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the advocate of falsehood and enemy of truth was about to do, he received a blow sent from God and, having been sick for only one day, he was outside the catalogue of the living, hearing, as is likely, that voice: "Fool, this night they require your soul from you; but the evils you prepared, both nets and traps, will be for you and not for another." 2.22 He suffered the same things as Balaam, who was also summoned against the divine people. But having advised Balak to commit unholy acts against them, he paid the penalty himself, receiving his slaughter at an Israelite right hand. And so this man, since he contrived a plot against the people of God, was deprived of his life by the people of God. And Cyrrhus enjoyed this salvation through this man's prayer. And to me these accounts were handed down by that divine head, the great Acacius, who knew accurately everything concerning him. So departing from there and having found his followers and having spent no little time with them, he passed away very eagerly to the ageless and painless life, having practiced dispassion in mortal nature, while awaiting the immortality of the body. But I, having brought the account about this man to a close here, will proceed to another, entreating the saints mentioned in the narrative to procure for me by their intercession goodwill from above. 3.t MARCIAN 3.1 But how might we worthily admire the great Marcian, except obviously by ranking him with Elijah and John and those like them, who "went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, mistreated, of whom this world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth"? For he once had as his fatherland Cyrrhus, which I mentioned before, but after this the desert; and having left both the one and the other, he now has heaven. The one bore him, the other nurtured him and showed him to be victorious, and the last received him as a victor crowned. 3.2 For having disdained the distinction of his lineage—for he was descended from nobles—and the splendor in the palace—for in those circles he flourished, having received from the Creator of nature a great and beautiful body and possessing a soul adorned with astuteness—he transferred all his affection to God and the things of God. And having bid farewell to all, he took possession of the heart of the desert and, having built a small dwelling not even commensurate with his body, and having surrounded it with another small enclosure, he was continuously confined, separated from all human company, but conversing with the Lord of all and listening for that sweet voice. For by reading the divine oracles he considered himself to enjoy the divine voice; and by praying and offering supplications, he himself would hold conversation with the Lord. And always enjoying such delight, he did not wish to have his fill. For he had heard the divine Spirit chanting through the great David that "he who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night will be like the tree planted by the streams of water, which will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall." Yearning for these fruits, he embraced this sweetest labor, and psalmody succeeded prayer, and prayer succeeded psalmody, and again the reading of the divine oracles succeeded both. 3.3 His food was only bread, and this was offered by weight; and the weight was such as not even to satisfy the need of a child just weaned from the breast. For they say that a litra of bread was divided into four parts and distributed over four days, and on a day

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ποιήσεσθαι ὁ τοῦ ψεύδους συνήγορος καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας πολέμιος, θεήλατον ἐδέξατο τὴν πληγὴν καί, μίαν μόνην ἀρρωστήσας ἡμέραν, ἔξω τοῦ καταλόγου τῶν ζώντων ἐγένετο, ἐκείνης ἀκούων, ὡς εἰκός, τῆς φωνῆς· "Ἄφρον, ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτὶ ἀπαιτοῦσι τὴν ψυχήν σου ἀπὸ σοῦ· ἃ δὲ ἡτοίμασας κακὰ δικτυά τε καὶ πάναγρα σοι ἔσται καὶ οὐχ ἑτέρῳ". 2.22 Ταὐτὰ δὲ πέπονθε καὶ τῷ Βαλαὰμ ὃς μετεπέμφθη μὲν καὶ αὐτὸς κατὰ τοῦ θείου λαοῦ. Ἀνόσια δὲ κατ' αὐτοῦ τῷ Βαλὰκ συμβουλεύσας, αὐτοῦ δέδωκε δίκην ὑπὸ δεξιᾶς Ἰσραηλιτικῆς δεξάμενος τὴν σφαγήν. Καὶ οὗτος τοίνυν, ἐπειδὴ ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν τοῦ θεοῦ κατεπανουργεύσατο γνώμην, διὰ τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ζωὴν ἀφῃρέθη. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς σωτηρίας διὰ τῆς τούτου προσευχῆς ἡ Κύρρος ἀπέλαυσεν. Ἐμοὶ δὲ τάδε τὰ διηγήματα ἡ θεία κεφαλὴ ὁ μέγας Ἀκάκιος παραδέδωκεν, ἀκριβῶς ἅπαντα τὰ κατ' αὐτὸν ἐπιστάμενος. Ἐνθένδε τοίνυν ἀποδημήσας καὶ τοὺς θιασώτας κατα λαβὼν καὶ χρόνον αὐτοῖς οὐκ ὀλίγον συνδιατρίψας, εἰς τὸν ἀγήρω καὶ ἄλυπον βίον προθύμως λίαν μετέστη, μελετήσας μὲν ἐν θνητῇ φύσει τὴν ἀπάθειαν, τὴν δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἀθανασίαν προσμένων. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὸν περὶ τοῦδε τοῦ διηγήματος στήσας λόγον, ἐφ' ἕτερον βαδιοῦμαι, τοὺς ἐμφερομένους τῷ διηγήματι ἁγίους ἀντιβολῶν προξενῆσαί μοι τὴν ἄνωθεν διὰ πρεσβείας εὐμένειαν. 3.t ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΣ 3.1 Μαρκιανὸν δὲ τὸν πάνυ πῶς ἂν ἀξίως θαυμάσαιμεν ἢ δῆλον ὅτι Ἠλίᾳ καὶ Ἰωάννῃ καὶ τοῖς κατ' ἐκείνους συντάττοντες οἳ "περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι, ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος οὗτος, ἐν ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι, καὶ ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαίοις, καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς"; Οὗτος γὰρ πατρίδα πάλαι μὲν ἔσχε τὴν Κύρρον, ἧς καὶ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθην, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὴν ἔρημον· καὶ ταύτην δὲ κἀκείνην κατα λιπὼν νῦν ἔχει τὸν οὐρανόν. Καὶ ἡ μὲν αὐτὸν ἐγέννησεν, ἡ δὲ ἔθρεψε καὶ νικηφόρον ἀπέφηνεν, ὁ δὲ ὡς στεφανίτην ἐδέξατο. 3.2 Τῆς γὰρ τοῦ γένους καταφρονήσας περιφανείας- ἐξ εὐπατριδῶν γὰρ κατήγετο-καὶ τῆς ἐν βασιλείοις λαμπρότητος-ἐν ἐκείνοις γὰρ ἤνθει, μέγεθος σώματος παρὰ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ τῆς φύσεως καὶ κάλλος δεξάμενος καὶ ψυχὴν ἔχων ἀγχινοίᾳ κεκοσμημένην-, εἰς θεὸν καὶ τὰ θεοῦ τὸ φίλτρον ἅπαν μετέθηκε· καὶ πᾶσιν ἐρρῶσθαι φράσας, καταλαμβάνει τῆς ἐρήμου τὸν ὀμφαλὸν καὶ, σμικρὸν οἰκίσκον δειμάμενος οὐδὲ τῷ σώματι σύμμετρον, καὶ ἄλλῳ σμικρῷ τινὶ θριγκίῳ περιβαλὼν καθεῖρκτο διηνεκῶς, πάσης μὲν ἀνθρωπίνης συνουσίας κεχωρισμένος, τῷ δὲ τῶν ὅλων δεσπότῃ διαλεγόμενος καὶ τῆς γλυκείας ἐκείνης ἐπαΐων φωνῆς. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ θείοις ἐντυγχάνων λογίοις τῆς θείας φωνῆς ἀπολαύειν ἡγεῖτο· προσευχόμενος δὲ καὶ τὰς ἱκετείας προσφέρων, αὐτὸς τὴν πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην ἐποιεῖτο διάλεξιν. Καὶ τοσαύτης ἀεὶ τρυφῆς ἀπολαύων κόρον λαβεῖν οὐκ ἐβούλετο. Ἤκουσε γὰρ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ μεγάλου ∆αβὶδ ὑποψάλλοντος ὡς "ὁ μελετῶν ἐν νόμῳ κυρίου ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἔσται ὡς τὸ ξύλον τὸ πεφυτευμένον παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων, ὃ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ δώσει ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ φύλλον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπορρυήσεται". Τούτων τῶν καρπῶν ἐφιέμενος τὸν ἥδιστον τοῦτον ἠσπάζετο πόνον, καὶ τὴν μὲν προσευχὴν ἡ ψαλμῳδίᾳ, τὴν δὲ ψαλμῳδίαν ἡ προσευχὴ διεδέχετο, καὶ ἀμφότερα πάλιν ἡ τῶν θείων λογίων ἀνάγνωσις. 3.3 Σιτίον δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ μόνος ἄρτος, καὶ οὗτος σταθμῷ προσφερόμενος· τοσοῦτος δὲ ἦν ὁ σταθμὸς ὡς μηδὲ παιδίῳ ἄρτι θηλῆς ἀπαλλαγέντι τὴν χρείαν πληροῦν. Φασὶ γὰρ τοῦ ἄρτου τὴν λίτραν τέτραχα διαιρουμένην ἡμέραις τέτταρσι διανέμεσθαι, καὶ ἡμέρᾳ