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I have renounced Christianity and have turned toward the Hellenic way of life; knowing well that the most ancient way of life of the Hellenes and Romans, employing good customs and laws, addresses as gods those who possess credibility from their deeds. 42. For who is of doubtful mind, seeing the sun traversing the sky and the moon driving bullocks on a golden-rimmed chariot? For the one makes the day bright, and awakens men to their work; while the other holds a torch for the night, and makes the stars shine brightly, and with its sleepless rays, encourages men to sleep. These things the Hellenes and Romans theologize, Artemius, and not unjustly, but fittingly and with a just judgment. For what is more far-shining than the sun? or what more radiant than the moon? or what is sweeter and more comely than the chorus of the stars? These things, therefore, Hellenes and Romans deify and worship, and on them they have hung their hopes; and they call the sun Apollo, and the moon Artemis, and the greatest of the stars which they call planets, which occupy the seven celestial zones, they name one Kronos, another Zeus, another Hermes, another Ares, and another Aphrodite. For these govern the entire cosmos, and by their powers everything under heaven is managed; therefore, having set up images of these, men worship and honor them; and at the same time having also fashioned certain myths for pleasure; but they do not honor their images as gods, far from it. For this is the understanding of the simpler and more rustic kind of men; since those who embrace philosophy, and examine precisely the things of the gods, know to whom they render honor, and to whom the worship of the divine statues passes on. 96.1292 43. I advise, therefore, your nobility to be with us and to carry out what pleases us, to Hellenize in religion correctly, and to hold fast to the ancient customs and practices. For Constantine, as you yourself also know, being found to be easily deceived, an ignorant and foolish man, made innovations concerning religion, and having set aside the laws of the Romans, he turned aside to Christianity, being terrified of his own unholy deeds, and because the gods deceived him as one accursed, and unworthy of their religion, having become full of kindred blood; for he killed his brothers who had done nothing amiss, and his wife Fausta, and his son Priscus [Crispus] who happened to be an upright and good man; therefore, the gods, abhorring these unholy deeds, deceived him, and made him wander far, far away from their sacred and most holy religion, and they annihilated his accursed and all-polluted seed and entire race from among men. For this reason, admirable one, seeing your stability and firmness in all things, I wish you to become a friend of our party and company, and a co-inheritor, and a partner in all the affairs of the kingdom. Come, therefore, Artemius, stand with us men, and having denied Christ, turn to the ancestral and most ancient and long-established religion of the Romans and Hellenes, and enjoy with us the good things bestowed by the gods, having become a participant in the greatest honors and dignities. 44. To these things the martyr of Christ, pausing for a little and considering, and gathering together his whole mind and reasoning, answered: As for me, O king, concerning my religion and faith I will make no defense to you at present, having ready [at a worthy price] the proofs on its behalf. But concerning the death of your brother, I will make this defense to you, that I shall not be found ever to have wronged his soul, not by deed, not by word, nor by any device of thought, not even if you should labor ten thousand times concerning

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Χριστιανισμὸν ἐξωμοσάμην καὶ πρὸς τὸν Ἕλληνα βίον ἀπέκλινα· εὖ εἰδὼς, ὡς ὁ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ Ῥωμαίων ἀρχαιότατος βίος καλοῖς ἔθεσι καὶ νόμοις χρησάμενος, θεοὺς προσαγορεύει τοὺς τὸ πιστὸν ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων ἔχοντας. μβʹ. Τίς γὰρ τὴν γνώμην ἀμφίβολος, ἥλιον βλέπων ἐν οὐρανῷ διιππεύοντα καὶ σελήνην ἐφ' ἅρματος χρυσαντύγου ταυροπολοῦσαν; ὁ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἡμέραν φαεινὴν ἀπεργάζεται, καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐπ' ἔργον ἐγείρει· ἡ δὲ τὴν νύκτα λαμπαδουχεῖ, καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας καταφαιδρύνει, καὶ ταῖς ἀγρύπνοις φωτοβολίαις, ὑπνοῦν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους παρακελεύεται. Ταῦτα θεολογοῦσιν Ἕλληνες καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι, Ἀρτεμιε, καὶ οὐκ ἀδίκως, ἀλλὰ πρεπόντως καὶ μετὰ δικαίου τοῦ κρίματος. Τί γὰρ ἡλίου τηλαυγέστερον; ἢ τί σελήνης αὐγοειδέστερον; ἢ τί τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν ἀστέρων ἡδύτερόν τε καὶ εὐπρεπέστερον; Ταῦτα τοίνυν Ἕλληνες καὶ Ῥωμαῖοι θειάζουσίν τε καὶ σέβουσιν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐλπίδας ἐναπεκρέμασαν· καὶ τὸν μὲν ἥλιον Ἀπόλλωνα προσαγορεύουσιν, τὴν δὲ σελήνην Ἄρτεμιν, καὶ τοὺς μεγίστους τῶν ἀστέρων οὓς προσαγορεύουσιν πλανήτας τοὺς τὰς ἑπτὰ ζώνας τὰς οὐρανίους ἐπέχοντας, ὃν μὲν Κρόνον, ὃν δὲ ∆ία, ὃν δὲ Ἑρμῆν, ὃν δὲ Ἄρεα, ὃν δὲ Ἀφροδίτην κατονομάζουσιν. Οὗτοι γὰρ τόν τε κόσμον ἅπαντα διοικοῦσι, καὶ ταῖς αὐτῶν δυνάμεσι πᾶσα ἡ ὑπ' οὐρανὸν διεξάγεται· τούτων τοίνυν εἰκόνας στήσαντες, σέβουσιν ἄνθρωποι καὶ τιμῶσιν· ἅμα δὲ καὶ μύθους τινὰς πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἀναπλάσαντες· οὐχ ὡς θεοὺς δὲ τιμῶσι τὰς εἰκόνας αὐτῶν, ἄπαγε. Τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ἁπλούστερον καὶ ἀγροικικὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων διαλαμβάνεται γένος· ἐπεὶ οἱ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν ἀσπαζόμενοι, καὶ τὰ τῶν θεῶν ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζοντες, οἴδασι τίνι τὴν τιμὴν ἀπονέμουσι, καὶ πρὸς τίνα διαβαίνει ἡ τῶν θείων ἀγαλμάτων προσκύνησις. 96.1292 μγʹ. Παραινῶ τοίνυν τὴν σὴν γενναιότητα μεθ' ἡμῶν τε εἶναι καὶ τὰ ἡμῖν ἀρέσκοντα διαπράττεσθαι, τήν τε θρησκείαν ἑλληνίζειν ὀρθῶς, καὶ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἐθῶν τε καὶ πραγμάτων ἀντέχεσθαι. Ὁ γὰρ Κωνσταντῖνος, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπίστασαι, εὐεξαπάτητος ἀνδρῶν ἀμαθής τε καὶ ἀνόητος εὑρεθεὶς, περὶ τὴν θρησκείαν ἐνεωτέρισεν, καὶ τοὺς Ῥωμαίων νόμους ἐξαθετήσας, ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστιανισμὸν ἐξέκλινε, τὰς ἀνοσίους αὐτοῦ πράξεις δεδιττόμενος, καὶ ὅτι οἱ θεοὶ αὐτὸν ἀπεβουκόλησαν ὡς ἐξάγιστον, καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν θρησκείας ἀνάξιον, αἵματος ὁμογνίου γενόμενον ἔμπλεον· τούς τε γὰρ ἀδελφοὺς ἀπέκτεινε μηδὲν πράξαντας ἄτοπον, καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα Φαύσταν, καὶ τὸν αὐτοῦ υἱὸν Πρίσκον [Κρίσπον] τὸν χρηστόν τε καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἄνδρα τυγχάνοντα· ταῦτα τοίνυν τὰ ἀνοσιουργήματα μυσαχθέντες οἱ θεοὶ, τοῦτον ἀπεβουκόλησαν, καὶ τῆς ἱερᾶς αὐτῶν καὶ παναγεστάτης θρησκείας πόῤῥω που καὶ μακρὰν ἀπεπλάνησαν, καὶ σπέρμα τὸ ἐναγὲς αὐτοῦ καὶ παμμίαρον καὶ γένος ὅλον ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἠφάνισαν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, θαυμάσιε, ὁρῶν σου τὸ κατὰ πάντα εὐσταθές τε καὶ βέβαιον, βούλομαί σε τῆς ἡμετέρας μερίδος καὶ ἑταιρίας γενέσθαι φίλον, καὶ σύγκληρον, καὶ κοινωνὸν κατὰ πάντα τῶν τῆς βασιλείας πραγμάτων. ∆εῦρο τοίνυν. Ἀρτέμιε, στῆθι μεθ' ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔξαρνος γενόμενος, ἐπὶ τὴν πάτριον καὶ ἀρχαιοτάτην καὶ πολυχρόνιον Ῥωμαίων τε καὶ Ἑλλήνων θρησκείαν μετάβηθι, καὶ τῶν παρὰ θεοῖς δεδωρημένων ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν συναπόλαυε, τιμῶν μεγίστων τε καὶ ἀξιωμάτων ἐν μετοχῇ γεγονώς. μδʹ. Πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυς μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν καὶ ἐπιλογισάμενος, καὶ ὅλον ἐπισυνάξας τὸν ἑαυτοῦ νοῦν τε καὶ λογισμὸν, ἀπεκρίνατο· Ἐγὼ μὲν, ὦ βασιλεῦ, περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς θρησκείας καὶ πίστεως οὐδεμίαν τινά σοι ἀπολογίαν ποιήσομαι τὸ παρὸν, ἔχων ἐν ἑτοίμῳ [ξοδ. τιμῇ] τὰς ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς ἀποδείξεις. Πρὸς δὲ τὸν τοῦ σοῦ ἀδελφοῦ θάνατον, ἐκεῖνό σοι ἀπολογήσομαι, ὡς οὐ μὴ φανήσομαι τὴν ἐκείνου ψυχὴν ἠδικηκὼς πώποτε, οὐκ ἔργῳ, οὐ λόγῳ, οὔτε τινὶ διανοίας ἐπινοήματι, οὐδ' εἰ μυρία κάμοις περὶ