Глава IX. О возобновлении гонения с большей жестокостью, также о мучениках Антоние, Зебине, Германе и других

When, by such exploits of the great martyrs of Christ, the flame of persecution was weakened and seemed to be extinguished by their sacred blood, when the workers for Christ in the Thebaid mines were already given some rest and freedom, and we began to little by little breathe clean air, suddenly the man who had received the power to persecute us, I don’t know why and for what delusion, again flared up violently against Christians, again, that is, Letters hostile to us from Maximin were sent throughout all regions. Then the prefects, and, in addition, the chief commander of the troops, with their announcements, letters and national commands, began to urgently demand that in all cities the counters, military leaders and tax collectors take care of the execution of the royal decree, which ordered - with every diligence to restore the destroyed idol churches, to force all husbands, along with their wives, slaves and even infants, to bring sacrifices, make libations and certainly eat this very unclean sacrificial food. On this occasion, all items of trade in public squares were desecrated with sacrificial libations, and caretakers were placed in front of the baths, who were supposed to dirty those who washed there with dirty sacrifices. When paganism became the subject of such care, our affairs, naturally, again had to come to the most awkward position. However, even the unfaithful pagans felt the burden of these definitions, and they already vividly imagined their extreme absurdity; because they too thought it was an unnecessary and too strong measure. But while the greatest storm was threatening everyone and everywhere, the divine power of our Savior again inspired such determination in those same ascetics that, without yet being seized and dragged, they were already trampling on the threat of such great disasters. The three faithful, having agreed among themselves, ran up to the ruler, who was then sacrificing to idols, and shouted to him to abandon his delusion; for there is no other deity than the Creator of all things and the Creator of God. When they were asked who they were, they boldly confessed themselves to be Christians. Firmilian, greatly irritated by this, did not even want to torture them, but ordered their heads to be cut off. Of these martyrs, one was a presbyter named Anthony, another was called Zebina, a native of Eleutheropolis, and the third was named Herman. This happened on the thirteenth day of the month Diya, or the Ides of November. On that very day, they were accompanied by one wife from the city of Scythopolis, Ennafa, also adorned with the crown of virginity. She did not act like the above, but was forcibly brought in and presented to the judge. This happened after the beatings and cruel insults that were inflicted on her, without receiving permission from the highest authority, by one of her neighbors, a captain named Maxis, a thin man by name, disgusting in everything else, distinguished by his extraordinary strength of body, but truly terrible in his character and behavior, and hated by all his acquaintances. This man took off all the clothes of the blessed woman, so that she remained covered only from the hips to the feet, and had other parts of her body naked, and in this form he led her throughout Caesarea, dragged her to the square and considered it a great thing to beat her with belts. After such beatings, she showed unshakable firmness before the very court of the prefect and, according to his definition, was consigned to the living fire. Intensifying his inhumanity, his rage against the worshipers of God, he even transgressed the laws of nature, was not ashamed to refuse burial to the soulless bodies of holy men, but ordered them to be diligently stored in the open air day and night, as food for animals. And for many days it was possible to see quite a number of those who carried out such a brutal and barbaric order. They watched from afar, as if they were doing some important business, as if someone had not stolen the corpses. Meanwhile, wild animals, dogs and birds of prey took human members here and there, and the entire environs of the city were strewn with the entrails and bones of people; so that to those who hated us before, nothing ever seemed so cruel and terrible. Now everyone was not so much mourning the fate of those to whom this happened, but rather complaining about the insult to their own and common nature. Such a spectacle, beyond any description and deplorable story, took place near the city gates - and human flesh was devoured not on one side of the city, but was carried away everywhere. Some said that they had seen whole members, pieces of flesh and parts of entrails even in the city that had passed through the gates. Since this happened over a period of very many days; then the following miraculous event happened. The weather was good, the air was clear, the atmosphere was extremely transparent, and yet on the pillars that supported the public porticoes of the city, drops of tears suddenly appeared in large numbers, as if they were there. Also, not a bit of dew fell from the air, and the shopping and public squares, I don’t know why, were sprinkled with water and seemed damp. Seeing this, everyone then began to say that, not having the strength to endure such godless acts, the earth in some incomprehensible way sheds tears and that to expose the insensitive and uncompassionate nature of man, the very stones and dead things, during real events, reveal their sorrow. I know that to my descendants my words will seem like a dream and a fable; but this is not how people will accept them, for whom the present time has been a witness to the truth. You might be interested in: