,

Antiquorum martyriorum collectio A COLLECTION OF ANCIENT MARTYRDOMS.

From the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Pamphilus concerning the

holy martyrs who contended at various times in various cities.

1. In the time of Marcus Antoninus, and Lucius Verus, when a persecution arose in

Smyrna of Asia, many others indeed completed the contest of martyrdom; and the noble Germanicus, given to the wild beasts for food, having compelled and provoked them so that they might more quickly deliver him from this present life; received his blessed end; then also the divine Polycarp was wholly consumed by fire for God; and they say he was also pierced by a sword in the fire itself, since it was not consuming him, and that much blood flowed down from the wound, so that the pyre was extinguished, and his precious relic was found whole and unharmed, which was again burned by the unbelievers; and Pionius, the renowned martyr of that time, having endured unbearable torments, both piercings and rackings, and scourges, and the punishment by fire, attained his blessed end. These things are from the epistle written firsthand by the Church of Smyrna. In the time of the same emperors, Ptolemaeus, having converted a woman of noble birth to piety, was accused by her husband to Urbicius the governor; and when Urbicius ordered him to be led away, the noble Lucius spoke boldly and he too was led away to his death. These things Justin, the one who was truly a great philosopher and a martyr of Christ, says in his apology to Antoninus concerning our doctrine; who himself was also then adorned with divine mar 20.1521 tyrdom. When a certain Crescens, one of the Greek Cynic philosophers, devised a plot, and a persecution arose in Lugdunum of Gaul, very many were adorned with martyrdom for Christ; of whom the most distinguished and noble are especially these. Pothinus, who was bishop of the same city, having been tortured by the common multitude, and thrown into prison, after four days commended his soul to the Lord; after whom Irenaeus was bishop of the parish in Lugdunum. Biblias, being one of those who had denied, when she was also urged to blaspheme the Lord, not enduring to do this, was again stretched out as a slave on the torture rack, and there through the sensible punishment, coming to the memory of the punishment in Gehenna, she confessed herself a Christian again; and thus in the tortures themselves she expired. And to the lot of the martyrs were added Sanctus, a deacon from the city of Vienna, and Maturus; having been punished in every way for many days, at last they were forced to sit on a red-hot iron chair, and at the same time being beaten by all the people, and dragged by the wild beasts that came in, they completed the contest of martyrdom. After them, the noble Blandina, having herself also previously shown the greatest endurance, and having undergone various tortures, was hung on a stake, and was then set forth as food for the beasts that were let in, and when none of them touched her, she was taken down from the stake, and thrown into prison again, being kept for a second contest, in which she again suffered much, after the scourges, after the beasts, after the frying-pan, at last being thrown into a net she was cast before a wild bull, and thus commended her soul to the Lord. With whom also a certain boy, Ponticus, every punishment

Antiquorum martyriorum collectio ΤΩΝ ΑΡΧΑΙΩΝ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΩΝ ΣΥΝΑΓΩΓΗ.

Ἐκ τῆς Εὐσεβίου τοῦ Παμφίλου ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας περὶ τῶν

κατὰ διαφόρους καιροὺς ἐν διαφόροις πόλεσι ἀθλησάντων ἁγίων μαρτύρων.

Αʹ. Ἐπὶ Μάρκου Ἀντωνίνου, καὶ Λουκίου Βήρου, διωγμοῦ κινηθέντος ἐν

Σμύρνῃ τῆς Ἀσίας, πολλοὶ μὲν καὶ ἄλλοι τὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἀγῶνα διήνυσαν· καὶ Γερμανικὸς δὲ ὁ γενναῖος θηρίοις εἰς βορὰν ἐκδοθεὶς βιασάμενός τε καὶ παροξύνας αὐτοὺς ὡς ἂν θᾶττον τῆς παρούσης ζωῆς αὐτὸν ἐξαγάγοιεν· τὸ μακάριον τέλος ἐδέξατο· τότε καὶ ὁ θεῖος Πολύκαρπος διὰ πυρὸς ὡλοκαυτώθη Θεῷ· φασὶ δ' αὐτὸν καὶ ξίφει νυγῆναι ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ πυρὶ, ἐπεὶ μὴ κατεκαίετο ὑπ' αὐτῷ, αἷμά τε ἐκ τῆς πληγῆς καταῤῥεῦσαι πολὺ, ὥστε καὶ τὴν πυρκαϊὰν σβεσθῆναι, καὶ τὸ τίμιον αὐτοῦ λείψανον σῶον εὑρεθῆναι καὶ ἀσινὲς, ὃ καὶ πάλιν παρὰ τῶν ἀπίστων ἐκαύθη· καὶ Πιόνιος δὲ ὁ περιβόητος τῶν τότε μαρτύρων, ἀφορήτους κολάσεις ὑπενεγκὼν καθηλώσεις τε καὶ στρεβλώσεις, καὶ μάστιγας, καὶ τὴν διὰ πυρὸς τιμωρίαν τοῦ μακαρίου τέλους τετύχηκε. Ταῦτα ἐκ τῆς αὐτοπροσώπου τῆς Σμυρναίου Ἐκκλησίας γραφείσης ἐπιστολῆς. Ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν βασιλέων Πτολεμαῖος γυναῖκα τῶν εὐγενῶν πρὸς τὴν εὐσέβειαν μεταζήσας, διεβλήθη παρὰ τοῦ ταύτης ἀνδρὸς Οὐρβικίῳ τῷ ἄρχοντι· καὶ τοῦ Οὐρβικίου κελεύσαντος αὐτὸν ἀπαχθῆναι, Λούκιος ὁ γενναῖος παῤῥησιασάμενος καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπήχθη τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον. Ταῦτα Ἰουστῖνος, ὁ τῷ ὄντι φιλοσοφώτατος καὶ μάρτυς Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον περὶ τοῦ καθ' ἡμᾶς δόγματος ἀπολογίᾳ φησί· ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς θείῳ τότε μαρ 20.1521 τυρίῳ κατακοσμεῖται. Κρέσκεντός τινος τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησιν Κυνικῶν φιλοσόφων τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν συσκευασαμένου, ἐν Λουγδούνῳ τῆς Γαλλίας διωγμοῦ κινηθέντος πλεῖστοι τῷ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ μαρτυρίῳ κατεκοσμήθησαν· ὧν οἱ περιφανέστατοι καὶ γενναιότατοι μάλιστά εἰσιν οὗτοι. Ποθεινὸς ἐπίσκοπος τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως γεγονὼς, ὑπὸ τοῦ δημώδους πλήθους αἰκισθεὶς, καὶ ἐν φυλακῇ ῥιφθεὶς μετὰ δʹ ἡμέρας τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ παρέθετο· μεθ' ὃν Εἰρηναῖος τῆς ἐν Λουγδούνῳ παροικίας ἐπεσκόπευσε. Βιβλιὸς μία οὖσα τῶν ἠρνημένων, ἐπεὶ καὶ βλασφημῆσαι τὸν Κύριον προετρέπετο, τοῦτο δὲ μὴ ἀνασχομένη ποιῆσαι, πάλιν ἐπὶ τοῦ βασανιστηρίου κατετείνετο δούλου, κἀνταῦθα διὰ τῆς αἰσθητῆς τιμωρίας εἰς μνήμην ἐλθοῦσα τῆς ἐν γεέννῃ κολάσεως, Χριστιανὴν αὖθις ἑαυτὴν ὡμολόγει· καὶ οὕτως ἐν αὐταῖς ταῖς βασάνοις ἀπέψυξε. Καὶ τῷ τῶν μαρτύρων προσετέθη κλήρῳ Σάγκτος διάκονος ἐκ πόλεως Βιέννης, καὶ Μάτουρος· παντοίως ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας τιμωρηθέντες, τέλος ἐπὶ σιδηρᾶς ἐκπυρωθείσης καθέδρας ἀναγκασθέντες καθίσαι, καὶ ἅμα ὑπὸ παντὸς τοῦ δήμου παιόμενοι, καὶ θηρίοις ἐπεισελθοῦσιν ἑλκόμενοι, τὸν τοῦ μαρτυρίου ἀγῶνα διήνυσαν. Μεθ' οὓς ἡ γενναῖα Βλανδῖνα πλείστην καὶ αὐτὴ πρότερον καρτερίαν ἐνδειξαμένη, καὶ ποικίλας ὑπενεγκοῦσα βασάνους, ἐπὶ ξύλου κρεμασθεῖσα, τότε προὔκειτο βορὰ τῶν εἰσβαλλομένων θηρίων, καὶ μηδενὸς τούτων αὐτῆς ἁψαμένου, καθαιρεθεῖσα τοῦ ξύλου, πάλιν εἰς τὴν εἱρκτὴν ἐνεβλήθη, πρὸς ἀγῶνα δεύτερον τηρουμένη, καθ' ὃν αὖθις πλεῖστα παθοῦσα, μετὰ τὰς μάστιγας, μετὰ τὰ θηρία, μετὰ τὸ τήγανον, τοὔσχατον εἰς γύργαθον ἐμβληθεῖσα ταύρῳ παρεβλήθη ἀγρίῳ, καὶ οὕτω τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ παρέθετο. Μεθ' ἧς καί τι παιδάριον Ποντικὸν πᾶσαν κόλασιν