John of Damascus, Passion of Saint Artemius

has brought. But I will read the oracle to you again, even if you do not wish it; for it goes thus: Tell the king: the cunningly wrought hall has fallen to the ground; No longer does Phoebus have his hut, nor his prophetic laurel; nor his speaking spring, the babbling water has also been quenched. λϛʹ. When Julian heard these things from the martyr, he was utterly astounded, and his anger was stirred up the more, like a flame of fire being fanned and some matter from beneath feeding it, he shouted loudly and piercingly: Who and from where is this sinner, who has thundered such a long speech at us from the tribunal? The official staff said: He is the Dux of Alexandria, O master. And the emperor: Arte 96.1285 mius, he said, the sinner who mixed a bitter death for my brother? Yes, he says, most mighty of emperors, it is he. And Julian: I owe thanks to the immortal gods and to laurel-crowned Apollo, because they have revealed the villain to me as a deserter and a volunteer; and he says: Let the all-defiled one be stripped of his rank, and let his belt be taken away, as a penalty for the things he has just dared; but for the slaughter of my brother and for his blood, tomorrow, gods willing, I will bring judgment upon him; for I will not destroy him with one death, but with countless deaths and as many as murderers are liable to; for he shed the blood not of a common man, but of an emperor, and that though he had suffered no injustice from him. λζʹ. When the emperor Julian had spoken these things, the saint is seized by the guards, and having been stripped of his belt along with his rank, he stood naked on the tribunal and was handed over to the hands of the executioners; and they, having tied ropes to his hands and feet, stretch him out from four points, and struck both the stomach and the back of the martyr with ox-sinews to such an extent, that he changed four sets of torturers. And it was possible to see a strange and not human endurance; for no groan, no cry, no outcry, nor anything else of all the things which men suffering under torture experience, was sent forth from him; but he appeared unyielding and unchanged in his countenance. The ground was filled with blood, and the martyr was recognized as if another were suffering; so that all who stood by marvelled, and even the avenger Julian himself was amazed at the strange sight. And he orders him, having been released, to be led away to the prison with the rest of the saints, to consider how and in what manner and by what death he would make the martyrs disappear from this present life. ληʹ. The martyrs of Christ, therefore, being led away to the prison, were singing: You have tried us, O God, you have refined us as silver is refined; you have brought us into the snare; you have laid afflictions on our back, you have caused men to ride over our heads; it remains therefore for us to pass through fire and water, that you may lead us into a place of refreshment. And when the prayer was finished, the great Artemius said to himself: For behold, the marks of Christ have been branded on your body; it remains therefore that you also give up your soul with the rest of your blood; and remembering that prophetic saying he said: Behold I have given my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows; but what more have you, the unworthy one, endured than my Master? He too was torn by scourges; his face received blows and slaps, and he endured punches over his whole body, he wore a crown of thorns, 96.1288 and with his hands tied behind his back, he was nailed naked to the cross for my sin and transgression, he who knew no sin, nor worked deceit in his mouth. Many, therefore, are the sufferings of my Master; I, the wretched one, am far from his long-suffering and forbearance; I rejoice therefore and exult, being made bright by the sufferings of my Master. The imitation of his passion lightens my pain;

κεκόμικεν. Ἐγὼ δέ σοι καὶ τὸν χρησμὸν, κἂν μὴ βούλῃ, ἐπαναγνώσομαι· ἔχει γὰρ οὕτως· Εἴπατε τῷ βασιλεῖ· Χαμαὶ πέσε δαίδαλος αὐλά· Οὐκέτι Φοῖβος ἔχει καλύβαν, οὐ μάντιδα δάφνην; Οὐ παγὰν λαλέουσαν, ἀπέσβετο καὶ λάλον ὕδωρ. λϛʹ. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Ἰουλιανὸς παρὰ τοῦ μάρτυρος, ἔκθαμβος ὅλως ἐγένετο, καὶ τὸν θυμὸν μᾶλλον ἐγείρας ὡσεὶ φλόγα πυρὸς ἀναῤῥιπιζομένης καὶ κάτωθεν ὕλης τινὸς ὑποστρεφούσης αὐτὴν, μέγα τε καὶ διαπρύσιον ἀνεβόησεν· Τίς πόθεν οὗτος ὁ ἀλιτήριος, ὁ τοσαύτην ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος καταβομβήσας δημηγορίαν; Ἡ τάξις ἔφη· Ὁ δούξ ἐστιν Ἀλεξανδρείας, ὦ δέσποτα. Καὶ ὁ βασιλεύς· Ἀρτέ 96.1285 μιος, εἶπεν, ὁ ἀλιτήριος ὁ τῷ ἐμῷ ἀδελφῷ θάνατον πικρὸν κερασάμενος; Ναὶ, φησὶ, κράτιστε βασιλέων, αὐτός ἐστι. Καὶ Ἰουλιανός· Χάριν ἐποφείλω τοῖς ἀθανάτοις θεοῖς καὶ τῷ δαφναίῳ Ἀπόλλωνι, ὅτι μοι τὸν ἀλάστορα αὐτόμολον καὶ αὐτεπάγγελτον ἐφανέρωσαν· καί φησιν· Ἀποζωσθήτω τοῦ ἀξιώματος ὁ παμμίαρος, καὶ τὴν ζώνην ἀφαιρεθήτω, δίκην τῶν ἀρτίως αὐτῷ τολμηθέντων· ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς σφαγῆς τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφοῦ καὶ τοῦ αἵματος, αὔριον αὐτῷ θεῶν βουλομένων προσοίσω τὴν δίκην· οὐ γὰρ ἑνί γε αὐτὸν ἐξαναλώσω θανάτῳ, ἀλλὰ μυρίοις καὶ ὅσοις οἱ ἀνδροφόνοι ὑπόχρεοι καθεστήκασιν· οὐ γὰρ κοινοῦ γε ἀνδρὸς, ἀλλὰ βασιλέως αἷμα ἐξέχεεν, καὶ ταῦτα μηδὲν πρὸς αὐτοῦ πεπονθὼς ἄδικον. λζʹ. Ταῦτα τοῦ βασιλέως Ἰουλιανοῦ δημηγορήσαντος, ἀνάρπαστος ὑπὸ τῶν δορυφόρων ὁ ἅγιος γίνεται, καὶ τῆς ζώνης μετὰ τοῦ ἀξιώματος ἀφαιρεθεὶς, γυμνὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἵστατο καὶ τῶν δημίων ταῖς χερσὶ παρεδίδοτο· οἱ δὲ, σχοίνους τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ καὶ ποδῶν ἐξαψάμενοι, διατείνουσιν ἐκ τεσσάρων, καὶ τήν τε γαστέρα καὶ τὸν νῶτον τοῦ μάρτυρος τοῖς βουνεύροις ἔτυπτον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, ὥστε ἀλλάξαι αὐτὸν ζυγὰς τέσσαρας. Καὶ ἦν ἰδεῖν ξένην τινὰ καὶ οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην ὑπομονήν· οὐ γὰρ στεναγμὸς, οὐ φωνὴ, οὐ σκυλμὸς, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν ὅσα πάσχουσιν ἄνθρωποι βασάνοις ἐξεταζόμενοι, παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀνεπέμπετο· ἀλλ' ἄτρεπτός τις καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος τῷ προσώπῳ κατεφαίνετο. Ἡ γῆ δὲ τοῦ αἵματος ἐπεπλήρωτο, καὶ ὁ μάρτυς ὡς ἄλλου πάσχοντος ἐγνωρίζετο· ὥστε θαυμάσαι πάντας τοὺς παρεστῶτας, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀλάστορα Ἰουλιανὸν ἐκπλαγῆναι ἐπὶ τῷ ξένῳ θεάματι. Καὶ κελεύει αὐτὸν ἀνεθέντα ἐπὶ τὴν φυλακὴν ἀπαχθῆναι μετὰ τῶν λοιπῶν ἁγίων, σκεψόμενος πῶς καὶ τίνι τρόπῳ καὶ ποίῳ θανάτῳ τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς ἐξαφανίσει τοὺς μάρτυρας. ληʹ. Οἱ μὲν οὖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρες ἐπὶ τὴν φυλακὴν ἀπαγόμενοι ἔψαλλον· Ἐδοκίμασας, ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπύρωσας ἡμᾶς ὡς πυροῦται τὸ ἀργύριον· εἰσήγαγες ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν παγίδα; ἔθου θλίψεις ἐπὶ τὸν νῶτον ἡμῶν, ἐπεβίβασας ἀνθρώπους ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς ἡμῶν· λείπει οὖν τὸ διελθεῖν ἡμᾶς διὰ πυρός τε καὶ ὕδατος, ὅπως εἰς ἀναψυχὴν ἀγάγῃς ἡμᾶς. Καὶ τῆς εὐχῆς πληρωθείσης, ἔλεγε πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ μέγας Ἀρτέμιος· Ἰδοὺ γὰρ τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῷ σώματί σου κεχάρακται· λείπει οὖν ἵνα καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν προσαποδῷς μετὰ τοῦ ἐπιλοίπου σου αἵματος· καὶ τὸ προφητικὸν ἐκεῖνο λόγιον ἐνθυμούμενος ἔλεγεν· Ἰδοὺ δέδωκα τὸν νῶτόν μου εἰς μάστιγας, καὶ τὰς σιαγόνας μου εἰς ῥαπίσματα· ἀλλὰ τί περισσότερον τοῦ ἐμοῦ ∆εσπότου ὑπήνεγκας ὁ ἀνάξιος; Κἀκεῖνος κατεξάνθη ταῖς μάστιξι· κἀκείνου τὸ πρόσωπον ῥαπίσματα κατεδέξατο καὶ κολαφίσματα, καὶ πυγμὰς ὑπέστη δι' ὅλου τοῦ σώματος, ἀκάνθινον ἐφόρεσε στέφανον, 96.1288 καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ὀπίσω δεθεὶς, γυμνὸς ἐπὶ τὸν σταυρὸν προσεπάγη διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν ἁμαρτίαν τε καὶ παράβασιν, ὁ μὴ γνοὺς ἁμαρτίαν, μηδὲ δόλον ἐν στόματι ἐργασάμενος. Πολλὰ τοιγαροῦν τὰ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ∆εσπότου παθήματα· μακρὰν εἰμὶ τῆς ἐκείνου μακροθυμίας καὶ ἀνοχῆς ὁ ταλαίπωρος· χαίρω τοίνυν καὶ ἀγαλλιῶ τοῖς τοῦ ∆εσπότου μου παθήμασι λαμπρυνόμενος. Κουφίζει μου τὸν πόνον ἡ μίμησις τοῦ πάθους·