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he subjected with a bridle and indeed he also compelled the Scythian nations to bow to his sceptres; but the legislation of the fishermen and the shoemaker he was not 9.22 strong enough to abolish. And Hadrian utterly destroyed the city of those who had crucified Jesus, but he did not persuade those who had believed in this one to abandon his service. And Antoninus after them and Verus his son set up many splendid trophies against the barbarians and imposed the yoke of their dynasty on those who embraced an independent life; but those who loved to bear the yoke of the saving cross they neither persuaded nor compelled to abandon what they loved, and this after frightening them with many threats, and using very many punishments. 9.23 And to leave aside Commodus and Maximian and all the others who had reigned up to Aurelian and Carus and Carinus, who is ignorant of the madness of Diocletian and Maximian and Maxentius and Maximinus and Licinius against piety? For they did not strike down those who believed in Christ one by one, nor by twos or threes, but in herds they speared them and killed them by 9.24 thousands and tens of thousands. And in some cities they even burned the churches, filled with men and women and children; and on the very day of the saving passion, on which we celebrate the memory both of the passion and of the Lord's resurrection, they destroyed all the churches in the Roman empire. 9.25 But while they destroyed the structures of stones, they did not destroy the piety of souls. And what things were dared against the Christians even in the reign of Julian, the old know, and we too have heard from the accounts of those who saw that tragedy; but all these men, being so many and ruling such a great kingdom and having destroyed the audacity of so many barbarians and having fought brilliantly in wars, using countless devices, 9.26 did not prevail over men who lived by the work of their hands and rustics and those living with poverty and women who provided for their life from spinning. And why do I speak of men and women? For they were not even able to cast out the doctrines concerning God and our Savior from young boys who had been taught their first letters; and raving like Corybantes and raging and using countless contrivances and sophistries, they did not destroy the laws of the fishermen, but by fighting they showed them to be much stronger and were simply like those who wish to extinguish a flame, but bring oil to it and 9.27 make it more violent. For indeed they too, by their war against piety, made the power of the truth manifest. And just as of old the fire burning that bush did not consume it, so the weapons of those making war did not consume those being warred against; but just as when woodcutters cut trees, many more shoots sprout from the roots than those that were cut, so indeed at that time when the pious were being killed, many times more came to the teaching of the gospels, and the blood of those who were cut down became an irrigation for the new plants. 9.28 And what is seen bears witness; for those now adorned with the name of the faith are ten thousand times more numerous than those who believed of old. For the children of the enemies, abominating the rage of their fathers, went over to the phalanx of those who were warred against; and the things of the Greeks are gone and have been given over to complete oblivion, but the things of the fishermen have blossomed, and he who is preached by them is believed to be God of all. And the cities 9.29 are full of those who think these things, and the villages are full, and the mountains are free from the deceiver, for instead of those altars and the old deceit, choirs of ascetics inhabit these, hymning the crucified one and his Father and the all-holy Spirit. 9.30 But if anyone has supposed that the piety of the emperors strengthened the doctrines of the fishermen, by this too he shows the strength of these doctrines. For they would not have despised both old laws and ancient writings

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ὑπέταξε χαλινῷ καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὰ Σκυθικὰ ἔθνη τοῖς σκήπτροις ὑποκύπτειν ἠνάγκασε· τὴν δὲ τῶν ἁλιέων καὶ τοῦ σκυτοτόμου καταλῦσαι νομοθεσίαν οὐκ 9.22 ἴσχυσεν. Καὶ Ἀδριανὸς τῶν μὲν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐσταυρωκότων ἄρδην τὴν πόλιν κατέλυσε, τοὺς δὲ τούτῳ πεπιστευκότας ἀφεῖναι τὴν ἐκείνου δουλείαν οὐκ ἔπεισεν. Καὶ Ἀντωνῖνος δὲ ὁ μετ' ἐκείνους καὶ Οὔηρος ὁ ἐξ ἐκείνου πολλὰ μὲν καὶ λαμπρὰ κατὰ βαρβάρων τρόπαια ἐστησάτην καὶ αὐτόνομον βίον ἀσπαζομένοις τὸν τῆς δυναστείας ἐπιτεθεικάτην ζυγόν· τοὺς δὲ τοῦ σωτηρίου σταυροῦ τὸν ζυγὸν φέρειν ἠγαπηκότας οὔτε ἐπεισάτην οὔτε ἠναγκασάτην καταλιπεῖν ὃν ἠγάπησαν, καὶ ταῦτα πολλαῖς μὲν ἀπειλαῖς δεδιξάμενοι, παμπόλλαις δὲ τιμωρίαις χρησάμενοι. 9.23 Καὶ ἵνα Κόμοδον καταλίπω καὶ Μαξιμιανὸν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας τοὺς ἄχρις Αὐρηλιανοῦ καὶ Κάρου καὶ Καρίνου βεβασι λευκότας, τίς ἀγνοεῖ τὴν ∆ιοκλητιανοῦ καὶ Μαξιμιανοῦ καὶ Μαξεντίου καὶ Μαξιμίνου καὶ Λικινίου κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας μα νίαν; οὐ γὰρ καθ' ἕνα γε οὗτοι οὐδὲ κατὰ δύο ἢ τρεῖς τοὺς τῷ Χριστῷ πεπιστευκότας, ἀλλ' ἀγεληδὸν κατηκόντιζον καὶ κατὰ 9.24 χιλίους καὶ μυρίους ἀνῄρουν. Ἐν δέ τισι πόλεσι καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν καὶ παίδων πεπληρωμένας ἐνέπρησαν· καὶ κατ' αὐτήν γε τὴν τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἡμέραν, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τοῦ πάθους καὶ τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἀναστάσεως τὴν μνήμην πανηγυ ρίζομεν, ἁπάσας τὰς ἐν τῇ Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίᾳ κατέλυσαν ἐκκλησίας. 9.25 Ἀλλὰ τὰς μὲν τῶν λίθων ἁρμονίας διέλυσαν, τὴν δὲ τῶν ψυχῶν εὐσέβειαν οὐ κατέλυσαν. Ὁποῖα δὲ κατὰ Χριστιανῶν κἀν τῇ Ἰουλιανοῦ τετόλμηται βασιλείᾳ, ἴσασι μὲν οἱ γεγηρακότες, ἀκηκόαμεν δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς διηγουμένων τῶν τὴν τραγῳδίαν ἐκείνην ἑωρακότων· ἀλλ' οὗτοι ἅπαντες, τοσοῦτοί γε ὄντες καὶ τοσαύτην ἰθύνοντες βασιλείαν καὶ τοσούτων βαρβάρων καταλύσαντες θράσος καὶ λαμπρῶς ἐν πολέμοις ἠριστευκότες, ἀποχειροβιώτων ἀνθρώ πων καὶ ἀγροίκων καὶ πενίᾳ ξυζώντων καὶ γυναικῶν ἐκ ταλα σιουργίας ποριζομένων τὸν βίον, μυρίαις χρησάμενοι μηχαναῖς, 9.26 οὐκ ἐκράτησαν. Καὶ τί λέγω ἄνδρας τε καὶ γυναῖκας; οὐδὲ γὰρ μειρακίων τὰ πρῶτα στοιχεῖα πεπαιδευμένων τὰς περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐκβαλεῖν ἠδυνήθησαν δόξας· καὶ κορυβαν τιῶντες καὶ λυττῶντες καὶ τεχνάσμασι καὶ σοφίσμασι κεχρημένοι μυρίοις, τοὺς τῶν ἁλιέων οὐ κατέλυσαν νόμους, ἀλλ' ἰσχυροτέ ρους πολλῷ πολεμοῦντες ἀπέφηναν καὶ ἀτεχνῶς ἐῴκεσαν τοῖς σβεννύναι μὲν ἐθέλουσι φλόγα, ἔλαιον δὲ ταύτῃ προσφέρουσι καὶ 9.27 σφοδροτέραν ἐργαζομένοις. Καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ οὗτοι τῷ κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας πολέμῳ κατάδηλον εἰργάσαντο τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ κράτος. Καὶ καθάπερ πάλαι τὴν βάτον ἐκείνην καῖον τὸ πῦρ οὐ κατέ καιεν, οὕτως τοὺς πολεμουμένους τὰ τῶν πολεμούντων οὐκ ἀνήλισκε βέλη· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ τῶν δρυτόμων τὰ δένδρα τεμνόντων, πολλῷ πλείους τῶν τεμνομένων ἐκ τῶν ῥιζῶν παραφυάδες βλαστάνουσιν, οὕτω δὴ τηνικαῦτα τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἀναιρουμένων, πολλαπλάσιοι τῇ τῶν εὐαγγελίων διδασκαλίᾳ προσῄεσαν, καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῶν ἐκτμηθέντων ἀρδεία τοῖς νεοφύτοις ἐγίνετο. 9.28 Καὶ μαρτυρεῖ τὰ ὁρώμενα· μυριοπλάσιοι γὰρ τῶν πάλαι πε πιστευκότων οἱ νῦν τῷ τῆς πίστεως ὀνόματι καλλυνόμενοι. Τῶν γὰρ πολεμίων οἱ παῖδες, τὴν τῶν πατέρων βδελυξάμενοι λύτταν, εἰς τὴν τῶν πολεμουμένων μετέβησαν φάλαγγα· καὶ φροῦδα μὲν τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ παντελεῖ παραδέδοται λήθῃ, τέθηλε δὲ τὰ τῶν ἁλιέων, καὶ ὁ παρὰ τούτων κηρυττόμενος Θεὸς εἶναι τῶν ὅλων πεπίστευται. Καὶ τῶν ταῦτα φρονούντων πλήρεις 9.29 μὲν αἱ πόλεις, πλήρεις δὲ αἱ κῶμαι, ἐλεύθερα δὲ τοῦ πλάνου τὰ ὄρη, ἀντὶ γὰρ τῶν βωμῶν ἐκείνων καὶ τῆς παλαιᾶς ἐξα πάτης οἱ τῶν ἀσκητῶν ταῦτα οἰκοῦσι χοροῖ, τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον ὑμνοῦντες καὶ τὸν ἐκείνου Πατέρα καὶ τὸ πανάγιον Πνεῦμα. 9.30 Εἰ δέ τις ὑπείληφε τὴν τῶν βασιλέων εὐσέβειαν κρατῦναι τῶν ἁλιέων τὰ δόγματα, καὶ ταύτῃ δείκνυσι τὴν τουτωνὶ τῶν δογμά των ἰσχύν. Οὐ γὰρ ἂν καὶ νόμων παλαιῶν κατεφρόνησαν καὶ ξυγγραμμάτων ἀρχαίων