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and rest? For he that is entered into that rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

4. And so much for death; come now, then, let us proceed to the encomium of the

martyrs, if you are not weary of listening. For indeed these things also took their theme from the encomium of the martyrs; but it is necessary to take the discourse a little further back. A harsh war was once kindled against the Church, the most grievous of all wars. For this war was twofold: one from within, and one from without; one from her own people, and one from her enemies; one from strangers, and one from acquaintances. And yet if the war were simple, the evil would have been unbearable, and if it attacked only from without, the magnitude of the terrors would have been great. But now this was twofold, and the war from her own people was harsher than that from without. For it is possible to guard easily against an acknowledged enemy; but one who has the mask of a friend, but acts as an enemy, is difficult for the plotted-against to capture. Therefore the war at that time was twofold, one a civil war, the other advancing from without; or rather, if one must speak the truth, each war was a civil war.

For indeed the judges and rulers and soldiers attacking from without were not some foreigners, and barbarians, and of another dominion and kingdom, but were governed by the same laws, inhabiting the same fatherland, partaking of the same commonwealth. Therefore, the one from the judges was a civil war, but the harsher one was from relatives, new and strange and full of much cruelty. For brothers betrayed brothers, and fathers 50.635 children, and husbands wives, and all the rights of kinship were trampled underfoot, and the whole world was in an uproar, and no one then recognized anyone else. For the devil prevailed with great excess. In that tumult and war, therefore, these women, if indeed one must call them women; for in a woman's body they showed the courage of men, or rather they showed not only the courage of men, but they even surpassed nature itself, and set up a contest against the incorporeal powers. These women, therefore, leaving city and house and relatives, departed to a foreign land. For when, she says, Christ is dishonored, let nothing be precious or necessary to us. For this reason, leaving all things, they went out. And just as when a house is set on fire in the middle of the night, those sleeping inside, when they perceive the commotion, quickly leaping from bed, jump out of the doorways of the house, taking nothing from inside; for they are zealous for one thing only, how to snatch their own body from the flame, and to escape the course of the fire as it comes on with great speed; so indeed did these women also do. For seeing the whole world being set on fire, they immediately leaped out, and darted out from the gateways of the city, seeking one thing only, to preserve the salvation of their own soul in every way. For then there was a harsh conflagration and deep darkness prevailed, a darkness gloomier than this of the night. and for this reason, as if in darkness, friends did not know friends, and husbands betrayed wives. For this reason they ran past their enemies, but clashed with their friends and their own people, and there was a certain harsh night-battle, and affairs were full of great tumult.

Then, therefore, these women went out, having left their fatherland, and having emulated the patriarch Abraham, to whom it was said: Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred. For indeed to these women also the time of persecution advised these things, to go out from the land and from their kindred, so that they might inherit heaven. The woman, therefore, went out from the house, having two daughters with her. But do not pass by simply

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καὶ ἀνάπαυσιν; ὁ γὰρ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσιν ἐκείνην, κατέπαυσεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων ὁ Θεός.

δʹ. Καὶ περὶ μὲν τοῦ θανάτου τοσαῦτα· φέρε δὴ λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἐγκώμιον τῶν

μαρτύρων ἴωμεν, εἰ μὴ ἀπεκάμετε πρὸς τὴν ἀκρόασιν· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταῦτα ἀπὸ τοῦ τῶν μαρτύρων ἐγκωμίου τὴν ὑπόθεσιν ἔλαβε· μικρὸν δὲ ἀνωτέρω τὸν λόγον ἀγαγεῖν ἀναγκαῖον. Πόλεμος ἀνεῤῥιπίσθη ποτὲ κατὰ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας χαλεπὸς, πολέμων ἁπάντων βαρύτατος· διπλοῦς γὰρ οὗτος ὁ πόλεμος ἦν· ὁ μὲν ἔσωθεν, ὁ δὲ ἔξωθεν· ὁ μὲν παρὰ τῶν οἰκείων, ὁ δὲ παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων· ὁ μὲν παρὰ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, ὁ δὲ παρὰ τῶν γνωρίμων. Καίτοι εἰ καὶ ἁπλοῦς ὁ πόλεμος ἦν, ἀφόρητον ὑπῆρχε τὸ κακὸν, καὶ εἰ ἔξωθεν προσέβαλλε μόνον, μέγα τῶν δεινῶν τὸ μέγεθος ἦν· νυνὶ δὲ διπλοῦς ἦν οὗτος, καὶ τοῦ παρὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν ὁ παρὰ τῶν οἰκείων χαλεπώτερος. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ὡμολογημένον ἐχθρὸν ῥᾳδίως φυλάττεσθαι δυνατόν· ὁ δὲ φίλου μὲν ἔχων προσωπεῖον, τὰ δὲ ἐχθρῶν διατιθεὶς, δυσάλωτος τοῖς ἐπιβουλευομένοις ἐστί. ∆ιπλοῦς τοίνυν τότε ὁ πόλεμος ἦν, ὁ μὲν ἐμφύλιος, ὁ δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπιών· μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ χρὴ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, ἑκάτερος ὁ πόλεμος ἐμφύλιος ἦν.

Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ἔξωθεν προσβάλλοντες δικασταὶ καὶ ἄρχοντες καὶ στρατιῶται οὐκ ἀλλόφυλοί τινες ἦσαν, καὶ βάρβαροι, καὶ ἄλλης ἀρχῆς καὶ βασιλείας, ἀλλὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς διοικούμενοι νόμοις, τὴν αὐτὴν πατρίδα οἰκοῦντες, τῆς αὐτῆς μετέχοντες πολιτείας. Ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐμφύλιος ἦν ὁ παρὰ τῶν δικαστῶν, ὁ δὲ χαλεπώτερος ὁ παρὰ τῶν συγγενῶν, ὁ καινὸς καὶ παράλογος καὶ πολλῆς γέμων ὠμότητος. Καὶ γὰρ ἀδελφοὺς ἀδελφοὶ παρεδίδοσαν, καὶ πατέρες 50.635 τέκνα, καὶ ἄνδρες γυναῖκας, καὶ πάντα τὰ τῆς συγγενείας ἐπατεῖτο δίκαια, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη ἀνάστατος ἦν, καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐδένα τότε ἐπεγίνωσκεν· ἐκράτει γὰρ ὁ διάβολος μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς ὑπερβολῆς. Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τοίνυν τῷ θορύβῳ καὶ τῷ πολέμῳ αἱ γυναῖκες αὗται, εἴ γε γυναῖκας αὐτὰς χρὴ καλεῖν· καὶ γὰρ ἐν γυναικείῳ σώματι ἀνδρῶν ἐπεδείξαντο φρόνημα, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἀνδρῶν ἐπεδείξαντο φρόνημα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴν ὑπερέβησαν τὴν φύσιν, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀσωμάτους δυνάμεις τὴν ἅμιλλαν ἔθεντο· αὗται τοίνυν αἱ γυναῖκες ἀφεῖσαι πόλιν καὶ οἰκίαν καὶ συγγενεῖς πρὸς τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν μετετάξαντο. Ὅταν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Χριστὸς ἀτιμάζηται, μηδὲν ἡμῖν ἔστω τίμιον μηδὲ ἀναγκαῖον· διὰ τοῦτο πάντα ἀφεῖσαι ἐξῆλθον. Καὶ καθάπερ οἰκίας ἐν μέσῃ νυκτὶ πυρπολουμένης, οἱ καθεύδοντες ἔνδον, ἐπειδὰν αἴσθωνται τοῦ θορύβου, ταχέως ἐξαλλόμενοι τῆς κλίνης ἐκπηδῶσι τῶν προθύρων τῆς οἰκίας, οὐδὲν τῶν ἔνδον λαβόντες· ἓν γὰρ μόνον σπουδάζουσιν, ὅπως τὸ σῶμα τὸ ἑαυτῶν προεξαρπάσωσι τῆς φλογὸς, καὶ τὸν τοῦ πυρὸς φθάσωσι δρόμον μετὰ πολλῆς ἐπιόντα τῆς ταχύτητος· οὕτω δὴ καὶ αὗται ἐποίησαν. Ἰδοῦσαι γὰρ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ἐμπυριζομένην, εὐθέως ἐξεπήδησαν, καὶ ἐξήλαντο τῶν προθύρων τῆς πόλεως, ἓν μόνον ζητοῦσαι, τὴν σωτηρίαν τῆς ἑαυτῶν ψυχῆς παντὶ τρόπῳ διαφυλάξαι. Καὶ γὰρ ἐμπρησμὸς τότε χαλεπὸς ἦν καὶ σκότος ἐκράτει βαθὺ, σκότος τοῦ νυκτερινοῦ τούτου ζοφωδέστερον· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο καθάπερ ἐν σκότῳ τοὺς φίλους ἠγνόουν οἱ φίλοι, καὶ ἄνδρες παρεδίδοσαν γυναῖκας· διὰ τοῦτο τοὺς μὲν ἐχθροὺς παρέτρεχον, τοῖς δὲ φίλοις καὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις προσεῤῥήγνυντο, καὶ νυκτομαχία τις ἦν χαλεπὴ, καὶ πολλοῦ θορύβου τὰ πράγματα ἔγεμε.

Τότε τοίνυν ἐξῆλθον αὗται τὴν πατρίδα ἀφεῖσαι, καὶ τὸν πατριάρχην ζηλώσασαι τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, πρὸς ὃν εἴρητο· Ἔξελθε ἐκ τῆς γῆς σου, καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας σου. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ταύταις ὁ τοῦ διωγμοῦ καιρὸς ταῦτα παρῄνει, ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐκ τῆς συγγενείας, ὥστε κληρονομῆσαι τὸν οὐρανόν. Ἐξῄει τοίνυν ἐκ τῆς οἰκίας ἡ γυνὴ δύο μεθ' ἑαυτῆς ἔχουσα θυγατέρας. Σὺ δὲ μὴ παραδράμῃς ἁπλῶς