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they glorify; and some reject marriage, opining that it is not the work of God, others abhor certain foods, while others fornicate shamelessly, such as the now falsely named Nicolaitans. However, Simon first met me, Peter, in Caesarea Stratonis, where Cornelius the faithful, being a gentile, believed in the Lord Jesus through me, and having met me he attempted to pervert the word of God, in the presence of my holy children, Zacchaeus the former tax-collector and Barnabas, and Nicetas and Aquila, brothers of Clement the bishop and citizen of the Romans, who was also a disciple of Paul our fellow apostle and coworker in the Gospel; and for the third time I disputed with him in their presence concerning the doctrine of the prophet and concerning the monarchy of God, I defeated him by the power of the Lord and, casting him into speechlessness, made him a fugitive to Italy. And having arrived in Rome, he greatly despoiled the Church, subverting many and winning them over to himself, and astounding the nations by his magical experience and the working of demons, so that once, having come forward into their theater in the middle of the day, after ordering the people to seize me too, he promised in the theater to fly through the air. And while everyone was in suspense at this, I prayed by myself, and indeed, raised up by demons, he flew aloft into the air, saying that he was ascending into the heavens and from there he would supply them with good things; and as the people were acclaiming him as a god, I stretched out my hands to heaven and with my very mind besought God through Jesus the Lord to break the destroyer and to cut short the power of the demons which they used for the deception and destruction of men, and to break him but not to kill him, but to crush him. And I took it up, and gazing intently I said to Simon: “If I am a man of God, a true apostle of Jesus Christ and a teacher of piety, and not of error, such as you are, Simon, I command the wicked powers of the apostate from piety, upon which Simon the magician is borne, to release their hold, so that from on high he may be brought down to the laughter of those who have been deceived by him.” And as I said these things, Simon, deprived of the powers, was brought down with a great noise, and being broken by a terrible fall, his hip and the ankles of his feet are shattered. And a voice of the crowd, saying: “There is one God, whom Peter rightly proclaims in truth alone.” And many departed from him, but some worthy

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δοξάζουσιν· καὶ οἱ μὲν τὸν γάμον ἀθετοῦσιν, οὐκ εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔργον δοξάζοντες, ἄλλοι δέ τινα τῶν βρωμάτων βδελύσσονται, οἱ δὲ ἀναίδην ἐκπορνεύουσιν, οἷοι οἱ νῦν ψευδώνυμοι Νικολαΐται. Ὁ μέντοι Σίμων ἐμοὶ Πέτρῳ πρῶτον μὲν ἐν Καισαρείᾳ τῇ Στράτωνος, ἔνθα Κορνήλιος ὁ πιστὸς ἐπίστευ σεν ὢν ἐθνικὸς ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν δι' ἐμοῦ, συντυχών μοι ἐπειρᾶτο διαστρέφειν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, συμπαρόντων μοι τῶν ἱερῶν τέκνων, Ζακχαίου τοῦ ποτε τελώνου καὶ Βαρνάβα, καὶ Νικήτου καὶ Ἀκύλα ἀδελφῶν Κλήμεντος τοῦ Ῥωμαίων ἐπισκόπου τε καὶ πολίτου, μαθητευθέντος δὲ καὶ Παύλῳ τῷ συναποστόλῳ ἡμῶν καὶ συνεργῷ ἐν τῷ Eὐαγγε λίῳ· καὶ τρίτον ἐπ' αὐτῶν διαλεχθεὶς αὐτῷ εἰς τὸν περὶ προφήτου λόγον καὶ περὶ Θεοῦ μοναρχίας, ἡττήσας αὐτὸν δυνάμει τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ εἰς ἀφωνίαν καταβαλὼν φυγάδα κατέστησα εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν. Γενόμενος δὲ ἐν Ῥώμῃ πολὺ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἔσκυλεν, πολλοὺς ἀνατρέπων καὶ ἑαυτῷ περιποιούμενος, τά τε ἔθνη ἐξιστῶν μαγικῇ ἐμπειρίᾳ καὶ δαιμόνων ἐνεργείᾳ, ὡς καί ποτε μέσης ἡμέρας προελθὼν εἰς τὸ θέατρον αὐτῶν, κελεύσας τοῖς δήμοις ἁρπαγῆναι κἀμέ, ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ἐπηγγέλλετο πτῆναι δι' ἀέρος. Πάντων δὲ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μετεώρων τυγχανόντων ἐγὼ προσηυχόμην καθ' ἑαυτόν, καὶ δὴ μετεωρισθεὶς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων ἵπτατο μετάρσιος εἰς ἀέρα, λέγων εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνιέναι κἀκεῖθεν αὐτοῖς τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐπιχορηγήσειν· τῶν δὲ δήμων ἐπευφημούντων αὐτὸν ὡς θεόν, ἐκτείνας ἐγὼ τὰς χεῖρας εἰς οὐρανὸν σὺν αὐτῇ τῇ διανοίᾳ ἱκέτευον τὸν Θεὸν διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ·ῆξαι τὸν λυμεῶνα καὶ τὴν ἰσχὺν τῶν δαιμόνων περικόψαι ἐπ' ἀπάτῃ καὶ ἀπωλείᾳ ἀνθρώπων κεχρημένων αὐτῇ, ·άξαντα δὲ μὴ θανατῶσαι, ἀλλὰ συντρῖψαι. Καὶ ὑπολαβών, ἀτενίσας εἶπον τῷ Σίμωνι· «Eἰ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος ἐγώ, ἀπόστολος δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀληθὴς καὶ διδάσκαλος εὐσεβείας, ἀλλ' οὐ πλάνης, οἷος σὺ Σίμων, προστάσσω ταῖς πονηραῖς δυνάμεσιν τοῦ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀποστάτου, ἐφ' αἷς ὀχεῖται Σίμων ὁ μάγος, ἀφεῖναι τῆς κρατήσεως, ὅπως ἐξ ὕψους κατενεχθῇ εἰς γέλωτα τῶν ἀπατηθέντων ὑπ' αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ εἰπόντος μου ταῦτα, περι κοπεὶς τῶν δυνάμεων ὁ Σίμων μετὰ μεγάλου ἤχου κατηνέχθη καὶ ·αγεὶς πτῶμα ἐξαίσιον συντρίβεται τὸ ἰσχίον καὶ τῶν ποδῶν τοὺς ταρσούς. Καὶ φωνὴ τῶν ὄχλων λέγουσα· «Eἷς Θεός, ὃν Πέτρος δικαίως καταγγέλλει τῇ ἀληθείᾳ μόνον.» Καὶ πολλοὶ ἀπέστησαν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, τινὲς δὲ ἄξιοι