Глава VI. О мученике Агапие

In the fourth year of the persecution brought upon us, twelve days before the Kalends of December, or the twentieth day of the month Diy, on the eve of the Sabbath, a truly martyrdom worthy of description took place in the same city of Caesarea. At the same time, the tyrant Maximin himself was present and gave the people spectacles on the occasion of the so-called day of his birth. From ancient times it was the custom, especially in the presence of kings, to give the spectators magnificent spectacles that could give them the most pleasure. In this case, new and unusual ideas were constantly changing; animals brought from India, Ethiopia, or other countries were introduced into the field; and sometimes people came out and gave the spectators extreme pleasure with some artificial feats of the body. So, without a doubt, even now, when the king himself gave spectacles, for their splendor there had to be something great and wondrous. What exactly happened? “They brought to the center a martyr of our faith, who had to fight for the one true piety. This was Agapius, the second after him, who, together with Thekla, as we said a little higher, was given over to be devoured by wild beasts. He had already, three times or more, been taken out into the field together with criminals on solemn days; but the judge, either out of regret or in the hope of a change in his thoughts, will always only threaten and leave him until other exploits. Now it is brought before the eyes of the king himself, as if it had been preserved on purpose for this occasion, so that the word of the Savior, which He prophesied to His disciples, would be fulfilled: “You will be known before... the kings as a testimony for My sake” (Matthew 10:18). So he was brought into the middle of the field along with one criminal, who was kept, they say, for the murder of his master. But the murderer exposed to the beasts was immediately rewarded with compassion and love for mankind, just as Barabbas was under the Savior - and at that very moment the whole theater resounded with cries of gratitude that the king had kindly saved the cruel murderer from death and awarded him honor and freedom: on the contrary, the tyrant first called the ascetic of piety to himself and, promising him freedom, demanded a renunciation of the faith. But Agapius loudly confessed that not for a bad deed, but for faith in the Creator of all things, he would willingly, even with pleasure and courageously, submit to everything that was prepared for him, and, having said this, he immediately confirmed his words with his own actions, ran towards the bear released on him and gladly gave himself up to be tormented by it. After this, still catching his breath, he was thrown into prison and, having stayed there one day, the next, with stones tied to his feet, he was thrown into the depths of the sea. This is the martyrdom of Agapius. You might be interested in: