John of Damascus, Passion of Saint Artemius

to him, having encamped in the royal houses, and not having rested even for a single day, were brought, as if accused by some command, Eugenius and Macarius, being presbyters of the Church in Antioch; whom the sinner, having taken his seat on the tribunal, commanded to be present, and he says to them: What men are you, and what kind of life and fortune do you happen to have, that you have been brought before our tribunal? Eugenius said: We are Christians, and we happen to be leaders of Christ's flock; this is our life and fortune and pursuit. And the emperor: Where then is the flock of Christ of which you happen to be leaders? And Eugenius: The whole inhabited world, as much as the sun looks upon, and as many men as are upon it. And Julian: Over whom then do we rule and over whom are we king today, O wretched and most unfortunate little man, if Christ possesses as a flock all the earth the sun looks upon? And the martyr: You preside over the same flock and herd, O emperor, of which we also happen to be leaders; for through him kings reign, and rulers hold sway over the earth, and he himself has given you the kingdom today; and if you have appeared ungrateful toward the benefactor, tomorrow he will give it again to someone else. For you are ephemeral, and you now reign over ephemeral things; but he possesses an eternal kingdom, and one that does not yet have an end. 26. And the Transgressor: O impious man and stranger to the goodwill of the gods, Christ, being of yesterday and ephemeral, and having begun from the times of Caesar Augustus, has been ordained by you today as an eternal king? And the martyr: Yes, according to the human and the mystery of his ineffable and unspoken economy, that is to say of his incarnation, so it is, O emperor, since according to his divine and pre-eternal generation no time will be found that is superior to it. And the Transgressor, thinking the martyr of Christ to be some 96.1276 uneducated person, and without a share in Greek wisdom, mocking, said to him: Therefore, O wretched one, has your Christ then been born twice? And if you boast about this, there are also among the Greeks most wise men not only born twice, but even three times; for Hermes, called Trismegistus, came a third time into the world, having recognized himself, as his sacred and marvelous books declare, and for this reason he is named Trismegistus. Likewise also Pythagoras, who came after him, he also came a third time in life; first being an Egyptian ship-captain, then Euphorbus who is mentioned by Homer, and lastly Pythagoras son of Mnesarchus, a Samian. 27. And the martyr, having laughed at the nonsensical talk, or rather the clever sayings of the wise emperor, and the foolish talk of the impious Greeks, and suspecting that the tyrant was attempting to mock the birth of Christ through these words, said to him with much austerity and nobility: It would have been right from the beginning not even to answer you, most lawless one, nor to deem you worthy of any defense whatsoever; but on account of the crowd standing by, because most of them happen to be of Christ's flock, I have said what I have said, and now I will speak briefly, being concerned for their salvation; that the prophets from of old and before many generations foretold Christ, and the testimonies of his coming are many, even from the oracles among you and the Sibylline writings. And the reason for his incarnation was for the salvation and restoration of the fall of mankind; for coming upon the earth, he drove out every disease, and what is more extraordinary, by a word he raised stinking corpses, and what is indeed the most wonderful of all, for the salvation of the world having suffered the passion of the cross, he rose on the third day from the dead before five hundred witnesses, and with soldiers guarding his tomb, so that one wishing to slander his resurrection might have no opportunity;

βασιλείοις οἴκοις κατασκηνώσαντι, καὶ οὐδὲ πρὸς ἡμέραν μίαν ἡσυχάσαντι, προσήχθησαν αὐτῷ ὥσπερ ἀπό τινος παραγγέλματος διαβληθέντες, Εὐγένιος καὶ Μακάριος πρεσβύτεροι τῆς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ Ἐκκλησίας ὑπάρχοντες· οὓς προκαθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, ἐκέλευσε παραστῆναι ὁ ἀλιτήριος, καί φησι πρὸς αὐτούς· Τίνες ἐστὲ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ποίου βίου καὶ τύχης τυγχάνοντες, ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου προσήχθητε βήματος; Εὐγένιος ἔφη· Χριστιανοί ἐσμεν, καὶ τῆς Χριστοῦ ποίμνης ἀγελάρχαι τυγχάνομεν· τοῦτο βίος ἡμῖν καὶ τύχη καὶ ἐπιτήδευμα. Καὶ ὁ βασιλεύς· Οὗ τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποίμνη ἧς ὑμεῖς ἀγελάρχαι τυγχάνετε; Καὶ ὁ Εὐγένιος· Πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη ὅσην ὁ ἥλιος ἐφορᾷ, καὶ ὅσοι ἐπὶ ταύτης εἰσὶν ἄνθρωποι. Καὶ ὁ Ἰουλιανός· Ἡμεῖς δὲ τίνων ἄρχομεν καὶ τίνων σήμερον βασιλεύομεν, ὦ ταλαίπωρον καὶ δυστυχέστατον ἀνθρωπάριον, εἰ ὅσην ὁ ἥλιος ἐφορᾷ γῆν ὁ Χριστὸς ποίμνην κέκτηται; Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς· Τῆς αὐτῆς, ὦ βασιλεῦ, καὶ ποίμνης καὶ ἀγέλης ἐπιστατεῖς, ἧσπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἀγελάρχαι τυγχάνομεν· δι' αὐτοῦ γὰρ βασιλεῖς βασιλεύουσιν, καὶ τύραννοι κρατοῦσι γῆς, καὶ αὐτός σοι τὸ βασίλειον σήμερον δέδωκε· κἂν αὐτὸς ἀχάριστος περὶ τὸν εὐεργέτην ἐφάνης, αὔριον δὲ πάλιν ἄλλῳ τινὶ δώσει. Ἐφήμερος γὰρ εἶ, καὶ ἐφημέρων νῦν βασιλεύεις· αὐτὸς δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν αἰώνιον κέκτηται, καὶ πέρας οὐδέπω λαμβάνουσαν. κϛʹ. Καὶ ὁ Παραβάτης· Ἀνόσιε καὶ τῆς τῶν θεῶν εὐμενείας ἀλλότριε, χθιζὸς ὢν ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ ἐφήμερος, κἀκ τῶν τοῦ Καίσαρος Αὐγούστου χρόνων ἀρξάμενος, αἰώνιος βασιλεὺς ὑπὸ σοῦ κεχειροτόνηται σήμερον; Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς· Ναὶ κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀφράστου καὶ ἀῤῥήτου οἰκονομίας αὐτοῦ μυστήριον, εἶτ' οὖν σαρκώσεως, οὕτως ἔχει, βασιλεῦ, ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὴν θείαν αὐτοῦ καὶ προαιώνιον γέννησιν οὐδεὶς εὑρεθήσεται χρόνος ὁ ταύτης ὑπέρτερος. Καὶ ὁ Παραβάτης νομίσας ἀπαίδευτον εἶναί 96.1276 τινα τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρα, καὶ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς σοφίας ἀμέτοχον, διαχλευάζων ἔφη πρὸς αὐτόν· Οὐκοῦν, ὦ ταλαίπωρε, ὁ Χριστός σου δὶς ἄρα γεγένηται; Καὶ εἰ ἐπὶ τούτῳ κομπάζεις, εἰσὶ καὶ παρ' Ἕλλησιν ἄνδρες σοφώτατοι οὐ μόνον δὶς γεννηθέντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τρίς· ὅ τε γὰρ Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος ἐπικαλούμενος, τρίτον ἦλθεν ἐν κόσμῳ, ἑαυτὸν ἐπιγνοὺς, καθὼς αἱ ἱεραὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ θαυμάσιαι βίβλοι διαγορεύουσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο Τρισμέγιστος ὀνομάζεται. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόρας ὁ τούτου μεταγενέστερος, καὶ αὐτὸς τρίτον ἦλθεν ἐν βίῳ· πρότερον μὲν Αἰγύπτιος γεγονὼς ναύκληρος, ἔπειτα δ' Εὔφορβος ὁ ὑφ' Ὁμήρου μνημονευόμενος, ἔσχατον δὲ Πυθαγόρας Μνησάρχου υἱὸς, Σάμιος. κζʹ. Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς καταγελάσας τῶν ληρημάτων, μᾶλλον δὲ κομψευμάτων τοῦ σοφοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἀσεβῶν Ἑλλήνων μωρολογίας, ὑπονοήσας δὲ τὸν τύραννον τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ γέννησιν διὰ τουτωνὶ τῶν ῥημάτων χλευάζειν πειρώμενον, ἔφη πρὸς αὐτὸν μετὰ πολλῆς αὐστηρίας καὶ γενναιότητος Ἔδει τὴν ἀρχὴν μηδὲ ἀποκρίνασθαί σοι, παρανομώτατε, μηδὲ τῆς οἱασοῦν ἀπολογίας καταξιῶσαί σε· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν παρεστῶτα ὄχλον, ὅτι τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποίμνης οἱ πλείονες αὐτῶν τυγχάνουσιν, εἶπον ὅσαπερ εἶπον, καὶ νῦν ἐπ' ὀλίγον ἐρῶ, τῆς αὐτῶν κηδόμενος σωτηρίας· ὅτι τὸν Χριστὸν ἄνωθεν καὶ πρὸ πολλῶν γενεῶν οἱ προφῆται προκατήγγειλαν, καὶ πολλὰ τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ τὰ μαρτύρια κἀκ τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν χρησμῶν καὶ τῶν Σιβυλλείων γραμμάτων. Καὶ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως αὐτοῦ ἡ αἰτία ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ καὶ ἀνακλήσει τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐκπτώσεως γέγονεν· ἐλθὼν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, πᾶσαν νόσον ἀπήλασε, καὶ τὸ παραδοξότερον καὶ ῥήματι νεκροὺς ἤγειρεν ὀδωδότας, καὶ τὸ δὴ πάντων θαυμασιώτερον, ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου σωτηρίας παθὼν τὸ διὰ σταυροῦ πάθος, ἀνέστη τριήμερος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν ὑπὸ μάρτυσι πεντακοσίοις, καὶ στρατιωτῶν φρουρούντων αὐτοῦ τὸν τάφον, ἵνα μὴ σχῇ χώραν ὁ τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτοῦ συκοφαντῆσαι βουλόμενος·