Книга 8

Having told in as many as seven books about the succession from the apostles, we decided in this eighth to describe modern events that deserve special attention; It is very, very necessary to introduce our descendants to them. Our story will begin with this. 1. We do not have the strength to adequately tell how respected the faith in God Almighty, proclaimed by Christ to all people, Greeks and barbarians, was enjoyed before the current persecution, and how freely it was preached. 2. This is evidenced by the decrees of the emperors who were favorable to us, and the instructions to us to govern the provinces, and the deliverance of us from the painful need to make sacrifices: the emperors were very pleased with our faith. 3. What can we say about the people who lived at court, and about the sovereigns themselves? They allowed their loved ones, wives and children 1826, and their loved ones to speak freely about God in their presence, allowed them to adhere to Christian customs in life; they were almost allowed to boast of the free profession of faith; Christian ministers were preferred over others 1827. 4. Among them was the famous Dorotheus 1828, the most devoted, most faithful servant, for this he was especially revered by people in power. The famous Gorgonius 1829 and others enjoyed the same respect for their faith in God. 5. With what kindness the procurators and rulers treated the primates of the Churches! How to describe these gatherings of thousands in every city, these amazing crowds of people flocking to houses of prayer! There were few old buildings; New vast churches were erected in all cities. 6. This is how our affairs went at that time: every day our well-being grew and multiplied; No one’s envy bothered us, and the evil demon could neither denigrate us nor set up human machinations, as long as the hand of God was above us, protecting a people worthy of it. 7. And this complete freedom changed the course of our affairs: everything went somehow, on its own, we began to envy each other, shower each other with insults and just, on occasion, did not grab a weapon; the primates of the Churches break verbal spears against each other, the laity rebel against the laity; unspeakable hypocrisy and pretense reached the limit of vileness. God's judgment, as usual, spared us (meetings were still being held) and directed us, without extreme measures, to meekness. The persecution began with the brothers who were in the army. 8. As if we had lost all understanding, we did not worry about how we could appease God; as if the atheists, believing that our affairs were not the subject of care and concern, we did evil after evil, and our imaginary shepherds, throwing away the commandment of piety, with all their ardor and fury got involved in quarrels with each other, multiplied only one thing - envy, mutual enmity and hatred, discord and threats, they strived for power as greedily as the tyrants of 1830. Then, yes, then the word of Jeremiah was fulfilled: “The Lord darkened the daughter of Zion in His anger, cast down the glory of Israel from heaven to earth, and did not remember His footstool in the day of His wrath. The Lord drowned all the beauty of Israel and destroyed all its fences" 1831. 9 . And in the psalms it is predicted: “He destroyed the covenant with His servant and threw down to the ground - through the destruction of churches - His sanctuary, destroyed all its fences - filled with fear its fortress. Crowds of people plundered him, all going their own way, and, moreover, he became a laughing stock among his neighbors. The Lord exalted the right hand of his enemies and removed help from his sword and did not support him in battle. He deprived him of his purity and threw his throne to the ground; shortened the days of his time and covered all people with shame" 1832. 1. All this has really come true in our days. We saw with our own eyes how houses of worship were destroyed from the top to the very foundation, and the Divine holy books in the middle of the square were set on fire; how church pastors shamefully hid here and there, how they were rudely seized and how their enemies mocked them. Then another prophetic word came true: “Shame fell on the leaders, and they wandered not along the road, but in untrodden places” 1833. 2. It is not our business, however, to describe the gloomy disasters that befell them; It is not my task to inform posterity about their strife and follies before the persecution. We have decided to say nothing more about them except what justifies the judgment of God. 3. I am not carried away by the desire to perpetuate the memory of either those who fell into temptation due to persecution, or those who suffered the collapse of all hope of salvation and, by their own choice, were cast into the boiling abyss. In this story that concerns everyone, I will tell only about what can benefit, firstly, ourselves, and then our descendants. Let us hit the road and briefly talk about the sacred exploits of the martyrs for the word of God. 4. It was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, 1834, when in the month of Distra (for the Romans this is March), on the eve of the Feast of the Passion of the Lord 1835, an imperial decree was posted everywhere, commanding that churches be destroyed to the ground, and Scripture burned, and declaring people who adhered to Christianity deprived of honorary positions; domestic servants were deprived of their freedom in 1836. 5. This was the first decree against Christians; he was soon followed by other orders: it was ordered that all bishops everywhere should first be imprisoned, and then by any means forced to make a sacrifice in 1837. 1. Then, just then, many leaders of the Churches courageously endured the cruel torment of 1838; much can be said about these great feats. Thousands of others, unconscious from cowardice, immediately lost all their strength at the first onslaught. Of the first, each endured alternately different types of torture: one was tortured by scourging, the other endured unbearable suffering from the rack and “claws”; some here met a sad end to their lives. 2. Contests of a different kind awaited the others: one was pushed and, having been led by force to vile, unclean sacrifices, was released as having made a sacrifice, although he did not bring it; the other did not approach the altar at all and did not touch anything unclean, but people claimed that he had made a sacrifice, and the man silently left slandered; half-dead were thrown out as dead; 3. the one lying on the ground was dragged for a long time by his feet and was counted among those who had made the sacrifice. Someone loudly shouted his renunciation of the sacrifice; someone publicly proclaimed that he was a Christian and boasted of confessing the name of the Savior; someone insisted that he had not made a sacrifice and would never make one. 4. These people were beaten in the teeth, face and cheeks, and then the soldiers from the detachment assigned for this purpose pushed them out with force. The enemies of the faith attached great importance to this apparent victory of 1839. These measures were unsuccessful in relation to the holy martyrs. Do we have enough words to describe them exactly? 1. One could talk about thousands of Christians who showed amazing courage in confessing faith in God Almighty, and not only in times when persecution arose, but much earlier, when everyone was enjoying peace. 2. Recently, quite recently, as if from a deep sleep, the one who received power in 1840 awoke and secretly, secretly, after Decius and Valerian, went against the Church, but did not declare war on all of us at once, but tested his strength first only on the army of 1841 (he thought that it would be easy for him to catch the rest if he first overcomes the resistance of the military) 1842. It has become clear, however, that the majority of the military happily agree to live the life of ordinary citizens, so long as they do not renounce their faith in the Creator of the universe. 3. The military leader of 1843 - whoever he was then - immediately began persecution by the troops; he sorted through the people and removed some, offering them a choice: either to obey, continuing in their rank, or, conversely, to lose it if they resist the order. Very many soldiers of the army of the Kingdom of Christ immediately and unconditionally preferred His confession to their imaginary fame and their imaginary well-being. 4. It happened that one or two people paid for their strong standing in the faith not only with the loss of their title, but also with their lives, for the one who carried out his plan did not use drastic measures and dared to shed the blood of only a few, fearing, apparently, a large number of the faithful and not daring to go to war against everyone at once. 5. Finally, he openly attacked us, and there are no words to tell how many martyrs - and which ones! – residents of every city and village could see with their own eyes everywhere. Immediately, as soon as the decree on the Churches was promulgated in Nicomedia, a certain man 1844, not unknown, but of the highest rank, according to worldly ideas, moved by ardent zeal for God and prompted by faith, grabbed the decree 1845, nailed in plain sight in a public place, and tore it into pieces, as a godless and most ungodly person. There were two rulers in the city: one was the eldest in 1846 and the other, who after him occupied the fourth level in government in 1847. The same man, a local resident, who became famous in this way, withstood everything that was due for such audacity in 1848, maintaining a clear mind and calmness until his last breath. 1. Our time has placed above all the heroes glorified by the Hellenes and barbarians for their amazing courage, the wonderful martyrs: Dorotheus and the imperial court youths who were with him; the gentlemen honored them with great honor and treated them as if they were their own children. They died, considering that true wealth, greater than worldly glory and luxury, was reproach, suffering for the faith and death 1849; They came up with different types for them. I will mention how one of them died, leaving the reader to infer what happened to the others. 2. One man in Nicomedia was brought to the square and in the presence of the mentioned rulers was ordered to make a sacrifice; he refused. They ordered him to strip him, hang him up and flog him all over his body until, tortured, he did as ordered, even against his will. 3. He endured, irrevocable in his decision, although his bones were already visible; and so they made a mixture of vinegar and salt and began to pour it over the already dead parts of the body. He despised this suffering too; then they dragged an iron grate to the middle, put a fire under it and began to fry what was left of his body, just as they fry meat prepared for food, not whole, so that he would not die immediately, but in parts: let him die slowly. Those who laid him on the fire were allowed to remove him no earlier than he gave a sign agreeing to carry out the order. The martyr, however, did not give up and victoriously gave up his ghost in the midst of torment. This is how one of the imperial court youths was tortured. His name was Peter 1850, he was worthy of his name. 5. The suffering of others was no less, but, shortening the words for the sake of proportionality in work, we will not talk about them. Let us only mention that Dorotheus and Gorgonius, together with most of the imperial servants, after various feats, were strangled and received a reward for their Divine victory. 6. At the same time, Anthimus 1851, then primate of the Church of Nicomedia, was beheaded for his testimony about Christ 1852. A whole host of martyrs joined him. I don’t know what was the cause of the fire that broke out in those days in the Nicomedia palace 1853, but rumors spread that it was the work of Christians 1854; the suspicion was false, but, by order of the emperor, local Christians began to be beaten indiscriminately: some were stabbed to death with a sword, others ended their lives at the stake. They say that by some Divine, incomprehensible impulse, husbands and wives threw themselves into the fire. The executioners tied many people to boats and drowned them in the depths of the sea in 1855. 7. Upon their death, the imperial court youths were not interred with due honor; the imaginary rulers decided that their bodies should be dug up and thrown into the sea, so that no one would come to worship them, resting in their graves, and so that they would not be considered gods. This was their train of thought. This is what happened in Nicomedia at the beginning of the persecution. 8. Soon, when some people tried to seize royal power in the region called Melitene, and others in Syria, a royal decree was issued everywhere to throw into prison and keep in chains the primates of the Churches. 9 . What then happened surpasses all description: crowds of thousands were imprisoned everywhere; prisons, built long ago for murderers and grave-breakers, were now full of bishops, priests, deacons, readers and exorcists; there was no room left for those convicted of a crime. 10. Following the first decree, new ones followed: prisoners who made a sacrifice were allowed to be released; those who persisted were ordered to be tormented with all kinds of torture. And again, how can we count the number of martyrs in each diocese, especially in Africa, in Mauritania 1856, in Thebaid and in Egypt? Many from Egypt had already left for other cities and dioceses and became glorified as martyrs. 1. We know who became famous in Palestine, we know who in Tyre Phoenician. Who will not be shocked to see how these truly amazing fighters for the faith steadfastly endured a long scourging and immediately after it a competition with bloodthirsty beasts! With amazing restraint, these noble people met the attack of any animal: a leopard, a bear of one breed or another, a wild boar, a bull, enraged from being cauterized with a hot iron. 2. We ourselves were present at this and saw how in the one who testified about our Savior the Divine power of Jesus Christ Himself who testified was clearly present and manifested itself. For a long time, the carnivorous animals did not dare to touch or even approach the bodies of people beloved by God, but rushed at those who, standing outside the arena, teased them. The holy fighters stood alone, naked, and, as they were ordered, waved their arms, attracting the animals to themselves, but the animals did not even touch them. And sometimes the animals rushed at them, but, as if held by Divine power, they retreated back. 3. This went on for a long time, and the spectators were extremely surprised, especially since when the first beast did nothing, they released the second and third on the same martyr. 4. One could be amazed at the steadfast patience of these saints and the unshakable firmness of these youth. You would see a young man of less than twenty years old, standing without shackles with his arms outstretched crosswise, immersed in prayer with a calm and fearless soul; he did not move from the place where he stood, and the bears and leopards, breathing ferocity and death, almost touched his body, and only the Divine inexpressible power, I don’t know how, forced them not to open their mouths and run back. This is what this man was like. 5. You could have seen others (there were only five of them): they were thrown to an angry bull. He raised those approaching the arena on his horns and, throwing them up, torturing them, left them half dead, but, rushing towards the holy martyrs, he, menacing and ferocious, could not even approach them. He butted with his horns and beat with his hooves here and there; enraged from being cauterized with a red-hot iron, breathing with rage and anger, he was repulsed by Divine Providence and did them no harm; I had to release other animals on them. 6. In the end, after being thrown to various terrible beasts, they were stabbed to death with a sword and, instead of land and a grave, were given over to the waves of the sea. This was the competition that the Egyptians who fought for the faith endured in Tire. One might be surprised at those who were tortured in their homeland. Here thousands of people - men, women, children, having despised this temporary life, suffered various kinds of death for the teachings of our Savior: some were put to the fire after “claws”, racks, cruel scourging and many different tortures, which are terrible to even hear about; others were drowned in the sea; others courageously put their heads under the swords of the executioners; some died in torture; some were starved to death, others were crucified - either as criminals are usually crucified, or in a more cruel way, nailed head down and left alive until they died of hunger on the cross itself. 1. The torture and suffering that the martyrs endured in Thebaid surpasses all description. They were tormented with “claws” and shells until they lost their lives; women, tied by one leg, were lifted into the air with the help of some tools, head down, completely naked, not covered by anything - a spectacle for all who looked at it was both the most shameful and, in its cruelty, the most inhumane. 2. Others were tied to tree branches: with the help of some devices, the two strongest branches were pulled one to the other, and the martyr's leg was tied to each; then the branches were released, they took their natural position, and the man was torn in half. 3. All this did not happen for a few days, not for a short time, but lasted for many, many years. There were sometimes more than ten dead, sometimes more than twenty, sometimes no less than thirty, and at other times their number reached almost sixty. Sometimes in one day a hundred people were killed at once: men, children, women, who died after various tortures, replacing one another. 4. We were in those places and saw how many people died at once in one day: some had their heads cut off, others were burned at the stake; the swords with which they killed became dull, the iron broke; The executioners themselves, replacing each other, were tired. 5. Then we saw an amazing impulse and truly Divine power and courage of those who believed in the Christ of God. They were still reading the verdict on some martyrs, when other people came running from all sides to the judge’s platform and declared themselves Christians, not worrying about torture, terrible and varied; Fearlessly preaching God the Creator, they joyfully, with a smile and complacency accepted the death sentence and sang hymns of gratitude to the Creator until their last breath. These were amazing people, but those who stood out for their wealth, birth, were famous for their eloquence and philosophical education, and considered all this as nothing compared to true piety and faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, deserve special surprise. 7. Such was Philor 1858, who held a major position as manager of the royal treasury in Alexandria; He was in court every day as a judge, and he was always accompanied, in accordance with his rank, by military guards. Such was Phileas 1859, bishop of the Tmuit Church, a man renowned both for the performance of public duties in his homeland, and for his generosity, and for his philosophical education. 8. In vain were the persuasions of numerous relatives and friends, including those who occupied important positions, and the judge himself, who exhorted them to spare themselves and have pity on their wives and children - life could not catch them with its bait and did not force them to neglect the commandments of our Savior about confession and renunciation. They countered all the threats and insults of the judge with courageous and wise reasoning, or rather, with a pious soul that loved God, and both were beheaded. 1. We said that Phileas deserved great respect for his knowledge of worldly sciences; let him appear himself and, testifying about himself, show what he was like, and in his own words, much more accurately than I, tell what happened under him in Alexandria. From a letter from Phileas to the Tmuites 1860. 2. “Since all these examples, samples and wonderful instructions 1861 are in the Divine Holy Scripture, the martyrs who were with us immediately raised the pure eye of their souls to God Almighty; Having mentally decided to die for the faith, they firmly held on to their calling, having found our Lord Jesus Christ, who became man for our sake, in order to destroy all sin, and to give us everything we need to enter eternal life, “for He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but humbled Himself, taking on the form of a servant, becoming like a man in appearance, and humbled Himself to the point of death, even the death of the cross” 1862. 3. Therefore, “zealous for great gifts” 1863, the Christ-bearing martyrs endured all torment, all the tortures contrived for them, some not once, but twice, all kinds of threats, and not only verbal ones: the soldiers assigned to them became more sophisticated in their actions. They were adamant in their decision, for “perfect love casts out fear” 1864. 4. Is there a word to tell about the valiant courage with which they endured every torture? Everyone was allowed to mock them: they were beaten with sticks, rods, whips, belts, whips. 5. The spectacle of these torments was constantly renewed, and what anger was there! People with their hands tied behind their backs were hung from poles and all their limbs were stretched with a collar, then the executioners were given the order to mutilate their entire body with their weapons: not only their sides, like murderers, but also their stomach, legs, and cheeks. They were hung by one hand from the column of the portico: this stretching of joints and limbs was the most terrible torment. They were tied to the columns with their faces and so that their feet did not touch the ground: under the weight of the body, the bonds stretched and squeezed it more tightly. 6. The martyrs endured this not only while the ruler of 1865 was interrogating and dealing with them, but for almost the whole day, when he moved on to others, and left the first to the supervision of his assistants: would anyone surrender, defeated by torture. It was also ordered to mercilessly aggravate their torment, and to remove the dying and drag them along the ground. 7. They did not have even a shadow of condescension towards us: they thought about us and treated us as if we were nothing. 8. After these torments, they came up with another torture: they laid him on a board and stretched him by both legs to the fourth hole; I had to lie on my back against my will, because my whole body was covered in wounds from the blows. They threw people to the ground and forced them to lie down under fear of renewed torture. Their bodies with various marks of torture presented a terrible sight. 9 . This is how it all went: some died in torture, shaming the enemy with their endurance; others, locked half-dead in prison, tortured, died within a few days. The rest, having regained their strength through treatment, became more daring, 10. so that when they were offered a choice: either to touch the vile victim and remain alive, having received from their enemies freedom worthy of a curse, or, without making a sacrifice, to listen to the death sentence, they joyfully went to their deaths without hesitation. They knew what was defined in the Holy Scripture: “Whoever sacrifices to other gods shall be destroyed” 1866 and “You shall have no other gods besides Me” 1867. 11. These are the words of the true sage and God-loving martyr, which he wrote to the brothers of his diocese from prison on the eve of his death sentence. He told what he had been subjected to, and at the same time urged the brothers to hold fast to the faith of Christ after his death, which would soon follow. 12. But what are the words for? Why, to the stories about the exploits performed by the holy martyrs throughout the universe, add a story about other exploits, especially since we are talking about people who were treated not according to the law common to all, but as enemies? 1. A small Phrygian town inhabited by Christians was surrounded by soldiers and burned to the ground along with children and women who cried out to God Almighty, burned because all the inhabitants of the city: the city governor himself, the military commander with other magistrates and the entire people - confessed themselves to be Christians and did not obey the order to bow to the idols of 1868. 2. A certain Adavct, a man of high rank 1869, a descendant of a noble Italian family, awarded all these so-called honors and public positions by the emperors, impeccably fulfilling the duties of managing the economy of the entire country, became famous both for his right faith and for his confession of Christ, the Son of God. He was adorned with the crown of a martyr, having endured the feat for the faith while still performing his office. 1. Why should I mention the others by name, count the multitudes, or describe the varied torments of the wondrous martyrs? Some, as in Arabia, were hacked to death with axes; others, as in Cappadocia, had their legs broken; sometimes they hung them upside down and lit a weak fire under them: people suffocated in the smoke rising from the hot branches, as happened in Mesopotamia; and sometimes, as in Alexandria, their noses, ears, hands were cut off, and other members and parts of the body were mutilated. 2. Should we remember the martyrs of Antioch, who were roasted on hot grates with the intention of not immediately killing them, but torturing them longer; others preferred to put their right hand into the fire rather than touch the vile victim of 1870. Some, avoiding the test and not waiting for their enemies to grab them, threw themselves down from the heights of the house 1871: in comparison with the cruelty of the atheists, such a death seemed like a happy lot. 3. There was in Antioch a certain woman, holy and marvelous in her spiritual virtue, 1872, known for her beauty, wealth, birth and good reputation about herself. She raised her two daughters in 1873 in the rules of the true faith; they were in the prime of youth and beauty. Evil envious people tried their best to track down where they were hiding. Having learned that they lived in another country, they were called to Antioch by cunning, and they fell into a trap set by soldiers. The mother, seeing herself and her children in a hopeless situation, depicted to her daughters all the same horrors that people were preparing for them; The most terrible and unbearable threat was the threat of an indecent house. She told her daughters that neither they nor she should even hear about it, said that to betray your soul into slavery to demons is worse than any death and worse than any destruction, and suggested the only way out - flight to the Lord. 4. The daughters were confirmed in this thought, decently wrapped themselves in their cloaks, halfway asked the guards for permission to move a little to the side and rushed into the river that flowed nearby. 5. That's what these women were like. In the same Antioch lived two girls, true sisters, pleasing to God in everything, renowned for their birth, glorious in life, young in age, beautiful in body, lofty in soul, pious in disposition, marvelous in zeal. The demon minions ordered them to be thrown into the sea, as if the earth could not bear them. Here's what's said about them. 6. It’s scary to listen to what the martyrs suffered in Pontus: sharp reeds were driven under their fingernails and their fingers were pierced through; Having melted the lead, they poured this boiling metal on their backs, burning the tender parts of the body. 7. Some were shamefully and insensitively inflicted with untold suffering in the viscera and secret organs. The noble, law-abiding judges, flaunting their abilities as a kind of wisdom, with great zeal, thought out what new torture to invent, and tried to outdo each other, as if in a competition for a reward. 8. But the end of our misfortunes had also come: refusing to continue to add evil to evil, tired of killing, fed up with shed blood, they turned to what, in their opinion, was good and philanthropic - they began to pretend that they were no longer planning anything terrible against us. 9 . It is not necessary, they said, to desecrate cities with the blood of their citizens and give rise to accusations of cruelty against emperors who are merciful and meek to all; the benefits of the philanthropic royal government must be extended to everyone and no one else should be executed. Due to the philanthropy of the rulers, this punishment was no longer applied to us. 10. But then the order followed to tear out his eyes and mutilate one leg in 1874. This was a humane measure for them and the lightest punishment for us. Here is the consequence of this philanthropy of the wicked: it is impossible to count the people whose, contrary to all common sense, their right eye was knocked out with a sword, and then the eye socket was cauterized, and whose left leg ceased to function due to the cauterization of the joints. After that, they were sent to the provinces to the copper mines - not so much for work, of course, but for exhaustion and torture. In addition to all these martyrs, there were also those who died in other exploits. It is impossible to list them; their courage surpasses all description. 11. In such and such competitions, the venerable martyrs of Christ shone throughout the universe, everywhere, naturally, striking those who saw their courage. The truly Divine ineffable power of our Savior was manifested in them. It would take a long time to name everyone by name, or rather, it would be impossible. 1. Of the primates of the Churches who testified about Christ in large cities, we will be the first to include on the tablets of the members of the Kingdom of Christ the Bishop of Nicomedia, Anthimus, whose head was cut off. 2. Among the martyrs of Antioch, we honor the local presbyter Lucian 1875, an excellent man throughout his entire life, who in the presence of the emperor preached about the Heavenly Kingdom of Christ, first verbally, in an apology, and then through his actions. 3. Of the Phinian martyrs, we will name as the most famous, God-beloved shepherds of Christ's spiritual sheep: Tyrannion 1876, bishop of the Tire Church, presbyter of Sidon 1877 Zenobius 1878 and Silvanus 1879, bishop of the Churches in the vicinity of Amisa 1880. 4. The latter was thrown to the wild beasts in 1881 and numbered among the martyrs in Amis itself; the first two glorified the Divine teaching in Antioch with their patience until their death: the bishop was thrown into the depths of the sea, and Zinovy, a glorious doctor, died, courageously enduring the torture to which his sides were subjected. 5. Of the Palestinian martyrs, Silvanus 1882, bishop of the Churches in the vicinity of Gaza, along with thirty-nine Christians, was beheaded in the copper mines of Fen 1883; there Pelias and Nile 1884, Egyptian bishops, died along with others 1885 at the stake. 6. May Presbyter Pamphilus 1886, the great glory of the Caesarea Church, a most amazing man among our contemporaries, be mentioned along with them; We will write about his glorious activities in due time. 7. Of those who died gloriously in Alexandria, throughout Egypt and in Thebaid, we will first write down Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, the wondrous teacher of the faith of Christ, and with him the presbyters Faustus 1887, Dius and Ammonius, perfect martyrs of Christ, also Phileas 1888, Hesychius, Pachemias and Theodore, bishops of the Churches of Egypt, and thousands of other glorious ones Christians who are remembered in local Churches. It is not my task to write about them, who labored throughout the entire universe for the faith, and to tell exactly about them; this is the work of people who saw it with their own eyes. I will write about the events at which I was present for the information of our contemporaries in another work, 1889. 8. In this essay I will add to what has been said a review of everything that has been done against us since the beginning of the persecution: this will be very useful for readers. 9 . Until the Roman authorities began to fight against us, in those days when the rulers of 1890 were friendly and peaceful towards us, how rich they were, how prosperous! Words are not enough to tell about it! The ecumenical rulers celebrated the tenth anniversary of 1891 and the twentieth anniversary of 1892 of their reign with festivities, general celebrations, brilliant feasts and rejoicing - there was deep, lasting peace all around. 10. Their power grew and expanded unhindered every day, when suddenly they abandoned peace with us and began an irreconcilable war. In the midst of these unrest, not even two years had passed before everything changed for those who were in power and everything turned upside down in 1893. 11. The first of those mentioned in 1894 was struck by an evil illness in 1895, which clouded his mind in 1896, he and the second after him in 1897 ended their lives as ordinary citizens in 1898. These events had not yet come to an end when the entire state was divided into two parts: this has never happened in human memory in 1899. 12. A little more time passed, and the Emperor Constantius 1900, who all his life was meek and merciful to his subjects 1901, and was very disposed towards the Divine teaching 1902, leaving behind him Emperor and Augustus his own son Constantine 1903, died, according to the law of nature common to all 1904. He was the first to be numbered among the gods and was worthy after his death of all the honors due to an emperor in 1905. He was the kindest and meekest of all the emperors. 13. He was the only one of his contemporaries who spent the entire period of his reign with dignity, showing himself in other ways accessible to everyone and merciful to everyone. He did not participate in the war against us at all, protected his Christian subjects from harm and insults, did not destroy churches and did not invent anything else against us. And the end of his life was happy and thrice blessed: he alone died as a glorious and blessed ruler, leaving as his successor his own son, very reasonable and pious. 14. His son, Constantine, was immediately proclaimed autocrat and Augustus by the soldiers, but even before them - God Almighty. He zealously followed his father in his attitude towards our faith. Konstantin was such a person. But here, with the general decision of the rulers in 1906, Licinius 1908 was declared autocrat and in August 1907. 15. This severely offended Maximin 1909, who was then one of the first to be called Caesar 1910. He was a complete despot, he appropriated the title of Augustus to himself and became one by his own will in 1911. At the same time, the one about whom it was said that after his abdication he again became in power died a most shameful death; he was caught trying to kill Constantine in 1912. He was the first whose honorary statues, portraits and, in general, everything that was customary, as a tribute to a wicked and godless man, were destroyed. 1. His son, Maxentius 1913, ruled tyrannically in Rome; at first, wanting to please the people and flatter them, he pretended to adhere to our faith, ordered his subjects to stop persecuting Christians and, portraying himself as pious, assumed the appearance of an accessible and meek ruler than the previous ones. 2. In reality, he turned out to be not what he was thought to be. In whatever ungodly deeds he found himself: dirt and all kinds of debauchery, debauchery and corruption; he separated legal spouses, abused women in the most shameful manner and sent them back to their husbands. And he did not offend ordinary, unknown women, but mainly the wives of senators who occupied the first places in the Senate. 3. Everyone - the common people and the magistrates, the famous and the obscure - trembled at him and suffered from his cruel tyranny of 1914. The people, however, remained calm and endured bitter slavery; there was no deliverance from the blood-spattered cruel tyrant. For some insignificant pretext, he handed over the people to be beaten by his guards 1915; thousands of Romans were killed in the center of the city - not by Scythians and barbarians, but by spears and all kinds of weapons of their fellow citizens in 1916. 4. It is impossible to list how many senators he executed in order to take possession of their property; many were destroyed in 1917 under various fictitious pretexts in 1918. 5. He crowned his crimes with an appeal to magic; for his sorceries, he either cut open the wombs of pregnant women, or rummaged through the entrails of newborns, and sometimes killed lions and begged the demons with vile prayers to avert war. He pinned all his hope for victory on these means. 6. He ruled Rome as a tyrant, and it is impossible to express to what extent he enslaved his subjects; Such extreme poverty and lack of food supplies, according to the recollections of our contemporaries, never happened either in Rome or in other places. 7. Maximin, the tyrant of the East, concluded a secret alliance with Rome, as with a brother in crime, in 1919, thinking that it would remain a secret for a long time. Later he was exposed and suffered a well-deserved punishment. 8. It is amazing how close a relationship and brotherhood he had through misfortune with the Roman tyrant; True, he won through villainy; he was the first in 1920. The first of the sorcerers and magicians received the highest honors from him, since he was extremely fearful and superstitious and highly revered pagan delusions regarding idols and demons: he did not take a step without fortune telling and divination 1921. 9 . Therefore, he undertook to pursue us more often and more strongly than his predecessors; ordered the erection of churches in every city, and diligently restored the churches, which had fallen into disrepair over time; He appointed 1922 idol priests in all places and cities and placed a high priest over them in each province, choosing him from among the magistrates most famous for all kinds of bounties, and assigning him a military detachment of 1923 to guard him. He distributed large positions and great privileges to all sorcerers indiscriminately, as pious favorites of the gods. 10. Starting with this, he began to torment and oppress not just one city or region, but all the provinces under his control without exception, with heavy taxes, extortion of fabulous amounts of gold, silver and other treasures, and all sorts of injustices 1924. Taking away from rich people the fortune acquired by their ancestors, he immediately presented the court flatterers with piles of treasures 1925. 11. His passion for wine and drunkenness in 1926 reached such an extent that at feasts he got drunk until he lost consciousness and gave orders while drunk, which the next day, having sobered up, he himself repented of. He was inferior to no one in drunkenness and debauchery 1927, became a teacher of evil behavior for the managers and servants in his circle 1928; destroyed discipline in the army, accustoming soldiers to a pampered and luxurious life 1929; He encouraged the rulers and military leaders who almost ruled with him to rob his subjects and profit from them. 12. Should we remember his frantic and shameful voluptuousness, or list the many who were disgraced by him? He could not pass a single city without dishonoring women and kidnapping maidens. 13. Everyone got away with it, but not the Christians: they despised death and did not value such tyranny. Men were burned, stabbed, crucified, thrown to wild animals and drowned in the depths of the sea 1930, their body parts were chopped off and burned with a hot iron, their eyes were gouged out 1931 and torn out, they were made completely crippled and also starved and, having been chained, sent to the mines - they endured everything for the faith, just to worship not idols, but God. 14. The divine word made women as courageous as men: some, having endured the same feats, received an equal reward for their courage; others, drawn to reproach, would rather give up their souls to death than their bodies to corruption. 15. One of the women 1932, destined to serve the voluptuousness of the tyrant, a Christian woman, very famous and shining in Alexandria, defeated the passionate and unrestrained soul of Maximin with her courageous firmness. She was famous for her wealth, birth, education and considered all this to be of secondary importance compared to chastity. He begged and begged her, but was unable to kill her who was ready to die; overcome more by passion than by anger, he punished her with exile and took all her property. 16. Thousands of others, unable to even hear about the obscene house, which was threatened by the rulers of the provinces, suffered all sorts of torture and torment and were sentenced to death. These women were amazing, but one Roman woman deserves special surprise, truly the noblest and most chaste of all the women whom the local tyrant Maxentius, who acted in the same way as Maximin, tried to offend. 17. When she learned that the tyrant’s servants, who were entrusted with such matters, surrounded her house (and she was also a Christian) and that her husband, the prefect of Rome, agreed out of fear to be taken and taken away, she asked for a short delay, as if in order to dress up, came into the room and, left alone, plunged a sword into herself and immediately died, leaving her corpse to the seducers. With deeds that are louder than any words, she showed both her contemporaries and descendants that for Christians the only treasure is virtue: it does not perish and is invincible. 18. So much evil was committed in abundance at the same time by two tyrants who divided East and West between themselves. Who, looking for the cause of such disasters, would doubt to see it in the persecution of Christians, especially since all this turmoil ended as soon as the Christians breathed freely? 1. During the ten years of persecution, conspiracies arose all the time and internecine wars broke out. The sea became impassable: there was no case that people, no matter where they sailed from, were not subjected to all sorts of tortures: they were hung up, tormented with “claws” and tortured in every possible way, interrogating whether they had been sent by the enemy side, and in the end they were crucified or burned. 2. Shields, armor, arrows, spears and other military equipment were being prepared everywhere; built warships and made weapons needed for naval battles. Only war could be expected every day. And then plague and famine struck them, which we will talk about in due time in 1933. 1. This is what happened during the entire persecution; in the tenth year of 1934, by the grace of God, it stopped completely, and began to subside in the eighth year of 1935. When, by Divine heavenly grace, a merciful view of us was revealed, the same rulers who had previously started a war against us surprisingly changed their thoughts and began to act completely differently, extinguishing the widespread fire of persecution with edicts favorable to us and lenient orders of 1936. 2. The point here was not in people: it was not compassion that acted, as someone might say, not the philanthropy of the rulers - not at all! - every day, from the beginning until the present hour, the most cruel measures were invented against us, various means were used against us. 3. Divine Providence was clearly visible here: people’s attitude towards us changed, the culprit of all the evil in 1937 was punished in 1938. God's punishment befell him: it began with a physical illness, and it ended with a mental one. 4. Suddenly, in 1939, an abscess appeared on his secret members, then a fistula-shaped ulcer formed in the depths, from which the incurable erosion of his insides began. Countless worms swarmed inside, and an unbearable stench came from his body. Even before his illness, he had become overweight and obese from gluttony; This decaying mass of fat in 1940 was an unbearable and terrible sight. 5. Those doctors who could not bear this terrible and unbearable stench at all were killed; others, who could do nothing to help this swollen lump and despaired of saving it, were mercilessly executed. 1. Having realized 1941 in these sufferings what crimes he had committed against Christians, he collected his thoughts, called on God Almighty 1942, and then, convening those around him, ordered to immediately stop the persecution of Christians and, by royal decree and order, to encourage them to build churches and perform ordinary services, making prayers for the emperor. 2. The words were immediately followed by deeds - the tsar’s orders were posted throughout the cities, canceling the previous decrees against us in 1943: 3. “Emperor Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximinus 1944, invincible, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, great victor of the Germans 1945, great victor of Egypt 1946, great victor of Thebaid, great five-time victor of the Sarmatians 1947, great (two-time) victor of the Persians 1948, great (two-time) victor of the Carpathians 1949, great six-time victor of the Armenians 1950, great victor of Media 1951, great victor of Adiabene 1952, tribune for the twentieth time, emperor for the nineteenth, consul for the eighth 1953, father of the fatherland, proconsul, 4. and Emperor Caesar Flavius Valerius Constantine, pious, prosperous, invincible, Augustus, chief pontifex maximus, tribune 1954 for the fifth time, emperor for the fifth time, consul, father of the fatherland, proconsul, and emperor Caesar Valerius Licinianus, pious, prosperous, invincible, Augustus, pontifex maximus, tribune for the fourth time, emperor for the third time, consul, father of the fatherland, proconsul, we wish health to the inhabitants of our provinces. 6. Among the measures we took for the benefit and benefit of the peoples, we first decided to restore everything from the Romans, according to ancient laws and social institutions, taking care that Christians would leave the teachings of their ancestors and come to their senses. 7. Due to the fabrication, they have become so self-confident that they do not follow the rules of the ancients and, perhaps, even what was accepted by their parents. Everyone lives at their own discretion, as they want: they have made laws for themselves, observe them and form different societies in different places. 8. Therefore, our command followed for them to return to the institutions of their ancestors; very many of them were in mortal danger, a large number were disturbed and died various deaths. 9 . Seeing that many, being in their madness, do not pay due worship to either the heavenly gods or the God of Christians, we, in our love for mankind and the constant habit of granting forgiveness to everyone, decided to immediately extend our leniency to Christians: let them remain Christians, let them build houses for their meetings, without only disturbing public order 1956. In another message from 1957 we will explain to the judges what they must observe. 10. And in accordance with this permission, Christians must pray to their God for the well-being of us, the entire state and their own: may everything be well in the state and may they be able to live peacefully at their hearth.” This is the content of this edict, which we translated as best we could from the Latin language of 1958 into Greek. It's time to look at the events that followed. 1. The author of this decree in 1960, after his confession, soon got rid of his suffering in 1961 and died in 1962. There is a rumor that he was the main culprit of the disasters of 1963 during the persecution, that long before the accession of the other emperors, he forced Christian soldiers, and above all his courtiers, to renounce their faith; He deprived some of his military ranks, dishonored and insulted others, threatened others with death, and finally incited his co-rulers to begin a persecution of all Christians in general. The end of them all cannot be passed over in silence. 2. Power was divided between four rulers in 1964. Less than two years had passed since the beginning of the persecution, when two, the first in age and dignity, renounced power and, as was said above in 1965, lived the rest of their lives as ordinary citizens. The end of their life was like this: 3. the first in dignity and age in 1966 was tormented by a long, painful physical illness in 1967; the second after him in 1968 ended his life by hanging himself in 1969; such an end was predicted by the demon for many of his frivolous crimes. 4. The last of the rest, 1970, the instigator of all persecution, suffered the sufferings that we described in 1971. The emperor Constantius who preceded him, the kindest and meekest, spent the entire period of his reign with dignity, the only one of all who showed himself to be approachable and beneficent; he did not take part in the war against us and protected his Christian subjects from harm, did not destroy churches, and did not do anything against us at all; the end of his life was happy and thrice blessed, and he alone left power in prosperity and glory to his own son, wise and pious. Immediately the army proclaimed him autocrat and Augustus; in relation to our faith, he was a zealot of his father's piety. Thus, the four rulers mentioned above passed away at different times. 6. Of these, one, 1972, which we spoke about recently, shortly before his death, united with those who soon came to power in 1973, admitted his errors and promulgated the decree we cited. We are talking about Diocletian's wife Prisca and his daughter Valeria, who professed the Christian faith. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XV. 1. Lactantius mentions Christian eunuchs who ruled the royal palace and enjoyed great influence (Lact. De mort. pers. XV. 2). Dorotheus is a Christian; close associate of Emperor Diocletian. Accepted martyrdom in Nicomedia in 303. Commemorated on September 3 and December 28. See below: VIII. 6. 1, 5. Gorgonius is a Christian; close associate of Emperor Diocletian. Accepted martyrdom in Nicomedia in 303. Commemorated on September 3 and December 28. See below: VIII. 6.5. In one of the editions of his “Ecclesiastical History” (VIII. Add. 1), Eusebius, like Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. VII. 1; Χ. 1 - XI. 1), places the blame for the Great Persecution also on the wicked emperors, especially Galerius. On “Church History” as a source on the history of the Great Persecution, see: Dames P. S. The origin and purpose of the persecution of A. D. 303 // The Journal of Theological Studies. NS. Vol. 40. 1989. P. 66–94. The nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian - from November 17, 302 to November 16, 303. See also: Chron. Olymp. 270. Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XIII. 1) gives a more precise date - the sixth day before the Kalends of March (February 24, 303). The day before (February 23), by order of Diocletian, the Christian church in Nicomedia was burned (Lact. De mort. pers. XII). According to this decree, Christians were prosecuted, and they were deprived of civil rights, including the right to defense in court (Lact. De mort. pers. XIII. 1). Wed: Eus. Mart. pal. Prooem. 1–2. See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XV. 2. Wed: Eus. Mart. pal. 1.3–5. Satan in the person of Caesar Galerius. According to the “Chronicle” of Eusebius-Jerome (Chron. Olymp. 270), the persecution of Christians in the Roman army occurred four years before the start of the general persecution, i.e. in 299. In one of the editions of the “Ecclesiastical History” Eusebius calls it its initiator Galerius (VIII. Add. 1). According to Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XI. 3), the persecution owed its limited character at the first stage to Diocletian, who believed that the mass persecution of Christians would lead to unrest in the Empire; Therefore, he initially refused to support the plan of general persecution proposed by Galerius, and agreed to allow only a purge among the courtiers and military men. The military master Veturius was entrusted with carrying out anti-Christian purges in the army (Chron. Olymp. 270). His name is John. The Syrian martyrology (Patrologia Orientalis. Vol. 10. P. 13) calls him Eventius. Memory 7 September. This story is also told by Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XIII. 2–3). John (Eventius) was tortured and then burned at the stake. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XIII. 3. Commemoration of Peter of Nicomedia on September 3 and December 28. Anthimus - Bishop of Nicomedia at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 3rd century. Accepted martyrdom in 303. Comm. September 3. According to Lactantius, the culprit of the fire was Galerius, who started it with the aim of accusing Christians of attempting regicide and thereby prompting Diocletian to tighten persecution (Lact. De mort. pers. XIV. 1–2). Lactantius also testifies that two fires occurred in the palace with an interval of half a month (Lact. De mort. pers. XIV. 6). According to Constantine the Great, the palace caught fire from lightning, which was a punishment from above (Const. Orat. ad cort. sanct. 25). The Christians were accused of conspiring with the eunuchs to burn both emperors (Lact. De mort. pers. XIV. 2). Compare: Lact. De mort. pers. XV. 2–3. Mauritania is a region in northwestern Africa inhabited by Berber tribes. At the time described, this territory was divided into three Roman provinces - Mauritania Caesarea, Mauritania Tingitana and Mauritania Sitifena. Philorom - a high-ranking Alexandrian Christian who suffered martyrdom in 307. Commemorated on February 4. Phileas - Bishop of Tmuit (Lower Egypt) at the beginning of the 4th century; suffered martyrdom in 307. Comm. February 4. Author of the Epistle to the inhabitants of Tmuit (“Admonition to Martyrdom”) and the Epistle to Meletius of Lycopolis. See: Sancti Phileae Thmuitani Epistola ad Meletium Lycopolitanum episcopum // PG. T. 10. Col. 1563–1568. About him see: Hier. Vir. ill. LXXVIII. The fragments quoted below are the only thing that remains from his Epistle to the Tmuites. They are obviously given in the first part of the Epistle, which has not reached us. We are talking about the prefect of Alexandria, Claudia Kulkiana. About him, see below: IX. 11.4. This story is also conveyed by Lactantius (Lact. Div. inst. V. 11), but he does not talk about the burning of the entire town, but only the house of worship in it. Adauct was quaestor (treasurer) in Phrygia. He accepted martyrdom in 303. Comm. February 7. We are talking about the martyr Barlaam († c. 304), who, after cruel torture, was taken to a pagan temple, placed in front of the altar and hot coals with incense were placed on his hand in the hope that, due to unbearable pain, he would involuntarily throw the incense with fire onto the altar and thus make a sacrifice; however, Barlaam held the coals in his hand until his fingers burned; Having failed to achieve their goal, the enraged pagans killed Varlaam. Memory 19 November. This is what the martyr Pelagia († 303), a 15-year-old Christian of noble birth, a student of Lucian of Antioch, did. When the soldiers came to arrest her, she asked them to wait a little and after prayer, trying to avoid reproach, she jumped out of the window. Memory October 8. We are talking about Domnina of Antioch, martyred for her faith ca. 305/306 Memory October 4. Veronica (Virineya) and Prosdokia (Proscudia). Memory October 4. In the "Palestinian Martyrs" Eusebius says that this decree was issued by Maximin Daza (Eus. Mart. pal. VIII. 13). This is confirmed by Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVI. 7). Date of the decree: 311 Lucian († 312) – Antiochian presbyter originally from Samosata; founder of the Antiochian Theological School; teacher of Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nicaea. He was martyred in Nicomedia in 312 (see below: IX. 6.3). Memory October 15. Lucian had great learning. He knew the Hebrew language perfectly and verified the Septuagint with the Hebrew original. The corrections he made were accepted by many Churches in Syria and Asia Minor. Blazh. Jerome testifies that Lucian also wrote a short theological treatise (Hier. Vir. ill. LXXVII). About him, see: Bardy G. Recherches sur saint Lucien d'Antioche et son école. Paris, 1936; Zuntz G. Lukian von Antiochien und der Text der Evangelien. Heidelberg, 1995. Tyrannion - Bishop of Tire at the beginning of the 4th century. He suffered martyrdom in Antioch during the Great Persecution. Memory 20 February. Sidon is a port city in Phenicia on the Mediterranean coast, south of Berith. Zinovy ​​(Zeno) – a doctor by profession; elder of the Sidonian Church. Accepted martyrdom in Antioch in 310. Comm. September 17. Silvanus - Bishop of Emesa in 272-312. He accepted martyrdom in 312 (another version, under Emperor Numerian in 284). Memory January 29. Emesa is a city in Syria on the Orontes River. See below: IX. 6. 1. According to legend, Silvanus of Emesa and his comrades, Deacon Luke and Reader Mokiy, were arrested following a denunciation, subjected to long imprisonment, suffered severe torture and torture by hunger and thirst, and were thrown to be torn to pieces by wild animals. But through their prayer, God granted them instant death in the arena, and the animals did not touch their bodies. Silvanus - Bishop of Gaza; famous for his successful missionary activities; During the Great Persecution, he was sentenced to hard labor in the mines. He was martyred in 311. Commemorated on May 4. About him see: Eus. March, pal. XIII. 4–5.10. Fen is a village in the desert south of Palestine. Pelias and Nile were martyred c. 310 Memory 17 September. See also: Eus. Mart. pal. XIII. 3. Together with Pelias and Nile, 156 Christians suffered martyrdom, including the presbyters Zeno, Patermuthius and Elijah. On the martyrdom of Pamphilus, see: Eus. Mart. pal. XI. 1–4. The Alexandrian presbyter mentioned repeatedly above (VI. 40. 9; VII. 11.3,22,24,26). The above-mentioned Bishop of Tmuita (VIII. 9. 7 – 10.11). That is, in “Palestinian Martyrs.” See: Barnes T. D. Constantin... R. 149–155. Diocletian and the rest of the tetrarchs. The tenth anniversary of Diocletian's reign was celebrated on November 20, 294. The twentieth anniversary of the reign of Diocletian was celebrated on November 20, 304. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XVII. 1–2. On May 1, 305, Diocletian and Maximian Herculius abdicated the throne. Galerius and Constantius Chlorus were proclaimed Augustus, and Flavius ​​Severus and Maximinus Daza were proclaimed Caesars. According to Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XVII. 3–9), Diocletian fell ill in the winter of 304/305 on the road from Rome to Nicomedia. His illness lasted a whole year. According to Lactantius, as a result of the illness, Diocletian “became a real madman, so that he lost his mind, then came to his senses again” (Lact. De mort, pers. XVII. 9). Wed: VIII. Additional 2. Diocletian, after abdicating the throne, settled on his estate near Salona in Dalmatia, where he was engaged in growing vegetables (Eutr. IX. 28; Epit. XXXIX. 5–6). There is a legend that when Maximian Herculius and Galerius once invited him to return to power, he refused (Eutr. X. 2.3; Epit. XXXIX.6). Maximian Herculius, reluctantly parting with the throne, retired to his Lucanian estates (Eutr. X. 2.3). However, soon after his son Maxentius was proclaimed emperor, he returned to power (Lact. De mort. pers. XXVI.7; Zos. II.10.2; Eutr. X.2.3; Anon. Val. IV.10). This phrase can only be understood in the context of the final fragment of the “Palestinian Martyrs” (Eus. Mart. pal. XIII. 13), which speaks of the division of the kingdom into two parts, in one of which Christians enjoyed peace, and in the other they were persecuted. This should be understood in the sense that one part of the Empire was ruled by the pious rulers Constantius Chlorus and his heir Constantine, and the other by the wicked tyrants Galerius, Maxentius and Maximin Dasa. Compare: Lact. De mort. pers. XVI. 1. Flavius ​​Valerius Constantius I Chlorus (250–306) – a native of Illyria; governor of Dalmatia; in 293 he was adopted by Maximian Herculius and proclaimed Caesar; August of the western part of the Empire from May 1, 305 to July 25, 306 See also: Eutr. X. 1. 2. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XV. 6–7. Flavius ​​Valerius Constantine I the Great (272–337) - son of Constantius I Chlorus and Helen; born at Naissa in Moesia Superior; proclaimed emperor by the British legions on July 25, 306. In 306–312. ruler of Britain, Gaul and Spain; in 312–324 ruler of the western regions of the Empire; in 324–337 the sole ruler of the entire Empire. For Constantine and his reign, see: Eus. Vita Const.; Eus. Laus Const.; Socr. I; Soz. I–II; Theod. HE. I. Constantius I Chlorus died at Eborac (modern York) in Britain on July 25, 306. See: Eutr. X. 1.3; Anon. Val. IL 4 The practice of ranking emperors as gods after death was extremely common during the Empire, and Constantius Chlorus certainly cannot be considered the first to receive this honor. The first deified emperor was Gaius Julius Caesar (Suet. Jul. 84, 88). According to Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XX. 3–4; XXIX. 2; XXXII. 5), Eutropius ( Eutr. Χ. 4.1) and Aurelius Victor ( Aur. Vict. Caes. XL. 8), the initiator of the appointment of Licinius as Augustus was Galerius, who knew him well from the military campaign against the Persians. Speaking of the “general decision of the rulers,” Eusebius apparently means the presence of the former emperor Diocletian at the ceremony of proclaiming Licinius Augustus (Lact. De mort. pers. XXIX. 2). Formally, Licinius inherited the dignity of Augustus from Severus, who died in the war with Maxentius. The proclamation of Licinius took place on November 11, 308. By transferring this title to Licinius, Galerius sought to prevent the recognition of the dignity of August for Constantine, who in his eyes continued to remain Caesar (Lact. De mort. pers. XXV. 3–5). Valery Licinian Licinius (265–325) – came from a peasant family in Dacia; commander Galeria; August from November 11, 308 to September 18, 324. In 308–313. ruler of Raetia and Pannonia; in 313–324 ruler of the eastern part of the Empire. Galerius Valerius Maximin Daza († 313) – a native of Illyria; nephew Galerius; in 305–309 Caesar of the East; August in 309–313 He ruled Egypt, Syria and Palestine, and from 311 also Asia Minor. Maximinus, the last surviving Caesar of 305, believed that he had much more rights to the title of Augustus than Licinius, who had not previously had the Caesarian dignity. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXII. 1–4. Maximinus proclaimed himself Augustus in May 309. In response, Galerius was forced to abolish the Caesarian dignity and recognize Maximinus and Constantine the Great as Augustans. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXII. 5. Soon after Maximian's return to power, Herculius came into conflict with his son Maxentius, and he had to flee Rome first to Galerius and then to his son-in-law Constantine the Great in Gaul (Lact. De mort, pers. XXVIII. 1–XXIX. 3; Eutr. X. 3. 1–2). There he organized a conspiracy against Constantine, but failed, was captured in Massilia (modern Marseilles) and executed in 310 (Lact. De mort. pers. XXIX. 3 – XXX. 6; Eutr. X. 3. 2; Aur. Vict. Caes.XL.22; Epit.XL.5). Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius (c. 280–312) - son of Maximian Herculius and the Syrian Galerius Valeria Eutropia; husband of Galerius Maximilla's daughter. He was proclaimed Caesar by the Praetorians in Rome on October 28, 306. In 307 he took the title of Augustus. Italy and Africa were under his rule. See also: Aur. Vict. Caes. XL. 19.24. This incident is also reported by Aurelius Victor (Aur. Vict. Caes. XL. 24) See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XLII. 1. Eutropius also speaks about the anti-aristocratic orientation of Maxentius’s policy (Eutr. X. 4.3). The alliance of Maximinus and Maxentius was in fact a response to the rapprochement between Constantine and Licinius (Lact. De mort. pers. XLIII.2–4). It was concluded at the beginning of 312. For the portrayal of Maximin Daza in Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, see: Grant R. M. The Case... P. 416–418. See: Filosi S. L'ispirazione neoplatonica della persecuzione di Massimino Daia // Rivista di Storia della Chiesa in Italia. Vol. 41. 1987. P. 79–91. Previously, priests were elected from members of city religious colleges. See below: IX. 4. 2. See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVI. 4. The duties of the great priests included making daily sacrifices to the pagan gods and persecuting the “atheists” (= Christians.) See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVII. 3–4. The author of “Extracts from Aurelius Victor” (Epit. XL. 18–19) also speaks about this vice of Maximin. Lactantius writes in detail about the debauchery of Maximinus (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVIII. 1–5). See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVIII. 5. Lactantius says that Maximinus was in the habit of bestowing rich gifts on his soldiers (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVII.5) See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXVII. 1. Perhaps we are talking about the daughter of Diocletian Valeria, the widow of Maximian Herculius, who professed Christianity. Lactantius talks about Maximin’s harassment of Valeria (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXIX). The text from the words “When it was revealed” to the words “condescending orders” is almost identical to the final phrase of “Palestinian martyrs” (Eus. Mart. pal. XIII. 14). In four manuscripts of the “Ecclesiastical History” (Paris, Moscow and two Florentine) in this place it is added: “... to punish him for the evil committed during the persecution. For, although this should have happened according to the judgment of God, “woe to that man,” says Scripture, “through whom temptation comes.” Galerius fell ill in 310 (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXIII. 1). Lactantius also describes Galerius’ disease in similar terms (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXIII. 1–10). The emperor's illness lasted more than a year (Lact. De mort.pers.XXXIII.il). According to Lactantius, Galerius first appealed for help to the pagan gods Apollo and Asclepius, but this only intensified the illness (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXIII. 5). See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXIII. 11. The Edict of Nicomedia was promulgated on April 30, 311. See: Lact. De mort. pers. XXXV. 1. It is difficult to agree with Robert Grant, who believes that in this case we are talking about Maximin Daza, and not about Galerius (Grant R. M. The Case...P. 417). Although their official names were very similar - Galerius Valerius Maximian and Galerius Valerius Maximinus - the titles listed below point specifically to Galerius. Galerius waged successful wars with the Germanic tribes of the Goths and Marcomanni in 293–296. See: Aur. Vict. Caes. XXXIX. 43. We are talking about the successful campaign of 298–299. against the usurper Achilles, who seized power over Egypt. See: Aur. Vict. Caes. XXXIX. 38. For the victory over the Sarmatians, see: Eutr. IX. 25.2. The most famous campaigns against the Sarmatians took place in 289 and 292. For Galerius' victory over the Persians in 298, see: Eutr. IX. 25.1; Aur. Vict. Caes. XXXIX. 33–35. For the victory over carps, see: Aur. Vict. Caes. XXXIX. 43. Carps are a warlike tribe of Sarmatian origin that settled at the beginning of the 3rd century. On the Lower Danube; throughout the 3rd century they constantly invaded the territory of the Empire. About them see: Patsch S. Carpi // Pauly-Realencyclopädie. Bd. 3. Teilbd. 2. Stuttgart, 1899. S. 1608–1610. We are talking about Armenians allied with the Persians. Thanks to Galerius' victory over the Sassanid power, the Romans managed to restore their protege Tiridates III to the Armenian throne. Ancient authors, as in this case Eusebius, mean the Sassanid state by Media. Adiabene, the region east of the Tigris, was conquered by Galerius in 298. Galerius was consul in 294, 297, 300, 302, 305, 306, 307 and 311. The first time Constantine was invested with the power of tribune was on July 25, 306, and then received it annually, and even twice in 307. In four manuscripts of the “Ecclesiastical History” (Paris, Moscow and two Florentine) in this place it is added “they were enslaved by such madness.” This refers to the violent actions of Christians against the pagan cult. This message has not survived. The Latin text of this decree is given by Lactantius (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXIV). It, however, omits the names and titles of the three author emperors. This addition is preserved in three manuscripts - Moscow, Paris and one Florentine (Laurentiana 70, 20s XI). About him, see: Christensen T. The so-called Appendix to Eusebius' “Historia Ecclesiastica” VIII // Classica et Mediaevalia. Vol. 34. 1983. P. 177–209. According to Lactantius, Galerius, although he issued a decree to end the persecution, nevertheless did not receive forgiveness from God and was punished with a terrible death (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXV. 3). Galerius died in May 311. According to Lactantius, his death was the result of cancer (Lact. De mort. pers. XXXV. 3–4). At the same time, Aurelius Victor says that Galerius died from a poisoned arrow (Aur. Vict. Caes. XL. 8), and the author of “Extracts from Aurelius Victor” writes that the emperor died of sexual exhaustion (Epit. XL. 4). According to Lactantius, Galerius inherited hatred of Christians from his superstitious mother (Lact. De mort. pers. XI. 1–2). We are talking about the tetrarchy of Diocletian, Maximian Herculius, Galerius and Constantius I Chlorus in 293–305. A number of sources indicate that Diocletian committed suicide (Lact. De mort. pers. XL. 2–3; Epit. XXXIX. 7). His death is dated either to 313 (Lact. De mort. pers. XLII; Epit. XXXIX.7), or 316 (Zos. II.8.1). See also: Lact. De mort. pers. XXX. 5–7. The author of “Extracts from Aurelius Victor” claims that Maximian Herculius “broke his neck with a noose” (Epit. XL. 6). With Constantine and Licinius. You might be interested in: