν
Θεὸν,
εἰσελθὼν
ἐν
τᾦ
δεσμωτηρίῳ,
ἀνέψυχεν
τὸν
μακάριον
Τρόφιμον
ἐκ
τῶν
βασάνων,
παραγγείλας
αὐτῷ
ποιεῖσθαι
πᾶσαν
τὴν
ἐπιμέλειαν,
ὥστε
ἀγάλλεσθαι
τὸν
μακάριον
Τρόφιμον
ἐπὶ
τῇ
ἐπιμελείᾳ
Δορυμέδοντος·
ἡμερῶν
δέ
τινων
διελθουσῶν,
ἐγένετο
γενέθλια
ἐπιτελεῖσθαι
ἐν
τῇ
συναδέων
πόλει
τῶν
Διοσκούρων·
καὶ
ἀπέστειλεν
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν
ἐπὶ
τὸ
βουλευτήριον
κούρσωρα,
λέγων·
δεῦτε
κατὰ
τὸ
πρόσταγμα
τοῦ
βασιλέως,
συνθύσατε
ἡμῖν.
καὶ
ἀπῆλθον
σὺν
αὐτῷ
πάντες
εἰς
τὸ
πραιτώριον
τοῦ
ἡγεμόνος.
ἀποκριθεὶς
δὲ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν,
εἶπεν·
ποῦ
ἐστιν
Δορυμέδων,
ὁ
πρῶτος
τοῦ
βουλευτηρίου;
οἱ
δὲ
ἔφησαν,
μὴ
ἑωρακέναι
αὐτὸν
τῇ
ἡμέρᾳ
ἐκείνῃ.
ὁ
δέ
ἡγεμὼν
ἀπέστειλε
κούρσωρα,
λέγων·
εἰπὲ
Δορυμέδοντι
τῷ
πολιτευομένῳ·
ἐλθὼν
σύνθυσον
ἡμῖν
κατὰ
τὸ
πρόσταγμα
τῶν
αὐτοκρατόρων·
ὁ
δὲ
κούρσωρ,
εὑρὼν
τὸν
Δορυμέδοντα,
ἀνήγγειλεν
αὐτῷ
τὰ
ὑπὸ
τοῦ
ἡγεμόνος
λεχθέντα·
ὁ
δὲ
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
ἀπελθὼν
εἰπὲ
τῷ
ἡγεμόνι·
τάδε
λέγει
Δορυμέδων·
ἐγὼ
χριστιανός
εἰμι,
βουλευτὴς
τῆς
πόλεως
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
ἐν
ᾗ
πᾶσα
ἀξία
καὶ
εὐγένεια
τυγχάνει·
οὐ
δύναμαι
οὖν
ἐκεῖνον
καταλεῖψαι
τὸν
ἄρχοντα
τῆς
βουλῆς,
καὶ
ἀνθρώπων
προστάγμασιν
ὑπακούειν·
οὔτε
γὰρ
δίκαιόν
ἐστι,
οὔτε
ὅσιον,
καταλεῖψαι
τὸν
ζῶντα
Θεὸν,
καὶ
δαιμονίοις
νεκροῖς
προσκυνεῖν.
ὁ
δὲ
Κούρσωρ
ἀπελθὼν,
ἐδήλωσεν
πάντα
ταῦτα
τῷ
ἡγεμόνι.
Θυμωθεὶς
δὲ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν,
ἔπεμψεν
ἐπὶ
αὐτὸν
σιγγουλαρίους,
παραγγείλας
αὐτοῖς
ἐν
τάχει
αὐτὸν
ἆξαι
πρὸς
αὐτόν.
[11] Ὡς
δὲ
ἀπήγαγον
αὐτὸν
πρὸς
αὐτὸν,
εἶπεν
αὐτῷ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν·
ποίας
ἕνεκεν
προφάσεως,
δεύτερον
ἀποστείλαντός
μου
πρὸς
σὲ,
οὐκ
ἤρχου;
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
ἐπειδὴ
ἐπὶ
πρόσταγμα
ἀσεβείας
ἐκάλεις
με,
διὰ
τοῦτο
οὐκ
ἠρχόμην.
Διονύσιος
εἶπεν·
ἀσέβειά
ἐστιν,
ἐάν
τις
προσκυνῇ
τοῖς
θεοῖς;
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
οὐ
μόνον
ἀσέβεια
καὶ
ἁμαρτία,
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
θάνατος
αἰώνιος
τὸ
ἐγκαταλεῖψαι
Θεὸν
ζῶντα,
καὶ
κτίσμασιν
ἀνθρώπων
προσκυνεῖν,
καθῶς
γέγραπται·
ὅτι
πάντα
τὰ
εἴδωλα
τῶν
ἐθνῶν
ἀργύριον
καὶ
χρυσίον,
ἔργα
χειρῶν
ἀνθρώπων·
στόμα
ἔχουσιν,
καὶ
οὐ
λαλήσουσιν·
ὀφθαλμοὺς
ἔχουσι,
καὶ
οὐκ
ὄψονται·
ὦτα
ἔχουσι,
καὶ
οὐκ
ἀκούσουσι·
ῥῖνας
ἔχουσι,
καὶ
οὐκ
ὀφρανθήσονται·
χεῖρας
ἔχουσι,
καὶ
οὐ
ψηλαφήσουσι·
πόδας
ἔχουσι,
καὶ
οὐ
περιπατήσουσιν,
οὒ
φωνήσουσιν
ἐν
τῷ
λάρυγγι
αὐτῶν.
ὅμοιοι
αὐτῶν
γένοιντο
οἱ
ποιοῦντες
αὐτὰ,
καὶ
πάντες
οἱ
πεποιθότες
ἐπ᾽
αὐτοῖς.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
τὴν
σήμερον
γενέσθο
ὑπὸ
φρουρὰν
ἕως
τῆς
αὔριον,
ἵνα
γνῷ
περὶ
ποίας
προφάσεως
ἀκαίρου
τὴν
ἔνστασιν
ταύτην
ἐποιήσατο.
ὡς
δὲ
τῇ
ἡμέρᾳ
ἐκείνῃ
ἔθυσεν
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν
τοῖς
δαιμονίοις,
τῇ
ἑξῆς
ἐκαθέσθη
πρὸ
τοῦ
βήματος·
καὶ
καλέσας
τὸ
βουλευτήριον,
εἶπεν
αὐτοῖς·
νῦν
ἀπελθόντες,
νουθετήσατε
αὐτὸν,
μάλιστα
ὅτι
καὶ
νεώτερός
ἐστιν.
οἱ
δὲ
ἀπελθόντες,
ἤρξαντολέγειν
αὐτῷ·
ποίαν
μανίαν
οἱ
θεοί
σε
ἐπότισαν,
ἵνα
τοῦτο
τὸ
ἀτόπημα
διαπράξῃ;
ὁρκίζομέν
σε
τοὺς
θεοὺς,
μὴ
τελῄσῃς
ἐνυβρίσαι
τὸν
ἀξίαν
τοῦ
βουλευτηρίου·
ἀλλ᾽
εὐγνομόνως
ἄπελθε,
καὶ
θῦσον,
ἵνα
μὴ
καὶ
ἡμεῖς
γέλῳς
ἐσώμεθα
ταῖς
ἄλλαις
πόλεσιν.
ὁ
δὲ
Δορυμέδων
ἀπεκρίνατο
αὐτοῖς,
λέγων·
ἀπόστητε
ἀπ᾽
ἐμοῦ
σύμβουλοι
σκότους,
καὶ
πυρὸς
αἰωνίου
κληρονόμοι.
εἰ
γὰρ
ἐγινώσκετε
τὸν
τῆς
ἀληθείας
Θεὸν,
ἆρα
ἠνεσχόμην
ὑμῶν
συμβουλευόντων
μοι
ἐπὶ
τὰ
ἀγαθὰ.
μὰ
τὸν
στέφανον
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
οὐκ
ἀνάσχομαι
ὑμῶν,
οὐδὲ
φοβηθήσομαι
αἰκισμοὺς
ἀνθρωπίνους,
οὐδὲ
θύσω
δαιμονίοις.
οἱ
δὲ
ἀπελθόντες,
ἀπήγγειλαν
ταῦτα
τῷ
ἡγεμόνι.
[12] Ἀκούσας
δὲ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν
ταῦτα,
εἶπεν
τῇ
τάξει·
ἐξενεχθήτω
τὸ
βουλογράφιον
συναδέων·
ὡς
δὲ
ἠνέχθη,
Διονυσίος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
γενέσθω
ὁ
ἀνόσιος
Δορυμέδων
ἀπόβουλος·
οὕτως
γὰρ
αὐτῷ
πρέπει·
τοῦτον
γὰρ
οἱ
αὐτοκράτορες
ἐτίμησαν·
αὐτὸς
δὲ
ὑπερηφανεύσατο
τοὺς
δεδοκότας
αὐτῷ
τὸν
εὐγένειαν·
ὅθεν
διὰ
τοῦ
βοητοῦ
τῶν
κομέντων,
ὡς
δήμιος,
εἰσαχθήτω.
Δωμήτριος
βοητὸς
κομέντων
εἶπεν·
ἔστηκεν
Δορυμέδων,
δέομαί
σου·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ἀνάξιε
καὶ
ἀνόσιε,
τί
ἐνθυμηθεὶς
τῇ
χθὲς
ἡμέρᾳ,
ἐνέστης
μὴ
τελήσας
πειθαρχῆσαι
τοῖς
προστάγμασι
τοῦ
βασιλέως;
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
καλῶς
με
ἀνάξιον
καλεῖς·
τῆς
γὰρ
τοιαύτης
ἀξίας
ἀνάξιος
τυγχάνω·
ὅτι
ἡ
ἐμὴ
ἀξία
ἐν
οὐρανοῖς
ἐστιν.
ὅθεν
γένομαι
ἀνάξιος
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
ἐὰν
φοβηθῶ
τὰς
ἀπειλάς
σου
καὶ
δαιμονίοις
προσκυνήσω.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
τουνδήσατε
αὐτὸν,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
μὴ
μετὰ
θράσους
καὶ
ἀλαζονείας
ἀποκρίνου.
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
τὸ
ἐμὸν
θράσος
ὁ
Χριστός
ἐστιν,
δι᾽
ὃν
καὶ
παῤῥησιαζόμενος
ἀποκρίνομαι·
οὐ
γὰρ
ἐγώ
εἰμι
ὁ
λαλῶν,
ἀλλὰ
τὸ
Πνεῦμα
τὸ
ἅγιον
τὸ
λαλοῦν
ἐν
ἐμοὶ.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
μὰ
τὸν
Ασκληπιὸν,
ἀνόσιε,
εἰμή
μοι
πεισθῇς,
βασανίσας
σε
εὐτόνως,
θηρίοις
παραβαλῶ
εἰς
ἐπίδειξεν
ταῦτης
τῆς
πόλεως.
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
μὰ
τὸν
Χριστὸν,
τὸν
βασιλέα
τῶν
αἰώνων,
οὐδὲν
ὠφελήσεις
βασανίζων
με,
οὐδὲ
νικήσεις
με
διὰ
τῶν
ἀπειλῶν
σου·
ὁ
γὰρ
Χριστός
μου,
ᾧ
λατρεύω,
βοηθεῖ
μοι.
[13] Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
πυρώσαντες
ὀβελίσκους,
τὰς
πλευρὰς
αὐτοῦ
καταφλέξατε.
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
Χριστὲ
Ιησοῦ,
παρασκευάσθητι
πρὸς
τὴν
τούτων
ἀφροσύνην,
καὶ
ἐλθὲ
εἰς
τὸ
βοηθήσαι
μοι,
ἵνα,
ἐμοῦ
καρτερήσαντος,
γνῶσι
πάντες
οὗτοι,
ὅτι
σὺ
εἶ
Θεὸς
μόνος,
καὶ
οὐχ
ἕτερος.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
κρεμάσατε
αὐτὸν
ἐπὶ
τοῦ
ξύλου,
καὶ
ἐπαγάγετε
αὐτῷ
βασάνους,
ἵνα
ἴδωμεν
εἰ
ἔρχεται
ὁ
Χριστὸς
βοηθῆσαι
αὐτῷ·
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
καὶ
ἐβοήθησέν
μοι,
καὶ
βοηθεῖ
μοι
ἕως
τέλους,
ἵνα
σοι
δείξω
ὅτι
μάταιος
ὣν
ματαίοις
προσκυνεῖς.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ξέσατε
αὐτὸν
ἐπὶ
τὰς
πλευρὰς,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
μὴ
ἀτίμαζε
τούς
σε
τιμήσαντας.
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
ἡ
ἐμὴ
τιμὴ
καὶ
ἀξία
ὁ
Χριστός
ἐστιν,
ὃν
καὶ
τιμῶ
καὶ
τιμήσω
ἕως
τέλους.
ἡ
γὰρ
ἀξία
αὕτη
ἡ
πρόκαιρος
μᾶλλον
με
βλάψει,
καὶ
οὐδέν
με
ὠφελήσει.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ξέσατε
αὐτοῦ
τὰς
πλευρὰς,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
μὴ
εὐθέως
ἀντιτασσόμενος
φθέγγου.
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
μὰ
τὸν
Χριστόν
τὸν
υἱὸν
τοῦ
Θεοῦ,
ἕως
οὗ
ἡ
ψυχή
μου
ἐστὶν
ἐν
ἐμοὶ·
οὐ
μὴ
σιοπήσω
ἕνα
λόγον
πρὸς
τὴν
ἀφροσύνην
σου
ἀντιτασσόμενος.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
κατενέγκαντες
αὐτὸν
ἀπὸ
τοῦ
ξύλου
ἐπιστήσατε
αὐτὸν
ἐπὶ
ἄνθρακας
ζέοντας.
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
καὶ
τῷ
πρωῒ
εἶπον,
καὶ
νῦν
λέγω,
ὅτι
οὐδὲν
ὠφελήσεις
βασανίζων
με·
δυνατὸς
γάρ
ἐστιν
ὁ
Χριστὸς
δι᾽
ἐμου
νικῆσαι
τὴν
μανίαν
σου.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἰπεν·
τίλλετε
αὐτοῦ
τὴν
κεφαλὴν
καὶ
τὸν
πώγωνα,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
οἱ
ἀτιμάζοντες
τοὺς
αὐτοκράτορας,
οὕτω
πάχουσιν·
Δορυμέδων
εἶπεν·
μὰ
τὸν
Χριστὸν
τὸν
υἱὸν
τοῦ
Θεοῦ
τὸν
δυνάμενον
ἀλλάξαι
τὸν
καιρὸν
τοῦτον,
ἐὰν
καὶ
χείρω
μοι
ποιήσεις
τούτων,
οὐ
μὴ
ἀρνήσομαι
τὸ
ὀνομα
αὐτοῦ,
οὐδὲ
μὴ
ἐγκαταλείψω
αὐτὸν,
ἕως
τοῦ
θανάτου
μου·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ἀναληφθήτω
ἐν
τῷ
δεσμωτηρίῳ,
ἵνα
τῇ
αὕριον
ημέρᾳ
θηριομαχήσῃ,
καὶ
δι᾽
αὐτοῦ
πάντες
οἱ
τῆς
θρησκείας
ταύτης
φοβηθῶσιν.
[14] Παραστήτω
δὲ
ὁ
ἕτερος,
ὁ
παραπεμφθεὶς
παρὰ
τοῦ
βικαρίου.
Δημήτριος
βοηθὸς
κομέντῳν
εἶπεν·
ἔστηκεν
Τρόφιμος,
δέομαί
σου·
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
πείσθητι,
Τρόφιμε,
καὶ
θῦσον,
εἴξας
τοῖς
προσταγμασι
τῶν
αὐτοκρατόρων.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἐγὼ
ἔπεισα
ἐμαυτὸν,
ἵνα
ὥσπερ
χριστιανὸς
ἐγεννήθην,
οὕτω
καὶ
ἀπαλλάξω
τοῦ
ματαίου
βίου
τούτου.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπέν·
εἰδὼς
ἔσω,
ὅτι,
ἐὰν
μὴ
θύσῃς,
θηρίοις
σε
κατάβρωμα
παραδώσω
μετὰ
τοῦ
ὁμοίου
σου
Δορυμέδοντος.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
οὐ
μόνον
θηρίοις,
ἀλλὰ
καὶ
πυρὶ
ἐὰν
παραδώσῃς
ἡμᾶς,
οὐ
μὴ
ἀρνησώμεθα
τὸν
Θεὸν,
οὐδὲ
μὴ
καταιχύνωμεν
τὴν
χάριν
τῶν
χριστιανῶν·
τίς
γὰρ
ἡμῶν
ὠφέλεια
ἔσται,
ἐὰν
φοβηθέντες
ἀνασχόμεθά
σου;
κ᾽
ἂν
ὀλίγον
γὰρ
ἐπιβιώσωμεν
χρόνον,
καὶ
τοῦτο
γέλως
ἑσώμεθα,
καὶ
μετέπειτα
τῇ
γεέννῃ
τοῦ
πυρὸς
παραπεμφθείημεν.
μὰ
τὸν
σταυρὸν
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ·
οὐ
μὴ
φοβηθῶ,
οὐδὲ
μὴ
θύσω
δαιμονίοις,
οὐδὲ
ἐγκαταλείψω
ζῶντα
Θεόν.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
χολέσας
εἶπεν·
κρεμάσατε
αὐτὸν.
ὡς
δὲ
ἐκρεμάσθη,
εἶπεν
πάλιν
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν·
ποίας
ἕνεκεν
αἰτίας
ἥ
προφάσεως,
ἀνόσιε,
οὐ
θέλεις
θῦσαι
τοῖς
θεοῖς;
ἢ
οἱ
θεοὶ
ἡμῶν
ἥττονες
τοῦ
Θεοῦ
σου
εἰσὶν;
οὐχ
ὁρᾶς
οἱας
ἐνεργείας
ποιοῦσιν,
καὶ
προγνώσεις
οἵας
λέγουσιν;
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
μὴ
πλανῶ,
ἀφρονέστατε·
ταῦτα
γὰρ
πάντα
μῦθοι
εἰσὶ,
καὶ
ἀνθρώπων
κατασκευάσματα·
οὐδεὶς
γάρ
ἐστι
προγνώστης,
εἰ
μὴ
ὁ
τῆς
ἀληθείας
Θεὸς,
καθὼς
γέγραπται
ἡμῖν·
οὗτοι
δὲ
οἱ
θεοί
σου
ἔσωθεν
μέν
εἰσι
πηλὸς,
ἔξωθεν
δὲ
χαλκοὺς·
καὶ
οὐ
βεβιώκασιν
οὐδέποτε.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
δεῖξον
ἡμῖν
τὰς
γραφὰς
ὑμῶν,
ἵνα
καὶ
ἡμεῖς
ἀναγνῶμεν,
καὶ
γνῶμεν,
τὶς
ὁ
Θεὸς
ὑμῶν,
καὶ
ποῖα
δύναμις
αὐτῶν * ἐστιν.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ἄνοιξον
τὴν
καρδίαν,
καὶ
εὑρήσεις
τὰ
λόγια
τοῦ
Κυρίου
μου.
Διούσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ξέσατε
τὰ
πέλματα
αὐτοῦ,
λέγοντες
αὐτῷ·
καθὼς
οἱ
βασιλεῖς
προσέταξαν,
οὕτως
ποιεῖτε
καὶ
μὴ
περισσαφρονεῖτε.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
ὑμεῖς
περισσαφρονεῖτε·
οἱ
γὰρ
τὸν
Θεὸν
τὸν
ἐν
ἀρχῇ
ὄντα
καταλιπόντες,
καὶ
τὰ
ἔργα
τὰ
ἴδια
προσκυνοῦντες,
περισσαφρονεῖτε·
εἰ
γὰρ
ὑμεῖς
λαβόντες
ξύλα
καὶ
λίθους
γλύψαντες
ἐποιήσατε
ὁμοιώματα
ἀνθρώπων
καὶ
προσκυνεῖτε
αὐτοῖς,
σποδὸς
ἡ
ἐπίνοια
ὑμῶν,
καὶ
ξύλου
σαθρότερος
ὁ
βίος
ὑμῶν.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
κατενέγκατε
ἀπὸ
τοῦ
ξύλου,
καὶ
ὀβελίσκοις
πεπυρωμένοις
ὀφθαλμοὺς
αὐτοῦ
ἐκκεντήσατε.
Τρόφιμος
εἶπεν·
εὐλογητὸς
ὁ
Θεὸς
ὁ
πατὴρ
τοῦ
Κυρίου
ἡμῶν
Ιησοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
ὅτι
κατηξίωσέν
με
ὑπὲρ
τοῦ
ὄνόματος
αὐτοῦ
τοὺς
ὀφθαλμούς
μου
ἐκκεντηθῆναι.
Διονύσιος
ἡγεμὼν
εἶπεν·
ἀναληφθήτω
ἐν
τῷ
δεσμωτηρίῳ·
καὶ
ἀναστὰς
ἀπὸ
τοῦ
βήματος,
ἀπῆλθεν
ἐν
τῷ
πραιτωρίῳ,
εἶπων
τῷ
Πρίγκιπι·
βούλομαι
τῇ
αὔρίον
ἡμέρᾳ
κυνήγια
θεωρήσαι,
καὶ
τοὺς
ἀνοσίους
ἐκείνους
δημοσίᾳ
τιμωρήσασθαι.
[15] Καὶ
ἀναστὰς,
ἀπῆλθεν
ἐν
τῇ
ἀρίνᾳ,
προστάξας
καὶ
τοῦς
μάρτυρας
τοῦ
Θεοῦ
ἀχθῆναι.
καθίσαντος
δὲ
αὐτοῦ
ἅμα
τῷ
ὄχλῳ,
ἐκέλευσεν
τοὺς
ἁγίους
ἀχθῆναι.
εἰσαχθέντων
δὲ
αὐτῶν
ἐν
τῷ
σταδίῳ,
ὑπογράφει
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν
ὑπογραφὴν
ἀθεότητος
ἐπιφερομένην
αὐτοῖς
τὴν
ἀπόφασιν·
καὶ
ἀπολύεται
ἐπ᾽
αὐτοὺς
ἄρκτος
δεινοτάτη,
ἥτις
ἐξελθοῦσα,
δρομαῖα
γενομένη,
προσεκύνησε
τοῖς
ποσὶν
τοῦ
ἁγίου
Δορυμέδοντος.
ὁ
δὲ
Δορυμέδων
ἐπιλαβόμενος
τῶν
ὠτίων
τῆς
ἄρκτου,
εἷλκεν
αὐτὴν,
ὅπως
θυμωθεῖσα
τοῦ
ζῆν
ἀπαλλάξῃ·
ἡ
δὲ
ἄρκτος h, ὡς
ἄρνιον
ἄκακον,
ἐσύρετο
μὴ
ἀντιτείνουσα.
θυμωθεὶς
δὲ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν,
ἐκέλευσεν
ἕτερον
θηρίον
ἀπολύεσθαι·
οἱ
δὲ
ἀπέλυσαν
ἐπ᾽
αὐτοὺς
πάρδον
θηλείαν
δεινοτάτην,
ἤτις
ἐξελθοῦσα,
τοῦ
ἁγίου
Τροφίμου
τοὺς
μώλωπας
περιέλιχεν.
θαυμάζοντος
δὲ
τοῦ
ὄχλου
παντὸς
ἐπὶ
τοῖς
γινομένοις,
ἡ
παρδοθηλεία
ἀναστάσα,
ἀπῆλθεν
εἰς
τὸν
ζωγρὸν,
μὴ
ἀδικήσασα
τοὺς
ἁγίους.
Θυμωθεὶς
δὲ
ὁ
ἡγεμὼν,
καὶ
τὸν
ἐπιστάτην
τῶν
θηρίων
βουνευρίσας,
προσέταξεν
ἕτερον
θηρίον
ἀπολύεσθαι.
ὁ
δὲ
διὰ
τὸν
φόβον
τοῦ
ἡγεμόνος
ἀπέλυσεν
λέοντα
χαλεπὸν
πάνυ.
τοῦ
δὲ
λεόντος
μὴ
βουλομένου
ἐξελθεῖν
ἀπὸ
τοῦ
ζωγροῦ,
προσφωνητὴς
ἐξῆλθεν,
καὶ
προσεφώνει
τὸν
λεόντα
ἐξελθεῖν
ἐπὶ
τοὺς
ἁγίους
μάρτυρας.
ὁ
δὲ
λἐων
ἐξελθὼν,
τῶν
μὲν
ἁγίων
οὐχ
ἥψατο,
τὸν
δὲ
λουδάριον
καταλαβὼν
ἀνεῖλεν·
καὶ
εὐθέως
ὑποστρέψας
εἰς
τὸν
ζωγρὸν
εἰσῆλθεν.
ὁ
δὲ
ἡγεμὼν
μὴ
εἰδὼς,
ὁ
πράξει,
θυμῷ
τοῦ
σατανᾶ
ληφθεὶς,
ἐκέλευσε
δυσὶ
κυεστιοναρίοις
κατελθεῖν,
καὶ
τὰς
κεφαλὰς
τῶν
ἁγίων
μαρτύρων
ἀποτεμεῖν·
καὶ
οὕτως
οἱ
μακάριοι
μάρτυρες
ἐν
Χριστῷ
ἐκοιμήθησαν,
ἐν
τῇ
ἱερᾷ
Συναδέων
πόλει,
τῇ
προδεκατεσσάρων
καλανδῶν
ὀκτωβρίων,
τοῦτ᾽
ἐστιν
μηνὶ
σεπτεμβρίῳ
ιη᾽,
βασιλεύοντος
τοῦ
Κυρίου
ἡμῶν
Ιησοῦ
Χριστοῦ,
ᾧ
ἡ
δόξα
καὶ
τὸ
κράτος,
τιμήτε
καὶ
ἡ
προσκύνησις,
ἅμα
τῷ
ἀνάρχῳ
Πατρὶ
καὶ
τῷ
ζωοποίῳ
Πνεύματι,
νῦν
καὶ
ἀεὶ
καὶ
εἰς
τοὺς
αἰῶνας
τῶν
αἰώνων.
ἀμήν.
[St. Dorymedon, having consoled Trophimus, refuses to be present at the festival of the gentiles,] At the time when Blessed Trophimus was being led away to prison, Dorymedon, the chief senator, a pious man and one fearing God, entering into the prison, refreshed the blessed Trophimus from his torments, promising that he would take every care of him, so that the blessed Trophimus rejoiced at the solicitude of Dorymedon. And when some days had passed, the birthday-festival of Castor and Pollux a was celebrated in the city of Synnada, and the governor sent a runner to the senate, saying: Come according to the mandate of the emperor, and sacrifice with me.
They all went with him to the prætorium of the governor. But the governor said: Where is Dorymedon, the first in the senate? They answered that they had not seen him on that day. But the governor sent a runner, saying: Tell Dorymedon, administrator of the commonwealth, that he is to come and sacrifice with us according to the precept of the monarchs. The runner, having found Dorymedon, announced to him the governor's words. But Dorymedon replied: Go, and say to the governor: Thus says Dorymedon: I am a Christian, a senator of the city of Christ, which is adorned with every dignity and nobility. I cannot therefore forsake that president of the senate and obey the mandates of men. For it is neither just nor holy to forsake the living God and to adore dead demons. The runner went away and announced all these things to the governor. The governor, angered, sent to him the singularii b, commanding them to bring him swiftly to him.
[11] and on that occasion professing himself a Christian, tried with blandishments, When they had brought him, the governor said to him: Under what pretext, having been summoned twice by me, did you not come? Dorymedon said: Because you summoned me to an impious mandate: therefore I did not come. Dionysius said: Is it impiety to adore the gods? Dorymedon said: Not only is it impiety and sin, but even eternal death, to forsake the living God and to adore the works of men, as it is written, because all "the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. They have a mouth, and shall not speak: they have eyes, and shall not see: they have ears, and shall not hear: they have noses, and shall not smell: they have hands, and shall not feel: they have feet, and shall not walk: they shall not cry out in their throat. Let them that make them become like unto them, and all such as trust in them." Dionysius the governor said: Let him remain today under guard c until the morrow, that I may learn under what unseasonable pretext he did these things. After the governor had sacrificed to the demons on that day, on the next day he sat at the tribunal, and having summoned the senators he said: Now go, exhort him, especially since he is rather young. And they went, and began to say to him: With what madness have the gods made you drunk, that you should do a thing so absurd? We adjure you by the gods: do not offer injury to the dignity of the senate; but go with an even mind and sacrifice, lest we too be a mockery to other cities. But Dorymedon answered them, saying: Depart from me, counsellors of darkness, and heirs of eternal fire. If you knew the true God, I should bear with you as exhorting me to good things. By the crown of Christ, I do not bear with you; nor shall I fear human insults, nor shall I sacrifice to demons. And they, going away, announced these very things to the governor.
[12] Having heard these things, the governor said to his staff: Let the book of the senate of Synnada be brought. threats, insults, torments, When it had been brought, Dionysius the governor said: Let the impious Dorymedon fall from his senatorial dignity: so it befits him: for the monarchs honored him. But he proudly despised those who gave him nobility. Wherefore let him be brought in by the assistant of the commentariensis, as a plebeian. Demetrius the assistant of the commentariensis said: Dorymedon stands here, I beg you. Dionysius the governor said: Unworthy and impious man, what did you conceive in your mind yesterday, that you should obstinately refuse to obey the mandates of the emperor? Dorymedon said: You rightly call me unworthy, since I am unworthy of such dignity, because my dignity is in the heavens. Wherefore I become unworthy of Christ if I fear your threats and sacrifice to demons. Dionysius the governor said: Strike him, saying: Do not answer with boldness and arrogance. Dorymedon said: My boldness is Christ; for his sake I answer with freedom. For it is not I who speak, but the Holy Spirit who speaks in me. Dionysius the governor said: By Æsculapius, impious man, unless you comply with me, I shall throw you, vehemently tormented, to the beasts, for an example to this city. Dorymedon said: By Christ the King of the ages, by tormenting me you shall gain nothing, nor shall you conquer me by your threats: for Christ, whom I serve, helps me.
[13] Dionysius the governor said: Make spits white-hot with fire, he bears himself most bravely. and burn his sides. Dorymedon said: Christ Jesus, be ready against the folly of these men, and come to bring me help, that, while I endure, all these may know that thou alone art God, and no other. Dionysius the governor said: Hang him on the wood, and inflict torments upon him, that we may see whether Christ comes to help him. Dorymedon said: He has both furnished me help and furnishes it to the end, that I may show you that you are vain and serve vain things. Dionysius the governor said: Scrape his sides, saying: Do not affront with insult those who have honored you. Dorymedon said: My honor and dignity is Christ, whom I honor and shall honor to the end. For that temporary dignity will rather harm me and will profit me nothing. Dionysius the governor said: Scrape his sides, saying: Do not answer back so quickly. Dorymedon said: By Christ the Son of God, as long as my soul is in me, I shall not keep silent one word set against your madness. Dionysius the governor said: Let him down from the wood, and set him upon burning coals. Dorymedon said: Both before I said it, and now I say it, that you shall gain nothing by tormenting me: for Christ is able through me to conquer your folly. Dionysius the governor said: Tear out the hair of his head and beard, saying: Those who affront the monarchs with insult suffer these things. Dorymedon said: By Christ the Son of God, who is able to change this season, even if you do worse things than these to me, I shall not deny his name, nor shall I forsake him until death. Dionysius the governor said: Let him be received into prison, that tomorrow he may fight with the beasts, and that through him all who are of that religion may be afraid.
[14] Trophimus being again long tortured, But let the other be set forth, who was sent over by the vicar. Demetrius the assistant of the commentariensis said: Trophimus is here, I beg you. Dionysius the governor said: Obey, Trophimus, and sacrifice, yielding to the mandates of the monarchs. Trophimus said: I have persuaded myself that, just as I was made a Christian, so also I shall depart from this vain life. Dionysius the governor said: Know that, unless you sacrifice, you shall be given as food to the beasts along with Dorymedon, who is like you. Trophimus said: Not only if you deliver us to the beasts, but if to the fire also, we shall not deny God, nor shall we confound the grace of the Christians. For what profit shall we have if in fear we show you reverence? Even if we should still live for a short time, and in this be a mockery, and then be delivered to the gehenna of fire. By the cross of Christ I shall not fear: nor shall I sacrifice to demons, nor shall I forsake the living God. Dionysius the governor, angered, said: Hang him up. And when he was hanging, the governor said again: For what cause or under what pretext do you refuse to sacrifice to the gods, impious man? Are our gods inferior to your God? Do you not know how efficaciously they work, and how great things they foretell? Trophimus said: Do not err, most senseless man. For all those things are fables and the inventions of men. For no one knows the things to come except the true God, as it is written for us. But those gods of yours are clay within and bronze without, and they never lived. Dionysius the governor said: Show me your Scriptures, that we too may read them and may know who your God is, and what his d power is. Trophimus said: Open your heart, and you will find the oracles of my Lord. Dionysius the governor said: Scrape the soles of his feet, saying to him: As the emperors have commanded, so do, and do not be wise beyond measure. Trophimus said: It is you who are wise beyond measure: for by forsaking the God who exists from the beginning, and by adoring your own works, you are wise beyond measure. For since you, taking wood and carving stones, fashion likenesses of men and adore them, your thought is ashes, and the ordering of your life is weaker than wood. Dionysius the governor said: Let him down from the wood, and pierce his eyes with fiery spits. Trophimus said: Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he has deemed me worthy of this grace, that for his name my eyes should be put out. Dionysius the governor said: Let him be received into prison; and rising from the tribunal, he went away to the prætorium, saying to the princeps: I wish tomorrow to see the hunts, and to punish those impious men publicly.
[15] [both martyrs are thrown to the beasts, and these sparing them, they are beheaded.] And rising e he went away to the arena, having also given orders for bringing forth the martyrs of God. When he had taken his seat with the crowd of the people, he ordered the saints to be led in. And when these had been brought into the stadium, the governor signs the impious writing containing their sentence f. Presently a most ferocious she-bear is loosed against them, which came out and ran, and rolled herself at the feet of St. Dorymedon. But Dorymedon, seizing the ears of the bear, dragged her, that being angered she might free him from life g. But the bear was dragged like an innocent lamb, not resisting. But the governor, blazing up, ordered another beast to be loosed. They loosed a leopard, a most ferocious female, which, coming out, licked the wounds of St. Trophimus. While all the people were amazed at what had happened, the female leopard went off to her cage, no harm having been done to the saints. But the governor, angered, and beating the keeper of the beasts with ox-sinews, ordered another beast to be sent out. And he, through fear of the governor, loosed an exceedingly savage lion. When the lion was unwilling to come out of his cage, the summoner went out and called the lion to come forth against the holy martyrs. But the lion, having come out, did not touch the saints; but seizing the gladiator he killed him; and soon returning, he entered into his cage. But the governor, not knowing what to do, inflamed with diabolical anger, ordered two executioners to enter and to cut off the heads of the holy martyrs. And thus the blessed martyrs fell asleep in Christ, in the sacred city of Synnada, on the fourteenth of the Kalends of October, that is, on the eighteenth day of the month of September, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom be glory and dominion and honor and adoration, together with the Father who is without beginning and the life-giving Spirit, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
g. Such
* αὐτοῦ