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58. But he, the most impious and most lawless of all, Julian, exulted and rejoiced, and boasting in these things, ordered also that the temple of the Jews in Jerusalem be rebuilt; and having cast out the Christians from the city, he gave it to the Jews to inhabit, having sent a certain Alypius to rebuild the temple with haste. And he himself, having taken his seat upon the tribunal in the place called the Basilica, ordered the martyr to be brought forward; and when the saint was brought forward, he said to him, "Surely you yourself have heard, most impious Artemius, of the audacity of the impious Christians like you, what they did in Daphne in the temple of the savior Apollo, and how they burned his temple along with the offerings, and destroyed the all-honorable and wondrous statue; but they shall not rejoice, mocking and jeering our things; for I will exact the penalty for this seventy times seven, as your oracles say." 59. And the martyr [said]: "I heard how a divinely sent wrath and fire, having come down from heaven, consumed your god, and burned his temple completely and razed it to the ground; if, then, he was a god, why did he not rescue himself from the fire?" And the apostate [said]: "Perhaps you yourself also seem to me, most unholy one, to be mocking and laughing aloud at these things, as if having received some vengeance from your God." And the martyr [said]: "I always, most impious one, boast and rejoice and exult in the fall of the demons honored by you; and in all the wonders my Christ performs, I am delighted and rejoice; but as for vengeance for the things done to me by you, I will receive it there, whenever that unslumbering fire and the eternal punishment seizes you; and here also not much time will pass, and your memory will vanish with a sound." And the apostate [said]: "If, then, you exult and rejoice in these 96.1308 things, most unholy one, I will make for you an addition to your desired exultation. But, most hostile one, I spare you out of my own goodness, and I wish you to cease from your folly, to use sober reason, and to come forward to sacrifice to the immortal gods; for you have been adorned with the greatest dignity, and sufficient wealth has been amassed for you from above and from your ancestors, and the gods have prepared for you the many advantages of virtue, even if you yourself have been shown to be ungrateful toward them." 60. And the martyr [said]: "Why do you rage, most lawless one, and occupy yourself with these deadly words? You have neglected the barbarian uprisings, and you have put off the Persian war, on account of which you have shaken the whole world, and you busy yourself with me, the servant of God? Give whatever sentence you wish against me; for I do not worship your gods, nor do I submit to your commands, but to my God I offer daily a sacrifice of praise and confession; do therefore what you wish, most lawless one." The apostate, having heard these things and become full of wrath, ordered quarrymen and stonemasons to enter, and says to them: "Do you see the steep rock opposite the theater, sloping towards the lower part of the city? Therefore, having split this, and having set the one part of it higher up, place this sinner in the middle; and having broken the supports of the rock, let it go with force and weight towards the part from which it has been split; and as he is found in the middle, he will be completely crushed bit by bit, and all his insides will be ruptured; so that he may know against whom he stands, and against whom he is armed for battle, and what help he will get from his God, if indeed he will be able to deliver him from my hands." And the work being accomplished quicker than a word, the quarrymen released the rock as the tyrant said; and it, carried down the slope with great weight, covered the whole body of the martyr, and pressed him so much that, his very bones being shattered, a certain terrible and violent cracking sound was made.

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νηʹ. Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ ἀσεβέστατος καὶ πάντων παρανομώτατος Ἰουλιανὸς ἠγαλλιᾶτο καὶ ἔχαιρεν, καὶ γαυριῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις, ἐκέλευσε καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ναὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀνιστᾷν· καὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς τῆς πόλεως ἐκβαλὼν, τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἔδωκε κατοικεῖν, ἀποστείλας Ἀλύπιόν τινα τοῦ μετὰ σπουδῆς τὸν ναὸν ἀνοικοδομήσασθαι. Αὐτὸς δὲ προκαθίσας ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἐν τῇ καλουμένῃ Βασιλικῇ, ἐκέλευσε προσαχθῆναι τὸν μάρτυρα· προσαχθέντος δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου, ἔφη πρὸς αὐτὸν, Πάντως ἤκουσας καὶ αὐτὸς, ἀσεβέστατε Ἀρτέμιε, τὸ τόλμημα τῶν ἀσεβῶν κατὰ σὲ Χριστιανῶν, ὅπερ ἐποίησαν ἐν ∆άφνῃ ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ σωτῆρος Ἀπόλλωνος, καὶ ὡς ἐνέπρησαν αὐτοῦ τὸν ναὸν σὺν τοῖς ἀναθήμασιν, καὶ τὸ πάντιμον καὶ θαυμαστὸν ἄγαλμα ἐξηφάνισαν· ἀλλ' οὐ χαρήσονται ἐπιτωθάζοντες καὶ χλευάζοντες τὰ ἡμέτερα· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἀποτίσω τὴν ὑπὲρ τούτου ποινὴν ἑβδομηκοντάκις ἑπτὰ, καθώς φασι τὰ ὑμέτερα λόγια. νθʹ. Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς· Ἤκουσα ὡς θεήλατος ὀργὴ καὶ πῦρ οὐρανόθεν κατελθὼν κατέφαγε τὸν θεόν σου, καὶ αὐτοῦ τὸν ναὸν ἐνέπρησεν πάντα καὶ κατηδάφισεν· εἰ οὖν θεὸς ἦν, τί μὴ ἑαυτὸν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐῤῥύσατο; Καὶ ὁ παραβάτης· Τάχα καὶ αὐτὸς ἔοικάς μοι, ἀνοσιώτατε, κερτομεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖσδε καὶ κατακακχάζειν, ὡς ἅτε παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ σου ἐκδίκησιν τινα προσδεξάμενος. Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς· Ἐγὼ πάντοτε, δυσσεβέστατε, ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν δαιμόνων πτώσει τῶν παρὰ σοῦ τιμωμένων κομπάζω καὶ χαίρω καὶ ἀγαλλιῶ· καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οἷς ὁ Χριστός μου τερατουργεῖ, τερπόμενος γέγηθα· ἐκδίκησιν δὲ τῶν εἰς ἐμὲ πραττομένων παρὰ σοῦ, ἐκεῖ δέξομαι ὅποτ' ἂν τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἀκοίμητόν σε καταλήψεται καὶ ἡ διαιωνίζουσα κόλασις· κἀνταῦθα δὲ οὐ πολὺς παρελεύσεται χρόνος, καὶ τὸ μνημόσυνόν σου μετ' ἤχου ἀφανισθήσεται. Καὶ ὁ παραβάτης· Εἰ οὖν ἀγαλλιᾷς ἐπὶ τού 96.1308 τοις καὶ ἐπευφραίνεις, ἀνοσιώτατε, προσθήκην ἐγώ σοι ποιήσομαι τοῦ ποθουμένου ἀγαλλιάματος. Ἀλλὰ, δυσμενέστατε, φείδομαί σου δι' οἰκείαν χρηστότητα, καὶ βούλομαί σε τῆς ἀνοίας παυσάμενον, σώφρονι λογισμῷ χρήσασθαι, καὶ προσελθεῖν θύσοντα τοῖς ἀθανάτοις θεοῖς· καὶ ἀξιώματι γὰρ μεγίστῳ κεκόσμησαι, καὶ πλοῦτος ἱκανὸς ἄνωθέν σοι καὶ ἐκ προγόνων σεσώρευται, καὶ πολλά σοι τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς πλεονεκτήματα οἱ θεοὶ παρεσκεύασαν, κἂν αὐτὸς ἀχάριστος ὤφθης περὶ αὐτούς. ξʹ. Καὶ ὁ μάρτυς· Τί μαίνῃ, παρανομώτατε, καὶ ἀσχολῇ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀλεθρίοις ῥήμασιν; Ἔασας τὰς βαρβαρικὰς ἐπαναστάσεις, καὶ τὸν Περσικὸν ἀνεβάλου πόλεμον, δι' ὃν τὴν οἰκουμένην πᾶσαν ἐσάλευσας, καὶ εἰς ἐμὲ τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλον ἀσχολῇ; ∆ίδου ἀπόφασιν κατ' ἐμοῦ οἵαν ἐθέλεις· ἐγὼ γὰρ τοῖς θεοῖς σου οὐ λατρεύω, οὔτε τοῖς σοῖς προστάγμασιν ὑποκύπτω, ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ μου καθ' ἑκάστην προσφέρω θυσίαν αἰνέσεως καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως· ποίει οὖν ὃ θέλεις, παρανομώτατε. Ταῦτα ὁ παραβάτης ἀκούσας καὶ πλήρης θυμοῦ γενόμενος, λατόμους καὶ λιθοξόους ἐκέλευσεν εἰσελθεῖν, καί φησι πρὸς αὐτούς· Ὁρᾶτε τὴν ἀπότομον πέτραν τὴν ἀπέναντι τοῦ θεάτρου πρὸς τὸ κάταντες τῆς πόλεως ῥέπουσαν; Ταύτην οὖν διχάσαντες, καὶ τὸ ἕτερον μέρος αὐτῆς ἀνωφερέστερον στήσαντες, τουτονὶ τὸν ἀλιτήριον ἐμβιβάσατε μέσον· καὶ τοὺς δεσμοὺς τῆς πέτρας ἐναποῤῥήξαντες, ἄφετε μετὰ ῥύμης καὶ βάρους ἐναπελθεῖν πρὸς τὸ μέρος ὅθεν δεδίχασται· καὶ τούτου μέσον εὑρισκομένου ἅπας κατὰ μικρὸν συνθλασθήσεται, καὶ τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ πάντα διαῤῥαγήσονται· ἵν' εἴδῃ τίνι ἀνθίσταται, καὶ τίνι πρὸς μάχην ἐξώπλισται, καὶ τί παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ αὐτοῦ ὠφεληθήσεται, εἰ ἄρα δυνήσεται αὐτὸν ἐξελέσθαι ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν μου. Τοῦ ἔργου δὲ θᾶττον λόγου περαιωθέντος ἀφῆκαν οἱ λαξευταὶ τὴν πέτραν ὡς ὁ τύραννος ἔφησεν· ἡ δὲ σὺν βάρει πολλῷ ἐπὶ τοῦ πρηνοῦς ἐνεχθεῖσα, ὅλον ἐκάλυψε τὸ σῶμα τοῦ μάρτυρος, καὶ τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ἐξεπίεσεν, ὥστε τῶν ὀστέων αὐτῶν κατατεθραυσμένων ἦχόν τινα κροτηθῆναι φοβερόν τε καὶ βίαιον