CONTENTS ΟF BOOK Ι 
 The first book of the Ecclesiastical History
contains the following : 
 I. What are the presuppositions of the Promise. 
 II. Α summary account of the pre-existence of,
and attribution of divinity to, our Saviour
and Lord, the Christ of God. 
 III. How both the name of Jesus and even that of
Christ itself were known from the first and
honoured by the inspired prophets. 
 ΙV. How there was nothing revolutionary or
strange in the character of the religion
announced by him to all the nations. 
 V. Concerning the time of his appearance to men. 
 VI. How in his time in agreement with prophecy
the previous line of ancestral rulers of the
Jewish nation died out, and Herod, the first
foreigner, were their king. 
 VII. Concerning the supposed discrepancy in the
Gospels on the genealogy as to Christ. 
 VIII. Concerning the plot of Herod against the

 
children and the catastrophe which overtook
him in his Ιife. 
 IX. Concerning the times of Pilate. 
 X. Concerning the high priests among the Jews
in whose time the Christ gave his teaching. 
 XI. The evidence relating to John the Baptist and
the Christ. 
 XII. Concerning the disciples of our Saviour. 
 XIII. Α narrative concerning the ruler of the
Edessenes.1

THE ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY OF EUSEBIUS 
 BOOK I I. I. HAVE purposed to record in writing the successions
οf the sacred apostles, covering the period stretching
from our Saviour to ourselves ; the number add
character of the transactions recorded in the history
οf the Church ; the number of those who were distinguished
in her government and leadership in the
provinces οf greatest fame ; the number of those
who in each generation were the ambassadors of
the word of God either by speech οr pen ; the names,
the number and the age of those who, driven by
the desire of innovation to an extremity of error,
have heralded themselves as the introducers of
Knowledge, falsely so-called, ravaging the flock of
Christ unsparingly, like grim wolves. To this I
will add the fate which has beset the whole nation
οf the Jews from the moment of their plot against
οur saviour ; moreover, the number and nature
and times οf the wars waged by the heathen against
the divine word 1 and the character οf those who,
for its sake, passed from time to time through
the contest οf blood and torture ; furthermore the
 

 
martyrdoms of our own time, and the gracious and
favouring help of our Saviour in them all. Μy
starting-point is therefore no other than the first
dispensation of God touching our Saviour and Lord,
Jesus the Christ. Even at that point the project
at once demands the lenience of the kindly, for confessedly
it is beyond our power to fulfil the promise,
complete and perfect, since we are the first to enter
on the undertaking, as travellers on some desolate
and untrodden way. We pray God to give us his
guidance, and that we may have the help of the
power of the Lord, for nowhere can we find even
the bare footsteps of men who have preceded us
in the same path, unless it be those slight indications
by which in divers ways they have left to us partial
accounts of the times through which they have
passed, raising their voices as a man holds up a torch
from afar, calling to us from on high as from a distant
watch-tower, and telling us how we must walk,
and how to guide the course of our work without
error or danger. We have therefore collected from
their scattered memoirs all that we think will be
useful for the present subject, and have brought
together the utterances of the ancient writers themselves
that are appropriate to it, culling, as it were,
the flowers of intellectual fields. We shall endeavour
to give them unity by historical treatment, rejoicing
to rescue the successions, if not of all, at least of
the most distinguished of the apostles of our Saviour
throughout those ehurches of which the fame is
still remembered. To work at this subject Ι consider
especially necessary, because I am not aware

 
that any Christian 1 writer has until now paid
attention to this kind of writing ; and I hope that
its high value will be evident to those who are
convinced of the importance of a knowledge of the
history. Ι have already summarized the material
in the chronological tables which I have drawn up,
but nevertheless in the present work I have undertaken
to give the narrative in full detail. 
 Ι will begin with what, apprehended in relation
to Christ, is beyond man in its height and greatness,
— the dispensation of God, and the ascription of
divinity.2 For he who plans to hand on in writing
the history of Christian origins is forced to begin
from the first dispensation concerning the Christ
himself, which is more divine than it seems to
most, seeing that from him we claim to derive our
very name.

II. Now his nature was twofold ; on the one hand
like the head of the body, in that he is recognized as
God, on the other comparable to the feet, in that he
put on for the sake of our own salvation, man of like
passions with us. Therefore to make our description
of what follows complete we should start the
whole narrative concerning him by the most capital
and dominant points of the discussion. By this
means, moreover, the real antiquity and divine
character of Christianity will be equally demonstrated
to those who suppose that it iS recent and
foreign, appearing no earlier than yesterday. 
 

 
 No treatise, indeed, could be sufficient for a statement
of the origin and dignity, the very bei
nature of the Christ : as indeed the divine spirit
says in prophecies, “ who will declare his generation
? ’’ seeing that neither does any know the
Father save the son, neither did any ever know the
son properly, save οnly the Father who begat him.
nd who except the Father would ever clearly
conceive the ante-mundane light, and that wisdom
which was intellectual and real 1 before the ages,
the living Logos who was, in the beginning, God
by the side of the Father, the first and only offspring
οf God, before all creation and fabrication,2 both
visible and invisible, the captain of the spiritual and
immortal host of heaven, the angel of great counsel,
the minister οf the ineffable plan of the Father,
the fabricator οf all things along with the Father,
the true and only begotten child of God, the Lord
and God and King of all begotten, Who has received
lordship and might together with deity itself, and
power and honour from the Father, according to the
mysterious ascription of divinity to him in the Scriptures,
“ In the beginning was the Logos and the
Logos was with God and the Logos was God, all
things were through him, and without him was no
single thing ’’ ? This, indeed, is also the teaching
of the great Moses, as the most ancient of all prophets,
when by divine inspiration he described the
coming into being, and the ordering of the universe,
that the creator and fabricator of all things gave
up to the Chirst himself, and to no other than his
 
 

 
divine and first-born Logos, the making οf subordinate
thinks and communed with him concerning
the creation of man. “ For,” he says, “ God
let us make man in our own image and likeness.”
Αnοther of the prophets confirms this saying, ascribing
divinity to him in one place in hymns, “ Ηe
spake and they were begotten, he commanded and
they were ” 1 On the one hand he intro-
duces the Father and Maker as a universal sovereign,
commanding by his royal nod, and on the other
the divine Logos — no other than him who is proclaimed
by us — as secondary to him, and ministering
to his Father's commands. Him even from
creation of mankind did all who are said to have
heen pre-eminent in righteousness and virtuous
piety recognize by the contemplation of the pure
eyes of the mind, and pay him the reverence
due to a child of God ; thus did Moses, the great
servant, and his fellows, and even before him
Abraham, the first, and his children, and all the
righteous and prophets who have since appeared ;
and he himself, never wearying of piety toward
the Father, has been a teacher to all men of knowledge
of the Father. Thus the Lord God is said
to have appeared as an ordinary man to Abraham,
while he was seated by the oak of Mamre. But
he fell down immediately, even though he saw him
as a man with his eyes, worshipped him as God,
besought him as Lord, and confessed that he was
not ignorant who he was saying in his own words,
 

 
“O Lord, that judgest all the earth, wilt thou not
do judgement ? ’’ For inasmuch as no reason would
allow that the uncreated and unchangeable substance
οf the Almighty was converted into the form
of man, or deceived the eyes of the beholders by
the phantasm of anything created, or that the Scripture
has falsely invented such a story, who other
could be described as God, and as the Lord who
judges all the earth and does judgement, appearing
in the form of man (seeing that it is improper to
call him the first cause of the universe), than his
pre-existent Logos alone ? Αnd concering him it
was said in the Psalms, “ Ηe sent forth his Logos
and healed them, and he rescued them from their
corruptions.” Of him, too, Μoses clearly
as a second Lord, after the Father, when he says,
“ The Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone
and fire from the Lord. ” Him the divine
Scripture also calls God when he appears in human
form to Jacob, saying to Jacob, “ Thy name shall
no more be called Jacob, but Israel shall be thy
name because thou hadst power with God. ” Then,
too, “ Jacob called the name οf the place ‘the Vision
of God,’ saying, ‘ For I saw God face to face
my life was saved.’ ’’ 1 Αnd it cannot be right
suppose that the Theophanies described were the
appearances of subordinate angels and ministers of
God, for whenever οne οf these appears to men the
scripture does not conceal it, but says definitely
that they are called angels, not God or Lord, as
it is easy to prove from countless passages. Ηim,
too, Joshua, the successor of Moses, calls the chief
captain οf the host of the Lord, as if he were the
 

 
leader of the heavenly angels and archangels, and
the supernal powers, and as if he were of the
power and wisdom of the Father, entrusted with
the second rank in his universal kingdom and rule,
though Joshua, too, saw him in none but human
form and shape. Ιt is written at least, “ And it
eame to pass, while Joshua was in Jericho that he
looked up and saw a man standing over against
him, and his sword was drawn in his hand, and
Joshua went to him and said, Αrt thou for us or
for our adversaries ? Αnd he said to him, As chief
captain of the host of the Lord am Ι now come.
Αnd Joshua fell on his face on the earth, and said
to him, Lord, what dost thou command thy servant ?
And the chief captain of the Lord said to Joshua,
Loose thy shoe from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is a holy place.” Here, too,
you will perceive from the words themselves that
this is none other than he who spoke also to Moses,
for of him also the Scripture uses the same words,
“ And when the Lord saw that he drew night to see,
the Lord called him out of the bush saying, Moses,
Moses. And said, What is it ? And he said,
Do not draw near here. Loose thy shoe from off
thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is
holy ground. And he said to him, I am the God
of thy Father, the God of Abraham, and God of
Isaac and God of Jacob.” And that there really
a certain being living and existent before the world,
who ministered to the Father and God of the universe
for the fabrication of all created things, called

 
the Logos and Wisdom of God, can be learned from
he actual person of Wisdom herself, in addition to
the preceding proofs, for in one place she tells her
own secret very clearly through Solomon, “ Ι, Wisdom,
made Counsel my habitation and I invoked Knowledge
and Thought ; through me kings reign, and
the mighty inscribe justice ; by me great men are
magnified, and sovereigns rule the earth through
me.” Αnd to this she adds, ‘‘ The Lord created
as the beginning of his ways for his works ; he
established me before the world ; in the beginning,
before the making of the earth, before the springs
οf water came forth, before the mountains were
founded, and before all hills, he begat me. When
he prepared the heaven, I was present with him,
and when he made safe the springs which are
under heaven, I was with him giving them order.
I was she in whom he rejoiced daily and I exulted
before him at all times, when he exulted that he
bad completed the world.” Thus let this be
short proof that the divine Logos pre-existed, and
appeared to some, if not to all, men. 
 It must now be demonstrated why this announcement
was not formerly made, long ago, to all men
and all nations, as it is now. The life of men in the
past was not capable οf receiving the complete
wisdom and virtue of the teaching of Christ. For
at the beginning, after the first life in blessedness,
the first man, despising the command of God, fell
at once to this mortal and perishable life, and
exchanged the former divine delights for this earth

 
with its curse ; and after him those who filled all
our world were manifestly much worse, withy the
exception of one or two, and chose some brutal
habit of life, unworthy of the name. They gave no
thought to city or state, to art or knowledge, they
had not even the name of laws and decrees or virtue
and philosophy, but they lived as nomads in the
wildernesses like savage and unbridled being ; they
destroyed by their excess of self-chosen wickedness
the natural reasonings, and the germs οf thought
and gentleness in the human soul ; they gave themselves
up completely to all iniquity so that at one
time they corrupted one another, at another they
murdered οne another, at another they were cannibals;
they ventured on conflicts with God and on
the battles οf the giants famous among all men ;
they thought to wall up the earth to heaven, and
in the madness of a perverted mind prepared for
war against the supreme God himself. while they
were leading this life, God, the guardian of all,
pursued them with floods and conflagrations, as
though they had been a wild forest scattered throughout
the whole earth ; he cut them off with perpetual
famines and plagues, by wars and by thunderbolts
from οn high, as if he were restraining by bitter
chastisement some terrible and grievous disease of
their souls. Then, indeed, when the great flood
οf evil had come nigh overwhelming all men, like a
terrible intoxication overshadowing and darkening
the souls οf almost all, the first-begotten and firstcreated
Wisdom of God, the pre-existent Logos
himself, in his exceeding kindness appeared to his
subjects, at one time by a vision οf angels, at another

 
personally to one or two of the God-fearing men
of old, as a saving power οf God, yet in no other
form than human, for they could not receive him
otherwise. 
 But when the seeds of true religion had been
strewn by them among a multitude of men, and a
whole nation, sprung from the Hebrews, existed on
earth, cleaving to true religion, he handed on to them,
through the prophet Moses, images and symbols
οf a certain mysterious sabbath and of circum.
cision and instruction in οther spiritual principles,
but not unveiled initiation itself, for many of them
had still been brought up in the old practices. Their
Law became famous and spread among all men like
a fragrant breeze. Beginning with them the minds
of most οf the heathen were softened by the law
givers and philosophers who arose everywhere.
Savage and unbridled brutality was changed to mild,
ness, so that deep peace, friendship, and mutual
intercourse obtained. Then, at last, when all men,
even the heathen throughout the world, were now
fitted for the benefits perpared for them beforehand,
for the reception of knowledge of the Father,
then again that same divine and heavenly Logos of
God, the teacher of virtues, the minister of the
Father in all good things, appeared at the beginning
οf the Roman Εmpire through man. In nothing
did he change our nature as touching bodily substance;
his acts and sufferings were such as were
consistent with the prophecies which foretell that
man and God shall live together to do marvellous

 
deeds, and to teach to all Gentiles the worship of
the Father, and that the marvel of his birth and his
new teaching and the wonder of his deeds will be
made manifest together with the manner of his
death and resurrection from the dead, and, above
all, his divine restoration to Heaven. Daniel the
prophet, in a moment of inspiration, saw by the
divine spirit his final sovereignty, and describes the
vision of God in human wise : “ For I beheld,”
said, “ until thrones were set and an Ancient of
Days did sit. Αnd his garment was white like
snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool ;
his throne was a flame of fire, his wheels were
flaming fire, a river of fire ran before him, thousand
thousands ministered unto him and ten thousand
times ten thousand stood before him, the judgement
sat, and books were ” Αnd he goes on to
say, “ I beheld, and lo, one like to a son of man
coming with the clouds of Heaven, and he came to
the Ancient of Days and was brought before him.
Αnd to him was given the sovereignty and honour
and kingdom, and all the people, tribes, and tongues
shall serve him. His power is an everlasting power,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall
not be destroyed.” Clearly this would apply
none but our Saviour, the God-Logos who was in
the beginning with God, called “ son of man ’’
because of his ultimate incarnation. However,
since we have collected in special treatises the

 
prophetic utterances concerning our Saviour Jesus
ist, and in others have given a fuller demonation
οf our statements concerning him, we will
t content in the present work with what has now
en said.

III. It is now time to demonstrate that the very
es “Jesus, ” and especially “Christ, ”
honour by the ancient God-loving prophets themelves.
Moses was himself the first to recognize
w peculiarly august and glorious is the name of
hrist, when he delivered the tradition of the types
d symbols of heavenly things, and the mysterious
ages, in accordance with the oracle which said
him, “ See thou shalt make all thins according
the type which was shown thee in the mount ’’ ;
r in describing the Ηigh Ρriest οf God as a man
supreme power, he calls him Christ, and, as a
mark of honour and glory, surrounds with the name
Christ this rank οf the High Priesthood, which
with him surpassed all pre-eminence among men.
us then he knew the divine character of “Christ.
e himself also was inspired very clearly to foresee
e title “Jesus, ” and it again he endued with
rivilege. Though before it was made known to
oses it had never been previously pronounced
men, Moses gave the title, Jesus, to him first,
d to him alone, who, once more typically and
bolically, he knew would receive the rule οver
after his death. His successor, at any rate, had
οt previously used the title “Jesus, ” but was
y another name, “ Αuses,’’ which his parents had
iven him, and Moses calls him Jesus, as a precious
ivilege greater than any royal crown, giving to

 
him the name because Jesus the son of Nave1
himself bore the image οf οur Saviour who alone,
after Moses and the completion of the symbolic
worship 2 delivered by Moses, did receive the rule of
the true and pure religion. In this way Moses as a
mark of the greatest honour surrounds with the name
of our Saviour Jesus Christ the two men who in
his day excelled all the people in virtue and glory
— the Ηigh Ρriest and him who should rule after
him. Clearly, too, did the later prophets foretell
the Christ by name, giving their testimony beforehand
alike to the future intrigue οf the people of
the Jews against him, and to the calling οf the
Gentiles through him. At one time Jeremiah says,
“ The spirit of our face, Christ the Lord was taken
in their corruptions, and we said we will live in his
shadow among the ” Αt another time
David in perplexity says as follows, “ Wherefore
did the heathen rage, and the peoples imagine vain
things ? The kings of the earth stood up, and the
rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and
against his ” In the following verses he
goes on to speak in the person of Christ himself,
“The Lord said to me, Thou art my son, to-day have
I begotten thee. Αsk of me and I will give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession.” Ηowever
was not only those that were honoured with the
Ηigh Priesthood, and anointed for the sake of the
symbol with prepared οil, that were decorated
among the Hebrews with the name “ Christ ’’ ; but
 

 
also the kings, for they also, at the bidding of God,
re made Christs in a certain symbolism by the
rophets who anointed them, inasmuch as they also
re in themselves the types οf the royal and
vereign power οf the οnly true Christ, the divine
gos who reigns over all. we have also received
he tradition that some οf the prophets themselves
by anointing already become Christs in type,
eing that they all refer to the true Christ, the
ivine and heavenly Logos, οf the world the only
igh Priest, οf all creation the οnly king, of the
rophets the only archprophet of the Father. The
roof of this is that no οne of those symbolically
ointed of old, whether priests or kings οr prophets,
tained such power οf divine virtue as our Saviour
d Lord, Jesus, the only real Christ, has exhibited.
one indeed of them, though renowned in rank
nd honour for so many generations among their
people, ever gave the name of Christian to their
bjects from the symbolical application to themlves
of the name of Christ. The honour of worship
as not paid to any of them by their subjects, nor
d they hold them in such affection after their
eath as to be ready to die for him whom they
noured. For none of the men of those days
as there such disturbance of all the nations throught
all the world, since the power οf the symbol
was incapable οf producing such an effect among them
the presence of the reality manifested by our
viour ; for he received from none the symbol and
of the Ηigh Priesthood, nor did he trace his

 
physical descent from the race οf priests, nor was
he promoted to a kingdom by the armed force οf
men, nor did he become a prophet in the same way
as those οf οld, nor did he hold any rank at all or
precedence among the Jews, yet with all these he
had been adorned, not in symbols, but in actual
reality by the Father. Though he did not obtain
the honours οf which we have spoken before, he is
called Christ more than any of them, and inasmuch
as he is himself the only true Christ of God, he filled
the whole world with Christians — his truly reverend
and sacred name. He no longer gave to his initiates
types or images but the uncovered virtues themselves
and the heavenly life, in the actual doctrines
οf truth, and he has received the chrism, not that
which is prepared materially 1 but the divine anointing
itself with the spirit of God, by sharing in the unbegotten
divinity of the Father. Again, Isaiah teaches
this very point, for in one place he exclaims as if
from Christ himself, “ The spirit of the Lord was
upon me, wherefore he anointed me : he sent me
to preach the gospel to the poor, to announce release
to prisoners, and sight to the blind.” 2 Αnd
οnly Isaiah but also David speaks with reference to
him and says, “ Thy throne, o God, is for ever
and ever, a rod of uprightness is the rod of thy
kingdom. Thou didst love righteousness and didst
hate iniquity. For this cause God, even thy God,
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
” In this the text calls him God in the
first verse, and in the second honours him with the
royal sceptre, and then goes on, after royal and
 
 

 
divine power, to present him in the third place
as having become Christ, anointed not with oil
ade of material substances but with the divine
“ οil οf gladness.” Αnd in addition to this
dicates his peculiar distinction and superiority
to those who in the past had been more materially
anointed as types.1 And in another plaee too the
same David explains his position as follows : “ The
Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy
eet.” Αnd, “ Before the day-star I begat
from the womb. The Lord sware and will not repent,
ou art a priest for ever after the οrder of Melchisedek.”
Νοw this Melchisedek is introduced in
he sacred books as priest of the most high God,
ithout having been so marked out by any material
ction, or even as belonging by racial descent to
e priesthood οf the Ηebrews. For this reason οur
aviour has been called Christ and priest, on the
uthority of an οath, according to his order and not
according to that of the others Who received symbols
nd types. For this reason, too, the narrative does
ot relate that he was anointed physically by the
ews or even that he was or the tribe of those who
old the priesthood, but that he received his being
m God himself before the day-star, that is to
y, before the construction οf the world, and holds
is priesthood to boundless eternity, ageless and
ortal. Α weighty and clear proof of the
aterial 2 and divine anointing effected on him
that he alone, out of all who have ever yet been
 

 
until now, is called Christ among all men throughout
the whole whole; that under this title he is confessed
and borne witness to by all, and is mentioned
thus by Jews, Greeks, and barbarians; that until
is present day he is honoured honoured by his worshippers
throughout the world as king, wondered at more
an a Ρrophet, and glorified as the true and only
High Priest οf God, and, above all, as the Logos of
God, pre-existent, having his being before all ages,
and having received the right οf reverence from
the Father, and that he is worshipped as God.
Strangest of all, we who have been consecrated to
him, honour him not οnly with our voices and with
the sound of words, but with the whole disposition
of our soul, so as to value testimony to him more
than our very life itself.

IV. Let these observations suffice me, as needed
before beginning the history, that no one might
think or our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ, as a
novelty because of the date of his ministry in the
either was new and strange, inasmuch as it was put
together by a youth no better than the rest of men,
come, let us discuss this point briefly. For when
the advcnt of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, reeently
shone forth on all men, it was confessedly a new
race which has thus appeared in such numbers, in
accordance with the ineffable prophecies of the date,
and is honoured by all by the name of Christ, but
it is not little nor weak, nor founded in some obscure
corner οf the earth, earth, but the most populous of all
and invincible in that it ever finds help from God. 

 
 It was at this that one of the prophets was amazed
when, by the eye of the divine spirit, he foresaw the
future which was to be, so that he exclaimed, “Who
heard these things and who spoke thus? Did the
earth travail in one day, and was a nation born at
once ?” Αnd the same writer also indicates in one
place its future title, saying, “Αnd a new name shall
be called on those who serve me, which shall be blessed
on the earth.” But even if we are clearly new,
and this really fresh name of Christians is recently
known among all nations, nevertheless our life and
method of conduet, in accordanee with the precepts
of religion, has not been recently invented by us,
but from the first creation of man, so to speak, has
been upheld by the natural concepts of the men
of old who were the friends of God, as we will here
demonstrate. The race of the Hebrews is not new
and is itself well known to all. Now, stories and
documents belonging to it concern ancient men,
few and scarce in number, yet remarkable for piety
and righteousness and for all other virtues. Divers
οf them, indeed, were before the flood, and after it
were others, and, (to say nothing of the children
and descendants of Νoah), especially Αbraham,
whom the children of the Hebrews boast as their
οwn originator and ancestor. If the line be traced
back from Αbraham to the first man, anyone who
should describe those who have obtained a good
testimony for righteousness, as Christians in fact,

 
if not in name, would not shoot wide of the truth.
Fοr the name signifies that through the knowledge
of Christ and his teaching the Christian man excels
sobriety and righteousness, in control of life and
courageous virtue, and in the confession that God
ver all is but one; and for zeal in all this they
are not inferior to us. They had no care for bodily
circumcision any more than we, nor for the keekping
Sabbaths any more than we, nor for abstinenee 
from certain foods nor the distinction between others
(such as Moses afterwards first began to hand down
their successors) nor for symbolic ceremony any
more than christians care for such things now, but
they clearly knew him as the Christ of God, seeing
at it has aheady been demonstrated that he
peared to Αbraham, addressed Isaac, spoke to
srael, and conversed with Moses and the later
prophets. Whence you would find that those Godlving
men obtained even the name οf Christ accordto
the word spoken concerning them, “ Touch
not my Christs and act not wickedly among my prophets.”
So that it must cleariy be held that the
announcement to all the Gentiles, recently made
through the teaching of Christ, is the very first
and most aneient and antique discovery of true
religion by Αbraham and those lovers of God who
followed him. Αnd even if they say that Αbraham
it has been related that, before this command, he
received a good testimony for righteousness through
faith, as the divine word says, “Αnd Αbraham be-
 

 
lieved God and it was reckoned to him for ”
Αnd to him, just as he was, before circumcision,
was the oraele given by the God who showed
himself to him (and this was the Christ himself, the
word of God), concerning those who in time to come
would be justified in the same manner as himself,
in the following promise, “ Αnd in thee shall all the
tribes of the earth be ” and, “ It shall be a
great and numerous nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in ” Νow this is
obviously intelligible as fulffiled in us ; for it was
by faith towards the Logos of God, the Christ who
had appeared to him, that he was justified, and
gave up the superstition οf his fathers, and his
rmer erroneous life, and confessed the God who
is over all to be one ; and him he served by virtuous
deeds, not by the worship of the law of Moses,
ho eame later. To him, just he was then, was
t said that all the tribes of the earth and all the
nations 1 will be blessed in him ; and more clearly than
auy words do faets show that at the present moment
it is only among Christians throughout the whole
world that the manner of religion which was
braham's can actually be found in practice. What
bjection then can there be to admitting that the
fe and pious conduct of us, who belong to Christ,
and οf the God-loving men οf old is one and the same?
us we have demonstrated that the practice of
ty handed down by the teaching of Christ is not
ew strange, but, if one must speak truthfully,
rimitive, unique, and true. Αnd let this suffice.

v. So then, after the neeessary preliminaries to
the history of the Church proposed by us, let us
begin, as if starting a journey, with the appearanee
οf our Saviour in the flesh, after invoking God, the
Father of the Logos, and Jesus Christ himself, our
Saviour and Lord, the heavenly Logos of God, to
give us help and assistance to truth in the narra-
(??)ive. It was, then, the forty-second year of the
reign of Augustus, Augustus,1 and the twenty-eighth year after
the submission of Egypt and the death of Αntony
and Cleopatra (and with her the Egyptian dynasty
of the Ptolemies came to an end), when our Saviour
and Lord Jesus Christ, in aecordance with the
prophecies concerning him, was born in Bethlehem
of Judaea at the time of the census which then hrst
took place, while Quirinus was Governor of Syria.
This census in the time of Quirinius,2 Flavius
Josephus, the most famous of the historians among
the Hebrews, also mentions, and joins to the narrative
another coneerning the seet of the Galileans which
arose at the same time. Our own Luke has also
mentioned this in one place in the Acts, saying
“ Αfter this man arose Judas the Galilean, in the

 
days or the census, and led away the people after
him and he perished and all who obeyed him were
” In agrecment with this, in the eighteenth
book of the Antiquities the writer referred to also
gives the following detaih : “ Αnd Quirinius, one of
those called to the Senate, who had filled the
οther offices and passed through all of them to
become Consul, and was otherwise οf high rank,
reached Syria with a small staff, having been sent
by caesar to administer the people and to make
a valuation of their ” And a little later
he says, “ Αnd Judas, the Gaulonite, of the city
called Gamala, took With him Zadok, a Pharisee,
and insugated a revolt, for they said that the
valuation led to nothing but plain slavery, and they
called on the Ρeοple to rally for ” Αnd in
he second book of the History of the Jenuish War
te writes concerning the same man, “ At this time
a Galielean called Judas incited the inhabitant to
revolt, calling them cowards to suffer the payment
οf tribute to the Romans, and after serving God
to endure mortal ’’ So far Josephus.

VI. Νow at this time, when Ηerod was the first
foreigner to hold the sovereignty of the Jewish
nation, the prophecy made through Moses that “ A
rule shall not fail from Judah nor a leader from his
loins until he come for whom it is reserved ’’ 1 began
be fulmled. Moses also shows that this one will
the “ expectation of the ” Obviously
the terms of the prediction were unfulfilled so long
 

 
as it was possible for the Jews to live under the
native rulers of the nation, beginning with Moses
himself and lasting down to the reign of Augusturs;
hut in his time the first foreigner, Ηerod, was
entrusted by the Romans with the govemment οf
the Jews. Ηe was, as Josephus relates, an Idumaean
οn his father's side and an Αrab on his mother's,
but according to Αffieanus (nor was he any ordinary
historian) those Who give accurate information
concerning Herod say that Antipater (he was his
father) Was the son οf a certain Ηerod of Ascalon,
and οne οf those called hierodouloi 1 in the temple
of Αpοllο. This Αntipater was eaptured as a child
by Idumaean brogands, and stayed with them
because his father Was unable on aeeount of poverty
to pay ransom for him. Ηe was brought up in their
customs and later οn was befriended hy Hyrcanus
the high priest of the Jews. Ηis child was the
Herod of our Saviour's time. When therefore the
kingdom of the Jews came to sueh a man as this
the expectation of the Gentiles, in accordance with
the propheey, was already at the door, inasumuch
as the succession from Moses of rulers and governors
ceased with him. Before their captivity and
removal to Babylon, kings had ruled them, beginning
with Saul, the nrSt king, and David ; and before
the kings, rulers called judges administered them
and these began after Moses and his suecessor,
Joshua. After the return from Babylon a constitution
οf olgarchic aristocracy was continuous (for the
 

 
priests were at the head οf affairs), until Pompey,
a Roman general, attacked Jerusalem, besieged it
in force, and demed the holy places by intruding
into the secret parts of the temple. Ηe sent to
Rome as a prisoner with his children the king and
high priest, Aristobulus by name, who had contunued
the succession of his ancestors until then.
To Hyrcanus, the brother of Aristobulus, he handed
over the high-priesthood, but made the whole nation
οf the Jews from that time tributary to the Romans.
As soon as Hyrcanus, the last to whom belonged
the high-priestly succession, was taken prisoner by
the Parthians, Ηerοd, the Rrst foreigner, as I just
sriald, was entrurted with the nation of the Jews
by the senate of the Romans and the Εmperοr
Αugustus. The advent of Christ clearly came
in his time, and thus the expected salvation and
camng of the Gentiles followed consistently with
the prophecy moreover, from the time when the
rulers and govemors from Judah, that is to say
those of the Jewish race, had ceased, immediate
confusion naturally ensued in the affairs οf the priesthood
which passed steaffidlly to the nearest heirs from
generation to generation from the ancestors. Of this,
too, you have Josephus as a valuable witness, for
be explains how Ηerod, when he was entrurted with
thc kingdom b y the Romans, no longer appointed
tigh priests of the ancient race but assigned the
honour to certain obscure persons ; and that Ηerοd’s
policy with regard to the appointment of the priests
was followed by his son Archelaus, and after him by
the Romans, when they took over the govemment
the Jews. The same writer explains how Ηerοd

 
was the nrst to lock up and keep under his own seal
the sacred robe οf the high Ρriest, for he no longer
allowed the high priests to keep it in their own
charge, and his successor, Archelaus, and after him
the Romans, pursued the same policy. These facts
may also serve us as proof of the rulmment οf
anothcr prophecy on the manifestation of our Sariour
Jesus Christ. It is quite obrious that in Daniel
the text dennes the number of certain weeks, which
1 have treated of elsewhere, in so many words as
“ until Christ the ” and prophesies that after
the accomplishment of these weeks the anointing
among the Jews shall be destroyed. The fulmment
of this at the time of the birth of our saviour
Jesus Christ is clearly demonstrated. These points
must suffice as preliminary observations necessary
to establish the truth ofthe date.

VII. since Marthew and Luke, having given us
different traditions in their gospels concerning the
genealogy οf Christ, are eonsidered by many to
disargee; ; and since each of the faithful in ignoranee
of the truth has been Ζealous in making guesses
on these passages, come, let us set out the
story that has reached us concerning them, whieh
the Africanus mentioned by uS a short time ago
narrated in a letter which he wrpte to Aristides on
the harmony of the genealogies in the Gospels,
confuting the opinions of others as forced and
fictitious and setting out his own traditions in the
following words : “ Since the names of the families
in Israel were numbered either by nature or by law;

 
by nature, in the succession of legitimate birth ;
by law, when a man begat children in the name of
a brother who had died childless; for because no
certain hope of resurrection had as yet been given
they portrayed the future promise by a mortal
resurrection, in order that the name of him who had
passed away might not fail to remain. since them
by following this kind Of genealogy some succeeded
in the legitimate order of father and son, but others
Were reckoned in name to one father though the
children of another, the memory of both was retained,
both of the actual and of the fictitious
parents. Thus neither of the Gospels misstates,
reckonig both nature and law. For the two families,
the one descended from Solomon and tlle other from
Νathan, Were connected with each other by the
‘ resurrections’ 1 of the childless and second
marriages and the rairing up of seed, so that the
same persons eould be correetly regarded as the
children of different persons at different times, either
of their fictitious or of their real fathers. Thus both
accounts are strictly true in coming down to Joseph
in a manner complicated but accurate. In οrder that
What has been said may be clear I will explain the
relation of the families. 2 Reckoning the generations
from David through Solomon the third from

 
the end iS found to be Matthan who begat Jacob
the father of Joseph; but from Νathan, the son οf
David, according to Luke, the corresponding
from the end is Melchi; for Joseph as a son or
Εli the son of Melchi. So then fixing our attention
on Joseph, it must be demonstrated how each is
called hiS father, Jaeob traeing his family from
Solomon and Eli from Nathan, and how first they,
that is Jaeob and Eh, were tWo brothers, and, still
earlier, how their fathers, Matthan and Melchi,
belonging to different families, are represented as
the grandfathers or Joseph. Now Mathan and
Melchi, inasmuch as they took the same wife, were
the fatherS of step-brothers, for the law doeS not
prevent a woman who has lost her husband either by
her own divorce or by his death from being married
to another. Now from Estha, ror this is the traditional
name of the Woman, first Mattan, who
reekoned his deseent from solomon, begat Jaeob
and when Μatthan was dead, Melchi, who traced
himself by family to Νathan, took his widow, for he
was of the same tribe though of another family,
as I said before, and had a son, Eli. Thus We shall
find that though the two families were different
Jaeob and Eli were step-brothers of the same mother,
and the Brst of them, Jacob, when his brother Eli
died without children, took his wife, and begat of
her the third, 1 Joseph, according to nature, for
himself (and so also according to reason, for which
cause it is written, ‘ And Jacob begat Joseph’),
but according to law he was the son of Eli, for
to him Jacob, being his brother, raised up
 

 
seed. Wherefore the genealogy concerning him
will not be inaccurate. Matthew, the evangelist,
reckoned it in this way, saying, ‘ Αnd Jacob begat
’ but Luke, on the other hand, said, ‘Who
waS, aS it was supposed’ (for he addS this
‘ the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Melchi,’
for if was impossible to eXpress legal descent more
pointedly, and up to the end he suppressed the
word ‘ begat ’ concerning sueh raising of children, for
he traces the list back to its Source with Αdam
the Son of God.’ This is neither deVoid of
nor is it conjecture, for the human relatives of the
Saviour have handed on this tradition, either from
family pride, or merely to give information, but in
any case speaking the truth. When Idumaean
brigands attacked the city of Ascalon in Palestine
among their other spoils they took away captive
from the temple of Αpollo, which Was built on the
walls, Antipater the child of a certain Herod, a
hierodoulos, and since the priest was unable to pay
ransom for his son, Antipater was brought up in
the customs of the Idumaeans and later was befriended
friended by Hyrcanus the high priest of Judaea.
When sent on a mission to Ρompey on behalf of
Hyrcanus he Won for him the freedom of the kingdom
which had been taken away by his brother Aristobulus,
and so was himself fortunate enough to gain
the title of overseer of Palestine. Antipater was
assassinated from envy of his great good fortune,
and succeeded by a son Ηerod, 1 who later was
appointed by Antony and by decree of the august
senate to be king of the Jews. His children were
Ηerod 2 and the other tetrarchs. So much is shared
 

 
with the histories οf the Greeks also. But somce the
Hebrew families and those traceable to proselytes,
such as Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess,
and the mixed families which had come out of
Egypt, had until then been enrolled in the archives,
herod, beeause the family οf the Israelites contriuted
nothing to him, and because he was goaded
by his own eouseiousness of his base birth, burned
the records of their families, thinking to appear
hoble if no one else was able by public documents
to traee his family to the patriarchs οr proselytes,
οr to the so-called gers 1 of mixed descent. Now
a few who were careful, having private records for
themselves, either remembering the names or
otherwise deriving them from copies, gloried in
the preservation of the memory of their good birth ;
among these were those mentioned above, called
desposyni, beeause οf their relation to the family
of the Saviour, 2 and from the Jewish villages of
Nazareth and Cochaba they traversed the rest of
the land and expounded the Preceding genealogy
οf their deseent, and from the book of Chronicles
so far as they went. 3 whether this be so οr
not no one could give a clearer account, in my
opinion and in that of all well-disposed persons, and
it may suffice us even though it is not corroborated,
since we have nothing berter or truer to say : in
any case the gospel speaks the ’’ Αnd at
the end of the same letter Αfricanus adds this :
Matthan of the line of Solomon begat Jacob. 4 On
 
 
 
 

 
the death of Μatthan, Melchi of the line of Νathan
begat Eli from the same woman. Thus Eli and Jacob
vere step-brothers with the same mother. When Eli
died without children, Jacob raised up seed for him,
begetting Joseph as his oWn natural son but rile legal
Son of Eli. Thus Joseph was son of both.”
far Africanus. Νow Since this was the nature of the
genealogy of Joseph, it is potential proof that Μary
belonged to the Same tribe as he, seeing that according
to the law of Moses, it was not lawful for the
different tribes to mix, for the command is given
to join in marriage with one of the same people
and same family, in order that the inheritance of
the raee might not be ehanged from tribe to tribe.
Thus let this suffice on this point.

VIII. Νow when Christ was born, in accordanee
with the prophecy, at Bethlehem of Judaea at the
time mentioned, Ηerod was asked by the Μagi
from the East where might he be who μ’ born
king of the jews, for they had seen his star, and
this had been the eause of their long journey in
their zeal to worship the infant as God. The
request caused him to be not a lttle disturbed at
the situation for, as he thought, his sovereignty
was in danger. Ηe therefore inquired from the
teaehers of the Law among the people where they
expeeted the Christ to be born, and when he learnt
the propheey of Micah, foretelling that it should be
in Bethlehem, he gave a comprehensive order to
put to death all the infants which were being nursed
in Bethlehem and the whole neighbourhood, of two
years old and less, aeeording to the time indicated

 
to him by the Magl; supposing, as was natural, that
Jesus also would enjoy the same fate as the children
οf his age. Ηowever the child forestalled the plot
hy being taken to Εgypt, as by the manifestation
of an angel his parents had learned beforehand
what was to happen. This is also taught by the
sacred scripture of the Gospel, but it is worth
noticing in this connexion the result of the crime
of Ηerod against the Christ and the children of his
age ; for immediately, without even a short delay,
the justice of God overtook him while he was still in
life, showing the prelude of what awaited him when
he had passed hence. It is not now possible even to
give a summary list of the ways by which he darkened
what were reckoned the glories οf his reign, by the
successive misfortunes of his house, by the foul murder
οf wife and children and of the rest who were closest
to him in family and in affection ; for the shadows
in their story, whieh Josephus haS narrated at
length in the history of Ηerod, are darker than any
in tragic drama. But it is well to hear from the
words of that writer how, from the moment of the
plot against our saviour and the other innocents,
a scourge sent from God seized him and drove him
to death. Ιn the seventeenth book of the Jeruish
Antiquities he writers of the catastrophe of Herod's life
in this way : “ But in Ηerod disease kept growing
ever more cruel as God exacted punishment for his
crimes. For there was a slow hre which ffid not give
much indication to those who touched him οf the

 
burning which within was increasing his evil plight,
and an awful desire for nourishment, which could
not be ministered to, and ulceration of the intestines,
and especially awful pain in the colon, and a moist
and transparent dropsy in his feet ; similar too was
an inflammation of the bladder, and even mortification
of the genitals breeffing worms. There was
also a shrill acceleration of his breathing, and this
was very offensive from the nature of the discharge
and rapidity of hisbreath. Ηe was convulsed in every
part with intolerable severity. 1 Thus it was said
by those who looked on, and had the wisdom to
pronounce οn these things, that God was exacting
this penalty from the king for his many impieties.” 
 The writer mentioned above gives this account in
the treatise quotedI and in the seeond book of the
Jeruish Wars he gives a similar traffition, writing
as follows : 
 “Then the ffisease spread through his Whole body,
and attacked each part with divers sufferings.
The fever rose, there was intolerable itching of the
whole surtace, incessant pain in the colon, his feet
were swollen as though with dropsy, there was inflammation
of the bladder, and gangrene of the genitals,
breeffing worms. In addition to this, hiS breathing
was ffiffieult and impossible if he lay down, and
there Were spasms in every limb, so that the divines
said that his illness was a punishment. Yet though
he was struggling with such great suffering he still
elung to life hoping for health and thinking of
cure. So he crossed the Jordan and took the warm
baths at ë which flow out into the Dead
 

 
Sea but are sweet and drinkable. There it was
dccided by his physicians to warm up his whole body
with hot oil by letting it down into a tub full of oil,
but he eollapsed and turned up his eyes as though
dying. Disturbauce arose among the attendants
and he eame back to his sufferings, but for the
future gave up hope of cure and οrdered Rfty
drachmas each to be distributed to the soldiers and
much money to the govemors and his friends.
Ηe then retumed and reached Jerieho, full of melancholy
and seareely refraining from the threat οf
suicide. nut he gained strength enough to plan one
more execrable crime ; for he brought together
the notables from every village from all Judaea and
commanded them to be shut up in the so-called
Hippordrome. He then summoned salome, Salome, his siter,
and her husband, Αlexas, and said, ‘ Ι know that
the Jews celebrate celebrate my death with festivity,
but I can be mourned by others and have a splendid
funeral if you are willing to administer my commands.
Station solffiers around these men who are
shut up, and as soon as I expire kill them with all
speed, that all Judaea and every house may weep
over me even against its will.’ ’’ Αfter a little
Josephus says : “ Later on, racked by lack of food
and a convulsive cough, the pains he felt urged him
to anticipate fate. Ηe took an apple and asked for
a knife, for it was his custom to peel it and eat it.
nen, having turned round, leSt there should be
any to prevent him, he raised his right hand aS if
he were going to stab ” Moreover, the
same historian relates that he ordered the murder
οf another legitimate son before the end of his life,

 
making the third in addition to the two others
already put to death, and immeffiately gave up
his life, torn by great agony. such was the end of
Ηerοd : he paid a just penalty for the children that
he murdered at Bethlehem foi the sake of his plot
against our saviour. Αfter this an angel appeared
in a dream to Joseph, who was stying in Egypt, and
commanded him to return to Judaea with the child
and his mother, and announeed that those who sought
the life οf the little child were dead. The evangelist
continues by saying, “ Νοw when he heard that
Archelaus was king in the room οf Herod his father,
he was afraid to depart there, and, being warned in
a dream, retired to the ffistriets of Galilee.”

IX. The historian already mentioned corroborates
thc aceession to power of Archelaus after Herod,
describing both the way in which he succeeded to
the kingdom of the jews by the testaments of
Ηerod his father and the deeision of Caesar Augustus,
and how, when he fell from power after ten years,
his οthers Philip and the younger Ηerod, together
with Lysanias, administered their own tetrarchies. 
 In the eighteenth book of the Antiquities the Same
Josephus explains how Pontius Pilate was given the
administration οf Judaea in the twelfth year of
Tiberius (for he had succeeded to universal sovereignty
after Αugustus had held the government
for fifty-seven years), and for ten whole years he
remained in office, almost until the death Tiberius. 

 
 So that there is clear proof of the forgery of those
who recently or formerly have issued a series of
Pilate's Reports 1 about our Savious; for in them
the dates mentioned convict the forgers of untruth.
They relate that the crime of the Saviour's death
fell in the fourth consulship of Tiberius, which
as the seventh year of his reign, but at that time
it has been shown that Pilate was not yet in charge
of Judaea, if Josephus may be used as a witness,
for he clearly shows, in the writing quoted from him
above, that it was aetually in the twelfth year of the
reign of Tiberius that Pilate was appointed procurator
of Judaea by Tiberius.

X. In the time of these rulers them, according to
the evangelist, when Tiberius Caesar was in the
fifteenth year of his reign and Pontius Pilate the
fourth of his governorship, and Herod, Lysanias, and
Philip were tetrarchs of the rest of Judaea, our Saviour
and Lord, Jesus the Christ of Good, “ beginning to
be about thirty years old” came to the baptism of
John and there began the proclamation of the gospel. 
The divine Scripture says that he completed
the whole time of his teaching while Annas and
Caiaphas were high priest, 3 showing that the
 

 
whole time Of his teaehing Was bOunded by the
years whieh cover their administration. since,
then, he began in the high priesthood of Annas
and continued to the reign of Caiaphas the intervening
time does not not to a full four years.
For since the regulations of the law were at that
time already in process of destruction the rule had
been relaxed by which the duties of the service of
God were held for life and by inherited succession,
and the Roman goversors entrusted the high priesthood
at different times to different men, who did not
hold this office for more than one year. Moreover
Josephus relates that four high priests intervened in
succession between Annas and Caiaphas, and speaks
as follows in the text of the Antiquities: 
 “Valerius Gratus, having deprived Ananus of the
priesthood, as as high Ρriest Ishmael the
son of Phabi. Ηim, too, he removes shortly and
nominates as high priest Eliezer thc son or Ananus
the high priest. But when a year vas past he
removes him also and hands over the high priesthood
to Simon the son of Kamithus. But neither
did his tenure of office last for more than a year,
and Josephus, who is also called Caiaphas, was his
” Thus the whole time of the teaching of
our saviour is shown to be not even a full four years ;
sinee from Αnnas to the appointment of Caiaphas
in four years four high priests held the yearly office.
Naturally, then, the scripture of the gospel has indicated
cated eaiaphas as high priert of the year in which the
Saviours's pasrion was completed, and from this also
the time of the teaching of Christ is shown to be not

 
discordant with the preceding observation. Ηowever,
οur Lord and Saviour called the twelve apostles
not long after the beginning of his preaching, and
lo them alone of all his disciples did he give the
hame of apostles as a speeial privilege. Afterwards
he appointed seventy others, and them also he sent 
οut in advance of him, two by two, to every place
and city where he was to come himself.

XI. The divene scripture of the gospels relates that
not long afterwards John the Baptist was beheaded
hy. Herod the younger, and Josephus confirms the
narrative, mentioning Herodias by name, and telling
how, though she was his brother's wife, Ηerod took her
in marriage, by putting aside her who had formerly
been legally married to him (and she was the
daughter οf Αretas the king οf the Ρetraeans) and
separating Herodias from her husband who was alive.
For her sake, too, after killing John, he waged war
with Aretas for the dishonour done his daughter ; and
Josephus says that in a battle in this war the whole
army of Ηerod was destroyed, and that he suffered
this because οf the plot against John. The same
osephus admits that John was peculiarly righteous,
and a baptits, confirming the testimony recorded in
he text of the gospels concerning Hhlm. Ηe also
elates that Ηerod Was deprived of his kingdom for
the sake οf the same Herodias, and was exiled with
 

 
her, being condemned to live in Vienne, a eity of
Gaul. The aceOunt of these things is given in the
eighteenth book of the Antiquities, where he writes
concerning John exactly as follows : 
 “Νow to some ofthe Jews it seemed that the army
of Ηerod had been destroyed by OOd and that he was
paying a very just penalty for John who was called
the Baptist. For Ηerod killed him, a good man and
one who commanded the Jews, training themselves
in virtue, to pracrise righteousness towards one
another and piety towards God, and to come together
for baptism. For he said that baptism would prove
acceptable to him only in those who used it not to
escape from any sins but for bodily purity, on condition
that the soul also had been previously cleansed
thoroughly by righteousness. Αnd when the rest
collected, for they were greariy eXeited at hearing his
vords, Herod feared hiS great persuasiveness with
men lest it should lead to some rising, for they
appeared ready to do everything under his advice.
Ηe therefore eonsidered it mUeh better, beffire a
revolt should spring from John, to put him to death
in anticipation, rather than be involved in difficulties
through the actual revolution and then regret it.
Αnd John, through Herod's suspicion, was sent a
prisoner to Macherus, the prison mentioned already,
and was there put to death.” 
 Αfter narrating these things about John in the

 
same historical work he speaks as follows concerning
οur Saviour: 
 “At this time arose Jesus, a wise man, if indeed
he must be called a man, for he Was a doer of
marvellous deeds, a teacher of men who received the
uth with pleasure, and he led after him many of the
Jews and many also of the Oentile population. This
was the Christ ; and when Pilate had eondemned him
o the cross at the instigation of the leaffing men
among us, those who had nrst loved him did not
to do so, ror he appeared to them when three days
dead restored to life, and the divine prophets had
told these and ten thousand other wonders concerning
him. Αnd up till now the tribe of Christians which
me named after him has not died οut.” 
 When a writer sprung from the Hebrews themselves
handed οn in his οwn writing these details concerning
John the Baptist and our Saviour, what altemative is
there but to convict of shamelessness those who have
concocted the Reports about them ? 1 But let this
suffice.

XII. Νow the names of the apostles of our saviour
are plain to everyone form the gospels, but no list
of the Seventy is anywhere extant. It is said,
however, that one of them was Bamabas, and of him
the Acts of the Αpostles has also made special
mention, and so also has Ρaul when writing to the
Galatians. Αnd they say that sosthenes too, who
wrote with Paul to the Corinthians, was one of them.
And there is the story in clement, in the Rfth book
the Hypotyposes, in which he says that Cephas,
concerning whom Ρaul says “ and when Cephas
 

 
came to Antioch I withstood him to face,”
one of the Seventy disciples, wllo had the same name
as the apostle Ρeter. Traffition also relates that
Μatthias, who was reckoned with the apostle in
the place of Judas, and he who was honoured with
him at the same casting of lots had been called
among the Seventy. They also say that Thaddaeus
was one or them, and I will shortly recount a narrative
which has reaehed us concerning him. Αnd
eonsideration would show yoll that there Were more
diseiples of the saviour than the seventy, if you used
Ρaul as a witness, for he says that arter the resurrection
from the dead Jesus was seen first by Cephas,
afterwards by the twelve, and after these by above
five hundred brethren at once ; of whom he says
that some had fallen asleep, but the majority remained
alive at at tlle time that he composed this
account. He says that he was then seen by James,
who was one of the alleged brethren of the Saviour,
and then, as though in addition to these there had
been numberless apostles, on the model of the
twelve, like Ρaul himself, he goes on to say “ then
he was seen by all the apostles.” This then
for them.

XIII. The manner of the narrative concerning
Thaddaeus is as follows. The divinity of our Lord
and saviour Jesus Christ beeame famous among all
men because of his wonder-working power, and led
to him myriads even of those who in foreign lands
were far remote from Judaea, in the hope of healing
from diseases and from ah kinds of sufferings. In
this way King Αbgar, the celebrated monarch of the

 
nations beyond the Euphrates, perishing from terrible
suffering in his body, beyond human power to heal,
when he heard much of the name οf Jesus and of the
miracles attested unanimously by all men, became
his suppliant and sent to him by the bearer of a
letter, asking to find relief from his disease. Jesus
did not give heed to his request at the time, yet
vouehsafed him a letter of his own, promising to
send one of his disciples for the cure of his disease,
and for the salvation alike of himself and of all his
relations. Nor were the terms οf his promise long
in being fulfilled. Αfter his resurrection from the
dead and return into heaven, Thomas, one of the
twelve apostles, was divinely moved to send to
Edessa Thaddaeus, who was himself reckoned among
the number of the Seventy disciples, as herald and
evanglist οf the teaching about Christ, and through
him all the terms οf our Saviour's promise received
fulfilment. There is also documentary evidence οf
these things taken from the archives at Edessa
whieh was at that time a capital city. At least,
in the public documents there, which contain the
things done in antiquity and at the time of Αbgar,
these things too are found preserved from that time
to this ; but there is nothing equal to hearing the
letters themselves, which we have extracted from
the archives, and when translated from the Syriac
they are verbally as follows: 

 
 A copy of a letter ruritten by Abgar the Toparch to Jesus
and sent to him Jerusalem by courier Ananias. 
 “Αbgar Uchama, the Toparhc, to Jesus the good
aviour who has appeared in the district of Jerusalem,
eeting. I have heard. . concerning you and your
ures, how they are accomprlshed by you without
ugs and herbs. For, as the story goes, you make
he blind recover their sight, the lame walk, and
hu cleanse lepers, and cast out unclean sspirits and
emons, and you cure those who are tortured by long
isease and you raise dead men. Αnd when 1 heard
these things concerning you I decided that it is one
the two, either that you are God, and came down
οm heaven to do these things, or are a son of God
οr doing these things. For this reason I write to beg
ou to hasten to me and to heal the suffering which
Ι have. Moreover I heard that the Jews are
mocking you, and wish to ill-great you. Now I
have a city very small and venerable which is
enough for both.” 1 
 The reply from Jesus to Abgar, the Toparch, by the
courier Ananias. 
 “Blessed art thou who didst believe in me not
haring seen me, for it is written concerning me that
ose who have seen me will not believe on me,
nd that those who have not seen me will believe
nd live. Now concerning what you you wrote me,
 

 
to come to you, I must hrst complete here all for
which I was sent, and after thus completing it be
taken up to him who sent me, and when Ι have been
taken up, I Will send to you one of my disciples to heal
your suffering, give life to you and those with you.” 
 To theSe letters the following is further appended
in the Syriac : 
 “Νow after the aseension of Jesus, Judas, who
is also Thomas, Sent ThaddaeuS to him aS an apoStle,
being οne of the seventy, and he came and
stayed with Tobias, the son of Tobias. Νow
when news of him was heard, 1 it was reported
to Αbgar that an Αpostle of Jesus has come here,
as he wrote to you. so ThaddaeuS began in the power
of Ood to heal every disease and WeakneSs So that
all marvelled Αnd when Αbgar heard the great
and wonderful deeds which he was doing, and how
he was working cures, he began to suWct that
this was he of whom Jesus had written saying,
‘ When Ι have been taken up, I will send you one
of my discipleS who will heal your ’ so he
Summoned Tobias, with whom ThaddaeuS was staying,
and said, ‘ I hear that a certain man of power haS
come and is staying in your houSe. Bring him to
me.' 2 Αnd Tobias came to Thaddaeus and said to him,
‘ The Toparch. Αbgar, summoned me and bade me
bring you to him in order to heal ’ Αnd Thad-
 
 

 
daeus said, ‘ Ι will go up since I haVe been miracylously
Sent to ’ so Tobias rOse up early the
next day and taking Thaddaeus eame to Αbgar.
Now as he went up, while the king's magnates ere
standing present, aS soon as he entered a great
vision appeared to Αbgar on the face of the Αpostle
Thaddaeus. . Αnd when Abgarsaw this, he did
to Thaddaeus, and wonder held all who were standing
by, for they had not seen the Vision, Which appeared
only to Αbgar. And he asked Thaddaeus, ‘ Are you
Of a truth a disciple of Jesus, the Son of God, who
Said tO me, “ I will send you one of my disciples who
will heal you and give you life ’’ ? ’ Αnd Thaddaeus
said, ‘ Since you have hae had great faith in him who
sent me, Ι was sent to you fOr this reason. Αnd
agam; if you believe in him, the request of your
heart rilall be to you as you ’ Αnd Αbgar
said to him, ‘ I have such belief in him as to have
wished to take force and destroy the JewS who
crucifified him, had I not been prevented from this
by the Roman ’ Αnd ThaddaeuS said, ‘ Οur
Lord has fuffilled the will of his Father, and after
fulfilling it has been taken up to the ’ Αnd
Αbgar said to him, ‘ too too have believed on him and
on his ’ Αnd Thaddaeus said, ‘ For this
cause Ι put my hand on you ’ And when
he did this immediately he was healed from the
diseaSe and the sufferings he had. And Αbgar
vondered that just as he had heard concerning Jesus

 
so he had in fact received through hiS diSciple
Thaddaeus, who cured him without drugs and herbs,
and not only him but also ΑbduS the son of Αbdus
who had the gout ; for he too eame and fell at hiS
feet, and received his prayer at hiS hands, and waS
healed. Αnd the Same Thaddaeus healed many
others of their fellow-citizens, performing many
wonderful deeds and preaehing the word of Ood.
Αnd after this Αbgar said, ‘ O Thaddaeus, it is by
the power of Ood that you do these thingS, and we
ourselves have wondered. But in addition to this
I beg you, explain to me concerning the coming of
Jesus, how it happened, and eoneerning his power,
and by what power he did these things of which I
have ’ Αnd Thaddaeus said, I will now be
rilent, but Sinee I waS Sent to preach the word,
summon for me to-morroW an aSSembly of all your
cirilens, and Ι will preach before them, and sow in
them the Word of life, both coneerning the coming
οf Jesus, how it happened, and concerning his
mission, and for what reason he was sent by the
Father, and concerning his power, and his deeds, and
the mysterieS Which he spoke in the world, and by
what power he did these things, and concerning his
new preaching, and concerning his lowliness and
humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and put
aside and made little his divinity, and was crucffied,
and descended into Ηades, and rent the partition
hich had not been rent from the beginning of the
orld, and raised the dead, and he went down alone,
ut with a great multitude did he go up to hiS
 

 
Father.' 1 So Αbgar commanded his citizens
assemble in the morning and to hear the preaching
of Thaddaeus, and arter this he ordered him to be
giVen gold and plate, but he did not receive it,
Saying, If we haVe left our own things, how shan
we take thoSe of others 7. ’ These things were done
in the 340th year. ”2 
 Let thiS valuable and literal tranSlation from the
syriae Suffiee me for the present.

CΟΝTEΝTS ΟF BΟΟΚ IΙ 
 Τhe contents of the second book of the History
of the Church is as follows : 
 I. On the life of the Apostles after the Ascension
of Christ. 
 ΙΙ. On the emotion of Tiberius at learning from
Pilate the story of Christ. 
 III. How in a short time the message concerning
Christ ran through the whole world. 
 IV. How after Tiberhb Caius appointed Agrippa
as King of the Jews and punished Herod
with perpetual banishment. 
 V. How Philo was sent on an embassy to Caius
on behalf Of the Jews. 
 VI. ΑlΙ the evils which accumulated on the Jews
after their crime against Christ. 
 VII. How Pilate, too, committed suicide. 
 VIII. Concerning the famine in the the of
Claudius. 
 IX. The martyrdOm οf James the Apostle. 
 X. How Agrippa, who was also called Herod,
perecuted the Apostles and at once felt
the punishment of God. 
 XI. On Theudas the magician. 
 XII. On Helena the Queen of the Adiabeni. 
 XIII. On Simon Magus. 

 
 XIV. Οn the preaching of Peter the Apostle at
Rome. 
 XV.On the Gospel according to Mark. 
 XVI. How Mark was the first to preach the
knowledge of Christ to those in Egypt. 
 XVII. The narrative of Philo on the Ascetics in
Egypt. 
 XVIII.
The treatise of Philo which have come down
to us. 
 XIX. The misfortunes which overtook the Jews
in Jerusalem on the day of the Passover. 
 XX. What was done at Jerusalem under Nero. 
 XXI. On the Egyptian whom the Acts of the
Apostles also mentioned. 
 XXII. How Paul was sent a prisoner to Rome from
Judaea and after defending himself was
acquitted of all guilt. 
 XXIII. How Jame who was called tbe brother of
the Lord suffered martyrdom. 
 XXIV. How after Μark Αnnianus was the first to
be appointed bishop of the chureh of the
Alexandrians. 
 XXV. On the persecution under Nero in which
Ρaul and Peter at Rome were adorned
with martyrdom for religion's sake. 
 XXVI. How the Jews were pursued by countless
evils and how they began the final war
against the Romans. 
 Our book was compiled from those of Clement,
Tertullian, Josephus, and Philo.

BΟΟK II 
 ΑLL that needed stating by way of preface in the
history of the Church-the proof of the divinity of
the saving Logos, the ancient history οf our teaching,
and the antiquity of the dogmas of the Christian
life according to the Gospel, particularly all the
points concerning his reeently fuffilled advent, the
events before his Passion, and the story of the
choice of the Apostles—all this We traeed in
preceding book, summarizing the demonstration.
Let us now consider in the present book what
folloWed his Αscension, nothing some things from
the divine writings, and adding what is taken from
other sources from treatises which We will quote
from time to rime.

I. Matthias was the first to be chosen to the Apostolate
instead of the traitor Judas. As has been shown,
he had himself been one οf the Lord's disciples,
For the administration of the common fund tried
men, seven in number, by Stephen, stephelb were appointed
to the ministry by prayer and the
on Of the Apostles' hands. And Stephen was first
after his Lord not only in ordination, but, as though
he had been put forward for this very purpose,
also in that he was stoned to dearil by the Lord's
murderers, and so vas the first to carry off the crown,

 
implied by his name,1 whieh Was gained by the
martyrs of Christ found worthy of Vietory. 
 Αt that mme time alSo James, who was called the
brother of the Lord. inasmuch as the latter too was
styled the child of Joseph, and Joseph was called
the father of Christ, for the Virgin Va betrOthed to
him when, before lhey came together, she was discovered
to have eoncebed by the Holy Spirit, as
the Sacred writing of the Gospels teaches — this same
James, to whom the men Of old had also giVen the
surname of Just fOr his excellence of Virtue, is
’ated to haVe been the first elected to the throne
of the bishoprie of the Chureh in Jerusalem. Clement
in the sixth book of the hypotyposes adduces the
following: “ ” he says, “ Peter and James and
John after the Ascension OF the Saviour did not
struggle for glory, beCause they had previously been
given honour by the saViOur, but ehOe James the
Just as bishop of ” The same Writer
in the seventh book of the same work says in additiOn
thiS about him, “ Αfter the Resurrection the Lord
gaVe the tradition of knowledge to James the Just
and John and Ρeter, these gaVe it to the other
Apostles and the other Apostles to the seventy, of
whom Barnabas also was one. Now there Were tWo
Jameses, one James the Just, who a throwm down
from the pinnacle of the temple and beaten to death
with a fuller's club, and the other he who Was
” Ρaul also mentions the same. James
the Jurt when he writes, “ Αnd I saw none other
of the Apostles save James the brother of the Lord.” 
 Αt this time too the terms of Our saViOur ’s promise 
to the king of the Osrhoense were receiving fulfil
 

 
ment. Thomas was divinelymoved to send Thaddaeus
to Edessa as herald and evangelist of the teaching
concerning Christ, as we have shown Just previously
from the writing preserved there. When he reached
the place Thaddaeus healed Αbgar by the word of
Christ, and amazed all the inhabitants by hiS strange
miracles. By the mighty inRuence of his deeds
he brought them to reverence the power of Christ,
and made them disciples of the saving teaching.
From that day to this the whole eity οf the Εdessenes
has been dedicated 1 to the name of Christ, thus displaying
no common proof of the benencenee of our
sariour to them. Let this suffice nom the history
of the ancients and let us pass again to the divine
scripture. 
 On the martyrdom οf stephen there arose the
Rrst and greatest persecution of the Church in
Jerusalem by the Jews. Αll the diSeiples, with the
single exception of the Twelve, were scattered
throughout Judaea and Samaria; some, as the
divine scripture sayS, traverSed as far aS Ρhoenice,
Cyprus and Αntioch, but they were not yet in a
position to venture to transmit the word of faith
to Gentiles, and announced it only to Jews. Αt
that time Ρaul also was still ravaging the Church,
entering into the houses of the faithful, dragging
out men and women, and handing them over to
prison. Philiop, however, οne of those who with
Stephen had been already ordained to the diaconate,
was among those who were seattered abroad, and
went down to samaria, where, nlled with divine
 

 
power, he was the Rrst to preaeh the word to those
there. So great was the grace of Ood, which worked
with him, that even simon Magus, with countleSs
others, was captivated by his wordS. Αt that time
Simo had obtained such fame by his magical power
over his victims that he was held to be the Oreat
Ρower of God ; but even he waS then so overwhelmed
by the marvels wrought by Philiop by divine power,
that he submitted, and feigned faith in ChriSt even
to the point οf baptism. It is worthy of wonder that
this is still done by those who continue hiS moSt
unelean heresy to the Ρresent day, for following the
method of their Ρrogenitor they attach themselves
to the Church like a pestilential and scurfy disease,
and ravage to the utmost all Whom they are able
to inoculate with the deadly and terrible poison
hidden in them. Μost of theSe, however, have
already been driven out, as many as have been
detected in their wickedneSs, just as simon himself,
when his real nature was detected by Ρeter, paid
the proper punishment. While the saving
was daily progressing and growing, Some Ρrovidence
brought from the land of the Εthiopians an officer of
the queen of that land, for the nation, following
ancestral eustoms, is Still ruled by a woman. Tradition
says that he, who was the Rrst of the Oentiles to
receive from Philip by revelation the mysteries of the
ffivine word, and was the nrst-fruits of the faithful
throughout the world, waS also the RrSt to return to
his native land and preach the OoSpel οf the knowledge
οf the Ood of the univerSe and the sojourn οf our

 
Saviour which gives life to men, so that by him was
actuauy fulmled the porphecy which sa ys, “ Εthiοpia
shall stretch out her hand to ” In addition to
these Paul, the chosen vessel neither of men nor
through men but through revelation of Jesus christ
himself and God the Father who raised him from the
dead, was appointed an Αpostle, being vouchsafed
this calling by a rision and the heavenly voice οf
revelation.

II. The wonderful resurrection and ascension into
heavcn of our Saviour was now already generally
famous, and in accordance with an ancient eustom
that those who were ruling οver the nations should
report to him who held the imperial office any new
movement among them, in οrder that no event
might escape his notiee, Pilate communicated to the
Εmperor Tiberius the story of the resurrection from
the dead of our Saviour Jesus as already famous
aInong all throughout all Palestine, together with the
information he had gained of his οther wonders and
how he was aheady believed by many to be a God,
in that after death he had risen from the deasd.1
They say that Tiberius referred the report to the
senate, which rejected it ostensibly because it had
not preriously tested the matter, for an ancient law
prevailed that no οne should be held as a God by
the Romans exeept by a vote and decree of the
senate, but in truth because the saving teaching of
the divine message needed no ratification and commendation
from men. In this way the council of
 

 
the Romans rejected the report sent to it concerning
οur sariour, but Tiberius kept the opinion which he
had fonnerly held and made no wicked plans against
the teaching οf Christ. 
 Tertullian, who had an accurate knowledge of
Roman law, a man espeeially famous among those
most distinguished in Rome, has noted this in the
Apology for the christians which was written by
him in Latin but translated into the oreek language;
he tells the story as follows: “ But, in order that
we may ffiscuss sueh laws from their origin, there
an an ancient decree that none should be con-
secrated as a god by an Εmperor before being
approved by the senate. Marcus Aemilius has acted
thus conceming a certain idol Αlbumus. Αnd this
supports our argument that among you godship has
been given by human approval. If a god does not
Ρlease man, he does not hecome god, so that, according
to this, man must be gracious to Ood. Tiberius,
therefore, in whose time the name of Christian came
into the World, when this doctrine was reported to
him from Ρalestine, where it Rrst began, communh
cated it to the Senate, and made it plain to them
that he favoured the doctrine, but the senate, because
it had not itself tested it, rejected it; but he continued
in his own opinion and threatened death to
the accusers of the ”1 For heavenly
providence had designed putting this in his mind in
order that the word of the Oospel might have an
unimpeded beginning, and traverse the earth in all
directions.

III. Thus by the power and assistance of Ηeaven
 

 
the saving word began to flood the whole world with
light like the rays of the sun. Αt once, in accordance
with the divine Scriptures, the voice οf its inspired
evangelists and Apostles “ Went forth to the whole
earth and their words to the end of the ” In
every eity and rillage arose churehes crowded with
thousands of men, like a teeming threshing-floor.
Those who by hereditary succession and original
error had their souls bound by the ancient disease
οf the superstition of idols were set free as if from
Rerce maSters and found release from fearful bondage
by the power οf Christ through the teaching of his
followers and their wonderful deeds. They rejected
all the polytheism of the demons, and confessed that
there is οnly one God, the Creator of the universe.
Ηim they honoured with the rites of true piety by
the ffirine and rational worship which was implanted
by οur saviour in the life of men. But indeed it
was when the grace of Ood was already being poured
out even οn the other nations — when faith in Christ
had been received, nrSt by Cornelius with all his
house in Ρalestinian Caesarea through divine mani-
festation and the ministration of Ρeter, and also by
many οther Oreeks in Αntioch, to whom those
preached who had been Scattered in the persecution
about stephen, and the Chureh in Αntiοch was
already flourishing and multiplying — it was at that
moment and in that place, when So many of the
prophets from Jerusalem were also present, and with
them Barnabas and Paul, and a number of the other

 
brethren besides them, that the name of Chrirtian
was nrst given, as from a fresh and life-givning
fountain. Agabus also, one of the Ρrοphets with
them, made preffictions that there waS to be a
famine, and Ρaul and Barnabas were sent to give
assistance to the ministry οf the brethren.

IV. Tiberius ffied after reigning about twenty-two
years.1 Αfter him Caius received the sovereignty
and at once gave to Αgrippa 2 the crown of the rule
of the Jews. Ηe made him king of the tetrarchies
οf Philip and LysaniaS, and after a short time added
to them the tetrarchy of Ηerod, Sentencing Ηerod
(he was the Ηerοd of the Ρassion of the saviour) for
many offences to perpetual banishment, together with
his wife Herodias. Οf tffihls too Josephus is witness. 
 In his reign Ρhilo beeame generally known as a
man of the greatest distiction, not only among our
own people but also among those of heathen educa-
tion. Ηe was a Ηebrew by racial descent but in-
ferior to none οf the magnates in authority in Alexandria.
The extent and quality οf the labour he
bestowed οn the theologieal learning of hiS raee is
in fact patent to all, and it is not necessary to say
anything of his position in philosophy and the liberal
stuffies of the heathen world since he is related to
have surpassed all his contemporaries, especially in his
zeal for the study οf Ρlato and Ρythagoras.

V. Νοw
this wTiter has narrated in Rve books what happened
to the Jews ìn the time of Caius; he has in this
work combined the Stories or the insanity of Caius,
 
 

 
how he announeed himself as a god and perpetrated
innumerable aets of insolence during his reign, of
the misery of the Jevs in his time, of the mission
which he vas himself elrtrusted to make to tbe city
or tbe Romans on behalf of those of his own race in
Alexandria, and or how, When he appeared before
Caius on behalf of his ancestral lavs, he reeeiVed
nothing but laughter and ridicule, and narrowly
eseaped risking his life. 
 Josephus also relates these facts and writes as
follows in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities;
“ Now When a disturbance took place in Alexandria
between the Jews who lived there and the Greeks,
three of each side were chosen to to as representative
to Caius. Οne of the Alexandrian representatives
was Αpion, Who uttered many calumnies
against the Jews, saying especially that they neglected
to give honour to Caesar, and that while all
who are subject to tbe rule of the Romans build
altars and temples ot Caius, and in other respects
reeeive hinl tb they do the gods, these men alone
think it improper to honour him with statues or to
swear by his name. Now thought Apion had made
many serious charges by whieh he naturally hoped that
Caiu, would be roued, Philo, the chief of the embassy
of the Jew, a man of high reputation in every
respect for he was the brother of Alexander the
Alabarch and a philosopher of no little skill, was
able in his reply to deal with the accusations but
Caius cut him short, bade him get out of the way,
and was so enraged that he clearly was on the point
or serious measures against them. So Philo went

 
out, deeply insulted, and told the the who were
with him that they must keep up their courage, for
though Caius was enraged agailbt them he was in
fact already fighting against God.” 
 So far Josephus. Philo himself in the Embassy
which he Wrote gives an accurate and detailed aecount
of what he did at the time Ι shall Ρass over the
greater Ρart and eite Only those points whieh plainly
demonstrate to students the misfortunes whieh eame
upon the Jews, all at once and after a rilort
time, in consequenee Of their crimes against Christ.
In the ffist Ρlace he relate that, in the time Of
Tiberius, in the city ofthe Romans, Sejanus, the most
influential of the Emperor's court at the time, took
measures eompletely to destroy the whole race, and
in Judaea Ρilate, under whom the crime against the
saviour was perpetrated, made an attempt on the
temple, still standing in Jerusalem, contrary to the
privileges granted to the JeWs, and harassed them tO
the utmost,

(VI.) whhe arter the death Of Tiberius
Caius reeeived the sovereignty and inffieted many
injuries on many, but more than all did the greatest
harm to the vhole nation of the Jews. This may
be learned shOrtly from his own word, in which he
writes exactly as follows: “ Now the eharaeter of Caius
vas extremely capricious towards all, but particularly
towards the raee of Jews. Ηe hated them bitteriy bitterly:
in other cities, beginning with Alexandria, he seized
the synagogues and ffiled them vith images and
statues of his own form (for by giving permission to

 
other to install them he did in fact put them there).
and in Jerusalem the temple, which had hithterto
beeen untouched and held worthy of preservation
from all violation, he tried to change and transform
to a shrine of his own to be called that off ‘Gaius
the new Zeus manifest.'” 
 The same writer narrates in a second treaties
entitled Οn the Virtues1 innumerable other atrocities,
beyond all description, perpectrated on Jews
in Alexandria in the same reign, and Josephus
comfirms him, showing in the same Way that rile
universal misfortunes of the nation began with the
time οf Pilate and the crimes against the Saviour.
Listen then to the actural words of his statement in
the second book of the Jewish War. “ Now Pilate.
sent as procurator to Judaea by Tiberius, brought
into Jerusalem at night and covered up the images
of Caesar which are called ensigns. When day
came this roused the greatest commotion among
the Jews, for they were horrified at what they
saw close by since their laws had been trampled
om, for they do not permit any image to be set up
in the city.” 
 Now comparing this with the writing of the Gospels
you will see that it was not long before they Were overtaken
by the ery vhieh they uttered in the presence of
Pilate himself, with Which they rilOuted Out that they
had no other king than Caesar only. The same writer
 

 
then goes on to relate another misfortune which
οvertook them, as follows: “ Αnd after this he
roused another commotion by expenffing the sacred
treasure, called Corban, for an aqueduet which he
brought from a ffistance οf three hundred stadia.
Popular indignation was aroused at this, and when
Pilate came to Jerusalem the Ρeople stood round
with howh of exeeration; but he had foreseen their
ffidIsturbance and had mixed with the crowd armed
soldiers disguised in civilian clothes, with orders not
to use their swords but to club those who had shouted.
Ηe gave the signal for this from his judgement-seat;
and as the Jews were smitten many perished
from the blows, many from being trampled upon
hy their fellows in their ffight, and the mob,
οvercome at the calamity οf those who perished,
was silent.” 
 The same writer shoWs that besides this innumerable
other revolts were started in Jerusalem
itseK, affirming that from that time risngs and war
and the mutual contrivance of eril never ceased
in the city and throughout Judaea, until the time
when the siege under vespasian came upon them as
the last scene of all. Thus the penalty of Ood
pursued the Jews for their crimes against Christ.

VII. it is also worthy of notice that tradition relates
that that same pilate, he οf the Saviour's time, in
the days of Caius, whose Ρeriοd we have described,
fell into such great calamity that he was forced to
become his own slayer and to punish himself with
his οwn hand, for the Ρenalty of God, as it seems,

 
followed hard after him. Those who record the
olympiads οf the Greeks with the annals οf events
relate this.1

VIII. caius had not completed four years οf
sovereignty when Clauffius suceeeded him as
Emperor.2 In his time famine seized the world
(and this also writers 3 with a purpose quite other
than ours have reeorded in their histories), and so
what the prophet Αgabus had foretold, aceorffing
to the Acts οf the Apostles, that a famine would
be over the whole wold, received fuffihnent. Luke
in the Αcts describes the famine in the time
οf clauffius and narrates how the Chrirtians at
Antioch sent to those in Judaea, eaeh accorffidlng
to his ability, by Ρaul and Barnabas, and he goes
οn to say,

(IX.) “ Νοw at that ” — obviously
that οf Claudius, — “ Ηerοd the king put forth his
hand to vex certain οf the church and killed James
the brother of John with the ” Concerning
this James, clement adds in the seventh book οf the
Hypotyposes a story worth mentioning, apparently
from the tradition of his predecessors, to the effect
that he who brought him to the court was so moved
at seeing him testify as to eonfess that he also was
himself a Christian. “ so they Were both led away
” he says, “ and on the way he asked for
forgivensess for himself from James. Αnd James
looked at him for a moment and said, ‘ Ρeace be to
’ and kissed him. so both were beheaded at the
same time.” 
 
 
 

 
 Αt that time, as the divinde scripture says, Herod,
Seeing that his action in the murder of Jame had
given pleasure to the Jews, turned to Ρeter also,
put him in prison, and would have perpetrated his
murder alsO had it not been for Divine intervention
at the last moment, for an angel appeared to him
by night and he Was miraculously released from
lris bonds and set free for the ministry of preaching.
such Was the dispensation of heaven for
Peter.

X. Αs the king's attempt on the Apostles there
was no more delay, but the avenging minister of the
sentenee Of God OvertoOk him at once, immediatedly
after his plot against the Apostles, as the Scripture
relates in the Acts. Ηe had gone to Caesarea, and
there on the set day of the feast,1 adorned with
splendid and royal robes, he addressed the
standing on high before his judgement-seat. The
whole people applauded his address, as though at the
voice Of a god and not of a man, and tbe story 2 relates
that an angel of the Lord smote him at once, and
he was eaten of worms and expired. Ιt is worthy
or wonder how in this marvel also the narrative of
Josephus agrees with the diVine seripture. He
clearly testffies to the truth in the nineteenth book
or the Antiquities where the wonder in related in the
following words: “ Now the third year of his reign
over ah Judaea had been ffirished when he came to
the eity of Caesarea, wbiCh was formerly called the

 
tower οf strato. There he was celebrating gameS
in honour οf Caesar, beeause he knew that this was
a kind of feast for his safety, and at it waS asSembled
a multitude of those in office and of high rank in
the province. On the second day of the games he
put on a robe made entirely of silver, so that it waS
a wonderul fabrie, and proceeded to the theatre at
the beginning of the day. Then when the silver waS
refulgent with the first glint of the rayS of the sun
it gleamed marvellously with a peculiar sheen, fearful
and terrifying to those who gazed at it. Αt onee
the flatterers raised their voiceS from various quarters
— but no good did it do him — and addresSed him as
a god, saying, Be thou propitious ! even if until
now we feared thee as man, yet from henceforth
we confess thee as of more than mortal ’ The
king Was not diSmayed at these wordS, nor did he
reject the impiouS Rattery. 
 But after a little looking up he saw an angel
seated above hiS head.1 ThiS he at once Ρerceived to
be the harbinger of evil, as it had formerly been of
good ; 1 he had in his hiS heart, and agony rapidly
beginning Spread increasingly through hiS stomach.
So he looked up to hiS friendS and said, ἴ’ I, Who am
your god, am now commanded to give up my life,
for fate has immediately reproved the lying wordS
just urtered about me. I, whom you called im-
mortal, am now being taken off to ffie. Fate
muSt be accepted aS Ood haS willed, yet I have

 
lived no mean life, but in the spaciouSneSs which
men deem ’ while he was Saying this, he
began to be overwhelmed by the intensity of his
pain; he waS therefore earried haStily hrtO the
Ρalaee, and the report was Spread among all that he
would certainly die shortly. But the multitude seated
on sackeloth with their wives and ehildren, aeeording
to the laW of their fatherS, at once began to beseeeh
Ood for the king and the whole Ρlace Was ffiled with
wailing and lamentations. The king lying in a room
on high, and looking down on them aS they fell
prostrate, did not remain without tears himselr.
Αfter being racked by pain in the stomach for Bve
suceessive dayS he passed from life in the fityfourth
year of his age and the Seventh of hiS reign.1
Ηe had reigned four years in the time of CaiuS
Caesar. For three years he possessed the tetrarchy
of Philip, but in the fourth reeeived alSo that of
Ηerod, and he continued for three more yearS in
the reign of ClaudiuS ’’ 1 am surprised how
in thiS and other points JoSephuS conhrmS the truth
of the divine Scriptures. Even if he seem to some
to differ as to the name of the king, neVertheless
the date and the events Show that he is the same,
and either that the name has been ehanged by
some clerical error οr that there were tWo names
for the same man, as has happened with many.

XI. Since Luke in the Αcts introduceS Gamaliel as
saying at the inquiry about the Apostles that at the
time indicated Theudas aroSe, saying that he WaS
Somebody, and that he was destroyed and all who
 

 
obeyed him were scartercd; eome, let us compare
the writing of Josephus with regard to him.1 in his
vork lately mentioned he give the following narrartive.
“ Νov when Fadus was procurator of Judaea
a eertain impOtOr named Theudas persuaded a great
multitude to take their possessions and follow him
to the riVer Jordan, fOr he Said that he was a prophet
and ulldertook to divide the river by hiS commands
and provide an eay erossing for them. By
saying this he deceived many; Fadus, however, did
not alloW them to enjoy their delusiOn, but sent a
Squadron of cavelry against them whieh attaeked
them unexpectedly, killed many and took many
alive, captured TheudaS himself, cut off his head,
and brought it to Jerusalem.” 
 After this he mentions mentions as follOWs the famine
 Whieh took Ρlace in the time of Claudius:

XII. “ Αt
the Same time it happened that the great famine tOOk
plaee in Judaea, in Whieh Queen Ηelena bought
corn from Egypt at great expense and distributed
it to those who were in ” You would find
that this too agrees ẁ̀ith the writing of the Acts οf
the Αpostles, whieh reeords hoW the disciples in
Αntioch, each aceording to his several ability, deter-
mined to send to the relier of the dwellers in Judaea,
which they did, sending it to the eldem by the hand
of Barnabas and Ρaul. Splendid monuments of the
Ηelena whom the historian has COmmemOrated are
Theudas eannot really have been rererred to by Gamaliel,
who was speaking many years before the time of Fadus.
Μοst modern writers on Αcts think that nevertheless the
Helena whom the historian has commemorated are

 
still shown in the suburbs of the present Aelia 1 ;
she Vas Said to be queen Of the nation of
Αdiabene.

XIII. Seeing that the faith in our sariour and
Lord Jesus Christ was already being given to all men,
the enemy of men's salvation planned to capture rile
capital in advanee, and sent there simon, who was
mentioned above, and by aiding the ’s trieky
soreery won over to error many Of the inhabitants
of Rome. This is told by Jurtin, Who was an
ornament of our farth not Ιong after the Apostles,
and I will set out the necessary infoimation about
him in due eourse. Ιn his first Apology to Antoninus
for our opinions he writes as follows: “ Αnd after
the ascensiOn of the Lord intO heaven the demOns
Ρut forward men Vho said that they were gOds,
and they not only escaped perseeution by you
but were eVen Vouehsafed honours. There Was a
certain simon, a Samaritan, from a Village callcd
Gittho, vho in the time of Claudius Caesar worked
miracles by magie through the art of the demOns
possessing him ;he Was reekoned as a god in Rome,
your capital city, and honoured as a god among you
by a statue οn the river Tiber between the two
bridges, with this inscription in Latin — SIMONI DEO
SANCTO, 2” that is to Simon a holy god. “ and almost
all Samaritans and a few in other nations a well,
recognize him as the chief god and worship him, and
 
 

 
they say that a certain Helena, who travelled about
with him at that time but had formerly lived in a
house of ill-fame ’’ in Tyre of Phoenicia, “ was the
first Idea 1 from him.” 
 This is what Justin says, and Irenaeus agrees
with him in the first book against heresies where he
collects the stories about Simon and his unholy and
foul teaching. It would be superfluous to relate this
in the present work since those who desire it can
study in detail the origin and life and the false
doctrinal principles of the heresiarchs who followed
him and the customs introduced by them all, for
they are carefully preserved in the above-mentioned
book of Irenaeus. Thus we have received the tradition
that Simon was the first author of all heresy.
From him, and down to the present time, those who
have followed, feigning the Christian philosophy,
with its sobriety and universal fame for purity of
life, have in no way improved on the idolatrous
superstition from which they thought to be set free,
for they prostrate themselves before pictures and
images of Simon himself and of Helena, who was
mentioned with him, and undertake to worship them
with incense and sacrifices and libations. Their more
secret rites, at which they say that he who first hears
them will be astonished, and according to a scripture
current among them will be “ thrown into marvel,”
truly are full of marvel and frenzy and madness ;
for they are of such a kind that they not merely

 
cannot be related in writing, but are so full of
baseness and unspeakable conduct that they cannot
even be mentioned by the lips of decent men. For
whatever foulness might be conceived beyond all
that is base, it is surpassed by the utter foulness of
the heresy of these men, who make a mocking sport
of wretched women, “ weighed ” as is truly said,
by every kind of evil.

XIV. of such evil was Simon
the father and fabricator, and the Evil Power,
which hates that which is good and plots against the
salvation of men, raised him up at that time as a
great antagonist for the great and inspired Apostles
of our Saviour. Nevertheless the grace of God
which is from heaven helped its ministers and
quickly extinguished the flames of the Evil One by
their advent and presence, and through them
humbled and cast down “ every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.”
Wherefore no conspiracy, either of Simon, or of any
other of those who arose at that time, succeeded in
those Apostolic days ; for the light of the truth and
the divine Logos himelf, which had shone from God
upon men by growing up on the earth and dwelling
among his own Apostles, was overcoming all things
in the might of victory. The aforesaid sorcerer, as
though the eyes of his mind had been smitten by
the marvellous effulgence of God when he had
formerly been detected in his crimes in Judaea by
the Apostle Peter, at once undertook a great journey
across the sea, and went off in flight from east to
west, thinking that only in this way could he live
as he wished. He came to the city of the Romans,

 
where the power which obsessed him wrought with
him greatly, so that in a short time he achieved such
success that he was honoured as a god by the erection
of a statue by those who were there. But he did
not prosper long. Close after him in the same reign
of Claudius the Providence of the universe in its
great goodness and love towards men guided to
Rome, as against a gigantic pest on life, the great
and mighty Peter, who for his virtues was the leader
of all the Other Apostles. Like a noble captain of
God, clad in divine armour, he brought the costly
merchandise of the spiritual light from the east to
the dwellers in the west, preaching the Gospel of
the light itself and the word which saves souls, the
proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven.

XV. Thus
when the divine word made its home among them
the power of Simon was extinguished and perished
immediately. together with the fellow himself. 
 But a great light of religion shone on the minds
of the hearers of Peter, so that they were not satisfied
with a single hearing or with the unwritten teaching
of the divine proclamation, but with every kind of
exhortation besought Mark, whose Gospel is extant,
seeing that he was Ρeter’s follower, to leave them
a written statement of the teaching given them
verbally, nor did they cease until they had persuaded
him, and so became the cause of the Scripture called
the Gospel according to Mark. And they say that
the Apostle, knowing by the revelation of the spirit
to him what had been done, was pleased at their

 
zeal, and ratified the scripture for study in the
churches. Clement quotes the story in the sixth
book of the Hypotyposes, and the bishop of Hierapolis,
named Papias, confirms him. Ηe also says that
Peter mentions Μark in his first Epistle, and that he
composed this in Rome itself, which they say that
he himself indicates, referring to the city metaphorically
as Babylon, in the words, “ the elect one in
Babylon greets you, and Marcus my son.”

XVI. They Say that this Μark was the first to be
sent to preach in Egypt the Gospel which he had
also put into writing, and was the first to establish
churches in Alexandria itself. The number of men
and women who were there converted at the first
attempt was so great, and their asceticism was so
extraordinarily philosophic, that Philo thought it
right to describe their conduct and assemblies and
meals and all the rest of their manner of life.

XVII.
Tradition says that he came to Rome in the time
of Claudius to speak to Peter, who was at that time
preaching to those there. This would, indeed, be
not improbable since the treatise to which we refer,
composed by him many years later, obviously contains
the rules of the Church which are still observed
in our own time. Moreover, from his very accurate
description of the life of our ascetics it will be plain
that he not only knew but welcomed, reverenced,
and recognized the divine mission of the apostolic
men of his day, who were, it appears, of Hebrew
origin, and thus still preserved most of the ancient

 
customs in a strictly jewish manner. Ιn the first
Ρlace he promises not go beyond the truth in any
detail or to add anything of his own invention to
what he vas going to relate in the treatise whieh
he entitled οἰὶ με Contemplative Life or Suppliants.
Ηe then says that tbey and the women
with them Were called Therapeutae and Therapeutrides,
and enters upon the reason for such a
name. Ιt was given either beeause, lilke physicians,
they relieve from the Ρassiοns οf evil the souls those
who come to them and so cure and heal them, or
because of their pure and sincere serVice 1 and
worship of the Divine. Thus it is not neeessary to
discuss at length whether he gave them this description
of himself, naturally adapting the name to their
manner of life, or vhether the rirst ones really called
themselves this from the beginning, since the title
of Christian had not yet become well known everywhere.
Αt any rate he bears witness especially
to their abandonment of property, and states that
When they begin to follow philosophy they give
up their possessions to their relations, and then,
haveing bade farewell to all the cares of life, go
oubide the walls to make their dwellings in deserts
and oses, 2 for the they are well aware that intercourse
with those of another way is unprofitable and harmful,
and it was the piacrice at that time, so it seems,
of those who were thus initiated to emulate the life
of the prophets in zealous and warm faith. For
even in the canonical Acts of the Apostles it is
related that all the acquaintances of the Apostles
 

 
sold their goods and possessions and divided them
to all according as anyone had need so that none
was in want among them ; and as many as were
possessors οf lands or houses, so the story says, sold
them and brought the price οf what had been sold
and laid it at the feet of the Apostles, so that it
might be divided to eaeh according as any had need. 
 To practices like those which have been related
Philo bears witness and continues in the following
words : “ The race is found in many places in
the world, for it was right that both Greece and
barbarism should share in perfect good, but it
abounds in Εgypt in each of the so-ealled nomes and
especially around Αlexandria. The noblest from
every region send a colony to a district well suited
for their purpose, as though it were the land of the
Therapeutae. This distriet is situated above Lake
Mareia 1 on a low hill, very convenient for its safety
and the temperateness οf the climate." Ηe then
goes on to describe the nature οf their dwellings,
and says this about the churches in various districts :
“ In eaeh house there is a sacred dwelling whieh is
called ‘ a sanctuaq and , ' whieh they
celebrate in seclusion the mysteries of the sacred
life, and bring nothing into it, either drink or food
or any of the other things necessary for bodily needs,
but law and inspired oraeles given by the prophets
and hymns and other things by which knowledge
and religion are increased and perfected." Αnd
further on he says : The whole period from dawn
 

 
to eve is for them a religious exercise ; they study
the sacred scriptures and expound their national
philosophy by allegory, for they regard the literal
interpretation as symbolic of a concealed reality
indicated in what is beneath the surface. They
have also some writings of men of old, who were
the founders of their seet, who left many memorials
οf the meaning allegorically expounded, which they
use as models and copy their method of treatment. 
 This seems to have been said by a man who had
listened to their expositions of the sacred scriptures,
and it is perhaps probable that the writings of men
of old, whieh he says were found among them, were
the Gospels, the writings of the Apostles, and some
expositinos οf prophets after the manner of the
ancients, sueh as are in the Εpistle to the Ηebrews
and many οther of the epistles of Ρaul. Ηe then
goes on to write thus about their composition οf new
psahns : “ So that they not οnly contemplate but
make songs and hymns to God in all kinds of metres
and melodies, though they perforce arrange them
in the more sacred measures." 
 Ηe discusses many οther points as well in the
same book, but it seemed necessary to enumerate
those by whieh the charaeteristics of the life of the
Church are exhibited; but if anyone doubt that what
has been said is peculiar to life according to the
gospel, and think that it can be applied to others
besides those indicated, let him be persuaded by the
following words of Philo in which he will find, if he
be fair, indisputable testimony on this point. Ηe

 
writes thus : “ Having laid down for the soul continence
as a foundation they build the other virtues
on it. None of them would take food οr drink
before sunset, for they think that philosophy deserves
the daylight and the neceSsities οf the body
darkness ; for this reason they allot the day to the
one, and a small part οf the night to the others.
some of them neglect food for three days for the
great love of knowledge dwelling in them, and some
so delight and luxuriate in the banquet of doctrine,
so richly and ungmdgingly presided over b y wisdom,
that they abstain for twice that time, and are
accustomed scareely to taste necessary food every
six days." 
 we think that these words of Ρhilo are elear and
indisputably refer to our communion. But if after
this anyone obstinately deny it let him be converted
from his scepticism and be persuaded by
clearer indications which cannot be found among
any, save only in the worship of Christians according
to the Gospel. For Ρhilo says that women belong
aho to those under discussion and that most οf them
are aged virgins who kept their chastity from no
compulsion, like some of the priestesses among the
Greeks, but rather from voluntary opinion, from zeal
and yearning for wisdom, with which they desired
to live, and paid no attention to bdily pleasures,
longing not for mortal but for immortal children,
which only the soul that loves God is eapable of
bearing of itself. Ηe then proceeds to expound
this more elearly. “ But the interpretations of the

 
sacred scriptures are given them figuratively in
allegories, for the whole law seems to these men to
be like a living being ; for a body it has the spoken
precepts, but for a soul the invisible mind underlying
the words ; and it is thiS which this Seet has
begun espeeially to contemplate, so that in the
mirror of the words it sees manifested surpassing
beauty οf thought." 
 What need is there to add to this a description of
their meetings, and of how the men live separately
and the women separately in the same place, and of
the customary exercises which are still celebrated
among us, particularly those which we are accutomed
to celebrate at the feast of the Passion of
the Saviour by abstinellce from food and vigils and
attention to the word οf God ? The writer referred
to has given in his own writing a description οf
this, which exactly agrees with the manner which is
still observed by us and by us alone ; he relates
the vigils for the entire night of the great feast,
and the exercises during them, and the hymns which
we are aecustomed to recite, and how while one
sings regularly with cadenee, the rest listen in
silence and join in singing only the refrain of the
hymns, and how οn stated days they sleep on the
ground οn straw, how they completely refrain from
wine, as he expressly states, and from all kinds of
Resh, drinking only water and using salt and hyssop
to season their bread. In adffition to this he writes
of the order of preeedence οf those who have been
appointed to the service of the Church, both to the
diaconate and to the supremacy of the episcopate

 
at rile head over all. Anyone who has a love of
accurate knowledge of these things can learn from
the narrative of the author quoted already, and it is
plain to everyone that Philo perceived and described
the first heralds of teaching according to the Gospel
and the customs hand down from the beginning
by the Apostles.

XVIII. Philo vas rich in language and broad in
thought, sublime and elevated in his views of the
divine writings, and had made various and diverse his
exposition of the sacred words. Ηe rirst went through
the subject of the events in Genesis in connected
sequence, in the book which he entitled “ The
Allegories of the sacred ’’ Ηe then made
detailed arrangement into chapters of the difficulties
in the Scriptures and gave their statement and
solution in the books to which he gave the suitable
title οf “ The Problems and Solutions in Genesis
and in Exodus." There are, besides this, some
specially elaborated treatises of his on certain problems,
such as the two books “ On Agriculture," and
as many “ Οn Drunkenness," and others with various
appropriate titles, such as “ The Things which the
Sober Μind desires and exercrates," “ On the confusion
of Tongues," “ Οn flight and Discovery,"
“ Οn Assembly for Instruction," and “ On the Question
who is Heir of the Divine Things," or “ On the
Distinction between Οdd and Even," and further
“ Οn the three Virtues which Moses describes with
’’ in additon to this, “ On those whose names
have been changed and why they where," in which
he says that he has also composed Books I. and
II. “ Οn the Covenants." There is also a book of
his “ Οn Migration and the wise life of the Man

 
initiated into Righteousness, or Unwritten Laws," and
also “ Οn Giants or the Immutability of God," and
Books Ι., II., III., ΙV., V., “ Οn the Divine Origin of
Dreams according to Μoses.’’ These are the books
which have come down to us dealing with Genesis.
Οn Exodus we know books I., ΙΙ., III., ΙV., V. of
his “ Ρroblems and Solutions," the book “ On the
Tabernacle," and that “ Οn the Ten Commandments,"
and Books I., II., ΙΙΙ., ΙV., “ Οn the Laws specially
referrring to; the principal divisions of the Ten Commandments,"
and the book “ Οn Animals for Sacrifice
and the Varieties of Sacrifice," and “ Οn the Rewards
fixed in the Law for the Good and the Penalties and
Curses for the ’’ Ιn addition to all this there
are also some single volumes of his, such as the book
“ Οn Providence," and the treatise composed by him
“ Οn the ’’ and “ The ’’ moreover
“ Αlexander, or that irrational animals have reason."
Ιn addition to this the “ That every wicked man is a
slave," to which is appended the “ That every good
man is free." Αfter these he composed the book
“ Οn the Contemplative Life, or Suppliants," from
which we have quoted the passages dealing with the
life of the men of the Apostolic age, and the interpretations
οf the Hebrew names in the Law and the
Prophets are said to be his work. Ηe came to Rome
in the time of Caius, and in the reign of Claudius is
said to have read before the whole Senate of the
Romans his description of the impiety of Caiu which
he entitled, with fitting irony, “ Concerning Virtues,"
and his words were so much admired as to be granted
pa lace in libraries. 

 
 Αt this time, while Ρaul was finishing his journey
from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum,
Claudius banished the Jews from Rome, and Aquila
and Priscilla, with the other Jews, left Rome
and came into Αsia, and lived there with Ρaul the
Αpοstle, while he was strengthening the foundations
of the churches there which had reeently been laid
by him. The sacred Scripture of the Acts teaches
this also.

XIX. Νow while Claudius was still administering the
Εmpire there was a riot and confusion in Jerusalem at
the feast οf the Ρassover so great that, merely among
those who were violently crowded together at the
ways leading οut οf the temple, thirty thousand Jews
perished by tramplinlg οn each other, and the feast
was turned into mourning for the whole nation and
into lamentation in each house. This too Josephus
relates in So many words. Claudius appointed
Agrippa, the child οf Αgrippa, as king of the Jews,
and sent out as Ρrocurator of the whole district or
samaria and Galilee, together with that called Peraea.
Ηe had administered the government for thirteen
years and eight months when he died and left Νero
his successor in the sovereignty.

XX. In the time of Νerο, while Felix was Ρrocurator
of Judaea, Josephus again relateS the quarrel of the
priests with one another in the following words in
a passage in the twentieth book οf the Antiquities :
“ Νow a quarrel arose between the Ηigh Ρriests and
the priests and leaders of the people of Jerusalem.

 
Εach of them made for himself a band of the
boldest revolutionaries, of which he was the leader,
and when they met they used to abuse each other
and throw stones. There was not a single one
to rebuke this, but it was done with licence as though
in a city without government. sueh shamelessness
and audacity seized the Ηigh Priests that they
ventured to Send salves to the threshing-floors to
take the tithes owed to the prierts, and it was a
common occurrence to see destitute priests perishing
of want. Thus the violence of the factions conquered
all justice." 
 The same writer again relates that at the same
time a certain kind of bandits arose in Jerusalem,
who, as he says, murdered daily those whom they
met, even in the midst of the city. In particular at
the feasts they used to mingle with the crowd and
concealing short daggers in their clothes used to
Stab distinguished people with them ; then, when
they had fallen, the murderers themselves shared
in the indignation. In this way they evaded discovery
through the conhdence generally plaeed in
them. Jonathan the Ηigh Priest was the first to be
slain by them, but after him many were murdered
daily, and fear was worse than the disasters, for as if
in war every man was hourly expecting death.

XXI. Ηe continues his narrative after οther details
as follows: : “ The Εgyprian false prophet affiicted the
Jews with a worse scourge than this, for this man
appeared in the country as a sorcerer and secured
for himself the faith due to a prophet. Ηe assembled
about thirty thousand who had been deceived and

 
led them round from the wilderness to the mount
called Olivet, where he was in a position to force
an entry into Jerusalem and overpower the Roman
garison and the people by a despotic use of the
soldiers who had joined him. But Felix, anticipating
his attaek, met him with the Roman forces, and all
the people agreed in rile defenee, so that when
battle was joined the Egyptian fled with a few
men and the greater part of those with him were
destroyed or captured." 
 Josepohus relates this in the second book of the
Wars, but it is worth nothing what is said about the
Egyptian there and in the Acts or the Apostles,
where, in the time of Felix, the centurion at Jerusalem
said to Ρaul, when the mob of the Jews was
rioting against him, “ Αrt thou not that Egyptian
who before these days made an uprorar and led out
in the wilderness four thousand men of the Sicarii 1 ? ’’
Such was the course of events under Felix.

XXII. Festus was sent as his successor by Νero, and
Ρaul was tried before him and taken as a prisoner to
Rome ; Αristarchus was with him, and he naturally
called him his fellow-prisoner in a passage in tlle
Epistles. Luke also, who committed the Acts of
the Apostles to writing, finished his narrative at this
point by the statement that Ρaul spent two whole
years in Rome in freedom, and preached the word
of God without hindrance. Trdition has it that
after derending himelf the Apostle was again sent
 

 
οn the ministry of preaching, and coming a second
time to the same city suffered martyrdom under
Νerο. During this imprisonment he wrote the second
Εpistle to Timothy, indicating at the same time that
his first defence had taken place and that his martyrdom
was at hand. Νοtice his testimony on this
point : “ Αt my first defence," he says, “ no man
was with me, but all deserted me (may it not be
laid to their charge), but the Lord stood by me and
strengthened me that the preaching might be fuh
filled by me and all the Gentiles might hear, and I
was delivered from the lion's mouth." Ηe clearly
proves by this that on the first occasion, in order
that the praching which took place through him
might be fulmled, he was delivered from the lion's
mouth, apparently referring to Νero thus for his
feroeity. Ηe does not go on to add any such words
as “ he will deliver me from the lion's mouth," for
he saw in the spirit that his death was all but at hand,
wherefore after the words “ And 1 was delivered
from the lion's mouth," he goes on to say, “ The
Lord will deliver me from all evil and save me for his
heavenly kingdom," indicating his impending martrydom.
Αnd this he foretells even more clearly in the
same writing, saying, “ For ἴ’ am already offered up
and the time of my release is at hand." Νοw in the
second Epistle of those to Timothy, he states that
only Luke was with him as he wrote, and at his
Rrst defence not even he ; wherefore Luke probably
wrote the Αcts of the Apostles at that time, carrying

 
down his narratiVe until the time when he was with
Ρaul. We have said this to show that Paul's martyrdom
was not accomplished during the sojourn in
Rome which Luke describes. Ρrobably at the beginning
Νero’s disposition was genrier and it was
easier for Ρaul’s defence on behalf of his views to
be received, but as he advanced towards reckless
crime the Apostles were attacked along with the
rest.

XIII. When Ρaul appealed to eaesar and was sent
over to Rome by Festus the Jews were disappointed
of the hope in which they had laid their plot against
him and turned against James, the brother of the
Lord, to whom the throne of the bishopric in Jerisalem
had been allotted by the Apostles. The crim
which they committed was as follows. They brought
him into the midst and demanded a denial of the
faith in Christ before all the people, but When he,
contrary to the expectation of all of them, with a
loud voice and with more courage than they had
expected, confessed before all the people that our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the son of God.
they could no longer endure his testimony, since he
was by all men believed to be most righteous beeause
of the height which he had reached in a life of
philosophy and religion, and killed him, using anarchy
as an opportunity for power since at that moment
Festus had died in Judaea, leaving the district without
government or procurator. The manner of

 
James's death has been Shown by the words of
Clement already quoted, narrating that he was
thrown from the battlement and beaten to death
with a club, but Hegesippus, who belongs to the
generation after the Apostles, gives the most aceurate
aeeount of him Speaking as follows in his fifth
book : “ The charge of the Church passed to James
the brother of the Lord, together with the Αpostles.
Ηe was called the ‘ Just ’ by all men from the Lord's
time to ours, since many are called James, but he
was holy from his mother's womb. Ηe drank no
wine or strong drink, nor did he eat flesh ; no razor
went upon his head ; he did not anoint himself with
oil, and he did not go to the baths. Ηe alone was
allowed to enter into the sanctuary for he did not
wear wool but linen, and he used to enter alone
into the temple and be found kneeling and praying
for forgiveness for the people, so that his knees
grew hard like a camel's because of his constant
worship of God, kneeling and asking forgiveness for
the people. so from his excessive righteousness he
was ealled the Just and Oblias, that is in Greek,
‘ Rampart of the people and righteousness,’ as the
prophets deelare concerning him. Thus Some of the
seven sectS among the people, who were desribed
before by me (in the Commentaries), inquired of him
what was the gate of Jesus,’ and he said that he was
the saviour. Owing to this some believed that Jesus
was the Chrirt. The sects mentioned above did not
believe either in resurrection or in one who shall

 
come to reward each according to his deeds, but as
many as believed did so because of James. Νow,
since many even of the rulers believved, there was a
saying that the whole people was in danger of looking
for Jesus a the christ. So they assembled and said
since they are straying after Jesus as though he were
the Messiah. We beseech you to persuade concerning
Jesus all who come for the day of the Passover,
over, all obey you. For we and the whole people
testify to you that you are righteous and do not
respect persons. cso do you persuade the crowd not
to err concerning Jesus, for the whole people and we
all obey you. Therefore stand on the battlement of
and that your words may be audible to all the people,
for because of the Passover all the tribe, with the
Gentiles also, have come ’ so the scribes
and Pharisees mentioned before made James stand
on the battlement of the temple, and they cried out
to him and said, Oh, jsut one, to whom we all owe
obeffience, since the people are straying after Jesus
who was crucified, tell us what is the gate of Jesus ? 7. 1 ’
Αnd he answered with a loud voice, ‘ Why do you
ask me concerning the son of Man ? Ηe iS sitting
in heaven on the right hand of the great power, and
he will come on the clouds of haven.’ Αnd many
were convinced and confessed 2 at the testimony of
 

 
James and said, ‘ Hosanna to the son of
Then again the same seribes and Ρharisees said to
one another, ‘ We did wrong to provide Jesus with
such testimony, but let us go up and throw him
down that they may be afraid and not believe him.
Αnd they cried out saying, ‘ Oh, oh, even the just
one ’ Αnd they fulfilled the Scripture written
in Isaiah, 1 ‘ Let us take the just man for he is
unprofitable to us. Yet they shall eat the fruit of
their works.' So they went up and threw down the
Just, and they said to one another, ‘ Let us stone
James the ’ and they began to stone him since
the fall had not killed him, but he turned and knelt
saying, ‘I beseech thee, Ο ·Lord, God and Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they ’
Αnd while they were thus stoning him one of the
priests of the sons of Reehab, the son of Rechabim,2
to whom Jeremiah the prophet bore witness, cried
out saying, ‘ Stop ! what are you doing ? The Just
is praying for ’ Αnd a certain man among them,
one of the laundrymen, took the club with which
he used to beat out the clothes, and hit the Jurt on
the head, and so he suffered martyrdom. Αnd they
buried him on the spot by the temple, and his gravestone
stone still remains by the temple. He beeame a true
witness both to Jews and to Greeks that Jesus is the
Chrisband at once Vespasian began to beriege them." 

 
 This account is given at length by Hegesippus,
but in agreement with Clement. Thus it seems that
James was indeed a remarkable man and ramous
among all for righteousness, so that the wise even
οf the Jews thought that this was the cause of the
siege of Jemsalem immediately after his martyrdom,
and that it happened for no other reason
than the crime which they had committed against
him. 
 of course Josephus did not shrink from giving
written testimonyp to this, as follows : “ And theSe
things happened to the Jews to avenge JameS the
Just, who was the brother of Jesus the so-called
christ, for the Jews killed him in spite of his great
righteousness." 1 The same writer also narrates his
death in the twentieth book of the Antiquities as
follows : “ Νow when Caesar heard οf the death of
Festus he sent Albinus as governor to Judaea, but
the younger Αnanus, who, as we said, had received
the Ηigh Priesthood, was bold in temperament
and remarkably daring. Ηe followed the Seet of
the sadducees, who are cruel in their judgements
beyond all the Jews, as we have already explained.
nus his eharacter led Αnanus to think that he had
a suitable opportunity through the faet that Festus
was dead and Albinus still on his way. Ηe sum-
moned a council of judges, brought before it the
brother of Jesus, the so-ealled Christ, whose name
was James, and some otherS, on the accusation of
breaking the law and delivered them to be stoned.
But all who were reputed the most reasonable of
the citizens and strict observers of the law were
 

 
angered at this and sent secretly to the Emperor, 
begging him to write to Αnanus to give up doing
such things, for they said that he had not aeted
rightly from the very beginning. Αnd some of
them also went to meet Albinus as he journeyed
from Alexandria, and explriaIned that it was illegal
for Αnanus to assemble the council without his
permission. Albinus was influenced by what was said
and wrote angrily to Αnanus threatening him with
penalties, and for this reason King Agrippa deprived
him of the Ηigh Ρriesthood when he had held it
for three months, and appointed Jesus the son of
Dammaeus." Such is the story of James, whose is
said to be the first of the Εpistles ealled Catholic.
It is to he observed that its authenticity is denied,
since few of the ancients quote it, as is also the case
with the Epistle ealled ’s, which is itseK one of
the seven called Catholie ; nevertheless we know
that these letters have been used publicly with the
rest in most churehes.

XXIV. In the eighth year of the reign οf Νero
Αnnianus was the nrst after Mark the Evangelist to
receive charge of the ffiocese 2 of Alexandria.

XXV. When the rule of Νero was now gathering
strenght for unholy objects he began to take up arms
against the worship of the Good οf the universe. Ιt is
not part of the present work to describe his depravity :
many indeed have related his story in accurate
nauative, and from them he who wishes can study
 
 
 

 
the perversity of his degenerate madness, which
made him compass the unreasonable destruction of
so many thousands, until he reached that Bnal guilt
οf sparing neither his nearest nor dearest, so that in
various ways he did to death alike his mother,
brothers, and wife, with thousands of others attached
to his family, as though they were enemies and foes.
nut with all this there was still lacking to him thi μ’
that it should be attributed to him that he was the
nrst οf the emperors to be pointed out as a foe of
divine religion. This again the Latin writer Tertullian
mentions in one place as follows : “ Look at your
records : there you will Rnd that Νero was the
nrst to persecute this belief when, haring overcome
the whole Εast, he was speeially cruel in Rome
against all. 1 We boast that sueh a man was the
author of our chastisement ; for he who knows him
can understand that nothing would have been
condemned by Kero had it not been great and
good." 
 In this way then was he the Rrst to be heralded
as above all a fighter against God, and raised up to
slaughter against the Apostles. It is related that in
his time Ρaul was beheaded in Rome itselr, and that
Ρeter likewise was crucified, and the title οf “ Ρeter
and Ρaul,’’ which is still given to the cemeteries
there, confirms the story, no less than does a writer
οf the Church named caius, who lived when Zefyrinus
was bishop οf Rome. Caius in a written discussion

 
with Ρroclus, the leader οf the Montanists,1 speaks
as follows οf the places where the sacred rellics of
the Αpοstles in question are depoSited : “ But I
can point οut the trophies of the Αpostles, for if you
will go to the Vatican or to the Ostian Way you will
find the trophies οf those who founded thiS ’’ 
Αnd that they both were martyred at the same time
Dionysius, bishop οf Corinth, affirms in this passage
of his correspondenee wtih the Romans : “ By so
great an admonition you bound together the foundations
of the Romans and Corinthians by Ρeter and
Ρaul, for both of them taught together in our
corinth and were our founders, and together also
taught in Italy in the Same place and were mart yred
at the same ’’ Αnd this may serve to conRrm
still further the facts narrated.

XXVI. Josephus in the courSe of hiS extremely detailed
description of the cataStrophe which overcame
the whole Jewish raee, in addition to many other things
explains exactly how many thousand Jews οf high
rank in Jerusalem itself were outraged, Seourged,
and crucified by FloruS, and that he was procurator
of Judaea when it happened that the beginning of
the war blamd up in the twelfth year of the
reign of Νero. Ηe next says that throughout syria
terrible disturbances followed the revolt οf the
Jews. Εverywhere the Gentiles mercilessly attaeked
 
 

 
the Jews in the ciues as though they were foes,
so that the cities could be seen full οf unburied
bodies, thrown out dead, old men and children, and
women without covering for their nakedness ; the
whole province was full of indescribable misery and
the strain of the threats for the future was worse
than the crimes of the Ρresent. This Josephus
narrates, and such was the cond1tion οf the Jews.

CONTENTS OF BOOK III 
 The contents of the third book of the History
of the Church is as follows : 
 I. The parts of the world in which the apostles
preached Christ. 
 II. Who was the first ruler of the church οf the
Romans. 
 III. on the letters of the Ρostles. 
 IV, on the first successors of the aportles. 
 V. on the last siege of the Jews after Christ. 
 VI. On the famine that οppressed them. 
 VII. On the Ρrοphecies οf Crhist. 
 VIII. On the signs before the war. 
 IX. On Josephus and the writings which he left. 
 X. Ηow he quotes the sacred books. 
 XI. Ηow after James Simeon ruled the church at
Jerusalem. 
 XII. Ηοw vespasian ordered the family of Darivld
to be sought out. 
 XIII. Ηow Abilius was the seeond ruler of the
Alexandrians. 
 XIV. Ηow Anencletus was the second bishop of
the Romans. 
 XV. How, after him, clement was the third. 
 XVI. On the epistle of Clement.
XVII.p On the Ρersecution under Domitian. 

 
 XVIII. On John the Apostle and the Apocalypse. 
 XIX. How domitian commanded the family
of David to be destroyed. 
 XX. On family family of our Saviour. 
 XXI. How Cerdo was the third to rule the
church of the Alexandrians. 
 XXII. How Ignatius was the second of the
Antiochians. 
 XXIII. Α narrative about John the Apostle. 
 XXIV. Οn the order of the Gospels. 
 XXV. Οn the writings acknowledged as sacred
and Οn those which are not. 
 XXVI. Οn Μenander the Sorcerer. 
 XXVII. Οn the heresy of the Ebionites. 
 XXVII. On Cerinthus the Heresiarch. 
 XXIX. On Nicholas and those called after him. 
 XXX. Οn the apostles who were tested by
marriage. 
 XXXO/ On the death of John and Philip. 
 XXXII. How Simeon, the bishop in Jerusalem,
was martyred. 
 XXXIII. How Trajan forbade the Christians to
be sought out. 
 XXXIV. How Evarestus was the fourth to rule
the church of the Romans. 
 XXXV. How Justus was the third ruler of the
church in jerusalem. 
 XXXVI. Οn Ignatius and his letters. 
 XXXVII. On the evangelists who were still
flourishing. 
 XXXVIII. On the letter of Clement and the writings
fabely attributed to him. 
 XXXIX. On the writings of Papias.

BOOK III 
 I. Such was the condition of things among the Jews,
 but the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour
 were seattered throughout the whole world. Thomas,
 as tradition relates, obtained by lot Parthia, Andrew
 Scythia, John Asia (and he stayed there and died
 in Ephesus), but Ρeter Seems to have preached to
 the Jews of the Dispersion in Pontus and Galatia
 and Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia, and at the end
 he came to Rome and was crueffied head downwards,
 for so he had demanded to suffer. What need
 be said of Ρaul, who fulffiled the gospel of Christ from
 Jerusalem to Illyria and afterward was martyred in
 Rome under Νerο ? This is stated exactly by Οrigen
 in the third volume of his commentary on Genesis.

II. Αfter the martyrdom of Paul and Ρeter, Linus
 was the first appointed to the bishopric of the church
 of Rome. Ρaul mentions him when writing from
 Rome to Timothy in the salutation at the end of the
 Εpistle.

III. Οf Ρeter, one epistle, that which is called his
 first, is admitted, and the aneient presbyters used
 
 this in their οwn writings as unquestioned, but the
so-called second Epistle we have not received as
canonical, but nevertheless it has appeared useful to
many, and has been studied with other seriptures.
On the other hand, of the Αcts bearing his name,
and the Gospel named according to him and Preaching
called his and the so-called Revelation, we have
no knowledge at all in Catholic tradition, for no
orthodox1 writer of the andent time or of our
own has used their testimonies. Αs the narrative
proceeds 1 will take pains to infficate suecessively
wMhlch of the orthodox writers in eaeh period used
any of the doubtful books, and what they said about
the canonical and accepted scriptures and what
about those which are not such. Νow the above are
the books bearing the name of Ρeter, of which I
recognize only οne as genuine and admitted by the
presbyters of old. Αnd the fourteen letters of Ρaul
are obvious and plain, yet it is not right to ignore
that some dispute the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying
that it was rejected by the church of Rome as not
being by Ρaul, and I will expound at the proper time
what was sriald about it by our predecessors. Νor
have I received his so-called Acts among undisputed
books. But since the same Apostle in the salutations
at the end οf Romans has mentioned among others
Hermas, whose, they say, is the Book of the shepherd,
it should be known that this also is rejected by some,
and for their sake should not be placed among
 

 
aceepted books, but by others it has been judged
most valuable, especially to thoSe Who need elementary
instruction. For this reason we know that it
has been used in public in churehes, and I have found
it quoted by some of the most ancient writers. Let
this suffiee for the establishment of the divine
wrintings which are undisputed, and of those which
are not received bv all.

IV. Νοw it would be clear from Paul's own words
and from the narrative of Luke in the Acts that Ρaul,
in his preaching to the Gentiles, laid the foundations
of the churches from Jerusalem round about unto
Illyricum. Αnd from the Epistle which we have
spoken of as indisputably Peter's, in which he writes
to those of the Hebrews in the Dispersion of Pontus
and Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, it
would be clear from his own words in how many
provinces he delivered the word οf the Νew Testament
by preaching the Gospel of Christ to those of
the eireumcision. But it is not easy to say how
many οf these and which of them were genuinely
zealous and proved their ability to be the pastors of
the churches founded by the Apostles, except by
making a list of those mentioned by raul. For
there were many thousands of his fellow-workers and,
as he called them himself, fellow - soldiers, of whom the
most were granted by him memorial past forgetting,
for he recounts his testimony to them unceasingly in
his own letters, and, moreover, Luke also in the Acts
gives a list of those known to him and mentions them
by name. Thus Timothy is related to have been the
first appointed bishop of the diocese of Ephesus, as

 
was Titus of the ehurehes in Crete. Luke, who was
by raee an Antiochian and a physician by profession,
was long a companion of Ρaul, and had careful conversation
with the other Apostles, and in two
books left us examples of the medicine for souls
which he had gained from them—the Gospel, which
he testifies that he had planned according to the
tradition reeeived by him by those who were from
the beginning eyewitnesses and ministers of the
word, all of whom he says,1 moreover, he had followed
from the beginning, and the Acts of the Apostles
which he composed no longer on the evidence of
hearing but of his own eyes. Αnd they say that
Paul was actually accustomed to quote from Luke's
Gospel since when writing of some Gospel as his own
he used to say, “ According to my ” Of the
other followers of Ρaul there is evidence that
Crescens was sent by him to Gaul, and Linus, who is
mentioned in the seeond Epistle to Timothy as
present with him in Rome has already been deelared
to have been the first after Ρeter to be appointed to
the bishopric of the Chureh in Rome. Of Clement
too, who was himself made the third bishop of the
chureh of Rome, it is testified by Paul that he worked
and strove in company with him. In addition to
these Dionysius, one of the ancients, the pastor Of
the diocese of the Corinthians, relates that the first
bishop of the Chureh at Athens was that member of
the Areopagus, the Οther Dionysius, whose original
eonversion after Ρaul’s speech to the Athenians in
the Areopagus Luke deseribed in the Acts. Now
 

 
as we go on our way the chronological details of the
succession of the Apostles will be related, but at
present let us go on to the next stage of the narrative.

V. Αfter Νero had held the sovereignty for thirteen
years 1 the affairs of Galba and Otho 2 occupied a
year and six months, and then Vespasian, who had distinguished
himself in the operations against the Jews,
was proclaimed Imperator by the army there and
appointed Emperor in Judaea itself. Ηe at once
set off for Rome and entrusted the war against the
Jews to his son Titus. Now after the ascension of
our Saviour in addition to their crime against him
the Jews at onee contrived numberless plots against
his disciples. Stephen was first stoned to death by
them and next after him James, the son of Zebedee
and brother of John, was beheaded.3 In addition to
all, James, who was the first after the ascension οf
our Saviour to be appointed to the throne of the
bishopric in Jerusalem, paried away in the manner
deseribed above and the other Apostles were driven
from the land of Judaea by thousands of deadly
Ρlots. They went on their way to all the heathen
teaching their mesage in the power of Christ for
he had said to them, “ Go and make disciples of all
the heathen in my ” 4 On the other hand, the
 
 

 
people οf the church in Jerusalem were commanded
by an oracle given by revelation before the war to
those in the city who were worthy of it to depart and
dwell in one οf the cities of Perea which they called
Ρella. To it those who believed on Christ migrated
from Jerusalem, that when holy men had altogether
deserted the royal eapital of the Jews and the Whole
land of Judaea, the judgement of God might at last
overtake them for all their crimes against the Christ
and his Apostles, and all that generation οf the wicked
be utterly blotted out from among men. Those who
wish can retrace accurately from the history written
by Josephus how many evils at that time overwhelmed
the whole nation in every place and especially
how the inhabitants οf Judaea were driven to
the last point of suffering, how many thousands οf
youths, women, and children perished by the sword,
by famine, and by countless other forms of death ;
they ean read how many and what famous Jewish
cities were besieged, and Rnally how terrors and
worse than terrors were seen by those who fled to
Jerusalem as if to a mighty capital; they can study
the nature οf the whole war, all the details οf
what happened in it, and how at the end the
abomination of deSolation spoken of by the prophets
was set up in the very temple of God, for all its
ancient fame, and it perished utteriy and passed
away in flames. But it is neceSSary to point οut
how the same writer estimates at three millions the

 
number οf those who in the days of the Feart of the
Passover thronged Jerusalem from all Judaea and,
to use his own words, were shut up as if in prison.
Ιt vas indeed right that on the same day on which
they had perpetrated the passion of the Saviour and
benefactor of all men and the Chrit of God they
sholrid be, as it were shut up in prison and reeeiVe
the destruetiOn which pursued them from the sentence
of God. 
 Omitting then the details of their misfortunes
from the sword and otherwise, Ι think it necessary
to adduce only their sufferings from famine in order
that those who study this work may have some
partial knowledge of how the punishment of God
follOWed close after them for their crime against
the Christ of God.

VI. Come then, take up again
the fifth book of the history of Josephus and go
through the tragedy of what was then done. “For
the ’’he says, “ to remain was equal to destruction,
since for the sake of their property they were
murdered on the charge of intended desertion. But
the madneb of the rebels grew with the famine, and
the terror of both blazed more fiercely day by day.
No corn was visible anywhere, but they burst into
houses and searched them. Then, if they found
any, they tormented the inmates for their denying;
if not they tortured then for having hidden it too
earefully. The bodies of the miserable creatures
were evidence whether they had it or not. Those
who were still in health seemed to be provided with
food, while those who were already wasted away
were passed by, and it seemed unreasonable to kill

 
those who would soon die of need. Μany secretly
exchanged their property for a single measure or
wheat, if they were richer, of barley, if they were
poorer. Then, shutting themselves up in the inmost
recesses of their houSes, some, in the extremity of
their want, would eat the grain unprepared, others
would cook it as necessity and fear dietated. No
table was set anyWhere, but snatching it from the
fire they tore in pieces the still uncooked food.
Their living was pitiable, and their appearance worthy
of tears ; the strong plundered and the weak wailed.
Famine truly surpasses all sufferings, but it destroys
nothing so much as shame 1 ; for what is at other
times worthy of respect is despised in famine ; women
took the food from the very mouths of their husbands,
children from their fathers, and, most piteous of all,
mothers from their children, and while their deareSt
were wasting away before them there WaS no scruple
in taking away the last drop of life. Yet they did
not escape detection When they thus ate, but everywhere
the rioters arose to rob them even of this;
for whenever they Saw a house Shut up it was a sign
that those within had obtained food and at onee they
tore down the doors, ruShed in, and seized the
morSelS, almost squeering them out of their throats.
Old men were beaten for withholding food, and
Women were dragged by the hair for concealing it
in their hands. There Was no pity for grey-headed
age or for little children, but they picked up babies
clinging to crusts and dashed them on the floor.
 

 
To those who had anticipated their entry, and had
gulped down their expected prey, they were the
more cruel, as though they had been injured by
them. For the ffiscovery of food they sought for
terrible methods of torture, sewing up their victims
and inmpaling them on sharp stakes. Men suffered
things terrible even to hear to secure the confession
of a single loaf, and to disclose a single pint of hidden
barley. But the torturers suKered no hunger (and
indeed their cruelty would have been less had it been
from neeessity) but there was method in their madness
and they prorided sustenanee for themselves
for days to come. When some crept out by night
as far as the Roman lines to gather wild herbs and
grass, they intercepted them when they thought
that they had at last escaped the enemy, plundered
them of what they were carrying, and for all their
many entreaties and invocations of the awful name
οf God to give them some share οf what they had
brought at their οwn risk, they gave them nothing
whatever, and he Who Was robbed was lueky not to
be murdered too.”
Αfter some οther details he continues: “Νow When
all hope of safety was cut off from the Jews by the
closing of the exits from the city and famine deepening
from house to house and family to family was
eating up the people, the rooms were filled with
dead women and children and the alley—ways
the corpses of old men. Boys and young men,
wandering 1 like ghosts through the market—place,
were seimd by death and lay each where the blow
had stricken him. The sick had no strength to bury
sufferers from famine, not of ghosb (and the text seems
corrupt). Or it may be “ swllen yet ghost—like ghost—like ’’

 
their families and the strong heritated for the number
of the dead and their own doubtful fate. Many
indeed fell in death on those whom they were burying
and many went to their graves before the necessity
arose. There was no lamentation or wailing at
losses, but famine overcame emotion and those who
were dying in misery looked with dry eyes on those
Who had found rest before them. Deep silence and
night pregnant with death encompassed the city.
Worse than these were the robbers. Breaking into
houses like body-snatchers they robbed the dead,
tearing the garments from their bodies, and went
out with laughter. They tried the edge of their
Swords on the corpses, and to prove the steel ran
through some of the fallen who were still alive, but
those who begged for the kindliness of a mortal blow
they left in contempt to the famine. These all died
with eyes fixed on the temple and lert the rebels to
life. Αt first orders were giVen to bury the dead at
the public expense because of the unbearable stench ;
then afterwards when this was impracticable they
Were thrown from the walls into the trenches. When
Titus, going round the trenches, saw then full of
the dead and the thick gore oozing from the rotting
bodies, he groaned, and raising his hand called God
to witness that this was not his doing.” 
 Αfter a little more he goes on : “Ι cannot refrain
from stating what emotion bids me. Ι think that
had the Roman delayed their attack on the scoundrels
the city would haVe been engulfed by the earth
opening or overwhelmed by a flood or shared the

 
thunderbolts of Sodom, for it had brought forth a
generation far more ungodly than those who thus
suffered. It was by their madness that the whole
people perished.” 
 In the sixth book he writes thus : “Οf those who
perished in the city from the famine the number
which fell was countless and their sufferings indescribable.
For in each house if there appeared the
very shadow οf food there was fighting, and the
dearest friends wrestled together for it, snatching
the miserable sustenance of life. Νor were even the
dying believed to be destitute, but while they were
still breathing the robbers searched them, lest any
should feign death while having food on his person.
others, gaping from lack of food, stumbled and
hurried along like mad dogs, beating at the doors
like drunken men, and rushing two or three times in
a single hour into the same houses from sheer incompetence.
Necessity brought all things to men's
teeth and they endured eating a collection of scraps
unnt for the ffithieSt of brute beasts. Αt the last
they abstained not even from belts and shoes and
gnawed the hides stripped off their shieldS. Some
fed on wisps of old straw, others collected Stubble
and sold a tiny portion for four Attic drachmae.1 
 “But what need is there to Speak of the shamelessness
οf the famine towards inanimate things? I
purpose to relate a consequenee of it such as has been
narrated neither by the Greeks nor by the barbarians,
horrible to tell, ineredible to hear. I myself
would have gladly omitted the tragedy to avoid
 

 
appearing to posterity to fabricate legend had I not
had coulrtless vitneses to it in my own generation.
Certainly I should render cold comfort to my country
Were I to compromise the account of her sufferings.
There was a woman among those who lived beyond
Jordan named Mary whose father was Eliezer of the
village Bathezor (which means “ House of ”).
She was famous for her family and Wealth, and
having fled with the rest of the population to Jerusalem
was eaught in the Siege. The tyrants seized
all her other possessions which she had brought from
Peraea and carried into the city, and the guards
rushed in daily and seized the iemnants of her
property and any food which they perceived. Fierce
indignation seized the woman and by her frequent
abuseS and curses she tried to irritate the robbers
against herSelf. But when no one killed her either
in anger or pity and she wearied of finding food for
others, and indeed it was now impossible to do so
anywhere, famine entered into her heart and marrow,
and rage burnt more fiercely than famine. Anger
and neceSsity were her councillors: she turned
against nature and seized her child, a boy whom She
was suckling. ‘Miserable infant,’ she said, ‘amid
war, famine, and rebellion for what 1 am I keeping
you ? Slavery among the Romans faces us if
they give us our liveS ; famine is overtaking slavery;
the rebelS are worse than both. Come, be food for
me, an avenging fury to the rebels, and the one
story still lacking to the sufferings of the Jews to
be told to the world.’ With these words she
her son, and then cooked him, ate half, and covered
 
 

 
up and kept the rest. Αt that moment the rebels
came and smelling the horrible savour, threatened
to kill her at onee if they were not given what she
had made ready. she told them that rile had kept
a good helping for them and uncovered the remains
of the child. Αs for them, horror and amazement
seized them at once, and they stood transfixed at the
sight, but She said, ‘ This was my own child and the
deed is mine. Eat, for I myself have eaten. Do
not be more squeamish than a woman, or compassionate
than a mother. But if you have scruples,
and turn away from my sacrifice, What I have eaten
was your share, let the rest remain for me.’ Αt
they went out trembling, for only thiS made them
coWards, and they scarcely yielded eVen thiS food to
the mother ; but the Whole eity waS at once ffiled
with the horror, and each, holding the tragedy
before hiS eyes, shuddered as if it had been his own
crime. And the sufferers from the famine sought
for death and pronounced those blessed whom it
had reached before they heard or saw such awful
evils.”

VII. Such was the reward of the iniquity of the
Jews and of their impiety against the ChriSt of God,
but it is worth appending to it the infallible foreeast
of our saviour in which he prophetically expounded
these very — “ woe unto them that are with
child and give suek in those days, but pray that your
ffight be not in the winter nor on a sabbath day, for
there Shall then be great affliction such as was not
from the beginning of the world until now, nor shall
be.” Αnd the historian, estimating the whole

 
of those who were destroyed, says that 1.100.000
perished by famine and tlle sword, and that the rest
of the rebels and bandits were pointed out by one
another after the capture of the city and killed.
The tallest of the youths, and those distinguished for
physical beauty, were kept for a triumph, and of the
remaining population those above seventeen years
old Were sent as prisoners to hard labour in Egypt,
but more were distributed throughout the provinces
to be destroyed in the theatres by the sword and by
wild beasts. Those below seventeen years old were
sold into slavery and these alone were 90.000. 
 These things happened in this Way in the second
year of the reign of Vespasian in accordance with
the prophetic utterances of Our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, who foreseeing them by divine power as
though already present, shed tears at them and
mourned according to the writing of the saered
evangelist, who appends his actual words. For once
he said to Jerusalem herself, “ If thou hadst known,
even thou, in this day the thing which belong to
thy peaee : but now they are hid from thine eyes,
for the days will come upon thee When thine enemy
Shall cart a trench around thee and compass thee
round and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay
thee and thy children even with the ground.”
at another time, as if concerning the ”For
there shall be great distress On the earth and wrath
upon this people, and they shall fall by the edge
of the sword, and be sold into slavery to all the
Gentiles, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down
by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles

 
be fulfilled.” And again, “ Αnd when ye
Jemsalem surrounded by armies then know that her
desolation is at ” If anyone compare the words
of our Saviour with the other narratives of the
historian concerning the whole war, how can he avoid
surprise and a confession οf the truly divine and
supematurally wonderful character both of the foreknowledge
knowledge and of the foretelling οf our Saviour? 
 There is no necessity to add to the narratives of
what happened to the whole nation after the passion
of the Saviour and those words in which the multitude
of the Jews begged off from death the robber and
murderer and besought that the author of Life
should be taken from them ; but it would be right
to add a possible connnnation οf the kindliness οf
beneficent Providence. For forty whole years it
suspended their dertruction, after their crime against
the Christ, and during all of them many ofthe apostles
and disciples, and James himself, who is called the
Lord's brother, the first bishop of the city, still survived
in this world. By their dwelling in Jerusalem,
they afforded, as it were, a strong proteetion to the
place; for the govemment of God had still patience,
if haply they might at last by repenting of their
deeds, be able to obtain pardon and salvation; and
in addition to such great long—suffering it
wonderful tokens from God οf what would happen
to them if they did not repent. These things have
been thought worthy of mention by the historian
already quoted, and there is nothing better than to
append them for the readers of this work.

VIII. Take, then, and read what is related in the
sixth book of the Jervish War. “ Now at that time
impostors and lying prophets perverted the miserable
people, but they gaVe neither attention nor
credence to the clear marvels which foretold approaching
desolation, but as though they had been thunderstruck
and had neither eyes nor soul, they neglected
the declarations of God. Αt One time a star stood
over the city like a sword, and a comet which lasted
for a year. Αt another tlme, before the insurrection,
and the disturbance which led to the war, when the
people were assembled for the Feast of Unleavened
Bread, on the eighth of April, at the ninth hour of
the night, a light shone on the alter and on the
temple so brightly that it seemed to be full day, and
this lasted for half an hour. TO the inexperienced
this seemed a good sign, but was at once interpreted
by the seribes before the events which actually
followed. Αnd at thc same feast a cow, which had
been led by the —priest for the sacrifice, gave
birth to a lamb in the middle of the tempIe, And
the eastern gate of the inner building, which was of
bronze and very massive and was closed at evening
time with difficulty by twenty men, and rested on
beams bound with iron and had bars sunk deep, was
seen at night at the sixth hour to have opened of
itself. Αnd after the feast, not many days later, on
the twenty—first of May, a demonic phantom
of increffible size, and what will be related would
have seemed a fairy-tale had it not been told by
those who saw it, and been attended by suffering

 
worthy of the portent. For before sunset there
appeared in the air over the whole country chariots
and armed troops coursing through the clouds and
surrounding the cities. Αnd at the feast called
Pentecost the priests passed into the temple at night,
as was their custom, for their services, and said that
they first perceived movement and noise and after that
a sudden cry, ‘ We go hence’ But what was
terrible a man of the people named Jesus, the son
οf Ananias, a countryman, four years before the war,
when the city was in complete peaee and prosperity,
came to the feast when it was the custom for all to
make booths for God, and began suddenly to cry οut
opposite the temple, ‘ Α voice from the east, a voice
from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice
against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against
bridegrooms and brides, a voice against all the
people.’ With this cry night and day he
through all the narrow streets. But some οf the
notables οf the people were annoyed at the ill omen,
seized the man and abused him with many stripes.
But he uttered no word in his own behalf, nor in
private to those present, but went οn with the same
cry as before. But the rulers thought that the man's
action was inspired by some demon, as it indeed was,
and brought him to the Roman govemor 1 ; there,
though he was flayed to the bone with scourges, he
uttered no plea and shed no tear, but taising his
 

 
voice with all his power, answered to every blow,
‘Woe, woe to Jerusalem.’” 
 The same writer has a still more remarkable
account in Which he alleges that an oracle was found
in “ sacred seript ” to the effect that at that time one
from their country should rule the world and he
himself considered that this was fulfilled by Vespasian.
Yet he did not reign over the whole world,
but only such part as was subject to the Romans,
and it would be more justly referred to Christ, to
whom it was said by the Father, “ Αk of me and Ι
will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and
the ends οf the earth for thy possession.”
was of his holy apostles at that Very time that “ the
sound went forth into all tbe earth and their words
unto the end of the earth.”

IX. In addition to all this, it is right not to ignore
 

 
the date and Origin οf the Josephus who collected so
mueh material in the work just dealt with. Ηe
himself gives this information and says, “
was a son of Mathhisas, a priest of Jerusalem, and at
the beginning he fought againrt the Romans and
was forced to take part in the later events.”
was the most famous Jew of that time, not only
among his fellow countrymen but also among the
Romans, so that he was honoured by the erection of
a statue in the city of Rome, and the inclusion of the
work composed by him in its library Ηe compiled
the whole ancient history of the Jews in twenty
volumes, 1 and the history of the Roman War 2 in his
own time in seven; he testifies that he committed
this not only to Greek but also to his native language,
and he is for other reasons worthy of credenee.
Two other books of his, worthy of notice, are extant,
entitled Οn the ancientness of the Jervs, 3 in which he
controverts Apion the Scribe, who had composed a
treatise against the Jews, and other who had tried
to calumniate the ancertral customs of the Jewish
nation. Ιn the first of these he gives the number of
the canonical scriptures of the –called Old Testament,
and showed as follows which are undisputed
among the Hebrews as belonging to ancicnt tradition.

X. “ We have no myriads of discordant and contradictory
books, but only two and twenty, containing
the narrative of all time, which have been justly
believed to be divine. Οf thee five are those of
 
 
 

 
Moses and contain the Law and the tradition of
human history until his deatll. This period covers
almost three thousand years. From the death of
Moses to Artaxerxes who succeeded Xerxes, king
of the Persians, the prophets after Moses wrote the
aecount of the events contemporary with them in
thirteen books. 1 The remaining four books contain
hymns to God and precepts for the life of men.
From the time of Artaxerxes to our own the details
have been written, 2 but are not considered worthy
οf equal credence with the rest because there has
not been an aceurate succession of prophetS. Αnd
facts show plainly how we approach our own literature,
for though so long a time has elapsed no one
has dared to make additions, omissions, or changes,
but it is innate in Jews from their very birth to
regard them as the decreeS of God, to abide in them
and, if it need be, to die for them ” This
quotation from the author may be usefully appended. 
 Another work which is not without merit was
produced by him on The Supremacy of Reason, which
some entitled Maccabees 3 because it contains the
conflicts of those Hebrews mentioned in the so-called
books of the Maccabees, who strove valiantly for the
worship of God. Αt the end of the twentieth book
οf the Antiquities the same writer announces that he
had planned to compose four books on the aneestral
belief of the Jews concerning God and his nature and
 
 
 

 
concerning the Laws, why they allow some aetions
and forbid others. Ηe also mentions in his οwn
treatises that he had produced other works. Moreover,
it is right to mention the words which he appends
to the end οf the Antiquities to confirm our quotation
οf the passages taken from him. Accusing of false
statements Justus of Tiberias, who had undertaken
to write a similar account of the same period, and
bringing many οther charges against him, he continues
as follows : “ I had no such fear as you with
regard to my own writing, but I gave the books to
the Emperors themselves while the events were still
almost before their eyes. For I was conscious of
having kept the tradition of the truth and I did not
fail in my expectation of obtaining their testimony
to that effect. I also gave the narrative to many
others, of whom some had actually taken part in the
war, such as King Agrippa and some of his relations.
For the Emperor Titus Was pleased that from these
book alone should information be given the public
as to the events, and, writing with his own hand, he
ordered the books to be published, and King Agrippa
wrote sixty-two letters testifying that they were
handing on the ” of these letters he appends
two, but let this suffice οn the subject of Josephus
and let us proceed.

XI. Αfter the martyrdom of James and the capture
of Jemsalem which immeffidlately followed, the story
goes that those οf the Apostles and of the disciples
οf the Lord who were still alive came together from

 
every place with those who were, humanly speaking,
οf the family οf the Lord, for many of them were
then still alive, and they all took counsel together
as to whom they οught to adjudge worthy to succeed
James, and all unanimously decided that Simeon the
son οf Clopas, whom the scripture οf the Gospel also
mentions, was worthy of the throne of the diocese
there. He was, so it is said, a cousin οf the Saviour,
for Hegesippus relates that Clopas was the brother
of Joseph,

(XII.) and in addition that Vespasian,
after the capture of Jerusalem, ordered a seareh to
be made for all who were of the family of David,
that there might be left among the Jews no one
of the royal family and, for this reason, a very great
persecution was again infficted οn the Jews.

XIII. when Vespasian had reigned for ten years,
his son Titus succeeded him as emperor, 1 and in the
second year of his reign, Linus, bishop οf the church
οf the Romans, after holding his office for twelve
years, handed it οn to Anencletus. Αfter Titus
had reigned for two years and as many months
Domitian, his brother, suceeeded him. 2

XIV. Νow in
the fourth year of Domitian, Annianus, the hrst of the
see of Alexandria, died after completing twenty-two
years, and Abilius succeeded him as the second.

XV.
Αnd in the twelfth year of the same reign, Clement
sueeeeded Anencletus after he had been bishop of the
church of the Romans for twelve years. The apostle
states that he had been his –worker in his
epistle to the Philippians saying, “ With Clement and
 
 

 
my other fellow-workers whose names are in
book οf Life.”

XVI. There is one recognized epistle of Clement,
Ιong and wonderful, Which he drew up for the church
of the Corinthians in the name of the church of the
Romans when there had been dissension in Corinth.
We have ascertained that this letter was pubhely
read in the common assembly in many churches
both in the days of old and in our own time ;
and that the affairs οf Corinth were disturbed by
dissension in his day is adequately testffied to by
Hegesippus.

XVII. When Domitian had given many proofs of
his great cruelty and had put to death without any
reasonable trial no small number of men distinguished
at Rome by family and career, and had punished without
a cause myriads of other notable men by banishment
and confiscation of their property, he finally
showed himself the successor of Nero's campaign of
hostility to God. Ηe was the second to promote
persecution against uS, though his father, Vespasian,
had planned no evil against us.

XVIII. Αt this time, the story goes, the Apostle
and Evangelist John was still alive, and was condemned
to live in the island of Patmos for his witness to the
divine word. Αt any rate Irenaeus, Writing about the
number of the name ascribed to the anti-Christ
the so-called Apocalypse of John, states this about
John in so many words in the fifth book against
Heresies. “But if it had been neceSSary to announce
his name plainly at the present time, it would have

 
been spoken by him who saw the apocablypse. For
it was not seen long ago but almost in our own time,
at the end of the reign of Domitian.” 
 The teaching of our faith shone so brilliantly in
the days described that even writers foreign to
our belief did not hesitate to commit to their narratives
the persecutions and the martyrdoms in it,
and they even indicated the time accurately, relating
that in the fifeenth year 1 of Domitian, Flavia
Domitilla, who was the niece of Flavius Clemens,
one of the consuls at Rome at that time, was banished
with many others to the island of Pontia as testimony
to Christ.

ΧΙΧ. The samc Domitian gave orders for the
execution of those of the family of David and an
ancient story goes that some hererics accused the
grandsons of Judas (who is said to have been the
brother, according to the flesh, of the Saviour) saying
that they were of the family of David and related to
the Christ himself. Hegesippus this exactly
as follows.

XX. “ Now there still survived of the
family of the Lord grandsons of Judas, who was
said to have been his brother according to the flesh,
and they were delated as being of the family of
David. These tlle officer 2 brought to Domitian
Caesar, for, like Herod, he was afraid of the coming
of the Christ. Ηe asked them if they were of the
house of David and they admitted it. Then he
asked them how much property they had, or how
 

 
much money they controlled. and they said that all
they possessed was nine thousand denarii 
them, the half belonging to each, and they stated
that they did not possess this in money but that
it was the valuation of only thirty-nine plethra 
of ground on which they paid taxes and lived on
it by their own ” They then showed him
their hands, adducing as testimony of their labour
the hardness of their bodies, and the tough skin
which had been embossed on their hands from
their incessant work. They were asked concerning
the Christ and his kingdom, its nature, origin,
and time of appearance, and explained that it
was neither of the world nor earthly, but heavenly
and angelic, and it would be at the end of the world,
when he would come in glory to judge the living and
the dead and to reward every man according to his
deeds. At this Domitian did not condemn them at
all, but despised them as simple folk, released them,
and decreed an end to the persecution against the
church. But when they were released they were the
leaders of the churches, both for their testimony
and for their relation to the Lord, and remained
alive in the peace which ensued until Trajan.
Hegesippus tells this ; moreover, Tertullian also has
made similar mention of Domitian. “ Domitian
also once tried to do the same as he, for he was a
Nero in cruelty, but, Ι helieve, inasmuch as he
had some sense, he stopped at once and recalled
those whom he had banished.” 
 
 

 
 Αfter Domitian had reigned fifteen years, Nerva
succeeded. 1 The sentences οf Domitian were annulled,
and the Roman Senate decreed the return
οf those who had been unjustly banished and the
restoration of their property. Those who committed
the story οf those times to writing relate it. Αt
that time, too, the story of the ancient Christians
relates that the Apostle John, after his banishment
to the island, took up his abode at Ephesus.

XXI. After Νerva had reigned a little more than
a year he was suceeeded by Trajan,2 in whose first
year Abilius, after leading the diocese οf Alexandria
for thirteen years, was sueceeded by Cerdo ; he
was the third in charge οf that see after the first,
Annianus. Αt this time Clement was still governing
the Romans and he, also, occupied the third Ρlace
in the list οf bishops in Rome after Ρaul and Ρeter ;
Linus was the first and after him Anencletus.

XXII. Moreover, at the time mentioned, Ignatius
was famous as the second bishop at Antioch where
Evodius had been the first. Likewise at this time,
Simeon was second after the brother οf our Saviour
to hold the ministry of the church in Jerusalem.

XXIII. Αt this time that very disciple whom Jesus
loved, John, at οnce Apostle and Evangelist, still
remained alive in Asia and administered the churches
there, for after the death of Domitian, he had returned
from his banishment οn the island. Αnd that
he remained alive until this time may fully be confirmed
by two witnesses, and these ought to be
trustworthy for they represent the orthodoxy of the
 

 
church, no less persons than Irenaeus and Clement
οf Alexandria. The former of these writes in οne
Ρlace in the second οf his books Against the Hereises,
as follows : “ Αnd all the presbyters who had been
associated in Asia with John, the disciple of the
Lord, bear witness to his tradition, for he remained
with them until the timesk of ” Αnd in the
third book οf the same work he makes the same
statement as follows : “ Νοw the church at Εphesus
was founded by Ρaul, but Johu stayed there until
the times οf Trajan, and it is a true witness of the
tradition οf the Apostles.” 
 Clement indicates the same time, and in the
treatise to which he gave the title Who is the rich
man that is saved, adds a narrative most acceptable
to those who enjoy hearing what is fine and edifying.
Take and read here what he wrote. “ Listen to a
story which is not a story but a true tradition οf
John the Apostle Ρreserved in memory. For after
the death of the tyrant he passed from the island of
Ρatmos to Εphesus, and used also to go, when he
was asked, to the neighbouring districts of the
heathen,1 in some places to appoint bishops, in others
to reconcile whole churches, and in others to ordain
some οne of those pointed out by the spirit. Ηe
came to one οf the cities which were near by (and
some tell cven its name),2 and gave rest in general
to the brethren ; then, while looking before them
all at the bishop who had been appointed, he saw a
young man οf strong body, beautiful appearance,
and wann heart. ῾I commend this ᾿ he siad,
 
 

 
to you with all diligence in the face of the church,
and with Christ as my witness.’
received him, and promised everything, and the
same conversations and protestations were used.
John then returned to Ephesus and the presbyter1
took to his house the young man entrusted to him,
brought him up, looked after him, and finally
baptized him. Αfter this he relaxed his great care
and watchfulness, because he had set upon him
the seal of the Lord as the perfect safeguard.
But some idle and dissolute youths, familiar with
evil, corrupted him in his presature freedom. First
they led him on by expensive feasts, then they
started out at night for robbery and took him with
them, then they urged him to greater crimes. Ηe
gradually became accustomed to this, and like an
unbroken and powerful horse starting from the
straight way and tearing at the bit, rushed all the
more to the precipice becaue οf his natural vigour.
Finally he renounced salvation from God; and now he
planned nothing small, but, having perpetrated
some great crime, since he was ruised once for all,
accepted the same lot as the others. Ηe collected
them and formed a band of brigands and was himself
a born chief, excelling in violence, in murder, and
in cruelty. Time went on and some necessity arose
to summon John. When he had arranged the rest
of his mission John said, ‘Come now, bishop, pay me
back the deposit which Christ and I left with you,
with the church, over which you preride, as witness.’
The bishop was at first amazed, thinking that he was
being blackmailed for money which he had not
received. Ηe could neither show his faitjfi;mess in
 

 
what he had never had, nor could he fail John.
But when John said, ‘I ask back the young man
and the soul οf the brother,’ the οld man
deeply and shedding tears, said, ‘ He has died.’
‘ Ηow and with what death ? ’ ‘ Ηe has died to
God,’ he said, ‘ for he turned out wicked
abandoned and finally a brigand, and now instead of
the church he has taken to the mountains with an
armed band of men like himself.’ Then the
rent his gannents and beat his head with great
lamentation. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘it was a fine guardian
whom I left for the soul of our brother. But let me
have a horse and some one to show me the way. ’
So he rode, just as he was, straight from the church.
when he came to the place he was was by the
sentinel of the brigands and neither fled nor made
excuses, but ealled out, ‘This is why I am come ; take
me to your leader.’ The leader waited for him,
armed as he was, but when he recognized John οn
his approach, he turned and fled in shame. But
John pursued with all his might, forgetting his age
and calling οut, ‘Why do you run away from me,
child, your own father, unarmed and old ? Ρity me,
child, do not fear me ! You have still hope οf life.
I will aecount to Christ for you. Ιf it must be, I
will willingly suffer your death, as the Lord suffered
for us ; for your life, I will give my own. Stay,
believe; Christ sent ’ when he heard this he
nrst stood looking down, then he tore off his weapons,
then he began to tremble and to weep bitterly. Ηe
embraced the old man when he came up, pleading
for himself with lamentations as best he could,
baptized a second time in his tears, but his right

 
hand he kept back. But John assured him by pledges
and protestations that he had found forgiveness for
him with the Saviour, led him back, prayed and
kneeled and kissed that right hand as though
cleansed by his repentance. Ηe brought him to the
church, he prayed with many supplications, he joined
with him in the struggle of continouns fasting, he
worked on his mind by varied addresses and did not
leave him, so they say, until he had restored him
to the church, and thus gave a great example of true
repentance and a great testimony of regeneration,
the trophy of a visible ” These remarks
of Clement may be quoted both for the Sake of the
narrative and the edification of those who shall
read them.

XXIV. But come, let us indicate the undoubted
writings οf this Apostle. 1 Let the Gospel according
to him be first recognized, for it is read in all the
churches under heaven. Moreover, that it was
reasonable for the aneients to reckon it in the fourth
place after the other three may be explained thus.
Those inspired and venerable ancients, I mean Christ's
Apostles, had completely purified their life and
adorned their souls with every virtue, yet were but
simple men in speech. Though they were indeed
bold in the divine and wonder-working power given
them by the saviour, they had neither the knowledge
or the desire to represent the teachings of the
Master in persuasive or artiStic language, but they
used only the proof of the spirit of God which worked
with them, and the wonder-working power of Christ
which was consummated through them. Thus they
announced the knowledge οf the Kingdom of Ηeaven
 

 
to all the world and cared but little for attention
to their style. Αnd this they did inasmuch as they
were serving a greater, superhuman ministry. Thus
Ρaul, the most powerful of all in the preparation
of argument and the Strongest thinker, committed
to writing no more than short epistles, though he had
ten thousand ineffable thngs to say, seeing that he
had touched the vision of the third heaven, had been
caught up to the divine paradise itself, and was there
granted the hearing ineffable words. Νor were the
other pupils of our Saviour without experience of the
same things, —the twelve Apostles and the seventy
disciples and ten thousand others in addition to them.
Yet nevertheless of all those who had been with the
Lord only Matthewand John have left theirrecollections,
and tradition says that they took to writing perforce.
Matthew had first preached to Hebrews, and
when he was on the point of going to others he transmitted
in writing in his native language the Gospel
according to himself, and thus supplied by writhing the
Ιack of his own presence to those from whom he was
sent, and Mark and Luke had already published the
Gospels according to them, but John, it is said, used
all the time a message which was not written down,
and at last took to writing for the following cause.
The three gospels which had been written down before
were distributed to all including himself ; it is said
that he welcomed them and testified to their truth
but said that there was only lacking to the narrative
the account of what waS done by Christ at first and
at the beginning of the preaehing. The story is

 
surely true. It is at least possible to see that the
three evanglists related only what the Saviour did
during one year after John the Baptist had been put
in prison and that they stated this at the beginning
or their nauative. Αt any rate, after the forty
’ fast, and the temptation which followed
Matthew fixes the time described in his own writing
by saying that “ hearing that John had been
betrayed, he retreated ’’ from Judaea “ into ”
Similarly Mark says, “ and after John was betrayed
Jesus came into ” Αnd Luke, too, makes a
similar observation before beginning the acts οf
Jcsus saying that Ηerod added to the evil deeds
which he had done by “ shutting up John in ”
ney say accordingly that for this reason the apostle
John was asked to relate in his own gospel the period
Ρassed over in silence by the former evangelists and
the things done during it by the Saviour (that is to
say, the events before the imprisonment of the
Baptist), and that he indicated this at one time by
saying, “ this beginning οf miracles did ” at
another by mentioning the Baptists in the the of
the acts of Jesus as at that time still baptizing at
Aenon near salem, and that he makes this plain by
saying, “ for John was not yet cast into prison. ”
Thus John in the course of his gospel relates what
Christ did before the Baptist had been thrown into
prison, but the other three evangelists narrate the
events after the imprisonment of the Baptist. If

 
this be understood the gospels no longer appear to
disagree, becauswe that according to John contains
the first of the acts οf Christ and the others the
narrative of what he did at the end of the poriod,
and it will seem probable that John passed over
the genealogy οf our Saviour according to the flesh,
because it had been already written out by Matthew
and Luke, and began with the description of his
divinity since this had been reserved for him by the
Divine Spirit as for one greater than they. 
 The above must suffice us concerning the writing
of the Gospel according to John, and the cause for
that according to Μark has been explained above.
Luke himself at the beginning of his treatise prefixed
an account οf the cause for which he had made his
compilation, explaining that while many others had
somewhat rashly attempted to make a narrative of the
things οf which he had himself full knowledge, 1 he felt
obliged to release us from the doubtful propositions of
the others and related in his own gospel the accurate
account of the things οf which he had shimself firmly
learnt the truth from his profitable intercourse and
life with Ρaul and his conversation with the other
apostles. This must suffice us for the present, but
at the proper time we will endeavour to explain by
citation from the ancients what has been said on
the point by others. 
 Of the writings of John in addition to the gospel
the first of his epistles has been accepted without
controversy by ancients and moderns alike but the
οther two are disputed, and as to the Revelation there

 
have been many advocates of either opinion up to
the present. This, too, shall be similarly illustrated
by quotations from the ancients at the proper time.

XXV. Αt this point it seems reasonable to summarize
the writings of the Νew Testament which
have been quoted. Ιn the first place should be
put the holy tetrad of the Gospels. To them follows
the writing οf the Αcts of the Apostles. Αfter this
should be reckoned the Epsitles of Ρaul. Following
them the Epistle of John called the first, and in the
same way should be recognized the Epistle of Ρeter.
In addition to these should be put, if it Seem desirable,
the Revelation of John, the arguments concerning
which we will expound at the proper time.
These belong to the Recognized Books. Of the
Disputed Books which are nevertheless known to
most are the Epistle called of James, that of Jude,
the second Epistle of Ρeter, and the so-called second
and third Εpistles of John which may be the work
οf the evangelist or of some other with the same
name. Among the books which are not genuine
must be reckoned the Acts of Ρaul, the work entitled
the Shepherd, the Apocalypse or Ρeter, and in
addition to them the letter called of Barnabas and the
so-called Teachings of the Apostles. Αnd in addition,
as I said, the Revelation of John, if this view prevaial.
For, as I said, some reject it, but others count it
among the Recognized Books. Some have also
counted the Gospel according to the Hebrews in
which those of the Hebrews who have aceepted Christ
take a special pleasure. These would all belong to
the disputed books, but we have nevertheleSs been
obliged to make a list of them, distinguishing between
those writings which, according to the tradition of

 
the Church, are true, genuine, and recognized, and
those which differ from them in that they are not
canonical but disputed, yet neverthelss are known
to most of the writers οf the Chureh, in order that
we might know them and the writings which
put forward by heretics under the name of the
apostles containing gospels such as those οf Ρeter,
and Thomas, and Matthias, and some others besides,
or Acts such as those of Andrew and John and the
other apostles. To none of these has any who
belonged to the succession of the orthodox ever
thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover
the type of phraseology differs from apostolic
style, and the opinion and tendeney of their
contents is widely dissonant from true orthodoxy
and clearly shows that they are the forgeries οf
heretics. They ought, therefore, to be reckoned
not even among spurious books but shunned as
altogether wicked and impious.

XXVI. Let us now continue the narrative. Menander
succeeded Simon Magus and showed himself
as a weapon of the devil's power not inferior to his
predecessor. He, too, was a Samaritan, progressed
to the highest point οf sorcery not less than his
master, and abounded in greater wonders. Ηe said
of himself that he was the saviour who had been sent
from above for the salvation of men from invisible
aeons 1 and taught that no one, not even οf the
angels who made the world, could survive unless
they were first rescued through the magic art which
was transmitted by him and through the bapiam
 

 
which he delivered, for those who were vouchsafed
it would obtain a share of eternal immortality in
this life itself, no longer mortal but remaining here,
destined to everlasting and ageless immortality.
This point can also be easily studied from the writings
of Irenaeus. Justin, too, in the same way after
mentioning Simon continues his account of him by
saying, “ We also know that a certian Menander,
who abo was a samaritan from the village of Caparat
taea, became a disciple of Simon and being similarly
srimulated by the demons appeared in Antioch and
deceived many by magical arts. He persuaded
those who followed him that they would not die,
and there are still some of his followers who believe
this.” 
 It was assuredly at the instigation of the devil
that the name οf Christian was adopted by such
sorcerers to calumniate by magic the great mystery
of religion and through them to destroy the teaching
of the Chureh on the immortality οf the soul and the
resurrection of the dead. Those who termed these
Saviours fell from the true hope.

XXVII. But others
the wiched demon, when he could not aliienate them
from God's plan in Christ, made his own, when he
found them by a different snare. The first Christians
gave these the suitablename of Ebionites because they
had poor and mean opinions concerning Christ. They
held him to be a plain and ordinary man who had
achieved righteousness merely by the progress of his
characcter and had been born naturally from Mary and
her busband. They insisted on the complete observation
of the Law, and did not think that they would be
saved by faith in Christ alone and by a life in accordance
with it. But there were others besides these

 
who have the same name. These escaped the absurd
folly of the first mentioned, and did not deny that
the Lord was born of a Virgin and the Ηoly Spirit,
but nevertheless agreed with them in not confessing
his pre-existence as God, being the Logos and
Wisdom. Thus they shared in the impiety of the
former class, especially in that they were equally
zealous to insist on the literal observance of the Law.
They thought that the letters ofthe Apostle 1 ought to
be wholly rejecgted and called him an apostate from
the Law. They used only the Gospel called according
to the Hebrews and made little account of the
rest. Like the former they used to observe the
sabbath and the rest of the Jewish ceremonial, but
on Sundays celebrated rites like ours in commemoration
of the Saviour's resurrection. wherefore from
these practices they have obtained their name, for
the name οf Ebionites indicates the poverty of their
intelligence, for this name meanS “ poor ’’ in Hebrew.2

XXVIII. We have received the tradrtion that at
the time under discussion Cerinthus founded another
heresy. Gaius, whose words 1 have quoted before, in
the inquiry attributed to him writes as follows about
Cerinthus. “ Moreover, Cerinthus, who through
revelations attributed to the writing of a great
apostle, lyingly introduees portents to us as though
shown him by angels, and says that after the resurrection
the kingdom of Christ will be on earth and that
 
 

 
humanity living in Jerusalem will again be the slave
of lust and pleasure. Ηe is the enemy οf the
scriptures of God and in his desire to deceive says
that the marriage feast 1 will last a thousand. years. ”
Dionysius, too, who held the bishopric of the diocese
of Alexandria in οur time, in the second book of his
Promises makes some remarks about the Apocalypse
οf John as though from ancient οn and refers
to the same Cerintus in these words, “ Cerintus
too, who founded the Cerinthian heresy named after
him, wished to attaeh a name worthy of credit to
his οwn invention, for the doctrine of his teaching
was this, that the kingdom οf Christ would be οn
earth, and being fond of his body and very camal
he dreamt of a future according to his own desires,
given up the the indulgence of the flesh, that is,
eating and drinking and marrying, and to those
things which seem a euphemism for these things,
feasts and sacrifices and the slaughter of victums.” 
 Dionysius said this and Irenaeus in his first book
Agianst Heresies quoted some οf his more abominable
errors, and in the third book has committed to writing
a narrative, which deserves not to be forgotten,
stating how aecorffing to the traffidltion of Polycarp,
the apostle John once went into a bath-house to
wash, but when he knew that Cerinthus was within
leapt out of the place and Red from the door, for he
did not endure to be even under the same roof with
him, and enjoined οn those who were with him to do
the same, saying, “ Let us flee, lest the bath-house
 

 
fall in, for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is
within.”

XXIX. Αt this time, too, there existed for a short
time the heresy of the Nicolaïtans of which the
of John also makes mention. These elaimed
Nicolas, one of the deacons in the company of Stephen
who were appointed by the Apostles for the serviee
of the poor. Clement or Αlexandria in the third book
of the Stromata gives the following account of him.
“ Ηe had, they say, a beautiful wife ; but after the
ascension of the saviour he was accused of jealousy
by the apostles, and brought her forward and
commanded her to be mated to anyone who wished.
They say that this aetion was in consequenee of the
injunction ‘ it is necessary to abuse the ’ and
that by following up what had been done and said
with simplicity and without perversion those who
follow his heresy lead a life of unrestrained license.
But Ι have learned that Nicolas had nothing to do
with any other woman beside her whom he married,
and that of his children the daughters reaehed old
age as virgins, and that the son remained uncorrupted.
Since this is the case it is clear that
the exposure of the wife of whom he was jealous
in the midst of the disciples was the abandonment of
passion, and that teaching the abuse of the flesh
was continence from the pleasures which he had
sought. For I think that according to the command
οf the Saviour he did not whish to serve two masters
— pleasure and the Lord. They also say that this
was the teaching of Matthias, to slight the flesh and
abuse it, yielding nothing to it for pleasure, but to
make the soul grow through faith and knowledge.”

 
Let this suffice concerning the attempts made
during this period to triumph against the truth which
were, nevertheless, extinguished for ever more quickly
than it takes to tell.

XXX. Clement, whose words we cited recently in
the context οf the previous quotation, enumerates, on
aeeount of those who reject marriage, those of the
Apostles who were married, saying, “ Or will they
disapprove even of the Apostles ? For Ρeter and
Philip begat children, and Philip even gave his
daughters to husbands, while Ρaul himself does not
hesitate in one of his letters to address 1 his wife
whom he did not take about with him in order to
facilitate his ” Since we have made these
quotations there is no harm in adducing another
memorable narrative of Clement whleh he wrote
down in the seventh book of the Stromata, and
narrates as follows: “ They say that the blessed Ρeter
when he saw his own wife led out to death rejoiced
at her ealrmg and at her return home, and called out
to her in true warning and comfort, addressing her
by her name, ‘ Remember the ’ Such was the
marriage of the blessed and the perfeet disposition
of those dearest to ” Let this, cognate to
the present subject, suffice for the moment.

XXXI. The time and manner of the death of Ρaul
and οf Ρeter, and the plaee where their corpses were
laid after their departure from this life, have been
already described by us. The date of the death οf
 

 
John has also been already 1 mentioned, and the place
of his body is shown by a letter of Polycrates (he was
bishop of the diocese of Ephesus) which he wrote to
Vietor, bishop of Rome. In this he mentions both
John, Philip the apostle, 2 and Philip's daughters as
follows: “ For great luminaries sleep in Asia, and
they will rise again at the last day of the advent
of the Lord, when he shall come with glory from
heaven and call back all the saints, such as was
Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who sleeps at
Hierapolis with his two daughters who grew old as
virgins and his third daughter 3 who lived in the
ΗoΙy Spirit and rests in Ephesus. Αnd there is also
John, who leaned on the Lord's breast, who was a
priest wearing the mitre,4 and martyr and
and he sleeps at ” So far concerning their
deaths. Αnd in the dialogue of Gaius, which we
mentioned a little earlier, Proclus, with whom he
was disputing, speaks thus about the death of
Philip and his daughters and agrees with what has
been stated. “ Αfter him the four daughters of
Philip who were prophetesses were at Hierapolis
in Αsia. Their grave is there and so is their ”
so he says. Αnd Luke in the Acts of the Apostles
mentions the daughters of Philip who were then
living with their father at Caesarea in Judaea and
were vouchsafed the gift of prophecy. Ηe says as
 
 
 

 
follows: “ We came to Caesarea and entered into
the house οf Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven,
and remained with him. Αnd he had four daughters
who were prophetesses.” 
 We have now described the facts which have come
to our knowledge concerning the Apostles and their
times, the sacred writings which they have left us,
those books which are disputed yet nevertheless are
used openly by many in most churches, and those
which are altogether fictitious and foreign to our
historic orthodoxy. Let us now continue the
narrative.

XXXII. Αfter Νero and Domitian tradition says
that under the Emperor whose times we are now describing
persecution was raised against us sporadically,
in some cities, from pupular risings. We have
learnt that in it Symeon, the son οf Clopas, whom
we showed to have been the second hishop of the
church at Jerusalem, ended his life in martyrdom.
The witness for this is that same Hegesippus, of
whom we have already quoted several passages.
Αfter speaking of certain hereties he goes on to
explain how Symeon was at this time accused by
them and for many days was tortured in various
manners for being a Christain, to the great astonishment
of the judge and those with him, until he
suffered an end like that of the Lord. But there is
nothing better than to listen to the historian who
tells these facts as follows. “ some οf these (that

 
is to say the heretics) accused simon the son of
Clopas of being deseended from David and a Christian
and thus he suffered martyrdom, being a
hundred and twenty years old, when Trajan was
emperor and Atticus was ” The Same Writer
says that his aecusers also soffered arrest for being
of the royal house of the Jews when search was
made at that time for those of that family. Αnd
οne would reasonably say that Symeon was one of
the eyewitnesses and actual hearers of the Lord
on the evidence of the length of his life and the
referenee in the Gospels to Μary the wife of Clopas
whose son the narrative has already shown him to be. 
 The same writer says that other grandsons of
one of the so-called brethren of the saviour named
Judas survived to the same reign after they had
given in the time of Domitian the testimony already
recorded of them in behalf of the faith in Christ.
Ηe writes thus: “ They came therefore and presided
over every chureh as witnesses belonging to the
Lord's family, and when there was complete peace
in every cherch they survived until the reign of
the Emperor Trajan, until the time when the son
of the Lord's uncle, 2 the aforesaid Simon the son of
Clopas, was similarly accused by the sects on the
same charge before Atticus the Consular. Ηe was
tortured for many days and gave hiS witness, so that
all, even the consular, were extremely surprised
how, at the age of one hundred and twenty, he endured,
and he was eommanded to be ”
Besides this the Same writer, explaining the events
 

 
of these times, adds that until then the church
remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin, for those
who attempted to corrupt the healthful rule of the
Saviour's preaching, if they existed at all, lurked in
obscure darlness. But when the sacred band of
the Apostles and the generation of those to whom
it had been vouchsafed to hear with their own ears
the divine wisdom had reached the several ends of
their lives, then the federation of godless error
took its beginning through the deceit of false teachers
who, seeing that none of the Apostles still remained,
barefacedly tried against the preaching of the truth
the counter-proclamation οf “ knowledge falsely
so-called.”

XXXIII. The persecution which at that time was
extended against us in many places was so great that
Plinius secundus, one of the most distinguished
governors, was disturbed at the number of the martyrs,
and reported to the Emperor the number of those being
put to death for the faith, and in the same document
mentioned that he understood them to do nothing
wicked or illegal except that they rose at dawn to
sing to Christ as though a God, and that they themselves
forbade adultery, murder and similar terrible
crimes, and that they did eVerything in obedienee
to the law. In answer to this Trajan issued a decree
to the effect that the tribe of Christians should not
be sought for but punished when it was met with.
By this means the imminent threat of persecution
was extinguished to some extent, but none the less
opportunities remained to those who wished to harm

 
us. sometimes the populace, sometimes even the
loeal authorities contrived plots against us, so that
with no pen persecution partial attacks broke out
in various provinces and many of the faithful endured
martyrdom in various ways. The narrative has been
taken from the Latin apology of Tertullian mentioned
above of which the translation is as follows: “ Υet
we found that this attempt against us was also
prevented, for the governor of the province, Pliny
secundus, after eondemning certain Christians and
depriving them of their rank, was troubled at their
number and, not knowing what to do in the future,
eommunieated with the Emperor Trajan. saying that
beyond their unwillingness to offer sacrifice to idols,
he had found nothing wicked in them. Ηe also
mentioned this that the Christians arose at dawn
and sang a hymn to Christ as a God, and in order
to preserve their teaching 1 forbade murder, adultery,
covetousness, robbery, and suchlike. To this Trajan
sent a rescript that the tribe of Christians should
not be sought out but punished if met ” such
were the events at that time.

XXXIV. In the third year of the afore-mentioned
emperor, Clement handed over the ministry of the
bishops of Rome to Evarestos and departed this life,
having been in charge of the teaching of the diving
word for nine years.

XXXV. Μoreover, when Symeon suffered martyrdom
in the manner already deseribed a certian Jew
named Justus, who was one of the many thousands
of the circumcision who by that time had belived on
 

 
Christ, succeeded to the throne of the bishopric of
Jerusalem.

XXXVI. Αt this time there flourished in Asia Polycarp,
the companion of the Apostles, who had been
appointed to the bishopric of the church in Smyrna
by The eyewitnesses and ministers of the Lord.
Distinguished men at the same time were Papias,
who was himself bishop of the diocese of Hierapolis,
and Ignatius, still a name of note to most men, the
second after Ρeter to succeed to the bishopric of
Antioch. The story goes that he was sent from Syria
to Rome to be eaten by beasts in testimony to Christ.
Ηe was taken through Asia under most careful guard,
and strengthened by his speech and exhortation
the diocese of eaeh city in which he stayed. Ηe
particularly warned them to be on their guard
against the heresies which then for the first time
were beginning to obtain, and exhorted them to
hold fast to the tradition of the Apostles, to which
he thought necessary, for safety's sake, to give the
form of written testimony. Thus while he was in
Smyrna where Polycarp was, he wrote one letter
to the church at Ephesus, mentioning their pastor
Onesimus, and another to the church at Mangnessia
on the Meander (and here, too, he mentioned the
bishop Damas), and another to the church in Tralles,
of which he relates that Polybius was then the ruler.
In addition to these he also wrote to the churcb at
Rome, and to it he extended the request that they
should not deprive him of the hope for which he
longed by begging him off from his martyrdom. It

 
is worth while appending a short extract from this
in support οf what has been said. Ηe writes as
follows: “ From Syria to Rome I am fighting with
wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and day,
bound to ten ‘ leopards ’ (that is, a company οf
soldiers), and they become worse for kind treatment.
Νow I become the more a disciple for their ill deeds,
‘ but not by this am I justified. ’ I long for the
beasts that are prepared for me ; and I pray that
they may be found prompt for me ; I will even entice
them to devour me promptly ; not as has happened
to some whom they have not touched from fear ;
even if they be unwilling of themselves, I will force
them to it. Grant me this favour. I know what
is expcdient for me ; now I am beginning to be a
disciple. May I envy nothing of things seen οr unseen
that 1 may attain to Jesus christ. Let there come
οn me fire, and cross, and struggles with wild beasts,
cutting, and tearing asunder, rackings of bones,
mangling of limbs, crushing οf my whole nody, cruel
tortures οf the devil, may I but attain to Jesus
Christ.” 
 This he put into words from the city mentioned to
the churehes named. When he had already passed
beyond Smyrna he also again conversed in writing
from Troas with those in Philadelphia and with the
church of the Smyrnaeans, and especially with Polycarp
who was then the head of this church. Ηe
knew well that Polycarp was an apostolic man and
like a true and good shepherd commends the flock
at Antioch to him, asking him to be zealous in his
care for it. Ηe also wrote to the Smyranaeans quoting
words from I know not what source and discoursing
thus about Christ: “ For I know and believe that

 
he was in the flesh even after the Resurrection.
Αnd when he came to those with Ρeter he said to
them: ‘ Take, handle me and see that Ι am not a
phantom without a body. ’ Αnd they immediately
touched him and believed.” 
 Ιrenaeus also knew of his martyrdom and quotes
his letters saying thus : “ Αs one of the Christians
said when he was condemned to the beaSts as testimony
for God, ‘ Ι am the wheat of God and Ι am
ground by the teeth of beasts that I may be found
pure bread.’” 
 Ρolycarp, too, mentions these same things in the
letter to the Philippians bearing his name and
says: “ Νow I beseech you all to obey the word of
righteousness, and to practise all the endurance
which you also saw before your eyes, not only in the
blessed Ignatius, and Zosimus, and Rufus, but also
in others among yourselves, and in Pual himself,
and in the other Apostles; being persuaded that
all of these ‘ ran not in vain, ’ but in faith and
righteousness, and that they are with the Lord in
the ‘ place whieh is their ’ with whom they also
suffered. For they did not ‘ love this present world ’
but him who died on our behalf, and was raised by
God for our ” Αnd he continues later, “ Both
you and Ignatius wrote to me that if anyone was
going to Syria he shovld also take your letters Ι
will do this if Ι have a convenient opportunity, either
myself or the man whom Ι am sending as a representative
for you and me. We send you, as you asked,
the letters of Ιgnatius, which were sent to us by him,
and others which we had by us These are subjoined

 
to this letter, and you will be able to benefit greatly
from them. For they contian faith, patience, and
all the edification which pertains to our Lord.”
such is the story concerning Ignatius, and Ηeros
succeeded to the bishopric of Antioch after him.

XXXVII. Among those who were famous at this
time was also Quadratus, of whom traffition says that
he shared vith the daughters of Philip the ffistinc-
tion of a prophetic gift. Αnd many others besides
them were well known at this time and take the
first rank in the Apostolic succession. These pious
foundations οf the churches laid by the Apostles.
They spread the preaching and scattered the saving
seeds of the kingdom of Heaven, sowing them broad-
cast through the whole world. Many of those then
disciples, smitten in the soul by the divine Logos
with an ardent passion for the love of wisdom,1
first fulfilled the Saviour's command and distributed
their property to the needy, then, starting on their
ourney, took up the work of evangelists and were
zealous to preach to all who had not yet heard the
word of the faith, and to transmit the writhing of the
divine Gospels. Αs soon as they had no more than
laid the foundations of the faith in some strange
place, they appointed others as shepherds and
had been just brought in, but they themselves
passed on again to other lands and peoples, helped
by the grace and co-operation of God, seeing that
 

 
many strange miracles οf the divine spirit were at
that time still being wrought by them, So that whole
crowds of men at the first hearing eagerly received
in their souls the religion of the Creator οf the
universe. 
 It is impossible for us to give the number and the
names of all who first succeeded the Apostles,
and were shepherds or evangelists in the churches
throughout the world. It was, therefore, natural
for us to recorded by name the memory only of those
of whom the tradition still surviveS to our time by
their treatises on the Apostolic teaching.

XXXVIII.
such writings, of course, were the letters of Ignatius
of which we gave the list, and the Εpistle of Clement
which is recognized by all, which he wrote in the
name of the church of the Romans to that οf the
Corinthians. In this he has many thoughts parallel
to the Εpistle to the Ηebrews, and aetuahy makes
some verbal quotations from it showing elearly that
it was not a recent production, and for this reason,
too, it has seemed natural to include it among the
οther writings of the Apostle. For Ρaul had Spoken
in writing to the Ηebrews in their native language,
and some say that the evangelist Luke, others
that this same Clement translated the writing.
Αnd the truth οf this would be supported by the
similarity of style preserved by the Epistle of Clement
and that to the Hebrewss, and by the little difference
between the thoughts in both writings. 
 It must be known that there is also a second
 

 
letter ascribed to Clement, but we have not the
same knowledge of its recognition as we have οf the
former, for we do not even know if the primitive
writers used it. some have also quite recently put
forward other verbose and long treatises, purporting
to be Clement's, containing dialogues with Ρeter
and Apion, 1 but there is absolutely no mention of
them among the ancient writers nor do they Ρreserve
the purc type οf apostolic orthodoxy.

XXXIX. Thus the recognized writing of Clement
is well known and the works of Ignatius and Polycarp
have been spoken οf, and of Papias five treatises are
extant which have also the title of “ Interpretation οf
the oracles of the ” These are also mentioned
by Irenaeus as though his οnly writing, for he says
in οne place, “ “To these things also Ρapias, the hearer
of John, who was a comanion of Ροlycarp and one
of the ancients, 2 bears witness in writing in the
fourth of his books, for five books were composed
by ” so says Irenaeus. Yet Ρapias himself,
according to the preface of his treatises, makes
plain that he had in no way been a hearer and eyewitness
of the sacred Αpostles, but teaches that he
had received the articles of the faith from those
who had known them, for he speaks as follows :
“ Αnd I shall not hesitate to append to the interpretations
all that I ever learnt well from the presbyters
and remember well, for of their truth I am conndent.
For unlike most I did not rejoice in them who say
much, but in them who teach the truth, nor in
 

 
them who recount the commandments οf others, but
in them who repeated those given to the faith
by the Lord and derived from truth itself; but if
ever anyone came who had followed 1 the presbyters,
I inquired into the words of the presbyters, what
Andrew or Ρeter οr Philip or Thomas or James or
John or Matthew, or any other οf the Lord's disciples,
had said, and what Aristion and the Presbyter John,
the Ιord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not
suppose that information from books would help me
so much as the word of a living and surviving voice.” 
 It is here worth nothing that he twiee counts the
name of John, and reckons the first John with Ρeter
and James and Matthew and the other Αpostles,
clearly the the evangelist, but by changing
his statement Ρlaces the seeond with the others
outside the number of the Αpostles, putting Αristion
Before him and clearly calling him a presbyter.
This confirms the truth οf the story of those who
have said that there were twp of the same name in
Αsia, and that there are two tombs at Εphesus both
still called John's. This calls for attention: for
it is probable that the second (unless anyone prefer
the fonner) saw the revelation which passes under
the name οf John The Papias whom we are now
treating confesses that he had received the words
of the Αpostles from their followers, but says that
he had aetually heard Αristion and the presbyter
John. Ηe often quotes them by name and gives
 
 

 
their traditions in his writings. Let this suffice to
good purpose. But it is worth while to add to the
words of Papias already given other sayings οf his,
in which he tells certain marvels and other details
which apparently reached him by tradition. It has
already been mentioned that Philip the Αpostle
lived at Ηierapolis with his daughters, but it must
now be shown how Ρapias was with them and reeeived
a wonderful story from the daughters of Ρhilip; for
he relates the resurrection of a corpse in his time
and in another Ρlace another miraele conneeted with
Justus surnamed Barsabas, for he drank poiSon but
by the Lord's graee suffered no harm. Of this
Justus the Αcts relates that the sacred Apostles
set him up and prayed over him together with
Matthias after the ascension of the Lord for the
choice of one to fill up their number in place of the
traitor Judas, “and they set forth two, Joseph
called Barsabas, who was called Justus, and Matthias ;
and they prayed and said." The same
adduees other accounts, as though they came to
him from unwritten tradition, and some strange
parables and teachings of the saviour, and some
other more mythical accountS. Αmong them he
says that there will be a millennium after the resurrection
of the dead, when the kingdom of Christ
will be set up in material form on this earth. I
suppose that he got these notions by a perverse
 

 
reading οf the apostolic aceounts, not realiring that
they had spoken mystically and symbolically. For
he was a man of very little intelligence, as is clear
from his books. But he is responsible for the fact
that so many Christian writers after him held the
same opinion, relying on his antiquity, for inrtance
Irenaeus and whoever else appears to have held the
same views. 
 In the same writing he also quotes other interpretations
of the words οf the Lord given by the
Aristion mentioned above and traditions of John
the presbyter. To them we may dismiss the studious;
but we are now obliged to append to the words
already quoted from him a tradtion about the
Mark who wrote the Gospel, which he expounds as
follows. “ Αnd the Presbyter used to say tffihls,
Mark became Ρeter’s interpreter and wrote accurately
all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order,
of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had
not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but
later on, as I said, followed Ρeter, who used to
give teaching as necessity demanded but not making,
as it were, an auangement of the Lord's oracles, so
that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down
single Ρoints as he remembered them. For to one
tHhIng he gave attention, to leave out nothing of what
he had heard and to make no false statements in
them.' " This is related by Ρapias about Mark,
and about Matthew this was said, “ Matthew
collected the oracles in the Ηebrew language, and
eaeh interpreted them as best he could.” 

 
 The same writer used quotations from the rirrt
Epistle οf John, and likewise also from that or
Ρeter, and has expounded another Story about a
woman who was accused before the Lord of many
sins, which the Gospel according to the Ηebrews
contains. Let this suffice us in addition to the
extracts made.

CΟΝTEΝTS OF BΟΟΚ IV 
 The contents of the fourth book of the History
of the Church is as follows: 
 Ι. Who were the bishops of Rome and Alexandria
in the reign of Trajan. 
 II. What the Jews suffered in his time. 
 III. The apologistes for Christianity in the time
of Ηadrian. 
 ΙV. The bishops of Rome and Alexandria in his
time. 
 V. The bishops of Jerusalem, beginning from
the Saviour down to the time mentioned. 
 VI. The last siege of the Jews under Hadrian. 
 VII. Who were the leaders of knowlege, falsely
so-called, at that rime. 
 VIII. Who are the writers fo the church. 
 IX. Αletter of Hadrian to the effect that we must
not be persecuted without being tried. 
 X. Who were thc bishops of Rome and Alexandria
in the reign of Antoninus. 
 XI. Oh the leaders οf heresy in their times. 
 XII. On the apology of Justin to Antoninus. 
 XIII. Α letter of Antoninus to the Council of Asia
On Our religion. 

 
 XIV. The story of Polycarp who had known the
apostle. 
 XV. How in the time of Verus Polycarp with
others was martyred in the city os Smyrna. 
 XVI. How Justin the philosopher was martyred
in the city of Rome as an ambassador
for the word of Christ. 
 XVII. On the martyrs whom Justin mentions in
his own writings. 
 XVIII. What writings of Justin have come down
to us. 
 XIX. Who were the leaders of the churcbes of
Rome and Alexandria in the reign of
Verus. 
 XX. Who were the bishops Of Antioch. 
 XXI. Οn tbe ecclesiastical writers who were
famous in their time. 
 XXII. On Hegesippus and vbat he relates. 
 XXIII. Οn Dionysius, the bishop of Corinth, and
the letters which he wrote. 
 XXIV. Οn Theophilus, hishop of Antioch. 
 XXV. Οn Philip and Modestus. 
 XXVI. Οn Melito and the statements which he
makes. 
 XXVII. Οn Apolinarius. 
 XXVIII. On Musanus. 
 XXIX. Οn the heresy of Tatian. 
 XXX. Οn Bardesanes the Syrian and his extant
books.

BOOK IV I. ABOUT the tweKth y ear of the reign of Trajan 1 the
bishop 2 of the ffiocese of Alexandria, whom we men-
tioned a little earlier, passed away, and Primus, the
fourth from the Apostles, received the charge of
those in that place. Αt this time, too, at Rome
Alexander, when Evarestus had completed his eighth
year, was the Rfth to succeed Feter and Paul, and
took up the bishopric.

II. While the teaching of our Saviour and the
church were nourishing daily and moving on to
further progress the tragedy of the Jews was reaching
the climax of successive woes. Ιn the course of the
eighteenth year 3 οf the reign of the Emperor a
rebellion of the Jews again broke out and destroyed
a great multitude of them. For both in Alexandria
and in the rest of Egypt and especially in Cyrene,
as though they had been seized by some terrible
spirit of rebellion, they rushed into sedition against
their Greek fellow clblens, and increasing the seope
of the rebellion in the following year started a great
war while Lupus was governor of all Egypt. 4 In
the nrst engagement they happened to overcome
 

 
the Greeks, who fled to Alexandria and captured
and killed the Jews in the city, but though thus
losing the help of the townsmen, the Jews of Cyrene
continued to plunder the countr y of Egypt and to
ravage the districts in it under their leader Lucuas.
The Emperor sent against them Marcius Turbo with
land and sea forces including eavalry. Ηe waged
war vigorously against them in many bartleS for a
considerable time and killed many thousands of Jews,
not οnly those of Cyrene but alSo those of Εgypt
who had rallied to Lucuas, 1 their king. The Εmperor
suspected that the Jews in Mesopotamia wollld also
attack the inhabitants and ordered Lusius Quietus
to clean them out of the province. Ηe organized a
force and murdered a great multitude of the Jews
there, and for this reform was appointed governor
of Judaea by the Εmperοr. The Greek authors 2 who
chronicle the same period have related this narrative
in these very words.

III. When Trajan had reigned for nineteen and a
half years Aelius Hadrian succeeded 3 to the sovereignty
To him Quadratus addressed a treatise,
composing a defence for our religion because some
wicked men were trying to trouble the Christians.
It is still extant among many of the brethren and
we have a copy ourselves. From it can be seen the
clear proof οf his intellect and apostle orthodoxy.
Ηe shows his early date by what he says as follows
 
 
 

 
in his own words : “But the works of our sariour
werc always present, for they were true, those who
were cured, those who rose from the dead, who
not merely appeared as cured and risen, but were
constantly present, not only wffihlle the sariour was
living, but even for some time after he had gone, so
that some of them surrived even till our own ”
such was he. Aristides too, a man of faith and
devoted to our religion, has, hke Quadratus, left
behind a defence of the faith addressed to Hadrian.
His writing, too, is still preserved hy many.1

IV. In the tffihlrd year οf the same reign 2 Alexander,
the bishop of the Romans, ffied after eompleting the
tenth year of his ministry; Xystus was his successor.
Αnd at the same time, in the diocese of the Alexandrians,
Justus succeeded Primus, who died in the
twelfth year of his rule.

v. 1 have not found any written statement of the
dates of the bishops in Jerusalem, for tradition says
that they were extremely short-lived, but 1 have
gathered from documents this much —that up to
the siege of the Jews by Ηadrian the successions οf
bishops were fifteen in number. It is said that they
were all Ηebrews by origin who had nobly accepted
the knowledge of Christ, so that they were counted
worthy even of the episcopal ministry by those who
had the power to judge such questions. For their
whole church at that time consisted of Ηebrews who
 
 

 
had continued Christian from the Apostles down to
the siege at the time when the Jews again rebelled
from the Romans and were beaten in in a great war.
since the Jewiril bishops then ceased, it is now
necessary to give their names from the beginning.
The first then was James who was called the Lord's
brother, arld after him Simeon was the second. The
third was Justus, Zacchaeus was the fourth, Tobias
the fifth, the sixth Benjamin, the seventh John, the
eighth Mattias, the ninth Philip, the telrth Seneca,
the eleventh Justus, the twelfth Levi, the thirteenth
Ephres, the fourteenth Joseph, and last of all the
fifteenth Judas. such were the bishops in tbe crty
of Jerusalem, from the Apostles down to the time
mentioned, and riley were all Jews. now during
the Llvelfth year of the reign of Hadrian, Telesphorus,
the Seventh from the Apostles, suceeeded Xystus
who had completed ten years in the bishopric of the
Romalns, and one year and some months later
Eumemes suceeeded to the government of tbe diocese
or Alexandria as the sixth bishop, when his predecessor
had completed eleven years.

VI. The rebellion of the Jews 1 once more progressed
in character and extent, and Rufus, the
governor of Judaea, when military aid had been sent
him by the Emperor, moved out against them, treating
their madness without mercy. He destroyed in
heaps thousands of men, women, and children, and,
under the law of war, enslaved their land. The
Jews were at rilat time led by a certain Bar
Chochebas, 2 which means “star,” a man who was
 
 

 
murderous and a bandit, but relied on his name, as
if dealing with slaves, and claimed to be a luminary
who had come down to them from heaven and was
magically enligbtening those who were in misery.
The War reaehed itS height in the eighteenth year of
the reign of Hadrian in Beththera, 1 which was a strong
eitadel not very rar from Jerusalem; the siege lasted a
long time before the rebels were driven to final destruction
by famine and thirst and the instigator of their
madness paid the penalty he deserved. Hadrian then
commanded that by a legal decree and ordinances the
whole nation should be absolutely prevented from
entering from theneeforth even the distriet round
Jerusalem, So that not eVen from a distance couhl lt
see it ancestral home. Ariston of Pella tells the
story. 2 Thus when the city came to be bereft of the
natlon of the Jews, and its ancient inhabitants had
completely perished, it was colonized by foreigners,
and the Roman city which afterwards arose changed
its name, and in honour of the reigning emperor
Αelius Hadrian was ealled Aelia. The chureh, too,
in it was composed of Gentiles, and after the Jewish
bishops the first who was appointed to minister to
those there was Marcus.

VII. Like brilliant lamps the churches were noW
shining throughout the World, and Faith in our
saViour and Lord Jesus Christ was flourishing among
all mankind, when the devil who hates what is good,
as the enemy of truth, ever most hostile to man's
salvation, turned all his devices against the church.
 
 

 
Formerly he had used persecutions from without as
his weapon against her, but now that he was excluded
from this he employed wicked men and sorcerers,
like baleful weapons and ministers of destruction
against the soul, and eonducted his campaign by
other plotting by every means that sorcerers
and deeeivers might assume the same name as our
religion and at οne time lead to the depth of destruction
those οf the faithful whom they caught,
and at others, by the deeds whieh thev undertook,
might turn away from the path to the saving word
those who were ignorant of the faith. Thus from
Menander, whom we have already mentioned as the
successor οf Simon, there proceeded a certain snakelike
power with two mouths and double head, and
established the leaders of two heresies, Saturninus,
an Antionchian by race, and Basilides of Αlexandria.
The first established schools of impious heresy
syria, the latter in Εgypt. Irenaeus makes it plain
that Saturninus uttered for the most part the same
falsehoods as Menander, but Basilides, under the
pretext of secret doctrine, Stretehed fancy infinitely
far, fabricating monstrous mythS for his impious
heresy. Now while mort of the orthodox at that
time were struggling for the truth, and fighting
with great eloquence 1 for the glory of the Apostles
and of the Church, some also by their writings
provided for their successors methods of defence
against the heresies which have been mentioned.
Of these a most powerful refutation of Basilides 
has reached us from Agrippa Castor, a most famous
 
 

 
writer of that time, revealing the cleverness of the
man's deception. Ιn expounding his mysteries he
SayS that he compiled twenty-four books on the
gospel, and that he named his own prophets Bar
Cabbas and Bar Coph, 1 and that he set up some others
for himself vho bad never existed, but that he
invented barbarous names for them to astonish those
who vere inriuenced by such things. Ηe taught that
there vas no harm in eating things offered to idols,
or in light-heartedly denying the faith in times of
persecution. Like Pythagoras he enjoined those who
came to him to keep silence for five years. The
same writer tells other similar things about Basilides,
and offers a magnificent refutation of the error of
the heresy described. Irenaeus also writes that
Carpocrates was a contemporary of these, the father
of another herey which was called that of the
Gnoistics. These did not, like Barilides, derire to
transmit the magie of Simon secreriy but Openly, a
though it was some great thing, speaking almost
with awe of their magieal ceremonies, of love charms,
of the bringers of dreams and familiar spirits, and of
other similar performances. In accordance wtih
this they teach that those who purpose coming to
initiation in their mysteries, or ratber in their
obscenities, must perform all the shocking deeds
beeause in no other way can they escape the “rulers
of the ” as they would say, except by fulfilling
to all of them what was necessary through their
mysteries. By using these ministers the demon who
rejoices in evil accomplished the piteous enslavement
 

 
to perdition of those who were thus deceived by
them, and brought much weight of discredit upon
the divine word among the unbelieving Gentiles,
because the report Whieh started from them was
scattered calumniously on the whole race Of Christians.
It was especially in this way that it came to
pass that a blasphemous and wicked suspicion concerning
us was spread among the heathen of those
days, to the effect that we practised unspeakable
incest with mothers and sisters and took part in
wicked food. 1 Yet this did not long succeed, for the
truth vindicated itself and as time went on shone
ever more brighriy. For by its power the machinations
of its enemie were refuted; though new
heresies were invented one after another, the earlier
ones flowed into strange multiple and multifarious
forms and perished in different ways at different
times. But the brightness of the universal and only
true church proceeded to increase in greatness, for
it ever held to the same points in the same way,
and radiated forth to all the race οf Greeks and
barbarians the reVerent, sincere, and free nature,
and the sobriety and purity of the divine teaching
as to conduct and thought. Thus with the lapse of
time the calumnies against the whole teaching were
extinguished, and our doetrine remained as the only
one which had power among all and was admitted
to excel in its godliness and sobriety, 2 and its divine
and wise doctrines. So that no one has daied to
 

 
continuue the base implications of calumny against
our faith, such as those who were opposed to us were
formerly accustomed to use. 
 Nevertheless, at the time spoken of, the truth again
brought forward for itself more champions Who campaigned
against the godless heresies not only by unwritten
arguments but also in written demonstrations.

VIII. Among these Hegesippus was famous and of
his words we have already made much use, for from his
traffition we have quoted details as to the apostolic
age. Ηe collected his material 1 in hve books, giving
in the simplest style of writing the unerring tradition
of the apostolic preaching. Ηe indicates the time
in which he flourished by writing thus about those
who had made idols : “To them they made cenotaphs 
and shrines until now, and among them is
Antinous, a slave of the Emperor Hadrian, in whose
honour the Antinoian games are held, though he was
our contemporary. For he also built a city called
after Antious, and instituted prophets for ” 
Αt the same time too, Justm; a genuine lover of
true philosophy, was still continuing to practise the
learning of the Greeks. And he also himself indicates
this period in his Apology to Antoninus by
writing thus, “And we thought it not out of place
to mention at this point Antinous of the present
day whom all were intimidated to worship as a
god, though they knew his nature and origin.” 
 
 

 
 The same writer mentions the war of that time
against the Jews and makes this observation, “For in
the present Jewish war it was only Christians whom
nar Chocheba, the leader of the rebellion of the Jews,
commanded to be punished severely, if they did not
deny Jesus as the Messiah and blaspheme him.” 
 In the same book he shows that his conversion
from Greek philosophy to true religion did not take
place irrationally, but as an act of deliberate judgment;
for he writes thus : “For I myself, while I
was rejoicing in the teaching of Plato, heard the
Christians abused. But 1 saw that they were afraid
neither of death, nor οf anything usually thought
feadul, and I considered it was impossible that they
were living in wickedness and liberinism. For what
libertine or incontinent person, or οne who ands
good in the eating of human flesh, could greet death,
that it might take away all his lusts, and would not
try to prolong by all means his present life and to
avoid the notice οf the rulers, and not give himself
up to be murdered ?” 
 Moreover, the same writer relates that Hadrian
received a dispatch in favour of the Christians from
Serennius Graninaus, a most distinguished governor,
to the effect that it was not just to put them to
death, without accusation or trial, to appease popular
clamour, and that he wrote an answer to Minucius
Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, οrdering him to try no
one without inffictment and reasonable accusation,
and Justin appends a copy of the letter, preserring
the original Latin 1 as he had it, and prefixing these
 

 
remarks: “Though we might have begged you to
οrder trials to be held, as we desired, οn the strength
of a letter from the great and glorious Emperor
Hadrian, we preferrred to rest our request not on the
command of Ηadrian but on our knowledge that we
are making a righteous request. However, we also
append a copy of the letter of Hadrian, that you
may know that we are speaking the truth on this
point, and here it is.” 
 The author quoted then appends the Latin rescript
itself, but we have translated it to the best of our
power into Greek as follows :

ΙX. “To Minucius Fundanus. I reeeived a letter
written to me from his Excellency Serennius Granianus,
your predeeessor. 1 think that the matter
ought not to remain without inquiry, to prevent
men from being harassed or helping the rascality of
informers. If then the provincials can make out a
clear case οn these lines against the Christians so
as to plead it in open court, let them be influenced
by this alone and not by opinions or mere outeries.
For it is far more correct if anyone wishes to make
an accusation for you to examine this point. If then
anyone accuses them, and shows that they are acting
illegally, deeide the point according to the nature of
the offence, but by Hercules, if anyone brings the
matter forward for the purpose of blackmail, investigate
gate strenuously and be careful to inffict penalties
adequate to the ” 1 Such was the rescript of
Hadrian.

X. After twenty-one years Hadrian paid the debt
of nature, aud Antoninus, called Pius, received the
sovereignty of ROnle. In his first year Telesphorus
passed away in the eleventh year of his ministry, and
Hyginus received the lot of the bishopric of the
Romans. Irenaeus relates that Telesphorus gained
renown in his death by martyrdom, and states in the
same place that in the time of Hyginus, the aforementioned
bishop of Rome, Valentinus, the founder
of a special heresy, and Cerdo, the founder of the
Marcionite error, were both famous in Rome Ηe
writes thus thus:

XI. “Valentinus came to Rome in the time of
Hyginus, but he flourished under pius, and remained
until Anicetus, and Cerdo, who before the time of
Marcion, in the days of Hyginus, the ninth bishop,
had cOme tO the church and confessed, went on in
the same way, sometimes teaching heresy, sometimes
confesslng again, and somerimes convicted by
his evil teaching and separated from the assembly
of the ” This he says in the third book
against the heresies. Moreover, in the first book he
makes the following statement about Cerdo: “Α
certain Cerdo had come originally from the circle of
Simon and settled in Rome in the time of Hyginus,
who held the ninth plaee in the apostolic succession
from the apostles. Ηe tauglrt that the God preached
by the Law and the Prophets was not the father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, for the one was known, the
other unknown, the one vas righteous and the other

 
good. Marcion οf Pontus succeeded him and increased
the school, blaspheming unblushingly.” 
 The same Irenaues powerfully exposed the bottomless
pit οf the system of Valentinus with its many
errors, and unbared his secret and latent wickedness
while he was lurking like a reptile. Furthermore he
says that there was in their time 1 another named
Mareus, most experieneed in the magie arts, and he
writes of his initiations, whieh could not initiate, and
of his foul mysteriesp expounffing them in these
words : “Some of them conStruct a bride-ehamber,
and celebrate a mystery with certain invocations on
their initiate, and say that what they do is a spiritual
marriage, according to the likeness of the unions
above ; others bring them to water and baptize
them with this invocation, ‘To the name of the
unknown Father of the universe, to Truth, the
mother of all things, to him who descended into
’ and others invoke Ηebrew words in order
more fully to amaze the initiate.” 
 Αfter the fourth year of his episeopate Hyginus
died and Ρius undertook the ministry of Rome. Ιn
Αlexandria Marcus was appointed after Εumenes
had completed thirteen years, and when Μarcus
rerted from the ministry after ten years, Celadion
received the ministry of the ehurch of the Alexandria.
In the city of the Romans Ρius paSSed
away in the Rfteenth year of his ministry and
Anicetus presided over those there. In his time
 
 

 
Hegesippus states that he stayed in Rome and remained
there until the episcopate of Eleutherus. Ιn
their time Justin vas at the height of his fame; in
the garb or philosopher he served as ambassador of
the word of God and contended in his writings for
the faith. Ηe wrote a treatise against Marcion and
mentions that at the time he was writing the heretic
was ahve and nororious. Ηe speaks thus : “Αnd
there was a certain Μarcion of Pontus who even
now is still teaching those who believe him to think
that there is another God greater than the creator.
Throughout the Whole race of men by the instigation
of demons he has made many to speak blasphemously
and to deny that the Maker of this universe is the
Father of Christ, and to confess that there is another
greater than He. Αll those who begin from them,
as we said, are called Christians just as the name
of philosophy is common to philosophers though
their doctrines ” Ηe goes on to say, “Αnd
we have a trearise against all the heresies which
have arisen which we will give to any who wish to
study it.” 
 The same Justin laboured powerfully against the
Oentiles, and addressed other arguments, affording a
defence for our faith, to the Emperor Antoninus,
called Ρius, and to the senate of the Romans, for he
was living in Rome. In his Apology he explains his
position and origin as follows:

XII. “To the Emperor
Titus Aelius Hadrian Antoninus Ρius. Caesar
Augustus, and to Verissimus, his son the philosopher,

 
and to Lucius, the lover of instruction, the son by
nature of the philosopher-emperor, and by adoption
οf Pius, and to the holy senate and to the whole
people of Rome, on behalf of those men οf every
race who are unjustly hated and abused, I, Justin,
the son of Priscus, the son of Baccheius, of Flavia
Neapolis in Palestinian syria, mysW a christian,
offer an address and enteaty.” 
 The same Εmperοr was entreated by οther Αsiatic
christians who had suffered all manner of injury
from the local population and he thought fit to send
the following decree to the Council of Asia. 1

XIII.
“The Εmperor Caesar Mareus Aurelius Antoninus
Augustus Armenicus, Pontifex Maximus, Tribune for
the nfteenth time, Consul for the third time, to
Council of Asia, greeting. 2 I know that the gods
aho take care that such men should not escape
notice, for they would be far more likely to punish
those who are unwilling to worship them than you
are. But you drive them into tumult, for you con-
nrm them in the opinion which they hold by accusing
them as atheists, and they too when so accused might
well prerer apparent 3 death rather than life for the
sake of their οwn ood. wherefore they are also
conquerors because they sacrffice their lives rather
 
 

 
than οbey and do what you command. With regard
to the carthquakes which have taken place and
are still going on it is not οut of place to remind
you that when they happen you are depressed, and so
set up a comparison between our position and theirs.
ney obtain increased confidence towards Ood, but
you the whole of the time neglect the other gods
and the worship of the immortal. 1 But when the
Christians worship him you harry and persecute them
to death. Αnd many οf the provincial governors
mote formerly on behalf of such men to οur divine
father, and he rephed that they were not to be
interfered with unless they appeared to be plotting
against the Roman government. Αnd to me aho
many reported about such men, and to them I too
replied consistently with my father's opinion. But if
anyone Ρersist in taking action against any one of
such persons, on the ground that he is so, let that
one who is accused be released nom the charge,
even if it appear that he is such, but the accuser
shall be liable to penalty. Published at Ephesus in
the Council of Αsia.” 
 Further testimony to these events is given by
Mehto, the famous bishop of the church in Sarffis at
that time, as is clear from what he says in the
Apology which he made to the Emperor verus οn
behalf οf οur faith.

XIV. During the time of the emperors referred
to, while Anicetus was ruling the church of Rome,
Irenaeus relates that Polycarp was still alive and
came to Rome and conversed with Anicetus about
 

 
some difficulty as to the day of the Passover. The
same writer tells another story about Polycarp which
it is necessary to add to what has been said about
him It runs as follows : 
 From the third book of Irenaeus against Heresies 
 “Αnd Ρolycarp also was not only instructed by
apostles and conversed with many who had seen the
Lord, but was also appointed bishop by apostles in
Asia in the church in smyma. We also saw him in
our childhood, for he lived a long time and extreme extreme
old age passed from life, a splenffid and glorious
martyr. Ηe conrtantly taught those things which
he had leamt from the apostles, which also are the
traffidItion of the church, which alone are true. To
these facts all the churehes in Αsia bear witness, and
the present successors of Ρolycarp, and he iS a far
more trustworthy and reliable witness of the truth
than valentinus and Marcion and the others who
hold wrong opinions. Ιn the time οf Αnicetus he
visited Rome and converted many of the abovementioned
heretics to the church of God, preaching
that the one and only truth which he had received
from the apostles was that which is the tradition of
the church. Αnd there are those who heard him tell
that John the ffisciple of the Lord Went in Εphesus
to bathe and seeing Cerinthus within, sprang out of
the baths without bathing calling οut, ‘Let us ny
lest the baths fall in, since Cerinthus, the enemy of

 
the truth, is ’ Αnd Ρolycarp himself when
Marcion οnce met him and said, ‘Recognize us,’
answered, ‘I do, I recognize the Rrst-born of ’
such care ffid the aportles and their disciples take
not even to join in conversation vith any of those
who mutilate the truth, as Ρaul also said, ‘A man
that is heretical after a first and second exhortation,
refuse, knowing such a οne is perverted and sinneth,
being self-condemned. ’ There is also a most powerful
letter of ’s written to the Philippians,
from which those who wish and care for their own
salvation can learn both the character of his faith
and the preaching of the ” so says Irenaeus.
Moreover, Ρolycarp, in his above-mentioned lerter to
the Philippians, which is still extant, has made some
quotations from the first Epistle of Peter.1 
 Antoninus, called Pius, held the sovereignty for
twenty-two years 2 and was succeeded by Mareus
Aurelius Verus, also called Antoninus, his son, together
with his brother Lucius.

XV. Αt this time3
Polycarp was consecrated by martyrdom when great
persecutions again ffisturbed Αsia, and I think it
most necessary to give in this history the account
of his end, which is still extant in writing. The
document purports to be from the ehureh of which
he was the leader, and gives to the neighbouring
 
 
 

 
dioeeses1 the following accolmt of what happened to
him. “ The ehurch of God which sojourns in
Smgrna, to the Church of God which sojourns in
Philomelium,2 and to all the sojournings of the Ηoly
Catholic Church in every place. Mercy, peace, and
love of God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ
be multiplied. We write to you, brethren, the story
or the martyrs and of the blessed Polycarp, who
put an end to the persecutiOn by his martyrdom as
thought adding the seal.” 
 They then go on, before the narrative about
Polycarp, to give the stOry of the other martyrs,
deSeribing the constancy which they showed against
torture, for they say that thOse who were Standlng
around were amazed when they Saw that at one
time they Were tOrn by Scourges dOwn to deepseated
veins and arterieS, so that the hidden contents
of the receSses Of their bodies, their entrails
and organs, were exposed to sight. Αt another time
they were stretched on seashells and on sharp points,
were taken through all kinds of punishment and
torture, and finally vere given to be eaten by wild
beasts. They say that the noble Germanicus vas
especially distinguished, being Strengthened by the
grace of God to oVercOme the natural cowardice of
the body for death. Even when the proconsul wished
to dissuade him, urging his youth and entreating
him as he was still just in the flower of his youth
 

 
to have pity on himself, he did not hesitate, but took
pains to drag the beast to himself, almost forcing
him and provoking him in order that he might be
the sooner free from an unjust and wicked life. Αt
his glorious death the whole crowd was amazed at
the God-loving martyr for his bravery, and at the
courage οf the whole race of Christians, and began
to howl out together, “ Kill the atheists ! Let
Ρolycarp be sent ” When a great uproar arose
at this cry, a certain native of Phrygia named
Quintus, lately arrived from Ρhrygia, seeing the
beasts and the other threats, was overeome in his
mind and weakened and hnally abandoned his
salvation. The nauative of the above-mentioned
document showS that this man had rushed to
the tribunal with the others in a headstrong but
irreligious spirit ; but that nevertheless when he
was conricted he gave manifest proofs to all that
such men ought not to make foolhaffiy ventures
which do not spring from religion. Such was the fate
of these men. Vet the wonderful Polycarp, when
he nrst heard this, remained undisturbed, keeping
his mind steadfast and unmoved, and wished to Stay
there in the city. But the urgency of his friends
and their entreaty that he should go out persuaded
him, and he departed to a farm not far from the city
where he stayed with a few others, and night and
day ffid nothing but persevere in prayers to the Lord.
ln them he entreated and supplicated for peace,
begging that it be given the churcheS throughout
the world, for this was his invariable custom.

 
While he was praying, in a vision at night three
days before his capture, he saw the pillow under his
head suddenly flaming with fire and so destroyed,
and when he woke up at this he at once interpreted
what he had Seen to those present, all but foretelling
the future and clearly announcing to his friends that
in fire he must give up his life for Christ's
While those who were seeking for him were pressing
on with great zeal, he was again constrained by the
affection and love of the brethren to move to another
farm. Shortly after the pursuers came up and
arrested two οf the slaves there. They tortured one
οf them and were brought by him to the abode of
Ροlycarp. They entered in the evening and found
him lying in an upper chamber. It was possible for
him to have moved thence to another house, but he
was not willing and said, “ The Lord's will be done.”
When he heard that they had come, So the story
says, he went down and conversed with them with
a bright and gentle countenance, so that those who
did not know him before thought that they saw a
marvel when they regarded his old age and his
venerable and Steadfast behaviour, and they wondered
that there should be such activity for the
arrest οf an οld man of sueh charaeter. Ηe did not
delay but immediately ordered a table to be set for
them and invited them to partake of plentiful food,
asking from them a single hour that he might pray
unffisturbed. They gave him leave, and he arose
and prayed, ffiled with the grace of the Lord, So that
those who were present were astonished when they
heard his prayer, and many of them alrcady began

 
to repent that so venerable and godlike an old man
was going to be killed. 
 After this the document concerning him continues
as follows1 : “ Νοw when he had at last finished
prayer, after remembering all who had cver even
come his way, both small and great, high and low,
and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world,
the hour came for departure, and they set him on
an ass, and led him into the city, οn a ‘ great Sabbath
day.’ 2 Αnd the poliee captrialn Ηerοd and his
Νiketas mct him and removed him into the wagon,
and sat by his side trying to persuade him and saying :
‘But what hann is it to say, “ Lord Caesar,” and
offer sacrifice, and to be saved ? ’ But he at first
did not answer them, but when they continued he
said : ‘ I am not going to do what you counsel me.’
Αnd they gave up the attempt to persuade him, and
bcgan to speak fiercely, and turned him out in such
a huuy that in getting down from the wagon he
scraped his shin ; and without tuming round, as
though he had suffered nothing, he walked on
promptly and quickly, and was taken to the arena,
while the uproar in the arena was so great that no
one could even be heard. Νow when Polycarp
entered into the arena there came a voice from
heaven : ‘ Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man.’
Αnd no one saw the speaker, but many οf our friends
who were there heard the voice. Αnd when he was
brought forward, there was a great uproar of those
who heard that Polycarp had been arrested. Νext
 

 
when he approached the proconsul asked him if he
were Ροlycarp, and when he admitted it he tried to
persuade him to deny, saying : ‘ Respect your age,’
and so forth, as thcy are accustomed to say : ‘ Swear
hy the genius of Caesar, repent, say : “ Αway with
the Αtheists ’’ ’ ; but Ροlycarp, with a stem countenance
looked οn all the crowd in the arena, and
waving his hand at them, he groaned and looked up
to heaven and said : ‘ Αway with the Αtheists.’
But when the Governor pressed him and said :
‘ Take the oath and I will let you go, revile Christ, ’
Polycarp said : ‘ For eighty and six years have I
becn his servant, and he has done me no wrong, and
how can I blaspheme my King who saved me ? ’
nut when he persisted again, and said : ‘ Swear by
the genius 1 of Caesar, ’ he said : ‘If you vainly
suppose that I will swear by the genius of Caesar,
as you say, and pretend that you are ignorant who
1am, listen plainly : I am a Christian. Αnd if you
wish to leam the doctrine of Christianity fix a day
and listen. ’ The proconsul said : ‘ Ρersuade the
people.’ Αnd Ροlycarp said : ‘you I should
held worthy οf ffiseussion, for we have been taught to
render honour, as is meet, if it hurt us not, to princes
and authorities appointed by God ; but as for those,
I do not count them worthy that a defence should be
made to them.’ Αnd the proconsul said : ‘I
wild beasts, I will deliver you to them, unless you
change your mind.’ Αnd he said : ‘ Call for
for change of mind from better to worse is a change
we may not make ; but it is good to change from
eril to righteousness.’ Αnd he said again to him : him:
 

 
will cause you to be consumed by fire, if you despise
the beasts, unless you repent.’ But Polycarp said
‘ You threaten with the fire that burns for a time,
and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the
fire which awaits the wicked in the judgement to
come and in everlasting punishment. But why are
you waiting? Come, do what you will.’ Αnd
these and manv Other Words he was filled with
courage and joy, and his faee was full of grace, so
that it not Only did not fall with trouble at the
things said to him, but that the proconsul, on the
other hand, was astounded and sent his herald into
the midst of the arena to announce three times :
‘Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian.’
When this had been said by the herald, all the
multitude of heathen and Jews living in Smgrna
cried out with uncontrollable wrath and a loud
Shout : ‘This is the teacher of Asia, the father of
the Christians, the destroyer οf our Gods, who
teaches many neither to offer saeiffice nor to worship.’
Αnd when they said this, they cried out and asked
Philip the Asiarch to let loose a lion on Polycarp.
But he said he could not legally do this, since he
had closed the sports. Then they found it good to
cry out with one mind that he should burn Polycarp
alive, for the vision which had appeared to him on
his pillow must be fulffiled, ben he saw it burning,
while he was praying and he turned and said prophetically
phetically to those of the faithful who were with
him, ‘I murt be burnt alive.’ These things
happened with so great speed, quicker than it takes
to tell, and the crowd came together immediately,
and prepared wood and faggots from the workshops
and baths and the Jews were extremely zealous, as

 
is their custom, in assisting at this. Now when the
fire was ready he put off all his clothes, and loosened
his girdle and tried aho to take ὂπ his shoes, a thing
he was not used to doing, because eaeh οf the faithful
was always zealous, which of them might the more
quickly toueh his flesh. For he had been treated
with all respect because of his noble life, even before
his οld age. Immeffiately, therefore, he was fastened
to the instruments which had been prepared for the
fire, but when they were going to nail him as well
he said: ‘ Leave me thus, for Ηe who gives me
power to endure the fire, will grant me to remain in
the flames unmoved even without the security you
will give by the nails.’ so they did not hail
hut bound him, and he put his hands behind him and
was hound, as a noble ram that is offered out of a
great flock as a whole burnt offering acceptable to
Almighty God; and he said : ‘O Father of thy
beloved and blessed Child, Jesus Christ, through
whom we have received full knowledge of thee, the
God of angels and powers, and of all creation, and οf
the whole family οf the righteous, who live before
thee ! I bless thee, that Thou hast granted me this
day and hour, that Ι may share, among the number
οf the martyrs, in the cup οf thy Christ, for the
Resurrection to everlasting life, both of soul and
body in the immortality of the Ηοly Spirit. Αnd
may 1, to-day be received among them bcfore Thee,
as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as Thou, the God
who lies not and is truth, hast prepared beforehand,
and shown forth, and fulnlled. For this reason1
also praise Thee for all things, I bless Thee, 1 glorify
Thee through the everlasting and heavenly high
priest, Jesus Christ, thy beloved Child, through

 
whom be glory to Thee with Him and the Ηοly
Spirit, both now and for the ages that are to come,
Amen. Now when he had uttered his Αmen and
finished his prayer, the men in charge of the nre lit
it, and a great flame blazed up and we, to whom it
was given to sce, saw a marvel. Αnd we have been
preserved to report to others what befell. For the
fire made the likeness of a room, like the sail οf a
vessel Rned with wind, and surrounded the body οf
the martyr as with a wall, and he was within it not
as burning flesh, but as gold and silver being refined
in a furnace. Αnd we perceived sueh a fragrant
smell as the scent of incense or other costly spices.
Αt length the lawless men, seeing that his body
could not be consumed by the nre, commanded an
execcutioner to go up and stab him with a dagger,
and when he ffidld this, there came out much blood,
so that the nre was quenched, and all the crowd
marvelled that there was such a difference between
the unbelievers and the elect. Αnd of the elect was
he indeed one, the wondertul martyr, Ρolyearp, who
in οur days was an apostolic and prophetic teacher,
bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna. For every
word which he urtered from his mouth both was
fulfilled and will be fulfilled. 
 But the jealous and envious evil one who resists
the family of the righteous, when he saw the greatness
of his martyrdom, and his blameless career from
the beginning, and that he was crowned with the
crown of immortality, and had carried off the unspeakable
prize, took care that not even his poor
body should be taken away by us, though many

 
desired to do so, and to have fellowship with his
holy flesh. Therefore he put forward Niketas, the
father of Ηerod, and the brother of Αlce, to ask the
Governor not to give his body, ἴ’ ‘lest,,’ he
ἴ’ they leave the crucffied one and begin to worship
this man.’ Αnd they said this owing to the
and pressure of the Jews, who Watched
when we were going to take it from the fire, for
they do not know that we shall not ever be able
either to abandon Christ, who suffered for the salvation
of those Who are being saved in the whole world,
or to worship any other. For him we worship as the
Son of God, but the martyrs we love as disciples and
imitators οf the Lord ; and rightly, beeause of their
unsurpassable affection toward their own King and
Teacher. Ood grant that We too may be their companions
and fellow-disciples. When therefore the
centurion saw the contentionusness caused by the
Jews, he put the body in the midst, as was their
custom, and burnt it. Thus we, at last, took up his
bones, more Ρrecious than precious stones, and hner
than gold, and put them where it was meet. There
the Lord will permit us to come together according
to our power in gladness and joy, and celebrate the
birthday of his martyrdom, both in memory of those
who have already contested, and for the Ρractice and
training of those whose fate it Shall be. such was the
lot of the bleSSed Polycarp, who though he was,
together with those from Philadelphia, the twelfth
martyr in Smyrna, is alone especially remembered
by all, so that he is spoken of in every place, even
by the heathen.” 
 This great end Was vouchSafed to the life of the

 
marvellous and apostolic Polycarp, as the Christians
of the church at Smyrna have given the story in
their Ietter which we have quoted. In the same
document concerning him other martyrdoms are
appended which took place in the same Smyrna at
the same time as the martyrdom of Polycarp, and
among them Metrodorus, who seems to have been a
presbyter of the Marcionite error, was given to the
fire and put to death. Α famous martyr of those at
that time was Pionius. The document concerning
him gives a full aceount of his speeial confession, his
boldness of speech, the instructive apologies for the
faith and popular addresses before the people and
magistrates, as well as the correction and comfort
to those who had succumbed to temptation in the
persecution, which he addressed during his imprisonment
to the brethren who visited him, in adffition to
this the tortures which he underwent, added to pain,
nailing, the enduring of the name, and, after all his
marvellous deeds, his death ; and to it we will refer
those interested, for it is ineluded in the martyrdoms
of the ancients colleeted by us.1 There are also
memoirs extant of οthers who were martyred in the
city of Ρergamοn in Αsia, Carpus and Ρapylas, and a
woman, Agathounice, who died after many glorious
confessions.

XVI. In their time too Justin, 2 whom we mentioned
a little earlier, after delivering to the rulers mentioned
a second book in behalf of our οpinions, was
adorned with divine martyrdom when the philosopher
 

 
Crescens, who strove in life and behaviour to justify
the name of cynic which he bore, instigated the plot
against him, for Justin had often dereated him in
debate in the presence of hearers, and finally bound
on himself the trophies of victory by his martyrdom
for the truth of which he was an ambassador. 
 This he, who was in truth a supreme philosopher,
sets in advance, in. the above-mentioned
Apology, just as clearly as in fact it was almost at
once to happen to him, using these words: “ Ι too
expect to be plotted against by one of those who
have been mentioned, and to be stretched on the
raek, or even by Crescens, that lover not of wisdom
but of boasting, for the man is not worthy to be called
‘ philosopher’ seeing that he publicly testifies
what he does not know, to the effect that the Christians
are atheists and impious, aud he does this to gain
the grace and pleasure of the many who have been
deceived. For either he controverts us without
attending to the teachings of Christ, and is a complete
rascal and far worse than the uneducated, who often
avoid discussing and giving false testimony on subjects
jects of which they have no knowledge; and if he
has studied and does not understand the greatness
in them, or though be does understand them is base
enough to do what he does to avoid suspicion, he is
more ignoble and rescally, for he succumbs to
ignorant and unreasonable opinion and fear. For I
would have you to know that Ι put forward and
asked him certain questions Of this kind in order to
find out and prove that he really knows nothing ;
and to show that I am speaking the truth, in case
the information a to the arguments was not
brought to you, Ι am readu to communicate the

 
questions again before you, and this would be a task
worthy οf an Εmperοr. But if my questions and ffihls
answers are known to you, it is plain to you that he
knows nothing of our position, or, if he does know,
does not dare say so because of the listeners, and,
as 1 said before, is proved to be a man loves loves not
wisdom but reputation and does not even honour the
saying of socrates, worthy of affection as it is.”1 
 So says Justin ; and that, according to his own
prophecy, he was caught by Crescens and suffered
martyrdom, Tatian, a man Who in eariy life was
trained in the learning of the Greeks and gained
great distinction in it and has left many monuments
of himself in writing, narrates as follows in his
treatise against the Greeks: “ Αnd the wonderful
Justin rightly exclaimed that those mentinoned
are like brigands. ” Then continuting about the
philosophers, he proceeds: “ Crescens, who lurked in
the great city, surpassed all in unnatural rice and was
also wholly devoted to the love οf money. Ηe
counselled others to despise death but himself was
so afraid οf it that he intrigued to inffict death on
Justin, as though it were a great evil, because Justin
by preaching the truth convicted the philosophers as
gluttons and ” such was the cause οf the
marthyrdom of Justin.

XVII. The same writer mentions in his first
Αpology that before his own contest οthers had been
martyrs berore him. Ηe narrates this prohtably to
our sub; eet and he writes thus : “ Α certain woman
lived with a ffissipated husband, and at Rrst she too
 

 
was dissipated, but when she knew the doctrine of
Christ she reformed, and tried to persuade her
husband to reform likewise, relating the doctrine to
him, and announcing the punishment in eternal fire
whieh will be the lot of those who do not live Soberiy
and in aceordanee with right teaching. But he remained
in his dissoluteness, and through his acts
broke up his marriage, for his wife thought it was
wicked to continue consorting with a husband who
tried every kind of pleasure contrary to the law
of nature and to righteousness, and wished to be
separated from wedlock. Owing to the importunity
of her family, who counselled her to stay with him
because there Was always a hope that the husband
would change, She constrained herself to stay with
him, but when her husband Went to Alexandria, and
she heard that he was behaving worse, in order not
to be a partner of wickedness and impiety by remanining
in wedlock and and sharing in his board and
bed, she gave him What you call a Writ of divorce
and was separated. But though her noble husband
ought to have rejoiced that she, who had formerly
light-heartedly engaged with servants and hirelings
in drunken pleasure and in all vices, had given up
theSe habits and wished him too to give up following
them, he disliked her conversion and brought an
aceusation alleging that she was a Christian. she
ffied a petition With you, as Εmpeτor, begging that
she be allowed hrSt to settle her affairs and then to
answer the accusation after the Settlement of her

 
affairs. This you granted. But her former husband
being now unable to attack her,1 turned in the
following way against a certain Ptolemy, who had
been her teacher in Christian doetrines and was
punished by Urbicius. Ηe perSuaded a centurion
Who was a friend of his to arrest Ptolemy, and to
ask him thiS one thing, Whether he was a ChriStian.
Αnd Ptolemy, being a lover of the truth, and not
deceitful nor of false disposition, confessed that he
was a Christian. The centurion caused him to be
put in prison and tortured him for a long While in the
jail. Finally, when the man was brought before
Urbicius he Was Similarly asked only this Same question,
whether he was a Christian, and again, conscious
of the good whieh came to him because οf
the teaching of Christ, he confeSsed the School of
divine virtue. For he Who denieS anything either
condemns the fact and rejects it, or knowing that he
is himself unvorthy and alien from the faet, avoids
confession, and neither of these is the caSe vith the
real Christian. When Urbicius ordered him to be
executed, a certain Lucius, who was himself a Christian,
seeing the verdict which was thus given contrary
to all reason, said to Urbicius, ‘What is the
reason for punishing this man who has not been
convicted of adulteiy or fornieation or murder or
theft or robbery or, in a word, of having done anything

 
wrong, but merely confesses that he bears the
Christian name ? Your judgement, Urbicius, is
οf the emperor called Ρius, or of ’s
son, the philosopher, or of the sacred Senate.’
And Urbicius made no reply except to say
Ludus, ‘ You seem to me to be a Chrirtian yourself.’
Αnd when Lucius said, ‘ Certainly,’ he ordered
to be executed also. Lucius expreSsed his gratitude,
for he sriald he was being removed from wicked lords
like these and going to God, the good Father and
King. Α third man, who also came forward, Urbieius
οmmanded to be punished.” To this Justin
and suitably adds the words which we quoted
above, “ so 1 expect myself to suffer a Ρlοt from one
of those named,”

XVIII. Justin has left us treatises of an educated
intelligence trained in theology, which are full οf
helpfulness, and to them we will refer students,
infficating what has come usefully to our knowledge.
nere is a treatise by him, on behalf of our opinions,
addressed to Antoninus, surnamed Pius, and his children,
and to the Roman senate another, containing a
second Αpolοgy for our defenee, which he made to the
successor and namesake of the above mentioned emperor,
Antoninus Verus, whose periodweare at present
discussing; and another to the Greeks, in which, after a
long and expanded argument about very many things
inquired into both by Christians and the philosophers
οf the Greeks, he discourses on the nature of demons,
which there is no urgency to quote at present.

 
Αgain a second treatise agalnst the Greeks has
reaehed us, Which he entitled A Confutation, and
besideS them anOther about the Sovereignty of God
whieh he compiled not only from our own
but also from the books Of the Greeks. Besides
these he WrOte rile book entitled Psaltes and another
disputation Οn the Soul, in whieh he propounds
various questions concerning the problem under
discussion and adduees the opinion of the Greek
philosophers ; these he promises to refute and to
give his own opinion in another book. Ηe also
composed a dialogue agailbt the Jews, which he held
in the city of Ephesus against Trypho, the most
distinguished Jew of the day. Ιn this he explains
how the grace of God brought him to the word of
the faith, and how he had formerly been Ζealous
for philosophie learning and made deep and enthusiastic
inquiry into the truth. In the same book
he narrates about the Jews hov they plotted against
the teaehing of Christ, and presses the same point
against Trypho. “ Not only did you not repent of
the evil that you did but you chose out picked men
at that time and sent them from Jerusalem to the
whole world saying that a seditious sect οf Christians
had arisen, and uttering the calumnies which all
those who do not know us make againrt us, so that
you are not only guilty of unrighteousness against
yourselves but also against absolutely all οther men.”
Ηe also writes that eVen up to his own time prophetic
gifts illuminated the church, and quotes the
Apocalypse of John, saying clearly that it is the work

 
οf the apostle. Αnd he also quotes some texts from
the prophets bringing the charge against Trypho
that the Jews had eut them out of the scripture.
There are also many works of his extant among
many Christians, and thus the books of this writer
seemed even to the aneients worthy οf study, for
Irenaeus quotes his works, doing so in the fourth book
Against Heresies in these very words: “ Αnd well does
Justin say in his treatise against Marcion that he
would not have believed the Lord himself had he
preached a God other than the Creator.” Again,
the fifth book οf the same treatise he quotes him as
follows: “ Αnd well did Justin say that before the
coming of the Lord satan dared not blaspheme God,
seeing that he ffid not yet know his ”
These points must serve to encourage students to
folow his arguments zealously and such are the facts
about him.

XIX. Νοw When the reign of this emperor was
approaching the eighth year 1 soter succeeded
Anicetus in the bishopric of Rome, who had completed
eleven years altogether, and when Celadion
had presided over the diocese of the Alexandrians
for fourteen years,

XX. Agrippinus took up the
succession, and in the church οf the Αntiochians, the
famous Theophilus was the sixth from the Αpostles,
the fourth having been Cornelius, who was appointed
after Ηero, and after Cornelius Εros had suceeeded
to the bishopric in the fifth place.

XXI. At this time there flourished in the church
 

 
Ηegesippus, whom we know from former narratives,
and Dionysius, bishop of the CorinthianS, and
Pinytus, another bishop of the Cretans, and Philip,
and in addition to them Apolinarius and Melito
and Musanus and Modestus and, above all, Irenaeus,
and their eorreet opinions οn the sound faith οf the
apostolic tradition have come down to us in writing.

XXII. Hegesippus has left a complete record
his οwn opinion in five treatises which have come
down to us. In them he explriaIns how when travelling
as far as Rome he mingled with many bishops and
that he found the same doctrine among them all.
But it is well to listen to What he said after some
remarks about the epistle of Clement to the
Corinthians: “ Αnd the chureh οf the Corinthians
remained in the truc doctrine until Ρrimus was
bishop of Corinth, and I conversed with them οn my
voyage to Rome, and spent some days with the
corinthians during whieh we were refreshed by the
true word. When 1 was in Rome Ι reeovered the
list οf the succeSsion until Αnicetus, whose deacon
was Εleutherus ; soter Suceeeded Αnicetus, and
after him came EleutheruS. In each list and in each
city things are as the law, the prophets, and the
Lord preach.” 
 The same writer also deseribes the beginning of
the heresies of his time as follows : “ Αfter James
the Just had suffered martyrdom for the same reason
as the Lord, symeon, his cousm; the son οf Clopas
was appointed bishop, whom they all proposed because
cause he was another cousin οf the Lord. For this
cause they called the ehurch virgin, for it had not

 
yet been corrupted by vain messages, but Thebouthis,
because he had not been made bishop, begins its
corruption by the seven heresies, to which he belonged,
among the people.1 Οf thee were simOn,
Whenee the Simonians, and Cleobius, whence the
Cleobians, and Dositheus, whence the Dosithians,
and Gorthaeus, whence the Goratheni and the
Μasbothei. From these come the Menandrianists
and the Marcianists and the Carpocratians and the
Valentinians and the Basilidians and Saturnilians;
eacg of these puts forward in its own peculiar way
its own opinion, and from them come the false Christs
and false prophets and false apostles who detroy
the unity of the church by their poisonous doctrine
against God and against his Christ.” 
 The same writer also described the sects which
onee existed among the Jews as follows: “ Now
there were Various opinions among the circumcision,
among the children of Israel, against the tribe of
Judah and the Messiah, as folows: Essenes,
Galileans, Hemerobaptists, Masbothei, Samaritans,
saddueees, and Pharisees.” 
 Ηe also wrote much more, from which we have
already made some quotations, arranging the narratives
chronologically, and he makes extracts from the
Gospel according to the Ηebrews, and from the
and Ρartieularly from the Hebrev language, showing
that he had been converted from among the Hebrews,
and he mentions points as coming from the unwritten
tradition of the Jews. Αnd not only he but also Irenaeus
and the whole company of the ancients called
the Proverbs the All-virtuous Wisdom. And in disseems

 
cussing the so-called Apocrypha, he relates that some
οf them were fabricated by certain heretics in his own
time. But we must now pass οn to another writer.

XXIII. Concerning Dionysius it must Rrst be said
that he was appointed to the throne of the episcopate
of the diocese of Corinth, and that he communicated
his divine industry ungrudgingly not only to those
under him but aho to those at a distance, rendering
himself most useful to all in the general epistles
which he drew up for the churches. 1 Αmοng them
the lerter to the Lacedaemonians is an instrunction
in orthodoxy on the subject of peace and unity, and
the letter to the Athenians is a call to faith and to
life according to the gospel, and for despising this
he rehukes them as all but apostates from the truth
since the martyrdom οf Publius, 2 their leader, in the
persecution οf that time. Ηe mentions that Quadratus
was appointed their bishop after the martyrdom
οf Publius and testffies that through his zeal they
had bcen brought together and received a rerival of
their faith. Moreover, he mentions that Dionysius
the Areopagite was converted by the Αpostle Ρaul
to the frialth, accorffing to the narrative in the Αcts,
and was the first to be appointed to the bishoprie of
the diocese of Αthens. There is another extant
Ietter of his to the Nicomedians in which he
the heresy of Marcion and compares it with the rure
ofthe truth. Ηe also mote to the ehurch sojourning
in Gortyna together with the οther Cretan ffidIoceses,
and welcomes their bishop Philip for the reputation
 
 

 
of the church in his charge for many noble acts, and
he enjoins care against heretical error. He also
wrote to the church sojourning in Amastris, together
with the churches in Pontus, and mentions that
Bacchylides and Elpistus had urged him to write;
he adduces interpretations of the divine scriptures,
and mentions by name their bishop Palmas. Ηe
gave them many exhortations about marriage and
chastity, and orders them to receive those who are
converted from any backsliding, whether of conduct
or heretical To this list has been added
another epistle to Cnossus, in which he exhorts
Pinytos, the bishop of the diocese, not to put on the
brethren a heavy compulsory burden concerning
chastity and to consider the weaknesses of the many.
To this Pinytos replied that he admircd and welcomed
Dionysius, but exhorted him in turn to provide at
some time more solid food, and to nourish the people
under him with another more advanced letter, so
that they might not be fed continually on milky
words, and be caught unaware by old age Vbile still
treated as children. In this letter the orthodoxy of
Pinytow in the faith, his care for those under him,
his learning and theological understanding are shown
as in a most accurate image. 
 There is, moreover, extant a letter of Dionysius to
the Romans addressed to Soter who was then boshop,
and there is nothing better than to quote the words
in which he welcomes the custom of the Romans,
which was observed down to the persecution in our
own times. “ This has been your custom from the be-

 
ginning, to do good in manifold ways to all Christians,
and to send contributions to the many churches in
every city, in some places relieving the poverty of
the needy, and ministering to the Christians in the
mines,1 by the contribution which you have sent
from the beginning, preserving the ancestral custom
of the Romans, true Romans as you are. Your
blessed bishop soter has not only carried on this
habit but has even increased it, by administering the
bounty distributed to the saints and by exhorting
with his blessed words the brethren who come to
Rome, as a loving father would his children.” 
 In this same letter he also quotes the letter of
Clement to the Corinthians, showing that from the
beginning it had been the custom to read it in the
church. “ To-day we observed the holy day of the
Lord, and read out your letter, whieh we shall
continue to read from time to time for our admonition,
as we do with that which was formerly sent to
us through Clement.” 2 
 The same writer speaks as follows about the falsification
of his owh letters. “ When Christians asked me
to write letters Ι wrote them, and the apostles of
the derivll have filled them with tares, by leaving out
some things and putting in others. But woe awaits
them. Therefore it is no wonder that some have
gone about to falsify even the scriptures of the Lord
When they have plotted against writings so inferior.” 
 Besides these there is extant another lerter of
Dionysius to Chrysophora, a most faithful Christian,
 

 
in which he writes to her, suitably imparting to her
the proper spiritual food. Such are the facts about
Dionysius.

XXIV. Of Theophilus, whom we have mentioned
as bishop of the church of the Antiochians, three
elementary treatises are extant, addressed to
Autolycus, and another with the title, Against the
Heresy of Hermogenes, in which he has quoted the
Apocalypse of John, and there are also extant some
οther books οf his on instruction. Heretics were
evcn then no less defiling the pure seed of apostolic
teaching like tares, and the shepherds ofthe churches
in every place, as though driving off wild beasts from
Christ's sheep, excluded them at one time by rebukes
and exhortations to the brethren, at another by their
more complete exposure, by unwritten and personal
inquiry and conversation, and ultimately correcting
their opinions by accurate arguments in written
treatises. It is elear that Theophilus joined with the
others in this campaign against them from a noble
trcatise whieh he made against Marcion, which has
heen preserved until now with the others that we
have mentioned. His successor in the church οf the
Antiochians was Maximinus, seventh from theapostles.

XXV. Philip, whom we know from the words of
Dionysius as bishop of the diocese in Gortyna, also
made a most excellent treatise against Marcion.
Irenaeus, likewise, and Modestus, 1 who excels beyond
 

 
the rest in exposing to everyone the man's error,
did the same, and there are many others, too, whose
works are still preserved among many Christians.

XXVI. In their time, too, Melito, bishop of the
diocese of Sardis, and Apolinarius, bishop of Hierapolis,
Vere at the height of their fame, and each
addressed apologetic arguments of their own to the
emperor 1 of the Romans of that day, who has been
already mentioned. The following of their works
have come to our knowledge. Of Melito two books
Οn the Passover, a treatise Οn Christian Life and the
Prophets, Οn the Church, and Οn the Lord's Day ;
besides these Οn the Faith of Man, and On Creation,
and Οn the Obedience of Faith, and On the Senses 2 ;
besides these, On the Soul and Body,3 and On Baptism
and Truth and Faith and Christ's Birth,4 and a treatise
of his prophecy 5 and Οn Soul and Body, and On
Hospitality, and the Key, and the books Οn the Deuil
and the Apocalypse of John, and On God Incarnate ;
above all, the little book To Antoninus.6 
 Αt the beginning of the book On the Passover he
indicates the time at which he vas composing it as
follows: “ Ιn the time Of Servillius Paulus, 7 proconsul,
of Αsia, at the time when Sagaris was martyred,
 
 
 
 

 
there was a great discussion about the Passover,
which fell according to the season in those days, and
this was written.” Clement of Alexandria
this treatise in his own Οn the Passover, which he
says that he compiled in consequence of the writing
of Melito. Αnd in the book to the emperor he
relates that in his time we were treated as follows :
“ Ιt has never before happened as it is now that the
race of the religious should be persecuted and driven
about by new decrees throughout Αria. For shameless
informers and lovers of other people's property
have taken advantage of the decrees, and pillage us
openly, harrying night and day those who have done
nothing ” And after other points he says:
“ Αnd if this is done as your command, let it be
assumed that it. it is well done, for no righteous king
would ever have an unrighteous policy, and we gladly
bear the honour οf such death. But we submit to
you this single request, that you will first take
cognizance yourself of the authors of such strife, and
judge righteously whether they are worthy of death
and punishment, or of acquittal and immunity. But,
if it be not from you that there comes this counsel
and this new decree (and it would be improper even
against barbarian enemies), we beseech you all the
more not to neglect ust in this brigandage by a mob.”
Ηe then continues as follows: “Our philosophy first
grew up among the barbarians, but its full flower
came among your nation in the great reign of your
ancestor Augustus, and became an omen of good to
your empire, for from that time the power of the
Romans became great and splendid. You are now his

 
happy successor, and shall be so along with your son,1
if you protect the philosophy which grew up with the
empire and began with Αugustus. Your ancestors
nourished it together with the other cults, and the
greatest proof that our doctrine flourished for good
along with the empire in its noble beginning is the
fact that it met no evil in the reign of Αugustus, but
on the contrary everything splendid and glorious
according to the wishes of all men. 2 The only
emperors who were ever persuaded by malicious men
to slander our teaching were Νero and Domitian,
and from them arose the lie, and the unreasonable
custom of falsely accusing Christians. But their
ignorance was corrected by your pious fathers, who
wrote many rebukes to many, whenever any dared
to take new measures against Christians. Your
grandfather Hadrian shows this in his letters to
many, and especially to the proconsul Fundanus,
the governor οf Αsia, and your father, while you
were joined with him 3 in the administration οf the
world, wrote to the cities that no new measures
should be taken concerning us. Among these are
letters to the Larisians and to the Thessalonians and
the Athenians and to all the Greeks. sinee you
hold the same opinion about them and, indeed, one
which is far kinder and more philosophic, we are
persuaded οf your doing all which we beg of you.” 
 These words are found in the treatise quoted, but
in the Extracts which he wrote the same writer begins
 
 
 

 
in his preface by making a list of the recognized
scriptures of the ΟΙd Testament, whcih it is necessary
to enumerate here, and he writes as follows: “ Melito
to Onesimus his brother, greeting. Since you often
desired, in your zeal for the true word, to have
extracts from the Law and the Prophets concerning
the Saviour, and concerning all our faith, and, moreover,
since you wished to know the accurate facts
about the ancient writings, how many they are in
number, and what is their order, Ι have taken pains
to do thus, for Ι know your zeal for the faith and
interest in the word, and that in your struggle for
eternal salvation you esteem these things more
highly than all else in your love towards God.
Accordingly when I came to the east and reached
the place where these things were preached and
done, and learnt accurately the books of the Οld
Testament, Ι set down the facts and sent them to
you. These are their names : five books of Μoses,
Genesis, Exodus, Νumbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy,
Joshua the son of Νun, Judges, Ruth, four books of
Kingdoms, two books of Chronicles, the Ρsalms of
David, the Proverbs of Solomon and his Wisdom,
Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the prophets
Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Twelve in a single book,
Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra. From these Ι have made
extracts and compiled them in six ” Such are
the facts about Melito.

XXVII. Of the many writings of Apolinarius
which have been widely preserved the following
have reached us : Α treatise to the above mentioned
emperor, 1 five books Against the Greeks, and books
one and two Οn the Truth, one and to Against the
 

 
Jerus, and after this the treatises which he wrote
against the heresy of the Phrygians, which had
begun its innovations not long before and was then,
as it were, beginning to sprout, while Montanus
with his false prophetesses 1 was making the beginnings
of the error.

XXVIII. Αnd of Musanus, whom we have mentioned
in a previous passage, there is extant a certain
very eloquent discourse which he wrote to some
Christians who had fallen away to the heresy of the
so-called Encratites, 2 which was at that time just
beginning to sprout and to introduce into life its
strange and corrupting false doctrine.

XXIX. The
story goes that Tatian was the author of this error,
whose words we quoted a little above concerning the
marvellous Justin, and related that he was a disciple
of the martyr. Irenaeus states this in his first book,
Against the Heresies, and in the same place writes
thus concerning him and his heresy. “ The so-ealled
Encratites proceeding from Saturninus and Marcion
preached against marriage, annulling the original
creation of God, and tacitly condemning him who
made male and female. They also introduced abstention
from what they called ‘animate᾿ thigns in
ingratitude to the God who has made all things, and
they deny the salvation of the first created man.
This innovation was recently made by them when a
certain Tatian first introduced this blasphemy. Ηe
had been a hearer of Justin but so long as he was
with him, he produced nothing of this king, but after
the martyrdom of Justin he left the church, being

 
exalted by the idea of becoming a teacher and puffed
up as superior to others. He established his own type
of doctrine, telling stories of invisible Aeons, like the
followers of Valentinus, and rejecting marriage as
corruption and fornication similarly to Marcion and
Saturninus. Αnd as his own contribution he denied
the salvation of Αdam.’’ Irenaeus wrote thus at
that time. But a little later a certain man named
Severus strengthened the above mentioned heresy,
and is the reason why those who have sprung from
it obtained the name of Severiani from him. These
indeed use the Law and the Prophets and the
Gospels, though they interpret the facts of the sacred
scriptures in their own way, but they blaspheme the
Apostle ΡauΙ, and reject his epistles and do no
receive the Acts of the Apostles. Their former
leader Tatian composed in some way a combination
and collection of the gospels, and gave this the name
of The Diatessaron, 1 and this is still extant in
some places. And they say that he ventured to
paraphrase some words of the apostle, as though
correcting their style. Ηe has left a great number
of writings, οf which the most famous, quoted by
many, is his discourse Against the Greeks. Ιn it he
deals with primitive history, and shows that Moses
and the prophets of the Hebrews preceded all those
who are celebrated among the Greeks. This seems
to be the best and most helpful of all his writings.
Such are the facts of this period.

XXX. In the same reign heresies increased in
Mesopotamia, and Bardesanes, a most able man and
skilled in Syriac, composed ffidlalogues against the
Marcionites and other leaders of various opinions,
and he issued them in his own language and script,
together with many othcr οf his writings. Those
who knew them; and they were many, for he was a
powerful arguer, have translated them from Syriac
into Greek. Αmong them is his very powerful
dialogue with Antoninus Concerning Fate, and they say
that he wrote many οther works in conscquence of
the persecution of that time. Ηe had been first a
member of the Valentinians, but condemned this
school and refuted many oftheir fables, and himself
thought that he had changed to orthodox opinion,
but in fact he did not completely clean off the ffith
of his ancient heresy. 
 Αt this time Soter, bishop of Rome, died.

CONTENTS OF BOOKS V 
 The contents of the fifth book of the History
of the Curch are as follows : 
 I. The number and behaviour of those those who in
the time of verus underwent in Gaul the
struggle for religion. 
 II. Ηow the martyrs, beloved οf God, gave the
hand οf fellowship and healing to those who
had fallen in the persecution. 
 IΙI. ne vision which appeared in a dream to the
martyr Αttalus. 
 IV. Ηow the martyrs commended Irenaeus by a
letter. 
 v. Ηοw God sent rain from heaven to Marcus
Aurelius Caesar in response to the prayers
of the christians. 
 VI. The list of those who were bishops in Rome. 
 VII. Ηow even until those times strange miracles
were wrought by the faithful. 
 VIII. Ηow Irenaeus quotes the divine Scriptures. 
 IX. Those who were bishops under Commodus. 
 X. On Ρantaenus the philosopher. 
 XI. On Clement οf Αlexandria. 
 XII. On the bishops in Jerusalem. 
 XIII. On Rhodo and the dissensions which he
mentions among the Marcionites. 

 
 XIV. On the Montanist 1 false prophets. 
 XV. About the schism at Rome under BlastuS. 
 XVL The tradition concerning Montanus and
those who were false prophets together
with him. 
 XVII. Οn Miltiades and the treatises which he
composed. 
 XVIII. Ηow Apollonius also refuted the Montanists
and the quotations which he made. 
 XIX. Οf Serapion On Montanism. 
 XX. The discussions of Irenaeus in writing with
the schimatics at Rome. 
 XXI. How Apllonius was martyred in Rome. 
 XXII. What bishops were famous in these times. 
 XXIII. Οn the paschal controversy which was then
active. 
 XXIV. On the division in Asia. 
 XXV. How unanimous decision was reaehed concerning
Easter. 
 XXVI. How much of the eloquent work of Irenaeus
has come down to us. 
 XXVII. How much also of the others who flourished
with him at that time. 
 XXVIII. Οn those who at the beginning put forward
the heresy of Artemon, what manner of
men they were, and how they have dared
to corrupt the holy Scriptures.

BOOK V 
 SORER, the bishop of the church of Rome, ended his
life in the eighth year οf his rule. To him succeeded
Elutherus, the twelfth from the apostles, and it was
the seventeenth year of the Emperor Antonius Verus.1
Ιn this time the persecution οf us in some parts of
the world was rekindled more violently by popular
violence in the cities, and, to judge from the events
in οne nation, myriads were distinguished by martyrdom.
The story has chanced to be handed down in
writing for posterity, and it is truly worthy of unceasing
remembrance. sincc the whole reeord of
its complete treatment has been embodied in our
collection οf martyrs, 2 and contains not merely the
narrahve itself but also an exposition οf doctrine,
I will at present select and quote merely such points
as belong to the present undertaking. Other writers
οf historical works have confined themselves to the
written tradition of victories in wars, of trimnphs οver
enemies, of the exploits of generals and the valour
of soldiers, men stained with blood and with countless
murders for the sake of children and country
and other possessions ; but it is wars most peaceful,
 
 

 
waged for the very peace of the sOul, and men who
therein have been valiant for truth rather than for
country, and for piety rather than for rileir dear
ones, that our reeord of those who order their lives
according to God will inscribe on everlasting monuments :
it is the struggles of the athletes of piety
and their valour which braved so much, trophies won
from demons, and victories against unseen adversaries,
and the crowns at the end of all, that it will
proclaim for everlasting remembrance.

1. Gaul was the country in which was prepared
the stage for these events. Its capital cities, famous
and more renowned than the others in the distriet,
were Lyolb and Vienne, through both of which passes
the river Rhone, flowing in an ample stream through
the whole district. The distingtliSlled churches of
this country sent the document about the martyrs
to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, in this way
recording what happedned among them, and I will
quote their words : “ The servants sojourning in
Vienne and Lyons in Gaul to the brethren in Αsia
and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope of
redemption as you. Ρeace, grace, and glory from
God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord.” 
 Then after other prefatory remarks they begin
their narrative thus : “ The greatness of the persecution
here, and the terrible rage of the heathen
against the saints, and the suffering of the blessed
martyrs, are more than we can narrate accurately,
nor can they be put down in writing. For with all

 
his might the adversary attaeked us, foreshadowing
his coming which is shortly to be, and tried everything,
practising his adherents and training them
ngainst the servants of God, so that we were not
merely excluded from houses and baths and markets,
but we were even forbidden to be seen at all in any
place whatever. But against them the grace of God
did eaptain us ; it reseued the weak, and marshalled
against them steadfast pillars of men able by patience
to draw to themselves all the attack of the enemy.
They cmne together and endured every kind of abuse
and punishment, they eounted many things as few in
their zeal for Christ, and ffidld indeed prove that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to bc
compared with the glory which shall be revealed
to us. 
 “First they endured nobly all that was heaped upon
them by the mob, howls and stripes and dragging
about, and rapine and imprisonment and stoning,
and all things which are wont to happen at the
hands of an infuriated populace against its supposed
enemies and foes ; then they were dragged into the
market-place by the tribune and by the chief
authorities of the city, were indicted and eonfessed,
and at last they were shut up until the coming οf
the governor. Then they were brought before the
governor, and When he used all his eruelty against
them, then intervened Vettius Εpagathus, one οf
the brethren, mled filled with love towards and
towards his neighbour, the strietness οf whose life

 
had gone so far that in spite οf his youth his reputation
was equal to that οf the elder Zacharias. 1 Ηe
walked in all the commanmnents and orffinances of
the Lord blameless and was unwearied in all ministrations
to his neighbours, having much zeal toward
God and being fervent in spirit. Ηis character forbade
him to endure the unreasonable judgement given
agninst us, and, overcome with indignation, he asked
to be heard himself in defence of the brethren to
the effect that there was nothing atheistic or impious
among us. Ηe was howled down by those around
the judgement-seat, for he was a man οf position, 2 and
the governor would not tolerate the just requests
which he had put forward but merely asked if he
were a Chrirtian hinBeK. Ηe then confessed in
clear tones and was himself taken into the ranks of
the martyrs. Ηe was called the ‘ Comforter of
Christians,’ but had the Comforter in himself,
spirit of Zacharias which he had shown by the fullness
of his love when he chose to Ιay down even his οwn
life for the defence of the brethren, for he was and
he is 3 a true ffidlsciple οf christ, and he follows the
Lamb wheresoever he goes. 
 “The rest were then ffidIrided and the first martyrs
were obviously ready, and they fulffiled the confession
of martyrdom with all reaffiness, but some
οthers appeared not to be ready, and failcd in
training and in strength, unable to endure the strain
 
 
 

 
of a great cOnffiet, and abOut ten in nmber failed,
as those born out of due time. They caused us
great grief and immeasurable mourning, and hindered
the zeal of the others wo had not been arrerted.
Yet they, although suffering all the terrors, nervertheless
remained with the martyrs and did not desert
them. But at that point we were all greatly terrified
by uncertainty as to their confession, not fearillg the
threatened punishment but looking towards the end
and afraid lest some one should fall away. Yet day
by day those who were worthy went on being
ariested, completing their number, so as to collect
from the two churches all the zealous and those
through whom the life of the locality was kept
together. There were also arrested certain heathen
slaves of our members, since the governor had publicly
commanded that we should all be prosecuted,
and these by the snare of Satan, fearing the tortures
which they saw the saints suffering, when the
soldiers urged them, falsely accused us of Theyestean
feasts and Oedipodean intercourse, 1 and things which
it is not right for us either to speak οf or to think
of or even to believe that such things could ever
happen among men. When this rumour spread all
men turned like beab againt us, so that even if any
had formerly been lenient for friendship's sake they
then became furious and raged against us, and there
was fulfilled that which was spoken by our Lord
that ‘the rime will come when whosoever killeth
you will think that he doeth God ’ Then at
last the holy martyrs endured sufferings beyong all
description, for Satan was striving to wring some
 

 
blasphemy eVen from them, and all the fury of the
mob and of the gOVernor and Of the soldiers was
raised beyond meaSure against sanetus, the deacon
from Vienne, and against Maturus, who was a noviee
but a noble contender, and against Attalus, a pergamene
by race, who had always been a pillar and
support of the Christians there, and against Blandina,
through whom Christ showed that things which are
mean and obscure and contemptible among men are
vouehsafed great glory with God beeause or the love
towardS him shown in powere and not boasted of in
appearance. For while we were all afraid, and her
human mistress, who was herself one of the contenders
among the martyrs, was in distress lest she
should not be able, through the weakness of her
body, to be bold enough even ro make confession,
Blandina was ffiled with such power that she was
released and rescued from those who took turns in
torturing her in every way from morning until evening,
and they themselves eonfessed that they were
beaten, for they had nothing left to do to her, and
they marvelled that she still remained alive, seeing
that her whole body was broken and opened, and
they testified that any one of these tortures was
suffieient to destroy life, even when they had not
been magnffied and multiplied. But the blessed
woman, like a noble athlete, kept gaining in vigour
in her confession, and found comfort and rest and
freedom from pain from what was done to her by
saying, ‘I am a Christian woman and nothing wicked
happens among us.’ 
 “Sanctus also himself endured nobly, beyond
measure or human power, all the ill- treament of

 
men, for though the wieked hoped through persistence
and the rigour of his tortures to wring from
him something wrong, he resisted them with such
constancy that he did not even tell his own name,
or the race or the city whence be was, nor whether
he was slave or free, but to all questions answered
in Latin, ‘I am a Christian.’ This he said for
and city and race and for everything else, and the
heathen heard no other sound from him. For this
reason the governor and the torturers were very
ambitious to subdue him, so that when they bad
nothing left at all to do to him at last they fastened
plates of heated brass to the tenderest parts of his
body. His limbs were burnig, but he continued
himself unbending and unyielding, firm in his confession,
refreshed and strengthened by the heavenly
spring of the water of life which proceeds forth from
the body of Christ. His body was a witness to his
treatment it was all one wound and bruise,
wrenehed and torn out of human shape, but Christ
suffering in him manifested great glory, overthrowing
the adversary and showing for the example of the
others how there is nothing fearful where there is
the love of the Father nor painful where there is the
glory of Christ. For when the wicked after some
days again tortured the martyr they thought that
they might overcome him how that his body was
swollen and inflamed if they applied the same
tortures, seeing that he could not even endure to be

 
touched by the hand, or that by dying under torture
he would put fear into the rest. Yet not only did
nothing of this kind happen, but, beyond all human
expectation, he raised himself up and his body was
straightened in the subsequent tortures, and he
regained his former appearance and the use of his
limbs, so that through the grace of Christ the second
torturing became not torment but cure. 
 “Biblis, too, one of those who had denied, did the
devil bring to torture (thinking that he had already
swallowed her up and wishing to condemn her through
blasphemy as well), to force her to say immpious
things about us, as though she were already broken
and weak. But she recovered under torture, and,
as it were, woke up out of deep sleep, being reminded
through this transitory punishment of the eternal
torments in hell, and contradicted the blasphemers,
saying, ‘How would such men eat children, when
they are not allowed to eat the blood even of
irrational animals?’ And after this she confessed
herself a Christian and was added to the ranks of
the martyrs. 
 “But when the tyrant's torments had been brought
to naught by Christ through the endurance of the
blessed saints, the devil thought of other devices,
imprisonment in the jail in darkness and in the
most horrible place, and stretching their feet in the
stocks, separated to the fifth hole, and the other
outrages which angry warders filled with the devil
are accustomed to inflict on the prisoners. Thus
most of them were strangled in the prison, being all
those whom the Lord had chosen thus to depart
manifesting his glory. Some were tortured so cruelly

 
that it seemed impossible for them to live even if
they had had every care, yet surrived in the prison,
bereft of human attention but strengthened by the
Lord and given power in body and soul, and looking
after and comforting the rest. But the younger
ones, who had lately been arrested, whose boffidles
had not become accustomed to it, did not endure the
burden οf cofinement but died in prison. 
 “The blessed Pothinus, who had been entrusted
with the ministry of the bishoprie at Lyons, was over
nunety years old and very weak physically. Ηe was
scarcely breathing through the physical weakness
which had aheady come upon ffihlm, but was strengthened
by zeal of spirit through urgent desire of
martyrdom. Ηe was dragged before the judgementseat,
and although his body was weakened by old
age and disease, his soul was kept in him in order
that through it Christ might triumph. Ηe was
brought by soldiers to the judgement-seat ; the local
authorities accompanied him, and all the populace,
uttering all kinds of howls at him as though he was
Christ himself, but he gave noble testimony. When
asked by the governor, Who was the God of the
Christians, he said, ‘ If you are worthy, you will
’ And then he was dragged about without
mercy, and suffered many blows ; for those who were
near ilhtreated him with feet and hands and in
every way, without respect even for his old age, and
those who were at a ffistance each threw at him
whatever he had at hand, and all thought that it
would be a great transgression and impiety to omit
any abuse against him. For they thought that in

 
this way they would vindicate their gods. Αnd
he was thrown into prison scarcely breathing and
after two days yielded up the ghost. 
 “Then a great ffispensation of God was given, and
the measureless mercy of Jesus was so manifested,
as has rarely happened among the brethren, but is
not beyond the skill of Christ. For those who at the
nrst arrest had denied were imprisoned themselves
and shared in the terrors, for this time not even
their denial was any advantage to them ; but those
who confessed what they were Were imprisoned as
Christians, no other accusation being brought against
them, the others however were held as murderers and
foul persons and punished twiee as much as the rest.
For the burden of the former was lightened by the
joy of martyrdom and the hope of the promises, and
by love towards Christ and by the spirit of the
Father ; but the latter were greauy punished by
their conscience so that they were conspicuous among
all the rest by their faces when they were taken
out. For the one went forth gladly; glory and
great grace were mingled on their faces, so that
they wore even their fetters as a becoming ornament,
like a bride adorned with golden lace of many
pattems, and they were perfumed with the sweet
savour οf Christ, so that some supposed that they
had been anointed with worldly unguents ; but the
others were depressed and humble and wretched
and ffiled with every kind of unseemliness, and in
addition were insulted by the heathen as ignoble
and cowardly ; they had gained the accusation οf
murder, but had lost the name which is full of
honour and glory and gives life. wben the others
saw this they were strengthened and those who

 
were arrested confessed without hesitation and gave
no thought to the argumentS of the devil.” 
 Αfter a few more sentences they go on again: “After
this the testimony of their death fell into every kind
of variety. For they wove various colours and all
kinds of Rowers into one wreath to offer to the
Father, and so it was necessary for the noble athletes
to undergo a varied conteSt, and after great victory
to receive the great crown of immortality. Maturus
and sanctus and Blandina and Αttalus were led forth
to the vild beasts, to the public, 1 and to a common
exhibition οf the inhumanity of the heathen, for the
day of fighting with beasts was specially appointed
for the Christians. Maturus and Sanctus passed again
through all torture in the amphitheatre as though
they had suffered nothing before, but rather as
though, having conquered the opponent in many
bouts, 2 they were now striving for his crown, οnce
more they ran the gauntlet in the accustomed
manner, endured the worrying of the wild beastS,
and everything which the maddened public, some in
οne way, some in another, were howling for and
commanding, finally, the iron chair on which the roasting
οf their own bodies clothed them with its reek.
Their persecutors did not stop even here, but went on
growing more and more furious, wishing to eonquer
their endurance, yet gained nothing from sanctus
beyond the sound of the confession Which he had
been accustomed to make from the beginning. 
 

 
 “Thus after a long time, when their life still remained
in them through the great contest, they were at last
sacrificed, having been made a spectacle to the world
throughout that day as a substitute for all the
variations of gladiatorial eontests ; but Blandina was
hung on a stake and offered as a prey to the wild
beasts that were let in. She seemed to be hanging
in the shape of a croSS, and by her continuous prayer
gave great zeal to the combatants, while they looked
οn during the cntest, and with their outward eyes
saw in the form of their sister him who was crueffied
for them, to persuade those who believe on him that
all who suffer for the glory of Christ have for ever
fellowship with the living God Then when none of
the beasts Would touch her she was taken down
from the stake and brought baek into the jail, and
was thus preserved for another contest, in order that
by winning through more trials she might make
irrevocable the condemnation of the crooked serpent,
and might encourage the brethren ; for small and
weak and despised as she was, she had put on the
great and invincible athlete, Christ ; she had overcome
the adversary in many contests, and through
the struggle had gained the crown of immortality. 
 “But Αttalus waS himSelf loudly ealled for by the
crowd, for he was well known. Ηe went in, a ready
combatant, for his conscience was clear, and he had
been nobly trained in Christian discipline and had
ever been a witness for truth among us. Ηe was
led round the amphitheatre and a placard was earried
before him on which was written in Latin, This
Attalus, the ’ The people were very bitter

 
against him, but when the governor learnt that he was
a Roman, he commanded him to be put back with
the rest, who were in the jail, about whom he had
written to the emperor and was waiting for his reply. 
 “But the intervening time was not idle or fruitless
for them but through their endurance was manifested
the immeasurable mercy of Christ, for through the
living the dead were being quickened and martyrs
gave grace to those who had denied. Αnd there
was great joy to the Virgin Mother who had miscarried
with them as though dead, and was receiving
them back alive. For through them the majority
of those who had denied were again brought to
birth 1 and again conceived and quickened again,
and learned to confess, and now alive and vigorous,
made happy by God who wills not the death of the
sinner, but is Hnd towards repentance, went to the
judgement-seat, in οrder that they might again
be interrogated by the governor. For caesar had
written that they should be tortured to death, but
that if any should reeant they should be let go,
and at the beginning οf the local feast (and this is
widely attended by the eoncourse οf all the heathen
to it) the govemor led them to the judgement-seat,
making a show and spectacle οf the blessed
men to the mob. Ηe accordingly examined them
again, beheaded all who appeared to possess Roman
citizenship, and sent the rest to the beasts. Αnd
Christ was greatly glorified by those who had formerly
denied but theu confessed contrary to the expectation
of the people. For they were examined by
themselves with the intention of then letting them
 

 
go, but confessed and were added to the ranks of the
martyrs. nose indeed remained without who had
never had any vestige of faith, nor perception οf the
bridal garment, nor idea οf the fear of God, but even
tbrough their behaviour blasphemed the Way — they
are the sons of perdition — but all the rest were
added to the church. when they too were being
examined a certain Alexander, a Ρhrygian by race
and a physician by profession, who had lived in Gaul
for many years and was known to almost every one
for his love toward ood and boldness of speech (for
he was not without a share of the apostolic gift), stood
by the judgement-seat and by signs encouraged them
to confession, and seemed to those who were standing
by as though he were in travail. But the crowd,
angry that those who had formeriy denied were
confessing again, howled at Αlexander as though he
were responsible for this. The govemor summoned
him and asked him who he was, and when he said
a Christian,’ he flew into a rage and
him to the beasts. Αnd the next day he went into
the arena together with Αttalus ; for to please the
mob the governor had given Αttalus back to the
beasts. ney passed through all the instruments οf
torture which were prepared in the amphitheatre,
and endured a great contest. Finally they too were
sacrificed. Αlexander uttered neither groan nor
moan at all, but conversed with God in his heart,
and Αttalus, when he was put on the iron chair and
was being bumed, and the reek arose from his
body, said to the crowd in Latm; ‘ Lo, this which

 
you are doing is to eat men, but we neither eat
men nor do anything else wicked.’ Αnd when
was asked what name God has, he replied, ‘ God has
not a name as a man has.’ 
 “In addition to all this, on the last day of the
gladiatorial sports, Blanffina was again brought in
with Ponticus, a boy of about fifteen years old, and
they had been brought in every day to see the
torture of the others, and efforts were made to force
them to swear by the idols, and the mob was furiolls
against them beeause they had remained steadfast
and disregarded them, so that there was neither pity
for the youth οf the boy nor respeet for the sex οf
the woman. They exposed them to all the terrors
and put them through every torture in turn, trying
to make them swear, but not being able to do so.
For Ronticus was encouraged by the Christian sister,
so that even the heathen saw that she was exhorting
and rtrengthening him, and after nobly enduring
every torture he gave up his spirit. But the blessed
Blandina, last οf all, like a noble mother who had
encouraged her children and sent them forth triumphant
to the king, having herself endured all the
tortures of the cffildren, haStened to them, rejoicing
and glad at her departure as though invited to a
marriage feast rather than cast to the beaSts. Αnd
after scourging, after the beasts, after the gridiron,
she was at last put in a net and thrown to a bull.
she was tossed about a long time by the beast,
haring no more feeling for what happened to her
through her hope and hold on what had been en-

 
trusted to her and her converse with ChriSt. And
so she too was sacrificed, and the heathen themselves
confessed that never before among them had a
woman suffered so much and so long. 
 “ Not even thus was their madness and cruelty to
the SaintS satished, for, incited by a wild beast, 1 wild
and barbarous tribes could scarcely stop, and their
violenee began again in a new way on the bodies ;
for that they had been conquered 2 did not shame
them, because they had no human reason, but it
rather inflamed their wrath as of a wild beast, and
the governor and the people showed the like unrighteous
hatred against us that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, Let him that is unlawful be unlawful
still, and he that iS righteous be righteouS ’
For thoSe who had been strangled in the jail they
threw to the dogs, and watched carefully night and
day that none should be cared for by us. Then they
threw out the remains left by the beasb and by the
nre, torn and charred, and ror many days watched
with a mihtary guard the heads of the rest, together
with their trunks, all unburied. And some raged
and gnashed their teeth at the iemains, seeking
some further vengeance from them, others laughed
and jeered, glorifying their idols and ascribing to
them the punishment of the Christians, and the
gentler, who seemed to have a little sympathy,
mocked greatly, saying, ‘ Where is their god and
what good to them was their worship, which they
preferred beyond their ’ Their conduct thus
 
 

 
varied, but in οur cirele great grief obtained, because
we could not bury the bodies in the earth, for night
did not avail us for this, nor did money persuade nor
entreaty shame, but in every way they watehed, as
though they would make some great gain, that the
bodies should not obtain burial.” 
 Further on they say : “ Thus the bodies οf the
martyrs, after having been exposed and insulted in
every way for six days, and afterwards burned and
turned to ashes, were swept by the wicked into the
river Rhone which flows near by, that not even a
relic of them might still appear upon the earth.
Αnd this they did as though they could coquer
God and take away their rebirth in order, as they
said, ‘ that they might not even have any hope of
resurrection, through trusting in which they have
brought in strange and new worship and despised
terrors, going readily and with joy to death ; now
let us see if they will rise again, and if their God be
able to help them and to take them out of our
hands.’”

II. Such things happened to the churehes of Christ
under the emperor mentioned, and from them it is
possible to from a reasonable conclusion as to what
was done in the other provinces. It is worth while
to add other statements from the same document,
in which the genueness and the kindness of the
martyrs already mentioned have been set down in
these very words. “ And they carried so far their
zeal and imitation οf Christ, ‘ who being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God,’ that for all their glory, and though they had

 
testified not once οr twice but many times, and had
been taken back from the beasts and were covered
with burns and scars and wounds, they neither proclaimed
themselves as martyrs, nor allowed us to
address them by this title. But if ever any one of
us called them martyrs either in a letter οr in speech
they rebuked him sharply. For they gladly conceded
the title of martyrdom to Christ, the frialthful
and true martyr 1 and first-born from the dead and
author of the life of God. Αnd they reminded us of
the martyrs who had already passed away, and said
‘they are already martyrs, whom Christ vouchsafed
to be taken up at their confession, and sealed their
witness by their departure, but we are lowly and
humble ’ 2 Αnd they besought the
brethren with tears, begging that earnest prayers
might be made for their consecration. The power
οf martyrdom they actually showed, having great
boldness towards the heathen, and they made plain
their nobleness by endurance and absence of fear or
timidity; but the title of martyr they refused from
the brethren, for they were filled with the fear οf
God.” 
 Α little further οn they say: “They humbled
themselves under the mighty hand and by it they
have now been greatly exalted. At that time they
made defence for all men, against none did they
bring accusation; they released all and bound none;
 

 
and they Ρrayed for those who had inflicted torture,
even as did Stephen, the perfect martyr, ‘Lord, lay
not this sin to their ’ Αnd if he prayed for
those who were stoning him how much more for the
brethren?” 
 Αnd again after οther details, they Say: “For their
greatest contes, through the genuineness of their
love, was this, that the beast 1 should be choked into
throwing up alive those whom he had at first thought
to have swallowed down. For they did not boast
over the fallen, but from their own abundance
supplied with a mother's love those that
and shedding many tears for them to the Father,
they prayed for life, and he gave it to them, and
they divided it among their neighbours, and then
departed to God, having in all things carried off the
victory. They ever loved Ρeace; peace they commended
to us; and with peace they departed to
God; for their mother2 they left behind no sorrow,
and for the brethren no strife and war, but glory,
Ρeace, concord, and ” Let this profitable extract
suffice concerning the love of those blessed
ones for their brethren who had fallen, for the sake
οf the inhuman and merciless disposition οf those
who after these events acted unsparingly to the
members οf Christ.3

ΙII. The same document οf the aforementioned
martyrs contains also another story worthy οf
memory, and none could grudge οur bringing it to
 

 
the knowledge οf those who are about to study.
It runs thus: There was among them a certain
Alcibiades, who was living a very austere life, and
at first was not partaking οf anything at all, but
used merely bread and water and was trying to
live thus even in the jail. But it was revealed to
Attalus after the first contest which he underwent
in the amphitheatre that Alcibiades was not doing
well in not making use οf the creations οf God, and
offering an example of offence 1 to others. Alcibiades
was persuaded and began to partake οf everything
without restraint and gave thanks to God; for they
were not without help from the grace of God but
the Ηoly Spirit was their counsellor. Let this suffice
for this point. 
 Just at that time the party οf Montanus and
Αleibiades and Theodotus in Ρhrygia began first to
engender among many their views concerning
prophecy (for the many other wonderful works of
the grace of God which Were still being wrought
up to that time in divers churches produced the
belief among many that they also were prophets),
and when dissension arose about the persons mentioned
the brethren in Gaul again formulated their
οwn judgement, pious and most orthodox, concerning
them, subjoining various letters from the martyrs
who had been consecrated among them, which letters
while they were still in prison they had composed
for the brethren in Αsia and Ρhrygia, and also for
Εleutherus, who was then bishop οf the Romans,
and so they were ambassadors for the sake οf the
peace of the churches.

IV. Irenaeus also, who was at that time already
a presbyter of the diocese at Lyons, the same
martyrs commended to the afore-mentioned bishop
οf Rome, and gave him much good testimony, as
is shown by words to the following effect: “Once
more and always, Father Εleutherus, we wish you
greeting in God. We have asked our brother and
companion, Irenaeus, to bring this letter to you and
we beg you to hold him in esteem, for he is Ζealous
for the covenant οf Christ. For had we known that
rank can confer righteousness οn anyone, we should
first of all have recommended him as being a presbyter
of the church, for that is his position.” 
 What need is there to transcribe the list οf the
martyrs in the above mentioned document, some
consecrated by beheading, some cast out to be eaten
by the wild beasts, οthers who fell asleep in the jail,
and the number of the confessors which still survived
at that time ? For whoever wishes can easily
read the full aecount by taking the description which
has been included in our collection of martyrs,1 as
I said before. Such were the events which happened
under Αntοninus.

V. It is said that when his brother, Marcus Aurelius
Caesar, was engaging in battle with the Germans
and Sarmatians, he was in difficulties, because his
army was oppressed by thirst; but the soldiers of
the legion which is called after Melitene,2 knelt on
the ground according to our own custom οf prayer,
in the faith which has sustained them from that time
to this in their contests with their enemies, and turned
 
 

 
towards supplications to God. Now though this kind
of spectacle seemed strange to the enemy, the story
goes that another still more marvellous overcame
them at once, for lightning drove the enemy to
flight add destruction, and a shower falling on the
army which had prayed to God, refreshed them
all when they were on the point of destruction
from thirst. 
 The story is both told among writers who are
foreign to our faith who have undertaken to write
of the times of the above mentioned emperors,1 and
has also been recorded by Christians. By the heathen
writers, inasmucb as they were strangers to the faith,
the miracle is related, but it was not confessed that
it happened through the prayers of the Christians;
but in our own writers, inasmuch as they are the
friends of truth, what happened has been described
in a simply and harmless fashion. Αmong these
would be also Apolinarius, who states that after that
time the legion which had wrought the miracle
through prayer had received a name from the emperor
appropriate to what had happened, and was
called in Latin the “Thundering ’’2 Tertullian
is also a worthy witness of these things, who in
addressing in Latin an apology for our faithto to the
Senate, which we have quoted already, confirmed
the story with more and clearer proof. In his
writing he says that letters of Marcus, the most
prudent emperor, were still extant, in which he
testifies himself that when his army was on the point
 


 
οf destruction in Germany from lack οf water it had
been saved by the Ρrayers of the Christians, and
Tertullian says that the emperor also threatened
death to those who attempted to accuse us. The
author goes on as fohows: “What kind of laws are
these which wicked, unrighteous, and cruel men use
against us alone? Vespasian did not observe them
although he conquered the Jews. Trajan partially
allowed them, but forbade Christians to be sought
οut. Neither Ηadrian, though busy in all curious
matters, nor Pius, as he is called, ratified them.”
But let these things be as anyone will, we must pass
οn to the train of further events. 
 When Ρothinus was consecrated with the martyrs
in Gaul at the age of full ninety years, Irenaeus
received the episcopacy οf the diocese in Lyons,1 of
which Ροthinus had been the head, and we have
been told that he had been a listener to Polycarp in
his early youth. In his third book against the
heresies he gives the succession οf the bishops in
Rome as far as Εleutherus, the events of whose days
are now being discussed by us, as though his book
had been composed at that time, and he gives the
list, writing as follows.

VI. “Therefore when the
blessed apostles had found and built the church they
gave the ministry of the episcopate to Linus. Paul
mentioned this Linus in his epistle to Timothy.
Anencletus succeeded him, and after him Clement
obtained the episcopate in the third place from the
apostles. He had seen the blessed apostles and
 

 
conversed with them and the teaching of the apostles
still rang in his ears, their tradition was held before
his eyes. Nor was he alone in this, for there were still
many surviving at that time who had been taught
by the apostles. When in the time οf this Clement
no little dissenstion arose among the Chrirtians at
Corinth, the church in Rome sent a most powerful
letter to the Corinthians urging them to peace and
renewing their faith and the tradition which they
had recently received from the apostles.1” 
 Αnd after a little he says: “Εvarestus succeeded
to this Clement and Αlexander to Εvarestus, and
then Xystus was appointed as the sixth from the
apostles, and after him Telesphorus, who also was
martyred gloriously; then Hyginus, then Pius, after
him Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now,
in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherus
holds the lot of the episcopate. The tradition from
the apostles in the church and the preaching of the
truth have reached us in the same οrder and the same
teaching.”2

VII. These things Irenaeus recounts, according to
the extracts which we have made already, in the
books, five in number, to which he gave the title of
Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge falsely socalled,
and in the second book of this work he proves
in the following words that manifestations of the
divine and marvellous power had remained in some
 

 
churches even as far as his time : “ But they fall
so far 1 short of raising the dead, as did the Lord
and his apostles through prayer (and often among
the brethren, because of necessity and at the request
of the whole church in the neighbourhood, with
fasting and much supplication, the spirit of him who
had died returned, and the man was given to the
prayers of the ” Αnd again he says after
other things : “ But if they say that the Lord has
done all these things merely in appearance we will
take them back to the prophetic writings, and show
from them that all these things had been foretold
concerning him, and that they certainly happened,
and that he alone is the Som of God ; for which
cause also his true disciples having reeeived graee
from him use it in his name for the benefit of the
rest of men, even as each has received the gift from
him. For some drive out demons with certainty
and truth, so that often those who have themselves
been cleansed from the evil spirits believe and are
in the church, and some have foreknowledge of things
to be, and visions and prophetic speech, and others
cure the rick by the haying on of hands and make
them whole, and even as we have said, the dead have
been raised and remained with us for many years.
Αnd why should Ι say more 7. Ιt is not possible to
tell the number of the gifts which the chureh
throughout the whole worid, having received them
from God in the name of Jesus Christ, who was
crucified under Pontius Pilate, uses each day for the

 
benefit of the heathen, deceiving none and making
profit from none. For as it received freely from
God, it ministers also ” And in another place
the same author writes : “ Just as also we hear many
brethren in the church who have gifts of prophecy,
and who speak through the Spirit with all manner of
tongues, and who bring the hidden things of men
into clearness for the common good and expound
the myrteries of ” So much on the point that
variety of gifts remained among the worthy up till
the time spoken of.

VIII. Αt the beginning of this work we made
promise to quote from time to time the sayings of
the presbyters and writers of the church of the first
period, in which they have delivered the traditions
which came down to them about the canonical
Scriptures. Now Irenaeus was one of these, so let
us quote his words, and in the first place those which
refer to the saered Gospels, as follwos : “ Now
Matthew published among the Hebrews a written
gospel 1 also in their own tongue, while Ρeter
and Paul were preaching in Rome and founding the
church. But after their death Mark also, the disciple
and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down
to us in writing the things which were preached by
Ρeter, and Luke also, who was a follower of Paul,
put down in a book the gospel which was preached
by him. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who
had even reted on his breast, himself also gave forth
the gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in Asia.” 
 

 
 These things were said by the writer referred to
in the third book of his treatise which has been
quoted before, and in the fifth book he discourses
thus about the Apocalypse of John and the number
of the name of the Antichrist.1 “ Now since this is
so, and since this number is found in all the good
and ancient copies, and sinee those Who have seem
John face to face testify, and reason teaches us that
the number of the name of the beast appears according
to the numeration of the Greeks by the letters
in it . . . ” Αnd going on later he says concerning
the same point, “ We therefore will not take the risk
of making any positive statement concerning the
name of the Antichrist. For if it had been necessary
for his name to have been announeed cleariy at the
present time, it would have been spoken by him
who also saw the Revelation ; for it was not even
seen a long time ago, but almost in our own generation
towards the end of the reign of Domitian.” 
 The author quoted says this about the Apocalypse,
and he also mentions the first Epistle of John,
making many quotations from it, and likewise the
first Epistle of Ρeter. Αnd he not only knew but
also received 2 the writing of the Shepherd, saying,
“ Well did the scripture say ‘ first of all believe that
God is one who created and fitted together all
’ and so ” Ηe also made some quotations
all but verbally from the WiSdom of Solomon, “ Αnd
 

 
the vision of God produces incorruptibility and incorruptibility
brings us near to ” Ηe also
quotes treatises οf a certain apostolic presbyter
whose name he passes by in silence and gives his
interpretaion οf divine Scripture. Moreover, he has
made mention of Justion Martyr and Ignatius, making
frequent quotations from their writings, and he
promised to give in a special work a refutation of
Marcion from his own writings. 
 Hear also, word for word, what he writes about the
interpretation οf the inspired Scriptures accorffing to
the Septuagint. “ So God became man and the
Lord himself saved us, giving us the sign of the
virgin, but not as some say, who at the present time
venture to translate the scriptures, ‘ behold a young
woman shall conceive and bear a ’ as Theodotion
the Εphesian tranriated it and Αquila from Ρontus,
both οf them Jewish proselytes, whom the Εbionites
follow and aver that he was begotten by Joseph. ’’
After a little he goes on thus : ‘‘ For before the
Romans established their government, while the
Macedonians still possessed Asia, Ρtolemy, the son
of Lagus,1 being very anxious to adorn the library,
which he had founded in Αlexandria, with all the
best extant writings of all men, asked from the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to have their Scriptures
translated into Greek. They, for they were at that
time still subject to the Macedonians, sent to Ptolemy
seventy elders, the most experienced they had
 

 
in the scriptures and in both languages, and God
thus wrought what he willed. But Ptolemy, wishing
to make trial of them in his own way, and being
afraid lest they should have made some agreement
to conceal by their translation the truth in the
Scriptures, separated them from one another and
commanded them all to write the same translation.
Αnd this he did in the case of all the books.
when they came together to Ptolemy, and compared
each his own translation, God was glorffied and
scriptures were recognized as truly divine, for they
all rendered the same things in the same words and
the same names, from beginning to end, so that even
the heathen who were present knew that the Scriptures
had been translated by the inspiration of God.
Αnd it is no marvel that God did this, for when the
Scriptures had been destroyed in the captivity οf the
people in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, and the Jews
had gone back to their country after seventy years,
then in the times of Artaxerxes, the king of the
Ρersians, he inspired Ezra, the priest of the tribe of
Levi, to restore all the sayingS of the prophets Who
had gone before, and to restore to the people the
law given by ” 1 so much sayS Irenaeus.

IX. When Antoninus had held the empire for nineteen
years, Commodus 2 received the sovereignty, and
in his first year Julian was appointed to the episcopate
of the Churches in Αlexandria when Agrippinus had
completed his ministry after twelve years.

X. Αt that time a man very famous for his learning
named Pantaenus had charge of the life of
the faithful in Αlexandria, for from ancient custom
a school of sacred learning eristed among them.
This sehool has lasted on to our time, and we have
heard that it is managed by men powerful in their
learning and zeal for divine things, but tradition
says that at that time Pantaenus was especially
eminent, and that he had been influenced by the
philosophic system of those called stoics. They say
that he showed sueh Zeal in his warm disposition for
the divine word that he was appointed as a herald
for the goSpel of Christ to the heathen in the East,
and was sent as far as India. For indeed there Were
until then many evangelists of the word who had
forethought to use inspired zeal on the apostolic
model for the increases and the building up of the
divine word. Οne of these was Pantaenus, and it is
said that he went to the Indians, and the tradition is
that he found there that among some of those there
who had known Christ the Gospel according to
MattheW had preceded his coming ; for Bartholomew,
one of the apostles, had preached to them and had
left them the writing of Matthew in Hebrew letters,
which was preserved until the time mentioned.
Pantaenus, after many achievementS, was at the
head of the sehool in Alexandria until his death,
and orally and in writing expounded the treasures
of the divine doctrine.

XI. Ιn his time Clement. the namesake of the
pupil of the apostles who had once ruled the ehurch
οf Rome, was famous in Αlexandria for his study

 
of the Ηoly Scriptures with Ρantaenus. Ιn the
Hypotyposes which he composed he mentioned
Pantaenus by name as his teacher, and he seems to
me to allude to him in the first book of the Stromateis,1
when he speaks thus in reference to the more distinguishedd
members of the apostolic sueeession which
he had received. “ This work is not a writing composed
for show, but notes stored up for my old age,
a remedy against forgetfulness, an image without
art, and a sketch of those clear and rital words which
 was privileged to hear, and οf blessed and truly
notable men. of these one, the Ionian, was in
Greece, another in South Italy, a third in CoeleSyria,2
another from Egypt, and there were others
in the Εast, οne οf them an Assyrian, another in
Palestine of Hebrew origin. But when I had met
the last, and in power he was indeed the first, 
hunted him out from his concealment in Egypt and
found rest. But these men preserved the true tradition
of the blessed teaching directly from Ρeter and
James and John and Ρaul, the holy apostles, son receiving
it from father (but there were few like their
fathers), and by the blessing of God they came down
to us to deposit those ancestral and apostolic seeds.”

XII. In their time there flourished Narcissus,
bishop of the church at Jerusalem, who is still widely
famous. Ηe held the succession in the fifteenth
place after the siege of the Jews under Ηadrian,
aud we have stated already that from that time the
church in that city was composed οf Gentiles, in
 
 

 
succession to the Jewish Christians, and that the
first οf the Gentile bishops was Marcus. Αfter him
the. local successions record that Cassian was bishop,
and after him Publius, then Maximus, in addition to
them Julian, then Gaius, after him Symmachus and
Gaius the second, and then another Julian, and
Capito, and in addition to them Valens and dolichianus,
and after them all Νarcissus, the thirtieth from
the apostles according to the regular succession.1

XIII. Αt this time too Rhodo, of Asiatic race, was,
as he narrates himself, the pupil at Rome of Tatian,
whom we have mentioned above, and composed
various books, among others especially one direeted
against the heresy of Marcion. Ηe says that it was
divided in his time into various opinions, and, describing
accurately those who had caused the
divergence, he refutes the fahe teaching devised by
each οf them. Listen then to him when he writes
thus : “ Therefore they have ceased to agree among
themselves, maintaining inconsistent opinions. One
of their herd is Αpelles, who is reverenced for his life
and old age. Ηe admits that there is one Principle,2
but says that the prophecies are of an opposing
spirit, and he was persuaded by the utteranees of a
possessed maiden named Philoumene. But οthers,
such as the eaptain himself (Mareion), introduced
two Principles. To them belong Ρotitus and Basilicus.
These followed the wolf of Pontus,3 not Perceiving
 
 
 

 
the division of things, any more than he, and turning
to a simple solution, announced two principles, baldly
and without proof. Others again, passing into worse
error, supposed that there are not only two but even
three Natures. of them the chief and leader is
syneros, as those state who represent his school.” 
 The same writerd (Rhodo) says that he conversed
with Αpelles, and states it thus : “ For the οld man
Apelles when he consorted with us, was proved to
make many false statements. Hence also he used
to say that it is not necessary to investigate the
argument fully, but that eaeh should remain in his
own belief, for he asserted that those who placed
their hope on the Crucffied would be saved, if they
persisted in good works. But as we have srid before,
the most obseure part of all the doctrines which he
put forward were about God. For he kept on saying
that there is only one Principle just as our doctrine
” Then after expounding all his opinions he
goes on as follows: “ Αnd when I said to him,
where is this proof of yours, οr how can you say
that there is οne Ρrinciple ? Tell ’ he said that
the prophecies refute themselves by not having
spoken the truth at all, for they are inconsistent
and false and contradict themselves, but as to how
there is one Ρrinciple he said that he did not know
it, but merely inclined to that riew. Then when 
adjured him to to speak the truth he swore that he
was speaking the truth, when he said that he did
not know how the unbegotten God is one but that
he believed it. But I laughed at him and condemned
him, because though he called himself a teacher he
did not know how to establish what he taught.” 
 In the same work, speaking to Kallistio, the same

 
writer states that he had been himself a disciple of
Tatian at Rome, and he says that Tatian had preapred
a book on Ρroblems, in which he undertook to
set out what was unclear and hidden in the divine
seriptures, and Rhodo himself in his own work
announces that he will set out the answers to Tatian's
Problems. There is also extant a treatise of Rhodo
on the ëmeron.1 Αpelles, however, uttered
countless impieties against the law of Moses, and in
many treatises blasphemed the divine words with no
little zeal, as it seemed, for their refutation and overthrow,
as he at least thought. So much then concerning
these.

XIV. The enemy of the church οf God, who hates
good and loves deeply all that is wicked, left untried
no kind of plot against men and again strove to raise
up strange heresies against the church. Οf these
some like poisonous reptiles crawled over Asia and
Pyrygia, and boasted that Montanus was the Paraclete
and that the women οf his sect, Priscilla and
Maximilla, were the prophetesses of Montanus.

XV. Others flourished in Rome of which Florinus
was the leader. Ηe had been turned out of the
presbytery of the church and with him was Blastus
who had suffered a similar fall. These drew away
more οf the church and brought them to their own
opinion, each trying to introduce innovations about
the truth in his own way.

XVI. Αgainst the so-called Cataphrygian 2 heresy
the power which champions the truth raised up a
powertul and invincible weapon at Hierapolis in
 
 

 
Apolinarius, who has already been mentioned in this
work, and with him many others of the learned men
οf that time, from whom abundant material for
history has been left to us. One of these at the beginning
of his treatise agrinst the Montanists indicates
that he had also taken part in oral controversy against
them. Ηe writers a preface in this way : “ For a long
and protracted time, my dear Αbercius Mareellus,
 have been urged by you to compose a treatise
against the sect of those called after Miltiades,1
but until now 1 was somewhat reluctant, not from
any lack of ability to refute the lie and testify to
the truth, but from timidity and seruples lest 1 might
seem to some to be adding to the writings or injunctions
οf the word of the new covenant οf the gospel,
to which no οne who has chosen to live according to
the gospel itself can add and from which he cannot
take away. But when I had just come to Ancyra
in Galatia and perceived that the chureh in that
place was torn in two by this new movement which
is not, as they call it, prophecy but much rather, as
will be shown, false prophecy, I disputed concerning
these people themselves and their propositions
so far as I could, with the Lord's help, for many
days continuously 2 in the church. Thus the church
rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, but our
opponents were crushed for the moment and our
adversaries were ffirtressed. Therefore the presbyters
οf the place asked me to leave some note of
what had been said against the opponents of the
 
 

 
word of the truth, when Zoticus of Otrous, our fellow
presbyter, was also present. Though we did not do
so, we promised to write from home if the Lord
permitted, and to send it to them speedily.” 
 Continuing with other similar remarks at the
beginning of his treatise, he proceeds to narrate as
follows the cause of the heresy rererred to : — “ Their
opposition and their recent heretical schism from the
church had the following origin. In Phrygian Μysia
there is said to be a Village called Ardabav. There
they say that a recent convert called Montanus, when
Gratus was proconsul of Asia, in the unbounded lust
of his sould for leadership gave access tp himself to
the adversary, became obsessed, and suddenly fell
into frenzy and convulsions. He began to be
ecstatic and to speak and to talk strangely, prophesying
contrary to the custom which belongs to the
tradition and succession of the church from the
beginning. Οf those who at that time heard these
bastard utterances some were vexed, thinking that
he was possessed by a devil and by a spirit of error,
and was disturbing the populace ; they rebuked
him, and forbade him to speak, remembering the
distinction made by the Lord, and his warning to
keep watchful guard against the coming οf the false
prophets ; but others, as though elevated by a holy
spirit and a prophetic gift, and not a little conceited,
forgot the Lord's distinction, and encouraged the
mind-injuring and seducing and people-misleading

 
spirit, being cheated and deceived by it so that he
could not be kept silent.1 But by some art, or rather
by such an evil scheme of artifice, the deVil wrought
destruction for the disobedient, and receiving unworthy
honours from them stimuhrted and inflamed
their understanding which was already dead to the
true faith ; so that he raised up two more women
and filled them with the bastard spirit so that they
spoke madly and improperly and strangely, like
Montanus. The spirit 2 gave blesrings to those who
rejoiced and were pround in him, and puffed them up
by the greatness of its promises. Yet sometimes it
flatly condemned them completely, wisely, and faithfully,
that it might seem to be critical, though but
few of the Phrygians were deceived. But when the
arrogant spirit taught to blaspheme the whole
Catholic church throughout the world, because the
spirit of false prophecy received from it neither
honour nor entrance, for the Christians of Asia after
assembling for this purpose many times and in many
parts of the province, tested the recent utterances,
pronounced them profane, and rejected the heresy,
— then at last the Montanists were driven out of the
chureh and excommunicated.” 
 Ηe tells this story at the beginning, and throughout
the book continues the refutation of the error, but
in the second book he speaks as follows about the
 

 
end οf the persons referred to : “ Since then they
called us murderers οf the prophets because we did
not receive their chattering prophets (for they say
that these are those whom the Lord promised to
send to the people), let them answer us before God.
Is there anyone, good people, of those whose talking
began with Montanus and the women, who was persecuted
by Jews οr killed by the wicked ? Νot one.
Or was there any οne of them who was taken and
crucified for the name ? Νo, there was not. Or was
any οne of the women ever scourged in the synagogues
of the Jews or stoned ? Νever anywhere. It was a
different death that Μontanus and Maximilla are said
to have died ; for the story goes that each οf them
was inspired by a mind-destroying spirit to commit
suicide, though not together, and there was much
gossip at the time of the death οf eaeh. But thus
it was that they died, and destroyed their lives like
the traitor Judas. So also general report says that
a certriaIn Theodotus, that remarkable man, the first
steward as it were of their alleged prophecy, was
sometimes taken up and raised to Heaven, when he
fell into a trance and trusted himself to the spirit of
deceit, but was hurled down and died miserably.
They say, at least, that thiS happened thus. But
not having seen them ourselves we do not elaim to
have any knowledge of such things, my friend, for
perhaps Montanus and Theodotus and the above
mentioned woman died in this way, but perhaps they
did not.” 
 Again in the same book he says that the sacred
bishops of that time tried to refute the spirit that

 
was in Maximilla, but were prevented by others who
ainly co-operated with the spirit, and he writes
us: “And let not the spirit which speaks through
aximilla say, in the same work according to
sterius Orbanus, 1 ‘I am driven away like a wolf
the sheep. 1 am not a wolf, I am word and
Ρirit and ’ But let him show clearly and
rove the power in the spirit, and let him through
spirit force to recognize him those who were then
resent for the purpose of testing and conversing with
he spirit as it spoke, — eminent men and bishops,
ticus from the village Cumane, and Julian from
Apamea, whose mouths the party of Themiso muzzled,
and did not allow the false spirit which deceived the
eople to be refuted by them.” 
 In the same book, again, after οther refutations
of the false prophecies of Maximilla, in a single
assage he both indicates the time at whieh he
wrote this, and quotes her predictions, in which she
foretold future wars and revolutions, and he corrects
the falsehood of them as follows : “ Ηas it not been
made obrious already that this is another lie ? For
it is more than thirteen years to-day since the
woman died, and there has been in the world neither
local nor universal war, but rather by the mercy οf
God continuing peace even for ”2 
 This is from his second book. Αnd from the third
I will also quote a few words in which he speaks as
 

 
follows against those who boasted that they had had
̔̀tyrs. “ so when they have been refuted in
he whole discussion and have nothing to reply, they
try to take refuge in martyrs, saying that they have
many martyrs and that this is a trustworthy proof
the power of the alleged prophetic spirit among
them. But this appears to be actually further from
the tmth than anything. For some of the οther
heresies have innumerable martyrs, but Ι do not
suppose that we shall accept them for that reason,
nor admit that they have the truth. In the first
Ρlace, indecd, the so-called Marcianists οf the
heresy of Marcion say that they have innumerable
martyrs to Christ but nevertheless Chrirt himself
they do not confess accorffing to truth.” 
 Αnd after a little he goes on as follows : “ Wherefore
whenever members of the church who have been
called to martyrdom for the true faith meet any of
the so-called martyrs of the Montanist heresy, they
separate from them and die without communicating
with them, because they refuse to agree with the
spirit in Montanus and the women. Αnd that this
is true, and that it happened in our time in
Αpamea on the Meander, is shown by the case of
those who were martyred with Gaius and Αlexander
οf Εumeneia.”

XVII. Αnd in this work he also quotes Miltiades
as a writer who had also himself written a treatise
against the heresy mentioned. Αfter quoting some

 
of their sayings he continues as follwos : “I have
given this abstract of what Ι found in a work of
theirs when they were attacking the work of
Alcibiades 1 the Christian in which he shows that a
prophet need not to speak in ” And he goes
on in the same work to give a catalogue of those
who have been prophets of the New Testament, and
among them he numbers a certain Ammia and
Quadratus and says thus : “ But the false prophet
speaks in ecstasy, after which follow ease and
freedom from fear ; he begins with voluntary ignorance,
but turns to involuntary madness of soul, as has
been said before. But they cannot show that any
prophet, either of those in the Οld Testament or οf
those in the New, was inspired in this way ; they can
boast neither of Agabus, nor of Judas, nor of Silas,
nor of the daughters of Philip, nor of Ammia in
Philadelphia, nor of Quadratus, nor of any others
Who do not belong to ” And again after a
little he goes on, “ For if the Montanist women
succeeded to Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia
in the prophetic gift, let them show who among them
suceeeded the followers of Montanus and the women,
for the apostle grants that the prophetic gift shall
be in all the church until the final coming, but this
they could not show, seeing that this is already the
fourteenth year from the death of Maximilla.” 
 Ηe, therefore, so writes. But the Miltiades mentioned
by him has also left us other monuments of his
own zeal for the oracles of God in the treatises which

 
he composed against the Gentiles and against the
Jews, treating eaeh subject separately in two
treatises, and besides this he wrote an Apology to
the secular rulerS on behalf of the Ρhilosophy which
he held.

XVIII. Apollonius also, a writer of the ehurch
when the so-called Montanist heresy was still
flourishing in Ρhrygia, composed a refutation and
published it as a separate work against them,
proving word by word that their alleged prophecies
are false and showing the true character of the life
of the leaders of the heresy. Listen to the actual
words which he uses about Montanus. “ But the
deeds and the teachings of this recent teaeher show
his eharaeter. Ιt is he Who taught the annulment
of marriage, who enacted fasts, who gave the name
οf Jerusalem to Pepuza and Tymion, which are little
towns in Phrygia, and wished to hold assemblies
there from everywhere, who appointed colleetors of
money, who organimd the receiving of gifts under
the name of offerings, who provided salaries for those
who preached his doctrine in order that its teaching
might prevail through gluttony.” 
 So he says about Montanus. Αnd a little further
on he writes thus about the Ρrophetesses. “ Thus
we prove that these first prophetesses themselves
deserted their husbands from the moment that they
were filled with the spirit. what a lie it is then for
them to call Ρriscilla a ” Then he goes on
saying : “Does not all Scripture seem to you to forbid
a prophet from receiving gifts and money 7. There-

 
fore When Ι see that the prophetess has received gold
and silver and expensive clothes, how should I refrain
from blaming her?” 
 Then further on he says this about one of their
confessors: “Moreover, Themiso too, who was garbed
with specious covertousness, who did not endure the
sign of confession but exchanged prison for wealth
when he ought to have been humble-minded on this
accound, and boasted that he was a martyr, dared,
in imitation of the apostle, to compose an epistle
general, to instruct those whose faith was better
than his, and to contend with empty sounding words
and to blaspheme against the Lord and the apostles
and the holy ” Αnd again he writes thus
about another of those who were honoured among
them as martyrs: “But in order that we may not
speak about more of them, let the prophetess 1 tell
us the story of Alexander, who calls himself a
martyr, with whom she joins in revels, to whom many
pay reverence. We need not tell of his robberies
and the other crimes for which he has been punished,
but the record-house 2 has them. Which then forgives
the ’s sins? Does the prophet absolve
the martyr of robbery or the martyr forgive the
prophet for avarice? For the Lord said, ‘Provide
neither gold nor silver nor two ’; but these,
doing wholly otherwise, have transgressed by the
acquisition of these forbidden things. For we will
show that their so-called prophets and martyrs make
 

 
gain not οnly from the rich but from the poor and
from orphans and widows. Αnd if they have the
courage let them stop at this point and discuss these
matters in order that if they are convicted they may
at least cease transgressing for the future. For it
is necessary to test the fruits of the prophet, for
from the fruits the tree is known. But, that the
story of Alexander may be known to those who wish,
he was convicted by Aemilius Pompinus, proconsul
in Ephesus, not for being a Christian but for his
daring robberies, and he was an old offender. Then,
by falsely claiming the name of the Lord he was
released, having deceived the Christians there, and
his own diocese from which he came would not
receive him because he was a robber, and those
who wish to learn his story have the public records
of Asia at their disposition.1 The prophet is ignorant
about him though he lived with him for many years,
but we have exposed him, and through him expose
also the nature of the prophet. we can ShoW the
same in many instances, and, if they dare, let them
stand the test.” 
 And again in another part of the book he says this
about their boasted prophets: “If they deny that
their prophets have taken gifts let them admit this,
that if they have been convicted, they are not true
prophets, and we will give countless proofs of this.
But it is necessary to test all the fruits of a prophet.
Tell me, does a prophet dye his hair ? Does he pencil
his eyelids ? Does he love ornaments ? Does he gamble
and dice ? Does he lend money ? Let them state
 

 
whether these things are right οr not, and I will
show that they have been done among them.” 
 This same Apollonius in the same book says that
it was forty years from the time when Montanus
plotted his fictitious prophecy, to the time when he
wrote his book. Αnd again he says that Zoticus,
whom the former writer mentioned, when Maximilla
pretended to prophesy in Pepuza had tried in
opporition to confute the spirit which worked in her,
but was prevented by those who agreed with her
Ηe also mentions a certain Thraseas 1 as one of the
martyrs οf that time. Moreover, he says, as though
from tradition, that the Sariour ordered his apostles
not to leave Jerusalem for twelve years. He also
makes quotations from the Apocalypse of John and
tells how by divine power a dead man was raised by
John himseK at Ephesus. Αnd he says other things
by which he demonstrated powertully and completely
the error of the heresy under discussion. so far
says Apollonius.

XIX. Tradition says that Serapion was bishop of
Antioch after Maximinus at the time referred to, and
he has mentioned the works of Apolinarius against
the heresy described. Ηe mentions him in his own
letter to Caricus and Pontius, in whieh he aho himself
refutes the same heresy, and continues thus: :
“Αnd in order that you may know this, that the
working οf the so-called new prophecy of this false
οrder is abominated in the whole οf Christendom
 

 
throughout the World, Ι have sent you the writings
of Claudius Apolinarius, the bishop of Hierapolis in
Αsia, of blesed ” And in this letter of
Serapion there are preserved the signatures various
bishops, of whom one signed himself I, Aurelius
Cyrenaeus, a martyr, pray for your ”
as follows: “Ι, Aelius Publius Julius, bishop
of Debeltum, a colony of Thrace. Αs God lives in
the heavens the blessed Sotas in Anchialus wished
to drive the devil out of Priscilla and the hypocrites
would not let ” The autograph signatures of
many other bishops who agreed with them are also
preserved in the above mentioned writing. so far
concerning them.

XX. In opposition to those in Rome who were
discarding the sound ordinance of the church,
Irenaeus composed various letters. He addressed
one to Blastus On Schism, another to Florinus, On
the Sole Sovereignty 1 οr That God is not the Author of
Evil, for Florinus seemed to be defending this
opinion. For his sake too, when he a attracted
by the Valentinian error, a work was composed by
Irenaeus On the Ogdoad,2 in which he also indicates
that he had himself received the first succession of
the apostles, and in it, at the end of the work, we
find a most acceptable notice from him which we
are obliged to give in this book and it runs as follows:
“Ι adjure thee, who shalt copy out this book, by
our Lord Jesus Christ, by his glorious advent when
he comes to judge the living and the dead, that thou
 

 
compare what thou shalt transcribe and correct it
with this copy whence thou art transcribing, with all
care, and thou shalt likewise transeribe this oath
and put it in the ” Μay his wordS be spoken
to our profit and be narrated in order that we may
keep those primitive and truly sacred men as the
best example of the most zealous care. 
 In the letter to Florinus, whieh we have spoken of
above, Irenaeus again mentionS his intercourse with
Polycarp, and says: “These opinions, Ο Florinus,
that I may speak sparingly, do not belong to sound
doctrine. These opinions are inconsistent with the
church, and bring those who believe in them into
the greatest impiety. These opinions not even the
hereties outside the church ever dared to proclaim.
These opinions those who were presbyters before us,
they who accompanied the apostleS, did not hand on to
you. For while 1 was still a boy Ι knew you in lower
Asia in Polycarp's house when you were a man
rank in the royal hall and endeavouring to stand
well with him. I remember the eventS of those days
more cleariy than those whieh happened recently,
for what we learn as children grows up vith the soul
and is united to it, so that I can speak even of the
place in which the blessed Polycarp sat and disputed,
how he came in and went οut, the character of his
life, the appearance of his body, the discourses which
he made to the people, how he reported his intercourse
with John and with the others who had Seen
the Lord, how he remembered their wordS, and what

 
were the things concerning the Lord which he had
heard from them, and about their miracles, and
about their teaching, and how Polycarp had received
them from the eyewitnesses of the word of life,
and reported all things in agreement with the Scriptures.
I listened eagerly even then to these things
through the mercy of God which was given me, and
made notes Of them, not on paper but in my heart,
and ever by the grace of God do Ι truly ruminate
on them, and I can bear witness before God that if
that blessed and apostolic presbyter had heard anything
of this kind he would have cried out, and shut
his ears, and said according to his custom, ‘Ο good
God, to what time hast thou preserved me that I
should endure ?' Ηe would have fled even
the place in which he was seated or standing when
he heard sueh words. And from his letters which
he sent either to the neighbouring churches, strengthening
them, οr to some of the brethren, exhorting
and warning them, this can be made ” So
says Irenaeus.

XXI. Αnd at the same time in the reign of
Commodus our treatment was changed to a milder
one, and by the grace of God peace came on the
churches throughout the whole world. The word of
salvation began ` to lead every soul of every race
men to the pious worship of the God of the universe,
so that now many of those who at Rome were famous
for wealth and family turned to their own salvation
with all their house and with all their kin. This was
unendurable to the demon who hates good, envious
as he is by nature, and he again stripped for conflict,

 
and prepared various derices against uS. In the
city οf the Romans he brought before thc court
Apollonius, a man famous among the ChristianS of
that time for his education and philosophy, and raised
up to accuse him one οf his Servants who waS suitable
for this. But the coward entered the case at a bad
bme, for according to imperial decree informers on
such points were not allowed to live; so they broke
his legs at once, for the judge Perennius decreed
this sentence against him. But the martyr, beloved
of God, when the judge earnertly begged and prayed
him to defend himself before the senate, made before
every οne a most learned defence of the faith for which
hc was a martyr, and was consecrated by beheaffing
as if bv decree of the senate: for an aneient law
obtrialned among them that there should be no οther
issue for the case οf those who once appeared befor
the court and ffid not change their opinion. The
words of Apollonius before the judge dge and the answers
which he made to the interrogation οf Perennius, and
all the defence which he made to the senate, can be
read by anyone who wishes in the compilation which
we have made οf the ancient martyrs.1

XXII. In the tenth year ofthe reign οf Commodus 2 
victor sueceeded Eleutherus who had served in the
episcopate thirteen years. Ιn the same year Julian
had completed his tenth year, and Demetrius was
appointed to the administration of the Alexandrian
dioceses, and at the same time the famous Serapion,
whom we mentioned before, was bishop of the ehurch
 
 

 
of Antioch and the eighth from the apostles. Theophilus
ruled Caesarea in Palestine, and Narcissus,
whomour work has mentioned before, still holding
the administration of the church at Jerusalem. and at
the same time bacchyllus was bishop of Corinth in
Greece and Polycrates of the diocese of Ephesus.
There were also, of course, countless other famous
men at this time, but we have naturally given the
names of those the orthodoxy of whose faith has been
preserved to us in writing.

XXIII. At thattime time no small controversy arose
because all the dioceses of Asia thought it right, as
though by more ancient tradition, to observe for the
feast of the Saniour's passover tbe fourteenth day
of the moon, on which the Jews had been commanded
to kill the lamb. Thus it was necessary to finish
tbe fast on that day, whatever day of the Week it
might be. 1 Υet it was not the custom to celebrate
in this manner in the churches throughout the rest
of the world, for from apostolic tradition they kept
the custom which still exists that it is not right to
finish tbe fast on any day save that of the resurrection
of our Saviour. Many meetings and conferences
with bishops were beld on this point, and all unanimously
formulated in their letters the doctrine
of the church for those in every country country that the
mystery of the Lord's resurrection from the dead
could be celebrated on no day save Sunday, 2 and
 
 

 
that οn that day alone we should celebrate the end of
the paschal faSt. Thcre is still eXtallt a writing of
those who were eonvened in Palestine, οver whom
piesided Theophilus, bishop of the dioeeSe of
Caesarea, and Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem; and
there is similarly another from those in Rome on the
same eontroversy, which gives Vietor as bishop;
and there is one of the bishops of Pontus over
whom Palmas presided as the oldest; and of the
dioceses of Oaul, of which Irenaeus was biShop bishop; and
yet οthers οf those in OSrhoene and the citieS there;
and particularly οf Bacchyllus, the bishop of the
chureh of Corinth; and οf ver y many moie who
expreSsed one and the Same opinion and judgement,
and gave the same vote.

XXIV. These iSsued the single definition which
was given above; but the bishops in Asia were led
by Polycrates in persisting that it was necessary to
keep the custom whieh had been handed doWn to
them of old. Polycrates himself in a document
which he addreSsed to victor and to the church of
Rome, expounds the traffition which had come to
him as follows. “Therefore we keep the day undeviatingly,
neither adding nor taking away, for in
Αsia great luminaries 1 sleep, and they will rise on
the day of the coming of the Lord, when he shall
come with glory from heaven and seek out 2 all the
saints. sueh were Philip of the twelve apostles, and
two of his daughters Who grew old as virgins, who
sleep in Hierapolis, and another daughter of his, who
lived in the Ηoly spirit, reSts at Ephesus. Moreover,
 
 

 
there is also John, who lay on the Lord's breast,
who was a priest wearing the breastplate, and a
martyr, and teacher. Ηe sleeps at Εphesus. Αnd
there is also Ρolycarp at smyrna, both bishop and
martyr, and Thraseas, both bishop and martyr,
from Εumenaea, who sleeps in Smyrna. Αnd why
should I speak of Sagaris, bishop and martyr, who
sleeps at Laodicaea, and Papirius, too, the blessed,
and Melito the eunuch, who lived entirely in the
Ηoly Spirit, who lies in sardis, waiting for the
visitation from heaven when he will rise from the
dead? Αll these kept the fourteenth day of the
passover accorffing to the gospel, never swerving,
but following according to the rule of the faith.
Αnd I also, Ρolycrates, the least of you all, live
according to the tradition οf my kinsmen, and some
or them have I followed. For seven of m y family
were bishops and 1 am the eighth, and my kinsmen
ever kept the day when the people put away the
leaven. Therefore, brethren, Ι who have lived sixty-
nve years in the Lord and conversed with brethren
from every country, and have studied all holy
scripture, am not afraid of threats, for they have
said who were greater than I, ‘It is better to obey
ood rather than men.’” 
 Ηe continues about the bishops who when he wrote
were with him and shared his opimon, and says
thus: “And I could mention the bishops who are
present whom you required me to summon, and I
did so. If I should write their names they would
be many multitudes; and they knowing my feeble

 
humanity, agreed with the lerter, knowing that not
in vain is my head grey, but that 1 have ever lived
in Christ Jesus.” 
 Upon this Victor, who presided at Rome, immediately
tried to cut off from the common unity the
dioceses of all Αsia, together with the adjacent
churches, οn the ground of heterodoxy, and he
indited letters announcing that all the Christians
there were absolutely excommunicated. But by
no means all were pleased by this, so they isSued
counter-requests to him to consider the cause of
peace and unity and love towards his neighbours.
Thcir words are extant, sharply rebuking victor.
Αmοng them too Irenaeus, writing in the name of
the Christians whose leader he was in Oaul, though
he recommends that the mystery of the ’s
resurrection be observed only οn the Lord's day, yet
nevertheless exhorts victor suitably and at length
not to excommunicate whole churches of God for
following a traffidltion οf ancient custom, and eontinues
as follows: “For the controversy is not only about
the day, but also about the actual character οf the
fast; for some think that they ought to fast οne
day, others two, others even more, some count their
day as forty hours, day and night. 1 Αnd such variation
of observance ffid not begin in οur own timep
but much earlier, in the days of οur predecessors who,
 

 
it would appear, ffisregarding strictness maintained
a practice which is simple and yet allows for
personal preference, establishing it for the future,
and none the less all these lived in peace, and we
also live in peace with one another and the disagreement
in the fast connrms οur agreement in the
faith.” 
 Ηe adds to this a narrative whieh I may suitably
quote, running as follows: “Among these too were
the presbyters before soter, who presided over
church of which you are now the leader, I mean
Anicetus and Ρius and telesphorus and Xystus.
ney did not themselves observe it, 1 nor ffid they
enjoin it οn those who followed them, and though they
ffidId not keep it they Were none the less at peace
with those from the ffioceses in which it was οbserved
when tbey came to them, although to observe it was
more objectionable to those who ffid not do so, 2 Αnd
no οne was ever rejected for this reason, but the presbyters
before you who did not observe it sent the
Εucharist to those from other dioceses who did; and
when the blessed Polycarp was staying in Rome in
the time of Anicetus, though they disagreed a little
about some other things as well, they immediately
made peace, having no wish for strife between them
on this marter. For neither waS Anicetus able to
persuade Polycarp not to observe it, inasmuch as he
had always done so in company with John the disciple
of οur Lord and the other apostles with whom
he had associated; nor did Polycarp persuade
Anicetus to observe it, for he said that he ought to

 
keep the eustom of thOse who Vere presbyters before
him. Αnd under these circumstances they communicated
Vith eaeh other, and in the church
Anicetus yielded the eelebrariOn Of rile Fucharist to
Polycarp ObViouriy out Of respect, and tbey parted
from each other in peace, fOr the peace Of the whole
church was kept both by thOse who obserVCd and by
those Who did not.” 
 Αnd Irenaeus, who deserVed his name, making an
eirenicon in this vay, gaVe exhortations of this kind
for the peace of the church and served as as ambassador,
for in letters he diseussed the Various views
on the issue vhieh had been raised, not Only with
Vletor but with Vith many other rulers of churehes.

XXV. The Palestinians whom Ve bave reeenriy
mentioned, that is to say Narcissus and Theophilus,
and with them Cassius, the bishop of the church
in Tyre, and Clarus, the birilop Of the church in
Ptolemais, and thoSe Vho aembled rith them,
treated at length the tradition concerning rile passover
which had come down tO them frOm the succession
of the apostles, and at the end Of their riring
they add as follows: “Try tO send copies of Our
letter to eVery diocese that ve may nOt be guilty
towards thOse who easily deeeiVe tbeir own sOulS.
Αnd Ve make it plain tO you that in Alexandria also
they celebrate the Same day as do we, for letters
have been eXehanged between them and us, so that
we obserVe the holy day together and in agreement.”

XXVI. Ιn addition to the published treatises

 
and to the letters of Irenaeus, there is extant a
concise and extremely convincing treatise of hiS
against the Greeks, entitled Concerning Knowledge,
and another vhieh he has dedicated to a Christian
named Marcian on the Demonstration of the Apostolic
Preaching, and a little book of Various discourses in
which he menrions the Epistle to the Hebrews and
the so-called Wisdom of solOmon, quoting certain
passages from them. such is the extent Of our
knovledge of the works of Irenaeus. 
 When CommoduS had riniShed his relgn after
thirteen years severus became emperor not quite
six monthS after the death Or CommOdus, Pertinax
coming in the interval. 1

XXVII. Many workes of
the Virtuous zeal of the aneient members of rile
church of that time have still been widely preserved
until now, and we haVc read them OurselveS. such
are the writings of Heraclitus on the Epistles, 2 and
the writings of Maximus on the problem of the
source of eVri; sO much traversed by the heretic, and
on whether matter has an origin, the works of
Candidus on the Hexaëmeron, 3 and of Apion On the
same subject, also of seXtuS on the Resurrection, and
another treatise of Arabianus, and eountless Others
of whieh We are unable from lack of evidenee to give
the date or any aecOunts Of their hiStOry. Αnd there
are many otherS alSo which have reaehed uS, but we
cannot even giVe their names, yet they are orthodox
 

 
and Christian, as their interpretation of the dirine
Scripture demonstrates, but the writers are unknown
to us bccause their names are not given in their
writings.

XXVIII. In a treatise worked out by one of these
against the heresy of Αrtemon, which Ρaul of
Samosata has tried to renew in our time, there is
extant an account which bears οn the history which
we are examining. For he criticizes the abovementioned
heresy (which claims that the sarivlour
was a mere man) as a recent innovation, beeause
those who introduced it wished to make it respectable
as being ancient. Among many other points adduced
in refutation of their blasphemous falsehood, the
treatise rehtes this this: “For For they say that all who
went before and the apostles themselves received
and taught what they now say, and that the truth
of the teaching was preserved until the times οf
victor, who was the tffihlrteenth bishop in Rome after
Ρeter, but that the truth had been corrupted from
the time of his successor, Zephyrinus. What they
said might perhaps be plausible if in the nrst place
the dirine scriptures were not opposed to them, and
there are also writings of certain christians, older
than the time of Victor, wHch they wrote to the
Gentiles οn behalf of the truth and against the
heresies of their οwn time. 1 mean the works of
Justin and Miltiades and Tatian and Clement and
many others in all of which Christ is treated as God.
For who is ignorant of the books of Irenaeus and
Melito and the others who announced Christ as God

 
and man? Αnd all the Ρsalms and hymns which were
written by faithful Christians from the beginning
sing of the Christ as the LogoS of Ood and treat him
as God. Ηοw then is it possible that aftcr the mind
οf the church had been announced for so many years
that the generation before Victor can have Ρreached
as these say? Why are they not ashamed of so
calumniating Victor when they know quite well that
Victor excommunicated Theodotus the cobbler, the
founder and father of this insurrection which denie
God, when he nrst said that Christ was a mere man?
For if Victor was so minded towards them as their
blasphemy teaches, how could he have thrown out
Theodotus who invented this heresy?” 
 Such were the events of the time of Victor. When
he had held his office ten yearS, Zephyrinus WaS
appointed his suceessor in the ninth year of the reign
οf Severus. 1 Αnd the author of the book mentioned
about the founder of the above-mentioned heresy
adds another incident which happened in the time
of Zephyrinus and wTites as follows: “I will at least
remind many of the brethren of an event whieh
happened in our time whieh I think would have
probably been a warning to the men of sodom had it
happened in their city. There Was a certain confessor,
Natalius, not long ago but in our own time.
Ηe was deceived by Asclepiodotus and by a second
Theodotus, a banker. These were both ffiscipleS of
Theodotus the cobbler, who was first excommunicated
by vietor, who, as I said, was then bishop, for this way
 

 
of thinking, or rather of not thinking. Natalius was
persuaded by them to be called bishop of this heresy
with a salary, so that he was paid a hundred and
Rfty denarii a month by them.1 When he was with
them he was οften warned by the Lord in visions,
for οur merciful Ood and Lord, Jesus ChriSt, did not
with that there should go out of the church and
perish one who had been a vitness οf his own sufferings.2
But when he paid indifferent artention to the
visions, for he Was entrapped by hiS leading rank
among them and by that covetousness which ruins
so many, he was at last scourged all night long by
holy angels, and suffered not a little, so that in the
morning he got up, put on sackcloth, and covered
himseR with ashes, and went with much haste, and
fell down with tears before Ζephyrinus the bishop,
rolling at the feet not only of the elergy but also of
the laity, and moved vith his tears the compassionate
church οf the merciful Christ. But for all hiS prayers
and the exhibition of the wealS of the stripes he had
received, he was searcely admitted into communion.” 
 We would add to this some other Words of the
same author on the same persons, Which run as
follows : “ They have not feared to corrupt divine
scriptures, they have nullified the rule of ancient
faith, they have not known Christ, they do not
inquire what the divine scriptures sa y, but in-
dustriously consider what syllogistic Bgure may be
found for the support of their atheiSm. Ιf anyone
adduced to them a text of divine Scripture they
 
 

 
inquire whether it can be put in the form of a conjunctive
or a disjunctive syllogism. They abandon
the holy scripture of God and Study geometry, 1 for
they are of the earth and they speak of the earth
and ffihlm who comes from above they do not know.
Some οf them, forsooth, study the geometry οf
Euclid and admire Αristotle and Theophrastus.
Galen perhaps is even worshipped by some of them. 
when they make a bad use of the arts of unbelievers
ror the opinions of their heresy, and adulterate the
simple faith of the divine seriptures by the cunning
οf the godless, what need is there to say that they
are not even near the faith f For this cause they ffid
not fear to lay hands οn the divine scriptures, saying
that they had eonected them. Αnd that 1 do not
calumniate them in saying tffis anywhowish can learn,
for if any be willing to collect and compare with
each other the texts of each of them, he would hnd
them in great discord, for the copies 3 of Asclepiades
do not agree vith those of Theodotus, and it is
possible to obtain many of them because their disciples
have diligently wTitten out copies corrected,
as they say, but really corrupted by each of them.
Again the eopies of Hermophilus do not agree with
these, the copies οf ΑΡolloniades are not even consistent
with themselves, for the eopies copies b y
them at Rrst can be compared With those whieh
later on underwent a second corruption, and they
 

 
will be found to disagree greatly. The impudence
of this sin can careely be unknown even to them,
for either they do not believe that rile diVine scriptures
were spoken by the Holy Spirit, and if so they
are unbelievers, or they think that they are wiser
than the Ηoly spirit, and what are they but demoniacs?
For they cannot even deny that this
crime is theirs, seeing that the copies were Written
in their own hand, and they did not receive the
seriptures in thiS eondition from their teachers, nor
can they show originals from whieh they made their
copies. some of them have not thOught it neeessary
even to emend the text, but simply deny the LaW
and the Prophets, and thuS on the pretence 1 of their
Wieked and godleSs teaching have fallen to the lowest
destruction of ” Αnd let this suffice for
these things.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY ΟF EUSEBIUS 

 
 CONTENTS ΟF BOOK VI 
 The Sixth Book of the Ecclesiastical History
contains the following: 
 I. On the persecution under Severus. 
 II. Οn Οrigen’s training from boyhood. 
 ΙII. How he set forth the word of Christ when
quite young. 
 IV. How many of those insructed by him
were elevated to the rank of martyrs. 
 V. Οn Potamiaena. 
 VI. On Clement the Alexandrian. 
 VII. Οn Judas, a writer. 
 VIII. On Origen's rash act. 
 IX. On the miraeles of Narcissus. 
 X. On the bishops at Jerusalem. 
 XI. Οn Alexander. 
 XII. Οn Serapion and his extant works. 
 XIII. On the treatises Of Clement. 
 XIV. What Scriptures he mentioned. 
 XV. Οn Heraclas. 
 XVI. How Origen laboured at the divine Scriptures. 

 
 XVII. Οn symmaehus the translator. 
 XVIII. Οn Αmbrose. 
 XIX. What things are mentioned concerning
Origen. 
 XX. What books of the mcn of that day are
extant. 
 XXI. What bishops were well known in the time
of these persons. 
 XXII. What works of Hippolytus have reached us. 
 XXIII. Οn Origen's zeal, and how he was
deemed worthy of the presbyterate in
the Church. 
 XXIV. The commentaries he wrote at Alexandria. 
 XXV. Ηow he mentioned the Canonical
Scriptures. 
 XXVI. Ηow the bishops regarded him. 
 XXVII. Ηow Ηeraelas succeeded to the episcopate
of the Alexandrians. 
 XXVIII. Οn the persecution under Maximin. 
 XXIX. Οn Fabian, how he was miraculously
designated bishop of the Romans by
God. 
 XXX. What pupils of Origen there have been. 
 XXXI. On Africanus. 
 XXXII. The commentaries that Origen wrote at
Caesarea in Ρalertine. 
 XXXIII. Οn the error or Beryllus. 
 XXXIV. What happened under Philopl. 
 XXXV. How Dionysius succeeded Ηeraclas in the
episcopate. 
 XXXVI. Οther works composed by Οrigen. 

 
 XXXVII. Οn the dissension of the Arabians. 
 XXXVIII. Οn the heresy of the Helkesaites. 
 XXIX. Οn what happened under Decius. 
 XL. Οn what befell Dionysius. 
 XLI. On those that suffered martyrdom
Alexandira itself. 
 XLII. On the other martyrdoms which Dionysius
relates. 
 XLIII. Οn Novatus, his manner of life, and his
heresy. 
 XLIV. Α story of Dionysius about Serapion. 
 XLV. Letter of Dionysius to Novatus. 
 XLVI. Οn the other letters of Dionysius.

THΕ ECCLESIASTICAL
ΙSTΟRV ΟF EUSEBIUS 
 BΟΟΚ VII 
 1. Νow when Severus also was stirring up persecution
against the churches, in every place splendid martyrdoms
of the champions of piety were accomplished,
but with especial frequency at Alexandria. Thither,
as to some great arena, were escorted from Εgypt
and the whole Thebais God's champions, who, through
their most stedfast endurance in divers tortures and
modes of death, were wreathed with the crowns laid
up with God. Αmong these was Leonides, known as
“the father of Οrigen,’’ who was beheaded, leaving
his son behind him quite young. It will not be out
of place to deseribe briefly how deliberately the
mind was set on the Divine Word from that early
age, especially as the story about him has received
exceedingly widespread notoriety.

II. Μany
indeed, would there be to say, if one were to attempt
at leisure to hand down in writing the man's life, and
the narrative concerning him would require also a
work of its own. Nevertheless, on the present
occasion abridging most things as briefly as may be,
we shall state some few of the facts concerning him,

 
gathering what we set forth from certain letters and
information derived from pupils of his, whose lives
have been preserved even to our day. 
 In the case of Origen I think that even the facts
from his very cradle,1 so to speak, are worthy
mention. For Severus was in the tenth year of his
reigh,2 and Laetus was governor of Alexandria
the rest of Εgypt, and Demetrius had just then
received the episcopate οf the communities there in
succession to Julian. When, therefore, the flame
οf persecution was kindled to a fierce blaze, and
countless numbers were being wreathed with the
crowns οf martyrdom, Origen's soul was
with such a passion for martyrdom, while he was still
quite a boy, that he was all eagerness to come to
close quarters with danger, and to leap forward and
rush into the conflict. In fact, it were but a very
little step and the end of his life was at hand, had
not the divine and heavenly providence, acting for
the general good through his mother, stood in the
way of his zeal. She, at all events, at first had
recourse to verbal entreaties, bidding him spare a
mother's feelings; then, when he learnt that his
father had been captured and was kept in prison,
and his whole being was set on the desire for martyrdom,
perceiving that his purpose was more resolute
than ever, she hid all his clothes, and so laid upon
him the necessity of remaining at home. Αnd since
nothing else remained for him to do, and a zeal,
intense beyond his years, suffered him not to be quiet,
he sent to his father a letter on martyrdom most
strongly urging him οn, in which he advises him in
these very words, saying : “Take care to to change
 

 
thy mind on account.’’ Let this be recorded as
the first proof of Origen's boyish readiness of mind
and genuine love of godliness. For indeed in the
study of the faith also he had already laid down a
good foundation, having been trained in the divine
Scriptures from the from the time that he was still a boy.
Certainly it was no ordinary amount of labour that
he bestowed on these, since his father, in addition
to the customary curriculum, took pains that these
also should be for him no secondary matter. On all
occasions, for example, he kept urging him before
beginning his secular1 lessons to train himself in
the sacred studies, exacting from him each day
learning by heart and repetition. Αnd this the boy
did with no lack of willingness, nay, he worked
with even excessive zeal at these studies, so that he
was not satisfied with reading the sacred words in a
simple and literal manner, but sought something
further, and busied himself, even at that age, with
deeper speculations, troubling his father by his
questions as to what could be the inner meaning of
the inspired Scripture. Αnd his father would rebuke
him ostensibly to his face, counselling him to seek
nothing beyond his years nor anything further than
the manifest meaning; but secretly in himself he
rejoiced greatly, and gave profound thanks to God,
the Αuthor of all good things, that Ηe had deemed
him worthy to be the father of such a boy. Αnd it
is said that many a time he would stand over the
sleeping boy and uncover his breast, as if a divine
spirit were enshrined therein, and kissing it with
reverence count himself happy in his goodly offspring.
 

 
These are the stories, and others akin to these, that
they tell about Origen's boyhood. 
 But when his father had been perfected by martyrdom,
he was left destitute with his mother and six
smaller brothers, when he was not quite seventeen.
His father's property was confiscated for the imperial
treasury, and he found himself, along with his
ralatives, in want of the necessaries of life. Yet he
was deemed worthy of divine aid, and met with
welcome and refreshment from a certain lady, very
rich in this world's goods, and otherwise distinguished,
who nevertheless was treating with honour a wellknown
person, one of the heretics at Alexandria at
that time Ηe was an Antiochene by race, but the
lady we have mentioned kept him at her house as
her adopted son, and treated him with especial
honour. But although Origen of necessity had to
consort with him, he used to give clear proofs of his
orthodoxy, at that age, in the faith. For though very
great numbers, not only of heretics but also of our
own people, were gathered together with Ρaul (for
that was the man's name), attracted by his apparent
skilfulness in speech, Origen could never be persuaded
to associate with him in prayer, keeping the rule οf
the Church, even from boyhood, and “loathing’’ —
the very word he himself uses somewhere—
teachings of the heresies. Ηis father had brought
him forward in secular studies, and after his death
he applied himself wholly with renewed zeal to a
literary training, so that he had a tolerable amount
οf pronciency in letters; and, not not after his
father's perfecting, by dint of application to these

 
studies, he was abundantly supplied, for a person of
his years, with the necessaries of of life.

III. Αnd while he was devoting himself to teaching,
as he himself informs us somewhere in writing, since
there was no one at Alexandria set apart for catechetical
instruction (for all had been driven away by
the threat of the persecution), some of the heathen
approached him to hear the word of God. Of these
Plutrach is pointed out as being the first, who after
a noble life was adorned also with a divine martyrdom;
and the second, Heraclas, Plutarch's brother. Ηe also,
in his own person, afforded a noteworthy example of
a philosophic life and of discipline, and was deemed
worthy of the bishopric of Αlexandrians in succession
to Demetrius. Origen was in his eighteenth
year 1 when he came to preside over the catechetical
school, and at this time also he came into prominence
when the persecutions were going on under Aquila,
the governor of Alexandria.2 Then also he won
himself an exceedingly wide reputation among all
those who were οf the faith, by the kindly help and
goodwill that he displayed towards all the holy
martyrs, unknown and known alike. For he was
present not only with the holy martyrs who were
in prison, not only with those who were under examination
right up to the final sentence, but also
when they were being led away afterwards to their
death, using great boldness and coming to close
quarters with danger; so that, as he courageously
drew near and with great boldness greeted the
martyrs with a kiss, many a time the heathen
multitude round about in its fury went near to
stoning him, but for the fact that time after time he
found the divine right hand to help him, and so

 
escaped marvellously; and this same divine and
heavenly grace οn other occasions again and —
it is impossible to say how οften—Ρreserved him
safely, when plots were laid against him at that time
because of his excessive Ζeal and boldness for the
word of Christ. Αnd so great, then, was the war of
unbelievers against him, that soldiers were placed in
groups for his protection 1 round the house where he
abode, because of the number of those who were
receiving instruction from him in the sacred faith.
Thus day by day the persecution against him blazed,
so that there was no longer any place for him in the
whole city; from house to house he passed, but was
driven from all sides, on account of the numbers who
through him came οver to the divine teaching. For
in his practical conduct were to be found to a truly
marvellous degree the right actions of a most genuine
philosophy (for—as the saying goes—“ as was his
speech, so was the manner of life’’ 2 that he displayed,
and “as his manner of life, so his speech’’), and it
was especially for this reason that, with the co-operation
of the divine power, he brought so very
to share his zeal. 
 Αnd when he saw still more pupils coming to him
(for the task of instruction had been entrusted by
Demetrius, the president of the church, to him alone),
considering that the teaching of letters3 was not
consonant with training in the divine studies, without
more ado he broke off the task of teaching letters,3
as being unprofitable and opposed to sacred study;
and then, for the good reason that he might never be
in need of others’ assistance, he disposed of all the
 

 
volumes οf ancient literature which formerly he so
fondly cherished, content if he who purchased them
brought him four obols a day. For a great number
οf years he continued to live like a philosopher in
this wise, putting aside everything that might lead
to youthful lusts; all day long his discipline was to
perform labours of no light character, and the greater
part of the night he devoted himself to studying the
divine Scriptures; and he persevered, as far as
possible, in the most philosophic manner of life, at
οne time disciplining himself by fasting, at another
measuring οut the time for sleep, which he was
careful to take, never on a couch, but οn the floor.
Αnd above all he considered that those sayings οf the
Saviour in the Gospel οught to he kept which exhort
us not [to provide] two coats nor to use shoes, nor,
indeed, to be worn οut with thoughts about the
future. Yea, he was possessed οf a zeal beyond his
years, and by persevering in cold and nakedness and
going to the extremest limit οf poverty, he greatly
astounded his followers, causing grief to numbers
who besought him to share their goods, when they
saw the labour that he bestowed οn teaching divine
things. But he was not one to slacken enduranee.
Ηe is said, for example, to have walked ror many
years without using a shoe οf any description, yea
more, to have refrained for a great many years from
the use of wine and all except necessary food, so that
he actually incurred the risk of upsetting and injuring
his stomach.1 
 

 
 Αnd by displaying proofs such as these οf a
philosophic life to those who saw him, he naturally
stimulated a large number of his pupils to a like zeal,
so that, even among the unbelieving Gentiles and
those from the ranks of learning and philosophy,
some persons of no small account were won by his
instruction. By his ageney these very persons
received the faith of the divine Word truly in the
depths of the soul, and were conspicuous at the
persecution then taking place; insomuch that even
some οf them were arrested and perfected by
martyrdom.

IV. The first of these, then, was Plutarch, he whom
we mentioned a little while ago.1 As this man was
being led οn the way to death, he οf whom we have
been speaking, being present with him to the very
end of his life, was again almost killed by his fellow-
citizens, as being clearly responsible for his death.
But οn that occasion also he was kept by the will of
God.2 Αnd, after Plutarch, Serenus was the second
οf Origen's pupils to show himself a martyr, having
through fire given the proof of the faith he had
received. From the same school Heraclides was the
third martyr, and after him Ηero, the fourth; the
former of these was still a eatechumen, the latter
lately baptized. Both were beheaded. Further, in
addition to these, from the same school was proclaimed
a fifth champion of piety, one serenus, a
different person from the first-mentioned of that
name. It is recorded that after very great endurance
of torture his head was taken off. Αnd, among the
women, Ηerais, who was still under instruction for
baptism, as Οrigen himself sayssomewhere, “received
the baptism by fire,” and so ended her life.

v. Seventh among them must be numbered Basilides,
who led away the famous Potamiaena. The
praise οf this woman is to this day still loudly sung
by her fellow-countrymen, as of one who on
of the chastity and virginity of her body, in which
excelled, contended much with lovers (for assuredly
her body, as well as her mind, was in the full bloom
of its youthful beauty); as of one who endured much,
and at the end, after tortures that were terrible and
fearful to relate, was perfected by fire, along with her
mother Marcella. Ιt is said, in fact, that the judge,
whose name was Aquila, after inflicting severe
tortures upon her entire body, at last threatened to
hand her over to the gladiators for bodily insult, and
that, when after a brief period of reflection she was
asked what her decision was, she made a reply which
involved from their point of view something profane.
No sooner had she spoken than she received the
sentence, and Basilides, being one of those serving
in the army, took her and led her away to death.
And as the crowed tried to annoy her, and insult her
with shameful words, he kept restraining them and
driving away the insulters, displaying the greatest pity
and kindness towards her. She on her part accepted
his fellow-feeling for her and bade him be of
cheer, for that she would ask him from her Lord,
when she departed, and before long would requite
him for what he had done for her. Thus speaking
[it is said], she right nobly endured the end, boiling
pitch being poured slowly and little by little over
different parts of her body from head to toe. Such
was the contest waged by this maiden celebrated in

 
song. Αnd not long afterwards, when Basilides was
ked by his felleow-soldiers to swear for some reason
οther, he stoutly affirmed that swearing was
οlutely forbidden in his case, for that he was a
ristian and acknowledged it openly. Αt first,
deed, for a time they thought he was jesting, but
hen he continued stedfastly to affirm it, they
ought him to the judge. Αnd when he admitted
e constancy [of his profession] in his presence, he
as committed to prison. when his brethren in God
e to and inquired the reason of this sudden
d incredible impulse, it is said that he stated that
ee days after her martyrdom Potamiaena appeared
him by night, wreathing his head with a crown and
saying that she had called upon the Lord for him,
and obtained what she requerted, and that before
ng she would take him to herself. Thereupon the
brethren imparted to him the seal in the Lord, and
n the day afterwards he gave notable testimony for
the Lord and was beheaded. Αnd it is related that
many others of those at Alexandria came over all at
οnce to the word of Christ in the time of the persons
mentioned, because Ρotamiaena appeared to them in
dreams and invited thern. But this must suffice.

VI. Ρantaenus was succeeded by Clement, who
directed the instruction at Alexandria up to such a
date that Origen also was one of his pupils. In fact
lement, when compiling his Stromateis, in the first
k displays a chronological table, using the death
of Commodus as a terminus in measuring his dates 1;
so that it is clear that the work was composed by him
 

 
under Severus, whose time this present account is
describing.

VII. Αt this time Judas also, another writer, composed
a written discourse on the seventy weeks in the
book of Daniel; he stops his record of time at the
tenth year of the reign of Severus. Ηe also was of
the opinion that the much talked of coming of the
antichrist was then already near. So strongly did
the persecution which was then stirred up against us
disturb the minds of the many.

VIII. Αt that time, while Οrigen was performing
the work of instruction at Alexandria, he did a thing
which gave abundant proof of an immature and
youthful mind, yet withal of faith and self-control.
For he took the saying, “There are eunuchs which
made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s
sake,” in too literal and extreme a sense, and
both to fulfil the Saviour’s saying, and also that
might prevent all suspicion of shameful slander on
the part of unbelievers (for, young as he was, he used
to discourse on divine things with women as well as
men), he hastened to put into effect the Saviour's
Saying, taking care to escape the notice of the greater
number of his pupils. But, wishful though he might
be, it was not possible to hide a deed of this nature.
In fact Demetrius got to know of it later, since he
was presiding over the community at that place;
and while he marvelled exceedingly at him for his
rash act, he approved the zeal and the sinceriry of his
faith, bade him be of good cheer, and urged him to
attach himself now all the more to the work of
instruction. 

 
 Such indeed was his attitude at that time. But
not Iong afterwards, when the same person saw that
he was prospering and a great man and distinguished
and famous in the sight of all, overcome by a human
weakness, he attempted to describe the deed as
monstrous to the bishops throughout the world, when
the most highly approved and distinguished bishops
in Palestine, namely those of Caesarea and Jerusalem,1
deeming Origen worthy of privilege and the highest
honour, ordained him to the presbyterate by laying
on of hands.2 So, as he had then advanced to a position
of great esteem, and had aequired no small reputation
and fame for his virtue and wisdom in the eyes of all
men everywhere, through lack of any other ground
οf aceusation Demetrius spread grave scandal about
the deed that he had committed long ago when a boy,
and had the temerity to include in his accusations
those who raised him to the presbyterate. 
 This happened a little while afterwards. Αt that
time, however, Origen was engaged at Αlexandria in
the work or divine instruction for all, without reserve,
who came to him by night and in the course of the
day, devoting his whole time untiringly to the divine
studies and his pupils. 
 When Severus had held the principate for eighteen
years, he was succeeded by his son Antoninus.3
this time Αlexander (being one of those who Ρlayed
the man during the persecution and after contending
for the faith by their confessions were preserved by
the Providence of God), whom we have mentioned
lately4 as bishop of the church at Jerusalem,
deemed worthy of the said bishopric, distinguished
 

 
he was for his confessions on behalf of Christ;
issus his predecessor being still alive.1

IX. Many οther miracles, indeed, of Νarcissus do
e citizens of the community call to mind, as handed
wn by the brethren in succession, and among these
ey relate that the following wonder was performed
him. Once at the great all-night vigil of the
ascha it is said that the oil failed the deacons, and
at when deep despondency seized the whole
ultitude, thereupon Narcissus commanded those
ho were preparing the lights to draw water and
ring it to him; that when this was no sooner said
an done, he then prayed οver the water, and bade
em pour it down into the lamps with unfeigned
ith in the Lord. Αnd that when they did this,
contrary to all reason by miraculous and divine power
nature was changed in quality from water into
il; and that for a very long time, from that day even
ours, a little was preserved as a οf that wonder
former days by very many οf the brethren there. 
 Αnd they enumerate a great many other things
about the life of this man worthy of mention, among
which is the following. Certain miserable creatures,
not being able to endure his energy and the firmness
of his conduct, and fearing lest they should be taken
and put on their trial (for they were conscious of many
evil deeds), anticipated the event by devising an
intrigue agrinst him and spreading a certain grave
slander to his hurt. Then, with a view to securing
the belief οf their hearers, they strove to confirm their
accusations by oaths; one swore, “[if this is not true]
ay I be destroyed by fire”; another, “may
y be wasted by an untoward diseasse”; and
 

 
third, “may my eyes be blinded.” But, swear
ey might, none of the faithful gave heed to them,
the the fame of Narcissus's sobriety and virtuous
nner of life was always well known to all. Ηe,
vertheless, could not brook the wickedness of what
been said, and, besides, had for a long time been
uing the philosophic life,; so he escaped the
οle company of the church, and spent many years
cretly in deserts and obscure parts οf the country.
et the great eye of Justice did not remain quiet at
ese deeds, but with untmost speed visited upon those
ess men the curses with which in their perjury
ey had bound themselves. So the first was burnt
death with all his family, the house in which he
as staying being wholly set on fire one night from
solutely no other cause than a small spark which
ppened to fall οn it; as for the second, his body
as convered, all at once, from head to toe with the
isease that he had assigned to himself as a penalty;
d the third, perceiving the hap of the οther
o, and fearing the ineritable judgement of God
who seeth all, made public confession of what they
plotted together in common. Yet, in the act of
repentance, so great were the lamentations by
hich he was wasted, so many were the tears that
me unceasingly poured forth, that both eyes were
troyed. 
 such were the punishments that these men suffered
 their falsehood.

X. But as Narcissus had retired
no one knew where he might be, it seemed good
those presiding over the neighbouring churches to
eed to the appointment οf another bishop. Ηis
e was Dius. Αfter a brief presidency he was
cceeded by Germanion, and he in turn by Gordius.

 
In his day Narcissus appeared from somewhere, as if
come to life again, and was onee more summoned to
the presideney by the brethren, for all admired him
to a still greater degree because of his retirement
and philosophic life, and especially because οf the
punishment with which God had deemed it meet to
avenge him.

XI. Αnd when he was no longer able to perform
the ministry on account of ripe old age, the abovementioned1
Alexander, being bishop of another
community, was called by a dispensarion of God to a
joint ministry with Narcissus, by a revelation which
appeared to him in a vision at night. Whereupon,
as if in obedience to some oraele, he made the journey
rom the land of the Cappadocians, where he was
rst deemed worthy of the episeopate, to Jerusalem,
for the purpose of prayer and investigation οf the
sacred] places. The people there gave him the most
ordial welcome, and suffered him not to return home
gain, in accordance with another revelation which
as seen by them also at night, and which vouchsafed
n identieal utterance of the clearest kind to those
f them who were peculiarly zealous. For it indieated
o them to go forth outside the gates and welcome as
heir bishop him who was fore-ordained of God. Αnd
oing this, with the common consent of the bishops
ho were administering the churches round about,
hey compelled him of necessity to remain. Αnd in
fact Alexander himself in a personal letter to the
ntinoites,2 which is still to this day preserved
, mentions Narcissus as holding the chief place
long with him, writing as follows, in these very words,

 
the close of the letter: “Narcissus greets you,
who before me was holding the position of bishop
here, and now is associated with me in the prayers,
aving completed 116 years; and exhorts you, as I
likewise, to be of one mind.” 
 So was it with these matters. But when Serapion
tered upon his rest, Asclepiades succeeded to the
ishopric of the chureh at Antioch, and he was
self distinguished for his confessions in the
(??)ersecution. Αlexander also his his appointent,
writing thus to the Antiochenes: “Αlexander,
slave and prisoner οf Jesus Christ, to the blessed
urch of the Antioehenes, greeting in the Lord.
Light and easy did the Lord make my bonds, when
learnt at the time οf my imprisonment that by the
vine Ρrovidence Αsclepiades, whose worthy faith
es him most suitable, had been entrusted with the
ishopric of your holy church of the Antiochenes.” 
 This epistle he indicates had been sent by the hand
f Clement,1 writing at the close in this
is letter I send unto you, my dear brethren, by the
and of Clement the blessed presbyter, a man
irtuous and approved, of whom ye yourselves also
ve heard, and with whom ye will become acquainted;
o also, when he was present here in accordance
h the providence and overseership of the Master,
th stablished and increased the Church of the
rd.”

XII. Νοw it is likely, indeed, that other memoirs
, the fruit of Serapion's literary studies, are
reserved by other persons, but there have come
wn to us only those addressed To Domnus, οne
ho had fallen away from the faith of Christ, at the
 

 
time of the persecution, to Jewish will-worship; and
those To Pontius and Caricus, churchmen, and other
letters to other persons; and another book has been
composed by him Concerning what is known as the
Gospel of Peter,1 which he has written refuting
false statements in it, because of certain in the community
of Rhossus, who οn the ground of the said
writing turned aside into heterodox teaehings. It
will not be unreasonable to quote a short passage
from this work, in which he puts forward the view
he held about the book, writing as follows: “For
οur part, brethren, we receive both Peter and the
οther apostles as Christ, but the writings which falsely
bear their names we reject, as men of experience,
knowing that such were not handed down to us. For
I myself, when I eame among you, imagined that all
οf you clung to the true faith; and, without going
through the Gospel put forward by them in the name
f Peter, I said: If this is the only thing that
seemingly causes captious feelings among you, let
it be read. But since I have now learnt, from what
has been told me, that their mind was lurking in
some hole οf hersey,2 I shall give diligence to come
again to you; wherefore, brethren, expect me quikly.
ut we, brethren, gathering to what what of heresy
arcianus3 belonged (who4 used to contradict himself,
not knowing what he was saying, as ye will learn
 

 
from what has been written to you), were enabled1 by
οthers who studied this very Gospel, that is, by the
successors of those who began it, whom we call
Docetae2 (for most of the ideas belong to their
teaching)—using [the material supplied] by
were enabled to go through it and discover that the
most part indeed was in accordance with the true
teaching of the Saviour, but that some things were
added, which also we place below for your benefit.”

XIII. Such are the writings of Serapion.
But of Clement the Stromateis, all the eight books,
are preserved with us, upon whieh he bestowed the
following title: “Titus Flavius Clement's Stromateis3
of Gnostic Memoirs according to the True Philosophy”;
and οf equal number with these are his books entitled
Hypotyposeis,4 in which he mentions Ρantaenus by
name as his teaeher, and has set forth his interpretations
of the scriptures and his traditons. There is
also a book of his, the Exhorlalion to the Greeks,5
and the three books of the work entitled Paedagogus,
and Who is the Rich Man that is being Saved?5 (such
is the title of another book of his), and the treatise
Οn the Pascha, and discourses Οn Fasting and Οn
Slander, and the Exhortation to Endurance, or To
the Recently Baptized,5 and the [book] entitled the
Ecclesiastical Cannon, or Against the Judaizers,6 which
he has dedicated to Alexander, the bishop mentioned
above.7
the bedelothes. Hence works of a miscellaneous character
were thus entitled, not οnly by Clement, but also by Plutarch
and Origen (see 24. 3). 
 

 
 Νow in the Stromateis he has composed a patchwork,
not only of the divine Scripture, but of the
writings of the Greeks as well, if he thought that
they also had said anything useful, and he mentions
opinions from many sources, explaining Greek and
barbarian alike, and moreover sifts the false opinions
οf the heresiarchs; and unfolding much history he
gives us a work of great erudition. With all these
he mingles also the opinions of philosophers, and so
he has suitably made the title of the Stromateis to
correspond to the work itself. Αnd in them he has
also made use of testimonies from the disputed
writings, the known known as the Wisdom of Solomon,
and the Wisdom of Jesus the Son of sirach, and the
Epistle to the Hebrews, and those of Barnabas, and
Clement, and Jude; and he mentions Tatian's book
Against the Greeks, and Cassian, sinee he also had
composed a chronography,1 and moreover Philo and
Aristobulus and Josephus and Demetrius and
Eupolemus, Jewish writers, in that they would show,
all of them, in writing, that Moses and the Jewish
race went back further in their origins than the
Greeks.2 Αnd the books of Clement, of which we
are speaking, are full of much other useful learning.
Ιn the first of these he shows with reference to
himself that he came very near to the successors of
the Αpostles3; and he promises in them also to
write a commentary on Genesis.4 
 Αnd in his book Οn the Pascha he professes that
he was compelled by his companions to commit to
 

 
writing traditions that he had heard from the elders
οf olden time, for the benefit or those that should
come after; and he mentions in it Melito and
Irenaeus and some others, Whose accounts also of the
matter he has set down.

XIV. Αnd in the Hypotyposeis, to speak briefly,
he has given concise explanations of all the Canonical
scriptures, not passing over even the disputed writings,
Ι mean the Epistle of Jude and the remaining
Catholic Εpistles, and the Epistle of Barnabas,
the Apocalypse known as Peter's. Αnd as for
Εpistle to the Hebrews, he says indeed that it is
Paul's, but that it was written for Hebrews in the
Ηebrew tongue, and that Luke, having carefully
translated it, published it for the Greeks; hence,
as a result of this translation, the same complexion
of style is found in this Epistle and in the Acts: but
that the [words] “Paul an apostle” were
not prefixed. For, says he, “in writing to Ηebrews
who had conceived a prejudice against him and were
suspicious of him, he very wisely did not repel them
at the beginning by putting his name.” 
 Then lower down he adds: “But now, as the
blessed elder used to say, since the Lord, being the
apostle of the Αlmighty, was sent to the Hebrews,
ΡauΙ, through modesty, since he had been sent to
the Gentiles, does not inscribe himself as an apostle
οf the Hebrews, both to give due deference to the
Lord and because he wrote to the Ηebrews also out
of his abundance, being a preacher and apostle of the
Gentiles.” 
 Αnd again in the same books Clement has inserted
a tradition of the primitive elders with regard to the
οrder οf the Gospels, as follows. Ηe Said that those

 
Gospels were first written which include the genealogies,
but that the Gospel according to Mark came
into being in this manner1: When Ρeter had
preached the word at Rome, and by the Spirit
Ρroclaimed the Gospel, that those present, who were
many, exhorted Mark, as one who had followed him
for a long time and remembered what had been
spoken, to make a record of what was said; and
that he did this, and distributed the Gospel among
those that asked him. Αnd that when the matter
came to Ρeter’s knowledge he neither strongly forbade
it nor urged it forward. But that John, last
οf all, conscious that the outward2 facts had been
forth in the Gospels, was urged οn by his disciples,
and, divinely moved by the Spirit, composed a
spiritual Gospel. This is Clement's account. 
 Αnd again Αlexander, of whom we spoke before,3
mentions Clement, and at the same time also Pantaenus,
in a certain letter to Origen, as men who
had been known to him. Ηe writes as follows: “For
this also has proved to be the will of God, as thou
knowest, that the friendship that comes to us from
οur forefathers should remain unshaken, nay rather
grow warmer and more stedfast. For we know as
fathers those blessed ones who went before us, with
whom we shall be ere long: Pantaenus, truly blessed
and my master, and the holy Clement, who was my
master and profited me, and all others like them.
Through these I came to know thee, who art the
best in all things, and my master and brother.”
do these matters stand. 
 Now Αdamantius (for this also was Origen's name),
when Zephyrinus was at that time ruling the church
 

 
of the Romans, himself states in writing somewhere
that he stayed at Rome. Ηis words are: “Desiring
to see the most ancient church of the Romans.” 
 Αfter spending a short time there, he returned to
Αlexandria, and indeed continued to fulfil in that city
his customary work οf instruction with all Ζeal,
Demetrius, the bishop of the people there, still
exhorting and wellnigh entreating him to ply
diligently his task of usefulness for the brethren.

XV. But when he saw that he was becoming unable
for the deeper study of diving things, namely, the
examination and translation of the sacred writings,
and in addition for the instruction of those who were
coming to him and did not give him time to breathe
(for one batch of pupils after another kept frequenting
from morn to night his lecture-room), he made a
division of the numbers. seleeting Heraclas from
among his pupils, a man who was Ζealous of divine
things, and, as well, a very learned person and no
tyro in philosophy, he gave him a share in the task
of instruction, assigning to him the preliminary studies
οf those who were just learning their elements, and
reserving for himself the teaching of the experienced
pupils.

XVI. Αnd so accurate was the examination that
Origen brought to bear upon the divine books, that
he even made a thorough study of the Ηebrew tongue,
and got into his own Ρossession the original writings
in the actual Ηebrew characters, which were extant
among the Jews. Thus, too, he traced the editions
οf the other translators οf the sacred writings besides
the Seventy; and besides the beaten track of translations,
that of Αquila and Symmachus and Theodotion,
he discovered certain others, which were used

 
in turn, which, after lying hidden for a long time, he
traced and brought to light, Ι know not from what
recesses. With regard to these, on account of their
obscurity (not knowing whose in the World they were)
he merely indicated this: that the one he found at
Nicopolis, near Αetium, and the other in such another
ρlace. Αt any rate, in the Hexapla1 of the
after the four well-known editions, he placed beside
them not only a fifth but also a sixth and a seventh
translation; and in the case of one of these he has
indicated again that it was found at Jericho in a jar
in the time of Antoninus the son of Severus. Αll
these he brought together, dividing them into clauses
and placing them one over against the other, together
with the actual Hebrew text; and so he has left us
the copies of the Hexapla, as it is called. He made
a further separate arrangement of the edition Οf
Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion together
with that of the Seventy, in the Tetrapla.2

XVII. Now as regards these same translators it is
to be noted that Symmachus was an Ebionite. Those
who belong to the heresy of the Ebionites, as it is
called, affirm that the Christ was born of Joseph and
Μary, and suppose Him to be a mere man, and
strongly maintain that the law ought to be kept in a
more strictly Jewish fashion, as also we saw somewhere
from the foregoing history.3 Αnd
too of Symmachus are still extant, in which, by his
opposition to the Gospel according to Matthew, he
seems to hold the above-mentioned heresy. These,
along with other interpretations of the Scriptures by
 

 
Symmachus, Οrigen indicates that he had received
from a certain Juliana, who, he says, inherited in her
turn the books from Symmachus himself.

XVIII. Αt this time also Ambrose, who held the
views of the heresy of Valentinus,1 was refuted
truth as presented by Origen, and, as if his mind were
illuminated by light, gave his adhesion to the true
doctrine as taught by the Church. And many other
cultured persons, since Origen's fame was noised
abroad everywhere, came to him to make trial οf the
man's sufficiency in the sacred books. Αnd numbers
of the heretics, and not a few of the most distinguished
philosophers, gave earnest heed to him, and, one
might almost say, were instructed by him in secular
philosophy as well as in divine things. For he used
to introduce also to the study of philosophy as many
as he saw were naturally gifted, imparting geometry
and arithmetic and the οther preliminary subjects,
and then leading them on to the systems which are
found among philosophers, giving a detailed account
of their treatises commenting upon and examining
into each, so that the man was proclaimed as a great
philosopher even among the Greeks themselves. Αnd
many persons also of a more ignorant character he
urged to take up the ordinary elementary studies,
declaring that they would derive no small advantage
from these when they came to examine and study
the drvine Scriptures. For this reason he deemed
especially necessary even for himself a training in
secular and philosophic studies.

XIX. Νow, as witnesses also to his achievements in
this direction, we have the Greek philosophers themselves
who flourished in his day, in whose treatises
 

 
we find frequent mention οf the man. sometimes
they would dedicate their books to him, sometimes
submit their οwn labours to him for judgement, as
to a master. But why need one say this, when even
Porphry,1 who settled in our day in Sicily,
treatises against us, attempting in them to slander
the sacred Scriptures, and mentioned those who had
given their interpretations of them? Αnd since he
could not by any means bring any base charge against
our opinions, for lack of argument he turned to deride
and slander their interpreters also, and among these
origen especially. Ηe says that in his early manhood
he had known him; and he tries to slander the man,
but unknown to himself really commends him, telling
the truth in some cases, where he could not speak
otherwise, in οthers telling lies, where he thought he
could escape detection; and at one time accusing
him as a Christian, at another describing his devotion
to the study οf philosophy. 
 But hear the very words that he uses: “Some, in
their eagerness to find an explanation of the wickedness
of the Jewish writings rather than give them up,
had recourse to interpretations that are incompatible
and do not harmonize with what has been
offering not so much a defence of what was outlandish
as commendation and praise of their own work. For
they boast that the things said plainly by Moses
are riddles, treating them as divine oracles full of
hidden mysteries, and bewitching the mental judgement
by their own pretentious obscurity; and so
they put forward their interpretations.” 
 Then, after other remarks, he says: “But this
 

 
kind οf absurdity must be traced to a man whom I
met when I was still quite young, who had a great
reputation, and still holds it, because of the writings
he has left behind him, I mean Oregen, whose fame
has been widespread among the teachers of this kind
of learning. For this man was a hearer of Ammonius,1
who had the greatest proficiency in philosophy in our
day; and so far as a grasp οf knowledge was concerned
he owed much to his master, but as regards
the right choice in life he took the opposite road to
him. For Αnnnonius was a Christian, brought up in
Christian doctrine by his parents, yet, when he began
to think and study philosophy, he immediately
changed his way οf life conformably to the laws; but
Origen, a Greek educated in Greek learning, drove
headlong towards barbarian recklessness; and making
straight for this he hawked himself and his literary
skill about; and while his manner of life was christian
and contrary to the law, in his opinions about material
things and the Deity he played the Greek, and
introduced Greek ideas into foreign fables. For he
was always consorting with Ρlatο, and was conversant
with the writings οf Numenius and Cronius, Apollophanes
and Longinus and Moderatus, Nicomachus
and the distinguished men among the Pythagoreans;
and he used also the books of Chaeremon the Stoic
and Cornutus, from whom he learnt the fingurative
interpretation, as employed in the Greek mysteries,
and applied it to the Jewish writings.” 
 These statements were made by Porphyry in the
third treatise of his writings against Christians. Αnd
while he tells the truth about the man's training and
 

 
erudition, he cleariy lies (for what is the opponent
of Christians not prepared to do ?) where he says
that Origen came over from the Greeks, and that
Ammonius lapsed from a godly life into paganism.
For Οrigen kept safely the Christian teaching
which he had from his parents, as the hitory above
made clear1; and Ammonius maintained his inspired
philosophy pure and unshaken right up to the very
end of his life.2 To this fact the man's works witness
to the present day, and the widespread fame that
he owes to the writings he left behind him, as, for
example, that entitled on the Harmony of Moses
and Jesus, and all the other works that are to be
found in the possession of lovers of literature. 
 Let these things be stated to prove at once the
false one's calumny and Origen's great knowledge
of Greek learning. With regard to such learning
also he writes as follows in a certain epistle, defending
himself against those who found fault with him for
his zeal in that direction: “But as Ι was devoted to
the word, and the fame of οur proficiency was spreading
abroad, there approached me sometimes heretics,
sometimes those conversant with Greek learning, and
especially philosophy, and I thought it right to
examine both the opinions of the heretics, and also
the elaim that the philosophers make to speak
concerning truth. Αnd in doing this we followed the
example of Pantaenus, who, before us, was of assistance
to many, and had acquired no small attainments
in these matters, and also Heraclas, who now has a
seat in the presbytery of the Alexandrians, whom Ι
 

 
und with the teacher οf philosophy, and who had
emained five years with him before I began to
ttend his lectures. Αnd though he formerly wore
dinary dress, on his teacher's account he put it off
and assumed a philosophic garb,1 which he keeps to
this day, all the while studying Greek books as much
as possible. ” 
 This, indeed, is what he wrote in defence οf his
Greek training. But at this time, while he was
living at Alexandria, one of the militray appeared
οn the scene and delivered letters to Demetrius, the
bishop οf the community, and to the then governor
of the province οf Egypt, from the ruler of Αrabia,
to the intent that he should send Origen with all
peed for an interview with him. Ηe duly arrived
in Arabia, but soon accomplished the object οf his
journey thither, and returned again to Αlexandria.
But after the lapse of some time no small warfare 2
broke out again in the city, and leaving Alexandria
secretly he went to Ρalestine and abode at Caesarea.
And although he had not yet received ordination to
the presbyterate, the bishops there requested him to
discourse and expound the divine Scriptures publicly
the church. That this is so is clear from what
lexander, the bishop οf Jerusalem, and Theotistus,
the bishop of Caesarea, write with reference
Demetrius. They make their defence somewhat
follows : “ Αnd he added to his letter that such a
ing had never been heard οf, nor taken plaee
itherto, that laymen should preach in the presence
f bishops ; though I do not know how he comes to
 

 
say what is evidently not true. For instance, where
ere are found persons suited to help the brethren,
ey also are invited to preach to the people by the
οly bishops, as, for example, in Laranda Εuelpis by
eon, and in Iconium Paulinus by Celsus, and in
ynnada Theodore by Αttieus, our brother
ishops. Αnd it is likely that this thing happens in
ther places also without οur knowing it. ” 
 In this way honour was paid to the man of whom
we are speaking, while he was still young, not only
y his fellow-countrymen but also by the bishops
in a foreign land. But since Demetrius once again
ecalled him by letter, and by men who were deacons
f the Church urged him to come back with speed
Alexandria, he retumed and continued to labour
ith his accustomed zeal.

XX. Νow there flourished at that time many
earned churchemen, and the letters which they
enned to οne another are still extant and easily
ccessible. They have been preserved even to our
ay in the library at Aelia,1 equipped by Alexander,
en ruling the church there ; from which also we
have been able ourselves to gather together the
aterial for our present work. 
 Of these Beryllus has left behind him, as well as
etters, varied and beautiful compositions. Ηe was
ishop of the Arabians at Bostra. Αnd likewise also
ippolytus,2 who also presided over another church
mewhere. 
 Αnd there has reached us also a Dialogue of Gaius,
 

 
a very learned person (which was set a-going at Rome
in the time of Zephyrinus), with Ρroclus the champion
οf the heresy of the Phrygians.1 In which,
curbing the recklessness and audacity of his
opponents in composing new Scriptures, he mentions
οnly thirteen epistles of the holy Apostle, not
numbering the Epistle to the Ηebrews with the
rest ; seeing that even to this day among the Romans
there are some Who do not consider it to be the
Apostle's.

XXI. But indeed when Αntoninus had reigned for
seven years and six months he was succeeded by
Macrinus 2 ; and when he had eontinued in office for
a year, again another Antoninus 3 received the Roman
government. In the first year of the latter, Zephyrinus,
the bishop of the Romans, 4 departed this life,
having held the ministry for eighteen entire years. 
 After him Callistus was entrusted with the episcopate;
he survived five years and then left the
ministry to Urban.
Αfter this the Εmperor Αlexander suceeeded to
the principate of the Romans, Αntoninus having
continued in office for only four years. Αt this time
also Ρhiletus succeeded Asclepiades in the church
f the Αntioehenes. 
 Origen's fame was now universal, so as to reach the
ars οf the Εmperor’s mother, Μamaea by name, a
ligious woman if ever there was one. She set great
tore οn securing a sight of the man, and on testing
at understanding οf divine things which was the
onder of all. She was then staying at Αntioch, and
moned him to her presence with a military escort.
 

 
And when he had stayed with her for some time, and
shown her very many things that were for the glory
of the Lord and the excellence of the divine teaching,
he hastened back to his accustοmed duties.

XXII. Αt that very time alsο Ηippolytus, besides
very many other memoirs, cοmposed the treatise οn
Pascha in which he sets fοrth a register of the
and puts fοrward a certain canon of a sixteenyears
ars cycle for the Ρascha, using the first year οf the
Emperοr Αlexander as a tenninus in measuring his
(??)tes. of his other treatises the folloπing have
ceached us : Οn the Hexaëmeron,1 On what followed
the Hexaëmeron, Against Marcion, Οn the Sοng, On
Parts of Εzekiel, Οn the Pascha, Against All the
Heresies; and very many οthers also might be found
preserved by many people.

XXIII. starting Dom that time also Origen’s
commentaries on the divineScriptures had their
beginning, at the instigation οf Αmbrose, who not
plied him with innumerable verbal exhortations
encouragements, but also provided him untintingly
what was necessary. For as he
Hictated there were ready at hand mοre than seven
chorthand-writers, who relieved each other at fixed
and as many copyists, as well as girls skilled
penmanship; for all of whom Αmbrose supplied
without stint the necessary means. Νay further, he
contributee to origen a vast amount of zeal in the
carnest study of the divine oracles, a zeal which more
chan anything else acted as an incentive to him tο
compose his commentarieses. 
 

 
 Such was the state of affairs when Pontianus succeeded
Urban, who had been bishop of the chureh of
the Romans for eight years, and Ζebennus came after
Ρhiletus as [bishop] of the [church] of the Antiochenes.
In their day Οrigen journeyed to Greece through
Palestine because of an urgent necessity in Chureh
matters, and reveived the laying-on of hands for the
presbyterate at Caesarea from the bishops there.
The agitation that was set on foot concerning him on
this aeeount, and the decistions made by those who
presided over the chuiehes on the matters agitated,
as well as the other contributions that he made as he
was reaching his prime to the study of the divine
Word, require a separate composition, and we have
given a fairly full account of them in the seeond
[book] of the Apology that we have written on his
behalf.

XXIV. But to that information it is necessary to
add that in the sixth of his Expositions οn the
[Gospel] according to John he indicates that he composed
the first five while he was still at Alexandria ;
but of this work on the whole of the selfsame Gospel
only twenty-two tomes have come our way. Αnd
[We must also state] that in the ninth of those On
Genesis (there are twelve in all) he shows that not
only were those before the ninth written at Alexandria,
but also [his commentary] on the first twentyfive
Psalms, and, as well those on Lamentations, of
which there have come to us five tomes. In these he
mentions also those Οn the Resurrection, of which
there are two. Moreover he wrote his De Principiis
before his removal from Alexandria, and he composed
the [books] entitled Stromateis, ten in number, in
the same city in the reign of Alexaner, as is shown

 
by the annotations in his own hand in front of the
tomes.

XXV. Νow while expounding the first Ρsalm he
set forth the catalogue of the sacred Scriptures of the
Old Testament, writing somewhat as follows in these
words : “ But it should be known that there are
twenty-two canonical books, according to the Ηebrew
tradition ; the same as the number of the letters of
their alphabet." 
 Then further on he adds as follows : “ These are
the twenty-two books according to the Ηebrews :
That which is entitled with us Genesis, but with the
Hebrews, from the beginning of the books, Bresith,
that is ῾ In the beginning.᾿ Exodus,
that is, ῾ These ‘These are
‘ Αnd he called.᾿ Νumbers, Αmmes phekodeim. 
Deuteronomy, Elle addebareim, ‘ These are the
words.᾿ Jesus the son of Nave, Iosoue ben
Judges, Ruth, with them in one books, Sophteim. 2 Οf
Kingdoms i, ii, with them one, Samuel, ‘The called
of God.᾿ Οf Kingdoms iii, iv, in one,
david, that is, ‘The Kingdom of David. Chronicles
i, ii, in one, Dabreݲ iamein, that is, ‘Words of
Esdras i, ii, in one, Ezra, that is, ῾Helper.᾿ Book
Ρsalms, Sphar thelleim. Proverbs of Solomon,
Meloݲth. Ecelesiastes, Koݲelth. Song of
as some suppose, Songs of Songs), Sir assireim.
Esaias, Iessia. Jeremiah with Lamentations and the
Letter, in one, Jeremia. Daniel, Danieݲl.
Ezekieݲl. Job, Joݲb. Esther, Estheݲr.
 

 
these there are the Maccabees, which are entitled Sar beth sabanai el."1 
 These things he inserts in the above-mentioned
treatise. But in the first of his [Commentaries] on
the Gospel according to Mattheru defending the canon
of the Church, he gives his testimony that he knowns
only four Gospels, writing somewhat as follows:
“. . . as having learnt by tradition concerning
four Gospels, which alone are unquestionable in the
Church of God under heaven, that first was written
that according to Matthew, who was once a taxcollector
but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ,
who published it for those who from Judaism came to
believe, composed as it was in the Hebrew language.
secondly, that according to Mark, who wrote it in
accordance with Peter's instructions, whom also Ρeter
aeknowledged as his son in the catholic epistle,
speaking in these terms : ‘She that is in Babylon,
elect together with you, saluteth you ; and so doth
Μark my son.᾿ Αnd thirdly, that according to
who wrote, for those who from the Gentiles [came to
believe], the Gospel that was praised by Ρaul. Αfter
them all, that according to John.” 
 Αnd in the fifth of his Expositions οn the Gospel
according to John the same person says this with
reference to the epistles of the apostles : “But he
who was made suffieient to become a minister of the
new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit, even
Ρaul, who fully preached the Gospel from Jerusalem
and round about even unto Illyricum, did not so
much as write to all the Churches that he taught ;
and even to those to which he wrote he sent but a few
 

 
lines. Αnd Ρeter, on whom the Church of Christ is
built, against which the gates of Ηades shall not
prevail, has left one acknowledged epistle, and, it
may be, a second also ; for it is doubted. Why need
I speak of him who leaned back on Jesus᾿
John, who has left behind one Gospel, confessing that
he could write so many that even the world itself
could not contain them ; and he wrote also the
Apocalypse, being ordered to keep silence and not
to write the voices of seven thunders ?. Ηe has left
also an epistle of a very few lines, and, it may be, a
second and a third ; for not all say that these are
genuine. Οnly, the two of them together are not a
hundred lines long.” 
 Furthermore, he thus discusses the Εpistle to the
Ηebrews, in his Homilies upon it : “That the charaeter
of the dietion of the epistle entitled To the Ηebrews
has not the ’s rudeness in speech, who confessed
himself rude in speech, that is, in style, but
that the epistle is better Greek in the framing of its
dietion, will be admitted by everyone who is able to
discern differences of style. But again, on the other
hand, that the thoughts of the epistle are admirable,
and not inferior to the acknowledged writings of the
apostle, to this also everyone will consent as true who
has given attention to reading the apostle.” 
 Further on, he adds the following remarks : “But
as for myself, if I were to state my own opinion, I
should say that the thoughts are the apostle's
that the style and composition belong to one who
called to mind the apostle's teachings and, as, it

 
made short notes of what his master said. Ιf any
church, therefore,holds this epistle as Ρaul’s, let it be
commended for this also. For not without reason
have the men of old time handed it down as Ρaul’s.
But who wrote the epistle, in truth God knows. Yet
the account which has reaehed us [is twofold], some
saying that Clement, who was bishop οf the Romans,
wrote the epistle, others, that it was Luke, he who
wrote the Gospel and the Acts.”

XXVI. But this must suffice on these matters.
Νow it was in the tenth year of the above-mentioned
reign1 that Origen removed from Αlexandria to
Caesarea, leaving to Ηeraclas the Catechetical School
for those in the city. Αnd not long afterwards
Demetrius, the bishop οf the church οf the Alexandrians,
died, having continued in the ministry for
forty-three entire years. Ηe was succeeded by
Heraclas.

XXVII, Νow at this time Firmilian, bishop of
Caesarea in Cappadocia, was distinguished ; he displayed
such esteem for Origen, that at one time he
would summon him to his own parts for the benefit of
the churches ; at another, Journey himself Judaea,
and spend some time with him for his own betterment
in divine things. Νay further, Alexander, who presided
over the [church] of Jerusalem, and Theoctistus,
[who presided] at Caesarea, continued their attendance
on him the whole time, as their only teacher, and
used to concede to him the task of expounding the
divine Scriptures, and the οther parts of the Church’s
instruction.

XXVIII. But to resume. When Alexander the
 

 
Emperor of the Romans had brought his principate to
an end after thirteen years, he was suceeeded by
Maximin Caesar.1 Ηe, through ill-will towards the
house of Alexander, since it consisted for the most
part of beievers, raised a persecution, ordering the
leaders of the Church alone to be put to death, as
being responsible for the teaching of the Gospel.
nen aho Origen composed his work On Martyrdom,
dedicating the treatise to Ambrose and Protoctetus, a
presbyter of the commurity at Caesarea ; for in the
persecution no ordinary distress had befallen them
both, in which distress it is recorded that these men
were distinguished for the confession they made
during the period, not more than three years, that
the reign of Maximin lasted. Origen has noted this
particular time for the persecution, in the twentysecond
of his Expositions of the Gospel according to
John, and in various letters.

XXIX. Gordian having succeeded to the Roman
government after Maximin,2 Pontianus, when he had
been bishop of the church of Rome for six years, was
succeeded by Anteros; who exercised his ministry
for a month, and was succeeded by Fabian. It is
said that Fabian, after the death οf Αnteros, came
from the country along with others and stayed at
Rome, where he came to the office in a most miraculous
manner, thanks to the divine and heavenly grace.
For when the brethren were all assembled for the
purpose of appointing him who should succeed to the
episcopate, and very many notable and distinguished
ersons were in the thoughts of many, Fabian, who
as there, came into nobody's mind. But all of
udden, they relate, a dove flew down from above and
 

 
settled οn his head, in clear imitation of the deseent
οf the Ηoly Ghost in the form of a dove upon the
saviour ; whereupon the whole people, as if moved
by one divine inspiration, with all eagerness and with
οne soul cried out “worthy,” and without more ado
took him and placed him on the episcopal throne. 
 Αt that very time also Ζebennus, bishop of Antioch,
departed this life and Babylas succeeded to the rule ;
and in Alexandria, Ηeraclas, having received the
ministry after Demetrius, was succeeded in the
Catechetical School there by Dionysius, who had
also been one of Οrigen’s pupils.

XXX. Νow while Οrigen was playing his accustomed
tasks at Caesarea, many came to him, not only of
the natives, but also numbers of foreign pupils who
had left their own countries. Αmong these as
especially distinguished we know to have been
Theodore, who was the selfsame person as that
renowned bishop in our day, Gregory, and his brother
Αthenodore. Both of them were strongly enamoured
of Greek and Roman Studies, but Origen instilled into
them a passion for philosophy and urged them to
exchange their former love for the study of divine
truth.1 Five whole years they continued with him,
and made such progress in divine things that while
still young both of them were deemed worthy of
the episcopate in the churehes of Pontus.

XXXI. Αt that time Africanus also, the author of
the books entitled Cesti,2 was well known. Α letter
οf his, written to Οrigen, is extant ; he was at a loss
as to whether the story of Susanna in the book of
 

 
Daniel were a spurious forgery. Origen makes a
very full reply to it. Αnd of the same Africanus
there have reached us as well five books οf Chronographies,
a monument of labour and accuracy. In
these he says that he himself made a journey to
Alexandria because οf the great fame of Ηeraclas ;
who, as we have stated,1 was greatly distinguished
for philosophy and other Greek learning, and was
entrusted with the bishopric of the church there.
Αnd another letter of the same Αfricanus is extant,
to Αristides, On the supposed discord between the
Genealogies of Christ in Matthew and Luke. In it
he establishes very clearly the harmony οf the evangelists
from an account that came down to him, which
by anticipation I set forth in the proper place in the
first book of the present work.2

XXXII. Αnd Origen too at this time was composing
his Commentaries οn Isaiah, and at the same time
those also οn Ezekiel. Of the former, thirty tomes
have come our way on the third part of Ιsaiah, up to
the vision of the beasts in the desert ; and on Ezekiel
five and twenty, the only ones that he has written
οn the whole prophet. Αnd having come at that
time to Αthens, he finished the commentary on
Ezekiel, and began that on the song of Songs,
carrying it forward there up to the fifth book. And
returning to Caesarea he brought these also to an
end, numbering ten. Why should one draw up the
exact catalogue of the man's works here and
seeing that sueh would require a special study ? Αnd
 

 
we did record it in our account of the life of Pamphilus,
that holy martyr of our day, in which, in showing
the extent οf Pamphilus’s zeal for divine things,
quoted as evidence the lists in the library that
had brought together of the works of Origen and of
other ecclesiastical writers; writers ; and from
who pleases can gather the fullest knowledge of the
works of Origen that have reached us. But We must
now proceed with οur history.

XXXIII. Beryllus, who, as we have mentioned a
little above,1 was bishop of Bostra in Αrabia, perverting
the Church’s standard, attempted to introduce
things foreign to the faith, daring to say that
our Saviour and Lord did not pre-exist in an individual
existence of Ηis own before Ηis coming to reside
among men, nor had Ηe a divinity of Ηis own,
only the Father’s dwelling in Ηim.
after a large number of bishops had held questionings
and discussions with the man, Origen being invited
along with others, entered in the first place into
conversation with the man to discover what Were his
opinions, and when he knew what it was that he
asserted, he corrected what was unorthodox, and,
persuading him by reasoning, established him in the
truth as to the doctrine, and restored him to his
former sound opinion. Αnd there are still extant
to this very day records in writing both of Beryllus
and of the synod that was held on his account, which
contain at once the questions Οrigen put put him and
the discussions that took place in his own community,
and all that was done on that occasion. And a great
many other things about Origen have been handed
down to memory by the older men of our day, which
 

 
I think it well to pass over, as they do not concern
the Ρresent work. But all that it was necessary to
know of his affairs, these also one may gather from
the Apology that was written on his behalf by us
and Ρamphilus, that holy martyr Of our day, a work
that we were at pains to compose conjointly because
of the fault-finders.

XXXXIV. When after six whole years Gordian
broadught his government of the Romans to an end,
Ρhilip along with his sOn Ρhilip suceeeded to the
principate.1 It is recorded that he, being a Christian,
wished on the day of the last paschal vigil to share
along with the multitude the Ρrayers at the church,
but was not permitted to enter by him who was then
preriding until he eonfessed and numbered himself
among those who were reckoned to be in sins and
were occupying the place of penitence; for that
otherwise, had he not done so, he would never have
been received by [the president] on account of the
many charges made concerning him. Αnd it is said
that he obeyed readily, displaying by his actions how
genuine and pious was his disposition towards the
fear of God.

XXXV. It was the third year of his regin 2 when
Ηeraclas departed this life, after Ρresiding for sixteen
years over the churches at Αlexandria; Dionysius
took up the episcopal office.

XXXVI. Then indeed, as was fitting, When the
faith was inereasing and our doctrine was boldly
proclaimed in the ears of all, it is said that Οrigen,
who was over sixty years Οf age, inasmuch as he had
now acquired immeense facility from long preparation,3
Ρermitted shorthand-writers to take down the dis-
 

 
delivered by him in public, a thing that he
had never before allowed. 
 Αt that time also he composed the treatises, eight
in number, in answer to the work against us, entitled
True Discourse of Celsus the Epicurean. and
twenty-five tomes on the Gospel according to
Μatthew, and those on the twelve prophets, of which
we found only five and twenty. Αnd there is extant
alSo a letter of his to the Emperor Philip himself,
and another to his wife Severa, and narious other
letters to various persons. Αs many of these as we
have been able to bring together, preserved as they
were here and there by various persons, we arranged
in separate roll-eases, so that they might no longer
be dispersed. These letters number more than a
hundred. Αnd he wrote also to Fabian the bishop
of Rome, and to very many other rulers of churches,
with reference to his orthodoxy. You will find these
facts also established in the sixth book of the Apology
We wrote on the ’s hehalf.

XXXVII. Οnce more in Αrabia at the above-men-
tioned time other persons sprang up, introducing a
doctrine foreign to the truth, and saying that the
human soul dies for a while in this present time, along
with our bodies, at their death, and with them turns
to corruption; but that hereafter, at the time of the
resurrection, it will come to life again along with
them. Moreover, when a synod of no small dimensions
was then assembled together, Origen was again
invited, and there opened a discussion in public on
the subject in question, with sueh power that he
changed the opinions of those who had formerly been
deluded.

XXXVIII. Αt that time also another perverse

 
opinion had its beginning, the heresy known as that
οf the Helkesaites, whic no sooner began than it was
quenched. Origen mentions it in a public address οn
the eighty-second Psalm, some such words as these:
“There has come just now a certain man who prides
himself on being able to champion a godless and very
impious οpinion, of the Helkesaites, as it is ealled,
which has lately come into opposition with the
churches. I shall lay before you the mischievous
teachings ofthat opinion, that you may not be carried
away by it. It rejects some things from every
scripture; agam; it has made use texts from every
part ofthe old Testament and the Gospels; rejects
the Αpostle entirely. Αnd it says that to deny is a
matter of of indifference, and that the ffisereet man will
on occasions of necessity deny with his mouth, but
not in his heart. Αnd they produee a certain book
οf which they say that it has fallen from heaven, and
that he who has heard it and beldieves will reeeive
forgiveness οf his sins — a forgiveness other than that
which Christ Jesus has bestowed.”

XXXIX. But to resume. When Philip had reigned
for seven years he was succeeded by Decius. 1 Ηe, on
account of his enmity towards Philip, raised a persecution
against the churches, in which Fabian was
pertected by martyrdom at Rome, and was sueceeded
in the episeopate by Cornelius. 
 In Palestine, Αlexander, the bishop of the church of
Jerusalem, appeared οnce more for Chrisrt’s sake
caesarea before the governor’s courts, and for
second time distinguished himself by the confession
he made; he underwent the trial of imprisonment,
crowned with the venerable hoary loeks of ripe old
age. Αnd when after the splenffid and manifest

 
testimony that he gave in the governor’s courts
asleep in prison, Mazabanes was proclaimed as
is successor in the episeopate at Jerusalem. 
 Αnd when at Αntioch Babvlas, in like manner to
lexander, after confession departed this life in
rison, Fabius was made president of the church
ere. 
 Now the nature and extent of that which happened
to Origen at the time of the persecution, and what
was the end thereof; how the evil demon marshalled
ll his forces in rivalry agrialnst the man, how he led
them with every derivlce and power, and singled him
ut, above all others upon whom he made war at that
ime, for special attack; the nature and extent of
which he endured for the word of Christ, chains
d tortures, punishments infficted on his body,
unishments as he lay in iron and in the recesses of
is dungion; and how, when for many days his feet
ere stretched four spaces in that instrument of
rture, the stoeks, he bore with a stout heart threats
f fire and everything else that was inflicted by his
nemies; and the kind of issue he had thereof, the
udge eagerly striving with all his might on no account
put him to death; and what sort of sayings he
eft behind him after this, sayings full ofhelp for those
ho needed uplifting —[of all these matters] the man’s
umerous letters contain both a true and aecurate
count.

XL. Αs to that which befell Dionysius, I shall
uote from a letter of his against Germanus, where,
eaking of himself, he gives the following account :
Now I for my part speak also before God, and Ηe
οws if I lie. Αcting not on my οwn judgement nor
art from God have I taken flight; but οn a former

 
occasion also when the persecution under Decius was
blicly proclaimed, that selfsame hour Sabinus sent
frumentarius1 to seek me out, and οn my part I
emained four days at my house, expeeting the
ival of the frumentarius; but he went around
earching everything, the roads, the rivers, the fields,
here he suspected I was hidden or walking, but was
olden with blindness and did not find the house.
or he did not believe that, pursued as I was, Ι was
aying at home. Αnd after the fourth day, when
od bade me depart, and miraculously made a way,
ith difficulty did I and the boys2 and many of the
rethren set out together. Αnd that this Was the
οrk of the Dirine Providence, the sequel showed,
which we proved helpful, it may be, to some.” 
 Then, after some intervening remarks, he tells what
appened to him after the ffight, adffing as follows:
‘ For I, indeed, falling about sunset into the hands
of the soldiers, together with those who were with
was brought to Taposiris,3 but Timothy by the
ivine Providence happened to be absent and to
cape being seized; but coming afterwards he found
house deserted and senants guarffing it, and us
mpletely taken ” 
 Αnd further on he says: “Αnd what was the way
which Ηe wonderfully brought it about? For the
shall be told. one of the country-folk met
imonthy fleeing and distraught, and inquired the
ason of his haste. Αnd he spoke οut the truth, and
when the other heard it (now he was off to take part
 

 
in a marriage-feast, for it is their custom to spend the
tire night in such gatherings) he went in and told
e who were reclining at table. Αnd they all, with
single impulse, as if at a preconcerted signal, rose
, and came running wtih all speed; and bursting
upon us they gave a shout, and when the soldiers
at were guarding us straightway took to ffight, they
e up to us, lying ns we were on pallets without
dding. Αnd I—God knows that at Rrst I
ey were robbers coming to plunder and steal—
yed on the bed, naked save for my linen shirt, and
e rest οf my gannents that were lying by I held
t to them. But they bade me get up and go out
th all speed. Αnd then, gathering why they were
e, I cried out, begging and beseeching them to go
y and leave us alone; and I asked them, if they
hed to do me a good turn, to anticipate those who
leading me away and to cut off my head themves.
Αnd while I was thus shouting, as those who
e my compaions and partakers in everything
, they raised me up forcibly. Αnd I let myself
οn my back on the ground, but they seized me by
hands and feet and dragged and brought me
ide. Αnd there followed me the witnesses of all
e things, Gaius, Faustus, Peter and Ρaul; who
took me up in their arms and brought me out
e little town, and setting me on the bare back of
led me away.” Such is the account
concerning himself.

XLI. But the same person in a letter to Fabius,
of the Antiochenes, gives the following account
contests of those who suffered martyrdom at
dria under Decius: “It was not with the
ial edict that the persecution began amongst

 
us, blrt it preceded it by a whole year; and that
prophet and creator οf evils for this eity, whoever he
was, was beforehand in stirring and inciting the masses
οf the heathen against us, fanning anew the flame of
their native superstition. Aroused by him and seizing
upon all authority for their unholy deeds, they conceived
that this kind of worship of their gods—the
thirsting for οur blood—was the only form of piety. 
 “First, then, they seized an old man named Metras,
and bade him utter blasphemous words; and when
le refused to οbey they belaboured his body with
udgels, stabbed his face and eyes with sharp reeds,
and leading him to the suburbs stoned him. 
 “Then they led a woman called Quinta, a believer,
the idol temple, and were for forcing her to
worship. But when she turned away and showed her
lisgust, they bound her by the feet and dragged her
through the whole city over the rough pavement,
hat she was bruised by the big stones, beating her
ll the while; and bringing her to the same place
hey stoned her to death. Then with one accord they
II rushed to the houses of the godly, and, falling
ach upon those whom they recognized as neighbours,
hey harried, spoiled and plundered them, appropriting
the more valuable of their treasures, and scatterng
and burning in the streets the cheaper articles and
uch as were made of wood, until they gave the city
he appearance of having been captured by enemies.
ut the brethren gave way and gradually retired,
and, like those of whom Paul also testified, they took
yfully the spoiling of their possessions. Αnd I
now not there be —save, it may it be. some
single one who fell into their —who up to the
resent has denied the Lord. 

 
 “Moreover, they seized then that marvellous aged
virgin Apollonia, broke out all her teeth with blows
οn her jaws, and piling up a pyre before the city
threatened to burn her alive, if she refused to recite
along with them their blasphemous sayings. But she
asked for a brief space, and, being released, without
flinching 1 she leaped into the fire and was consumed. 
 “Serapion they laid hold of at his own home, broke
all his limbs by the severe tortures they inflicted, and
cast him down head foremost from the upper story. 
 “Νow there was no way, no thoroughfare, no alley
by which we could go, either by night or during the
day: alaways and everywhere all were shouting,
that he who did not join in the chorus of blasphemy
must immediately be dragged off and burnt. Αnd
this state of things continued at its height for a
long time. But strife and civil war came upon the
wretehed men, and turned on themselves the fury of
which we had been the object; and for a brief space
we breathed again, since they had no time to indulge
their anger against us. Straightway, however, the
news was spread abroad of the change from that rule
that had been more kindly to us, 2 and great was the
fear of threatened punishment that hung over us.
And, what is more, the edict arriVed, and it was
almost like that which was predicted by our Lord,
wellnigh the most terrible of all, so as, if possible, to
cause to stumble even the elect.3 Ηowsoever that
be, all cowered with fear. Αnd of many of the more
eminent persons, some came forward immediately
through fear, others in public positions were
to do so by their business, and others were
 

 
dragged by those around them. Called by 
approached the impure and unholy sacrifices, some
pale and trembling, as if they were not for sacrificing
but rather to be themselves the sacrifices and victims
to the idols, so that the large crowd that stood around
heaped mockery upon them, and it was evident that
they were by nature cowards in everything, cowards
both to die and to sacrifice. But others ran eageriy
towards the altars, affirming by their forwardness that
they had not been christians even formerly; concerning
whom the Lord very truly predicted that
they shall hardly be saved.1 Of the rest, some
followed one or other of these, others fled ; some
were captured, and οf these some went as far as
bonds and imprisonment, and certain, when they had
been shut up for many days, then forswore themselves
even before coming into court, while others, who
remained firm for a certain time under tortures,
subsequently gave in. 
 “But the firm and blessed pillars ofthe Lord, being
strengthened by Ηim, and receiving power and stedfasness
in due measure according to the mighty faith
that was in them, proved themselves admirable
martyrs οf Ηis kingdom. Of these the first was
Julian, a man who suffered from gout, unable to stand
or walk. Ηe was brought up with two others who
carried him, of whom the one straightway denied;
the οther, Cronion by name, but surnamed Eunus,
and the οld man Julian himself, confessed the Lord,
and were carried upon eamels through the whole city,
very large in extent as ye know, and thus uplifted
were beaten, and in the end, surrounded by all the
 

 
people, burnt in quicklime. Α soldier who stood by
as they were being led off, opposed those who insulted
them ; and, when the crowd cried out, Besas,
that brave warrior of God, was brought up, and after
excelling in the great war of piety was beheaded.
Αnd another, a Libyan by race, Μacar,1 true both
to his name and the [Lord's] benediction, thogh
the judge urged him strongly to deny, was not induced,
and so was burnt alive. Αnd after these
Epimachus and Alexander, when they had remained
a long time in prison, enduring to the countless
agonies from scrapers and scourges, were also burnt
in quicklime. 
 “And with them four women : Ammonarion, a holy
virgin, though tortured vigorously by the judge for
a very long time, inamueh as she had made it plain
beforehand that she would not utter anything of what
he bade her, kept true to her promise, and was led
away. And as to the rest, Mercuria, an aged woman
of reverend mien, and Dionysia, the mother indeed
of many children, who yet did not love them above
the Lord, when the governor was ashamed to ply
continued torture all to no end, and to be worsted
by women,—they were put to death by the
and so had trial of no further tortures. For these
Ammonarion, true champion, had taken upon herself
on behalf of all. 
 “ Hero and Αter and Isidore, Egyptians, and with
them a young boy of about fifteen named
were delivered up. Αnd at first [the governor] tried
to wheedle the Ιad by words, as one easily led astray,
and to compel him by tortures, as one that would
easily give in ; but Dioscrous neither obeyed nor
 

 
yielded. The rest he savagely tore in pieces, and,
when they endured, cοmmitted them also to the
flames. But, marvelling at the splendid bearing of
Dioscorus in public and the wickedse answers he made to
his questions in private, he let him off. saying that he
granted him a period of delay to repent, on account
of his youth. Αnd now the most godly Dioscorus is
with us, haring remained fοr a still longer cοntest and
a more lasting cοnffict. 
 “Α certain Νamesion, he alsο an Εgyptian, was
fahely accused of consorting with rοbbers, and when
he had cleared himself before the centuriοn of that
charge sο fοreign to his character, he was informed
against as beingg a christian, and came bound before
the gοvernοr. Ηe mοst unjusfly inflicted on him
tmicece as many tortures and scourgings as he did on
the robbers, and bumt hI·m between them, thus
honouringng him, happy man, with a likeness to Christ. 
 “Α whole band of soldieriers, Αmmοn and Ζeno and
Ptolemy and Ingenuus, and with them an old man
Theophilus, had taken their stand before the cοurt.
Νow a certain man was being tried as a Christian, and
at that moment was inclining towards denial, when
these men standing by ground their teeth, cast looks
at him, sοetched out their hands and made gestures
with their bodies. Αnd when all turned towards
them, befοre anyone could οtherwise seize them,
they ran of their own accord tο the prisoner’s dock
saying that they were christians; so that both the
govemor and his assessors were filled with fear,
and those who were on their trial showed themselves
very courageous in the face of their future
sufferings, while the Judges were affrighted. So
these men marched frοm the court in proud pro-

 
cession, exulting in their witness, God spreading
abroad their fame gloriously.

XLII. “ Αnd many others throughout the cities and
villages were torn in pieces by the heathen, οf whom
I shall mention οne as an example. Ischyrion was
acting as the hired steward of one of the rulers. Ηis
employer bade him sacrifice ; when he refused he
insulted him, when he abode by his refusal he abused
him foully ; and as he still remained firm he took a
very large stick, thrust it through his bowels and
vital οrgans, and so killed him. 
 “ What need is there to speak of the multitude of
those who wandered in deserts and mountains,1
perished by hunger and thirst and frost and diseases
and robbers and wild beasts ? Such of them as
survive bear testimony to their election and victory ;
but οne fact in connexion with these men also I
shall adduce as evidence. Chaeremon was bishop of
the city called Nilopolis, and of extreme age. Ηe
fled to the Αrabian mountain with his wife, 2 and
never returned, nor could the brethren ever lay eyes
again either on them οr their bodies, although they
made a long and thorough search. But many in that
same Αrabian mountain were reduced to utter slavery
by barbarian Saracens. Of these some were with
difficulty ransomed for large sums, others have not
yet been, up to this day. 
 “ Αnd I have not given this account, brother, to
purpose, but that you may know all the terrible things
that happened with us. Those who have had a larger
experience of them would know more examples.“ 
 Then, after a little, he adds as follows: “ Thererore
the divine martyrs themselves among us, who now
are assessors οf Christ, and share the fellowship οf

 
His kingdom, and take part in Ηis decisions and judge
along with Ηim, have espoused the cause of certain
of the fallen brethren who became answerable for
the charge of ; and seeing their conversion
and repentance, they judged it had the power to
prove acceptable to Ηim who hath no pleasure at all
in the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance ;
and so they received and admitted them to the
worship οf the Church 1 as consistentes, 2 and gave
them fellowship in their prayers and feasts. What
then do ye counsel us, brethren, on these matters ?
What are we to do ? Αre we to be of like opinion
and mind with them, uphold their decision and concession,
and deal kindly with those they pitied ? Or
shall we esteem their decision unjust, and set ourselves
up as critics of their opinion, cause grief to
kindness, and do away with their arrangement ? ’’ 
 Νow these words Dionysius added suitably, raising
the question about those who had proved weak in
the time of persecution,

XLIII. since Novatus, 3 a
presbyter of the church of the Romans, being lifted
up by arrogance against these, as if there was no
longer any hope of salvation for them, not even if
they were to perform everything that a genuine
conversion and a pure confession demand, became
the leader of a separate sect of those who, in their
pride of mind, styled themselves Ρuritans. Whereupon
a very large synod was assembled at Rome, of
sixty bishop and a still greater number οf presbyters
οf penitents. They were admitted to the eucharistic prayers,
but debarred from communion.
 

 
and deacons, while in the rest of the provinces the
pastors in their several regions individually considered
the question as to what was to be done. It
was unanimously decreed that Νovatus, together
with the partners of his arrogance, and those who
decided to agree with the man's brother-hating and
most inhuman opinion, should be considered as
strangers to the Church, but that such of the
brethren as had fallen into the misfortune should be
treated and and restored with the medicines of repentance. 
 Νow there have reached us a letter of Cornelius,
bishop of the Romans, to Fabius, bishop of the church
of the Αntiochenes, telling the fects concerning the
Roman Synod, and what was decreed by them of
Italy and Africa and the regions thereabout; ; and,
again, another of Cyprian and of those with him in
Αfrica, composed in the Latin language, in which it
was made clear that they also agreed that those who
had suffered trial should meet with succour, and that
in the reason of things it was fitting that the leader
of the heresy should be excommunicated from the
Catholic Church, and likewise all those who were
led away with him. To these was subjoine3d a certain
οther letter of Cornelius, on the resolutions of the
synod ; and, again, another on the doings of Novatus.
There is nothing to prevent me from quoting parts
of this last, so that those who read this book may
know about him. Ιn explaining, then, to Fabius
what kind of manner of man Novatus was, Cornelius
writes these very words : “ “But that you may know
that for a long time back this marvellous fellow has
been seeking the office of a bishop, and has succeeded
in concealing in his heart this his violent desire, using

 
as a veil for his insane folly the fact that he had the
confessors with him from the beginning, I wish to
speak. Maximus, one of our presbyters, and Urban,
both of whom twice reaped the highest meed of
renown by confession, and Sidonius, and Celerinus,
a man who, by the mercy of God, bore with the utmost
endurance all kinds of tortures, and by the strength
οf his faith strengthened the weakness of his body,
and so has mightily overcome the adversary — these
men marked him, and detecting the craftiness and
duplicity that was in him, his perjuries and falsehoods,
his unsociability and wolf-like friendship, returned
to the holy Church. Αnd all the knavish tricks and
devices that he had long dissembled in his heart,
they made known in the presence both of a number of
bishops, and also οf very many presbyters and laymen,
bewailing and repenting of the fact that for a
brief space they had left the Church under the persuasion
of this treacherous and malicious wild beast.” 
 Then shortly afterwards he says : “ Ηow extraordinary
a change and transformation, brother
beloved, we have beheld to have taken plaee in him
in a little while ḷ For in sooth this highly distinguished
person, who was in the habit οf pledging
himself by some terrible oaths in no wise to seek the
office οf a bishop, of a sudden appears as a bishop as
if he were cast into our midst by some contrivance.1
For in sooth this master οf doctrine, this champion
of the Chrurch's discipline, when he was attempting
to wrest and filch away the episcopate that was not
given him from above, chose to himself two companions
 

 
who had renounced their own salvation, that
he might send them to a small and very insignificant
part of Italy, and entice thence by some made-up
device three bishops, rough and very simple men.
Ηe confidently maintained and affirmed the necessity
of their coming quickly to Rome, on the pretext that
any dissension whatsoever that had arisen might be
ended by their activity as mediators, conjointly with
other bishops. When they arrived, inasmuch as
they were too simple, as we said before, for the unscrupulous
devices of the wicked, they were shut up
by certain disorderly men like himself, and at the
tenth hour, when they were drunk, and sick with the
after effects, he forcibly compelled them to give him a
bishop's office by a counterfeit and vain laying on of
hands, an office that he assumed by crafty treachery
since it did not fall to his lot. Οne of the bishops not
long afterwards returned to the Church, bewailing
and confessing his fault ; with whom we had communion
as a layman, all the laity Ρresent interceding
for him. And as for the remaining bishops, to these
we appointed successors, whom we sent into the
places where they were. 
 “ This vindicator, then, of the gospel did not know
that there should be one bishop in a catholic church,
in which he was not ignorant (for how could he be ?)
that there are forty-six presbyters, seven deacons,
seven sub-deacons, forty-two acolytes, fifty-two exorcists,
readers and door-keepers, above fifteen hundred
widows and persons in distress, all of whom are
supported by the grace and loving-kindness of the
Master. But not even did this great multitude, so

 
necessary in the Church, that number who by God's
providence were rich and multiplying, nor an immense
and countless laity, turn him from such a desperate
failure and recall him to the Church.”
Αnd again, further on, he adds to these remarks
as follows : “ But come, let us next say in what deeds
οr in what kind of conduct he placed his confidence
so as to aspire to the episcopate. Was it because
from the beginning he had been brought up in the
Church, and had fought many conflicts on her behalf,
and had been through the midst of dangers, many
and great, for the sake of religiojn ? Νot so. The
occasion of his acceptance of the faith was Satan, who
resorted to him and dwelt in him for a long time.
While he was being healed by the exorcists he fell
into a grievous sickness, and, as he was considered
to be all but dead, received baptism by affusion on
the very bed in which he lay, if indeed one may say
that such a man has received it. Νor yet indeed did
he obtain the other things, when he recovered from
his sickness, of which one should partake according
to the rule of the Church, or the sealing by the bishop.
Αnd as he did not obtain these, how could he obtain
the Ηoly spirit ? ’’ 
 Αnd shortly afterwards he says again : “ . . . he
who through cowardice and love of life at the time of
persecution denied that he was a presbyter. For
when he was requested and exhorted by the deacons
to leave the cell in which he shut himself, and bring
all the help to the brethren that it is right and
possible for a presbyter to being to brethren who are
in danger and in need of succour, so far was he from
obeying the deacons' exhortations, that he even went

 
away and departed in anger. For he said that he
no longer wished to be a presbyter, since he was
enamoured of a different philosophy.” 
 Passing over a few things, he again adds as follows :
“ For when this illustrious person deserted the
Church of God, in which, when he came to believe, he
was deemed worthy of the presbyterate through the
favour of the bishop, who laid his hand on him to
confer that order (meeting the opposition of all the
clergy and many lay persons as well—since one
has received baptism by affusion1 on his bed owing
to sickness, as Νovatus had, might not be ordained to
an order—with the request that he should be
to ordain this man alone) .... ” 
 Then he adds something else, the worst of all the
man's offences, saying thus : “ For when he has
the offerings, and is distributing to each his portion,2
as he gives it [into their hands] he compels the
wretched persons to utter an oath instead of the
blessing, taking in both his hands those of him who
had received, and not letting go until they swear
saying thus (for I shall use his very words) : ‘Swear
to me by the Blood and Body of our Lord Jesus Christ
never to forsake me and turn to Cornelius.’
the miserable person does not taste until he first
calls down a curse upon himself, and instead οf saying
the Αmen as he receives that bread, he says, ‘ I will
not return to Cornelius.’ 
 Αnd after οther remarks he again says as follows :
‘‘ But know that now he has become bare and desolate,
for every day the brethren desert him and go back
 

 
to the Church. Αnd Moses, that blessed martyr who
just now bore a goodly and marvellous testimony
amongst us, while he was still in the world, perceiving
his insane arrogance, broke off communion with him
and with the five presbyters who, along with him, had
separated themselves from the Church.” 
 Αnd at the close οf the letter he has made a catalogue
οf the bishops present at Rome who condemned
the stupidity of Νοvatus, indicating at once both
their names and the name of the community over
which each one presided ; and of those who were
not present, indeed, at Rome, but who signified in
writing their assent to the judgement of the aforesaid,
he mentions the names and, as well, the city where
each lived and from which each wrote. This is what
Cornelius wrote for the information of Fabius, bishop
of Antioch.

XLIV. But to this same Fabius, when he was
inclining somewhat towards the schism, Dionysius
also, he of Alexandria, wrote, making many οther reamarks
with reference to repentance in his letter to
him and describing the conflicts of those lately
martyred at Alexandria. In the course of his narrative
he tells a certain astonishing tale, which must
needs be handed down in this work. It is as follows :
‘‘ But this one example that happened amongst us
I shall set forth for thee. There was a certain
Serapion amongst us, an old man and a believer,
who lived blamelessly for a long time, but in the trial
fell. This man oftentimes besought [absolution], and
no one paid him heed. For indeed he had sacrificed.
Αnd, falling sick, he continued for three successive
days speechless and unconscious ; but on the fourth

 
he rallied a little, and calling his grandson to him, he
said: ‘Ηow long, my child, do ye hold me back?
Ηaste ye, I pray, and grant me a speedy release;
do thou summon me one or the presbyters.’
having Said this he again became speechless. The
boy ran for the presbyter. But it was night, and he
was unwell and eould not come. Yet sicne I had
given an order that those who Were departing this
life, if they besought it, and espeeially if they had
made supplication before, should be absolved, that
they might depart in hope, he gave the little boy a
small portion of the eucharist, bidding him soak it
and let it fall in drops down mto the old man’s
Back came the boV with it, and when he WaS near,
before he entered, serapion revived again and said,
‘ Hast thou eome, child? The presbyter could not
come, but do thou quiekly What he bade thee, and
let me depart.’ The boy soaked it 1 and at the
time poured it into his mouth, and When he had
swallowed a little he straightWay gaVe gave the ghost.
WaS it not plain that he was preserved and remained
until he obtained release, that, with his sin blotted
out, he might be acknowledged for all the good deeds
he had done?’’

XLV. Such is the aeeount of Dionysius. But let
us see the kind of lerter that the same person wrote
also to Novatus, 2 who was then disturbing the Roman
brotherhood. Since, then, he put forward some of the
brethren as an excuse for his defection and sehism,
as having been eompelled by them to proeeed to this
length, see how Dionysius writes to him: “Dionysius
 

 
to Novatianus 1 a brother, greeting. If thou wast led
οn unwillingly, as thou sayest, thou wilt prove it by
retiring willingly. For a man ought to suffer anything
and everything rather than divide the Church of Good,
and it were not less glorious to incur martyrdom to
avoid schism than to avoid idolatry, nay, in my opinion
it were more so. For in the οne case a man is a
martyr for the sake of his own single soul, but in the
other for the sake οf the whole Church. And if thou
wert even now to persuade or compel the brethren
to come to one mind, thy recovery will be greater
than. thy fall, and the one will not be reckoned, while
the οther will be praised. But if they obey thee not,
and thou hast no power, by all means save thine own
soul. I pray that thou mayest fare well and cleave
to peace in the Lord.”

XLVI. This aho he wrote to Novatus. Αnd he
wrote also to the Egyptians a letter on Repentanee,
in which he has set forth his opinions with reference
to those who had fallen, outlining degrees of failures.
Αnd to Colon (he was bishop of the community οf the
Hermopolitans) a personal letter of his is extant On
Repentance, and another in the nature of a rebuke
to his flock at Alexandria. Αmong these there is also
the brethren at Laofficea over whom Thelymidres
resided as bishop ; and he wrote to those in
rmenia, likewise On Repentanee, whose bishop was
eruzanes. In addition to all these he wrote also
Cornelius of Rome, when he received his letter
against Novatus, in which abo he clearly infficates
that he had been invited by Helenus, bishop at Tarsus
 


 
namely Firmilian in Cappadocia and Theoctlstus in
Palestine, to attend the synod at Antioch, where
certain were attempting to strengthen the schism of
Novatus. Moreover he writes that he had received
information that Fabius had fallen asleep, and that
Demetrian was appointed his suceessor in the episcopate
of Antioch. And he Writes also vith referenee
to the bishop of Jerusalem, saying in these very
words: “For Alexander, that wonderful man, being
put in prison, happily entered into his rest.” 
 Next to this there is also another extant, a
“diaconic’’ 1 letter of DionySius to those in Rome
through Hippolytus. To the same peOple he composed
another letter On Peace, and likewise Οn
Repentanee, and again another to the confessors
there While they were still in agreement with the
opinion of Novatus. Αnd to these same persons he
wrote two more, after they had returned to the
Chureh. Αnd in his communications with many
others, likewise by letter, he has left behind a varied
Souree of profit to those who still to this day set store
by his writings.

CONTENTS ΟF BOOK VII 
 The Seventh Book of the Ecclesiastical History
contains the follorving: 
 Ι. Οn the evil disposition of Deeius and Gallus. 
 ΙΙ. The bishops of Rome in their day. 
 III. How Cyprian, along with the bishops on
hls side, Was the rirst to hold the opinion
that those who were turning from heretical
error ought to be cleansed by baptism. 
 ΙV. How many letterS DionySius composed on
this subject. 
 V. Οn the peace after the persecution. 
 VI. Οn the heresy of Sabellius. 
 VII. Οn the abominable error of the heretics and
the God-sent vision of Dionysius, and the
rule of the Church which he had reeeiVed. 
 VIII. Οn the heterodoxy of Novatus. 
 IX. Οn the ungodly baptism of the hereties. 
 X. On Valerian and the persecution in his day. 
 XI. On the things that then happened to
DiOnySiuS and those in Egypt. 

 
 XII. On those who were martyred at Caesarea
in Palestine. 
 XIII. On the peaee under Gallienus. 
 XIV. The bishops who flourished at that time. 
 XV. Ηow Marinus was martyred at Caesarea. 
 XVI. The story of Astyrius. 
 XVII. On the signs at Paneas of the mighty
working of our saviour. 
 XVIII. Οn the throne of James. 
 XIX. On the festal letterS of DionySiuS, where
also he draws up a eanon conerning the
Pascha. 
 XX. On the happeningS at Alexandria. 
 XXI. Οn the disease that visited it. 
 XXII. Οn the reign of Gallienus. 
 XXIII. Οn Nepos and his schism. 
 XXIV. On the Apocalypse of John. 
 XXV. Οn the letters of Dionysius. 
 XXVI. On Paul of samoSata and the heresy put
together by him at Antioch.
XXVII. On the illustrious bishops who were well
known at that time.
Ηow Ρaul was refuted and excommunh
cated.
on the perverse heterodoxy of the Manicheans,
which began precisely at
time. 
 XXX. On the distinguished churchmen of our own
day, and which of them remained until
the attaek upon the churches. 1

BOOK VII 
 In the composition of the seventh book of
Ecclesiastical History Dionysius, the great bishop of
the Alexandrians, 1 will again assist us in our task by
his own words, indicating in turn eaeh of the things
that were done in his day, by means of the letters he
has lert behind. From that point of time my record
will take its beginning.

Ι. when Deeius had reigned for an entire period of
less than two years, he was forthwith murdered along
with his sons, and Gallus sueeeeded him. 2 Αt this
time 3 Origen died, having completed the
year save one of his life. Νow when writing to
Hermammon, Dionysius speaks as follows, with
reference to Gallus: “But not even did Gallus recognize
the fault [in the policy] of Decius, nor yet ffid he
look to that which caused his fall, but he stumbled
against the same stone that was before his eyes.
For when his reign was prospering, and matters were
moing accorffing to his mind, he drove away the holy
men who were supplicating God for his peaee and
health. Therefore along with them he banished
-ho their prayers on his behalf.”

ΙΙ. so much, then, concerning him. But in the
city of the Romans, when Cornelius brought his
 

 
episeopate to an end after about three years, Lucius
was appointed his suecessor ; but he exercised his
ministry for less than eight entire months, and dying
transmitted ffihls offiee to stephen. To him Dionysius
inffited the Rrst of his letters On Baptism, no small
question harivlng then arisen as to whether it Were
neeessary to eleanse by means of baptism those who
were turning from any heresy whatsoever. Α euStom,
which was at any rate old, having prevailed in such
cases to use only prayer with the laying οn of hands,

III. Cyprian, pastor of the community at Carthage,
was the Rrst of thoSe of his day to consider that they
οught not to be admitted otherwise than by having
been first eleansed from their error by baptism. But
stephen, thinking that they ought not to make any
innovation contrary to the traffition that had prevailed
from the beginning, was full of indignation
thereat.

Iv. Dionysius, therefore, haring communi-
cated with him on this point at very great length
in a letter, at its close shows that with the abatement
οf the persecution the churches everywhere,
having now rejected the innovation of Novatus, had
resumed peace among themselves. Ηe writes thus:

V. “ But know now, brother, that all the ehurches in
the East and still further away, which were fonnerly
divided, have been united, and all their presidents
eveqwhere are of like mind, rejoicing above measure
at the unexpeeted arrival of peaee: Demetrian at
Αntiοch, Theoctistus at Caesarea, Mazabanes at
Aelia, marinus at Tyre (Alexander having fallen
asleep), Heliodorus at Laodicea (for Thelymidres has
entered into his rest), Helenus at TarSus and all the
churches of Cilicia, Firmilian and all Cappadocia.

 
For I name only the more eminent dishops, to avoid
making my letter long and my discourse teffious.
Νevertheless, the syrias as a whole and Αrabia,
which ye constantly help and to which ye have now
written, and Mesopotamia and Ρontus and
and, in a everywhere all everywhere rejoice exceedingly
their concord and brotherly love, giving glory to
God.” 
 such is the aceount of Dionysius. But when
stephen had fulRlled his ministry for two years, he
was succeeded by Xystus. To him Dionysius penned
a second letter on Baptism, showing the opinion and
decision both of stephen and of the οther bishops.
About stephen he speaks thus: ‘‘Νow he had written
fonnerly with reference both to Ηelenus and Firmilian
and all those from Cilicia and Cappadocia and,
in fact, Galatia and all the prorinees that border on
these, to the eKect that he would not hold communion
in future with them either, for this same
reason; since, says he, they rebaptize heretics.
Αnd look thou at the importance of the matter. For
deerees on this question have been actually passed
in the largest synods of bishops, as 1 learn, so that
those who come over from heresies are nrst placed
under instruction, then washed and purged again
from the ffith of the old and impure leaven. Αnd I
wote beseeching him οn all these matters.” 
 Αnd, after other remarks, he says: “Αnd to οur
beloved fellow-presbyters aho, Dionysius and Philemon,
who had formerly been of the same opinion
as stephen and mote [some letters] to me about the
same matters, at Rrst I wrote briefly, but now at
greater length.” 


 
 so much with regard to the question of which 
 am speaking.

vI. But when inffidlcating in the same
letter, with reference to the followers of the Sabellian
heresy,1 that they were prevalent in his day, he speaks
thus: “For as to the doetrine now set on foot at
Ρtοlemais in the Pentapolis, an impious doctrine
which contains great blasphemy concerning the
Almighty ood, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
great unbelief as to Ηis only-begotten Son, the
firstborn of all creation, the word who was made
man, and whieh is without pereeption of the Ηοly
Spirit, — when there eame to me nom both both both
documents and also the brethren who were ready to
discuss the question, I wrote some letters, as 1 was
able by the help of God, giving an exposition of the
marter in a somewhat didactic manner; οf which 
scnd thee the copies.”

VII. Αnd in the third οf those on Baptism, which
the same Dionysius wrote to Philemon the Roman
presbyter, he relates the following: “But as for
me, 1 read both the compositions and the traditions
ofthe heretics, polluting my soul for a little with their
abominable thoughts, yet all the while deriving this
advantage from them, that I could refute them for
myself and loathed them far more. Αnd indeed a
certain brother, one of the presbyters, attempted to
dissuade and frighten me from becoming involved in
the mire of their wickedness, for he said that I should
injure my own soul; and said truly, as Ι perceived.
nut a vision sent by ood came and strengthened me,
and a word of command was given me, saying expressly:
‘Read all things that may come to thy
 

 
hand. For thou art able to sift and prove
matter; Which thing Was originally the cause of thy
’ I accepted the vision, as agreeing with the
apostolic saying addressed to the stronger: ‘Show
yourselves approved money-changers.’ ’’ 
 Then, making certain renlarks about all the heresies,
he goe On tO say: “This rule and pattern I
reeeiVed from our blessed pope 2 Ηeraclas. For those
Who came over frOm the hereries, although they had
departed from the Church (Or rather, had not eVen
done that, but, while srill reputed members Of the
congregation, were charged with frequenting some
false teacher), he drOve rrom the Church, and refused
to listen to their entreaties until they pubhely declared
all that they had heard frOm them that
oppose themselves.’ and then he admitted them
to the congregation, without requiring of them a
second baptism. For they had fOrmerly receiVed the
holy [baptism] from him.’’ 
 Αnd again, after a protracted discussiOn of the
question, he adds as follows: “I have learnt this
also, that the Africans did nOt intrOduee this practice
noW for the rlrst time, but that long befOre, in the
days of the bishops that were before us, in the most
populous churches and the synods of the brethren,
in Iconium and Synnada and in many places, this
eOurse was adOpted. Αnd Ι do not dare to overturn
their deeirions and involve them in strife and comtention.
‘ For ‘For thou shalt not remove,’ he says,
neighbour’s landmarks, which thy fathers placed.’ 
 The fourth of hls letters on baptism was written to
 

 
Dionysius of Rome, who at that time had been deemed
worthy of the presbyterate, but not long afterwards
received also the episcopate there. from it one may
learn how that he too had witness paid him by
Dionysius Alexandria for his learning and admirable
qualities. In the course of his letter to him he
mentions the affair of Novatus in the following terms:

VIII. “For it is with good reason indeed that we
feel enmity towards Novatian, who caused a
in the church and drew away some of the brethren
to impieues and blasphemies, and introduced as well
most profane teaching about God, and falsely accouses
our most compassionate Lord Jesus Christ of being
without mercy; and above all this, he sets at naught
the holy washing, and overturns the faith and confession
that precede it, and entirely banishes the Ηoly
sprit from them, even though there was some hope
οf Ηis remaining with or even returning to them.”

IX. Αnd his fifth letter was written to Xystus,
bishop of the Romans. In it, speaking much against
the heretics, he sets forth the following thing that
happened in his day, saying: “of a truth, brother,
I have need of counsel, and ask an opinion of thee.
The following matter has come before me, and 1 am
fearful lest after all I be mistaken. of the brethren
who meet together for worship there is one, reckoned
faithful, of long stanffing, a member of the congregation
before my ordination, and, I think, before the
appointment of the blessed Heraclas. Having been
present with those who were recently being baptized,
and having heard the questions and answers, he came
to me in tears, bewailing himself and falling before

 
my feet; confessing and swearing that the baptism
with which he had been baptized by the heretics,
was not such as this and had nothing in common
with it inasmuch as it had been full οf impieties and
blasphemies. Ηe said that he was now altogether
pricked in heart and had not courage so much as to
lift up his eyes to God, after beginning with those
unholy words and deeds; and therefore he begged
that he night receive this most pure cleansing and
reception and grace. This I for my part did not dare
to do, saying that his long-standing communion with
us had been sufficient for this purpose. For since he
had heard the Thanksgiving and joined in saying the
Αmen, and stood beside the Table and stretched forth
his hands to receive the holy food, and had reeeived
it and partaken of the Body and Blood of οur Lord
ror a long time, I should not dare to build him up
again from the beginning. But I kept exhorting him
to be ofgood courage, and to approach for the participation
οf the holy things with firm faith and good
hope. nut he never ceases his lament, and shudders
to approach the Table, and searcely, though invited,
does he dare to take his stand with the consistentes
at the prayers.1” 
 In addition to the above-mentioned letters, there
is extant also another of his On Baptism, addressed
by him and the community over which he ruled to
Xystus and the church at Rome, in which with a long
proof he gives a protracted discussion of the the subject
in question. Αnd, after these, there is yet another
letter of his extant, to Dionysius at Rome, that with
reference to Lucian. so much for these matters.

X. But to resume. Gallus and his associates held
 

 
the principate for less than two entire years, and then
were removed out of the way; and Valerian along
with his son Gallienus succeeded to the government.
Once more we may learn from his letter to Hermammon
the description that Dionysius gives of him
also; in Which he gives an account of the following
kind: “Αnd to John also it is likewise revealed:
‘Αnd there was given to him,᾿ says he, ‘a
speaking great things and blasphemy, and there was
given to him authority and forty and two months.᾿
Οne may wonder at both of these things 2 under
Valerian, and of them note espeeially the nature of
his previous conduct, 3 how mild and friendly he was
to the men of God. For not a single one of the
emperors before him was so kindly and favourably
disposed towards them, not even those who
said to have been openly Christians, as he manifestly
was, when he received them at the beginning in the
most intimate and friendly manner; indeed all his
house had been ffiled with godly persons, and was a
church of God. But the master and ruler of the
synagogue of the Egyptian magicians 4 persuaded
him to get rid of them, bidding him slay and pursue
the pure and holy men, as being rivals and dinderers
of his abominable and disgusting incantations (for
indeed they are and were capable by their presence
and sight, and by merely breathing on them and
uttering words, of the derigns of the baneful
demons). Αnd he advised him to perform unhallowed
rites, and abominable juggleries and illwhich
 
 

 
οmened sacrifices, such as cutting the throats of
wretched boys and sacrificing children of hapless
parents and opening up the entrails of new-born babes,
and cutting up and mincing the handywork
as if all this would bring them divine favour.” 
 And in addition he goes on to say: “Goodly at all
events were the thank-offerings that Macrianus made
to them for the Empire of his hopes. 1 Formerly
when he was regarded as minister over the imperial
accounts as a whole, he displayed neither a reasenable
nor a catholic mind. But he has fallen under
the prophetic curse which says: ‘Woe unto them that
prophesy from their heart, and see not the whole.᾿
For he did not understand the universal
nor did he suspeet the judgement of Him who is
before all and through all and over all. Therefore
he has come to be at enmity with His Catholic Church,
and so alienated and estranged himself from God's
mercy and banished himself as far as possible from
his own salvations, in this proving true his name.” 
 Αnd again, after Other remarks, he says: “For
Valerian, being induced by him to this course of
aetion, Was given over to insults and reproaches,
according to that which was said to Isaiah: “Αnd
these have Chosen their own ways and abominations,
in which their soul delighteth, and I will
their mockings, and their sins I will recompense
them.᾿ now this man,3 in his mad desire for
 

 
imperial rule of Which he was not worthy, and unable
to deck his maimed body With the imperial robes, put
forward his two sons, who thus received their father's
sins. For in them was clearly fulfilled the prophecy
that God spake: ῾Visiting the rins of fathers upon
children, until the third and fourth generation in
them that hate me.᾿ For his own evil desires, in
vhieh he failed, he heaped upon the heads of his
sons, and so wiped off on them his own wickedness
and his hatred toward God." 
 This is the account given by dionysius concerning
 valerian.

XI. But With regard to the storm of
persecution that raged fiercely in his day, What the
same Dionysius, and others with him, underwent for
their piety toward the God of the universe will be
made plain by his own words which he wrote at
length against Germanus, one of the bishops of his
day who was attempting to defame him. Ηe makes
his statement in the following manner: “But Ι am
in danger of falling, in truth, into great foolishness
and stupidity, being foreed to the point of compulsion
to recount the wonderful dispensation of God concerning
us. But since ῾it is good,᾿ he says, ῾to keep
close the secret of a king, but glorious to reveal the
works of God,᾿ God,῾ I will join issue with the
Germanus. I came before Aemilianus,1 not alone,
but there followed me my fellow-presbyter maximus,
and Faurtus, Εusebius, Chaeremon, deacons; and
one of the brethren who had come from Rome
entered in along with us. And Aemilianus did not
lead off with the words ῾Do not hold essemblies.'
For that would have been superfluous for him to say,
and the last thing [to be mentioned] by one who was
going back to the very beginning. For his discourse

 
was not about not assembling others, but about not
being Christians ourselves, and from that he ordered
me to desist, thinking that if I were to change, the
οthers also would follow me. But I gave a reply that
was not inappropriate, nor far from ῾We must obey
God rather than men’; yea, I testffied outright that
I worship the only God and none other, nor would 
change or ever cease to be a Christian. Thereupon
he bade us depart to a village near the desert,
Cephro. 
 “But hear the things themselves that were spoken
ὢ both sides, as they were placed on record: When
Dionysius and Faustus and Maximus and Marcellus
and chaeremon were brought into eourt, Aemilianus,
the deputy-prefect, said, ‘ . . . Αnd verbally I discoursed
with you concerning the kindness that our
lords 1 have displayed on your behalf. For they gave
you the opportunity of safety if ye were willing to
turn to that which is according to nature and worship
the gods which preserve their Εmpire, and forget
those gods which are contrary to nature. What,
therefore, say ye to these things? For I do not
expect that ye will be ungrateful for their kindess,
forasmuch as they urge you on to the better
urse.' 
 “Dionysius replied : ‘Νot all men Worship all
ods, but each one certain whom he regards as such.
therefore both worship and adore the οne God and
aker of all things, who also committed the Εmpire
the Augusti, most highly favoured of God, Valerian
d Gallienus; and to Ηim we unceasingly pray for
their Empire, that it may remain unshaken. 
 

 
 “Aemilianus, the deputy-prefect, said to them:
῾ Αnd who prevents you from worshipping this
also, if he be a god, along with the natural gods?
For ye were bidden to worship gods, and gods whom
all know.' 
 “Dionysius replied: ‘We worship no other God.' 
 “Aemilianus, the deputy-prefect, said to them:
‘ I see that ye are at onee ungrateful and insensible
of the clemency οf οur Αugusti. Wherefore ye shall
not be in this city, but ye shall betake yourselves to the
parts of Libya and [remain] in a place ealled Cephro.
For this is the place 1 chose in accordance with the
command οf our Augusti. Αnd it shall in no wise be
permitted either to you or to any others either to
hold assemblies or to enter the cemeteries, 1 as they
are called. If anyone be proved not to have gone to
the place that I commanded, or be found at any
assembly, he will bring the peril upon himself, for
there shall be no laek οf the necessary observation.
Be gone therefore whither ye were bidden.' 
 “Αnd even though I was sick, he hurried me away
without granting me a single ’s respite. What
spare time had I then remaining either for holding
οr not holding an assembly?’’ 
 Then after other remarks he says:“ But we did
not abstain from even the visible assembling of
ourselves with the Lord; nay, 1 strove the more
earnestly to gather together those in the city, as if
Ι were with them, ‘being abSent in body,' as he 2 said,
‘but present in spirit,᾿ and at Cephro a large churck
also sojourned with us, some brethren following us
from the city, οthers joining us from Egypt. And
 

 
ere God οpened unto us a door for the word. Αnd
t first we were pursued, we were stoned, but afterards
not a few of the heathen left their idols and
urned to God. nen for the nrst time was the word
wn through our ageney among those who had not
formerly received it. It was, as it were, for this that
God took us away to them, and, when we had fulffiled
this ministratio, took us away again. 
 ‘‘For Aemilianus wished to remove us to rougher,
as he thought, and more Libyan-like places, and he
ade those [who were seattered] in every direction to
stream together to the Mareotian [nome], assigning
mparate rillages in the district for each party; but
us he posted more on the road, so that we should be
he first to be arrested. For he eridently was managing
and arranging it, that, whenever he wished to
eize us, he might find us all easy of capture. Αs
οr me, when I had been bidden to depart to Cephro,
did not even know in what direction the place lay,
carcely haring heard so much as the name before;
evertheless I departed with a good grace and made
o disturbance. But when it was told me that I was
remove to the parts of Colluthion, those who were
resent know how I was affected (for here I shall be
own aecuser): at nffirs 1 was vexed and exceedly
angry; for although the places happened to
better known and more familiar to us, yet it was
rmed that the district was without brethren or
ersons of good character, and exposed besides to
oyances of travellers and incursions of robbers.
ut I found encouragement when the brethren reinded
me that it was nearer the city,1 and that,
hile Cephro used to bring us much intercourse with
 

 
brethren from Εgypt, so that there was a wider arca
from which to gather a congregation, yet there, from
the nearer position of the city, we should enjoy seeing
more constantly those really beloved and most intimate
and dear. They would come, they said, and
stay the night, and, as in the more remote suburban
districts, there would be sectional assemblies. And
so it proved.” 
 Αnd, after other remarks with referenee to hat
happened to him, he writes again as follows: “Μany,
to be sure, are the confessions on which Germanus
prides himself, many the happenings to his hurt of
which he has to tell—even all the things that he
make a list of as regards us: sentenees, confiscations,
proscriptions, spoiling of possessions, losses of dignities,
despisings of worldly glory, disdainings of commendations
and the reverse from prefect and council,
endurance of threats, outcries, perils, persecutions,
wanderings, anguish and divers tribulations, such
as happened to me under Deeius and sabinus, up to
the present time under Aemilianus. But Where did
Germanus appear? What talk was there about him?
But Ι must cease from the great folly into which Ι
am falling on account of Germanus; wherefore also
I forbear to give in detail to the brethren who know
them an account of the events." 
 The same Dionysius, in the letter also to Domitius
and Didymus, mentions again the happenings of the
persecution, aS follows: : “ But it is superfluous to
recount by name our people, since they are numerous
and unknown to you. Οnly understand that men and
women, both οld men and lads, both girls and aged
women, both soldiers and civilians, both every race
and every age, some enduring scourgings and fire,		

 
οthers the sword, conquered in the fight and have
received their crowns. But in the case οf some, a
very long time was not sufficient to show them
acceptable to the Lord, as indeed it is still seemingly
not sufficient in my case; wherefore I have been
put off, until that suitable time that Ηe knows, by
Him that saith: ῾At an acceptable time I
unto thee, and in a day of salvation did I succour
thee.' For since ye make inquiries as to our affairs
and desire to be told how we pass our time, ye have
heard οf course how that when we were being led
away prisoners by a centurion and duumvirs with their
soldiers and servants—I and Gaius and Faustus and
Ρeter and Paul—certain of the nome of Marea
up, dragged us by force and carried us away,
will and in the face of our refusal to follow them. And
now I and Gaius and Ρeter only, bereft οf the other
brethren, have been shut up in a lonely, parehed spot
in Libya, a three-days journey from Paraetonium." 
 Αnd a little further down he says: “But in the
city there have concealed themselves, secretly visiting
e brethren, of the presbyters Maximus, Dioscorus,
emetrius, Lucius. For those who are better known
the world, Faustinus and Aquila, are wandering
bout in Εgypt. Αs to the deacons, they who surived
those that died in the island are Faustus,
usebius, chaeremon: that Εusebius, whom from
beginning God strengthened and prepared to
nder with all energy the services to the confessors
at were in prison, and at no small risk to perform
e task of laying out the corpses οf the blessed and
erfect martyrs. For even to this day the prefect
not cease from putting to a cruel death, as I have
id before of those who are brought before

 
him, while others he mutilates with tortures, or allows
to pine away in imprisonment and chains, giving his
οrders that no one is to go near them, and investigating
whether any has been found so doing; nevertheless
God gives some respite to those who are sorely
pressed, through the zeal and steadfastness of the
brethren.” 
 Such is the aceount given by Dionysius. It should
be observed, however, that Εusebius, whom he calls
a deacon, shortly afterwards was appointed bishop of
Laodicea in syria; and Maximus, of whom he speaks
38 a presbyter then, succeeded Dionysius himself in
his ministry to the brethren in Alexandria; but that
Faustus, who along with him was distinguished at
that time for his confession, was preserved until the
perseeution in our day, and, when quite an old man
and full οf days, was perfeeted by martyrdom in our
οwn time, being beheaded.

XII. so it happened to Dionysius at that time.
But during the perseeution of Valerian, of whieh we
are speaking, three persons at Caesarea in Palestine,
conspicuous for their confession of Christ, were
adorned with a divine martyrdom, becoming food for
wild beasts. of these οne was called Priscus, the
second Malchus, and the name of the third was
Alexander. It is said that these men, who were
living in the country, at first reproached themselves
for their carelessness and sloth, because instead of
hastening to secure the crown of martyrdom, they
were proving contemptuous of prizes, though the
present opportunity was bestowing them upon sueh
as yearned with a heavenly desire. But that when
they had taken counsel thereon, they started for
caesarea, appeared before the judge and met the

 
above-mentioned end. Moreover they relate
besides these, a certain woman during the same
persecution and in the same city endured to the end
a like conflict. But it is recorded that She belonged
to the seet of Μarcion.

XIII. But not long afterwards Valerian underwent
slavery at the hands of the barbarians,1 and his
succeeding to the sole power,2 conducted the government
with more prudence, and immediately by means
of edicts put an end to the persecution against us.
Ηe granted free power to those who preSided over
the word to perform their accustomed duties, by a
rescript which runs as follows: “The Emperor Caesar
Publius Licinius Gallienus Ρius Felix Augustus to
Dionysius and Ρinnas and Demetrius and the other
bishops. I have given my order that the benent of
my bounty should be published throughout all the
world, to the intent that they should depart from the
places οf worship,3 and therefore ye also may use
ordinance contained in my rescript, so that none may
molest you. Αnd this thing which it is within your
power to accomplish has long since been conceded
by me; and therefore Aurelius Quirinius, who is in
charge of the Εxchequer, will observe the ordinance
given by me.” 
 Let this, which for the sake of greater clearness
was translated from the Latin, be inserted. Αnd
there is also extant another of the same emperor’s
ordinances, which he addressed to other bishops,
 
 

 
giving them permission to recover the sites οf the cemeteries, as they are called.

XIV. Αt that time Xystus was still ruling the
church of the Romans, Demetrian, who came after
Fabius, the chureh at Αntioch, and Firmilian at
caesarea in Cappadocia; and moreover Gregory and
his brother Athenodore were ruling the churches of
Ρontus, pupils of origen. Αs to Caesarea in Palestine,
on the death of Theoctistus, Domnus succeeded
to the episcopate, but after he had continued in office
a short time Theotecnus, our contemporary, was
appointed to succeed him. Ηe also was of the school
of Origen. But at Jerusalem, when Mazabanes had
entered into his rest, Ηymenaeus succeeded to the
throne, the same who was distinguished for very
many years in our day.

XV. In the time of those persons, when the
churches everywhere were at peace, a man at
caesarea in Ρalestine called Μarinus, honoured by
high rank in the army and distinguished besides by
birth and wealth, was beheaded for his testimony to
christ, on the following account. There is a certain
mark of honour among the Romans, the vine-switch,
and those that obtain it become, it is said, centurions.
Α post was vacant, and according to the order of
promotion Marinus was being called to this advancement.
Indeed he was on the point of receiving the
honour, when another stepped forward before the
tribunal, and stated that in accordance with the
ancient laws Marinus could not share in the rank
that belonged to Romans, since he was a Christian
and did not sacrifice to the emperors; but that the
οffice fell to himself. Αnd [it is said] that the
(his name was Αchaeus) was moved thereat, and first

 
of all asked what views Marinus held; and then,
When he saw that he was stedfast in confessing himeself
a Christian, gave him a space of three hours for
consideration. 
 When he came outside the court Theotecnus, the
bishop there, approaehed and drew him aside in
conversation, and taking him by the hand led him
forward to the church. Οnce inside, he placed him
close to the altar 1 itself, and rairing his cloak a little,
pointed to the sword with which he was girded; at
the same time he brought and placed before him the
book of the divine Gospels, and bade him choose
which of the two he wished. 
 Without hesitation he stretched forth his right
hand and took the divine book. “Ηold fast then,”
said Theotecnus to him, “hold fast to God; and,
strengthened by Him, mayest thou obtain that thou
hast chosen. Go in peace.” As he was
thence immediately a herald cried aloud, summoning
him before the court of justice. For the appointed
time was now over Standing before the judge he
displayed still greater zeal for the faith; and
straightway, even as he was, was led away to death,
and so was perfected.

XVI. In that place Astyrius also is commemorated
for the boldness whieh is dear to God. Ηe was a
member of the Roman Senate, a favourite of emperors,
and well known to all both for birth and wealth. Ηe
was present with the martyr when he was being
perfected, and raising the corpse2 upon his shoulder
he placed it upon a splendid and costly robe, and
laying it out with great magnificence gave it a fitting
burial. 
 

 
 Α great many other facts are mentioned about this
man by his friends, who have survived to οur day,
and also the following wonderful event.

XVII. Αt
caesarea Philippit, which Phoenicians call Paneas,
is said that on a certain festival a victim is thrown
down among the springs that are shown there, on the
slopes of the mountain called Paneion, from which
the Jordan takes its source; and that it becomes
invisible in some miraculous way through the
power, a circumstance, they say, that is looked upon
by those present as a far-famed marvel. Νow
story goes] that once Astyrius was there when this
was being done, and when he saw the multitude
stuck with amazement at the affair, in pity for their
error he looked up toward heaven and besought God
who is over all, through Christ, to confound the
demon who was causing the people to err, and put an
end to the deception of these men. Αnd it is said
that, when he had thus prayed, of a sudden the
sacrifice floated on the surface οf the springs; and
thus their miracle came to an end, and no further
marvel ever took place in connexion with that spot.

XVIII. But since I have come to mention this city.
I do not think it right to omit a story that is worthy
to be recorded also for those that come after us. For
they say that she who had an issue of blood, and who,
as we leam from the sacred Gospels, found at the
hands of our Sariour relief from her affliction, came
from this place, and that her house was pointed out
in the city, and that marvellous memorials of the
good deed, which the Saviour wrought upon her, still
remained. For [they said] that there stood on a lofty
stone at the gates of her house a brazen figure in
relief a woman, bending on her knee and stretching


 
forth her hands like a suppliant, while opposite to this
there was another of the same material, an upright
figure of a man, clothed in comely fashion in a double
cloak and stretching out his hand to the woman; at
his feet on the monument itself a strange species of
herb was growing, which climbed up to the border
of the double cloak of brass, and acted as an antidote
to all kinds of diseases. This statue, they said, bore
the likeness οf Jesus. Αnd it was in existence even
to our day, so that we saw it with our own eyes when
we stayed in the city. Αnd there is nothing wonderful
in the fact that those heathen, who long ago
had good deeds done to them by our saviour, should
have made these objects, since we saw the likenesses
of Ηis apostles also, of Ρaul and Ρeter, and indeed
of Christ Himself, preserved in pictures painted in
colours. Αnd this is what we should expect, for the
ancients were wont, according to their pagan habit,
to honour them as saviours, without reservation, in
this fashion.

XIX. Νow the throne of James, who was the first
to receive from the Saviour and the apostles the
episcopate of the church at Jerusalem, who also, as
the divine books show, was called a brother of Christ,
has been preserved to this day; and by the honour
that the brethren in suecession there pay to it, they
show cleariy to all the reverenee in whieh the holy
men were and still are held by the men οf old time
and those of our day, because of the love shown them
by God. so much for these matters.

XX. But to resume. Dionysius, in addition to the
letters of his that were mentioned, composed at that
time also the festal letters which are still extant, in
which he gives utterance to words specially suited to

 
a solemn occasion with reference to the festival of
the Ρascha. Of these he addressed one to Flavius,
another to Domitius and Didymus in which also he
sets forth a canon based on a cycle of eight years,
proving that it is not proper to celebrate the festival
of the Ρascha at any other time than after the vernal
equinox. In addition to these he penned also another
letter to his fellow-presbyters at Αlexandria, and
others at the same time in different places. Αnd
these [he wrote] while the persecution was still
proceeding.

XXI. Ρeace had all but arrived, when he returned
to Αlexandria. But when faction and war broke out
there once more, since it was not possible for him to
discharge his oversight over all the brethren in the
city, separated as they were into one or other part
οf the faction, he again at the festival of the Ρaseha
communicated with them by letter, as if he were
someone in a foreign country, from Alexandria itself.
Αnd to Ηierax, after this, a bishop of those in Εgypt
he writes another festal letter, mentioning in the
following terms the faction prevailing among the
Αlexandrians in his day: 
 “But as for me, what wonder is it if I find it difficult
to communicate even by letter with those who
at some distance, seeing that it has become impossible
even for myself to coverse with myself, or to take
counsel with my own soul? Certainly, I have need
to write by letter to my very heart, that is, the
brethren that are of the same household and mind
with me, and citizens of the same church; and there
seems no possible way of getting this correspondence
through. For it were easier for a man to pass, I do
not say to a foreign country, but even from East to

 
West, than to traverse Alexandria from Αlexandria
itself. For the street that runs through the very
centre οf the city is harder to traverse and more
impassable than that great and trackless desert
through whieh Israel journeyed for two generations.
Αnd our calm and waveless harbours have become an
image of the sea, which, split up and made into a wall
on either side, they had for a carriage road, and in
the highway1 the Egyptians were drowned; and
from the murders that take place in them they oftentimes
appeared like a Red Sea. Αnd the river that
flows on past the city at one time appeared drier than
the waterless desert, and more arid than that in
whose crossing Israel so thirsted that Moses cried
out, and there flowed to them, from Ηim who alone
doeth wonders, drink out of the rock of flint. Αt
another time it overflowed to such an extent that it
submerged the whole neighbourhood, both the roads
and the fields, threatening to bring upon us the rush
of waters that took place in the days of Νoah. Αnd
always its course is defiled with blood and murders
and drownings, such as it beeame for Pharaoh by the
hand οf Moses, when it was turned to blood and
stank. Αnd What οther water could there be to
cleanse the water that cleanses all things? Ηow
could the great ocean that men cannot pass, if it were
poured upon it, purge this horrid sea? Or how could
the great river that goeth out of Εden, if it were to
divert the four heads, into which it is parted, into one,
the Gihon, wash away the gore? Or when might
the air, made foul by the vile exhalations on all sides,
become pure? For such are the vapours that are
given off from the land, winds from the sea, breezes
 

 
from the rivers and mists from the harbours, that the
dews are discharges from corpses rotting in all their
constituent elements. Yet men marvel and are at a
loss as to wheuce come the constant plagues,1 whence
the grievous diseases, whence the various forms of
death, whence the manifold and great human
mortality, why this greatest of cities no longer contains
within it so great a multitude of inhabitants,
from infant children up to those extremely advanced
in years, as it used formerly to support of those known
as men οf green old age! Νay, those of forty years
old and up to seventy were then so numerous, that
the full total of their number is not to be reached now,
when those from fourteen to eighty years have been
registered and reckoned together for the public foodration2 ;
and the youngest in appearance have become
of equal age, so to speak, with those who long ago
were the oldest.3 Αnd though the human race upon
earth is thus ever diminishing and consuming away
before their eyes, they do not tremble, as its total
disappearance draws nearer and nearer.”

XXII. After this, when the war was followed by
a pestilential disease, and the feast was at hand, he
communicated once more by letter with the brethren,
indicating the sufferings of the calamity, as follows: 
 ‟To other men the present would not seem to be
a time for festival, nor for them is this or any οther
time of such a nature; I speak not of times of
mourning, but even of any time that might be
thought especially joyful. Νow indeed all is lamentation,
and all men mourn, and wailings resound
 
 

 
throughout the city because of the number of dead
and of those that are dying day by day. For as as it is
written of the firstborn of the Egyptians, so also it is
now: ‘There was a great cry; for there is not a house
where there is not one dead’: and would indeed that
it were but one ! 
 “For of a truth many and terrible were the things
also that happened to us before this. Αt first they
drove us out, and alone we kept our festival at that
time also, persecuted and put to death by all, and
every single sport where we were afflicted became for
us a place of festive assembly, field, desert, ship, inn,
prison; but the brightest of all festivals was kept by
the perfect martyrs, when they feasted in heaven.
Αnd, after that, war and famine came upon us, which
we bore along with the heathen. Alone we endured
all the injuries they inflicted upon us, while we had
the benefit besides of what they wrought upon each
other and what they suffered: and we found our joy
once more in the peace of Christ, which Ηe has given
to us alone. But when the briefest breathing-space
had been granted us and them, there descended upon
us this disease, a thing that is to them more fearful
than any other object of fear, more cruel than any
calamity whatsoever, and, as one of their own writers
declared, ‘the only thing of all that proved worse than
what was expected.’ Yet to us it was not so, but,
less than the other misfortunes, a source of discipline
and testing. For indeed it did not leave us untouched,
although it attacked the heathen with great
strength.” 
 Following these remarks he adds as follows: “The
most, at all events, of our brethren in their exceeding
love and affection for the brotherhood were unsparing

 
οf themselves and clave to one another, visiting the
sick without a thought as to the danger, assiduously
ministering to them, tending them in Christ, and so
most gladly departed this life along with them;
being infected with the disease from others, drawing
upon themselves the sickness from their neighbours,
and willingly taking over their pains. Αnd many,
when they had cared for and restored to health οthers,
died themselves, thus transferring their death to
themselves, and then in very deed making good the
popular saying, that always seems to be merely an
οf courtesy: for ῾ in departing’ they became
῾their devoted’ 1 In this manner the best
at any rate οf our brethren departed this life, certain
presbyters and deacons and some of the laity, receiving
great commendation, so that this form of death
seems in no respect to come behind martyrdom, being
the outcome of much piety and strong faith. So, too,
the bodies of the saints they would take up in their
οpen hands to their bosom, closing their eyes and
shutting their mouths, carrying them on their
shoulders and laying them οut ; they would cling to
them, embrace them, bathe and adorn them with
their burial clothes, and after a little receive the same
services themselves, for those that were left behind
were ever following those that went before. But the
conduct of the heathen was the exact opposite. Εven
those who were in the first stages of the disease they
thrust away, and fled from their dearest. They would
even cast them in the roads half-dead, and treat the
unburied corpses as vile refuse, in their attempts to
avoid the spreading and contagion of the death-
 

 
plague; a thing which, for all their devices, it was not
easy for them to escape.” 
 Αnd also after this letter, when peace reigned in
the city, he once more sent a festal letter to the
brethren in Egypt, and following this he again indited
οthers. Αnd there is extant, also, a certain letter of
his on the Sabbath, and another on Exercise. 
 Communicating by a letter again with Ηermammon
and the brethren in Εgypt, he recounts in full many
other things about the wickedness of Deeius and his
successors, and mentions the peace under Gallienus.

XXIII. But there is nothing like hearing the nature
of these happenings also. 
 “He1 then, after inciting one of his emperors and
attacking the other, of a sudden disappeared altogether,
root and branch with all his family, and
Gallienus was proclaimed and acknowledged by all,
being at once an old and a new emperor, for he was
before and came after them; for in accordance with
that which was spoken to the prophet Isaiah: ῾ Behold,
the former things are come to pass, and new
things which shall now spring forth.’ 2 For as
a cloud speeds underneath the rays of the sun, and
for a short time screens and darkens it, and appears
instead of it, but when the cloud passes by or is
melted away, the sun that shone before again shines
forth and once more appears; so Macrianus, after
coming forward and getting for himself access to the
imperial power that belonged to Gallienus, is no
more, since indeed he never was, while Gallienus is
like as he was before; and the monarchy has, as it
attempted to dethrone Gallienus (10. 8). Ηe and his son
were subsequently defeated in battle and
 

 
were, put aside its old age and cleansed itselffrom its
former wickedness, and now blossoms forth in fuller
bloom, is seen and heard more widely and spreads
abroad everywhere.” 
 Then, following on this, he indicates also the time
at which he wrote this, in these words: “Αnd it
occurs to me once more to observe the days of the
imperial years. For I perceive that those wicked
persons, though they were named with honour, after
a short time have become nameless; while he, who
is holier and filled with more love to God, has Ρassed
the period of seven years, and is now completing a
ninth year,1 in which let us keep the feast.”

XXIV. Besides all these, the two treatises On
Promises were also composed by him. The occasion
was supplied him by the teaching of Νepos, a bishop
of those in Εgypt, that the promises whieh had been
made to the saints in the divine scriptures should be
interpreted after a more Jewish fashion, and his
assdumption that there will be a kind of millennium
on this earth devoted to bodily indulgenee. Thinking
for example, to establish his own peculiar opinion
from the Apocalypse of John, he composed a certain
book on the subject and entitled it Refutation of the
Allegorists.2 Dionysius attaeked him in the books On
Promises, in the first of which he sets out the view
that he himself held with regard to the doctrine, and
in the seeond treats of the Apocalypse of John.
There, at the beginning, he mentions Νepos, writing
as follows about him: “But since they bring forward
in his ninth year he was, to use Dionysius's metaphor, “under
a cloud.”
 

 
a certain composition of Νepοs, on which they rely
greatly as proving indisputably that the kingdom
Christ will be on earth, let me say that in many other
respects I approve and love Νepos, for his faith and
devotion to work, his diligent study of the Scriptures
and his abundant psalmody, by which many of the
brethren have till this day been cheered; and I am
full οf respeetful regard for the man, all the more for
that he has gone to his rest already. But truth is
dear and to be honoured above all things,1 and one
must give ungrudging praise and assent to whatever
is stated rightly, but examine and correct whatever
appears to be unsoundly written. Αnd if he were
present and putting forward his opinions merely in
words, conversation, without writing, would be
sufficient, persuading and instructing by question
and answer ‘them that oppose themselves.’ But when
a book is published, which some think most convicing,
and when certain teachers, who consider the
law and the prophets of no value and disregard the
following of the Gospels and depreciate the epistles
of the apostles, yet make promises concerning the
teaching οf this treatise as if it were some great and
hidden mystery, and do not suffer the simpler of our
brethren to have high and noble thoughts, either
about the glorious and truly divine appearing οf οur
Lord, or οf our resurrection from the dead and our
gathering together and being made like unto Ηim,
but persuade them to hope for what is petty and
mortal and like the present in the kingdom of God —
then we also are compelled to argue with Nepos
our brother as if he were present.” 
 Αfter other remarks he adds as follows: ‘‘Νοw
 

 
when I came to the nome of Arsinoë, where, as
owest, this doctrine had long been prevalent, so
hat schisms and defections of whole churches had
place, I called together the presbyters and
cachers οf the brethren in the villages (there were
resent also such οf the brethren as wished), and I
urged them to hold the examinartion of the question
publicly. Αnd when they brought me this book as
some invincible weapon and rampart, I sat with them
and for three successive days from morn till night
ttempted to correct what had been written. On
at occasion I conceived the greatest admiration for
e brethren, their firmness, love of truth, facility in
llowing an argument, and intelligence, as we prounded
in order and with forbearance the questions,
the difficulties raised and the points of agreement;
οn the one hand refusing to cling obstinately and at
all costs (even though they were manifestly wrong)
to opinions once held; and on the other hand not
shirking the counter-arguments, but as far as possible
attempting to grapple with the question in
nd and master them. Νor, if convinced by reason,
ere we ashamed to change our opinions and give
ur assent; but conscientiously and unfeignedly and
ith hearts laid open to God we accepted whatever
as established by the proofs and teachings of the
οly Scriptures. Αnd in the end the leader and
troducer of this teaching, Coracion, as he was
lled, in the hearing of all the brethren present,
assented, and testified to us that he would no longer
ere to it, nor discourse upon it, nor mention nor
ach it, since he had been sufficiently convinced by
e contrary arguments. Αnd as to the rest of the

 
brethren, some rejoiced at the joint conrerence, and
e mutual deference and unanimity which all
isplayed. . . .’’

XXV. Then, in due course, lower down he speaks
thus, with reference to the Apocalypse of John:
“Some indeed of those before our time rejected
altogether impugned the book, examining it chapter
by chapter and declaring it to be unintelligible and
by chapter and declaring it to be unintelligible and illogical, and its title false. For they say that it is
not John's, no, nor yet an apocalypse (unveiling),
since it is veiled by its heavy, thick curtain of unintelligibility;
and that the author of this book was
not only not one of the apostles, nor even one of
ints or those belonging to the chureh, but Cerinthus,
e same who created the seet called “Cerinthian’’
after him, since he desired to affix to his own forgery
a name worthy of credit. For that this was the
doctrine which he taught, that the kingdom of christ
would be οn earth; and he dreamed that it would
consist in those things which formed the object of his
own desires (for he was a lover of the body and
altogether camal), in the full satisfaction of the belly
and lower lusts, that is, in feasts and carousals and marriages, and (as a means, he thought, οf procuring
d lowerd not lower lusts, that is, in feasts and
under a better name) in festivals and sacrinces
and slayings of victims.1 But for my part I should
not dare to reject the book, since many my brethren hold it in estimatin ; but, reckoning that my perception
οt dare to reject the book, since many brethren hold
is inadequate to form an opinion concerning it, I hold
what the interpretation of each several passage is in
some way hidden and more wonderful.2 For even
although I do not understand it, yet I suspect that
some deeper meaning underlies the words. For I
 

 
do not measure and judge these things by my own
reasoning, but, assigning to faith the greater value,
I have come to the conclusion that they are too high
for my comprehension, and I do not reject what I
have not understood, but I rather wonder that I did
not indeed see them.” 
 Moreover, after closely examining the whole book
οf the Apocalypse and demonstrating that it cannot
be understood in the literal sense, he adds as follows:
“After completing the whole, one might say, of his
prophecy, the prophet ealls those blessed who observe
it, and indeed himself also; for he says: ῾ Blessed
is he that keepeth the words οf the prophecy of this
book, and I John, he that saw and heard these things.’
That then, he was certainly named John and that this
book is by one John, I will not gainsay; for I fully
allow that it is the work of some holy and inspired
person. But I should not readily agree that he was
the apostle, the son Zebedee, the brother of James,
whose are the Gospel entitled According to John and
the Catholic Epistle. For I fonn my judgement from
the character of each and from the nature of the
language and from What is known as the general
construction of the book, that the John therein mentioned]
is not the same. For the evangelist nowhere
adds his name, nor yet proclaims himself, throughout
either the Gospel or the Epistle.” 
 Then lower down he again speaks thus: “ . . . But
John nowhere, either in the first or the third person.
But he who wrote the Apocalypse at the very beginning
puts himself forward: ῾ The Revelation of Jesus
Christ, which he gave him to show unto his servants
quickly, and he sent and signified it by his angel

 
his servant John; who bare wrtness of the word of
God and his testimony, even of all things that he
saw.’ Then he also writes an epistle: ‘John to
seven churches which are in Asia; Grace to you and
peace.’ But the evagelist did not write his
even at the beginning of the Catholic Epistle, but
without anything superfluous began with the mystery
itself of the divine revelation: ‘That which was from
the beginning, that which we have heard, that which
we have seen with our eyes.’ It was in respect of
this revelation that the Lord called Peter
saying: ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah:
flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my heavenly Father.’ Nay, not even in the second
οr third extant epistles of John, although they are
short, is John set forth by name; but he has written
‘the elder,’ without giving his name. But this writer
did not even eonsider it sufficient, harivlng once mentioned
his name, to nanate what follows, but he takes
up his name again: ‘I John, your brother and partaker
with you in the tribulation and kingdom and in
the patience of Jesus, was in the isle that is called
Patomos for the word of ood and the testimony οf
Jesus.’ Moreover at the close he speaks thus:
‘Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy
οf this book, and I John, he that saw and heard these
things.’ 
 “That the writer of these words, therefore, was
John, one must beieve, since he says it. But What
John, is not clear. For he ffid not say that he was,
as is frequently said in the Gospel, the disciple loved
by the Lord, nor he whieh leaned back οn Ηis breast,
nor the brother οf James, nor the eye-witness and

 
hearer οf the Lord. For he would have mentioned
some one of these aforesaid epithets, had he wished
to make himself clearly known. Yet he makes use
of none of them, but speaks of himself as our brother
and partaker with us, and a witness of Jesus, and
blessed in seeing and hearing the revelations. I
hold that there have been many persons of the same
name as John the apostle, who for the love they bore
him, and beeause they admired and esteemed him
and wished to be loved, as he was, of the Lord, were
glad to take also the same name after him; just as
Ρaul, and for that matter Peter too, is a common
name among boys of believing parents. So then,
there is also another John in the Αcts of the Αpostles,
whose surname was Mark, whom Bamabas and Ρaul
took with themselves, concerning whom also the
scripture says again: ‘Αnd they had also John as
their attendant.’ But as to whether it were he
was the writer, I should say Νο. For it is written
that he did not arrive in Αsia along with them, but
having set sail, the Scripture says, from Ρaphos Ρaul
and his company came to Ρerga in Pamphylia; and
John departed from them and retumed to Jerusalem.’
But I think that there was a certain other [John] among
those that were in Αsia, sinee it is said both that
there were two tombs at Εphesus, and that each of
ulc two is said to be ’s. 
 “Αnd from the conceptions too, and from the
tenns and their arrangement, one might naturally
assume that this writer was a different person from
the other. For there is indeed a mutual agreement
between the Gospel and the Εpistle, and they begin
alike. The one says: ‘In the beginning was
word’; the other: ‘That which was from the begining.'

 
The one says: ‘Αnd the Word became nesh,
and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory
as of the only-begotten from the Father)’; the other,
the same words slightly changed: That which we
have heard, that wffihlch we have seen with our eyes,
that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning
the Word of life; and the life was manifested.’
For these words he employs as a prelude, since he is
aiming, as he shows in what follom, at those who
were asserting that the Lord had not come in the
flesh. Therefore he was careful also to add: ‘Αnd
that which we have seen, we bear witness, and
declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was
with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that
which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you
also.’ 1 Ηe is consistent with himself 2 and does
depart from what he has proposed, but proceeds
throughout under the same heads and expressions,
certain of whieh we shall mention eoncisely. But
the attentive reader will Rnd frequently in one and
the other ‘the’ 3 ‘the light,’ 4 ‘turning
darkness’; continually ‘the truth,’ 5 ‘the
‘the foy,’ 7 ‘the 8 and blood 9 of the
‘the judgement,’ 10 ‘the forgiveness of sins,’ 11 ‘the
love of God toward us,’ 12 the ‘commandment’ that
we should ‘love one anothee,’ 13 that we should ‘keep
ah the commanmnents’ 14; the ‘conviction’ of the
 

 
world,’ 1 of ‘the devil,’ 2 of ‘the antichriswt’ 
promise of the Ηoly spirit 4; the adoption of the
sons of God 5; the the ‘faith’ 6 that is demanded of us
throughout; ‘the Father’ and ‘the Son’7: these
are to be found everywhere. In a word, it is obrivlous
that those who observe their character throughout
will see at a glance that the Gospel and Εpistle have
one and the same complexion. But the Apocalypse
is utterly different from, and foreign to, these
writings; it has no connexion, no affinity, in any way
with them; it searcely, so to speak, has even a
syllable in common with them. Νay more, neither
does the Εpistle (not to speak of the Gospel) contain
any mention or thought of the Apocalypse, nor the
Apocalypse of the Εpistle, whereas Ρaul in his
epistles gave us a little light also on his revelations,
which he ffidJd not record separately. 
 “Αnd further, by means of the style one can
estimate the difference between the Gospel and
Εpistle and the Αpocalypse. For the former are not
only written in faultless Greek, but also show the
greatest literary skill in their ffiction, their reasonings,
and the constructions in which they are expressed.
There is a complete absence of any barbarous word,
or soleeism, or any vulgarism whatever. For their
author had, as it seemS, both kind of word, by the
free gift of the Lord, the word of knowledge and the
word of speech. But I will not deny that the other
writer had seen revelations and received knowledge
and prophecy; nevertheless I observe his style and
that his use of the Oreek language is not accurate,
but that he employs barbarous idioms, in some places
 

 
committing downright solecisms. These there is no
necessity to single out now. For I have not said these
things in mockery (let no one think it), but merely
to establish the dissimilarity οf these ”

XXVI. In addition to these letters οf Dionysius
there are extant aho many others, as for example
those against Sabellius to Αmmon bishop of the
church at Bernice, and that to Telesphorus, and that
to Euphranor and Αmmon again and Εupοrus. Αnd
he composed on the same subject aho four οther
treatises, which he addressed to his namesake at
Rome, Dionvsius. Αnd we have many letters of his
hesides these, and moreover lengthy books written
in epistolary form, such as those on Νature, addressed
to Timothy his boy, and that on Temptations, which
also he defficated to Euphranor. In adffition to
these, in writing also to Basilides, bishop of the
communities in the Pentapolis, he says that he himself
had written an exposition of the beginning of
Ecclesiastes; and he has left behind for our beneRt
various other letters addressed to this person. 
 so much for Dionysius. But come now, after
recording these things, let us hand down for the
infonnation of posterity the character οf our own
generation.

XXVII. when Xystus had presided
οver the church of the Romans for eleven years,1 he
was succeeded by Dionysius, namesake of him of
Αlexandria. Αt this time also when Demetrian had
departed this life at Αntioch, Ρaul of samosata
received the Ρiscopate. Αs this person espoused
low and mean riews as to Christ, contraq to the
’s teaching, namely, that Ηe was in His nature
 

 
an ordinary man, Dionysius of Alexandria was
inrited to attend the synod, but, pleaffing as his
excuse both old age and boffily weakness, he postponed
his coming, and furnished by letter the opinion
that he held on the subject in question. But the
rest of the pastors of the churches, from various
quarters, all hasted to Αntioch, and assembled as
against a spoiler of the nock οf christ.

XXVIII. Αmong those who were the mort distinguished
were Firmilian, bishop of Caesarea
Cappadocia; the brothers Gregory and Athenodore,
pastors of the communities in Pontus; and in addition
to these, Helenus, [bishop] of community at
Tarsus, and Nicomas, of the community at Iconium
nor must we omit Hymenaeus, of the church at
Jemsalem, and neotecnus, of this neighbouring
church of Caesarea; and moreover there was
aho, who was ruling with distinction the brethren
at Bostra; and one would not be at a loss to reckon
up countless others, together with presbyters and
deacons, who were gathered together in the abovementioned
city for the same cause. But these were
the most famous among them. when all, then, were
coming together frequently οn different oecasions,
argmnents and questions were mooted at each
meeting, the samosatene and his party attempting
to keep still concealed and to cloak what was heterodox,
while the οthers were eamestly engaged in
laying bare and bringing into the open his heresy
and blasphemy against Christ. 
 Αt that time Dionysius died in the tweKth year οf
the reign οf Gallienus, 1 haring presided in the epis-
 

 
copate at Alexandria for seventeen years. years. He was
succeeded by Maximus. 
 Gallienus having held the prineipate for fifteen
entire years, Claudius was established as his successor. 1 
 When he had completed his second year, he gac
 over the gOVernment to Aurelian.

XXIX. Ιn Aurelian's
day a final synod of an ofexceedingly large number
ofbishops Was assembled, and the leader ofthe heresy
at Antioch, being unmasked and now cleariy condemned
of heterodoxy by all, was excommunicated
from the Catholich Church under heaven. The person
foremost in calling him to account and in utterly
refuting his attempts at concealment was Malchion,
a learned man, who aho was head of a sehool of
rhetoric, one of the Greek educational establihments
at Antioch; and, moreoVer, for the surpassing sincerity
of his faith in Christ he had been deemed
worthy of the presbyterate of that community. Ιn
faet, this man had stenographers to take notes as he
held a disputatiOn with Ρaul, wllich we know to be
eXtant even to tbis day; and he, alOne of them all,
was able to unmask that erafty and deceitful person.

XXX. The pastors, then, WhO had been assembled
together, indited unanimously a ringle letter personally
to DiOnysius, bishop of ROme, and Maximus, of
Alexandria, and sent it throughOut all the provinces.
In it they make manifest to au their zeal, and also
the perverse heterodoxy of Ρaul, as well as the
arguments and questions that they addressed to him;
and moreover they deseribe the man’s whole life and
eonduct. From Which, by way οf memOrial, it may
 

 
be well on the Ρresent oecasion to give an account of
these their utteranees. 
 “To Dionysius and Maximus and to all Our fellowministers
throughout the worid, bishops, presbyters
and deacons, and to the whole Catholic Chureh under
heaven, Helenus and Ηymenaeus and Theophilus
Theotecnus and Maximus, Ρroclus, Νicomas and
Aelianus and Ρaul and Bolanus and Protogenes and
Hierax and Eutychius and Theodore and Μalchion
and Lueius and all the otherS who, with us, sojourn
in the adjacent cities and provinces, bishops and
preSbyters and deaeOns and the ehurcheS of God, aS
to brethren beloved in the Lord send greeting.” 
 Α little further on they proeeed thus: “Αnd we
wrote 1 inviting many even of the bishops at a distance
to eome and heal this deadly doctrine, as for
example, both DionySius at Alexandria and Firmihan
of Cappadoeia, those blessed men. The former of
these wrote to Antioch, [not to the bishop,] neither
deeming the leader of the heresy worthy of being
addressed nor writing to him personally, but to the
whole community; of which letter also We subjoin a
copy. Firmilian, on the other hand, even came twice,
and eondemned Paul's new-fangled ideas, as we who
were Ρresent know and bear Witness, and many others
knoW aS well; but, on his promising to ehange, he
adjourned the [proceedings], hoping and believing that
the matter would be Bttingly eoncluded ithout any
reproach to the Word; for he WaS deeeived by him
who both denied his God and Lord, and also did not
 

 
preserVe the faith that he himself formeriy held.
Αnd Firmilian was now again on his way to eross over
to Αntioch, and had got as far as Tarsus, for he had
had eVerience of the Villainy of this denier of God.
But while we had come together and were actually
calling him and awaiting his arrival, in the midst of
it all he leaehed life's end.” 
 Αgain, after other remarks they describe the manner
of his life, in the fOllowing terms: “But
he departed from the canOn [of truth], and has turned
aside to spurious and bastard doetrines, we are under
no obligation to judge the actions of him that
without, not even because, though he vas fOrmerly
poor and penniless, neither haVing reeeived a livelihoos
from hiS fathers nor having got it from a trade
or any oeeupation, he has has come to possess
abundant wealth, as a result of lawless deeds and
sacrilegious plunderings and extortions exacted from
the brethren by threats; for he deprives the injured
of their rights, and promises to help them for money,
yet breaks his word with these also, and with a light
heart makes his harvest out of the readiness of
persons engaged in lawsuits to make an offer, for the
sake of being rid of those that trouble them; seeing
that he considers that godliness is a way of gain.
Νeither [do we judge him] beeause he sets his mind
on high things and is lifted up, clothing himself with
wordly honours and wishing to be ealled ducenarius 1
rather than bishop, and struts in the market-places, 2
reading and dictating letters as he walks in public,
and attended by a bodyguard, some preceding, some
following, and that too in numbers: with the result
 

 
that the faith is ill thought of and hated because of
his conceit and the overweening pride of his heart.
Nor [do we judge] the quackery in church assemblies
that he derises, courting popularity and posing for
appearance’ sake, and thus astonishing the minds
the simpler folk, with the tribunal and lofty throne
that he prepared for himself, not beRtting a disciple
οf Christ, and the secretum 1 which, in imitation οf
the rulers οf the world, he has and so styles. Αlsο,
he smites his hand on his thigh and stamps the
tribunal with his feet; and those who do not applaud
οr wave their handkerchiefs, as in a theatre, or shout
οut and jump up in the same way as do the men and
mtched women who are his partixans and hearken
in this disorderly fashion, but who listen, as in God's
house, with orderly and becoming reverence,—these
he rebukes and insults. Αnd towards the interpreters
οf the word who have departed this life he behaves
in an insolent and ill-bred fashion in the common
assembly, and brags about himself as though he werc
not a bishop but a sophist and charlatan. Αnd as to
psalms, he put a stop to those addressed to our Lord
Jesus christ, on the ground that they are modem and
the compositions of modem men, but he trains women
to sing hymns to himseK in the middle of the church
οn the great day of the Ρascha, which would make
οne shudder to hear. such aho is the kind of discourse
that he permits the bishops of the neighbouring
country and towns, who fawn upon him, and the
presbyters as well, to deliver in their sennons to the
people. For he is not willing to ackowledge with
us that the son of ood has come down from heaven
 

 
(to anticipate something οf what we are about to
write; and this will not be merely asSerted, but is
proved from many passages of the notes that we send,
and not least where he says that Jesus Christ is from
below 1); while they who sing psalms to him and
utter his praises in the congregation say that their
impious teacher has come down an angel from
heaven. Αnd he does not prevent this, but is even
present when sueh things are said, arrogant fellow
that he is. Αnd as to the subintroductae, 2 as the
Antiochenes call them, his own and those of the
presbyters and deacoss in his company, with whom
he joins in concealing both this and the other incurable
sins (though he knows of, and has convicted,
them), that he may have them under obligation to
him, and that they may not dare, through fear for
themselves, to aecuse him οf his misdemeanours in
word and deed; yea, he has even made them rich,
for which cause he is the beloved and amnired of
those who affect such conduct — why should we write
of these things? But we knoW, beloved, that the
bishop and the priesthood as a whole Should be a
pattem to the people of all good works; and we
are not ignorant οf this: how many have fallen
through procuring subintroductae for themselVes,
while οthers are under suspieion; so that even if it
be granted that he does nothing licentious, yet he
ought at least to guard against the suspicion that
arises from such a practice, lest he cause someone to
stumble, and induce οthers also to imitate him. For
how could he rebuke another, οr counsel him not to
consort any further with a woman and so guard
against a slip, as it is written, seeing that he has
 

 
sent οne away already, and has two in his company
in the Rower of youth and beauty, and even if he
go away anywhere, he brings them around with him,
living all the while in luXury and surfeiting? Wherefore,
though all groan and lament in private, so fearful
have they become of his tyranny and poWer, that
they dare not aeeuse him. Vet, as We have said
before, 1 οne might call to aecount for these matters
a man who has at any rate a catholic mind and is
numbered along with us; but as for one Who burlesqued
the myStery, and strutted about in the
abominable heresy of Artemas 2 (for why should we
not bring ourselves to declare his father?)—from
such a one we think that we are under no obligation
to demand a reckoning for these things.” 
 Then at the close οf the letter they add as follows: 
 “We were compelled therefore, aS he opposed himself
to God and refused to yield, to excommunicate
him, and appoint another bishop in his stead for the
Catholic Chureh [choosing] by the providence of God,
as we are persuaded, Domnus the son of the blessed
Demetrian, who formerly presided with distinction
over the same community; he is adorned with all
the noble qualities suitable for a bishop, and we
notify [this his appointment] unto you that ye may
write to him, and from him receive letters of communion.
But let this fellow write to Artemas, and
let those who side with Αrtemas hold communion
with him.” 
 When Ρaul, then, had fallen from the episcopate
as well as from his orthodoxy in the faith, Domnus,
as has been said, sueceeded to the ministry of the
chureh at Αntioch. But as Ρaul refused on an any
account to give up possession οf the church-building,

 
the emperor Aurelian, on being petitioned, gave an
extremely just decision regarding the matter, order
the assignment οf the building to those with
hom the bishops of the doctrine 1 in Italy and Rome
should communicate in writting. Thus, then, was the
aforesaid man driven with the utmost indignity from
the church by the ruler of this world. 
 such indeed was the disposition οf Aurelian towards
us at that time. But as his reign advanced, he
changed his mind with regard to us, and was now
being moved by certain counsels to stir up persecution
against us; and there was great talk about this on
all sides. But as he was just οn the point οf so doing
and was putting, one might almost say, his signature
to the decrees against us, the divine Justice visited
him, and pinioned his arms, so to speak, to prevent
his undertaking. Thus it was clearly shown for all
to see that the rulers of this world would never find
it easy to proeeed against the churches of Christ,
unless the hand which champions us were to permit
this to be done, as a divine and heavenly judgement
to chasten and turn us, at whatsoever times it should
approve. At all events, when Aurelian had reigned
r six years, 2 he was suceeeded by Ρrobus. Ηe held
e government for something like the same number οf
years, 3 and Carus with his sons Carinus and Numerianus
succeeded him; and when they in their turn had
remained in office for not three entire years, the
government devolved on Diocletian 4 and οn those who
were brought in after him; and under them was
 

 
accomplished the persecution of our day and the
estruction οf the churches therein.
But a short time before this, Felix succeeded in
the ministry Dionysius, bishop of Rome, who had
completed nine years.

XXXI. Αt that time also the madman,1 named
his devil-possessed heresy, was taking as his armour
mental delusion; for the devil, that is Satan himself,
the adversary of God, had put the man forward for
the destruction of many. Ηis very speech and
manners proclaimed him a barbarian in mode of life,
and, being by nature devilish and insane, he suited
his endeavours thereto and attempted to pose as
Christ: at one time giving out that he was the
Paraclete and the Ηoly spirit Himself, conceited
fool that he was, as well as mad; at another time
choosing, as Christ did, twelve disciples as associates
in his new-fangled system. In short, he stitched
together false and godless doctrines that he had
collected from the countless, long-extinct, godless
heresies, and infected οur empire with, as it were, a
deadly poison that came from the land of the Ρersians;
d from him the profane name of Manichaean is
still commonly on men's lips to this day. Such, then,
was the foundation on which rested this knowledge
which is falsely so called, which sprang up at the
e we have mentioned.

XXXII. At that time Felix, who had presided over
the church οf the Romans for five years, was suceded
by Eutychianus. This person did not
r even ten entire months; he left the office to
aius our contemporary. Αnd when he had presided
 

 
abοut fifteen years, Marcellinus was appointed his
successor, the same whοm the persecutiοn has overtaken. 
 In the time of these persons, in suecession to
Domnus, Timaeus was in charge of the episeopate of
Antioch, whom our contemporary Cyril succeeded.
During Cyril's episcopate we came to know Dorotheus,
a leamed man, who had been deemed worthy of the
presbyterate at Αntioeh. In his zeal for all that is
beautiful in divine things, he made so careful a study
of the Ηebrew tongue that he read with understanding
the original Ηebrew Scriptures. Αnd he was by
nο means unacquainted with the most liberal studies
and Greek primary education; but withal he was by
bature a eunuch, having been so frοm his very birth,
so that even the emperοr, accounting this as a sort
miracle, tοok him into his friendship and honoured
him with the charge of the purple dye-wοrks at Tyre.
we heard him giving a measured exposition of the
Scriptures in the church. 
 After Cyril, Tyrannus succeeded to the episcopate
the community of the Antiochenes, in whose day
the attack upon the churches was at its height. 
 Αfter socrates as head of the cοmmumunity at
Laodicea came Εusebius, being a native of the city οf
Alexandria. The reason of his migration was the
air of Ρaul. For when he had cοme to Syria οn
busniess connected with Ρaul, he was prevented frοm
returning home by those whο had divine things at
heart. Ηe was a goοdly example of piety amοng our
cοntemporaries, as it will be easy to discover from the
expressions of Dionysius quoted above.1 Αnatolius
was appointed his successor, one good man, as they
say, folloning another. Ηe alsο was by race an

 
Alexandrian, who for his learning, secular education
d philosophy had attained the first place among our
οst illustrious contemporaries; inasmuch as in
ithmetic and geometry, in astronomy and other
iences, whether οf logic οr of physics, and in the
s of rhetoric as well, he had reached the pinnacle.
t is recorded that because of these attainments the
citizens there deemed him worthy to establish the
school of the Aristotelian tradition1 at
Now countless other οf his deeds of prowess are reted
during the siege of the Pirucheum2 at
seeing that he was deemed worthy by all of
extraordinary privilege omong the officials; but
as an example I shall make mention of the following
one only. It is said that When the wheat failed the
besieged, so that hunger was now a more intolerable
thing than their enemies without, the person of whom
we are speaking, being present, adopted the following
device. The other part of the city was fighting in
alliance with the Roman army, and thus was not
besieged. Αmοng these latter was Eusebius (for it
said that he was still there at that time before his
igration to Syria), who had won so great fame and
widespread a reputation that it reached the ears
en οf the Roman general. To him Anatolius sent,
d informed him as to those that were perishing of
nger in the siege. When he learnt it, he asked the
man commander as a very great favour to grant
ety to deserters from the enemy; and having
obtained his requert acquainted Anatolius of the fact.
The moment Anatolius received the promise, he
 

 
assembled a council οf the Alexandrians, and at first
equested all to extend the right hand οf fellowship
to the Romans. But when he pereeived that they
were getting angry at the proposal, “At any rate,”
said he, “I do not think you would contradict me if
I were to counsel that those who were superfluous
and in no wise useful to us ourselves, old women and
young children and old men, should be permitted to
o outside the gates whithersoever they wish. Why
keep we these persons with us to no purpose, seeing
ey are all but on the point of death ? why destroy
we with hunger the mained and crippled in body,
when we should support οnly men and youths, and
husband the necessary wheat for such as are required
to guard the city ? ” With some such arguments he
persuaded the assembly, and was the first to rise and
give his vote that the whole body of those who were
not required for the army, whether men οr women,
should depart from the city, because were they to
remain and uselessly stay therein, there would be no
hope οf safety for them, since they would perish with
unger. Αnd when all the rest of those in the
embly assented to this proposal, he went within a
le of saving the whole of them that were besieged;
took care that first of all those belonging to the
urch, and then the rest remaining in the city, of
ages, should escape, not only those who came
der the terms οf the vote, but also great numbers
of others, passing themselves off off as such, who secretly
donned women's attire, and by his management left
e gates by night and hastened to the Roman army.
ebius was there to receive them all, and, like a
ther and physician, restore them, in evil plight after
eir long siege, with every kind of forethought and

 
attention. such were the two pastors that the church
of Laodicea was deemed worthy to have successively,
who by dinine providence, after the above-mentioned
war, had left the city of the Alexandrians to come
there. Νot a very great many works, indeed, were
composed by Anatolius, but enough have reached us
to enable us to perceive both his eloquence and his
great erudition. In these works he especially presents
his opinions with reference to the Pascha; from which
it may be necessary οn the present occasion to give
the following passage. 
 From the Canons of Anatolius οn the Pascha.1 
 “It has therefore in the first year the new moon
of first the first month, which is the beginning of the
nineteen-year cycle, on the 26th of Phamnoth according
to the Egyptians, but according to the
months of the Macedonians the 22nd of Dystrus, or,
as the Romans would say, the 11th before the Kalends
of April. The Sun is found on the aforesaid 26th of
Phamenoth not only to have arrived at the first sign
of the zodiac, but already to be passing through the
fourth day within it. This sign is commonly called
the first of the twelve divisions and the equinoctial
[sign] and the beginning of months and head of the
cycle and the starting-point of the planetary course.
But the preceding sign is the last of the months and
the twelfth sign and the last of the twelve divisions
and the end of the planetary circuit. Therefore we
say that they who place the first month in it, and
determine the fourteenth day of the Pascha accordingly,2
are guilty of no small or ordinary mistake. 
 

 
 Αnd this is not our οwn statement, but the fact was
known to the Jews, those of οld time even before
Christ, and it was carefully observed by them. One
may learn it from what is said by Philo, Josephus and
Musaeus, and not only by them but also by those of
still more ancient date, the two Agathobuli, surnamed
the Masters οf Aristobulus the Great. Ηe was
reckoned among the Seventy who translated
sacred and divine Hebrew Scriptures for
Philadelphus and his father; and he dedicated books
exegetical of the Law of Moses to the same kings.
These writers, when they resolve the questions relative
to the Exodus, say that all equally ought to
sacrifice the passover after the vernal equinox, at the
middle of the first month; and that this is found to
occur when the sun is passing through the first sign
of the solar, or, as some have named it, the zodiacal
cycle. Αnd Aristobulus adds that at the feast of the
passover it is necessary that not only the sun should
be passing through an equinoctial sign, but the moon
also For as the equinoctial signs are two, the οne
vernal, the other autumnal, diametrically opposite
each to other, and as the fourteenth of the month, at
evening, is assigned as the day οf the passover, the
moon will have its place in the station that is diametrically
opposed to the sun, as may be seen in full
moon ; and the one, the sun, will be in the sign οf
the vernal equinox, while the other, the moon, will
οf necessity be in that of the autumnal. I know
many other statements of theirs, some of them
probable, others advanced as absolute proofs,1 by
which they attempt to establish that the Feast of
 

 
the Passover and of unleavened bread ought without
exception to be held after the equinox. But I refrain
from demanding proofs thus composed from those for
whom the veil upon the law of Moses has been taken
away, and for whom it now remains with unveiled
face ever to behold as in a mirror Christ and the
things of Christ, both what Ηe learned and what
Ηe suffered.1 But that the hrst month with the
Ηebrews lies around the equinox is shown also by
the teachings in the Book of Enoch.” 2 
 And the same person has left behind an Introduction
to Arithmetic also in ten complete treatises, and, as
well, evidences of his Study and deep knowledge οf
divine things. Theotecnus, bishop of Caesarea in
Palestine, first had ordained him to the episcopate,
seeking to procure him as his successor in his own
community after his death, and indeed for Some Short
time both presided over the same church. But, the
synod with reference to Ρaul summoning him to
Antioch, as he was passing by the city οf the Laodiceans
he was retained there by the brethren, Eusebius
having fallen asleep. 
 Αnd when Anatolius also departed this life, Stephen
was appointed over the community there, the last
bishop before the persecution. Ηe won widespread
admiration for his knowledge of philosophy and other
secular learning, but he was not similarly disposed
towards the divine faith, as the progress of the
persecution cleariy proved, demonstrating that the
man was more οf a dissembler, more of a craven and
coward, than a true philosopher. But indeed the
church and her affairs were not destined to perish
 

 
beeause of him; they were set to rights by one who
was immediately proclaimed bishop of that community
by God Himself, the the Saviour of all, even
Theodotus, a man whose deeds themselnes proned
true his ritle to his own name and that of a bishop.
Ηe had reached, indeed, the first rank in the science
of healing bodies, but in that of curing souls he was
second to none among men, because of his benevolence,
sincerity, fellow-feeling and zeal towards those
that sought his aid; and he was also greatly denoted
to the study of divinity. Such a one was he. 
 But at Caesarea in Palestine Theotecnus, after
exercising his episcopal office in the most zealous
fashion, was sueeeeded by Agapius, whom also we
know to have laboured much, displaying a most
genuine regard for the gonernment of his people,
and with a liberal hand caring especially for all the
poor. In his day we came to known Pamphilus, a
most eloquent man and a true philosopher in his
mode of life, who had been deemed worthy of the
presbyterate of that community. It would be no
small undertaking to show the kind of man he was
and whence he eame. But of each particular of his
life and of the school that he established, as well as
his contest in various confessions during the persecution,
and the crown of martyrdom with which he was
wreathed at the end of all, we have treated separately
in a special work concerning him. Truly he was the
most admirable of those of that city; but as men
possessed of especially rare qualities in our day we
know Pierius, one of the presbyters at Alexandria,
and Μeletius, bishop of the churches in Pontus. The
former of these had been noted for his life of extreme

 
poverty and for his learning in philosophy. Ηe was
exceedingly well practised in the deeper study of
divine things and in expositions thereof, as well
in his public discourses in church. Meletius1 (educated
persons used to call him the honey of Attica)
was such as one would describe as a most accomphished
scholar in all respects. It is impossible to
admire sufficiently his skill in oratory, yet this might
be said to be his by a natural gift. But who could
surpass the excellence of his great experience and
erudition as well, because you would say, even on a
siIgle trial, that he was the most skilful and learned
man in all branches literature? Equally, too, was
his life distinguished for its virtues. We took note
οf him during the period of the persecution, as for
seven whole years he was fleeing in the regions οf
Palestine. 
 In the church at Jerusalem, after the bishop
Hymnaeus mentioned shortly before, Zabdas received
the ministry. Αfter no great time he fell
asleep, and Hermo, the last of the bishops up to the
persecution in our day, succeeded to the apostolic
throne that has still been preserved there to the
present day.2 
 Αnd at Alexandria too, Maximus, who had held
the episcopate for eighteen years after the death of
Dionysius, was succeeded by Theonas. In his day at
Alexandra Achillas, deemed worthy of the presbyterate
along with Pierius, was well known; he had
been entrusted with the school of the sacred faith,
having displayed a wealth of philosophy most rare
and inferior to none, and a manner of life that was
 

 
truly in accordance with the Gospel. Αfter Theonas
had given his utmost service for nineteen years, Ρeter
succeeded to the episcopate οf the Alexandrians, and
he too was especially prominent for twelve entire
years; he ruled the church for less than three entire
years before the persecution, and for the remainder
οf his days practised a life of severer discipline, and
cared in no hidden manner for the general good of
the churches. For this reason, therefore, in the ninth
year of the persecution he was beheaded, and so
adomed with the crown οf martyrdom. 
 In these books having concluded the subject of he
successions, from the birth of οur Saviour to the
destruction of the places of —a subject that
extends οver three hundred and five —come,
let us next leave in writing, for the information of
those also that come after us, what the extent and
nature have been of the conflicts in our own day οf
those who manfully contended for piety. 
 cycle that upon which “the new moon οf the first
month” (i.e. the Jewish Νisan οr Αbib,
to our March-April) falls upon March 22: he is,
however, in error about the vernal equinox, which
he places on Μarch 19 (§ 15, where Μarch 22 is
fourth day”) instead of March 21. Ηe
insists (as did also Dionysius) that the paschal full
moon must fall after the equinox, as opposed to those,
whom he mentions at the close οf § 15, who regarded
the full moon (“the fourteenth day”) if it fell
the day before the equinox, as the paschal moon.

COΝTEΝTS OF BOOK VIII 
 The Eighth Book of the Ecclesiastical History
contains the following: 
 I. on the events before the persecution in our day. 
 II. On the destruetion of the churches. 
 III. On the nature of the conflicts endured in the
persecution. 
 Iv. On the famed martyrs of God, how they filled
every place with their memory, being
wreathed with varied crowns for piety. 
 v. On those in Nicomedia. 
 VI. On those in the imperial palaces. 
 VII. On the Egyptians in Phoenicia. 
 VIII. On those in Εgypt. 
 IX. Οn those in the Thebais. 
 X. Accounts in writing of Ρhileas the martyr
concerning what had taken place at
Alexandria. 
 XI. On the martyrs in Ρhrygia. 
 XII. Οn very many others, both men and women,
who endured various conflicts. 

 
 XIII. On the presedents of the Church who displaye
in their own blood the genuineness of the
piety of which they were ambassadors. 
 XIV. On the character of the enemies of piety.
On the events which happened to those without
[the Church]. 
 VI. On the change of affairs for the better. 
 II. On the recantation of the rulers.

BOOK VIII 
 Having concluded the succession from the apostles
in seven entire books, in this eighth treatise we
regard it as one of our most urgent duties to hand
down, for the knowledge of those that come after us,
the events of our own day, which are worthy of no
casual record ; and from this point our account will
take its beginning.

I. It is beyond our powers to describe in a worthy
manner the measure and nature of that honour as
well as freedom which was accorded by all men, both
Greeks and barbarians, before the persecution in our
day, to that word of piety toward the God of the
universe which had been proclaimed through Christ
to the world. Yet proofs might be forthcoming in the
favours granted by the rulers to our people : to whom
they would even entrust the government of the provinces,
freeing them from agony of mind as regards
sacrificing, because οf the great friendliness that they
used to entertain for their doctrine. Why need one
speak of those in the imperial palaces and of the
supreme rulers, who allowed the members of their
households — wives, children and servants — to practise
openly to their face the divine word and conduct,
and — one might say — permitted them even to
of the freedom accorded to the faith ? Αnd these
they used to regard with especial esteem and more

 
favourably than their fellow-servants. such a one
was the famous Dorotheus, who surpassed all in his
devotion and faithfulness to them, and for this reason
was more highly honoured than men who held positions
as rulers or governors. With him was the
celebrated Gorgonius and all those who, like them,
had been deemed worthy of the same honour because
of the word of God. With what favour one might
note that the rulers in every church were honoured
by all procurators and governors! Αnd how could
οne fully describe those assemblies thronged with
countless men, and the multitudes that gathered
together in every city, and the famed concourses in
the places of prayer ; by reason οf which they were
no longer satisfied with the buildings of οlden time,
and would erect from the foundations churches of
spacious dimensions throughout all the cities ? Αnd
as these things went forward with the times, and day
by day increasingly grew mightier, no envy could
stop them, nor was any evil spirit able to cast its
spell or hinder them by human devices, so long as the
divine and heavenly hand was sheltering and guarding,
as a worthy object, its own people. 
 But when, as the result of greater freedom, a
change to pride and sloth came οver our affairs, we
fell to envy and fierce railing against one another,
warring upon ourselves, so to speak, as occasion
offered, with weapons and spears formed of words ;
and rulers attacked rulers and laity formed factions
against laity, while unspeakable hypoerisy and pretence
pursued their evil course to the furthest end :
until the divine judgement with a sparing hand, as is
its wont (for the asseblies were still crowded),

 
quietly and moderately began to exercise its overingt,
the persecution commencing with the brethren
the army. But when in our blindness we took not
e least care to secure the goodwill and
vour of the Deity, but, like some kind of atheists,
agained that our affairs escaped all heed and oversight,
we went οn adding one wickedness to another ;
and those accounted our pastors, easting aside the
sanctions of the fear of God, were enflamed with
mutual contentions, and did nothing else but add to
strifes and threats, the jealousy, enmity and
tred that they used one to another, claiming with
all vehemence the objects of their ambition as if they
were a despot's spoils ; then indeed, then according
the word spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord hath
kened the daughter of Zion in his anger, and hath
cast down from heaven the glory of Israel ; he hath
not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger ;
but the Lord hath also swallowed up all the beauty οf
Israel and hath broken down all his hedges. Αnd
according to what has been foretold in the Psalms,
e hath overtumed the covenant οf his servant and
th profaned to the ground, through the destruction
of the churches, his sanctuary and hath broken down
all his hedges, he hath made his strongholds cowardice.
All that pass by the way have spoiled the multitudes
of the people, yea more, he hath become a reproach
to his neighbours. For he hath exalted the right hand
of his adversaries, hath turned back the help of
his sword and hath not taken his part in the battle.
But he hath also made his purification to cease, and
hath cast his throne down to the ground, and hath

 
shortened the days of his time and, last of all, he hath
covered him with shame.

II. Αll things in truth were fulfilled in our day, when
we saw with our very eyes the houses of prayer cast
down to their foundations from top to bottom, and
the inspired and sacred seriptureS committed to the
flames in the midst of the market-places, and the
pastors οf the churches, some shamefully hiding themselves
here and there, while others were ignominiously
captured and made a mockery by their enemies ;
when also, according to another prophetic word, He
poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to
wander in the waste, where there is no way. 
 But as to these, it is not our part to deseribe their
melancholy misfortunes in the issue, even as we do
not think it proper to hand down to memory their
dissensions and unnatural conduct to one another
before the persecution. Thererore we resolved to
place on record nothing more about them than what
would justify the divine judgement. Accordingly,
we determined not even to mention those who have
been tried by the persecution, or have made utter
shipwreck of their salvation, and of their own free
will were plunged in the depths of the billows ; but
we shall add to the general history only such things
as may be profitable, first to ourselves, and then to those that com after us. Let us proceed, therefore
from this point to give a summary deseription of the
sacred conflicts of the martyrs or the divine Word.
lt was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, 1 and the month Dystrus, 2 or March, as the Romans would call it, in which, as the festival of the
 

 
Saviour's Ρassion 1 was coming on, an imperial letter
as everywhere promulgated, ordering the razing οf
e churches to the ground and the destruction by
οf the Scriptures, and proclaiming that those who
ld high posiuons would lose all civil rights, while
οse in households, if they persisted in their profeson
on of Christianity, would be deprived of their liberty.
uch was the first document against us. But not
ng afterwards we were further visited with other
ers, and in them the order was given that the
presidents of the churches should all, in every place,
first committed to prison, and then afterwards
mpelled by every kind of device to sacrifice.

I. Then indeed, then very many rulers of the
urches contended with a stout heart under terrible
rments, and displayed spectacles of mighty conflicts ;
ile countless others, whose souls cowardice had
numbed beforehand, readily proved weak at the first
ult ; while οf the rest, each underwent a serues
varried forms of torture : one would have his body
treated by scourgings ; another would be punished
ith the rack and torn to an unbearable degree,
hereat some met a miserable end to their life. But
ers, again, emerged from the connict otherwise :
e man was brought to the abominable and unholy
ifices by the violence of others who pressed round
him, and dismissed as if he had sacrificed, even though
e had not ; another who did not so much as approach
touch any accursed thing, when others had said
t he had sacrfficed, went away bearing the false
accusation in silence. Α third was taken up half-
ad and cast aside as if he were a corpse already ;
and, again, a certain person lying on the ground was
agged a long distance by the feet, haring been

 
reckoned among those who had voluntarily sacrificed.
e cried out and with a loud voice attested his
al to sacrifice, and another shouted aloud that
was a Christian, glorying in his confession of the
ving Name. Another stoutly maintained that he
not sacrificed, and never would.
ese also were struck on the mouth and silenced by
large band of soldiers drawn up for that purpose,
with blows on their face and cheeks driven
ibly away. so great store ffid the enemies of
ess set on seemingly by any means to have
omplished their purpose. 
 But even such methods did not avail them against
holy martyrs. what word of ours could suffice
an accurate description of these ?

IV. For
ht tell of countless numbers who displayed a
ellous zeal for piety to the God of the universe;
only from what time the persecution was stirred
against all, but long before, during the period
en peace was still firmly established. For when
who had receivcd the authority 1 was just now
akening, as it were, from profound torpor, though
was in a secret and hidden manner aheady making
pts against the churches during the time that
e after Decius and valerian, and did not get him-
in readiness for the war against us all at once,
as yet made an artempt οnly upon those in the
ps (for in this way he thought that the rest also
could easily be taken, if first of all he were to get the
r in the conflict with thess): then one could see
t numbers of those in the army most gladly
bracing civil life, so that they might not prove
 

 
renegades in their piety toward the creator οf the
universe. For when the supreme commander, 1 whoever
he was, was just making his first attempt at persecuting
the soldiers — separating into elasses and
thoroughly sifting out those serving in the camps,
giving them a choice whether they would οbey and
enjoy the rank they held, or else be deprived of it,
if they continued to disobey the commandment — a
great many soldiers of Christ's kingdom, without
hesitation, unquestionably preferred to confess Ηim
than retain the seeming glory and prosperity that
they possessed. Αnd already in rare cases one οr
two of these were receiving not only loss of honour
but even death in exchange for their godly stedfastness,
for as yet the instigator of the plot was working
with a certrisln moderation and daring to proceed unto
blood only in some instances ; fearing, presumably,
the multitude of believers, and hesitating to plunge
into the war against us all at οnce. But when he
prepared himself still further for battle, it is quite
impossible to recount the number or the splendour of
God's martyrs that it was given to the inhabitants
throughout all the cities and country parts to see.

V. To begin with, the moment that the decree
against the churches was published at Nicomedia, a
ertain person 2 by no means obscure, but most highly
onoured as the world counts pre-eminence, moved
y zeal toward God and carried away by his burning
aith, seized and tore it to pieces, when posted up in
n open and public place, as an unholy and profane
 

 
thing ; [and this he did] while two emperors were
present in the same city, the senior of them all,1
he who held the fourth place in the government after
him. 2 But this man was the first of those at that time
who thus distinguished himself ; and, at the same
time, in his endurance of such resultS as naturally
followed a daring act of this kind, he maintained an
untroubled and unffisturbed demeanour to his very
last breath.

VI. But among all those whose praises have ever
yet been sung as worthy of admiration and famed for
courage, whether by Greeks or barbarians, this occasion
produced those divine and outStanffing martyrs
Dorotheus and the imperial servants that were with
him. These persons had been deemed worthy of the
highest honour by their masters, who loved them no
less than their own children ; but they accounted the
reproaches and sufferings for piety and the many
forms of death that were newly devised against them,
as truly greater riches than the fair fame and luxury
of this life. We shall mention the kind of death that
οne of them met, and leave our readers to gather from
that instance what happened to the οthers. 
 Α certain man was publicly brought forward in the
city of which we have spoken above, under the rulers
we have mentioned. Ηe was ordered to sacrifice ;
and, as he refused, the command was given that he
should be raised on high naked, and have his whole
body torn with scourges, until he should give in, and
even against his will do what was bidden him. But
when he remained unmoved even under these sufferings,
they proceeded to mix vinegar and salt together
and pour them into the mangled parts of his body,
where the bones were already showing. Αnd as he

 
despised these pains also, a gridiron and fire were
then produced, and the remnants of his body, just as
if it were flesh for eating, were consumed by the fire,
not all at once, in case he might find immediate
release, but tittle by little ; nor were those who placed
him on the pyre allowed to desist, until, after such
sufferings, he should signify his assent to what was
commanded. But he clung fixedly to his purpose,
and triumphantly gave up the ghost in the midst of
his tortures. Such was the martyrdom of one of the
imperial servants, who truly was worthy of his name.
For he was called Ρeter. 
 But we shall pass by the martyrdoms of the rest,
though they were not inferior, having regard to the
due proportions of the book ; only Ρlacing it on
record that Dorotheus and Gorgonius, together with
many others of the household, after conflicts
οf various kinds, departed this life by strangling, and
so carried off the prizes οf the Good-given victory. 
 Αt that time Αnthimus, who then prerided over
the church at Nicomedia, was beheaded for his witness
to Christ. Αnd with him was associated a large
number ofmartyrs all together; for, I know not how,
in the Ρalace at Nicomedia a fire broke οut in those
very days, and through a false suspicion the rumour
went around that it was the work οf our people : and
by the imperial command the God-fearing persons
there, whole families and in heaps, were in some cases
butchered with the sword ; while others were perfacted
by fire, when it is recorded that men and
women leaped upon the pyre with a divine and unspeakable
eagerness. The executioners bound a
multitude ofothers, and [placing them] on boats threw
them into the depths οf the sea. Αs to the imperial

 
servants, whose bodies after death had been committed
to the ground with fitting honours, their
reputed masters, starting afresh, deemed it necessary
to exhume them and cast them also into the sea, lest
any, regarding them as actually gods (so at least they
imagined), should worship them as they lay in their
tombs. 
 such were the things that were done in Νieomedia
at the beginning of the persecution. But not long
afterwards, when some in the district known as
Melitene,1 and again οn the other hand when
in syria, had attempted to take possession of the
Empire,2 an imperial command Went forth that
presidents οf the churches everywhere should be
thrown into prison and bonds. Αnd the spectacle οf
what followed surpasses all description; for in every
place a countless number were shut up, and everywhere
the prisons, that long ago had been prepared
for murderers and grave-robbers, were then filled
with bishops and presbyters and deacons, readers and
exorcists, so that there was no longer any room left
there for those condemned for wrongdoing. 
 Moreover, the first letter was followed by others,
wherein the οrder had been given that those in
prison should be allowed to go in liberty if they
sacrfficed, but if they refused, should be mutilated
by countless tortures. Αnd then, once more, how
could one here number the multitude of the martyrs
in each province, and especially of those in Αfriea
and ³ and in Thebais and Εgypt ?
From this last country also some departed into other
 

 
cities and proninces and were distinguished in their
martyrdoms.

VII. We know at any rate those of them who were
conspicuous in Palestine, and we know aho those at
Tyre in Phoenicia. who that saw them was not
struck with amazwment at the numberless lashes and
the stedfastness displayed under them by these
truly marvellous champions of godliness; at the
conflict with man-eating wild beasts that followed
immendiately on the lashes; the attacks that then
took place ofleopards and different kinds of bears, οf
wild boars and bulls goaded with hot iron ; and the
marvellous endurance οf these noble persons when
opposed to each οf the wild beasts ? We ourselves
were present when these things were happening,
what time we beheld the present, divine power of our
sariour, Jesus christ Himself, the Object of their
wintness, and the clear manifestation of that power to
the martyrs. The man-eating beasts for a considerable
time did not dare to touch or even approach
the bodies οf those who were dear to God, but made
their attacks on the others who presumably were
provoking and urging them οn from the outside;
while the holy champions were the only persons they
did not reach at all, though they stood naked,
waving their hands to drawa them οn to themselves
(for this they were commanded to do) ; and sometimes,
when the beasts would make a rush at them,
they would be checked by, as it were, some divine
power and once again retreat to the rear. Αnd when
this happened for a long time, it occasioned no small
astonishment among the spectators, so that, as the
first beast did nothing, a second and a third were let
loose against one and the same martyr. 

 
 One might be astounded at the fearless and valiant
bearing of those holy persons in the face of these
trials, and the steady, inflexible enduranee to be
found in young bodies. For example, you might
have seen a youth, not twenty years old in all,
standing unbound, his hands spread in the form of a
cross, and, with a mind undismayed and unmoved,
most leisurely engaged in earnest prayer to the
Deity ; never a with changing his ground or retreating
from the plaee where he had taken his stand,
while bears and leopards, breathing anger and death,
almost touched his very flesh. Αnd yet, by a divine
and mysterious power I cannot explain, their mouths
were muxxled, so to speak, and they ran baek again
to the rear. Such a one was he. Again you might
have seen others (for they were five in all) thrown
to a maddened bull, who, when others approached
from the outside, tossed them into the air with his
horns and mangled them, leaving them to be taken
up half-dead ; but when he rushed in threatening
anger at the holy martyrs as they stood unprotected,
he was unable even to approach them, though he
pawed with his feet and pushed with his horns this
way and that ; and though the goading irons provoked
him to breathe anger and threatening he was
dragged away backwards by Divine Prividence ; so
that other wild beasts were let loose against them,
since the bull in no way did them the shghtest injury.
Then at last, after the terrible and varied assaults of
these beasts, they were all butehered with the sword,
and instead of being buried in the earth were committed
to the waves of the Sea.

VIII. Such was the
contest of the Egyptians who at Tyre displayed their
conffiets on behalf of piety. 

 
 But one must admire those of them also that were
martyred in their own land, Where countless numbers,
men, women and children, despising this passing
life, endured various forms of death for the sake of
οur Saniour's teaching. Some of them were committed
to the flames after being torn and racked and
grievously seourged, and suffering other mainfold
torments terrible to hear, while some were engulfed
in the sea ; others with a good courage stretched
forth their heads to them that cut them off, or died
in the midst of their tortures, or perished of hunger ;
and others again were crucified, some as malefactors
usually are, and some, even more brutally,
were nailed in the opposite manner, head-downwards,
and kept alive until they should perish of
hunger on the gibbet.

IX. But it surpasses all description what the
martyrs in the Thebais endured as regards both
outrages and agonies. They had the entire body
torn to pieees with sharp sherds instead of claws,
even until life was extinct. Women Were fastened
by one foot and swung aloft through the air, head-downwards,
to a height by certain machines, their
bodies completely naked with not even a covering ;
and thus they presented this most disgraeerul, cruel
and inhuman of all spectacles to the whole company
of onlookers. Others, again, were fastened to trees
and trunks, and so died. For they drew together by
certain machines the very strongest of the branches,
to eaeh of which they fastened one of the martyr's
legs, and then released the branches to take up their

 
natural position : thus contriving the rending asunder
all at once of the limbs of those who were the objects
of this deviee. Αnd indeed all these thing were
done, not for a few days or for some brief space, but
for a long period extending over whole years—sometimes
more than ten, at other times above twenty
persons being put to death ; and at others not less
than thirty, now nearer sixty, and again at other
times a hundred men would be slain in a single (lay,
along with quite young children and women, being
condemned to manifold punishments which followed
one on the other. 
 Αnd we ourselves also beheld, when we were at
these places, many all at once in a single day, some
of whom suffered decapitation, others, the punishment
of fire ; so that the murderous axe was dulled
and, worn out, was broken in pieces, while the executioners
themselves grew utterly weary and took it
in turns to succeed one another. Ιt was then that we
observed a most marvellous eagerness and a truly
divine power and zeal in those who had placed their
faith in the Christ of God. Thus, as soon as sentence
was given against the first, some from one quarter
and others from another Would leap up to the tribunal
before the judge and confess themselves Christians ;
paying no heed when faced with terrors and the
varied forms of tortures, but undismayedly and
boldly speaking of the piety towards the God of the
universe, and with joy and laughter and gladness
receiving the rinal sentence of death ; so that they
sang and sent up hymns and thanksgivings to the
God of the universe even to the very last breath.
Αnd while these indeed were marvellous, those
especially were marvellous who were distinguished

 
for wealth, birth and reputation, as also for learning
and philosophy, and yet put everything second to
true piety and faith in our Saniour and Lord Jesus
Christ. Such was Philoromus ; who had been entrusted
with an office of no small importance in the
imperial administration at Alexandria, and who, in
connexion with the dignity and rank that he had
from the Romans, used to conduct judicia inquiries
every day, attended by a bodyguard of soldiers.
Such also was Phileas, bishop of the church of the
Thmuites,1 a man who was distinguished for the
services he rendered to his country in public positions,
and also for his skill in philosophy. Αnd though great
numbers of relatives and other friends besought
them, as well as many officials of high rank, and
though the judge himself exhorted them to take pity
on themselves and spare their children and wives,
they could in no wise be induced by this strong pressure
to decide in favour of love of life and despise
the ordinances of our Saviour as to confessing and
denying ; but with a brave and philosophic resolution,
nay rather, with a pious and godly soul, they
stood firm against all the threats and insults of the
judge, and both were beheaded.

X. But since we said 2 that Phileas deserved a high
reputation for his secular learning as well, let him
appear as his own witness, to show us who he was,
and at the same time to relate, more accurately than
we could, the martyrdoms that took place at Alexandria. 
 

 
 From the Writings of Phileas to the Thmuites. 
 “ Since all these examples and patterns and goodly
tokens are placed before us in the divine and sacred
Scriptures, the blessed martyrs with us did not hesitate,
but directed the eye of the soul sincerely toward
the God who is over all, and with a mind resolved on
death for piety they clung fast to their calling,
finding that our Lord Jesus Christ became man for
our sakes, that Ηe might destroy every kind of sin,
and provide us with the means of entering into
eternal life. For Ηe counted it not a prize to be
on an equality with God, but emptied Ηimself,
taking the form of a servant ; and being found in
fashion as a man, Ηe humbled Himself unto death,
yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also,
desiring earnestly the greater gifts, the Christbearing
martyrs endured every kind of suffering and
all manner of devices of torture, not once, but even a
second time in some cases ; and though their guards
vied in all kinds of threats against them, not only in
word but also in deed, they refused to give up their
resolution, because perfeet love casteth out fear.
What account would suffice to reckon up their bravery
and courage under eaeh torture ? For when all
who wished were given a free hand to insult them,
some smote with cudgels, others with rods, others
with scourges ; others, again, with straps, and others
with ropes. Αnd the spectacle of their tortures was
a varied one with no lack of wickedness therein.
Some with both hands bound behind them were
suspended upon the gibbet, and with the aid οf certain

 
machines stretched out in every limb ; then, as
they lay in this plight, the torturers acting on οrders
began to lay on οver their whole body, not only,
as in the case murderers, punishing their sides with
the instruments οf torture, but also their belly, legs
and cheeks. Others were suspended from the porch
hy one hand and raised aloft ; and in the tension of
their joints and limbs experienced unequalled agony.
Others were bound with their face towards pillars,
their feet not touching the ground, and thus their
bonds were drawn tight by the pressure upon them
of the weight οf the body. Αnd this they would
endure, not while the governor conversed or was
engaged with them, but almost throughout the entire
day. For when he went away to others, he would
leave the agents of his authority to watch the first, if
perchance anyone should be overcome by the tortures
and seem to give in ; and he bade them approach
mercilessly with bonds also,1 and, when they were at
the last gasp after all this, take them down to the
ground and drag them off. For [he said] that they
were not to have the least particle of regard for us,
but to be so disposed and act as if we were no longer
of any account. Such was the second torture that
our enemies devised in addition to the stripes.
Αnd some, even after the tortures, were placed in
the stocks, and had both feet stretched οut to the
fourth hole, so that they were compelled to lie on
their back therein, being unable [to sit upright]
because of the recent wounds they had from the
stripes over the whole body. Others were thrown
to the ground and lay there, by reason οf the whole
 

 
sale application οf the tortures ; presenting to those
who saw them a sight more terrible than did the
actual punishment, in that they bore on their bodies
marks οf the manifold and varied tortures that were
deVised. In this condition of affairs, some died
under their tortures, having shamed the adversary
by their endurance ; while others were shut up half
dead in prison, and after not many days perfected by
reason of their agonies ; the remainder recovered
under treatment, and as the result of time and their
stay in prison gained confidence. So then, when the
order was given and the choice held out, either to
touch the abominable sacrifice and be unmolested,
receiving from them the accursed freedom ; or not
to sacrifice and be punished with death : without
hesitation they gladly went to their death. For
they knew what had been prescribed for us by the
sacred Scriptures. For he says, ‘ He that sacrificeth
unto other gods shall be utterly destroyed᾿ ;
‘ Thou shalt have none other gods but me.᾿ 
 Such are the words of the martyr, true lover both
οf wisdom and of God, which he sent to the brethren
in his community before the final sentence, when he
was still in a state of imprisonment, at one and the
same time showing the conditions in which he was
living, and also stirring them up to hold fast to the
fear of God in Christ, even after his death who was
just about to be perfeeted. But Why need one make
a long story and add fresh instance upon instance of
the conflicts of the godly martyrs throughout the
world, especially of those who were assailed no
longer by the common law, but as if they were
enemies ?

XI. For instance, at this time armed soldiers
surrounded a little town in Phrygia, of which the
inhabitants were all Christians, every man of them,
and setting fire to it burnt them, along with young
children and women as they were calling upon the
God who is over all. The reason of this was, that all
the inhabitants of the town to a man, the curator
himself and the duumvirs with an the officials and
the whole assembly, confessed themselves Christians
and refused to give the least heed to those who bade
them commit idolatry. 
 Αnd there was a certain other person who had
attained to a high position under the Romans,
Adauctus by name, a man of illustrious Italian birth;
who had advanced through every grade of honour
under the emperors, so as to pass blamelessly through
the general administration οf what they call the
magistracy and ministry of finance. Αnd besides
all having dostinguished himself by his noble
deeds οf godliness and his confessions οf the Christ οf
God, he was adorned with the crown of martyrodom,
enduring the conflict for piety while actually engaged
as finance minister.

XII. why need I now mention the rest by name,
οr number the multitude of the men, or picture the
varied tortures inflicted upon the wonderful martyrs?
Sometimes they were slain with the axe, as was the
case with those in Arabia; at other times they had
their legs broken, as happened to those in Cappadocia;
on some occasions they were suspended on
high by the feet, head-downwards, while a slow fire
was kindled beneath, so that when the wood was
alight they were choked by the rising smoke—a

 
treatment meted οut to those in Mesopotamia;
on others, the noses, ears and hands were mutilated,
and the remaining limbs and parts οf the body cut
up, as was done at Alexandria. 
 Why need one rekindle the memory of those at
Antioch, who were roasted οn heated gridirons, not
unto death, but with a view to lengthy torture;
and οf others who put their right hand into the very
fire sooner than touch the aecursed sacrifice? Some
of them, to escape such trials, before they were
caught and fell into the hands of those that plotted
against them, threw themselves down from the tops
οf lofty houses, regarding death as a prize snatched
from the wickedness of evil men. 
 Αnd a certain holy person,1 admirable for
of soul yet in body a woman, and famed as well by
all that were at Antioch for Wealth, birth and sound
judgement, had brought up in the precepts of piety
her two unmarried daughters, distinguished for the
full bloom of their youthful beauty. Much envy
was stirred up on their account, and busied itself
in tracing in every manner possible where they lay
concealed; and when it discovered that they were
staying in a foreign country, of set purpose it recalled
them to Antioch. Thus they fell into the
soldiers’ toils. When, therefore, the woman
that herself and her daughters were in desperate
straits, she placed before them in conversation the
terrible things that awaited them from human
hands, and the most intolerable thing of all these
terrors—the threat of fornication. she exhorted
both herself and her giris that they ought not to
submit to listen to even the least whisper of such a
thing, and said that to surrender their souls to the


 
slavery of demons was worse than all kinds or death
and every form οf destruction. So she submitted
that to flee to the Lord was the only way of eseape
from it all. And when they had both agreed to her
opinion, and had arranged their gannents suitably
around them, on coming to the middle of their journey
they quietly requested the guards to allow them
a little time for retirement, and threw themselves
into the river that flowed by. 
 thus were these their own executioners. But
another pair of maidens, also at Antioch, godly in
every respect and true sisters, famous by birth,
distinguished for their manner of life, young in
years, in the bloom of beauty, grave οf soul, pious
in their deportment, admirable in their zeal, the
worshippers of demons commanded to be cast into
the sea, as if the earth could not endure to bear such
excellence. 
 Thus it happened with these martyrs. Αnd others
in Ρontus suffered things terrible to hear: sharp
reeds were driven through their fingers under the
tips of the nails; in the case of others, lead was
melted down by fire, and the boiling, burning stuff
poured down their backs, roasting the most essential
parts of their body; others endured in their privy
parts and bowels sufferings that were disgraceful,
pitiless, unmentionable, which the noble and lawabiding
judges devised with more than usual eagerness,
displaying their cruelty as if it were some great
stroke of wisdom ; striving to οutdo one another by
ever inventing novel tortures, as if contending for
prizes in a contest. 

 
 But the end οf these calamities came when they
were now worn out with their excessive wickedness,
and were utterly weary of killing and surfeited and
sated with shedding blood, and so tumed to what
they considered merciful and humane conduct; so
that they no longer thought that they were doing
any harm to us. For it was not fitting, they said,
to pollute the cities with the blood of their own people,
or to involve in a charge of cruelty the supreme
government of the rulers, a govemment that was
well-disposed and mild towards all; but rather that
the beneficence of the humane and imperial authority
should be extended to all, and the death penalty
no longer innicted. For [they declared] that this
their punishment of us had been stopped, thanks to
the humanity of the rulers. Then orders were
given that their eyes should be gouged out and one
of their legs maimed. For this was in their opinion
humanity and the lightest of punishments inflicted
upon us. Hence, because of this humanity on the
part of gomess men, it is now no longer possible to
tell the incalculable number οf those who had their
right eye first cut out with a sword and then cauterized
with fire, and the left foot rcndered useless by
the further application οf branding irons to the joints,
and who after this were condemned to the provincial
copper mines, not so much for serrice as for ill-usage
and hardship, and withal fell in with various other
trials, which it is not possible even to recount;
their brave and good deeds surpass all reckoning. 
 In these conflicts verily the magnificent martyrs
οf Christ were conspicuous throughout all the world,

 
and, as was natural, everywhere filled with amazement
the eye-witnesses οf their bravery; while in
their own persons they furnished a clear proof that
the power of our Saviour is truly dirine and inexpressible.
To mention, indeed, each by name would
be a long task, to to say an impossibility.

XIII. Of those rulers of the churches who were
martyred in well-known cities, the first name that
we must record on the monuments to holy men, as a
martyr or the kingdom οf Christ, is that of Anthimus,
bishop of the city οf the Nicomedians, who was
beheaded. Of the martyrs at Antioch the best in
his entire life was Lucian, a presbyter of that community;
the same who in Nicomedia, where the
emperor was, proclaimed the heavenly kingdom of
Christ, nrst by word οf mouth in an Apology, and
afterwards also by deeds. Of the martyrs in
Phoenicia the most famous would be the pastors of the
spiritual flocks of Christ, beloved of God in all things,
Tyrannion, bishop of the church at Tyre, and
Ζenοbius, presbyter of the church at Sidon, and,
moreover, Silvanus, bishop οf the churches about
Εmesa. The last-named became food for wild beasts,
along with others, at Emesa itself, and so was received
up into the choirs of martyrs; the other two
glorified the word οf God at Αntiοch by their endurance
unto death; one of them, the bishop, being
committed to the depths of the sea, while that best
of physicians, Ζenobius, died bravely under the tortures
that were applied to his sides. Of the martyrs
in Palestine, Silvanus, bishop οf the churches about
Gaza, was beheaded at the copper mines at Phaeno,

 
with others, in number forty save οne; and Εgyptians
there, Ρeleus and Nilus, bishops, together with others,
endured death by fire. Αnd mnong these we must
mention the great glory of the community of Caesarea,
Pamphilus, a presbyter, the most marvellous man of
οur day; the merit of whose brave and good deeds
we shall record at the proper time. Of those at
Alexandria and throughout all Εgypt and the Thebais
who were perfected gloriously, the first that must
be recorded is Ρeter, bishop of Αlexandria itself, a
divine example of the teachers οf godlines in Christ;
and of the presbyters with him Faustus, Dius and
Ammonius, perfect martyrs of Christ; and Ρhileas,
Hesychius, Pachymius and Theodore, bishops of the
churches in Egypt; and countless other famous
persons as well, who are commemorated by the communities
in their own district and locality. It is not
οur part to commit to writing the conflicts of those
who fought throughout the world οn behalf οf piety
toward the Deity, and to record in detail each οf their
happenings; but that would be the especial task of
those who witnessed the events. Yet I shall make
known to posterity in another work1 those with whom
I was personally conversant. In this present book,
however, I shall subjoin to what has been said the
recantation2 of the things that were wrought
us, and au that befell sinee the beginning οf
the persecution, most profitable as they are to my
readers. 
 Now as concerns the state of the Roman government
before the war against us, during all the periods
 

 
that the rulers were friendly and peaceably disposed
toward us, no words could suffieiently deseribe how
bountiful and plenteous was its harvest of good
things; when also those who held the chiefest places
in a world-empire completed the decennalia and
vicennalia1 of their principate, and used to
their days in festivals and public games, in the most
joyous feasts and gaieties, possessing complete, wellestablished
peace. 
 But as their authority thus increased without let
or hindrance and day by day waxed greater, all
at once they departed from their peaceful attitude
towards us and stirred up a relentless war. Αnd
the second year2 of this kind οf movement οn their
part had not fully expired, when a sort of revolution
affecting the entire principate took place and threw
the whole of public life into confusion. For a
disease fell upon him who stood first among those
οf whom we spoke,3 which caused his mind to
deranged; and, along with him who had been
honoured with the second place after him,4 he resumed
the ordinary life of a private citizen. Αnd this had not
yet taken place, when the whole principate was rent
in twain, a thing that had never even been recorded
as having happened at any time in days gone by.5 
 But after no very great interval of time the
Εmperor Constantius, who all his hfe long was most
mildly and favourably disposed toward his subjects,
and most friendly towards the divine word, died6
according to the common law of nature, leaving his
lawful son Constantine Εmperor and Αugustus in his
 

 
stead; and was the first [of the new tetrarchy] to be
proclaimed among the gods by them,1 being deemed
worthy of every honour after death that might be
due to an emperor, kindest and mildest of emperors
that he was. Ηe indeed Was the only one of our
contemporaries who passed the whole period of his
principate in a manner worthy of his high office; and
in other respeets displayed himself in a most favourable
and beneficent light toward all; and he took
no part in the war against us, but even preserved
the God-fearing persons among his subjects from
injury and harsh treatment; neither did he pull
down the church-buildings nor employ any other new
deviee against us. so he has had as his reward a
happy and thrice-blessed issue of his life; for he
alone enjoyed a favourable and glorious end while he
was still emperor, with a lawful son, in all respects
most prudent and godly, to succeed him. 
 Ηis son Constantine from the very hrst was proclaimed
by the armies most perfect Emperor and
Αugustus, and, long before them, by God Himselfe,
the King supreme; and he set himself to be an
emulator of his father’s piety toward our doctrine. 
 Sueh was he. And afterwards Licinius was declared
Emperor and Augustus by a common vote of
the rulers. 2 These things caused great vexation to
Maximin, since up to that time he was still entitled
only Caesar by all. Therefore, being above all things
a tyrant, he fraudulently seized the honour for himself,
and became Αugustus, appointed such by him-
 

 
self. Αt this time he who had resumed offiee again
after his1 abdication, as we have shown, was discovered
devising a plot to secure the death of Constantine,
and died a most shameful death. Ηe was the first
[emperor] whose honorific inscriptions and statues
and all sueh things as it has been customary to set
up publicly they threw down, as belonging to an
infamous and utterly godless person.

XIV. Ηis son Maxentius, Who seeured for himself
the tyranny at Rome, at the beginning counterfeited
our faith in order to please and fawn upon the Roman
populace; and for this reason ordered his subjects
to give over the persecution against Christians; for
he was feigning piety and endeavouring to appear
favourable and very mild above his predecessors.
Yet his dees have not shown him to be such as it
was hoped he would be. Οn the eontrary, he drove
headlong into every form of wickedness, and there is
not a single abominable and dissolute aet that he
has left undone, committing adulteries and all kinds
of rape. In fact he used to separate from their
husbands lawfully married women, insult them with
the utmost dishonour, and send them back again to
their husbands; and he made it his business thus to
assail persons neither undistinguished nor obseure, but
the most eminent of those who had attained the highest
rank in the assembly of the Roman senate were the
very and especial objects of his offensive behaviour.
Αll cowered before him, people and rulers, famous
and obscure, and were worn out by his terrible
tyranny; and even though they remained quiet and
endured the bitter servitude, srill there was no
escape from the tyrant’s murderous cruelty.
for example, on a small pretence he gave the people

 
οver to his bodyguard to be slaughtered, and immense
numbers οf the Roman people were killed, in the
mkidst οf the city, by the spears and arms, not of
Scythians nor even of barbarians, but of their
fellow-citizens. of a truth it would not even
be possible to reckon how many senators were
slaughtered because of designs on their wealth, for
countless numbers were done away with for feigned
reasons, varying according to circumstances. But
the finishing touch οf all the tyrant’s evil deeds
when he resorted to witchcraft: bent upon magic,
at one time he would rip up pregnant women, at
another explore the entrails of the new-born babes,
slaughter lions, and invent certain abominable actions
to invoke demons, and as a sacrffice to avert war.
For an his hope hy in these means of securing victory. 
 Indeed, οne cannot even mention the kind of things
that this tyrant at Rome did to enslave his subjects;
so that they were actually reduced to such extreme
scarcity and lack of even necessary food, as has never
been known, according to οur contemporaries, either
at Rome or elsewhere. 
 But the tyrant in the Εast, Maximin, secretly
forming a friendly alliance with the tyrant at Rome,
as with a brother in wickedness, for a very long time
thought that it was unknown. Αs a matter of fact,
afterwards he was detected1 and paid the just
It was marvellous how he acquired a family likeness
and kinship with the villainy of the tyrant at Rome,
nay rather, carried off the first prize for wickedness
and the reward of victory over him. For it was the
principal charlatans and magicians who were deemed
 

 
worthy by him of the highest honour; he became
exceedingly frightened at every noise and superstitious,
and attached great importance to error with
regard to idols and demons. For instance, without
divinations and oracles he could not dare to move even
a nail's breadth, if I may say so. Accordingly, he
applied himself to the persecution against us with
more energy and persistence than those before him,
ordering temples to be erected in every city and
the sacred groves that had been destroyed through
long lapse of time to be restored with all diligence;
and he appointed idol priests in every locality and
city, and over them as high priest of each province
one οf those engaged in statecraft, who was the most
manifestly distinguished in every branch of the public
service, with an escort and bodyguard soldiers;
and he recklessly bestowed governments and the
greatest privileges on all charlatans, as if they were
pious and dear to the gods. Henceforward he vexed
and oppressed, not a single city nor even district, but
the provinces under him completely and as a whole,
by exactions of gold and silver and unspeakably
large amounts of goods, and by the heaviest assessments
and varied fines. Taking away from the
wealthy the possessions they had gotten from their
ancestors, he bestowed upon his train of flatterers
riches and heaps of goods in a gift. In truth
he carried his drunken excesses to such a point that
he became mad and deranged in his cups, and when
drunk would give such orders as he would repent of
next day when he was sober. In debauchery and
riotious living he suffered none to surpass hm, but
appointed himself instructor in villainy to those
around him, rulers and ruled alike. Ηe induced the

 
army to become enervated as a result of every kind
of wanton excess; encouraging governors and commanders
to proceed against their subjects with
rapacity and extortion, almost as if they were his
fellow-tyrants. Why need one recall the man's
disgraceful deeds of passion or reckon up the multitude
οf those whom he debauched ? In fact, he
could not pass by a city without continually ravishing
women and abducting virgins. Αnd in this he was
successful with all, save only with Christians. Despising
death they set at naught this his fierce
tyranny. For the men endured fire and sword and
nailings; wild beasts and enguffing in the sea:
cutting off and burning of limbs, stabbing and digging
out of eyes, and mutilation of the whole body; and,
in addition to these, hunger and mines and bonds:
thus showing on all occasions that they preferred to
endure for the sake of piety rather than transfer to
idols the honour due to God. Αnd the women, on
the other hand, showed themselves no less manly
than the men, inspired by the teaching of the divine
Word: some, undergoing the same contests as the
men, won equal rewards for their valour; and others,
when they were being dragged away to dishonour,
yielded up their souls to death rather than their
bodies to seduction. Α certain Christian lady, 1 for
example, most famous and distinguished among those
at Αlexandria, alone of those whom the tyrant ravished
conquered the lustful and licentious sould of Maximin
by her brave spirit. Renowned though she was for
wealth, birth and education, she had put everything
second to modest behaviour. Μany a time he importuned
 

 
portuned her, yet was unable to put her to death
though willing to die, for his lust overmastered his
anger; but punishing her with exile he possessed
himself of all her property. Α great number of
others, unable even to listen to a threat fornication,
underwent every form of the torure and racking and
mortal punishment at the hands of the provincial
governors. 
 These indeed were wonderful, yet most surpassingly
wonderful was that woman at Rome, 1 truly
the most noble and chaste of all those towards
whom the tyrant there, Maxentius, in conduct like
Maximin, attempted to act offensively. For when
she learnt that at her house were those who
ministered to the tyrant in such deeds (and she
also was a Christian), and that her husband, and he
too a prefect of the Romans, through fear had permitted
them to take and lead her off, she begged to
be excused for a brief space, as if forsooth to adorm
her person, entered her chamber, and when alone
transfixed herself with a sword. Αnd straightway
dying she left her corpse to her procurers; but by
deeds that themselves were more eloquent than any
words she made it known to all men, both those
present and those to come herearter, that a Christian's
virtue is the only possession that cannot be
conquered or destroyed. To such an extent, in
truth, did the two tyrants, who had divided among
them Εast and West, carry the wickedness that they
wrought at one and the same time. But who is
there, in search for the reason of such evils, who
would be at a loss to find it in the persecution against
us ? Especially as there was no cessation of this
 

 
great state of confusion until Christians recovered
their rights of freedom.

XV. in fact, during the whole period of ten
of persecution there was no respite in their plotting
and warfare against each other. The seas were unnavigable,
and none, no matter whence they sailed,
could escape being subjected to all kinds of torments:
stretched on the rack and having their sides torn,
and being examined under all sorts οf tortures in case
they should possibly be coming from the enemy of the
contrary part, and in the end subjected to crucifixion
οr punishment by fire. Moreover, every place was
busy with the preparation of shields and armour, the
getting ready of darts and spears and other warlike
accoutrements, and of triremes and naval gear; and
no one expected anything but an enemy attack all
day long. Αnd subsequently the famine and pestilence
broke out among them, about which we shall
recount what is necessary at the proper time.

XVI. Such was the state of affairs that continued
throughout the whole persecution; which came
completely to an end, by the grace of God, in the
tenth year, 1 though indeed it began to abate after
the eighth year. For when the divine and heavenly
grace showed that it watched over us with kindly
and propitious regard, then indeed our rulers also,
those very persons who had long time committed
acts οf war against us, changed their mind in the
most marvellous manner, and gave utterance to a
recantation, quenching the fire of persecution that
had blazed so furiously, by means of merciful edicts
and the most humane ordinances. But this was not
due to any human agency nor to the pity, as one
 

 
might say, or humanity οf the rulers. Far from it.
For from the beginning up to that time they were
daily plotting further and severer measures against
us; from time to time they were inventing fresh
assaults upon us by means of still more varied devices.
But it was due to the manifestation of the DIvine
Providence itself, which, while it became reconciled
to the people, attacked the perpetrator of thses evils, 
and was wroth with him as the chief author of the
wickedness of the persecution as a whole. For
verily, though it was destined that these things
should come to pass as a divine judgement, yet the
Scripture says, “Woe, through whomsoever the
offence’’ 2 Α divinely-sent punishment, I say,
executed vengeance upon him, beginning at his very
flesh and proceeding to the soul. For all at once an
abscess appeared in the midst of his privy parts, then
a deeply-seated fistular ulcer; which could not be
cured and ate their way into the very midst οf his
entrails. Hence there sprang an innumerable multitude
οf worms, and a deadly stench was given off,
since the entire bulk οf his members had, through
gluttony, even before the disease, been changed into
an excessive quantity of soft fat, which then became
putrid and presented an intolerable and most fearful
sight to those that came near it. Αs for the physicians,
some of them were wholly unable to endure
the exceeding and unearthly stench, and were
butchered; others, who could not be of any assistance
since the whole mass had swollen and reached a
point where there was no hope of recovery, were put
to death without mercy.

XVII. Αnd wrestling with such terrible misfortunes
he was conscience-stricken for the cruel deeds he had
perpetrated agninst the godly. collecting, therefore,
his thoughts, he first openly confessed to the
God οf the universe; then he called those around
him, and commanded them without delay to cause
the persecution against Christians to cease, and by
an imperial law and decree to urge them to build
their churches and to perform their accustomed rites,
offering prayers on the Εmperor’s behalf. Action
immediately followed his word, and imperial ordinances
were promulgated in each city, containing the
recantation οf the [persecution edicts] of οur time,
after this manner: “The Emperor Caesar Galerius
Valerius Maximianus Invictus Augustus, Pontifex
Maximus, Germanicus Maximus, Aegyptiacus Maximus,
Thebaicus Maximus, Sarmaticus Maximus five
times, PErsicus Maximus twice, Carpicus Maximus
six times, Armeniacus Maximus, Medicus Maximus,
Adiabenicus Maximus, holding the Tribunician
Power for the twentieth time, Emperor for the nineteenth
time, 1 Consul for the eighth, Father of his
country, Proconsul: 2 . . . Αnd the Emperor Caesar
Flavius Valerius Constantinus Pius Felix Invictus
Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, holding the Tribunician
Power, Εmperοr for the fifth time, Consul, Father
οf his country, Proconsul: [And the Εmperor Caesar
Valerius Licinianus Licinius Pius Felix Invictus
Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, holding the Tribunician
 

 
Ρower for the fourth time, Emperor for the third
time, Consul, Father of his country, Proconsul: to
the people of their provinces, greeting.] 
 “Among the other measures that we frame for
the use and profit of the state, it had been our own
wish formerly that all things should be set to rights
in accordance with the ancient laws and public order 
of the Romans; and to make provision for this,
namely, that the Christians also, such as had abandoned. the
persuasion of their own ancestors, should
return to a sound mind ; seeing that through some
reasoning they had been possessed of such self-will
and seized with such folly 2 that, instead of following
the institutions of the ancients, which perchance
their own forefathers had formerly established, they
made for themselves, and were observing, laws merely
in accordance with their own disposition and as each
one wished, and were assembing various multitudes
in divers places: Therefore when a command of ours
soon followed to the intent that they should betake
themselves to the institutions of the ancients, very
many indeed were subjected to peril, while very
many were harassed and endured all kinds of death;
Αnd since the majority held to the same folly, and
we perceived that they were neither paying the
worship due to the gods of heaven nor honouring the
god of the Christians; having regard to our elemene y
and the invariable custom by which we are wont to
accord pardon to all men, we thought it right in this
 

 
case also to extend most willingly our indulgence:
at Christians may exist again and build the houses
in which they used to assemble, always provided that
they do nothing contrary to order. In another letter
we shall indicate to the judges how they should
proceed. Wherefore, in accordanee with this our
indulgence, they will be bound to beseech their οwn
god for our welfare, and that of the state, and their
own ; that in every way both the well being of the
state may be secured, and they may be enabled to
live free from care in their own homes." 
 such is the character of this edict in the Latin
tongue, transhted into Greek as well as may be.
Now it is time to consider carefully what happened
subsequently. 

 
 But the author or the edict, arter such a confession,
was immediately, though not for long, released from
his pains, and so departed this life. It is reeorded
that this same person was the prime author of the
calamity of the persecution; since long before the
movement of the other emperors he had used force
to turn aside [from the faith] the Christians in the
—and, first of all, those in his own house —
degrading some from their military rank, and heaping
the most shameful insults on others; and since he
was already threatening others even with death, and,
finally, had stirred up his partners in the principate
to the general perseeution. Ιt is not possible to pass
over the ends of these same emperors in silence.
Four, then, had divided the supreme povwer between
them. Those who were the more advanced in age
and honour 2 retired from the principate not two whole
years after the persecution began, as we have already
stated, and passed the remainder of their existence
like ordinary, private citizens. The end of their lives
fell out thus. The one who had attained the chief
place in honour and age 3 fell a victim to a prolonged
and most painful infirmity of the body; while he who
held the second place to him 4 ended his life by
 
 

 
strangling: suffering this fate, in accordance with a
certain demoniacal predietion, for the numerous
crimes he had perpetrated. Of those after them, he 1
who held the last Place-the same who was the
orginator, as we stated, 2 οf the whole persecution —
suffered the fate which we have mentioned above 2 ;
but he who ranked next before him, that kindest and
mildest οf emperors, Constantius, passed the whole
eriod of his principate in a manner worthy of his
high office, and in other respects displayed himself in
a most benencent and favourable light to all; yea,
and he held himself aloof from the war against us,
and carefully preserved his God-fearing
from injury and harsh treatment; neither did he pull
down the church - buildings nor employ any οther
additional new device against us at all. So he has
had as his reward a truly happy and thrice-blessed
issue of his life; for he alone met with a favourable
and glorious end while he was still emperor, with a
lawful son, in all respects most prudent and godly, to
succeed him in the office. Ηe from the very first
was proclaimed by the armies most perfect Εmperor
and Αugustus; and he set himself to be an emulator
οf his father's piety towards our doctrine. Such was
the issue whieh befell, at different times, the lives
of the four men of whom we have written above. Of
these same persons, he of whom we spoke a little
while ago alone still remained, 3 and, in conjunction
with those who subsequently were admitted to the
principate, οpenly placed before all the aforesaid
confession in the document document was set out above.

CONTENTS OF BOOK IX 
 The Ninth Book of the Ecclesiastical History
contains the follorning: 
 I. On the feigned relaxation. 
 ΙΙ. οn the change for the 
worse that ensued. 
 III. on the new-made idol at Αntiοch. 
 IV. On the petitions against us. 
 v. On the forged memoirs. 
 VI. On Those who were martvred at this time. 
 VII. On the document against us set up on tablets. 
 VIII. On the subsequent evcnts, the famine
pestilence and wars. 
 IX. On the of of the tyrants᾿ lives,
cxpressions they made use of before the end. 
 X. On the victory of the God-beloved Εmperors. 
 XI. On the final οn of the enemies οf
godliness.

BOOK IX 
 Ι. THE recantation of the imperial will set forth
above 1 was promulgated broadcast throughout Αsia
and in the neighbouring provinces. Αfter this had
thus been done, Maximin, the tyrant of the Εast, a
monster οf imriety if ever there was one, who had
been the bitterest enemy οf piety toward the God
of the universe, Was by no means pleased with what
was written, and instead οf making known the letter
set forth above gave verbal commands to the rulers
under him to relax the war against us. For since he
might not otherwise gainsay the judgement of his
superiors, he put in a corner the law set forth above ;
and, taking measures how it might never see the
light of day in the districts under him, by an οral
direction he commanded the rulers under him to
relax the persecution against us. Αnd they intimated
to each other in writing the terms of the οrder.
Sabinus, for instance, whom they had honoured with
the rank of most excellent prefect, made known the
Εmperοr’s decision to the provincial governors in a
latin epistle. The translation of the same runs as
follows : 
 “With a most eamest and devoted Ζeal the
DirivInity οf our most divine masters, the Εmperors,
has for a long time determined to lead all men’s
 

 
thoughts into the holy and right path of life, so that
those also who seemed to follow customs foreign to
the Romans should perform the acts of worship due
to the immortal gods. But the οbstinacy and most
unyielding determination of some was carried to such
a length, that neither could they be tumed back
from their οwn purpose by just reasoning embodied
in the order, nor did they fear the punishment that
threatened. Since therefore it has come about that
many by such conduct endanger themselves, in
accordance with the noble piety that is theirs, the
Divinity of our masters, the most mighty Εmperors,
deeming it foreign to their divine purpose that for
such a reason they should so greatly endanger these
men, gave commandment through my Devotedness
to write to thy Intelligence, that if any of the Christians
be found following the religion of his nation,
thou shouldest set him free from molestation directed
ngainst him and from danger, nor shouldest thou
anyone punishable οn this charge, since so long
a pnssage of time has proved that they can in no
wise be persuaded to to such obstinate conduct.
Let it be thy Solicitude's duty, therefore,
write to the curators and the duumrirs and the
magistrates of the district of every city, that they
may know that it is not beseeming for them to take
any further notice οf that letter.”1 
 whereupon the rulers οf the provinces, having
concluded that the purport οf what had been written
 

 
to them was a genuine expression, made known by
means of letters the imperial resolve to curators,
dumnvirs and rural magistrates. Αnd not only did
they further these measures by writing, but also
much more so by action. With a view to carrying
out the imperial will, as many as they kept shut up
prisons for for their confession οf the Deity they
brought into the light of day and set free, releasing
such of these same persons as were consigned to
the mines for punishment. For this, in truth, they
mistakenly conceived to be the Emperor's
Αnd when these things had thus been carried into
effect, as though some light shined forth all at once
out of a gloomy night, one might see churches
thronged in every city, and crowded assemblies, and
the rites perfonned thereat in the customary manner.
Αnd every single one οf the unbelieving heathen was
in no small degree amazed at these happenings,
marvelling at the miracle of of great a change, and
extolling the Christians᾿ God as God as great and
of οur οwn people, those who had faithfully and
bravely contended throughout the conffict οf persecutions
οnee more resumed their conhdent bearing
in the sight of all ; but those whoSe faith had been
ffiseased and souls stonn-tost eageriy srtove for their
own heahng, beseeching and begging the strong for
the right hand of safety, and supplicating God to be
mereiful to them. Αnd then also the noble champions
οf godliness, freed from their evil plight in the
mines, returned to their own homes. Ρroudly and
joyously they went through every city, full οf unspeakable
speakable mirth and a boldness that cannot even be
expressed in words. Tea, thronging crowds of men

 
went οn their journey, praising God in the midst of
thoroughfares and market-places with songs and
psalms; and you might see those who shortly before
had been prisoners undergoing the harshest punishment
and driven from their native lands, now regaining
with gay and joyful countenanees their own
hearths so that even those who fonherly were
thirsting for our blood, seeing the wondrous thing
contrary to all expectation, rejoiced with us at what
had happened.

II. This the tyrant could no longer endure, hater
as he was of that which is good, and plotter against
every virtuous man (he was the ruler, as we said,
of the eastern parts) ; nor did he suffer matters thus
to be carried on for six entire months. Sumerous,
therefore, were his derivlees to overturn the peaee :
at first he attempted on some pretext to shut us out
from assembling in the cemeteries, 2 then through the
medium of certain evil men he sent embassies to
himself against us, having urged the citizens of
Antioch to ask that they might obtain from him, as
a very great boon, that he should in no wise permit
any οf the Christians to inhabit their land, and to
contrive that others should make the same suggestion.
The originator of all this sprang up at Antioch itself
in the person of Theotecnus, a clever cheat and an
evil man, and quite unlike his name. 3 Ηe was
accounted to hold the post of curator 4 in the city.

III. This man, then, many times took the field
against us ; and, having been at pains by every
method to hunt our people out of hiding-plaeeS as
if they were unholy thieves, having employed every
 

 
device to slander and accuSe uS, having been the
cause even of death to countless numbers, he ended
by erecting a statue of Zeus the Befriender with
certain juggleries and soreeries, and having devised
unhallowed rites for it and ill-omened initiations
abominable purifications, 1 he exhibited his wonderworking
by what oraeles he pleased, even in the
Emperor's presence. Αnd moreover this fellow, in
order to flatter and please him who was ruling, stirred
up the demon against the Christians, and said that
the god, forsooth, had given orders that the Christians
should be driven away beyond the borderS of the city
and country round about, since they were his enemies.

IV. This man was the first to act thus of set purpose,
and all the other offieials who lived in the cities
under the same rule hastened to make a like decision,
the provincial governors having seen at a glance that
it was pleasing to the Emperor, and having suggested
to their subjects to do the very same thing. Αnd
when the tyrant had given a most willing assent
to their petitions 2 by a reseript, onee more the
persecution against us was rekindled. 
 Marimin himself appointed as priests of the images
in each city and, moreover, as high priests, those who
were especially distinguished in the public services
and had made their mark in the entire course thereof.
These persons brought great zeal to bear on the
worship of the gods whom they served. Certainly,
the outlandish superstition of the ruler was inducing,
in a word, all under him, both governors and governed,
 

 
to do everything against us in order to secure his
favour ; in return for the benents which they thought
to secure from him, they bestowed upon him this
greatest of boons, namely, to thirst for our blood
and to display some more novel tokens of malice
toward us.

V. Having forged, to be sure, Memoirs of Pilate
and our Saviour, full of every kind of blasphemy
against Christ, with the approval of their chief they
sent them round to every part οf his dominions, with
edicts that they should be exhibited openly for
everyone to see in every plaee, both town country,
and that the primary teachers should give them to
the children, instead οf lessons, for study and committal
to memory. 
 While this was thus being carried οut, another
person, a commander, whom the Romans style
dux, 1 caused certain infamous women to be abducted
from the market-place at Damascus in
Phoenicia, and, by continually threatening them with
the infliction of tortures, compelled them to state in
writing that they were once actually Christians, and
privy to their unhallowed deeds, and that the
Christians practised in the very churches lewdness
and everything else that he wished these women to
say in defamation of our faith. Ηe also made a
memorandum of their words and communicated it
to the Emperor, and moreover at his command published
this docmnent also in every place and city.

VI. But not long afterwards he, that is to say, the
commander, died by his own hand, and thus paid
the penalty for his wickedness. 
 But as for us, banishments and severe persecutions
were again renewed, and the rulers in every province

 
once more rose up cruelly against us, with the result
that some of those eminent in the divine Word were
taken, and received the sentence of death without
mercy. 
 Of these, three in Emesa, a city of Phoenicia, were
consigned to wild beasts as food, having declared
themselves Christians. Among them was a bishop,
Silvanus, exceedingly advanced in age, who had
exercised his ministry for forty entire years. 
 Αt the same time Ρeter also, who presided with the
greatest distinction over the communities at Alexandria—a
truly divine example of a bishop on account
of his virtuous life and his earnest study of the holy
Scriptures—was seized for no reason at all
quite unexpectedly ; and then immediately and unaccountably
beheaded, as if by the command of
Maximin. Αnd along with him many others οf the
Egyptian bishops endured the same penalty. 
 Lucian, a most excellent man in every respect, οf
temperate life and well versed in sacred learning, a
presbyter of the community at Antioch, was brought
to the city or Nicomedia, where the Emperor was
then staying ; and, having made his defence before
the ruler on behalf οf the doctrine which he professed,
he was committed to prison and put to death. 
 so mightily, indeed, did that hater of the good,
Maximin, contrive against us in a short space, that
this persecution which he had stirred up seemed to
us much more severe than the former one.

VII.
In fact, in the midst of the cities—a thing that
never happened before—petitions presented
us by cities, and rescripts containing imperial ordinances

 
in reply, were set up, engraved on brazen
tablets ; while the children in the schools had every
day on their lips the names of Jesus and Pilate and
the Memoirs forged to insult us. 
 Αt this point I think it necessary to insert this same
doeument of Maximin that was set up on tablets, so
as to make manifest at once the boastful, overweening
arrogance of this hater of God, and the divine Justice
that followed close upon his heels with its sleepless
hatred of the evil in wicked men. Ιt was this which
smote him ; and not long afterwards he reversed his
policy with regard to us, and made a decree by laws
in writing. 
 Copy of a Translation of the Rescript of Maximin in
answer to Petitions against us, taken from the Tablet
at Tyre. 
 “ Νow at length, the feeble boldness of the human
mind has shaken off and dispersed all blinding mists
of error, that error which hitherto was attacking the
senses of men not so much wicked as wretched, and
was wrapping them in the baneful darkness of ignorance;
and it has been enabled to recognize that it is
governed and established by the benevolent providence
of the immortal gods. Ιt passes belief to say
how grateful, how exceeding pleasant and agreeable,
it has proved to us that you have given a very great
proof of your godly disposition ; since even before
this none could be ignorant what regard and piety
you were displaying towards the immortal gods, in

 
whom is manifested a faith, not of bare and empty
words, but constant and admirable in its noble
deeds. Wherefore your city might worthily be called
a temple and —place οf the immortal gods.
Certainly, by many signs it appears that it flourishes
bccause there the immortal gods sojourn. Behold
therefore, your city put away all thought for its own
private advantage and neglected former requests for
its own affairs, when once again it perceived that the
followers οf that accursed folly were beginning to
spread, as a neglected and smouldering pyre which,
when its fires are rekindled into flame, forms οnce
more a mighty conflagration. Then immediately and
without any delay it had recourse to our piety, as to
a metropolis of all religious feeling, requesting some
healing and help. It is evident that the gods have
placed in your heart this saving thought οn account
οf your frialth and godly fear. Accordingly it was he,
the most exalted and mighty, even Zeus, he who
presides οver your far-famed city, he who protects
your ancestral gods and women and children and
hearth and home from all destruction, who inspired
your hearts with this saving purpose ; it was he who
plainly showed how excellent and splendid and saving
a thing it is to draw night to the worship and sacred
rites οf the immortal gods with due reverence. For
who can be found so senseless or bereft of all intelligence
as not to perceive that it is by the benevolent
care of the gods that the earth does not refuse the
seeds committed to it, and thus disappoint the hus-
 

 
bandmen οf their hope with vain expectation? Or,
again, that the spectre of unholy war does not plant
itself without opposition upon the earth, so that
squalid bodies are dragged off to death, while the
wholesome air of heaven is polluted? Οr, indeed,
that the sea does not toss and swell under the blasts
of immoderate winds? Or that hurricanes do not
burst without warning and stir up a death-dealing
tempest? Or, still further, that the earth, the nurse
and mother of all, does not sink from its deepest
hollows with fearful tremor, and the mountains that
lie upon it crash into the resulting chasms? For all
these evils, and evils even more terrible, have happened
many a time before this, as everyone knows.
Αnd all these things happened at once because of the
baneful error and vain folly those unhahoVed men,
when that error took possession of their souls, and,
οne might almost say, oppressed the whole world
everywhere with its deeds of shame." 
 After other remarks he adds: “Let them behold
in the broad plains the crops already ripe with waving
ears of corn, the meadows, thanks to opportune rains,
brilliant with plants and flowers, and the weather
that has been granted us temperate and very mild;
further, let all rejoice since through our piety, through
the sacrifices and veneration we have rendered, the
most powerful and intractable air has been propitiated,
and Ιet them take pleasure in that they therefore
enjoy the most serene peace securely and in
quiet. Αnd let as many as have been wholly rescued
from that blind folly and error and returned to a
right and goodly frame of mind rejoice indeed the
 

 
more, as if they were delievered from an unexpected
hurricane or severe illness and were reaping life's
sweet enjoyment for the future. But if they persist
in their accursed folly, let them be separated and
driven far away from your city and neighbourhood,
even as you requested; that so, in accordance with
your praiseworthy zeal in this respect, your city may
be separated from all pollution and impiety, and,
following its natural desire, may respond with due
reverenee to the worship of the immortal gods. 
 “Αnd that you may know how pleasing this your
request has been to us, and how fully disposed to
benevolence our soul is, of its own accord apart from
petitioins and entreaties: we permit your Devotedness
to ask whatsoever bounty you wish, return
for this your godly intent. Αnd now let it be your
resolve so to do and receive. For you will obtain
your bounty without delay, the granting of which to
your city will furnish a testimony for evermore of our
godly piety towards the immortal gods, and a proof
to your sons and descendants that you have met with
the due meed οf reward from our benevolence on
account of these your principles of conduct." 
 This was emblazoned against us in every province,
excluding every ray οf hope from our condition, at
least as far as human help is concerned; so that, in
accordance with the divine oracle itself, if possible

 
even the elect themselves should be caused to
stumble at these things. In truth, expectation was
already almost failing in very many souls, when all
at οnce, while those serving the writ set forth against
us were οn their way and had not yet finished their
journey in some districts, the Champion οf Ηis own
Church, even God, stopping, 1 as it were, the proud
boasting οf the tyrant against us, displayed Ηis
heavenly aid on our behalf.

VIII. The customary rains, indeed, and showers
οf the then prevailing winter season were withholding
their usual downpour upon the earth, and we were
visited with an unexpected famine, and on top of this
a plague and an outbreak οf another kind of disease.
This later was an ulcer, which on account of its fiery
character was called an anthrax. 2 Spreading as
it did οver the entire body it used to endanger greatly
its victims ; but it was the eyes that it marked οut
for special attack, and so it was the means of blinding
numbers οf men as well as women and children. 
 In addition to this, the tyrant had the further
trouble οf the war against the Armenians, men who
from ancient times had been friends and allies of
the Romans; but as they were Christians and
exceedingly eamest in their piety towards the Deity,
this hater of God, by attempting to compel them to
sacrifice to idols and demons, made of them foes
instead οf friends, and enemies instead οf allies. 
 The fact that all these things came together all at
οnce, at οne and the same time, served to refute
utterly the tyrant's insolent boasting against the
Deity ; for he used to affirm insolently that, on
 

 
account of his zeal for the idols and his attack upon
us, neither famine nor pestilence nor even war took
place in his time. These things, then, coming upon
him together and at the same time had constituted
the prelude of his overthrow. He himself, therefore,
was worn out along with his commanders in the
Armenian war: while the rest of the inhabitants of
the cities under his rule were so terribly wasted by
both the famine and the pestilence, that two thousand
five hundred Attic drachmas were given for a single
measure of wheat. Countless was the number of
those who were dying in the cities, and still larger οf
those in the country parts and villages, with the result
that the registers, which formerly contained the
names of a numerous rural population, were now all
but entirely wiped out; for one might almost say
that the entire population perished all at once through
lack of food and through plague. Some, indeed, did
not hesitate to barter their dearest possessions for
the scantiest supply of food with those better provided;
others sold off their goods little by little and
were driven to the last extremity of want; and others
again injured their bodily health, and died from
chewing small wisps of hay and recklessly eating
certain pernicious herbs. Αnd as for the women,
some well-born ladies in cities were driven by their
want to shameless necessity, and went forth to beg
in the market-plaees, displaying a proof of their
noble upbringing in their shamefacedness and the
decency of their apparel. Αnd some, wasted away
like ghosts οf the departed, and at the last gasp,
stumbled and tottered here and there from inability

 
to stand, and fell down; then, stretched out prone
the midst of the streets they would beg for a small
οrsel of bread to be handed them, and with the
t breath in their body cry out that they were
ungry, finding strength for this most anguished of
cries alone. Others, such as were regarded as
belonging to the wealthier classes, amazed at the
ultitude of beggars, after giving countless doles,
enceforth adopted a hard and pitiless frame of
mind, since they expected that before very long they
would be suffering the same misery as the beggars;
so that in the midst of market-places and
ad and naked bodies lay scattered here and there
buried for many days, presenting a most piteous
ectacle to those who saw them. Some actually
came food even for dogs; and chiefly for this reason
οse who were alive turned to killing dogs, for fear
t they might become mad and turn to devouring
en. But worst οf all, the pestilence also battened
on every house, especially those whom the famine
uld not completely destroy because they were well
provided with food. Men, for example, in affluent
cumstances, rulers and governors and numbers of
cials, who had been left, as it were of set purpose
y the famine for the benefit of the plague, endured
a sharp and very speedy death. So every place was
11 of lamentations; in every alley and marketce
and street there was nothing to be seen but
eral dirges, together with the flutes and noises 1
at accompany them. Thus waging war with the
oresaid two weapons, pestilence and famine, death
voured whole familes in a short time, so that one
ight actually see the bodies οf two or three dead
 

 
persons carried out for burial in a single funeral
train. 
 Such were the wages received for the proud
boasting of Maximin and for the petitions presented
by the cities against us; while the proofs of
Christians' zeal and piety in every respect were
manifest to all the heathen. For example, they
alone in such an evil state of affairs gave practical
evidence of their sympathy and humanity: all day
long some of them would diligently persevere in
performing the last offices for the dying and burying
them (for there were countless numbers, and no one
to look after them); while others would gather
together in a single assemblage the multitude of
those who all throughout the city were wasted with
the famine, and distribute bread to them all, so that
their action was on all men's lips, and they glorified
the God of the Christians, and, convinced by the
deeds themselves, acknowledged that they
ere truly pious and God-fearing. 
 Αfter these things were thus accomplished, God,
he great and heavenly Champion of the Christians,
hen Ηe had displayed Ηis threatening and wrath
gainst all men by the aforesaid means, in return for
heir exceeding great attacks against us, once again
estored to us the bright and kindly radianee of His
rovidential care for us. Most marvellously, as in
thick darkness, Ηe caused the light of peace to
hine upon us from Himself, and made it manifest
o all that God Himself had been watching over our
ffairs continually, at times scourging and in due
eason correcting Ηis people by means of misfortunes,
nd again on the other hand after sufficient chastisement

 
showing mercy and goodwill to those who fix
their hopes on Ηim.

ΙX. Thus in truth Constantine, who, as aforesaid,1
was Emperor and sprung from an Emperor, pious
and sprung from a most pious and in every respect
most prudent father, and Licinius, who ranked next
to him—both honoured for their
and piety—were stirred up by the King of
God of the universe and Saviour, two men beloved
of God, against the two most impious tyrants;
and when war was formally engaged, God proved
their ally 2 in the most wonderful manner, and
Maxentius fell at Rome at the hands of Constantine;
while he 3 of the Εast did not long survive him, for
he too perished by a most disgraceful death at the
hands of Licinius, 4 who had not yet become mad. 4 
 But to resume. Constantine, the superior of the
Emperors in rank and dignity, vas the first to take
pity on those subjected to tyranny at Rome; and,
calling in prayer upon God who is in heaven, and His
Word, even Jesus Christ the Saviour of all, as his ally,
he advanced in full force, seeking to secure for the
Romans their ancestral liberty. Maxentius, to be
sure, put his trust rather in devices of magic than in
the goodwill of his subjects, and in truth did not dare
to advance even beyond the ’s gates, but with an
innumerable multitude of heavy-armed soldiers and
countless bodies of legionaries secured every place
and district and city that had been reduced to
slavery by him in the environs of Rome and in all
 

 
Italy. The Εmperor, closely relying on the help
that comes from God, attacked the first, second and
third οf the tyrant's armies, and capturing them
with ease advanced over a large part of Italy, actually
coming very near to Rome itself. Then, that he
might not be compelled because of the tyrant to
fight against Romans, God Ηimself as if with chains
dragged the tyrant far away from the gates; and
those things which were inscribed long ago in the
sacred books against wicked men—to which as
myth very many gave no faith, yet were they worthy
of faith to the faithful—now by their very
found faith, in a word, with all, faithful and faithless,
who had the miracle before their eyes. As, for
example, in the days of Moses himself and the ancient
and godly race of the Hebrews, “ Ρharaoh’s chariots
and his host hath he cast into the sea, his chosen
horsemen, even captains, they were sunk in the Red
Sea, the deep covered them’’; in the same way also
Maxentius and the armed soldiers and guards around
him “went down into the depths like a stone,”
he turned his back before the God-sent power that
was with Constantine, and was crossing the river that
lay in his path, which he himself had bridged right
well by joining of boats, and so formed into an engine
οf destruction against himself. Wherefore one might
say: “Ηe hath made a pit, and digged it, and shall
fall into the ditch which he made. Ηis work shall
return upon his own head, and his wickedness shall
come down upon his οwn pate.” 
 Thus verily, through the breaking of the bridge
οver the river, the passage across collapsed, and down
went the boats all at once, men and all, into the deep;

 
and first of all he himself, that most wicked of men,
and then also the shield-bearers around him, as the
divine oracles foretell, sank as lead in the mighty
waters. So that suitably, if not in words, at least
in deeds, like the followers of the great servant
Moses, those who had won the victory by the help
of God might in some sort hymn the very same words
Which were uttered against the wicked tyrant οf old,
and say: “Let us sing unto the Lord, for gloriously
hath he been glorified: the horse and his rider hath
he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength
and protector, he is become my salvation’’; and
“Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?
who is like thee, glorified in saints, marvellous in
praises, doing wonders?’’ These things, and such
as are akin and similar to them, Constantine by his
very deeds sang to God the Ruler of all and Αuthor
οf the victory; then he entered Rome with hymns
of triumph, and all the senators and other persons οf
great note, together with women and quite young
children and all the Roman people, received him in a
body with beaming countenances to their very heart
as a ransomer, saviour and benefactor, with praises
and insatiable joy. But he, as one possessed οf
natural piety towards God, was by no means stirred
by their shouts nor uplifted by their praises, for well
he knew that his help was from God; and straightway
he gave orders that a memorial of the Saviour's
should be set up in the hand of his own Statue; and
indeed when they set him in the most public place in
Rome holding the Saviour's sign in his right hand,
bade them engrave this very inscription in these
words in the Latin tongue: “By this salutary sign,

 
the true proof of bravery, I saved and delivered your
city from the yoke of the tyrant; and moreover I
freed and restored to their ancient fame and splendour
both the senate and the people of the Romans.” 
 Αnd after this Constantine himself, and with him
the emperor Licinius, 1 whose mind was not yet
deranged by the madness into Which he afterwards
fell, 1 having propitiated God as the Αuthor of all their
good fortune, both with one will and purpose drew
up a most perfect law2 in the fullest terms on behalf
οf the Christans 3; and to Maximin, who was still
ruler of the provinces of the East and playing at
being their friend, they sent on an account of the
marvellous things that God had done for them, as
well as of their victory over the tyrant, and the law
itself. Αnd he, tyrant that he was, was greatly
troubled at the intelligence; but, not wishing to
seem to yield to others, nor yet to suppress the command
through fear of those who had enjoined it, as
if of his own motion he penned perforce this first
letter on behalf of the Christians to the governors
under him; in which he belies himself, and feigns
that he had done things he never had. 
 Copy of a Translation of the Epistle of the Tyrant 
 “Jovius Μaximinus Augustus to Sabinus. I am
persuaded that it is manifest both to thy Firmness
and to all men that our masters Diocletian and
Maximian, our fathers, when they perceived that
 

 
almost all men had abandoned the worship of the
gods and associated themselves with the nation of
the Christians, rightly gave orders that all men who
deserted the worship of their gods, gods, the the immortal gods,
should be recalled to the worship of the gods by open
correction and punishment. But when under happy
auspices I came for the first time to the East, and
learnt that in certain places very many persons who
were able to serve the public good were being
banished by the judges for the aforesaid reason, I
gave orders to each of the judges that of them
in future was to deal harshly with the pronincials,
but rather by persuasive words and exhortations to
recall them to the worship of the gods. It came to
pass at that therefore, when when with
my injunction the judges observed what was commanded,
that no one in the eastem provinces was
either banished or suffered insult, but rather was
recalled to the worship the gods, because no severe
measures were employed against them. But afterwards,
when last year under happy auspices I had
gone to Nicomedia and was staying there, there came
to me citizens of the same city with images of the
gods, earnestly requesting that on no account should
such a nation be permitted to dwell in their city.
But when I learnt that very many οf the same
religion dwelt in those very parts, I thus made them
reply : That I was gratified, and thanked them for
their request, but I perceived that this request did
not come from all. If, then, there were some that
persevered in the same superstition, let each οne

 
keep thus his resolve according as he personally
wished ; and if they so desired it, let them acknowledge
the worship of the gods. Nevertheless to
these same Nicomedians and the rest of the cities,
who themselves have so very earnestly addressed me
a similar request, namely, that no Christian should
inhabit their cities, I was compelled to reply in a
friendly manner, because the Emperors of old time
had earefully obesrved this very thing, and it was
plearing to the gods themselves, by whom 1 all men
and the government itself of the state subsist, that2
I should confirm sueh a request as they were
on behalf of the worship of their Deity. 
 “ Therefore, although special letters have been
written to thy Devotedness before this time, and
likewise it has been laid down by ordinances that no
harsh measures should be adopted against provincials
who have a mind to persevere in such a custom, but
that men should deal with them in a long-suffering
and adaptable spirti : nevertheless that they may
not suffer insults or extortions at the hands of the
beneficiarii 3 or any others whatsoever, Ι think it
right by this letter also to put thy Firmness in mind
that thou shouldest cause our provincials to recognize
the attention they owe to the gods rather by
persuasive words and exhortations. Wherefore if
any should make it his resolve that the worship of
the gods should be recognized, it is fitting to welcome
sueh persons; but if some desire to follow their own
worship, thou shouldest leave it in their own power.
 

 
For this reason it behoves thy Devotedness to observe
carefully that which is commanded thee, and that
authority be given to none to affiict our provincials
with insults and extortions, since, as we wrote above,
it is fitting to recall our provincials to the worship
of the gods rather by exhortations and persuasive
words. Αnd that this our injunction may come to
the knonledge of all our provincials, it behoves thee
to make known that which has been enjoined in an
ordinance put forth by thyself.” 
 Since he issued these commands under the compulsion
of necessity and not of his own free will, no
one any longer regarded him as truthful or even
trustworthy, because after a similar concession he had
already on a former occasion showed himself to be
changeable and false of disposition. Νone of our
people therefore dared to convene an assembly or
to present himself in public, beeause the letter did
not allow him even this. This alone it laid down,
that we should be kept from harsh treatment, but
it gave no orders about holding meetings or erecting
chureh-buildings or practising any of our customary
acts. Αnd yet the adnocates of peace and piety,
[Constantine had Licinius], had written to him to allow
this, and had conceded it to all their subjects by
means of edicts and laws. In truth, this monster of
iniquity had resolved not to give in as regards this
matter ; until he was smitten by the divine Justice,
and at the last against his will forced to do so.

X. The following were the circumstance that
hemmed him in. Ηe was unable to carry on the
vast government with which he had been undeservedly
entrusted ; but, lacking a prudent and

 
imperial mind, he managed his affairs tactlessly ;
and, above all, his soul was uplifted in an absurd
manner by an overweening arrogance, actually
against his colleagues in the Empire, men who were
in every way his superiors in birth and upbringing
and education, in worth and intelligence, and —
what is mort important of all — in sobriety and piety
towards the true God. so he began to venture to
act with insolence, and publicly to style himself first
in rank. Then he pushed his madness to the length
of insanity, and, breaking the treaty he had made
with Licinius, raised an internecine war. Νext, in
a short time he threw everything into confusion,
greatly disturbed every city, and, gathering together
all the anny, an innumerable multitude of men, went
forth to fight him in battle-array, his soul uplifted by
the hopes he placed in demons, whom, forsooth, he regarded
as gods, and in his myriads of armed soldiers. 
 But when he joined battle, he found himself
bereft of divine Providence, for, by the direction of
Ηim who is the one and only God of all, the victory
was given to Licinius who was then ruling. First of
all, the armed soldiers in whom he had trusted were
destroyed ; and when his bodyguard had left him
defenceless and wholly deserted, and had gone over
to him who was ruling,1 the wretched man
himself with all speed of the imperial insignia that
ill became him, and in a cowardly, base and unmanly
way quietly slipt into the crowd. Then he ran about
here and there, hiding himself in the helds and
villages ; and for all his courting of safety he escaped
with difficulty the hands of his enemies, his deeds
themselves proclaiming how very trustworthy and
true are the divine oracles, in which it has been said :

 
“ There is no king saved by much power, and a giant
will not be saved by his great strength. Α horse
is a vain thing for safety, and will not be saved by
his great power. Behold, the eyes of the Lord are
upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his
mercy ; to deliver their souls from death.”
then, did the tyrant, filled with shame, come to his
own territory. Αnd first in his mad fury he put to
death many priests and prophets of those gods who
had formerly been his admiration, and whose oracles
had incited him to begin the war, on the ground that
they were charlatans and deceivers and, above all,
betrayers of his safety. Νext, he gave glory to
the Christians’ God, and drew up a law on behalf of
their liberty in the most complete and fullest manner.
Then straightway, no respite being granted him, he
ended his life by a miserable death. 
 Νow the law issued by him was as follows : 
 Copy of a Translation of the Ordinance of the Tyrant
οn behalf of the Christians, made from the Latin tongue
into the Greek. 
 “ The Emperor Caesar Gaius Valerius Maximinus
Germanicus, Sarmaticus, Ρius Felix Invictus Augustus.
We beheve that no one is ignorant, nay that
every man who has recourse to the facts knows and
is conscious that it is manifest, that in every way we
take unceasing thought for the good of our provincials,
and desire to grant them such things as are
best calculated to secure the advantage of all, and

 
whatsoever things are advantageous and useful to
their common weal, and such as are suitable to the
public advantage and agreeable to every mind
Since, therefore, before this it has been evident to our
knowledge that, on the plea that the most divine
Diocletian and Μaximian, our fathers, had
orders for the abolishment of the Christian assemblies,
many extortions and robberies have been practised
by the officials, and that this increased as time went
on to the detriment of our provincials (for whose
good it is our especial derire that there should be due
thought), and that their own personal possessions
were being destroyed : We addressed a letter to the
governors in eaeh province last year, laying it down
that if any should wish to follow such a custom or
the same religious observances, such a one should
adhere to his purpose without hindrance, and be
hindered or prevented by no one ; and that they
should have a free hand, without fear and suspicion,
to do whatsoever each one pleases. But it cannot
escape our notice even now that some of the judges
misinterpreted our injunctions, and caused our people
to have doubts with regard to our commands, and
made them somewhat backward in joining in those
religious observances that were pleasing to them. 
 “ That, therefore, for the future all suspicion or
doubt arising from fear may be removed, we have
decreed that this ordinance be published, so that it
may be plain to all that those who desire to follow

 
this sect and religious observance are permitted, in
accordance with this our bounty, as each one wishes
οr finds it pleasing, to join in that religious observance
which from choice he was wont to praetise.
Αnd permission has also been granted them to build
the Lord's houses. Nevertheless, that our bounty
may be even greater, we have decided to decree this
also : that if any houses or lands, which used formerly
to belong by right to the Christians, have by the
injunction of our parents into the right of the
public treasury or have been sriIed by any city—
whether a sale of these has taken place, or they have
been handed over to anyone as a gift — we have given
οrders that all these be restored to the Christians as
their original right, so that in this also all may perceive
οur piety and solicitude.” 
 These are the words of the tyrant that came less
than a whole year after the ordinances against the
Christians, set up by him on tablets ; and he who
a short while previously looked upon us as impious
and godless and the pests of society, so that we were
not pennirted to dwen in, I will not say, a city, but
even a spot in the counrty or a desert — this same
person drew up ordinances and legislation on behalf
οf the Christians ; and those who shortly before were
being destroyed by fire and sword and given to wild
beasts and birds for food before his eyes, and were
enduring every kind of chastisement and punishment
and loss of life in the most pitiable manner, as if they
were godless and wicked, these he now allows both
to observe their fonn worship and to build churches ;
and the tyrant himself confesses that they possess
certain rights ! 

 
 Αnd when he had made these confessions, as if
meeting with some kind of reward on this very
account—that is, suffering less, to be sure, than
behoved him to suffer—he was smitten all at once
a stroke of God, and perished in the second
οf the war. But the circumstances of his death were
not such as fall to the lot of generah on a campaign,
who time after time contend bravely on behalf of
virtue and friends, and with a good courage meet a
glorious end in battle ; but he suffered his due
punishment like an impious enemy of God, skulking
at home while his army was still stationed in battlearray
on the neld. Αll at once he was smitten by a
stroke of God over his whole body, with the result
that he fell prone under the onslaught of terrible
pains and agonies; he was wasted by hunger, and
his flesh entirely consumed by an invisible, divinelysent
fire; the form which his body once possessed
wasted away and there and there remained only
a form οf dry bones, like some phantom shape long
since reduced to a skeleton, so that those present
could not but think that his body become the tomb
of his soul, which had been buried in what was now a
corpse and completely wasted away. Αnd as the heat
consumed him still more foerce;u in the very depths
οf his marrow, his eyes projected, and falling from
their sockets 1 left him blind. Yet he still breathed
in this condition, and making confession to the Lord
invoked death. So with his last breath he acknowledged
that he suffered thus justly because of his
violence against Christ ; and then gave up the ghost.

XI. when Maximin was thus removed — he who
as the only οne left οf the enemies of godliness,
d showed himself the worst of al — by the grace of
Almightly God the renewal of the churches from the
foundation was set on foot, and the word of Christ
received a due increase upon its fonner freedom, and
was clearly heard to the glory of the God of the universe;
; while the impiety οf the enemies of godlness
was covered with the most abject shame and dishonour.
For Maximin himself was the first to be
proclaimed by the rulers as a common enemy οf all,
and posted in public edicts on tablets as a most
impious, most hateful and God-hating tyrant. As
to the portraits which were set up in every city to
his honour and that of his children, some were hurled
from a height to the ground and smashed to pieces,
others had their faces blackened over with darkcoloured
paint and so rendered useless ; the statues
likewise, as many as had been set up in his honour,
were cast down and broken in the same manner,
and lay as an object of merriment and sport to those
who wished to insult or abuse them. 
 Next, all the honours of the other enemies of godliness
also were taken away, and all who were οf the
arty of Maximin were slain, especially those in
high government positions who had been honoured
by him, and who indulged in violent abuse against
our doctrine in order to fawn upon him. such was
Peucetius, a man whom he honoured and respected
above all, the truest of his friends, consul a second
and a third time, and appointed by him general
finance minister; such likewise was Culeianus, who
had gone through every grade of offiee in the government,
the same person who gloried in the murder

 
countless Christians in Egypt; and in addition to
these not a few others, who were the chief means of
confirming and increasing Maximin's tyranny. 
 So it was that Theotecnus also was summoned by
Justice, who in no wise consigned to oblivion what
he did against the Christians. For after he had set
up the idol 1 at Antioch, he seemed to be prospering,
and had actually been deemed worthy of a governorship
by Maximin; but when Licinius came to the
city οf the Antiochenes, he made a search for charlatans,
and plied with tortures the the prophets and
priests of the new-made idol, to find out by what
contrivance they were practising this deceit. Αnd
when the infliction of the tortures made concealment
impossible for them, and they revealed that the
whole mystery was a deceit manufactured by the
art of Theotecnus, he inflicted a just punishment upon
them all, putting to death, arter a long series οf
tortures, first neotecnus himself, and then also the
partners in his charlatanry. 
 To all these were added the sons οf Maximin,
whom he had already caused to share the imperial
dignity and to be set up in paintings and pictures.2
Αnd those who formerly boasted kinship with the
tyrant and were moved by pride to lord it οver all
men underwent the same sufferings, accompanied
by the most abject disgrace, as those mentioned
above; for they received not correction, nor did
they know or understand the exhortatlon in the
sacred books which says : “ Ρut not your trust ln
princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no help
His breath shall go forth and he shall return to his
 

 
earth. In that day all his thoughts shall perish.”
1 Thus verily when the impious ones had been purged
away, the kingdom that belonged to them was
preserved stedfast and undisputed for Constantine
and Licinius alone; who, when they had made it
their very first action to purge the world of enmity
against God, conscious of the good things that Ηe
had bestowed upon them, displayed their love of
virtue and of God, their piety and gratitude towards
the Deity, by their enactment on behalf of the
Christians.

CONTENTS OF BOOK X 
 The Τenth Book of the Ecclesiastical History
contains the following: 
 I. On the peace vouchsafed to us from God. 
 II. On the restoration of the churches. 
 III. On the dedications in every place. 
 IV Panegyric οn the joyful condiition of affairs. 
 V. Copies of imperial laws having reference to the
Christians. 
 VI. Οn the exemption from public service granted
to the clerics. 
 VII. On the subsequent wiekedness οf Lieinius and
his tragic end. 
 VIII. On the victory Constantine and the blessings
which he was the means of procuring for the
subjects of the Roman Empire.

BOOK X I. Thanks be to God, the Almighty and King of the
universe, for all things; and abundant thanks be also
the Saviour and Redeemer of our souls, Jesus
Christ, through whom we pray continually that
peace from troubles without and troubles in the heart
may be preserved for us stedfast and unidsturbed. 
 Αnd having now added, while we pray, the tenth
tome also of the Ecclesiastical History to those which
preceded it, we shall dedicate this tome to thee, my
οst holy Paulinus, 1 invoking thee as the seal of the
whole work; and fitly in a perfect number we shall
here place the perfect and panegyrical discourse on
the restoration of the churches, in obediencce to the
divine Spirit who thus exhorts us: “O sing unto the
Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous
things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath
wrought salvation for him. The Lord hath made
wn his salvation: His righteousness hath Ηe
revealed in the sight of the heathen. 
 Αnd verily, in accordance with the oracle, which
thus bids us, let us now cry aloud the new song, since,
after those terrible and gloomy spectacle and
narratives, we were accounted worthy now to behold
 

 
and to celebrate in panegyric such things as οf a
many righteous men and martyrs of God Before
desired to see upon earth and saw them not, and
hear, and heard them not. But they indeed
ting with all speed, obtained far better things in
the heavens themselves and were caught up into a
aradise of divine pleasure; while we, acknowledge
that even these present things are beyond our
, have been utterly astounded at the munificence
οf the bounty of which Ηe is the Αuthor, and
h our whole soul's might fittingly render Ηim
awe and worship, attesting the truth of the written
preedictions, wherein it is said: “came and behold
the works οf the Lord, what wonders Ηe hath
the earth, making wars to cease unto the ends of
the earth. Ηe break break the bow and shatter the
ur, and the shields he will bum with fire.”
Rejoicing that these things have been clearly fuld
to us-ward, led us proceed to take up οur
narrative. 
 The whole race of God's enemies had verily been
moved even as we have stated, 1 and in a moment
lotted out of men's sight; so that once more a divine
ying hath fulfilment, that which says: “I have seen
e wicked in great power, and lifted up like the cedars
f Leganon. Αnd I passed by, and, lo, he was not:
d I sought his place, and it was not ”
nd how henceforth a day bright and radiant with
ys of heavenly light, overshadowed by never a
ud, shone down upon the churches of Christ
ughout the whole world ; nor were even those
utisde οur society 2 grudged, if not the equal enjoyment
 

 
of our divinely-sent blessings, at any rate a
in their effluence and a participation thereof.

II. So the whole human race was freed from the
oppression οf the tyrants. Αnd, delivered from his
former ills, each one after his own fashion acknowledged
as the only true God Him who was the
Champion of the pious. But we especially, who had
fixed οur hopes upon the Christ of God, had gladness
kable, and a divine joy blossomed in the hearts
of us as we beheld every place, which a short time
re had been laid in ruins by the tyrants'
deeds, now reviving as if after a long and deadly
destruction, and temples rising once more from their
foundations to a boundless height, and receiving in
far greater measure the magnificence of those that
formerly had been destroyed. 
 Yea, and Emperors, the most exalted, by successive
enacbnents on bahalf of the Christians, confirmed
still further and more widely God's bounty towards
us; and bishops constantly received even personal
letters from the Emperor, and honours and gifts οf
money. It may not be unfitting at the proper place
in this work, as on a sacred monument, to insert in this
book the text of these documents, translated from
Latin into Greek, so that they may also be preserved
in remembrance by all those who come after us.

III. After this there was brought about that
spectacle for which we all prayed and longed:
festivals of dedication in the cities and consecrations
οf the newly-built houses of prayer, assemblages of
bishops, comings together of those from far off
foreign lands, kindly acts on the part of laity towards
laity, union between the members οf Crist's body

 
as they met together in complete harmony. Certainly
in accordance with a prophetic prediction that
mystically signified beforehand what was for to come,
there came together bone to bone and joint to joint,
and all that the oracular utterance in dark speech
truly foretold. One was the power of the divine
Spirt that spread through all the members; all
were of one soul, and displayed the same zeal for the
faith; one hymn of praise to God came from the lips
of all Yea verily our leaders conducted perfect
ceremonies, and the consecrated priests pertonned
the sacred rites and stately ordinances of the Church,
here with psalmody and recitation of such other words
as have been giveu us from God, there with the ministering
of divine and mystic services; and the ineffable
symbols of the Saviour's Ρassion were present. Αnd
all together, of every age, male and female, with the
whole power of their mind gave honour to God the
Αuthor of their good fortune, in prayer and thanksgiving
with joyful heart and soul. 
 Moreover every one of the Church's rulers that
were present, accorffing to his ability, delivered
panegyrical orations, inspiring the assembly.

IV.
Αnd a certain one of moderate parts 1 advanced into
the midst, having composed a discourse; and, in
the presence of very many pastors who gave it a
quiet and orderly hearing as in a chureh assembly,
he delivered the following oration, addressed personally
to a single bishop who was in every respect
most excellent and beloved of God, by whose zeal
and enthusiasm the temple in Tyre, surpassing in
splendour all οthers in Phoenicia, had been erected: 
 

 
 Panegyric on the building of the churches, addressed
to Paulinus, bishop of the Tyrians: 
 “Ο friends of God and priests who are clothed with
the holy robe1 and the celestial crown of glory, the
divine unction and the Ρriestly garb of the Holy
Spirit; and thou, Ο youthful pride of God's holy
temple, honoured indeed by God with revered wisdom,
yet noted for the choiee deeds and acts of a
youthful virtue that cometh to its prime, upon whom
Ηe who compasseth the whole world hath bestowed
the especial honour of building Ηis house upon earth,
and restoring it for Christ Ηis only-begotten
firstborn Word and for Christ's holy and reverend
Bride-whether one should call thee a new
the architeet of a divine tabernacle, or Solomon the
king of a new and far goodlier Jerusalem, or even a
new Zerubbabel who bestowed upon the temple of
God that glory which greatly exceeded the former;
and you also, ye nurslings of the sacred flock of Christ,
–place of goodly words, school of sobriety,
auditory of godliness grave and dear to God: Long
ago, as we listened to the reading aloud of those
passages of Holy Writ which told of the miraculous
signs that God gave and the wondrous deebs that the
Lord wrought for the serviee of men we could
hymns and songs to God and say, even as we were
taught: ‘We have heard with our ears, Ο God, our
fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their
days, in the days of old.’ But now indeed no
longer by hearing or by report do we learn of the
stretched out arm and the heavenly right hand of
 

 
οur all-gracious God and universal King; nay,
deeds, as one might say, and with our very eyes do
we behold that those things committed to memory
long ago are faithful and true; and so we can sing a
second hymn οf victory, and raise our voices aloud
and say: ‘As we have heard, so have we seen in
the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city οf οur God.’
Αnd in what city, if it be not the new-made city that
God hath builded, which is the chureh of the living
God, the pillar and ground of the truth; οf
also another divine oracle speaketh good tidings,
somewhat on this manner: ‘Glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city οf God’ ? To which city
since the all-gracious God hath gathered us, through
the grace of Ηis Only-begotten, let each ofthe
sing, yea all but shout, and say ‘I was glad when
they said unto me, we will go unto the house οf the
Lord’ ; Lord’; and ‘Lord I have loved the beauty
house, and the place where thy glory dwelleth.’
Αnd let not οnly each one by himself, but also all
together with οne spirit and one soul, give honour and
praise, saying: ‘Great is the Lord, and highly to be
praised, in the city of οur God, in his holy ’.
Yea verily, Ηe is truly great, and great is Ηis house,
lofty and large ; and more lovely in beauty than the
sons of men. Great is the Lord who only doeth
wondrous things. Great is Ηe who doeth great
things and past finding out; yea, glorious and marvellous
things of which there is no number. Great is
Ηe who changeth the times and the seasons, removing
kings and setting them up, raising up the poor from
the ground, and from the dunghill setting up the
needy. Ηe hath put down princes from their thrones,
and hath exalted them of low degree from the

 
ground. The hungry he hath filled with good things,
and he hath broken the arms of the proud. since,
therefore, Ηe hath confirmed not only for the faithful
but also for the faithless the record of the ancient
narratives, even Ηe, the Doer of wonders, the Doer of
great things, the Lord of the universe, the Μaker of
the whole world, the Αlmighty, the All-gracious, the
one and only —let us sing to Ηim the new song,
supplying in thought this also: ‘To him who alone
doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for
ever . . . to him which smote great kings, . . . and
slew mighty kings; for his mercy endureth for ever
. . . for he remembered us in our low estate, . . .
and hath delivered us from our adversaries.’ 
 “Αnd may we never cease to praise aloud in these
Words the Father οf the universe. But as for Him who
is the second cause of our good things, Who brought
men to the knowledge of God, the Teacher of true
piety, the Destroyer of the wicked, the Slayer of
tyrants, the Εmender οf human life, our saviour
when we were in despair, even Jesus, let us honour
Ηis name upon our lips; for Ηe alone, as being the
οne only, all-gracious Son of an all-gracious
since the Father in His love for man so ordained it,
right willingly put οn the nature of us, even of
those who anywhere lay low in corruption. And
like some excellent physician, who, to save those
who are sick, ‘though he sees the ills yet touches
the foul spots, and for another's misfortunes reaps
suffering for himself,’1 so Ηe by Ηimself saved
the very abyss of death us who were not merely
sick or oppressed by grievous sores and wounds already
putrifying, but even lying among the dead; for none
 

 
other in heaven possessed such strength as to minister
unscathed for the salvation of so many. Ηe, then, it
was who alone laid hold upon the grievous suffering
of οur corruption, alone endured our sorrows, alone
took upon Himself the penalty for our wickednesses;
and when we were, I will not say, half dead, but
even by this time altogether foul and stinking in
tombs and graves, Ηe raised us up, and saveth us
now as in the days ofold, in Ηis earnest love for man,
beyond the hope of anyone, even οf ourselves, and
the good things of Ηis Father imparteth to us
freely a share — Ηe who is the Giver of life the Enlightener,
our great Physician and King and Lord, the
Christ of God. Yea at that time, when Ηe beheld 1
the whole human raee lring sunk in gloomy night
and daxkness profound through the deceit of baneful
demons and the operations of God-hating spirits, by
naught save Ηis appearing Ηe broke asunder once
for all the many-fettered chains of our wickednesses,
as wax is melted by the rays of Ηis light. 
 “Αnd when at this great grace and benefaction
the envy that hateth the good, even the demon that
loveth the evil, was torn asunder with wrath, so to
speak, and was marshalling all his death-dealing
forces against us, at first raging like a dog which
gnaweth with his teeth at the stone hurled at him
and venteth on the lifeless missiles hls fury agamst
those who would drive him away, he ffirected his
ferocious madness against the stones of the houses
οf prayer and the lifeless materials of which the buildings
were composed, to work (as at least he thought
within himself) the ruin οf the churches; then he
emitted his dread hissings and serpent-like sounds, at
 

 
οne time by the threats of wicked tyrants, at another
by blasphemous ordinances of impious rulers; yea
further, he vomited forth the death that was his, and
bewitched the souh he captured by his baneful and
soul-destroying poisons, all but causing their death
by his death-fraught sacrifices to dead idols, and
secretly stirring up every wild beast in shape of man,
and every kind of savage thing, agriaInst us. But now,
now again once more the Αngel of mighty counsel,
the great captain of the host of God, after that the
greatest soldiers in Ηis kingdom had given sufficient
proof of their full training by their endurance and
stedfastness in all things, by naught save His sudden
apearing caused to vanish into nothingness whatsoever
was adverse and hostile, so that it seemed never
to have had even a name; howbeit, whatsoever was
friendly and dear to Him, that Ηe advanced beyond
all glory in the sight of all, not only of men, but even
also οf the powers of heaven, the sun and moon and
stars, and of the whole heaven and earth ; so that
now — a thing unknown heretofore—the most
Emperors of all, conscious of the honour which they
have received nom Him, spit upon the faces οf dead
idoh, traInple upon the unhallowed rites οf deomons,
and laugh at the old deceits they inherited from their
fathers: but Him who is the common Benefactor of
all and of themselves they recognize as the one and
only God, and confess that christ the son οf God is
sovereign King of the universe, and style Him as
Saviour on monuments, inseribing in an imperishable
record Ηis righteous acts and His victories over the
impious ones, in imperial characters in the midst of
the city that is Empress among the cities of the world.

 
Thus Jesus Christ our Saviour, alone of those who
have ever been, is acknowledged, even by the
most exalted on the earth, not as an ordinary
king taken from among men, but is worshipped
as the very son of the God οf the universe, and as
Ηimself God. 
 “Αnd rightly so. For what king ever attained to
so much virtue as to ml the ears and tongues of all
mankind upon earth with his name 7. what king,
when he had laid down laws so good and wise, Was
powerful enough to cause them to be published from
the ends of the earth and too the bounds οf the whole
world in the hearing of all mankind? who abolished
the barbarous and uncivilized customs of uncivilized
nations by his civilized and most humane laws ?
Who, when warred on by all men for whole ages, gave
such proof of superhuman might as to flourish daily
and remain young throughout his entire life? Who
established a nation never even heard οf since time
hegan, which now lieth not hidden in some obscure
corner οf the earth but extendeth wherever the sun
shineth? Who so defended his soldiers with the
weapons of piety that their souls proved harder than
adamant when they contended with their adversaries ?
Which of the king exerciseth so great a sway,
taketh the Reld after death, triumpheth οver enemies,
and filleth every plaee and district and city, both
Greek and barbarian, with votive offerings οf his
royal houses and divine temples, such as the fair
ornaments and offerings that we see in this temple ?
Truly venerable and great are these Same things,
worthy οf amazement and wonder, and in themselves
clear proofs of the sovereignty of οur saviour: for
even now Ηe spake, and they were made; Ηe

 
commanded, and they were created: for what
could resist the will of the universal King and Ruler
and the Word of God Himself? Such things would
require a discourse of their own were one carefully
to exmaine and expound them at leisure. Υet
indeed the zeal of those who have laboured is not so
great or so noble in the judgement of Him whom we
address as God, when Ηe looketh into the lively
temple which we all compose, and vieweth the house
formed of living and firmly set stones, well and
securely grounded upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner-stone; which stone the master–builders
rejected, not only of that old building which is no
more, but also of that building which compriseth
the more part of mankind to the present day, evil
workmen as they were of evil things; but the
Father approved it, and then and now builded it into
the head of the corner of this our common Church.
This living temple, then, of a living God Formed out
of ourselves, Ι mean the greatest sanctuary and truly
reverend, whose innermost shrine may noit be seen
by the common eye, for verily holy it is and a holy οf
—who that viewed it would dare to describe ?
Who is able even to peer into the temple buildings
that surround it, save only the great High Priest
of the universe, to whom alone it is peimitted to
search the hidden mysteries of every rational soul
But perehance it is possible for another also, and for
one alone among equals, to take the second place
after Ηim, namely, for the commander who presideth
over this army, whom the first and great High Priest
Himself hath honoured with the second place in the
priestly ministries of thhis place, the pastor of your

 
divine flock who was allotted and adjudged your
people by the Father, as Ηe Ηimself had appointed
him Ηis attendant and interpreter, the new Αaron
οr Melchizedek, made like unto the Son οf God,
abiding and kept by Ηim continually by the
common prayers of you all. To him, therefore, let
it be permitted alone, after the first and greatest
High Priest, if not in the first at any rate in the second
place, to behold and inspect the inmost recesses of
your souh; since through experience and length of
time 1 he hath proved eaeh one and and his his
zealous care he hath disposed you all in a godly order
and doctrine; and he best of all is able to give such
an account as will match his deedS, of those things
that he himself hath wrought by the power οf God.
“Νow our first and great Ηigh Priest saith that
whatsoever things he seeth the Father doing, these
the son also doeth in like manner. Αnd this one
also, looking unto the nrst as unto a master with
the pure eyes of the mind, whatsoever he seeth Ηim
doing, these he useth as patterns and archetypes,
and by his worbnanship hath wTought their images,
as far as in him lieth, into the closest likeness; thus
in no wise doth he come behind that Bezalel, whom
God Himself filled with the spirit of wisdom and
understanding and with the knowledge as well of
crafts and sciences, and called him to be the workman
that should construct the temple of heavenly
types in symbolic fashion. After this manner, then,
this man also, bearing in his own soul the image
of Christ entire, the Word, the Wisdom, the Light,
 

 
ηαth formed this magnificent temple of God most
hing, answering in its nature to the pattern of that
ich is better, even as the visible answereth to the
visible; nor could one describe with what noblenindedness,
with what a liberal hand — whose will to
ve was insatiable—and with what emulation on
of you all ye nobly ried with one another by the
ge-hearthedness of your contributions in no
come behind him in this selksame purpose. Αnd
place-which thing also is worthy to be
first οf all—which by the evil designs of
emies had been corvered with all kinds of vile
bbish, he did not overlook nor sunender to the
alice οf those who did this, though he might have
ighted upon another spot (for the city supplied
untless other sites), and thus found relief from toil
freedom from trouble. Νay, he first of all
ed himself to the word; then by his zeal he
ngthened the whole people, and gathering together
all into οne great body, entered upon the
t contest; for he deemed that she especially
ho had been destroyed by the enemy, she who had
en aforetime afflicted and had endured the same
rsecutions as we and before us, even the church who
ike a mother had been bereft οf her children, should
ave her share in the enjoyment of the bounty of the
-gracious God. For since once more the great
hepherd, having driven away the wild beasts and
e wolves and every kind of cruel and savage
crature, and having broken the great teeth of the
ions, as the divine oracles say, once more had vouched
to bring Ηis sons together, it was most meet
hat he should also set up the fold of the flock, that
e might put to shame the enemy and the avenger,

 
and openly rebuke the evil deeds of impious men
fighting against God. Αnd now these men, the
haters of God, are no more, for they never were;
but after troubling and being troubled for a little
while, then they paid to Justice no contemptible
penalty, accomplishing the utter overthrow of themselves,
their friends and houses; so that the predictions
whieh long ago had been inscribed on sacred
records are confessedly proved trustworthy by the
facts, in which among other true things that the
divine word speaketh, this also it declareth concerning
them: ‘The wicked have drawn out the
sword and have bent their bow; to east down the
poor and needy, to slay the upright in heart: may
their sword enter into their own hearts, and may their
bows be broken’; broken’ ; and again: ‘Their
perished with a sound,’ and ‘Their name hath
blotted out for ever and for ever and ever’;
verily when they also were in trouble ‘They cried, and
there was none to save: unto the Lord, and he did not
hear them’; yea, they indeed ‘had their feet
together and fell, but we rose and stood upright’;
and that which was predicted in these words, ‘Lord,
in thy city thou shalt set at naught their image,’
hath been shown to be true before the eyes of all. 
 “But they verily, engaging like giants in battle
against God, have thus brought their lives to a miserable
end; while the issue of that godly enduranee
on the part of her who was deserted and rekected
by men was such as we have seen; so that the
propheey of Isaiah ealleth aloud unto her in these
words: ‘Be glad, Ο thirsty desert; let the desert rejoice
and blossom as a lily; and the desert places shall
blossom forth and rejoice. . . . Be strong, ye hands that

 
hang down, and ye palsied knees. Be of good courage,
ye feeble-hearted, be strong, fear not; behold, our
God recompenseth judgement, and will recompense;
he will come and save you. . . . For,’ saith he,
broke out in the desert, and a stream in thirsty ground.
Αnd the waterless place shall become marsh-meadows,
and upon the thirsty ground shall be a foundain of water.’ 
 “Now these things, foretold long ago had been
recorded in the sacred books in words; howbeti the
deeds have come down to us no longer by hearsay,
but in actual fact. This desert, this waterless plaee,
this widowed and defenceless one, whose gates they
cut down with axes as in a thicket of trees; whom
together with hatchet and hammer they brake down;
whose books also they destroyed and set ond frie the
sanetuary of God; they profaned the dwelling-place
of His name to the ground; whom all they which
pass by the way did pluck, having before broken down
her fences, whome the boar out of the wood did ravage
and on whom the solitary wild beast did feed:
now by the miraculous power of Christ, when Ηe
willeth it, hath become as a lily. For at that time
also by His command, as of a careful father, she was
chastened. For whom the Lord loveth Ηe chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom Ηe receiveth. So
then, after being corrected in due measure, once
more again She is bidden anew to rejoice, alld she,
blossoms forth as a lily and breathes upon all men of
her divine, sweet odour; for, saith he, water broke
out in the desert, the streams of the divine regeneration
that the washing of salvation bestoweth; and
that which a short time before was deert hath now
become marsh-meadows, and a fountain of living
water hath burst forth upon the thirsty ground; and

 
in very truth hands that before hung down have
me strong, of the stength of which hands these
t and maniifest works are tokens. Yea, and the
es that long ago were diseased and relaxed have
vered their natural movement, and go straight
ard upon the way of the knowledge of God,
tinh to the flock of the all-gracious Shepherd,
eir true home. But if through the threats of the
ants the souls of some have waxed numb, not even
ese the saving Word pass by as incurable, but
ht Ηe health them also and urgeth them on
ards divine encouragement, encouragement, saying: ‘Be of
courage, ye feeble-hearted, be strong, fear not.’
“The word which prophesied that she whom God
made desert was to enjoy these blessings, this
new and goodly Zerubbabel 1 heard with the sharp
ing of his mind, after that bitter captivity and
abomination of desolation; nor did he pass by
e corpse as dead, but first of all with entreaties
d prayer he propitiated the Father with the common
nsent οf you all; and taking as his Αlly and Fellow-
rker Him who alone can quicken the dead, he
ised up her that had fallen, having first cleansed and
aled her οf her ills; and he clothed her with a
ent, the old one that she had from the geinning,
but with such a one as he was once more
cted by the divine oracles, which thus clearly
y : ‘Αnd the latter glory of this house shall be
ater than the former.’ 
 “Thus, then, the whole area that he enclosed was
uch larger. 2 The outer enclosure he made strong
 

 
with the surrounding surrounding the whole, so that it might
a most secure defence thereof; while he spread
t a porch, great and raised aloft, towards the rays
the rising sun, and even to those standing far outside
the sacred precincts supplied no scanty view of
at which is within; thus, one might say, turning
he gaze, even of strangers to the faith, towards the
t entrances, so that none might hastily pass by
ithout first haring his soul mightily struck by the
emory of the former desolation and the wondrous
iracle οf to-day; struck by which he hoped that
rchance such a one would also be impelled, and
ve his steps tumed forwards by the bare sight,
wards the entrance. Νow he hath not permitted
im that passeth inside the gates to tread forthwith
ith unhallowed and unwashen feet upon the holy
laces withing; but hath left a space exceeding large
tween the temple and the first entrances, and
orned it au around with four transvers colonnades,
encing the place into a kind of quadrangular figure,
ith pillars raised on every side, and filling the spaces
tween them with wooden barriers οf lattice-work
ising to a convenient height; and in the midst
ereof he hath left an open space where men can
e the sky, thus providing it with air bright and
pen to the rays of light Αnd here he hath placed
of sacred purifications, by erecting fountains
ight opposite the temple, whose copious streams οf
owing water supply cleansing to those who are
vancing within the sacred precincts. Αnd this is
he first stopping-place for those that enter; supply-
g at once adornment and splendour to the whole,
d a place οf sojourn suited to such as are still in
need οf their first instructions. 

 
 “But verily, passing by this spectacle, he hath
own οpen passages to the temple by means of
nermost porches in still greater numbers, once again
der the rays οf the sun placing three gates on οne
de, upon the middle one of which he hath bestowed
height and side that far surpasseth the two on either
ide, and hath singled it out for special adornment
ith bronze fastenings bound with iron and varied
bossed work, making the others a bodyguard, as
were, beneath it as their queen. Αnd after the
e manner he hath also ordered the number of the
rches for the colonnades on either side of the
tire temple; and above them hath derised as well
parate opening into the building to give still further
ght; and for these also he hath wrought a varied
ornment with delicately-carved wood. 
 ‘‘Νow as to the royal house, 1 he hath builded it of
thundant and still richer materials, eagerly desiring
spare no expenses. I deem it superfluous for me to
escribe here the length and breadth of the edifice,
recount in full the brilliant beauty, the magnitude
words can express, and the dazzling appearance οf
e workmanship, yea, and the loftniness that reacheth
eaven, and the costly cedars of Lebanon that are
hced above; the mention of which even the divine
acle doth not pass over in silence, sayinn: ‘The
ees of the Lord shall be glad, even the cedars οf
banon which he hath planted.’ 
 “Why need I now speak more partieularly οf the
perfect widom and art with which the building hath
been ordered, and the surpassing beauty οf every
part, when the witness of the eyes leaveth no plaee
for the instruction that cometh through the ears?
 

 
Νevertheless, having thus completed the temple he
adοrned it with thrones, very lorty, to do honour unto
the Ρresidents, and likewise with benches arranged
in order throughout in a convenient manner; and
after all these he hath plaeed in the midst the holy
of holies even the altar, and again surrounded this
part also, that the multitude might not trea thereon,
with a fence of wooden lattice-work, delicately
wrought with the crartsman’s utmost skill, so as to
present a marvellous Spectaele to those that see it. 
 “Νor did even the pavement, as one might suppose,
escape his care. This also, for example, he hath made
exceeding brilliant with every kind of fair marble;
and then, finally, passing on outside the temple as
well, he hath construeted chambers and building on
either side, very large, the which he hath skilfully
μnited together to the sides ofthe royal house,1 and
These with the openings into the central building.
These also were wrought by our most peaceful
solomon, who builded the temple of God, for those
who still have need of cleansing and sprinkling with
water and the Ηoly spirit, insomuch that the aforesaid
said prophecy 2 is no longer a word only, but is
become a fact. For the latter glory of this house
hath become, and in truth even now is, greater than
the fonner. 
 “For it was meet and right that, as her shepherd
and Lord had suffered οnce for all death on her behalf,
and after the Ρassion had changed the foul body with
which Ηe had clothed Ηinself for her sake into His
splendid and glOrious body, and brought the very
flesh that was dissoleved from corruption into incor-
 

 
ruption, she also likewise should enjoy the fruits of
e dispensations of the sariour. For verily having
eived from Him a promise of much better things
even these, she longeth to receive as her due,
tingly and for the ages that are to come, the much
eater glory of the new birth in the resurrection of
an incorruptible body, in the company of the choir
the angels of light in the kingdoms οf God beyond
e heavens, with Christ Jesus Himself her supreme
nefector and Saviour. But meanwhile in the
ent time she who hath long been a widow and
eserted hath been robed by the grace of God with
ese blossoms, and is become in truth as a lily, as
ith the prophecy; and haring received again the
arb οf a bride and put on the gariand of beauty, she
taught by Isaiah to dance, as it were, presenting
er thank-ofering to the glory of God the King in
words of praise. Let us listen to her as she saith:
Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for he hath clothed
me vith the gannent of salvation and the cloke οf
ladness, he hath put a chaplet upon me as a brideoom,
and hath adomed me mth adomment as a
ride. And as the earth that maketh her flower to
ow, and as the garden causeth the things that are
wn in it to spring forth; so the Lord, the Lord,
ill cause righteeousness and rejoicing to spring forth
efore all the nations.’ 
 “With these words, then, she danceth. But with
hat words the Bridegroom also, even the heavenly
ord, Jesus Christ Ηimself, answereth her, hear the
rd as Ηe saith: ‘Fear not for that thou hast been
ut to shame; neither dread for that thou hast
en put to reproach: for thou shalt forget thy everything
shame, and the reproach of thy widowhood

 
It thou remember no more . . . Not as a wife
aken and rriaInt-hearted hath the Lord called thee,
r as a wife hated from her youth, saith thy God.
or a little time I forsook thee; and with great mercy
will have mercy on thee. In a little wrath I hid
my face from thee, and with everlasting mercy I will
ve mercy οn thee, saith the Lord who delivered
Awake, awake, . . . thou who hast dmnk
e hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; for the cup
staggering, the bowl of fury, thou hast drunk and
it. Αnd there was none to comfort thee
ong all thy sons whom thou hast brought forth;
there was none to take thee by the hand. . . .
hold I have taken out οf thine hand the cup of
gering, the bowl of my fury; and thou shalt no
re it again: and I will put it into the hands
them that did thee wrong and of them that
umbled thee. . . . Αwake, awake, put on strength,
. . put οn thy glory. . . . shake off the dust and
ise sit thce down . . . loose the band from thy
ck. Lift up thine eyes round about and behold
y children gathered together Behold they were
thered together and came to thee. Αs I live,
ith the Lord, thou shalt clothe thee with them all
with an ornament, and gird thyself with them as
ith the ornament of a bride. For thy desolate and
estroyed and ruined places shall now be too strait
reason οf them that inhabit thee, and they that
wallow thee up shall be far away from thee. For
sons whom thou hast lost shall say in thy ears,
the place is too strait for me : give place to me that Ι
ay dwell.’ Αnd thou shalt say in thine heart,
th hegorten me these ? I am children and a
idow, but as for these, who hath brought me them

 
up? I was left alone, but these, where had I
them?’ 
 “These things Isaiah prophesied, these things had
οf οld been recorded concerning us in sacred books;
but it was neeessary that somehow we should come
to learn their truthfulness at some time by facts.
Moreover, since the Brdegroom, even the Word,
thus addresseth Ηis Bride, the sacred and Ηοly
church, fittingly did this paranymph 1 streteh out
your hands in the common prayers of you all, and
awake and raise up her who was desolate, who lay
like a corpse, οf whom men despaired, by the will of
God the universal King and the manifestation οf the
power οf Jesus Christ; and having raised he restored
her to be such as he learnt from the record of the
sacred oracles. 
 “Α mightly wonder truly is this, and surpassing all
amazement, especially in the eyes of such as take
heed only to the appearance of outward things. But
more wonderful than wonders are the archetypes,
the rational prototypes of these things, and their
divine models, 2 I mean the renewal οf the God-given,
spirtual edince in our souls. This edifice the Son of
God Himself created in Ηis own image, and everywhere
and in all things hath bestowed upon it the
divine likeness, an incorruptible nature, an essence
incorporeal, spiritual, a stranger to all earthly matter
and endowed with intelligence of its οwn; once for
all at the first Ηe fonned it into being from that which
was not, and hath made it a holy bride and an allsacred
temple for Himself and the Father. Αnd this
 

 
also Ηe Himself clearly showeth, when Ηe thus
confesseth: ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them;
and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’
Such then, is the perfect and purified soul, thus
begotten from the beginning so as to bear the image
οf the heavenly Word. 
 “But when through the envy and jealousy οf
demon which loveth evil she became of her own free
choice a lover of that which is sensual and evil, and
the Deity departed from her, leaving her bereft οf a
protector, she fell an easy capture and prey to the
snares of those who long had enried her; and, laid
low by the engines and machines of her invisible
enemies and spiritual foes, she fell a tremendous fall,
so that not even one stone upon another of her
virtue remained standing in her; nay, she lay her full
length upon the ground, absolutely dead, altogether
deprived of her inborn thoughts concerning God.
Yea, verily, as she lay fallen there, she who was made
in the image of God, it was not that boar οut of the
wood which we can see that ravaged her, but some
death-dealing demon and spiritual wild beasts, who
also have inflamed her with their passions as with
fiery darts of their οwn wickedness, and have set
the truly divine sanctuary of God on fire, and have
profaned the dwelling-place of Ηis name to the
ground; then they buried the hapless οne in a
great heap οf earth, and brought her to a state bereft
of all hope of salvation. 
 “But her Guardian, the Word, the divinely-bright
and saving one, when she had paid the just penalty
for her sins, once more again rertored her, hearkening
to the living-kindness οf an all-gracious Father.

 
First, then, choosing unto Himself the souls of the
upreme Emperors, by means of these men most
dearly beloved οf God Ηe cleansed the whole world
of all wicked and baneful persons and of the cruel
God-hating tyrants themselves. Αnd then
men that were Ηis disciples, who all their life long
had been consecrated to Ηim, yet secretly concealed,
as in a storm οf evils, by Ηis sheltering care, these
Ηe brought out openly and honoured worthily with
the great gifts οf His Father's bounty. Αnd by their
means Ηe once more purified and cleansed with
pickaxes and mattocks, namely, the penetrating
teachings οf Ηis instruction, those souls which a short
time before had been befouled and overlaid with
every sort οf matter and rubbish contained in impious
decrees; and when Ηe had made bright and
clear the place of the understanding of all of you,
Ηe then for the future consigned it to this all-wise
and God-beloved ruler. Ηe, discerning and
as he is in an else, distinguisheth also and discerneth
the understanding of the souls committed to his
charge ; and from the first day, so to speak, even
unto now he hath never ceased to build, and among
you all to fit into its place, at one time the radiant
gold, at another the approved and purified silver and
the precious and costly stones; so as οnce more to
fulfil in his deeds to you-ward the sacred and mystic
prophecy, in which it hath been said: ‘Βehold I
prepare for thee thy stone οf carbuncle, and thy
foundations of sapphire, and thy battlements οf
jasper, and thy gates οf crystals, and thy wall of
choice stones, and all thy sons taught of God, and in
great peace thy children: and in righteousness shalt
thou be built.' 

 
 “Building verily in righteousness, 1 he duly divided
the whole people according to their several abilities;
with some he fenced the outer enclosure and this
alone, surrounding it with a wall of unerring faith
(and this was the great multitude of the people who
were unable to support a mightier structure); to
others he entrusted the entrances to the house,
setting them to haunt the doors and guide the steps
of those entering, wherefore they have not unnaturally
been reckoned as gateways of the temple;
he supported with the first outer pillars that are
about the quadrangular courtyard, bringing them to
their first acquaintance with the letter of the four
Gospels. Others he joineth closely to the royal
house on either side, still indeed under instruction
and in the stage of progressing and advancing, yet
not far off nor greatly separated from the faithful
who possess the divine vision of that which is innermost.
Taking from the number of these last the
pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by the
divine washing, he then supporteth some of them
with pillars much greater than the outermost, from
the innermost mystic teachings of the Scriptures,
while others he illumineth with apertures towards
the light. The whole temple he adorneth with a
single, mighty gateway, even the praise of the οne
and only God, the universal King; and on either
side of the Father's sovereign power he provideth
the secondary beams of the light of Christ and the
Ηoly Spirit. Αs to the rest, throughout the whole
house he showeth in an abundant and much varied
manner the clearness and splendour of the truth that
is in each one, in that everywhere and from every
source he hath included the living and firmly set and

 
well-wrought stones of men's souls. Thus he
builded the great and royal house composed of all,
bright and full of light both within and without;
for not alone soul and mind, but even their body had
been made glorious with the many-blossomed adornment
οf chastity and sobriety. 
 “Νow there are also in this fane thrones and countless
benches and seats, as manv as are the souls on
which the gifts of the divine Spirit find their restingplace;
such as long ago appeared to the sacred
Apostles and those that were with them, to whom
there were manifested tongues parting asunder, like
as of fire ; and it sat upon each one of them. But
while in the ruler of all, as is right, the entire Christ
hath taken Ηis seat, in those who have the second
place after him [this bounty] is proportioned to each
one's capacity, by gifts of the power of Christ and of
the Ηoly Ghost. Αnd the souls of some might be
the seats even of angels, of of those to whom the instruction
and guarding of each several person hath been
committed. But as to the reverend, mighty and
unique altar, what might it be save the spotless
holy of holies of the common priest of all ? 1 Standing
beside it on the right hand the great High Ρriest of
the universe, even Jesus, the only-begotten of
receiveth with joyful countenance and uptunrned
hands the sweet-smelling incense from all, and
bloodless and immaterial sacrifices offered in prayer,
and sendeth them on their way to the heavenly
Father and God of the universe; Whom He Himself
first adoreth and alone rendereth to His Father the
honour that is due; after which Ηe also beseecheth
 

 
Him to remain favourable and propitious toward us
all for ever. 
 “Such is the great temple which the Word, the
great Creator of the universe, hath builded throughout
the whole world beneath the sun, forming again
this spiritual image upon earth of those vaults beyond
the vaults of heaven; so that by the whole creation
and by the rational, living creatures upon earth His
Father might be honoured and revered. But as for
the region above the heavens and the models there
of things on this earth, and the Jerusalem that is
above, as it is called, and the mount Ζion the
heavenly mount, and the supramundane city of the
living God, in which innumerable hosts of angels in
general assembly and the church οf the firstborn who
are enrolled in heaven honour their Maker and the
Sonereign of the universe, proclaiming Ηis praises in
unutterable words of which we cannot conceive:
these no mortal man can worthily hymn, for in truth
eye saw not, and ear heard not, nor did there enter
into the heart of man those same things which God
prepared for them that love Ηim. Of these things
now in part deemed worthy, let us all together, men
with women and children, small and great, with one
spirit and one soul, never cease to praise and acclaim
Him who is the Αuthor of so great blessings to us ;
who is very merciful to all our iniquities, who healeth
all our diseases, who redeemeth our life from destruction,
who crowneth us with mercy and pities, who
satisfieth our desire with good things; for Ηe hath
not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after

 
our iniquities; for as far as the east is from the west,
far hath Ηe removed οur iniquities from us. Like
a father pitieth his sons, so the Lord pitied them
t fear Him. 
 ‘‘Let us rekindle the memories οf these things
both now and for all time hereafter; yea, and let us
keep our minds night and day, through every
and, one might say, in every breath, the Αuthor
the present assembly, and this happy and most
lorious day, even the Ruler of the assembly Himself; let us cherish and revere Him with the whole
wer οf our soul; and now let us rise and beseech
in loud accents, as befitteth our earnest desire,
at at He would shelter and preserve us to the end in
is fold, and award us that eternal peace, unbroken
undisturbed, which cometh cometh from Him, in Christ
esus our Saviour, through whom to Him be glory for
er and ever. ”

V. But come, let us now quote also the translations
made from the Latin of the imperial ordinances of
nstantine and Licinus. 
 Copy of Imperial Ordinances translated from the Latin tongue.1 
 In our watchfulness in days gone by that freedom
f worship should not be denied, but that each οne
rding to his mind and purpose should have
uthority given him to care for divine things in the
 

 
way that pleased him best, we had given orders that
th to the Christians [and to all others liberty should
allowed]1 to keep to the faith of their οwn sect
d worship. But inasmuch as many and various conitions2
seemed clearly to have been added in that reipt,
in which such rights were conceded to the same
rsons, it may be that perchanee some of them were
ortly afterwards repelled from such observance. 
 “ When I Constantine Αugustus and I Lincinius
gustus had come under happy auspices to Milan,
d discussed all matters that concemed the public
vantage and good, among the other things that
eemed to be of benefit to the many 3—or rather,
first and foremost — we resolved to make sueh decrees
should secure respect and reverenee for the Deity Deity ;
namely, to grant both to the Christians and to all
free choice of following whatever form οf worship
ey pleased, to the intent that all the dirine and
eavenly powers that be might be favourable to us
d all those living under our authority. Therefore
with sound and most upright reasoning we resolved
this 4 counsel : that authority be refused to no οne
homsoever to follow and choose the observanee or
rm of worship that Christians use, and that authority
e granted to each one to give his mind to that form
f worship which he deems sritable to himself, to
e intent that the Dininity 5 . . . may in all things
ord us his wonted care and generosity. It was
omitting to send a rescript that this is οur pleasure, in
er that when those conditions had altogether been
 

 
moved, which were contained in our former letters
nt to thy Devotedness, concerning the Christians,
οse things also which seemed to be wholly unfortute
and foreign to our clemency might be removed,
d that now each one of those who were possessed
the same purpose—namely, to observe
istians’ form οf worship—should
ry thing, freely and simply, without any hindrance.
ich things we have resolved, to signify in the
est manner to thy Carefulness, to the intent that
u mayest know that we have granted to these
e Christians free and unrestricted authority to
erve their own form of worship. Αnd when thou
rceivest that this has been granted unrestrictedly
them by us, thy Devotedness will understand 
at authority has been given to others also, who
h to follow their own observance and form of
rship—a thing clearly suited to the
our times—so that each one may have
choose and observe whatever form he pleases.
is has been done by us, to the intent that we
would not seem to have detraeted in any way from
y rith 2 or form of worship. 
 “Αnd this, moreover, with special regard to the
istians, we resolve: That their places, at which
was their former wont to assemble, coneerning
ich also in the former letter dispatched to thy
evotedness a definite ordinance 3 had been formerly
d down, if any should appear to have bought them
ther from our treasury οr from any οther source —
at these they should restore to these same
ristians without payment οr any demand for compensation.
 

 
Setting aside all negligence and doubtfulness;
and if any chanee to have received them by
girt, that they should restore them them all speed to
these same Christians: prorided that if either those
who have purchased these same place or those who
have received them by gift request aught of our generosity,
let them approach the prefect of the district,1
to the intent that through our Kindness thought may
be taken for them also. Αll which things must be
handed over to the corporation of the Christians by
thy zealous care immediately and without delay. 
 “Αnd inasmuch as these same Christians had not
only those places at whieh it was their wont to
assemble, but also are known to have had Other,
belonging not to indiniduals among them, but to
the lawful property of their corporation, that is, of
the Christians, all these, under the provisions of
the law set forth above, thou wilt give orders to be
restored without any question whatsoever to these
same Christians, that is, to their corporation and
assembly; provided always, of course, a aforesaid,
that those persons who restoie the same without
compensation, as we have mentioned above, may
look for indemnification, as far as they are concerned,
from our generosity. 
 “In all these things thou Shouldest use all the
diligence in thy power for the above-mentioned
corporation of the Christians, that this our command
may be fulfilled with all speed, so that in this
also, through our kindness, thought may be taken
for the common and publie peace. For by this
method, as we have also said before, the divine
 

 
care for us, which we have already experienced in
many matters, will remain stedfast1 . . . continually.
Αnd that the form which this our enactment and
generosity takes may be brought to the knowledge
οf all, it is fitting that this which we have written
be set forth by thy order and published everywhere,
and brought to the knowledge of all, to the intent
that the enactment which embodies this our gnerosity
may escape the notice οf no οne.’’ 
 Copy of another Imperial Ordinance which he also
made, indicating that the bounty had been granted to
the Catholic Church alone. 
 ‘‘Greeting, Anulinus, our most honoured Sir.
It is the custom of οur benevolence, that we will
that whatsoever appertains by right to another
should not only not suffer harm, but even be restored,
most honoured Anulinus. Wherefore we will that,
when thou receivest this lerter, if aught of those
things that belonged to the catholic Church 2 of the
Christians in any city, or even in other plaees, be
now in the possession either of citizens or οf any
οthers: these thou shouldest cause to be restored
forthwith to these same churches, inasmueh as it has
been our determination that those things which
these same churches possessed formerly should be
restored to them as their right. Since, therefore,
thy Devotedness perceives that the order of this
our command is most explicit, do thy diligence that
 

 
all things, whether gardens or buildings or whatsover
belonged to these same churches by right,
restored to them with all speed; so that we may
learn that thou hast yielded the most careful obedience
to this our order. Fare thee well, Anulinus,
οur most honoured and esteemed Sir.” 
 Copy of an Imperial Letter, in which he commands
holding of a Synod of bishops at Rome οn behalf
of the union and concord of the churches. 
 “Constantine Augustus to Miltiades bishop of the
, and to Mark. Inasmuch as documents of
such a nature have been sent to me in numbers by
Anulinus, the right honourable proconsul of Africa,
m which it appears that Caecilian,1 the bishop of the
ity οf the Carthaginians, is called to aecount οn
many charges by some of his colleagues in Africa;
d inasmuch as it seems to me to be a very serious
tter that in those prorinces, which Dinine Pronience
has chosen to entrust to my Denotedness,
and where there is a great number of people, the
ultitude should be found pursring the worse course
f action, splitting up, as it were, and the bishops at
ariance mnong themselves: it seemed good to me
t Caecilian himself, with ten bishops, who seem
call him to account, and such ten others as he
ay deem necessary to his suit, should set sail for
me, that there a hearing may be granted him in
the presence of yourselves, and moreover οf Reticius
d Maternus and Marinus also, your colleagues
aditor, i.e. had surrendered up the Scriptures to the pagan
 

 
(whom I have ordered to hasten to Rome for this
purpose), in such a manner as ye may perceive to
be in accordance vith the most saered law. Nevertheless,
that ye may have the fullest knowledge of
all these same matters, I have subjoined to my letter
copies οf the documents that were sent to me by
Anulinus, and have dispatehed them to your afore
said colleagues. Which when your Firmness reads,
he will gauge by what method the most eareful
investigation can be made of the above-mentioned
suit, and a just deeision arrived at; since it does
not escape the notice of your Carefulness that the
respect which I pay to the lawful Catholic Church
is so great, that it is my wish that ye should leave
no schism whatsoever or division in any plaee. Μay
the divinity of the great God preserve 1 you Safely
for many years, most honoured Sirs.2’’ 
 Copy of an Imperial Letter, in which he gives orders
for the holding of a second Synod for the purpose of
removing all dinision among the bishops. 
 “Constantine Αugustus to Chrestus bishop of the
Syracusans. Already on a former occasion, when
some in a base and perverse manner began to create
divisions with regard to the worship of the holy and
heavenly Ρower and the Catholic religion, in my
desire to cut short such dissensions among them,
I had given orders to the effect that certain bishops
should be sent from Gaul, nay further, that the
opposing parties, who were contending stubbornly
 

 
and persistently together, should be sunnnoned from
Africa; that so, in the presence also of the bishop
of Rome, this question which appeared to have been
raised might through their comming receive a right
solution by means οf a careful examination in every
particular. But since, as it happens, some, forgetful
both of their own salvation and the reverence they
owe to their most holy religion, even now do not
cease to perpetuate their private enmities, being unwilling
to conform to the judgement already passed,
affirming that after all it was a few persons who
gave their opinions and decisions, or that they were
in a hurry psss judgement very speedily and sharply
without having first accurately examined all those
matters that ought to have been investigated;
and since, as a result of all this, it has come to pass
that even those very persons, who ought to be οf οne
mind in brotherly concord, are separate from each
other in a disgraceful, nay rather in an abominable,
fashion, and give to those men whose souls are
strangers to this most holy religion to scoff—wherefore
it became incumbent upon me to provide that
that which ought to have ceased by voluntary agreement,
after the judgement akeady passed, may
even now, if possible, be ended by the presence οf
many persons. Inasmuch, therefore, as we have commanded
that very many bishops from various and
numberless places should assemble at the city of
Arles by the Kalends of Αugust, we have thought it
d to write to thee aho, that thou shouldest procure
m the right honourable Latronianus, the “corrector1”
οf Sicily, a public vehicle, and joining to thy
 

 
company two οthers οf those of the second rank,1
whomsoever thou thyself mayest decide to choose,
and, moreover, taking with you three servants who
shall be able to artend upon you οn the way, do thou
be present at the above-mentioned place by that
same day; so that both by thy Firmness and by
the unanimous wisdom of the others assembled,
this quarrel also (which hitherto, by reason of certain
disgraceful contentions, has maintained a miserable
existence), when all has been heard that will be said
those who are now at variance among themselves,
whom likewise we have commanded to be present,
may, if οnIy tardily, give place to a due state οf
religion and faith and brotherly coneord. May the
ighty God preserve thec in good health for many
years.”

VI. Copy of an Imperial Letter in which grants of
money are made to the churches. 
 “ Constantine Augustus to Caecilian bishop of
Carthage. Forasmuch as it has been our pleasure in
all provinces, namely the African, the Numidian and
the Mauretanian, that somewhat be contributed for
expenses to certrin specified ministers of the lawful
and most holy Catholic religion, I have dispatched a
letter to Ursus, the most distinguished finance
minister οf Africa, and have notified to him that he
be careful to pay οver to thy Firmness three thousand
folles.2 Do thou therefore, when thou shalt secure
delivery of the aforesaid sum of money, give orders
that this money be distributed among all the above-mentioned
persons in accordance with the schedule
 

 
sent to thee by Hosius. But if, after all, thou shalt
find that there is aught lacking for the fulfilment of
this my purpose in respect of them all, thou shouldest
ask without doubting whatsoever thou findest to be
necessary from Heraclides our procurator fiscal. For
indeed when he was here I gave him orders that if
thy Firmness should ask any money from him, he
should be careful to pay it over without any scruple.
Αnd since I have learnt that certain persons of
unstable mind are desirous of turning aside the laity
of the most holy and Catholic Church by some vile
method of seduction, know that I have given such commands
to Anulinus, the proconsul, and moreover to
Patricius, the Vicar of the Prefects,1 when they were
here, that they should give due attention in all other
matters and especially in this, and not suffer such an
occurrence to be overlooked; therefore if thou
observest any such men continuing in this madness,
do not thou hesitate to go to the above-mentioned
judges and bring this matter before them, so that
(as I commanded them when they were here) they
may turn these people from their error. May the
divinity οf the great God preserve thee for many
years.”

VII. Copy of an Imperial Letter, in which he gives
orders that presidents of the chursches be released from
all public offices. 
 ‘‘Greeting, Anulinus, our most honoured Sir.
Since from many facts it appears that the setting at
 

 
naught of divine worship, by which the highest reverence
for the most holy and heavenly [Power] is
preserved, has brought great dangers upon public
affairs, and that its lawful restoration and preservation
have bestowed the greatest good fortune on the
Roman name and singular prosperity on all the affairs
of mankind (for it is the Divine Providence which
bestows these blessings): it has seemed good that
those men who, with due holiness and constant
observance of this law, bestow their services on the
performance of divine worship, should receive the
rewards of their own labours, most honoured Anulinus.
Wherefore it is my wish that those persons who
within the province committed to thee, in the Catholic
Church over which Caecilian presides, bestow their
service on this holy worship—those whom they
accustomed to call clerics—should onee for aIl be kept
absolutely free from all the public offices, that they
be not drawn away by any error or sacrilegious fault
from the worship which they owe to the Divinity, but
rather without any hindrance serve to the utmost
their own law. For when they render supreme service
to the Deity, it seems that they confer incalculable
benefit on the affairs of the State. Fare thee well,
Anulinus, our most honoured and esteemed Sir.’

VIII. Such then were the gifts that the divine and
heavenly grace of our Saviour bestowed upon us by
Ηis appearing, and such was the abundance of good
things that the peace which came to us procured for
all mankind. Αnd thus Our happy state was celebrated
with rejoicings and festive assemblies. Nevertheless

 
theless the envy that hates the good, even the demon
who loves the evil, could not endure the sight οf
hat he beheld; as indeed that which had happened
the above-mentioned tyrants 1 was not
ven for Licinius, to bring him to sound reason.
e who had been deemed worthy οf the princite
in a state οf prosperity, of second rank after
e great Emperor Constantine, of a connexion by
marriage and the most exalted kinship with him,
ed from the following of good men and zealaffected
the evil manners and wickedness
the impious tyrants; and he preferred to follow
e judgement of those whose end he had seen
with his very eyes, rather than continue on terms
friendship and love with his superior. Filled,
fact, with envy of the common benefactor, he
aged an impious and most terrible war against him,
either giving respect to the laws of nature nor bewing
a thought on sworn treaties or ties of blood or
eements. For Constantine, all-gracious Emperor
t he was furnished him with the tokens of genuine
will, did not grudge him kinship with himself,
and did not refuse him the enjoyment of an illustrious
union in the person of his sister. Nay further, he
eemed him worthy to partake of his ancertral
obility and his imperial blood and origin, and bestowed
on him, as a brother-in-law and
the right to a share in the supreme government 2: for
οf his bounty he gave him the ruling and administration
οf no inferior part of the peoples under the Ṛoṃan
ay. But Licinius pursued an exactly opposite line
of conduct: he was daily contriving all kinds of

 
devices against his superior, and inventing all manner
of plans to reward his benefactor with evil. Αt first,
indeed, he attempted to conceal the intrigue, and
feigned friendliness, hoping that frequent recourse
to guile and deceit would most easily secure his
expectationS. But God proved to be Constantine's
Friend and Protector and Guardian, who brought to
light the plots that were devised secretly and in
darkness, and confounded them. such power is
there in the great weapon of godliness to ward off the
enemy and to preserve its own in safety. Fenced
verily with this, our Emperor, most dear to God,
escaped the plots of this ill-famed master of intrigue.
Αnd he, when he saw that his covert design as by
no means going according to his wish (for God disclosed
every guile and wickeness to the Emperor
whom Ηe loved), since he was no longer able to conceal
himself, raised an οpen warfare. Αnd, to be sure,
in his decision to make war at close quarteb upon
Constantine, he was already hastening to battle also
against the God of the universe, whom, as he knew,
Constantine worshipped; and so he designed an
attack, quietly and silently at first upon his godly
subjects, who had never at any time done any harm
at all to his rule. Αnd this he did, because his innate
wickeness had perforee brought upon him terrible
blindness. Thus he neither kept before his eyes the
memory of those who had persecuted Christians
before him, nor of those whom he himself destroyed
and punished for the evil deeds they had pursued.
But he turned aside from the path of sound reason,
and becoming altogether mad, decided to make war
on God Himself, as the Protector of Constantine,
instead of on him who was being protected.
 

 
 First, he drove away every Christian from his
palace; thus by his own aet depriving himself,
wretched man, of the prayeis to God on his behalf, 
which after the eustom of their fathers they are
taught to make for all men. Then he gave orders
that the soldiers in cities were to be singled out and
deprived of honourable rank, unless they chose to
sacrifce to demons. 
 And, moreover, these were but small matters when
judged by comparison with graver measures. What
need is there to mention singly and successively the
things done by this hater of God: how, to wit, this
most lawless οf men invented lawless laws? In fact,
with regard to those who were suffering under imprisonment,
he laid down a law that no one should
treat them humanely by distributing food, or have
pity on those who were perishing of hunger in bonds ;
and that no one should be kindly at all, or do any
kindly action, even When they were moved by mere
natural feeling to sympathize with their neighbours.
Αnd of his laws this one at least was quite openly
shameless and the harshert οf all, in its putting aside
of every civilized, natural feeling, by which also it was
enacted as a punishment that those who showed pity
should suffer the same as those whom they pitied, and
that those who humanely ministered should endure
the same punishment as those who were undergoing
it, and be consigned to bonds and imprisonment.
such were the ordinances of Lincinius. Why should
one recount his innovations with regard to marriage,
οr his revolutionary changes in respect of those who
were departing this life, wherein he dared to annul
the aneient laws of the Romans well and wisely laid
down, and in their stead brought in certain that were

 
reckoning of an evil conscience—but had been
that we did everything and supplicated God
on behalf of the Emperor whom Ηe loved. Hence
he hastened to vent his wrath on us. Αnd in truth
the sycophants among the governors, persuaded that
they were doing what pleased the impious man, plied
some οf the bishops with penalties suitable for malefactors,
and those who had done no wrong were
led away and punished, without a pretext, like
murderers. Αnd some endured at that time a more
novel form of death: their bodies were cut with a
sword into many pieces, and after this cruel and most
fearful sight they were cast into the depths of the
sea as food for fishes. Thereupon the men of God
began again to flee, and οnce more the fields, οnce
more the deserts, glens and mountains received the
servants of Christ. Αnd when the impious man was
thus suceessful in these measures also, he then conceived
the idea of stirring up anew the persecution
against all. Ηe had power to accomplish his purpose,
and there was nothing to hinder him carrying it into
effect, had not God, the Champion of the souls that
are His own, foreseeing with all speed what would
come to pass, caused to shine forth all at once, as
it were οut of deep darkness and most murky night,
a great luminary and sariour of them all, leading
thither with a lofty arm his servant Constantine.
IX. To him, then, as the worthy fruit οf piety did
God vouchsafe from heaven above the trophies of
victory over the wieked men; as for the guilty one,
Ηe laid him low, with all his counscellors and friends,
prone beneath the feet οf Constantine. 
 For when Licinius had carried his madness to the

 
urtennost, the Εmperor, the friend οf God, reckoning
that he was no longer to be endured, summoned his
sound powers of reason, and tempering the stern
qualities of justice with humanity determined to
succour those Who were being evil intreated under
the tyrant's power; and hastened, by putting a few
spoilers out of the way, to reseue the greater part of
the human race. For hitherto, when he employed
humanity alone and showed mercy to him who was
undeserving of sympathy, there was no improvement
in Licinius: he did not give over his wickedness, but
rather increased his mad fury against his subject
peoples; while as for those who were ill-treated, no
hope of salvation was left for them, ground down
as they were by a terrible wild beast. Wherefore,
mingling a hatred of evil with a love of goodness, the
defender of the good went forth, with that most
humane Εmperor, his son Crispus, stretching out the
right hand of salvation to all who were perishing.
Then, inasmuch as they had God the universal King
and son of God, the Saviour of all, as their Ouide and
Αlly, the father and son both together divided their
battle-array against the haters of God on all sides
and easily Won the victory; 1 for everything in the
encounter was made smooth for them by God according
to His purpose. Tea verily, all at once and in
less time than it takes to say it, those Who the other
day were breathing death and threatening were no
more, nor was even so much as their name remembered;
their pictures and honours received a welldeserved
disgrace; and the things that Licinius had
seen with his own eyes happen to the impious tyrants
 

 
of days gone by, these he himself also likewise
suffered; for neither did he receive correction nor
did he learn wisdom from the strokes that fell upon
his neighbours, but pursued the same path of iniquity
as they did, and justly reeled over the same precipice. 
 Thus was licinius cast down prostrate. But Constantine
the most mighty Victor, resplendent with
every virtue that godliness bestows, together with his
son Crispus, an Emperor most dear to God and in all
respects like unto his father, recovered the Εast that
belonged to them, and formed the Roman Εmpire,
as in the days of old, into a single united whole,
bringing under their peaceful rule all of it, from the
rising sun round about in the two directions, north as
well as south, even to the uttermost limits of the
declining day. So then, there was taken away from
men all fear of those who formerly oppressed them;
they celebrated brilliant festivals; all things were
filled with light, and men, formerly downcast, looked
at each other with smiling countenanees and beaming
eyes; with daneing and hymns in city and country
alike they gave honour first of all to God the universal
King, for this they had been instrueted to do, and,
then to the pious Emperor with his sons beloved of
God; old ills were forgotten and oblivion cast on
every deed of impiety; present good things were
enjoyed, with the further hope of those which were
yet for to come. Αnd, in short, there ẁ̀ere promulgated
in every plaee ordinances of the victorious
Emperor full of love for humanity, and las that
betokened munificence and true piety. Thus verily,
when all tyranny had been purged away, the kingdom
that belonged to them was preserved stedfast
and undisputed for Constantine and his sons alone;