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Passio sancti Artemii

MEMOIR, OR, AN EXPOSITION OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS GREAT-MARTYR AND WONDER-WORKER ARTEMIUS, COLLECTED FROM THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF PHILOSTORGIUS AND OF SOME OTHERS BY

JOHN THE MONK. 96.1252 1. As I am about to narrate the mighty deeds of the great and glorious martyr Artemius, and his contest, and his nobility which was from above and from his ancestors, O sacred festival and divinely gathered assembly, I invoke that martyr himself, and the overshadowing grace of the Spirit upon him, to be my helper and assistant in this discourse; and I make you yourselves an object of my entreaty, being in need of your prayers, so that this undertaking of mine might be prosperous and unhindered, and direct me to the narration of his martyrdom and confession, which I have set out to do. And let no one blame me for undertaking these things, looking to the first and ancient memoir of this wonderful and renowned man; for he who composed that one, as 96.1253 the time then demanded, and as he was able, he wrote, while the affairs of that time were possessed by much clamor and confusion. Indeed, he himself was not one of those who are circumspect and zealous about words, but a simple and plain man, caring only for the truth, and aiming to speak it somehow; and according to the proverb, having touched the sacred training of letters with the tip of his finger. 2. Therefore, just as I myself am not sufficiently and adequately equipped for the narration of the account, even if the longing for the martyr draws down and commands my thought and compels me to speak, yet he is praiseworthy for his zeal and for his faith concerning the martyr, because he dared in some way to touch upon the narration of his martyrdom, especially since the apostate and impious Julian had commanded that for those arrested for the martyrdom of Christ, neither a memoir nor any other kind of record should be made, as the former emperors had legislated, but that the majority of them should perish without a defense; and when this command had gone out everywhere, those confessing Christ were indeed punished; but according to the prevailing custom, none of the public commentators, or the so-called stenographers, took official notice of this command. For the lawless one was eager to obliterate the very glory of the martyrs. Scarcely then did some, hiding in certain dark and unlit places, dare to touch upon such memoirs, fearing the ferocity of the ruler. Many myriads, therefore, of Christians throughout the whole world were being destroyed, not being deemed worthy of even a single examination according to the prevailing custom; but this did not harm the athletes of Christ at all, the fact of not obtaining a memoir; for of those whose names God was writing down in heaven, there was no need at all for memoirs among men. But enough about these things. 3. But I, O sacred festival, and divinely gathered people of Christ, a holy nation and a royal priesthood, having encountered many writings, and especially of those who composed the histories and deeds of the emperors, and then also of those who were diligent in ecclesiastical history, and having found the name of the martyr here and there

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Passio sancti Artemii

ΥΠΟΜΝΗΜΑ ΗΓΟΥΝ ΕΞΗΓΗΣΙΣ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΕΝ∆ΟΞΟΥ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΜΑΡΤΥΡΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΘΑΥΜΑΤΟΥΡΓΟΥ ΑΡΤΕΜΙΟΥ ΣΥΛΛΕΓΕΝ ΑΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ ΦΙΛΟΣΤΟΡΓΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΑΛΛΩΝ ΤΙΝΩΝ ΠΑΡΑ

ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ΜΟΝΑΧΟΥ. 96.1252 αʹ. Τὰ τοῦ μεγάλου καὶ ἐνδόξου μάρτυρος Ἀρτεμίου διηγεῖσθαι μέλλων ἀνδραγαθήματα, καὶ τὴν ἄθλησιν, τήν τε ἄνωθεν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ προγόνων οὖσαν εὐγένειαν, ὦ ἱερὰ πανήγυρις καὶ θεοσύλλεκτον σύστημα, αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον ἐπικαλοῦμαι τὸν μάρτυρα, καὶ τὴν ἐπισκιάζουσαν αὐτῷ χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος, συλλήπτορά μοι γενέσθαι τοῦ λόγου καὶ συνεπίκουρον· καὶ αὐτοὺς ὑμᾶς ἐν παρακλήσει ποιοῦμαι τῶν ὑμετέρων εὐχῶν προσδεόμενος, ἵν' εὔοδόν μοι καὶ ἀπρόσκοπον γένηται τουτὶ τὸ ἐγχείρημα, καὶ κατευθύνον πρὸς ἥνπερ ἐξώρμησα τοῦ μαρτυρίου αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ὁμολογίας διήγησιν. Καὶ μήτις μοι ταῦτα ἐγχειροῦντι ἐπιμεμφέσθω, ἀφορῶν εἰς τὸ πρῶτον καὶ ἀρχαῖον τοῦ θαυμασίου τούτου καὶ ἀοιδίμου ἀνδρὸς ὑπόμνημα· ὁ γὰρ ἐκεῖνο συντάξας, ὡς 96.1253 ὁ τότε καιρὸς ἀπῄτει, καὶ ὡς εἶχε δυνάμεως, ἔγραψε, πολλῷ θορύβῳ καὶ ταραχῇ τῶν τότε πραγμάτων συνεχομένων. Οὐ μὲν οὖν οὐδὲ αὐτός τις ἦν τῶν περιεσκεμμένων τε καὶ περὶ λόγους ἐσπουδακότων, ἀλλ' ἁπλοῦς τις καὶ ἀπέριττος μόνης τῆς ἀληθείας πεφροντικὼς, καὶ τὸ λέγειν ὅπως οὖν στοχαζόμενος· καὶ κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, ἄκρῳ δακτύλῳ τῆς ἱερᾶς τῶν λόγων παιδείας ἁψάμενος. βʹ. Ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἀρκούντως ἔχω καὶ ἱκανῶς πρὸς τὴν τοῦ λόγου διήγησιν, κἂν ὁ πόθος τοῦ μάρτυρος καθέλκει καὶ τυραννεῖ μου τὸν λογισμὸν καὶ πρὸς τὸ λέγειν βιάζεται, ἐπαινετὸς μέντοι τῆς προθυμίας καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν μάρτυρα πίστεως, ὅτι κἂν ὁπωσοῦν ἐτόλμησεν ἅψασθαι τῆς περὶ τὸ μαρτύριον αὐτοῦ διηγήσεως, μάλιστα τοῦ ἀποστάτου καὶ ἀσεβοῦς Ἰουλιανοῦ παραγγείλαντος τοῖς ἁλισκομένοις ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαρτύριον μήτε ὑπόμνημα, μήτε ἄλλην τὴν οἱανοῦν ποιεῖσθαι ἀναγραφὴν, καθὼς οἱ πρότερον βασιλεῖς ἐνομοθέτησαν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς πλείονας αὐτῶν ἀναπολογήτους ἀπόλλυσθαι· τούτου τοῦ παραγγέλματος πανταχόσε καταφοιτήσαντος, ἐκολάζοντο μὲν οἱ τὸν Χριστὸν ὁμολογοῦντες· κατὰ δὲ τὸ κρατοῦν ἔθος, οὐδεὶς τῶν ἐκ τοῦ δήμου κομενταρισίων, ἢ τῶν λεγομένων ταχυγράφων, πρόνοιαν ἐποιεῖτο τοῦδε τοῦ παραγγέλματος. Ἐσπούδαζε γὰρ ὁ παράνομος καὶ αὐτὴν τῶν μαρτύρων ἐξαφανίσαι τὴν εὔκλειαν. Μόλις οὖν τινες ἐν ζοφεροῖς τισι καὶ ἀλαμπέσι τόποις κατακρυπτόμενοι, τοιούτων ἐφάπτεσθαι ἐτόλμων ὑπομνημάτων, τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος δεδιττόμενοι ἀγριότητα. Πολλαὶ μὲν οὖν μυριάδες ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην τῶν Χριστιανῶν κατεφθείροντο, μηδὲ μιᾶς τινος κατὰ τὸ κρατοῦν ἔθος ἀξιούμενοι ἐρωτήσεως· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν οὐδὲν παρέβλαψε τοὺς ἀθλητὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τὸ μὴ τυχεῖν ὑπομνήματος· ὧν γὰρ τὰ ὀνόματα ἐν οὐρανοῖς Θεὸς ἀπεγράφετο, οὐδεμία τις ἦν χρεία τῶν παρ' ἀνθρώποις ὑπομνημάτων. Ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἅλις. γʹ. Ἐγὼ δὲ, ὦ ἱερὰ πανήγυρις, καὶ Χριστοῦ λαὸς θεοσύλλεκτος, ἔθνος ἅγιον καὶ βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα, πολλοῖς ἐντυχὼν συγγράμμασι, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν τὰς ἱστορίας καὶ πράξεις τῶν βασιλέων συνταξαμένων, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τῶν περὶ τὴν ἐκκλησιαστικὴν ἱστορίαν σπουδασάντων, καὶ τὸ τοῦ μάρτυρος εὑρὼν ὄνομα ὧδε κἀκεῖσε