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Perhaps some wooden images and instruments were found of those who were then being initiated or consecrated there, which seemed ridiculous and strange to those who saw them. But the Christians, having publicly displayed these things, paraded them, mocking the Hellenists. 5.7.7 And they, having gathered a crowd together, attacked the Christians, some armed with swords or stones, others with whatever weapon came to hand; and having killed many, and having crucified some in mockery of the religion, they left most of them wounded. From this, the Christians left the work they had begun unfinished, while the Hellenists, when Julian's reign began, 5.7.8 killed George. And the emperor himself testifies that this was so. This he would not have confessed, unless he had been compelled by the truth; for he wished, I think, that George's murderers be either Christians of some kind or Hellenes. But still he did not conceal it; for indeed he appears in his letter to the Alexandrians on this matter to have been angry in appearance. But he only reproached them in writing and forgave the punishment, out of reverence, he says, for Sarapis their city's guardian and Alexander the founder and Julian his uncle, who before this had ruled Egypt and Alexandria, a man especially delighted in Hellenism and who hated the Christians exceedingly, so that as far as was in his power, contrary to the opinion of the emperor, the Christians should suffer evil even unto blood. 5.8.1 It is said, indeed, that when he was then endeavoring to take away and transfer to the emperor's treasuries the very numerous and precious offerings of the church of the Syrian Antioch, and to close the places of prayer, all the clerics fled, but only Theodoret the presbyter did not withdraw from the city; whom, as a guardian of the treasures who was able to reveal the knowledge of them, he seized and tortured terribly; and finally he ordered him to be killed by the sword, as he had answered bravely throughout all the torture 5.8.2 and was renowned in his confessions for the faith. And when he had plundered the sacred vessels, he turned them over on the ground and mocked, and having blasphemed Christ as much as he wished, he sat upon them and increased the outrage. And immediately his private parts and the necessary passages around them were corrupted; and the flesh there, having rotted, turned into worms, and the 5.8.3 affliction overcame the skill of the physicians. And yet out of reverence and fear for the emperor they tried every kind of remedy; and sacrificing costly and fat birds, they plastered the corrupted parts with their fat and drew the worms to the surface. But they accomplished nothing; for, hiding in the depths, they crept toward the living flesh, and until they 5.8.4 killed him, they did not cease to gnaw. And it seemed that he suffered such a calamity by the wrath of God, since also the keeper of the imperial treasuries and certain others of those entrusted to rule in the palace, having acted insolently against the church, ended their lives in a strange and pitiful manner, as if condemned by divine anger. 5..1 But since I have been brought to this point in my account and have related the killing of George and Theodoret, I think it is the right time to make mention of Eusebius and Nestabus and Zeno the brothers; whom, being Christians, the people of Gaza, hating them on this account, arrested as they were hiding at home and first handed over to the prison 5..2 and scourged. Then, having gathered in the theater, they cried out many things against them, as having wronged the sacred rites and in the past time having misused their power for the demolition and insult of Hellenism. And while shouting and urging one another on to their 5..3 murder, they were filled with rage. And having exhorted themselves, as a seditious mob is accustomed, they ran down to the prison; and having brought them out, they treated them most cruelly, dragging them now on their faces, now on their backs, and dashing them against the ground, and striking them as they happened to, some with stones, some with sticks, and others 5..4 with whatever they chanced upon. And I learned, moreover, that the women also from the looms

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ξόανα μὲν ἴσως καὶ ὄργανά τινα εὑρέθη τῶν ἐνθάδε τότε μυούντων ἢ τελουμένων, ἃ τοῖς ὁρῶσι γελοῖά τε καὶ ξένα ἐδόκει. δημοσίᾳ δὲ ταῦτα προθέντες οἱ Χριστιανοὶ ἐπόμπευον ἐπιτωθάζοντες τοῖς ῾Ελλη5.7.7 νισταῖς. οἱ δὲ πλῆθος εἰς ταὐτὸν συλλεγέντες ἐπῆλθον τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς, οἱ μὲν ξίφεσιν ἢ λίθοις, οἱ δὲ ἑτέρῳ τῳ ὡς ἔτυχεν ὁπλισάμενοι· καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνελόντες, τοὺς δὲ καὶ σταυρώσαντες ἐφ' ὕβρει τῆς θρησκείας, τραυματίας τοὺς πλείστους κατέστησαν. ἐκ δὲ τούτου Χριστιανοὶ μὲν τὸ ἀρχθὲν ἔργον ἀτελὲς ἐγκατέλιπον, οἱ δὲ ῾Ελληνισταὶ ἐπιλαβούσης τῆς ᾿Ιουλιανοῦ βασιλείας 5.7.8 τὸν Γεώργιον ἀνεῖλον. μαρτυρεῖ δὲ καὶ βασιλεὺς αὐτὸς τοῦθ' οὕτως ἔχειν. ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν ὡμολόγησεν, εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐβιάσθη· ἤθελε γάρ, οἶμαι, Χριστιανοὺς οἱουσδήποτε ἢ ῞Ελληνας εἶναι τοὺς Γεωργίου φονέας. ἀλλ' ὅμως οὐκ ἀπεκρύψατο· φαίνεται γοῦν ἐν τῇ περὶ τούτου πρὸς 5.7. ᾿Αλεξανδρέας ἐπιστολῇ δόξας χαλεπαίνειν. μέχρι δὲ γραμμάτων μόνον ἐμέμψατο καὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν συνεχώρησεν, αἰδοῖ, φησί, τῇ πρὸς Σάραπιν τὸν αὐτῶν πολιοῦχον καὶ ᾿Αλέξανδρον τὸν οἰκιστὴν καὶ ᾿Ιουλιανὸν τὸν αὐτοῦ θεῖον, ὃς πρὸ τούτου Αἰγύπτου καὶ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἦρξεν, ἀνὴρ ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ῾Ελληνισμῷ χαίρων καὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ὑπερφυῶς μισῶν, ὡς τό γε κατ' αὐτόν, ὑπεναντίον τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος γνώμης, καὶ μέχρις αἵματος κακῶς παθεῖν τοὺς Χριστιανούς. 5.8.1 Λέγεται γοῦν σπουδάζοντος αὐτοῦ τότε ἀφελέσθαι καὶ εἰς τοὺς βασιλέως μεταθέσθαι θησαυροὺς πλεῖστα ὄντα καὶ τιμιώτατα τὰ ἀναθήματα τῆς ᾿Αντιοχέων Σύρων ἐκκλησίας καὶ τοὺς εὐκτηρίους τόπους ἀποκλεῖσαι, φυγεῖν μὲν πάντας τοὺς κληρικούς, μόνον δὲ Θεοδώρητον τὸν πρεσβύτερον μὴ ὑποχωρῆσαι τῆς πόλεως· ὃν ὡς φύλακα τῶν κειμηλίων τὴν τούτων γνῶσιν καταμηνῦσαι δυνάμενον συλλαβὼν δεινῶς ᾐκίσατο· καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀναιρεθῆναι ξίφει προσέταξε, παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν βάσανον ἀνδρείως ἀποκρινάμενον 5.8.2 καὶ ἐν ταῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ δόγματος ὁμολογίαις εὐδοκιμηκότα. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ ἱερὰ σκεύη ἐληίσατο, περιστρέψας αὐτὰ κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους ἐπετώθασε, καὶ βλασφημήσας ὅσα γε ἠβούλετο τὸν Χριστὸν ἐκάθισεν ἐπ' αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ὕβριν ἐπηύξησεν. αὐτίκα δὲ τὸ αἰδοῖον καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τοῦτο ἀναγκαίους πόρους διεφθάρη· κατασαπεῖσαί τε αἱ τῇδε σάρκες εἰς σκώληκας μετέβαλον, καὶ τὸ 5.8.3 πάθος ἐκράτει τῆς τῶν ἰατρῶν τέχνης. καὶ μέντοι τῇ πρὸς βασιλέα αἰδοῖ καὶ δέει διὰ παντοδαπῆς φαρμάκων πείρας ἐληλύθεσαν· πολυτίμους τε καὶ πίονας ὄρνεις θύοντες, τῷ τούτων λίπει τὰ διεφθορότα μόρια ἐπέπλαττον καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐξεκαλοῦντο τοὺς σκώληκας. ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ἤνυον· ἐν βάθει γὰρ κατακρυπτόμενοι πρὸς τὰς ζώσας σάρκας εἷρπον, καὶ ἐσότε αὐτὸν 5.8.4 ἀνεῖλον, οὐ διέλιπον κείροντες. ἐδόκει δὲ κατὰ θεομηνίαν τοιαύτῃ χρήσασθαι συμφορᾷ, καθότι καὶ ὁ τῶν βασιλικῶν ταμιείων φύλαξ καὶ ἄλλοι τινὲς τῶν ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις ἄρχειν ἐπιτετραμμένων, νεανιευσάμενοι κατὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, παραδόξως καὶ ἐλεεινῶς τὸν βίον κατέλυσαν, ὡς ὑπὸ θείας ὀργῆς καταδικασθέντες. 5..1 ᾿Επεὶ δὲ εἰς τοῦτο προήχθην λόγου καὶ τὴν Γεωργίου καὶ Θεοδωρήτου ἀναίρεσιν διεξῆλθον, καιρὸν ἔχειν δοκῶ ποιήσασθαι μνήμην Εὐσεβίου καὶ Νεστάβου καὶ Ζήνωνος τῶν ἀδελφῶν· οὓς Χριστιανοὺς ὄντας κατὰ τοῦτο μισῶν ὁ τῶν Γαζαίων δῆμος οἴκοι κρυπτομένους συνελάβοντο καὶ δεσμωτη5..2 ρίῳ τὰ πρῶτα παρέδοσαν καὶ ἐμαστίγωσαν. ἔπειτα συνελθόντες εἰς τὸ θέατρον πλεῖστα αὐτῶν κατεβόησαν, ὡς κακουργησάντων τὰ ἱερὰ καὶ ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει καὶ ὕβρει τοῦ ῾Ελληνισμοῦ τῷ παρελθόντι χρόνῳ ἀποχρησαμένων. ἐν δὲ τῷ κεκραγέναι καὶ παροτρύνειν ἀλλήλους εἰς τὸν κατ' αὐτῶν 5..3 φόνον ἐνεπλήσθησαν θυμοῦ. καὶ παρακελευσάμενοι ἑαυτοῖς, οἷά γε δῆμος στασιάζων εἴωθε, κατέδραμον εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον· καὶ ἐξαγαγόντες αὐτοὺς ὠμότατα διεχρήσαντο πῇ μὲν πρηνεῖς, πῇ δὲ ὑπτίους ἕλκοντες καὶ τῷ ἐδάφει προσρηγνύντες καὶ ᾗ ἔτυχον παίοντες, οἱ μὲν λίθοις, οἱ δὲ ξύλοις, ἄλλοι δὲ 5..4 ἄλλοις τισὶ τοῖς ἐπιτυχοῦσιν. ἐπυθόμην δὲ αὖ, ὡς καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες ἐκ τῶν ἱστῶν