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NARRATIVE OF THE PROCEEDINGS Pg. (110)

Which took place between the lord abba Maximus, and those with him, and the magistrates in the secretum.

1. On the day on which they came to anchor at this reigning city, both the lord Maximus,

and those with him, around sunset, two messengers with ten excubitors came and took them from the ship naked and unshod; and having separated them from one another, they guarded them in different barracks. And after some days they brought them up to the palace, and they lead the old man into the place where the senate and many other people had gathered; and they made him stand in the middle of the seated magistrates, and the sacellarius says to him with great anger and fury: Are you a Christian? And he said: By the grace of Christ, the God of all, I am a Christian. And that man says: That is not true. The servant of God answered: You say I am not; but God says that I am, and remain a Christian. And how, he says, if (112) you are a Christian, do you hate the emperor? The servant of God answered and said: And from where is this clear? For hatred is a hidden disposition of the soul, just as is love. And he says to him: From what you have done, you have become manifest to all, that you hate the emperor and his government; for you alone handed over Egypt and Alexandria and Pentapolis and Tripoli and Africa to the Saracens. And what is the proof of these things? he said. And they bring forward John, the former sacellarius of Peter the former general of Numidia in Africa, saying, That twenty-two years ago the grandfather of our master commanded the blessed Peter to take an army and go to Egypt against the Saracens, and he wrote to you as speaking to a servant of God, having confidence in you as a holy man, whether you would advise him to go. And you wrote back to him saying to do no such thing, because God is not pleased, during the reign of Heraclius and his lineage, for the Roman state to be assisted. The servant of God says: If he is speaking the truth, you surely have both Peter's letter to me and my letter to him; let them be produced, and I am subject to the penalties deemed fit by the law. And he says: I do not have a letter, nor do I know if he wrote to you at all. But in the army camp, everyone was saying these things at that time. The servant of God said to him: If the whole army camp was chattering about this, how are you alone slandering me with this? Have you ever seen me, or I you? And he says: Never. Then turning to the senate the servant of God said: Judge whether it is just for such accusers, or witnesses, to be brought forward; for with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, says the God of all.

2. And after this one they bring Sergius Magudas, saying: Nine years ago the blessed abba Thomas, having come from Rome, told me that Pope Theodore sent me to the patrician Gregory, to tell him not to be afraid of anyone. For the servant of God abba Maximus saw a dream, that throughout the heavens in the east and the west there were throngs of angels; and those in the east were crying out: Constantine Augustus, tu vincas; while those in the west were shouting: Gregory Augustus, tu vincas; and the voice of those in the west prevailed over the voice of those in the east. And then

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ΕΞΗΓΗΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΚΙΝΗΣΕΩΣ Σελ. (110)

Γενομένης, μεταξύ τοῦ κυρίου ἀββᾶ Μαξίμου, καί τῶν σύν αὐτῷ, καί τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπί σεκρέτου.

Α΄ . Τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ προσωρμίσθησαν ταύτιῃ τῇ βασιλευούσῃ πόλει, ὅ τε κύριος Μάξιμος,

καί οἱ σύν αὐτῷ, περί δυσμάς ἡλίου, ἐλθόντες δύο μανδάτωρες μετά δέκα ἐκσκουβιτώρων, ἐπῆραν αὐτούς ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου γυμνούς, καί ἀνυποδέτους· καί μερίσαντες αὐτούς ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, ἐφύλαξαν εἰς διάφορα ἐκσκούβιτα. Καί μεθ' ἡμέρας τινάς ἀναφέρουσιν αὐτούς ἐν τῷ παλατίῳ, καί εἰσάγουσι τόν γέροντα, ἐν ᾧ τόπῳ συνήχθη ἡ σύγκλητος, καί πολύς ἄλλος ὄχλος· καί παριστῶσιν αὐτόν μέσον τῶν ἀρχόντων καθημένων, καί λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ σακελλάριος μετ' ὁργῆς πολλῆς καί μανίας· Χριστανός εἶ; Καί εἶπε · Χάριτι Χριστοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων, Χριστανός εἰμι. Καί λέγει ἐκεῖνος· Οὔκ ἔστιν ἀληθές. Ἀπεκρίθη ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ· Σύ λέγεις. Οὔκ εἰμί· ἀλλ' ὁ Θεός λέγει εἶναί με, καί διαμένειν Χριστιανόν. Καί πῶς, φησίν, εἴπερ (112) Χριστιανός εἶ, μισεῖς τόν βασιλέα; Ἀποκριθείς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος, ἔφη· Καί πόθεν δῆλον; τό γάρ μῖσος ψυχῆς ἐστι κεκρυμμένη διάθεσις, ὥσπερ οὖν καί ἡ ἀγάπη. Καί λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἐξ ὧν ἐποίησας, πᾶσιν ἐγένου φανερός, ὅτι μισεῖς τόν βασιλέα, καί τήν πολιτείαν αὐτοῦ· σύ γάρ μόνος Αἴγυπτον καί Ἀλεξάνδρειαν καί Πεντάπολιν καί Τρίπολιν καί Ἀφρικήν Σαρακηνοῖς παρέδωκας. Καί τίς τούτων ἀπόδειξις; ἔφη. Καί παραφέρουσιν Ἰωάννην τόν γενόμενον σακελλάριον Πέτρου τοῦ γενομένου στρατηγοῦ Νουμηδίας τῆς Ἀφρικῆς λέγοντα, Ὅτι πρό εἰκοσιδύο ἐτῶν ὁ πάππος τοῦ δεσπότου ἐκέλευσε τῷ μακαρίῳ Πέτρῳ, λαβεῖν στρατόν, καί ἀπελθεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον κατά τῶν Σαρακηνῶν, καί ἔγραψέ σοι ὡς πρός δοῦλον τοῦ Θεοῦ λαλῶν, πληροφορίαν ἔχων εἰς σέ ὡς ἅγιον ἄνθρωπον, εἰ συμβουλεύεις αὐτῷ ἀπελθεῖν. Καί ἀντέγραψας αὐτῷ λέγων, μηδέν τοιοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ἐπειδή οὐκ εὐδοκεῖ ὁ Θεός ἐπί τῆς βασιλείας Ἡρακλείου, καί τοῦ γένους αὐτοῦ, συμπραχθῆναι τήν πολιτείαν τῶνῬωμαίων. Λέγει ὁ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ· Ἐάν ἀληθεύῃ, πάντως ἔχεις καί τήν πρός ἐμέ Πέτρου, καί τήν ἐμήν πρός αὐτόν ἐπιστολήν· παρενεχθῶσι, καί ὑπόκειμαι ταῖς δοκούσαις τῷ νόμῳ ποιναῖς. Καί λέγει· Ἐγώ οὐκ ἔχω ἐπιστολήν, ἀλλ' οὔτε οἶδ, εἰ ὅλως ἔγραψέ σοι. Ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ φοσάτῳ ταῦτα κατ' ἐκεῖνον ἐλάλουν πάντες τόν καιρόν. Λέγειν πρός αὐτόν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος· Εἰ τό φοσάτον ὅλον τοῦτο διελάλει, πῶς σύ μόνος τοῦτο σικοφαντεῖς με; Ἐθεώρησάς μέ ποτε, ἤ ἐγώ σε; Καί λέγει· Οὔδέποτε. Τότε στραφείς πρός τήν σύγκλητον ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος εἶπεν· Εἰ δίκαιόν ἐστι τοιούτους παρακομίζεσθαι κατηγόρους, ἤ μάρτυρας, κρίνατε· Ὧ γαρ κρίματι κρίνετε, κριθήσεσθε· καί οἵῳ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε, μετρηθήσεσθε, φησίν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός.

Β΄. Καί μετά τοῦτον φέρουσι Σέργιον τόν Μαγουδάν, λέγοντα· Πρό ἐννέα ἐτῶν ὁ μακάριος ἀββᾶς Θωμᾶς ἐλθών ἀπόῬώμης εἶπέ μοι, ὅτι ὁ Πάππας Θεόδωρος ἔπεμψέ με πρός τόν πατρίκιον Γρηγόριον, ἵνα εἴπω αὐτῷ, μή φοβηθῆναί τινα. Ὁ γάρ δοῦλος τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ ἀββᾶς Μάξιμος ἐθεώρησεν ὄναρ, ὅτι κατ' οὐρανούς εἰς ἀνατολάς καί δυσμάς ἦσαν δῆμοι ἀγγέλων· καί οἱ μέν εἰς ἀνατολάς ἔκραζον· Κωνσταντῖνε Αὔγουστε, τοῦ βίγκας· οἱ δέ εἰς δυσμάς ἐβόουν· Γρηγόριε Αὔγουστε, τοῦ βίγκας· καί ὑπερίσχυσεν ἡ φωνή τῶν εἰς δυσμάς, τήν τῶν εἰς ἀνατολήν φωνήν. Καί τότε