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incidentally from the Old and New. But he says that to deny is a matter of indifference, because one who has understood will deny with his mouth under compulsion, but not in his heart. They themselves also bring forth a book, inventing a story that it has fallen from heaven, from which the one who has heard will receive a remission of sins other than the one our Lord granted us, telling monstrous tales. Philip, therefore, having ruled the Romans for 7 years, after the treaty with Sapor, king of the Persians, returns to Rome, and makes war against Decius, proclaimed emperor by the troops, at which time he is also killed. And Decius, having succeeded to the rule for two years, because of his bitter hatred for Philip, stirred up a bitter persecution against the Christians, in which Fabianus, the bishop of this city of Rome, was crowned with the martyr's crown, and Babylas, who was bishop in Antioch, and Alexander of Jerusalem, the holy one, having stood for a second time before the governor's tribunals, dies in prison. Then also Cyprian, distinguished in deeds and words of piety, the great bishop of Carthage, is perfected by martyrdom for Christ. 12th bishop of Antioch, Babylas, martyr, for 13 years. 13th bishop of Alexandria, Heraclas, for 16 years. 36th bishop of Jerusalem, Alexander, who was also a martyr, for 15 years.

445 YEAR OF THE WORLD 5744 Year of the divine incarnation 244 24th of the Romans

Decius reigned for 2 years. 21st bishop of Rome, Cornelius, for 3 years. 13th bishop of Antioch, Fabianus, for 9 years. 14th bishop of Alexandria, Dionysius, for 17 years. 37th bishop of Jerusalem, Mazabanes, for 21 years. When Decius had killed Philip along with his children and ignited the persecution against the Christians, the hierarchs of the notable churches of the world, as has been indicated before, were crowned with martyrdom for Christ: Fabian of the most holy church of the Romans, Babylas of Antioch, and the most holy Alexander of Jerusalem, having twice stood before the tyrannical tribunals and having died in prison after a bold and God-worthy confession. In addition to these, Cyprian also, the great bishop of Carthage, having anointed many with most sacred words and injunctions in the same persecution under Decius, and having eagerly persuaded them to become martyrs, is perfected by martyrdom for the Lord, having wrestled much against the primevally evil dragon, as the writing about him shows, making plain the ineffectiveness of the demonic assault against Justina the holy and fair virgin and the unfeigned nature of his own manifest confession to God. And while many others were perfected for Christ in the same persecution, whose names only the Lord to whom they bore witness knows, Origen, boasting in sophistical arguments and Greek myths, was left behind from so great a crown, not at all through divine goodness, but on account of an arrogant and self-confident mind. But these things do not seem so to Eusebius of Caesarea, who, striving to show him to be greater than all saints and teachers in the 446 sixth book of his Ecclesiastical History, agreeing with him, insults him with many praises, not knowing what he says or about what he is affirming. For having made very little mention of the holy and blessed fathers of these times, I mean Clement the Stromatist, Hippolytus the hieromartyr, Africanus the historian, Dionysius the Great of Alexandria and others, he deifies only the upbringing from childhood of the vain-minded Origen up to his desertion in martyrdom. For concerning both Fabianus, the aforementioned hieromartyr and bishop of Rome, and Babylas of Antioch and Alexander of Jerusalem, he went through it in a few words, but having come to the like-minded Origen, after praising him at great length, he adds something like this about the God-accursed man, saying: So then, the things that happened to Origen during the persecution, of what sort and how many, and what kind of end he met, when the evil demon, contending against the man with his whole army...

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παροδικῶς ἐκ παλαιᾶς καὶ νέας. τὸ δὲ ἀρνεῖσθαι ἀδιά φορόν φησιν, ὅτι ὁ μὲν νοήσας τῷ στόματι ἐν ἀνάγκαις ἀρνήσεται, τῇ δὲ καρδίᾳ οὐχί. φέρουσιν αὐτοὶ καὶ βίβλον ἐξ οὐρανοῦ μυθεύοντες πεπτωκέ ναι, ἧς ὁ ἀκηκοὼς ἄφεσιν λήψεται πταισμάτων ἄλλην παρ' ἣν ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν ἐχαρίσατο ἡμῖν, τερατευόμενοι. Φίλιππος οὖν κρατήσας Ῥωμαίων ἔτη ζʹ μετὰ τὴν εἰς Σαπώρην τὸν Περ σῶν βασιλέα σπονδὴν ἀναζεύγνυσιν ἐν Ῥώμῃ, καὶ πολεμεῖ πρὸς ∆έκιον αὐτοκράτορα παρὰ τῶν στρατευμάτων ἀναρρηθέντα, ἡνίκα καὶ ἀναιρεῖται. ∆έκιος δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν διαδεξάμενος δύο ἔτη διὰ τὸ πρὸς Φίλιππον ἔχθος πικρὸν ἤγειρε κατὰ Χριστιανῶν διωγμόν, ἐν ᾧ Φαβιανὸς ἐπὶ τῆς Ῥώ μης ὁ ταύτης ἐπίσκοπος τὸν μαρτυρικὸν ἀνεδήσατο στέφανον, Βαβυλᾶς τε κατὰ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν ἐπισκοπῶν, καὶ Ἱεροσολύμων Ἀλέξανδρος ὁἱερὸς τὸ δεύτερον παραστὰς ἡγεμονικοῖς βήμασιν ἐπὶ τῆς εἱρκτῆς τελευτᾷ. Τότε καὶ Κυπριανὸς διαπρέπων ἔργοις καὶ λόγοις θεοσεβείας, ὁ μέγας Καρθαγένης ἐπίσκοπος, τῷ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίῳ τελειοῦται. Ἀντιοχείας ιβʹ ἐπίσκοπος Βαβυλᾶς μάρτυς ἔτη ιγʹ. Ἀλεξανδρείας ιγʹ ἐπίσκοπος Ἡρακλᾶς ἔτη ιςʹ. Ἱεροσολύμων λςʹ ἐπίσκοπος Ἀλέξανδρος, ὁ καὶ μάρτυς, ἔτη ιεʹ.

445 ΚΟΣΜΟΥ ΕΤΗ ΕΨΜ∆ Τῆς θείας σαρκώσεως ἔτη σμδʹ Ῥωμαίων κδʹ

ἐβασίλευσε ∆έκιος ἔτη βʹ. Ῥώμης καʹ ἐπίσκοπος Κορνήλιος ἔτη γʹ. Ἀντιοχείας ιγʹ ἐπίσκοπος Φαβιανὸς ἔτη θʹ. Ἀλεξανδρείας ιδʹ ἐπίσκοπος ∆ιονύσιος ἔτη ιζʹ. Ἱεροσολύμων λζʹ ἐπίσκοπος Μαζαβάνης ἔτη καʹ. ∆εκίου Φίλιππον ἀνελόντος ἅμα τοῖς παισὶ καὶ τὸν κατὰ Χριστιανῶν διωγμὸν ἐξάψαντος οἱ τῶν ἐπισήμων ἐκκλησιῶν τῆς οἰκουμένης, ὡς προ εσήμανται, ἱεράρχαι τῷ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίῳ κατεστέφθησαν, Φα βιανὸς μὲν τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἁγιωτάτης ἐκκλησίας, Βαβυλᾶς δὲ τῆς Ἀντιοχέων, καὶ ὁ Ἱεροσολύμων ἱερώτατος Ἀλέξανδρος δὶς παραστὰς τυραννικοῖς βήμασι καὶ τελευτήσας ἐν τῇ φρουρᾷ μετὰ πεπαρρησιασμένην καὶ ἀξιόθεον ὁμολογίαν. Ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ Κυπριανὸς ὁ μέγας Καρθαγένης ἐπίσκοπος πλείστοις ἱεροῖς λόγοις καὶ ἐπιστάλμασιν ὑπαλείψας πολλοὺς ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ κατὰ ∆έκιον διωγμῷ καὶ μάρτυρας προθύμως πείσας γενέσθαι τῷ ὑπὲρ τοῦ κυρίου μαρτυρίῳ τελειοῦται, πολλὰ τῷ ἀρχεκάκῳ δράκοντι ἀντιπαλαίσας, ὡς ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν συγγραφὴ δηλοῖ, τῆς κατὰ Ἰουστίναν τὴν ἁγίαν καλλιπάρθε νον δαιμονιώδους προσβολῆς δηλοῦσα τὸ ἀδρανὲς καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ πρὸς θεὸν προφανοῦς ἐξαγορεύσεως τὸ ἀνυπόκριτον. Πολλῶν δὲ καὶ ἄλλων τελειωθέντων ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ διωγμῷ, ὧν τὰ ὀνόματα μόνος ὁ μαρτυρηθεὶς ὑπ' αὐτῶν κύριος οἶδεν, Ὠριγένης αὐχῶν ἐπὶ λόγοις σεσοφισμένοις καὶ μύθοις Ἑλληνικοῖς ἀπελείφθη τοῦ τηλικούτου στεφάνου, οὐδὲν διὰ θείας χρηστότητος, ἀλλὰ δι' ὑπερήφανον καὶ αὐτοπεποίθητον γνώμην. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα Εὐσεβίῳ τῷ Καισαρεῖ οὐ δοκεῖ, ὃς μείζω πάντων ἁγίων καὶ διδασκάλων αὐτὸν ἀποδεῖξαι σπουδάζων ἐν 446 ἕκτῳ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς αὐτοῦ ἱστορίας λόγῳ ὁμοφρονῶν αὐτῷ πολλοῖς ἐγκωμίοις αὐτὸν ἐνυβρίζει, μὴ εἰδὼς ἃ λέγει ἢ περὶ ὧν διαβεβαιοῦται. πάνυ γὰρ ὀλίγον περὶ τῶν κατὰ τούσδε τοὺς χρόνους ἱερῶν καὶ μακαρίων πατέρων ἐπιμνησθείς, Κλήμεντος λέγω τοῦ Στρωματέως, Ἱππολύτου τοῦ ἱερομάρτυρος, Ἀφρικανοῦ τοῦ ἱστορικοῦ, ∆ιονυσίου τοῦ μεγάλου Ἀλεξανδρείας καὶ ἄλλων, μόνου τοῦ ματαιόφρονος Ὠριγένους τὴν ἐκ παιδὸς ἀναγωγὴν ἐκθειάζει μέχρι τῆς ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ λειποτακτήσεως. Φα βιανοῦ τε γὰρ τοῦ λεχθέντος ἱερομάρτυρος καὶ ἐπισκόπου Ῥώμης πέρι καὶ Βαβυλᾶ τοῦ Ἀντιοχείας καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἱεροσολύμων ἐν ὀλίγοιςδιεξῆλθε τοῖς ῥήμασιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν ὁμόφρονα ἐλθὼν Ὠριγένην πλεῖστα προεγκωμιάσας τὸν θεοκατάρατον ὧδέ που προστίθησι φήσας· Τὰ μὲν οὖν Ὠριγένει κατὰ τὸν διωγμὸν ξυμβάντα οἷα καὶ ὅσα καὶ ὁποίας ἔτυχε τελευτῆς, τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος ἐφαμίλλως τῷ ἀνδρὶ πανστρατιᾷ πα