John Malalas, Chronography

having embalmed him with myrrh, they kept him for their own glory; and the rest of his multitude they cut down. And the emperor Numerian died, being 36 years old. And after the reign of Numerian, Carinus Augustus his brother reigned for 2 years. He was of short stature, stout, with a broad face, fair-skinned, with curly hair, bald on the forehead, with a thin beard, magnanimous. And he favored the Green faction. As soon as he became emperor, he marched against the Persians for the avenging of his own brother Numerian; and he overcame them decisively. And during his reign the saints Cosmas and Damian died in this way, being envied by their own teacher. For they were physicians by profession, and were beloved by the emperor Carinus, as they performed healings; for this happened to the same emperor Carinus. After clashing with the Persians and gaining the upper hand and cutting down an infinite multitude of them, since a very harsh winter had set in, the Persians asked for a three-month truce; and because of the severity of the winter, sparing his own army, as it was exhausted, he granted the request for peace for three months. And taking his own multitude, he came to the so-called land of the Cyrrhesticans, 305 wanting both to rest his own army and for the wounded to be healed. And when he came among the Cyrrhesticans in the winter, and while he was staying there and treating of the affairs of the war, it happened suddenly that his face was turned backwards. And although many physicians were attending the same emperor and had helped him not at all, the physicians of the country were ordered to come in to the emperor, as they knew the climate of their own land. Among whom the teacher of the saints Cosmas and Damian also came in to the emperor, and the saints came in together with him. And when the physicians were able to help the emperor Carinus not at all, the saints Cosmas and Damian secretly spoke with some of the emperor's chief men in order to heal him. And the saints were brought to the emperor at night and they healed him through their own prayer. And he believed in them, saying that These men are servants of the most high God. And having become well and restored as he was before, he held them in honor, and all his chief men. And having been entreated by the saints themselves, he immediately issued his divine edict to the whole Roman state, so that none of those called Christians should suffer any evil, nor be prevented from worshipping as they wish. But their teacher, having been introduced by the other official physicians who attended the same emperor, and seeing the love for the saints which the emperor had for them, 306 waited, envying them. And after the same emperor Carinus went out from the Cyrrhesticans to the Persian lands, by treachery the teacher of the saints Cosmas and Damian, taking them with his own men into the mountains, threw them from a cliff, as being of the dogma of the Christians, and thus the righteous were perfected. And in the midst of the time of the war the same Carinus died a natural death, being 32 years old. And after the reign of Carinus, Diocletian reigned for 20 years and 9 months. And he was tall, thin, with a dry complexion, completely gray on the head and beard, fair-skinned in body, with light-colored eyes, a thick nose, slightly stooped, very magnanimous and a lover of building. And he was proclaimed emperor in the consulship of Bassus and Quintianus. And during his reign there was a great darkness the whole day; and after three years of his reign he made Caesar his son Maximian, also called Herculian. And when the Persians made a move, Diocletian, having armed himself, marched out together with Maximian. And when they reached Antioch the great, the same Diocletian sent Maximian the Caesar against the Persians and the same Diocletian remained in Antioch. And he built there

σμυρνιάσαντες ἐφύλαξαν αὐτὸν εἰς ἰδίαν δόξαν· τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν πλῆθος αὐτοῦ κατέκοψαν. τελευτᾷ δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Νουμεριανὸς ὢν ἐνιαυτῶν λςʹ. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν Νουμεριανοῦ ἐβασίλευσε Καρῖνος Αὔγουστος ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἔτη βʹ. ἦν δὲ κονδοειδής, παχύς, πλάτοψις, λευκός, οὐλόθριξ, ἀναφάλας, σπανός, μεγαλόψυχος. ἐφίλει δὲ τὸ Πράσινον μέρος. Ἢ μόνον δὲ ἐβασίλευσεν, ἐπεστράτευσε κατὰ Περσῶν εἰς ἐκδίκησιν τοῦ ἰδίου αὐτοῦ ἀδελφοῦ Νουμεριανοῦ· καὶ περιεγένετο αὐτῶν κατὰ κράτος. ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας ἐτελεύτησαν οἱ ἅγιοι Κοσμᾶς καὶ ∆αμιανὸς τῷ τρόπῳ τούτῳ, φθονηθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου αὐτῶν ἐπιστάτου. ἦσαν γὰρ ἰατροὶ τὴν ἐπιστήμην, ἠγαπῶντο δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως Καρίνου, ὡς ποιοῦντες ἰάσεις· συνέβη γὰρ τοῦτο γενέσθαι τῷ αὐτῷ Καρίνῳ βασιλεῖ. μετὰ τὸ συγκροῦσαι τοῖς Πέρσαις καὶ τὰς ἐπάνω ἐνέγκαι καὶ κόψαι ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄπειρον πλῆθος χειμῶνος βαρυτάτου γενομένου ᾔτησαν οἱ Πέρσαι μηνῶν τριῶν ἔνδοσιν γενέσθαι· καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐπαχθὲς τοῦ χειμῶνος φειδόμενος τοῦ ἰδίου στρατοῦ, ὡς κοπωθέντι, ἐνέδωκε τῶν τριῶν μηνῶν τὴν αἴτησιν τῆς εἰρήνης. καὶ λαβὼν τὸ ἴδιον πλῆθος ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν λεγομένην χώραν τῶν Κυρηστικῶν, 305 βουλόμενος καὶ τὸν ἴδιον στρατὸν ἀναπαῦσαι καὶ τοὺς πληγάτους θεραπευθῆναι. ἐλθόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς Κυρηστικοῖς ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι, κἀκεῖ αὐτοῦ διάγοντος καὶ τὰ τοῦ πολέμου τρακταΐζοντος, συνέβη ἐξαίφνης τὴν ὄψιν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω στραφῆναι. καὶ πολλῶν ἰατρῶν ἀκολουθούντων τῷ αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ μηδὲν αὐτὸν ὠφελησάντων, ἐκελεύσθησαν οἱ τῆς χώρας ἰατροὶ εἰσελθεῖν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, ὡς εἰδότες τοὺς ἀέρας τῆς ἑαυτῶν χώρας. ἐν οἷς εἰσῆλθε καὶ ὁ ἐπιστάτης τῶν ἁγίων Κοσμᾶ καὶ ∆αμιανοῦ πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, καὶ συνεισῆλθαν ἅμα αὐτῷ οἱ ἅγιοι. καὶ μηδὲν δυνηθέντων τῶν ἰατρῶν ὠφελῆσαι τὸν βασιλέα Καρῖνον, οἱ ἅγιοι Κοσμᾶς καὶ ∆αμιανὸς λαθραίως διελέχθησάν τισι τῶν μεγιστάνων τοῦ βασιλέως ἵνα ἰάσωνται αὐτόν. καὶ εἰσηνέχθησαν οἱ ἅγιοι τῷ βασιλεῖ ἐν νυκτὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἰάσαντο αὐτὸν διὰ τῆς ἰδίας προσευχῆς. καὶ ἐπίστευσεν αὐτοῖς, λέγων ὅτι Οὗτοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι δοῦλοι τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου εἰσί. καὶ ὑγιάνας καὶ ἀποκατασταθεὶς ὡς ἦν τὸ πρῴην εἶχεν αὐτοὺς ἐν τιμῇ καὶ πάντες οἱ μεγιστᾶνες αὐτοῦ. παρακληθεὶς δὲ παρ' αὐτῶν τῶν ἁγίων, ἐποίησεν εὐθέως θείαν αὐτοῦ διάταξιν εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν πολιτείαν, ὥστε μηδένα τῶν λεγομένων χριστιανῶν ὑπομεῖναί τι κακόν, μήτε δὲ κωλύεσθαι θρησκεύειν ὡς βούλονται. Ὁ δὲ ἐπιστάτης αὐτῶν εἰσαχθεὶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἀξιωματικῶν ἰατρῶν τῶν ἀκολουθούντων τῷ αὐτῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ ἑωρακὼς τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους ἀγάπην, ἣν εἶχεν ὁ βασιλεὺς πρὸς αὐτούς, 306 φθονῶν αὐτοῖς ἐκαρτέρησε. καὶ μετὰ τὸ ἐξελθεῖν τὸν αὐτὸν βασιλέα Καρῖνον ἐκ τῶν Κυρηστικῶν εἰς τὰ Περσικὰ δόλῳ ὁ ἐπιστάτης τῶν ἁγίων Κοσμᾶ καὶ ∆αμιανοῦ λαβὼν αὐτοὺς μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων αὐτοῦ ἀνθρώπων ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἐκρήμνισεν αὐτούς, ὡς ὄντας ἐκ τοῦ δόγματος τῶν χριστιανῶν, καὶ οὕτως οἱ δίκαιοι ἐτελειώθησαν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ μέσῳ χρόνῳ τοῦ πολέμου ὁ αὐτὸς Καρῖνος τελευτᾷ ἰδίῳ θανάτῳ, ὢν ἐνιαυτῶν λβʹ. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν Καρίνου ἐβασίλευσε ∆ιοκλητιανὸς ἔτη κʹ καὶ μῆνας θʹ. ἦν δὲ μακρός, λεπτός, ξήροψις, ὁλοπόλιος τὴν κάραν καὶ τὸ γένειον, λευκὸς τῷ σώματι, γλαυκός, παχύρινος, ὑπόκυρτος, μεγαλόψυχος πάνυ καὶ φιλοκτίστης. ἀνηγορεύθη δὲ βασιλεὺς ἐπὶ τῆς ὑπατείας Βάσσου καὶ Κυντιανοῦ. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας ἐγένετο σκότος μέγα πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν· μετὰ δὲ τρία ἔτη τῆς βασιλείας αὐτοῦ ἐποίησε Καίσαρα τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Μαξιμιανὸν τὸν καὶ Ἑρκουλλιανόν. τῶν δὲ Περσῶν κινησάντων ὁπλισάμενος ὁ ∆ιοκλητιανὸς ἐπεστράτευσεν ἅμα τῷ Μαξιμιανῷ. καὶ φθασάντων τῶν αὐτῶν Ἀντιόχειαν τὴν μεγάλην, ἔπεμψεν ὁ αὐτὸς ∆ιοκλητιανὸς Μαξιμιανὸν τὸν Καίσαρα κατὰ Περσῶν καὶ ἔμεινεν ὁ αὐτὸς ∆ιοκλητιανὸς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ. καὶ ἔκτισεν ἐκεῖ