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Jerusalem”. Following these things he also mentions the famine that occurred under Claudius in this way: 2.12.1 “In addition to these things, the great famine also happened to occur throughout Judea, during which Queen Helena, having bought grain from Egypt for a great sum of money, distributed it to the needy.” 2.12.2 And you would find these things also in agreement with the writing of the Acts of the Apostles, which contains how the disciples in Antioch, as each one prospered, determined each to send for a ministry to those who dwelt in Judea; which also they did, sending 2.12.3 to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Paul. Of this Helena, whom the writer also mentioned, conspicuous monuments are still shown to this day in the suburbs of the present Aelia; and she was said to have been queen of the nation of the Adiabeni. 2.13.1 But as the faith in our savior and lord Jesus Christ was now being spread to all men, the enemy of men's salvation, contriving to seize the ruling city beforehand, brings there Simon, who was mentioned before, and assisting the man's artful sorceries, many 2.13.2 of the inhabitants of Rome he wins over to his error. This is shown by Justin, who not long after the apostles was distinguished in our doctrine, concerning whom I shall set forth what is fitting in its proper time; who, in his first Apology to Antoninus on behalf of our doctrine, writing, says as follows: 2.13.3 “And after the ascension of the Lord into heaven, the demons put forward certain men who said they were gods, who were not only not persecuted by you, but were also deemed worthy of honors. A certain Simon, a Samaritan, from a village called Gitta, who in the time of Claudius Caesar, through the art of the demons who worked through him, performed magical acts in your imperial city Rome, and was considered a god, and was honored by you with a statue as a god, in the river Tiber, between the two bridges, having this Roman inscription: SIMONI DEO 2.13.4 SANCTO, which is, To Simon the holy god. And almost all Samaritans, and a few also in other nations, confess and worship him as the first god. And a certain Helena, who traveled about with him at that time, who had formerly been in a brothel in Tyre of Phoenicia, they call the first thought from him.” 2.13.5 Thus he says; and Irenaeus agrees with him, in the first of his books Against Heresies, describing together the things concerning the man and his impious and abominable teaching, which it would be superfluous to recount at present, since it is possible for those who wish to learn in detail the origins and lives of the heresiarchs after him, the principles of their false doctrines, and all the things they practiced, things which are handed down not as a side-issue in the aforementioned 2.13.6 book of Irenaeus. We have received, then, that Simon was the first author of every heresy; from whom down to the present day those who follow his heresy, feigning the sober philosophy of Christians which is proclaimed among all for its purity of life, from which superstition concerning idols they seemed to be delivered, they no less take up again, falling down before paintings and images both of Simon himself and of the aforementioned Helena who was with him, with incense and 2.13.7 sacrifices and libations attempting to worship these figures. And their more secret rites, of which they say he who first hears will be astonished and, according to a certain written oracle among them, will be dumbfounded, are in truth full of astonishment and ecstasy and madness, being of such a kind that they are not only impossible to commit to writing, but also for sober men even to speak of with their lips, on account of the excess of their baseness and unspeakable acts, 2.13.8 to be spoken. For whatever could be conceived more abominable than any shame, all this the most foul heresy of these people has surpassed, with the wretched and truly heaped with all kinds of evils

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Ἱεροσόλυμα». τούτοις ἑξῆς καὶ τοῦ κατὰ Κλαύδιον γενομένου λιμοῦ μνημονεύει ὧδέ πως· 2.12.1 «Ἐπὶ τούτοις γε καὶ τὸν μέγαν λιμὸν κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν συνέβη γενέσθαι, καθ' ὃν καὶ ἡ βασίλισσα Ἑλένη πολλῶν χρημάτων ὠνησαμένη σῖτον ἀπὸ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, διένειμεν τοῖς ἀπορουμένοις». 2.12.2 σύμφωνα δ' ἂν εὕροις καὶ ταῦτα τῇ τῶν Πράξεων τῶν ἀποστόλων γραφῇ, περιεχούσῃ ὡς ἄρα τῶν κατ' Ἀντιόχειαν μαθητῶν καθὼς ηὐπορεῖτό τις, ὥρισαν ἕκαστος εἰς διακονίαν ἀποστεῖλαι τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ὃ καὶ ἐποίησαν, ἀποστείλαντες 2.12.3 πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους διὰ χειρὸς Βαρναβᾶ καὶ Παύλου. τῆς γέ τοι Ἑλένης, ἧς δὴ καὶ ὁ συγγραφεὺς ἐποιήσατο μνήμην, εἰς ἔτι νῦν στῆλαι διαφανεῖς ἐν προσατείοις δείκνυνται τῆς νῦν Αἰλίας· τοῦ δὲ Ἀδιαβηνῶν ἔθνους αὕτη βασιλεῦσαι ἐλέγετο. 2.13.1 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τῆς εἰς τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἤδη διαδιδομένης πίστεως, ὁ τῆς ἀνθρώ πων πολέμιος σωτηρίας τὴν βασιλεύουσαν προαρπάσασθαι πόλιν μηχανώμενος, ἐνταῦθα Σίμωνα τὸν πρόσθεν δεδηλωμένον ἄγει, καὶ δὴ ταῖς ἐντέχνοις τἀνδρὸς συναιρόμενος γοητείαις πλείους 2.13.2 τῶν τὴν Ῥώμην οἰκούντων ἐπὶ τὴν πλάνην σφετερίζεται. δηλοῖ δὲ τοῦθ' ὁ μετ' οὐ πολὺ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐν τῷ καθ' ἡμᾶς διαπρέψας λόγῳ Ἰουστῖνος, περὶ οὗ τὰ προσήκοντα κατὰ καιρὸν παραθήσομαι· ὃς δὴ ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον ὑπὲρ τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς δόγματος ἀπολογίᾳ γράφων ὧδέ φησιν· 2.13.3 «καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν τοῦ κυρίου εἰς οὐρανὸν προεβάλλοντο οἱ δαίμονες ἀνθρώπους τινὰς λέγοντας ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι θεούς, οἳ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐδιώχθησαν ὑφ' ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμῶν ἠξιώθησαν· Σίμωνα μέν τινα Σαμαρέα, τὸν ἀπὸ κώμης λεγομένης Γίτθων, ὃς ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐνεργούντων δαιμόνων τέχνης δυνάμεις μαγικὰς ποιήσας ἐν τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν τῇ βασιλίδι Ῥώμῃ θεὸς ἐνομίσθη καὶ ἀνδριάντι παρ' ὑμῶν ὡς θεὸς τετίμηται ἐν τῷ Τίβερι ποταμῷ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο γεφυρῶν, ἔχων ἐπιγραφὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ταύτην· σιμονι δεο 2.13.4 σανξτο, ὅπερ ἐστὶν Σίμωνι θεῷ ἁγίῳ. καὶ σχεδὸν μὲν πάντες Σαμαρεῖς, ὀλίγοι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις ἔθνεσιν ὡς τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν ἐκεῖνον ὁμολογοῦντες προσκυνοῦσιν. καὶ Ἑλένην τινά, τὴν συμπερινοστήσασαν αὐτῷ κατ' ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ, πρότερον ἐπὶ τέγους σταθεῖσαν ἐν Τύρῳ τῆς Φοινίκης, τὴν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ πρώτην ἔννοιαν λέγουσιν». 2.13.5 ταῦτα μὲν οὗτος συνᾴδει δ' αὐτῷ καὶ Εἰρηναῖος, ἐν πρώτῳ τῶν πρὸς τὰς αἱρέσεις ὁμοῦ τὰ περὶ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν ἀνοσίαν καὶ μιαρὰν αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίαν ὑπογράφων, ἣν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος περιττὸν ἂν εἴη καταλέγειν, παρὸν τοῖς βουλομένοις καὶ τῶν μετ' αὐτὸν κατὰ μέρος αἱρεσιαρχῶν τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τοὺς βίους καὶ τῶν ψευδῶν δογμάτων τὰς ὑποθέσεις τά τε πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτετηδευμένα διαγνῶναι, οὐ κατὰ πάρεργον τῇ δεδηλωμένῃ 2.13.6 τοῦ Εἰρηναίου παραδεδομένα βίβλῳ. πάσης μὲν οὖν ἀρχηγὸν αἱρέσεως πρῶτον γενέσθαι τὸν Σίμωνα παρειλήφαμεν· ἐξ οὗ καὶ εἰς δεῦρο οἱ τὴν κατ' αὐτὸν μετιόντες αἵρεσιν τὴν σώφρονα καὶ διὰ καθαρότητα βίου παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσιν βεβοημένην Χριστιανῶν φιλοσοφίαν ὑποκρινόμενοι, ἧς μὲν ἔδοξαν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι περὶ τὰ εἴδωλα δεισιδαιμονίας οὐδὲν ἧττον αὖθις ἐπιλαμβάνονται, καταπίπτοντες ἐπὶ γραφὰς καὶ εἰκόνας αὐτοῦ τε τοῦ Σίμωνος καὶ τῆς σὺν αὐτῷ δηλωθείσης Ἑλένης θυμιάμασίν τε καὶ 2.13.7 θυσίαις καὶ σπονδαῖς τούτους θρῃσκεύειν ἐγχειροῦντες, τὰ δὲ τούτων αὐτοῖς ἀπορρητότερα, ὧν φασι τὸν πρῶτον ἐπακούσαντα ἐκπλαγήσεσθαι καὶ κατά τι παρ' αὐτοῖς λόγιον ἔγγραφον θαμβωθήσεσθαι, θάμβους ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ φρενῶν ἐκστάσεως καὶ μανίας ἔμπλεα τυγχάνει, τοιαῦτα ὄντα, ὡς μὴ μόνον μὴ δυνατὰ εἶναι παραδοθῆναι γραφῇ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ χείλεσιν αὐτὸ μόνον δι' ὑπερβολὴν αἰσχρουργίας τε καὶ ἀρρητοποιίας ἀνδράσι σώφροσι 2.13.8 λαληθῆναι. ὅ τι ποτὲ γὰρ ἂν ἐπινοηθείη παντὸς αἰσχροῦ μιαρώτερον, τοῦτο πᾶν ὑπερηκόντισεν ἡ τῶνδε μυσαρωτάτη αἵρεσις, ταῖς ἀθλίαις καὶ παντοίων ὡς ἀληθῶς κακῶν σεσωρευμέναις