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The equal honor with my superiors alleviates my pain. For I too, through him, became a son of God through baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I will become so even more through the resurrection from the dead; I thank you, Master, that you have crowned me with your sufferings; but, O lover of mankind, and compassionate, and provider for your servants, bring my race to completion in confession of you, and do not judge me unworthy of this undertaking, because of the sins that have befallen me in this life; for I, O Master, have cast myself upon your mercies. 39. And having prayed these things to himself, he arrived at the prison with the holy martyrs Eugenius and Macarius, and they were handed over to the jailer; and the martyr of Christ was with the holy prize-winners Eugenius and Macarius, glorifying and giving thanks to God. And when morning came, the Transgressor again ordered the martyrs to stand before the tribunal, and deeming them worthy of no questioning, but only commanding that the great Artemius be separated from their company, he decreed exile against them, and sends them to Oasis of Arabia. Now there are two places so called, the Lesser Oasis and the Greater; and the places are pestilential, and blown upon by pestilential winds, and no one of those who go there has lasted for even a single year, but being seized there by grievous diseases, they die. There, therefore, having confined the saints Eugenius and Macarius, he ordered the heads of the saints to be cut off in that very place; who also were perfected after forty days, on the twentieth of the month of December. And in the place of their perfection, a great miracle happened; for since the place had no water at all, a spring of water gushed forth, driving away every disease, which also remains until today, preserving the name of the saints. 40. And having summoned the holy Artemius, he said to him: Because of your insolence you have compelled me to dishonor your lineage, and to insult the distinction that belongs to you, and to lay hands on your very flesh. Be persuaded by me, therefore, Artemius, and come and sacrifice to the gods, especially to Apollo of Daphne, my thrice-desired and all-admired god, and I release you from the charge of my brother’s blood, and I will restore to you a greater and more glorious rank; for having appointed you praetorian prefect and high priest of the great gods, I will call you my father, and second in my kingdom, and you shall be with us for all the time of our life and reign. For you yourself know, O Artemius, that my brother was killed unjustly by Constantius, and that envy destroyed him, and the most unholy of all men, the eunuch Eusebius, who wickedly assumed the rank of praepositus, even if the all-wicked one has not paid a sufficient penalty for his unholy deed. 41. And that the empire is more fittingly due to our family; for my father Constantius was born to my grandfather Constantius from Theodora, the daughter of Maximian. But Constantine was born to him from Helena, some common woman and no different from a prostitute; and this when he had not yet become Caesar, but was still in the station of a private citizen. Constantine, therefore, with boldness of mind seized the empire, and unjustly killed my father and both of his brothers; and his son Constantius, imitating his own father, has killed my brother, and this despite having sworn most dreadful oaths to him. And as for us, had we not been saved by the providence of the gods, he wished to do the same to us; but the gods prevented it, revealing my salvation to me in a vision, in whom I, trusting, the 96.1289

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ἐλαφρύνει μου τὴν ἀλγηδόνα ἡ ὁμοτιμία τῶν κρειττόνων. Κἀγὼ γὰρ δι' αὐτὸν υἱὸς Θεοῦ ἐγενόμην διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος καὶ τῆς δωρεᾶς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καὶ ἔτι μᾶλλον γενήσομαι διὰ τῆς ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάσεως· εὐχαριστῶ σοι, ∆έσποτα, ὅτι τοῖς σοῖς με πάθεσιν ἐστεφάνωσας· ἀλλὰ, φιλάνθρωπε, καὶ φιλοικτίρμων, καὶ τῶν σῶν δούλων προνοητὰ, τελείωσόν μου τὸν δρόμον ἐν τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ σου, καὶ μή με ἀνάξιον κρίνῃς τοῦδε τοῦ ἐγχειρήματος, διὰ τὰς ἐν τῷδε τῷ βίῳ προσγενομένας μοι ἁμαρτίας· ἐγὼ γὰρ, ∆έσποτα, εἰς τοὺς σοὺς ἐμαυτὸν ἀπέῤῥιψα οἰκτιρμούς. λθʹ. Καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς ἑαυτὸν εὐξάμενος, ἔφθασεν ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων Εὐγενίου καὶ Μακαρίου, καὶ παρεδόθησαν τῷ δεσμοφύλακι· καὶ ἦν ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυς μετὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀθλοφόρων Εὐγενίου καὶ Μακαρίου, δοξολογῶν καὶ εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ. Πρωΐας δὲ γενομένης, κελεύει πάλιν ὁ Παραβάτης τοὺς μάρτυρας στῆναι ἐπὶ τὸ δικαστήριον, καὶ μηδεμιᾶς καταξιώσας αὐτοὺς ἐρωτήσεως, ἢ μόνον τὸν μέγαν Ἀρτέμιον διαχωρισθῆναι τῆς αὐτῶν συζυγίας παρακελευσάμενος, ἐξορίαν κατ' αὐτῶν ψηφίζεται, καὶ πέμπει αὐτοὺς ἐν Ὀάσει τῆς Ἀραβίας. ∆ύο δὲ εἰσὶ χωρία οὕτω καλούμενα, Ὄασις μικρὰ καὶ μεγάλη· φθοροποιὰ δὲ τὰ χωρία, καὶ ὑπὸ φθοροποιῶν ἀέρων καταπνεόμενα, καὶ οὐδεὶς τῶν ἐκεῖσε ἀπερχομένων, ἐνιαυτὸν ἕνα καὶ μόνον διήρκεσεν, ἀλλ' αὐτόθι ὑπὸ χαλεπῶν ἁλισκόμενοι νοσημάτων ἐναποθνήσκουσιν. Ἐκεῖ τοίνυν τοὺς ἁγίους περιορίσας Εὐγένιον καὶ Μακάριον, ἐν αὐτῇ τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν ἁγίων ἀποτμηθῆναι ἐκέλευσεν· οἳ καὶ ἐτελειώθησαν μετὰ τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας, τῇ εἰκάδι τοῦ ∆εκεμβρίου μηνός. Ἐν δὲ τῷ τόπῳ τῆς αὐτῶν τελειώσεως, θαῦμα γέγονε μέγα· μὴ ἔχοντος γὰρ τοῦ τόπου ὕδωρ τὸ σύνολον, πηγὴ ἀνέβλυσεν ὕδατος, πᾶσαν ἀποδιώκουσα νόσον, ἢ καὶ μέχρι τῆς σήμερον μένει, τῶν ἁγίων σώζουσα τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν. μʹ. Τὸν δὲ ἅγιον Ἀρτέμιον προσκαλεσάμενος ἔφη πρὸς αὐτόν· ∆ιὰ τὴν προπέτειάν σου κατηνάγκασας με ἀτιμάσαι τὸ γένος σου, καὶ τὴν προσοῦσάν σοι περιφάνειαν ἐνυβρίσαι, καὶ αὐτῶν ἐφάψασθαι τῶν σαρκῶν σου. Πείσθητι οὖν μοι, Ἀρτέμιε, καὶ προσελθὼν θῦσον τοῖς θεοῖς, μάλιστα τῷ ∆αφναίῳ Ἀπόλλωνι τῷ ἐμοὶ τριποθήτῳ καὶ παναγάστῳ θεῷ, καὶ τῆς αἰτίας τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφοῦ ἀπολύω σε, τήν τε ἀξίαν μείζονα καὶ ἐνδοξοτέραν ἐπαναθήσω σοι· ἔπαρχον γὰρ πραιτωρίων σε καταστήσας καὶ ἀρχιερέα τῶν μεγάλων θεῶν, πατέρα ἐμὸν ὀνομάσω, καὶ τῆς ἐμῆς βασιλείας τὰ δεύτερα φέροντα, καὶ ἔσῃ μεθ' ἡμῶν πάντα τὸν χρόνον τῆς ἡμετέρας ζωῆς τε καὶ διαγωγῆς. Οἶδας γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς, ὦ Ἀρτέμιε, ὡς ὁ ἐμὸς ἀδελφὸς μάτην παρὰ Κωνσταντίου πεφό 96.1289 νευται, καὶ ὡς φθόνος αὐτὸν κατειργάσατο, καὶ ὁ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀνοσιώτατος ὁ εὐνοῦχος Εὐσέβιος, ὁ τὴν τοῦ πραιποσίτου ἀξίαν κακῶς ἐνδυσάμενος, κἂν οὐκ ἀρκοῦσαν δέδωκε τὴν δίκην τοῦ ἀνοσιουργήματος ὁ παμπόνηρος. μαʹ. Καὶ ὅτι τῆς ἡμετέρας γενεᾶς ἐστι μᾶλλον ἡ βασιλεία ἁρμόδιος· ὁ γὰρ ἐμὸς πατὴρ Κωνστάντιος ἐκ τῆς Μαξιμιανοῦ θυγατρὸς Θεοδώρας γεγένηται τῷ ἐμῷ πάππῳ Κώνσταντι. Ὁ δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος ἐξ Ἑλένης αὐτῷ γέγονε φαύλης τινὸς γυναικὸς καὶ τῶν χαμαιτύπων οὐδὲν διαφερούσης· καὶ ταῦτα μήπω γεγονότι Καίσαρι, ἀλλ' ἐν ἰδιώτου τυγχάνοντι σχήματι. Ὁ τοίνυν Κωνσταντῖνος θρασύτητι γνώμης τὴν βασιλείαν ἀφήρπασε, καὶ τὸν ἐμὸν πατέρα καὶ τοὺς τούτου ἀδελφοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἀδίκως ἀπέκτεινε· καὶ ὁ τούτου υἱὸς Κωνστάντιος, τὸν αὐτοῦ πατέρα μιμησάμενος, τὸν ἐμὸν ἀδελφὸν πεφόνευκε, καὶ ταῦτα ὅρκοις πρὸς αὐτὸν φρικωδεστάτοις χρησάμενον. Ἡμᾶς τε αὐτοὺς εἰ μὴ θεῶν προνοίᾳ περιεσώθημεν, τὸ αὐτὸ ἠβούλετο δρᾶσαι· ἀλλ' οἱ θεοὶ διεκώλυσαν, αὐτοψεί μοι τὴν σωτηρίαν μηνύσαντες, εἰς οὓς ἐγὼ τεθαῤῥηκὼς τὸν